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A deadly shooting at a Seattle food festival leaves police searching for a second gunman. Investigators believe the suspects were shooting at each other, but one remains on the run.
Plus, the suspect in Germany’s deadly Pride attack is dead after a confrontation with police. Now investigators are focused on what he may have planned and whether he acted alone.
And Europe’s wildfire crisis keeps getting worse, with hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. The biggest challenge may still be ahead as another round of dangerous heat moves in.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, July 27, 2026.
Police search for second Seattle food festival shooting suspect after 3 killed
Police are still searching for a second suspect Monday morning after a deadly shooting near Seattle’s Space Needle.
Police say one suspect is in custody after gunfire erupted during a food festival, killing three people and injuring four others, including a toddler.
Investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other. They recovered two guns at the scene.
One suspect surrendered to officers, but the other took off.
Police do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public.
Witnesses say the festival quickly descended into chaos as people ran for cover.
“We suddenly heard some firecrackers, what I thought were firecrackers, and people started yelling ‘shooter, shooter,’ and there was like a stampede of people just running,” Roberto Ramirez, a vendor at the festival, said. “They were stepping over people. They were stepping on people; there was a lot of food on the floor, and there were people on the floors, there were kids, strollers.”
The Seattle mayor called the shooting an “unbelievable tragedy” and said the city has now seen three major gun violence incidents in just the past few days.
The ATF says federal agents are assisting Seattle police as investigators continue the search for the second suspect.
Berlin police kill accused Pride attacker after search across the city
German authorities say the man accused of carrying out this weekend’s deadly attack near Berlin’s Pride celebration is now dead after a confrontation with police.
Investigators spent nearly 24 hours searching for Abdul Ballout before tracking him Sunday to a garden complex outside the city.
Police say he charged at officers with a knife or other sharp object, and they opened fire, killing him at the scene.
As investigators continue piecing together exactly what happened, they’re also facing questions about what took place beforehand.
Officials say the 21-year-old had previously tried to join ISIS and had already been convicted of preparing a serious act of violence and spreading ISIS propaganda, so he was already on authorities’ radar before Saturday night’s attack.
Police say a van drove into a crowd just a few hundred yards from Berlin’s Pride festivities before investigators say Ballout got out and continued the attack with a machete.
One woman was killed, and 29 other people were injured.
On Sunday, hundreds gathered at Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate, leaving flowers, candles and rainbow flags.
Now, with investigators still working to determine whether anyone else was involved, Germany says it’s reviewing security for upcoming Pride events. Meanwhile, organizers of World Pride in Amsterdam say they’re watching the situation closely as celebrations there get underway this week.
US pauses Iran strikes as diplomatic talks continue
After 13 straight days of U.S. strikes on Iran, the military campaign paused over the weekend.
It’s not clear why the U.S. temporarily stopped attacks, but the lull comes as Oman says talks with Iran about reopening the Strait of Hormuz are making progress.
Still, hundreds of vessels remain backed up in the critical shipping lane.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told NBC News the president is giving diplomatic talks “some space” as discussions continue.
“What the president is doing right now, as we’ve seen all along, is giving some talks some space,” Waltz said. “Talks are ongoing. They’re happening at every level from the more technical aspect of it all the way to the highest levels, of course, within both the Iranian government and the U.S. government.”
Iran’s foreign ministry is pushing back, saying Tehran is not seeking talks with the United States.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis attacked Saudi oil facilities along the Red Sea over the weekend.
And Iran is threatening retaliation after accusing Ukraine of targeting one of its ships in the Caspian Sea.
Iranian officials say at least one person was killed.
Ukraine says it targeted “cargo vessels under international sanctions” that were being used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia.
Evacuations surge across Europe as wildfires spread through France and Spain
Europe begins the week facing a race against time and challenging weather conditions as large wildfires spread through France, Spain and parts of Italy.
In southwest France, the infernos have now forced more than 250,000 people to evacuate, with flames burning just outside Bordeaux. Video from the region shows entire forests reduced to charred landscapes, while thousands of evacuees are spending the night in emergency shelters.
In Spain, firefighting planes work to hammer hot spots while crews work to keep new fires from erupting.
Some of the most powerful images this weekend didn’t come from the flames themselves but from rescuers stopping to give water to exhausted dogs, rabbits, and even a fox escaping the fires.
Meanwhile, new burners have also flared in Sicily, adding Italy to a growing list of countries battling extreme fire conditions.
Pope Leo has asked people around the world to pray for the victims and first responders.
But the big concern this morning is what comes next. Forecasters said temperatures are expected to climb again this week, with little to no rain in sight, setting up a race to get these fires under control before conditions worsen.
Court rejects Trump voting order request
Key parts of Trump’s mail-in voting order will stay on hold in 23 states for now, but the legal battle is far from over.
A federal appeals court in Boston has rejected the Trump administration’s request to let key parts of the executive order take effect before the midterm elections.
The order would expand the federal government’s role in mail-in voting. It calls for the Department of Homeland Security to help create state-by-state lists of eligible voters and for the Postal Service to verify mail voters using those lists.
The First Circuit said the Constitution leaves election administration largely to the states. Judges also warned the order could create an “unprecedented” level of federal involvement and sow confusion this close to November.
The ruling only applies to the 23 states that filed the lawsuit. That leaves the country with a patchwork of rules after another federal appeals court recently allowed the order to proceed elsewhere.
It’s still unclear whether the Postal Service will try to implement the changes in states not covered by the injunction.
The Justice Department has indicated it may ask the Supreme Court to take up the case.
Punch celebrates first birthday
Happy first birthday to Punch, the orphaned baby monkey who captured hearts a year ago after his mother rejected him at birth at a zoo in Japan. For comfort, he clung to a stuffed orangutan, which became his constant companion.
On Sunday, Punch celebrated his first birthday at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden. The little guy has come a long way.
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Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images -
Punch, a young Japanese macaque, plays at Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) -
Punch, a young Japanese macaque, plays at Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Garden in Ichikawa, east of Tokyo, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) -
Philip FONG / AFP via Getty Images -
David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images
Zookeepers said he’s thriving, playing and socializing with the other monkeys after being hand-raised in his first months of life. He’s also moved on from his stuffed orangutan, trading it in for real playmates.
But Punch hasn’t been forgotten. The zoo received more than 2,500 birthday cards from fans, and visitors helped celebrate by singing “Happy Birthday” to their favorite little monkey.
More from Straight Arrow:
Autism research is entering a new era. Here’s what scientists are learning
Autism has become one of the most intensely debated topics in health, with competing claims about its causes and how it should be treated. But behind those public debates, researchers say autism science has entered one of its most promising periods.
Few people have witnessed that transformation more closely than Joseph Buxbaum, a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and geneticist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. As director of the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Buxbaum has spent decades studying autism’s biological causes and searching for new treatments.
“There couldn’t be a better time for autism research,” he told Straight Arrow.