10 things you need to know today: July 4, 2016

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1. Toll rises from deadliest Iraq bombing in years
2. UKIP head Nigel Farage steps down after Brexit success
3. Obama to make first 2016 campaign appearance with Hillary Clinton
4. Bomber dies in blast near U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
5. Muslim doctor shot on way to Houston mosque
6. China sentences ex-presidential aide to life in prison for corruption
7. U.K. plans tax cut to encourage companies to stay after Brexit vote
8. Teen seriously injured in Central Park explosion
9. Toddler's father said second alligator involved in fatal Disney attack
10. Cunningham becomes youngest to make U.S. Olympic track team since 1980

published 4 July 2016

1. Toll rises from deadliest Iraq bombing in years

The death toll from a Sunday truck bombing in central Baghdad has risen to at least 150, officials said Monday, with 35 people still missing and 225 injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, its third major attack in days. The bombing targeted a busy shopping district and was believed to be the deadliest single bombing in the Iraqi capital in at least seven years. It fueled calls for a crackdown on ISIS terrorist cells, and overshadowed the government's recent success regaining control of Fallujah, near Baghdad, from ISIS forces.

Nigel Farage resigned Monday as head of the U.K. Independence Party, saying his work was done now that Britain has voted to leave the European Union. "I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician," Farage said. Farage said he would hold onto his seat in the European Parliament through negotiations on the terms of the U.K's departure from the EU. His announcement added to political uncertainty in the U.K., where the Brexit vote has left the two main political parties in turmoil.

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President Obama will join Hillary Clinton on Tuesday at a campaign rally in North Carolina, a state Obama won in 2008 and narrowly lost in 2012 that could be a key political battleground this year. It will be Obama's first time campaigning for Clinton. He endorsed her last month when she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after a hard-fought primary contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). Obama originally planned to appear with Clinton in Wisconsin last month, but the scheduled event was postponed after the massacre at Orlando's Pulse nightclub.

A suicide bomber blew himself up about 33 feet from the wall of the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, early Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The bomber was the only person killed in the blast, although witnesses said two police officers appeared to have been injured. Officers became suspicious of the man as he roamed a parking lot, and he detonated the explosives when officers approached him. Al Qaeda-linked gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2004, killing five employees.

Three masked men shot and wounded a Muslim doctor, Arslan Tajammul, as he headed for morning prayers at a Houston mosque on Sunday. The attack against Tajammul, an eye specialist, came a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque. Tajammul, who is in his 30s, was ambushed at around 5:30 a.m. as he walked toward the mosque after parking his car. The three attackers ran away. Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said police believed the attack was an attempted robbery.

Ling Jihua, a former presidential aide in China, was sentenced to life in prison on corruption charges on Monday, according to state media. Ling served as the top aide to former president and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao. Ling and two other senior party officials, Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang, have been accused of trying to undermine the power of President Xi Jinping, who took office in 2012. Bo and Zhou also received life sentences for corruption.

Britain on Monday announced plans to cut its corporation tax by about 5 percentage points to under 15 percent in a bid to encourage investment and ease fears over the U.K. vote to leave the European Union. Treasury chief George Osborne said the move would show that the country is "still open for business" in the wake of the divisive Brexit referendum, as some companies consider leaving London for Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, and other major cities to ensure easier access to the large EU common market.

Am 18-year-old Virginia college student was seriously injured Sunday when he inadvertently stepped on explosives in New York City's Central Park. Doctors had to amputate Connor Golden's left leg below the knee. Police said they had no evidence the explosion was related to terrorism, and there were no credible threats against the city. Still, the mysterious incident inserted tension into the run-up to the city's annual July 4 fireworks display.

The father of Lane Graves, a 2-year-old killed by an alligator at Disney World last month, told rescue workers that a second alligator had attacked him while he tried to save his son. The father, Matt Graves, was nearby with his wife and daughter while Lane Graves splashed on the edge of a lake. When the alligator snatched the child, Matt Graves rushed in. As he tried to reach his son, the second alligator attacked him, Capt. Tom Wellons with the Reedy Creek Fire Department said. The elder Graves was treated for lacerations from the alligator's teeth.

Vashti Cunningham, 18, qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the high jump on Sunday, becoming the youngest athlete to make the American track and field team in 36 years. Cunningham, the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, finished second behind Chaunte Lowe at the U.S. trials ahead of the Rio Summer Olympics with a 6-foot-5 ½-inch jump. Cunningham is the reigning indoor world champion, and is tied for the year's highest international jump this year, at 6 feet 6 ¼ inches.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.