‘Where’s Mitch?’: Attendees At Kentucky Event Question McConnell’s AbsenceDemocratic attendees made their concerns about Sen. Mitch McConnell known this weekend, chanting “Where’s Mitch?” at an annual Kentucky event, according to a New York Times dispatch. The crowd reaction at the state’s “Fancy Farm” picnic, which is a signature political gathering in Kentucky, highlighted the growing scrutiny of the Republican senator’s absence since his hospitalization in June. Although McConnell has released written statements about his condition, he’s given no interviews, prompting questions and speculation about his capacity to serve. “I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday,” McConnell said in a statement released last Monday. According to The Lexington Herald-Leader, Republican attendees at the event responded with “Where’s Beshear?” chants, in reference to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D). Beshear told reporters that he was missing the event to attend his son’s last high school travel baseball tournament. “Funny how the Republicans are all mad I missed one political event to watch my son play baseball. But no outrage that Mitch McConnell has been nowhere to be seen for 50 days,” Beshear wrote in a statement on X on Saturday.Latest Live UpdatesFormer Texas Rep. Kay Granger Has Died At 83Former U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.), the first Republican woman Texas voters elected to the House, has died, according to a statement shared by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). She was 83. “Kay Granger devoted her life to serving her Fort Worth, Texas community — as a teacher and businesswoman, on the Fort Worth Zoning Commission and City Council, as Mayor, and in Congress for nearly three decades, where she also served as Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee,” Johnson wrote in his statement. “Throughout her career, she broke barriers for women in public service,” he added. “She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Fort Worth, the first Republican woman elected to represent Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first Republican woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee.”During her last term in Congress, Granger faced scrutiny after she was found residing in a senior living facility following an extended absence from the House.California Democratic Party Breaks With Newsom, Endorses Billionaire TaxThe California Democratic Party on Sunday broke with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and backed Proposition 40, a proposed tax on billionaires that will be on the state’s ballot this fall. The endorsement underscores the support that the measure, which would levy a one-time 5% wealth tax on roughly 200 of the state’s richest residents, has picked up among some California Democrats. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are among the lawmakers who have lined up behind the proposal, which they argue will help combat inequality and cover health care costs. Others like Newsom have opposed it, citing claims that it could drive billionaires from the state. “Every endorsement we make is earned, not given,” California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. “California Democrats take a deliberative approach to our endorsement process that puts our values first and ensures our members have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of our state.”Dozens Of Wildfires Ravage Western States, Prompting Thousands To FleeWildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said Sunday.The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second largest city, burned about 8.2 square miles over the weekend and were among dozens of wildfires across the Western U.S. that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.Read more from The Associated Press:Trump Says He Will Order Halt To Iran Strikes After Parameters Reached For DealPresident Donald Trump says he will order American forces to hold off on new strikes against Iran, claiming Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the 5-month-old war.The emerging deal “would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote in a Saturday evening social media post.Read more from The Associated Press:Rep. Kaptur Is Being Treated For Non-Life-Threatening Injuries After Car CrashRep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle she was riding in was struck on Sunday morning, according to a statement from the Congresswoman’s office. Kaptur was en route to a church service when the incident took place, and is “active” and “alert,” the statement said. Two people were brought to the hospital following the “hit-skip crash” on Sunday, a Toledo Police Department spokesperson told NBC News, which described the collision as a “hit-and-run.”“We look forward to additional information from Toledo Police as they investigate the accident,” Kaptur’s statement said. “...[Congresswoman Kaptur] expressed her deep gratitude to the hundreds of constituents who have reached out and looks forward to returning to a full schedule soon.”The Toledo Police Department did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment. Read more from NBC News: GOP Senator Says His Ex-Son-In-Law Rep. Max Miller Needs Help Amid Domestic Abuse AllegationsSen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said his ex-son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), needs “serious psychological help” and should not hold elected office just one hour after Miller went live on X denying the domestic and child abuse allegations his ex-wife has accused him of.Read more here:In-N-Out Employee Among Those Who Were Killed Saturday In Shooting, Restaurant SaysIn-N-Out Burger said one of their employees was killed in Saturday’s shooting at one of their Idaho restaurants.“My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, me eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed,” Lynsi Snyder, president and owner of In-N-Out, wrote Sunday on Instagram.Snyder said the employee was killed by a “disgusting human” while the employee was taking care of In-N-Out’s “most important asset,” their customers.“I love you all, and I ask you to turn to God, not in anger, but seeking comfort and strength for those who are hurting,” Snyder wrote.On Saturday, three people were killed and several others were injured in a shooting at an In-N-Out in Twin Falls, Idaho. The suspected shooter is dead.Allies Fear The U.S. May Be Headed For A Strategic Defeat In Iran: NYTAllies believe the war in Iran has hurt the U.S. and left it in a weaker position, The New York Times reported.Experts who spoke to the Times said allies fear the U.S. has lost credibility amid Trump’s ever-shifting explanations for the war and his benchmarks for success. They expressed concerns that the war could spiral into an open-ended conflict, as any deal made would be viewed with skepticism by Iran.“No one wants to be subject to a whipsaw foreign policy that doesn’t know its limits, and that is a strategic defeat,” Robin Niblett, a former director of Chatham House, a think tank in London, told the Times.Read more at The New York Times:Key MomentTrump Says Mideast Allies Have Reached Outlines Of Deal To End Iran War, Says U.S. To Stop New StrikesPresident Donald Trump in a Saturday evening social media post claimed that Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the Iran war and said that he would hold off on ordering new strikes in the five-month old conflict for now.Trump added that the emerging deal “would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump said.Read more from The Associated Press:Bomb Carried By Woman Kills Three, Injures 21 Near Moscow Restaurant, Authorities SayReuters reports:A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed three people and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, the authorities said.The explosion occurred just before 2000 local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, the police said.Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said that an unidentified woman had tried to get into the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard, the state RIA news agency reported.It said the woman, the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant had been killed in the blast that followed.Those injured received wounds of varying seriousness, the police said.Russia’s state RIA news agency released video of heavily armed law enforcement officers at the scene, which had been closed off to the public.The authorities did not name those killed or injured nor did they say who they thought might have been responsible.More than four years into a full-scale war with Ukraine, Russia’s FSB security service said earlier this year that authorities would step up protection for high-ranking military officials after a series of assassinations and attempted killings it blamed on Kyiv.The Kommersant daily newspaper cited its own sources as saying that the bomb had been intended to maim and kill guests who were enjoying themselves on the restaurant’s summer terrace outside.It suggested that the bomb had been set off by someone else remotely and that the woman carrying it may not have known that it was an explosive device.The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed on Saturday for a private event.(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Porter)See All Updates