10 things you need to know today: July 7, 2022

1. Boris Johnson to resign

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to resign as leader of the Conservative Party but wants to stay on as prime minister until fall, British media widely reported Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear if members of his party will let him stay that long. Johnson had resisted calls to step down over his handling of the party's latest sex-and-bullying scandal, saying during a grilling in Parliament that a leader who has "been handed a colossal mandate" must keep going. But a wave of resignations paralyzed his government, and Cabinet members told him he had to go to restore public trust. Johnson's decision came after a dizzying 48 hours that started when two high-ranking Cabinet members resigned Tuesday evening.

BBC The New York Times

2. Police: Accused July 4th parade shooter planned 2nd attack

The suspect accused of firing on a crowd at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, has admitted to the crime, and told investigators he had seriously considered committing another attack in Madison, Wisconsin, prosecutors and police said Wednesday. Robert Crimo III, 21, said in a voluntary statement that he "looked down his sights, aimed, and opened fire." He said he emptied two 30-round magazines, then reloaded and resumed firing, Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon said during a virtual bond hearing. Five people died at the scene, and two others died from their wounds in hospitals. Thirty-nine people in all were hospitalized. Crimo faces seven first-degree murder charges. A judge ordered him held without bond.

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CNN

3. Former Trump White House counsel to testify to Jan. 6 committee

Pat Cipollone, who served as former President Donald Trump's White House counsel, has agreed to be interviewed Friday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump's supporters, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The panel subpoenaed Cipollone last week, saying he was an important witness during key points in Trump's effort to overturn his election loss to President Biden. Cipollone was present for discussions of seizing voting machines and he was in the West Wing during the Jan. 6 riot, so he could have information on Trump's reaction. Cipollone allies have said he might limit his cooperation due to concerns about executive and attorney-client privilege.

The New York Times

4. Biden tells Brittney Griner's wife he's working to free WNBA star

President Biden on Wednesday spoke to Cherelle Griner, the wife of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner, to assure her that his administration is working to bring her wife home as soon as possible from Russia, where she is on trial on drug charges. Brittney Griner, a two-time Olympic women's basketball gold medalist, sent Biden a personal appeal he received on the Fourth of July, asking him to not "forget about me and the other American detainees." Griner's supporters stepped up their pressure on Biden this week after her personal appeal. Griner was playing basketball in Russia in the WNBA off-season, and was detained in February on charges that she tried to carry vape cartridges containing cannabis oil through a Moscow airport.

The Associated Press

5. New York judge holds Trump's appraiser in contempt

A New York judge has held real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield in contempt of court for refusing to cooperate with the New York attorney general's investigation into former President Donald Trump's company, the Trump Organization. Judge Arthur Engoron imposed a $10,000 daily fine on Cushman & Wakefield that will start Thursday and apply every day the company fails to comply with subpoenas for information related to its appraisals and brokerage services for Trump's company. "Cushman & Wakefield's work for Donald Trump and the Trump Organization is clearly relevant to our investigation, and we're pleased that the court has recognized that," New York Attorney General Letitia James said. Cushman & Wakefield said it would appeal.

ABC News The Hill

6. Lindsey Graham's lawyers say he'll fight Georgia subpoena

Lawyers for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday they will challenge a Georgia grand jury's subpoena calling for him to testify in an investigation into possible 2020 election interference by then-President Donald Trump and his associates. Graham is one of several Trump allies who received subpoenas Tuesday from the special grand jury, which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impaneled earlier this year to determine whether Trump and his allies "coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections" in Georgia. Graham "made at least two telephone calls" to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump asked to find votes to overturn his loss in the state to President Biden, the DA said.

NBC News

7. Report: Uvalde officer had gunman in rifle sight before attack

A Uvalde, Texas, police officer had the gunman in his rifle sight and asked for permission to fire before the killer entered Robb Elementary School, but his supervisor didn't hear or respond in time for the officer to shoot before the gunman disappeared into the school, according to a report by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center. The gunman went on to murder 19 young students and two teachers in adjoining classrooms before officers entered more than an hour later and fatally shot him. In another missed opportunity, a school district officer sped through the school parking lot but didn't realize the attacker was there, according to the report by the center, which provides active-shooter response training at Texas State University.

CNN

8. Fed minutes indicate officials favored further aggressive rate hikes

Federal Reserve officials agreed at their June policy meeting that they would have to increase the speed and size of their interest-rate hikes to cool the economy and curb high inflation, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday. "Participants concurred that the economic outlook warranted moving to a restrictive stance of policy," the minutes said. A "restrictive stance" refers to rates high enough to slow economic growth. Fed officials made a rare 0.75 percentage point increase to their benchmark short-term interest rate, the biggest hike since 1994. Since the meeting, some of the central bank's leaders have suggested they would support another such hike at their July meeting. The aggressive Fed position has stoked concerns of a possible recession.

The Wall Street Journal

9. Death toll in Italian Alps glacier avalanche rises to 9

Search crews have found two more bodies at the site of an avalanche in the Italian Alps, bringing the death toll to nine, Italian authorities announced Wednesday. Three people remain unaccounted for after a chunk of a glacier broke off and sent ice and rock crashing down the slope and over a popular hiking trail. Eight other people were injured in the tragedy, two of them seriously. Five of those who died have been identified so far: Filippo Bari, 27; Tommaso Carollo, 48; Paolo Dani, 52; and Liliana Bertoldi, 54. Relatives of the victims have questioned whether authorities should have closed the area to hikers because the glacier has been melting faster and faster over the last decade.

The Guardian

10. Rihanna now the youngest female self-made billionaire

Rihanna, 31, has officially become the youngest female self-made billionaire in the United States, according to Forbes' 2022 list of "America's Richest Self-Made Women." The singer's net worth came in at $1.4 billion, putting her at No. 21 on the Forbes list. Rihanna is co-owner of Fenty Beauty and holds a 30 percent stake in her lingerie line, Savage x Fenty. She co-owns Fenty Beauty with French luxury retailer LVMH, which accounts for a big part of her fortune. The company generated more than $550 million in revenue in 2020. Kim Kardashian, 41, was the nation's second-youngest billionaire on the list.

Forbes Today