By Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans returned to Washington on Monday night in an increasingly dour mood about the state of their party: Growing fears of a November wipeout. A Middle East war with no end in sight. A feeling of loss after the sudden death of their longtime colleague Lindsey Graham.

Now, with President Donald Trump’s attention focused on Capitol Hill for what could be the party’s final legislative sprint before the midterms, a restless House Speaker Mike Johnson is racing to reverse Republicans’ political fortunes.

Johnson is privately pushing a major legislative push centered on Pentagon funding, cutting government fraud and a new grant program to promote elections overhaul, according to multiple people briefed on his plans. Details are scarce, but the bill — dubbed Trump’s agenda 3.0 — is an eleventh-hour attempt to unite the party’s warring factions after months of chaos. If he succeeds, it could rescue a flailing Hill GOP and offer lawmakers a fresh political win ahead of their August recess campaigning.

“This really is the last opportunity,” said Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who has spent months pushing for a third Trump agenda bill. “I think the Republican voters that gave a mandate to President Trump want to see us continue to work to our very last breath of this session.”

There’s plenty of skepticism in the GOP’s ranks, with many members recalling the difficulty of passing the first two agenda bills, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and an immigration funding package. Johnson’s counterpart, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, did not endorse the effort when asked about the speaker’s plans. And he offered a note of caution to his House colleagues, warning that they need to consider the Senate’s own limitations — or risk a massive failure on the floor.

“To get that done and get the requisite number of votes in both the House and Senate will be a heavy lift,” Thune said. “I’ve said all along, this one will be really challenging, but we’ll see what they come up with.”

Time is running out, but Johnson and GOP leaders are eager to get their conference in line. Already, Johnson appeared to reach a critical truce with one of his most high-profile defectors, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has helped hold up the House floor in recent weeks.

Luna, like some other hardliners, had refused to allow Johnson to bring GOP bills to the floor until he can promise a path for Trump’s elections overhaul measure, the “SAVE America Act.” House GOP leaders this week committed to attaching that bill to upcoming spending legislation – something Luna suggested Monday night she could get behind.

GOP leaders are hoping it will work, so Johnson can pivot to resolve another intraparty fight over a border security bill that’s split hardliners and GOP centrists.

The Senate has its own major problems, with a gang of Republicans who lost their primaries complicating the chamber’s work,

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — From putting out small fires to practicing search-and-rescue techniques, local teenagers are learning how to respond when disaster strikes.

The Santa Barbara Fire Department is hosting its Teen Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, a four-day program designed to prepare young people for emergencies such as earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters.

Throughout the week, participants receive hands-on instruction in disaster preparedness, basic first aid, fire safety and light search and rescue. They also learn how to assess emergency situations, work together as a team and make critical decisions under pressure.

"I definitely feel ready to knock on my neighbor's door," said CERT participant Maria José Aguilar. "Even if I smell a little bit of gas, I feel like I know how to assess that."

As part of the training, students practice using fire extinguishers and learn the P.A.S.S. method: Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep.

Emergency officials say the training helps prepare community members to be self-sufficient during the critical hours following a disaster, when first responders may be overwhelmed.

"The fire department only has so many resources," said Michael Brindle, UCSB's emergency and continuity manager. "When they're all out responding to other situations, it's really important that people are prepared to be able to respond to help themselves and their immediate family."

The course concludes Thursday with a full-scale earthquake simulation, where students put their new skills to the test in a realistic disaster scenario.

"On Thursday we end with a full-scale exercise, an earthquake simulation," said Liliana Encinas with the Santa Barbara City Fire Department. "The teens get to come and actually rescue people from a disaster and put into practice all the skill sets for the week."

For participant Santiago Valdivia Gastelum, preparation is the biggest takeaway.

"I think that the most valuable lesson is how to be prepared," he said. "Because if you're prepared, then you know how to respond. You know how to help."

Aguilar said her family already keeps emergency supplies at home, but the training has given her even more confidence.

"We have a big closet in our house with emergency kits, food, water—anything any neighbor might need, anything we might need," Aguilar said. "I feel like I'm ready for all the disasters. I'm ready to help."

The Teen CERT training continues through Thursday at Santa Barbara Fire Station 1, where participants will complete their final disaster simulation before graduating from the program.

The post Santa Barbara teens train to respond in disasters through CERT program appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por Nicole Chavez, CNN

En un inquietante eco del pasado reciente, un inmigrante mexicano que había vivido en Texas durante 35 años y una segunda persona al otro lado del país, en Maine, murieron con días de diferencia en tiroteos a manos de agentes de inmigración.

Aunque los tiroteos de este mes aún están en una etapa inicial de investigación, son un sombrío recordatorio de enero y de las muertes de Renee Good y Alex Pretti en Minnesota, cuando, por separado, se encontraron con agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) durante la ofensiva migratoria en el área metropolitana de Minneapolis-St. Paul.

En el lapso de una semana, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo en Houston y una persona no identificada en Biddeford, Maine, se convirtieron en la tercera y cuarta persona en haber resultado mortalmente herida por agentes federales de inmigración este año, mientras la amplia agenda de deportación del presidente Donald Trump ha llevado a ofensivas de control migratorio que han resultado no solo en arrestos y expulsiones, sino también en violencia y muerte.

Esto es lo que sabemos sobre las cuatro personas que murieron este año a manos de agentes federales involucrados en actividades de control migratorio y otros tiroteos en los que los agentes abrieron fuego:

Good, una ciudadana estadounidense de 37 años, murió el 7 de enero cuando un agente del ICE disparó contra su vehículo en Minneapolis.

La madre de tres hijos había estado participando en manifestaciones contra el aumento de la aplicación de leyes migratorias la denominada Operación Metro Surge y detuvo su SUV color burdeos durante unos minutos en una calle residencial nevada de Minneapolis, obstruyendo el flujo del tráfico. Cuando Good comenzó a avanzar, un agente del ICE que estaba de pie frente a su vehículo sacó su arma y disparó al menos tres veces contra el coche, matándola.

Pretti, un enfermero de cuidados intensivos de 37 años que atendía a veteranos, murió baleado el 24 de enero por agentes federales de inmigración.

Un video del encuentro muestra que Pretti intentó ayudar a una mujer que fue empujada al suelo por un agente de inmigración, siendo él mismo empujado al suelo mientras él y otras personas se involucran en un altercado físico con un grupo de agentes antes de que al menos dos de ellos finalmente abrieran fuego.

En el video se vio a un agente federal retirando una pistola de la cintura de Pretti momentos antes de que lo mataran.

El inmigrante mexicano de 52 años estaba recogiendo a miembros de su cuadrilla de construcción en Houston cuando se encontró con agentes del ICE durante una parada de tráfico y recibió un disparo mortal el 7 de julio.

ICE emitió un comunicado público diciendo que sus agentes “intentaron realizar una detención vehicular como parte de una operación de cumplimiento selectivo para arrestar a un extranjero ilegal” y afirmó que Salgado Araujo intentó evadirlos. La agencia alega que “embistió un vehículo de las fuerzas del orden del ICE, se negó a seguir múltiples órdenes verbales y utilizó su vehículo como arma en un intento de atropellar a un agente de las fuerzas del orden del ICE”, lo que llevó a que un “agente disparara su arma en defensa propia”.

El abogado de dos de los pasajeros de la furgoneta en el momento del tiroteo negó que Salgado Araujo intentara embestir a los agentes y cuestionó que los agentes estuvieran en peligro. Pero no ha surgido ningún video que muestre el momento del tiroteo.

Un hombre colombiano de 26 años murió baleado por un agente federal el 13 de julio en Biddeford, Maine, según el fiscal general de Maine.

Las autoridades no han confirmado públicamente la identidad del hombre.

The post Alamo Fire Starts in Heart of Santa Ynez Valley appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

By Hanako Montgomery, Junko Ogura, Chris Lau, CNN

Tokyo (CNN) — Japan may have its first ever female prime minister, but her government’s attempts to avoid a royal succession crisis are making the chances of a woman taking the imperial throne ever slimmer.

With just three eligible heirs to the Chrysanthemum throne – and two of them 60 or over – the imperial family is facing a succession crisis.

Japan’s monarchy has for centuries maintained male-only succession, which is on-brand for a deeply patriarchal society where men dominate other spheres of life such as business and politics.

Now, that rule has come to threaten the very survival of the world’s oldest monarchy which, in recent decades, has spawned more daughters than sons.

To solve the dearth of heirs, government ministers have proposed reinstating former branches of the royal family, thereby expanding the pool of male successors. The changes are awaiting parliamentary approval.

But it has left scholars, opposition politicians and some citizens wondering: why not just let women take the throne?

‘No rational basis’

“It is difficult to find any rational basis for refusing to allow a woman to become emperor,” said Professor Makoto Okawa, who studies imperial lineage at Chuo University in Tokyo.

Japan previously had eight empresses, mostly when the male heirs were too young to rule, until the Imperial House Law was enacted in 1889 during the Meiji era, officially banning female emperors.

Despite the law, the country’s overarching constitution does not bar women from taking the throne, Okawa said, nor can it be regarded as a “Japanese tradition” to exclude them.

“The idea of excluding women in advance as persons incapable of becoming emperor should be understood plainly as misogyny,” said Okawa.

Various polls have shown most people are open-minded about female emperors.

Another resident, Kana Sakakura, noted that countries in Europe, such as the UK, have long histories of female monarchs.

“I suppose when you really compare it to other countries, it does feel like Japan still has an atmosphere where women taking on leadership roles in society is avoided,” she said.

But the cause of female succession has gained little traction. And Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her ruling Liberal Democratic Party are among the sternest voices of opposition to such a change.

During a parliamentary discussion earlier this year, Takaichi said it was still “appropriate to limit eligibility to male descendants of the imperial lineage.”

Her government’s proposed amendments, expected to pass into law this month, do not contain a single scenario where a princess can ascend to the throne. Neither can their children, if they marry a commoner – an almost certain occurrence, given the royal family’s shrinkage.

Though its role is largely ceremonial, the imperial family – believed in Japanese myth to be descendants of the Sun Goddess – is a powerful symbol of unity in the country of 123 million.

The family’s centrality to the nation is such that US army general Douglas MacArthur, overseeing Japan’s development immediately after World War II, described the emperor in a telegram as “a symbol which unites all Japanese,” according to the US State Department’s Office of the Historian. “Destroy him and the nation will disintegrate.”

Imperial downsizing

In pre-war Japan, identifying a successor was less of a conundrum.

Back then, the imperial family was bigger and incorporated other collateral branches, known as Oke, which offered a pool of candidates if the main bloodline failed to produce an heir.

But that all changed in 1947. As Japan grappled with a war-ravaged economy, the Imperial House Law was amended to downsize th