News – Page 27 – 105.7 WDNY

New Air Force One jet to be ‘maxed out,’ Trump says, after security concerns raised

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The new Air Force One will be “maxed out” with security features, undergoing an upgrade that’s expected to put the Qatari-gifted jet out of commission for about a month, President Donald Trump said on Sunday.

“Well, it has, it has a lot, and you know it has a lot of capability, but as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re going to send it to have it be maxed out,” the president said of the newly retrofitted jet. “So they’re going to be sending it, and they’ll have it be maxed out.”

The jet had faced security concerns in the weeks since its first operational flight on July 1, when Trump flew on it to North Dakota. The plane, a Boeing 747-8 that was gifted from Qatar, later carried Trump to the NATO summit in Turkey this month.

As Trump prepared to depart the summit, the Secret Service urged the president to take the older Air Force One jet as a precaution, due in part for the differences in security capabilities, ABC News learned at the time.

The New York Times reported that the new jet did not have the same anti-missile capabilities as the previous model. Trump’s comment on Sunday followed a reporter’s question about those claims, which ABC News has not independently confirmed.

“Mr. President, this plane does not have antimissile defense systems on it,” the reporter asked. “Why are you flying on it?”

Trump in response said the plane would be “maxed out,” a process that he expected would “take about a month.” The president did not detail exactly when the upgrades were expected to begin.

The Qatari royal family’s donation of the luxury jet valued at approximately $400 million, an unprecedented foreign gift, raised questions from some lawmakers and ethics experts. Ahead of his first flight, Trump gave credit to the Qatari government.

“Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary,” he said on July 1. “They spent top dollar.”

“I said to Boeing, ‘What’s the best one?’ They said this is the best plane ever built, and you’re going to have the privilege of flying it, and I have a privilege also of flying it,” Trump said that day.

The U.S. Air Force said it had been modifying the jet Texas since September to meet the security, communications and other needs to transport the president.

The Air Force last year originally estimated it would cost less than $400 million to retrofit the gift, though it’s unclear how much exactly has been spent so far. Many of the details of the retrofitting on the new plane are considered classified.

The gifted plane is expected to be used as the new Air Force One until shortly before Trump leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement have told ABC News.

ABC News’ Emily Chang, Sarah Kolinovsky and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.

El Mayo, the infamous Mexican drug lord, to be sentenced on federal charges

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” will be sentenced Monday in a New York City federal court on drug trafficking charges that accused him of being one of the most prolific and powerful narcotraffickers in the world.

Together with Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo,” he founded the Sinaloa cartel and oversaw the shipment of millions of kilograms of lethal drugs, including cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. He employed armed sicarios who assaulted, tortured, and murdered and he paid millions in bribes at all levels of the Mexican government, officials said.

“It would be difficult to overstate the magnitude of the defendant’s crimes and scale of the corruption, violence, and other harm he spread throughout Mexico, the United States, and the world,” federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said in a sentencing memo that called for life in prison.

The sentence is not in doubt. El Mayo pleaded guilty last August to a charge of committing a continuing criminal enterprise, a catch-all that included 85 violations of the law, and agreed to the mandatory life imprisonment along with a $15 billion forfeiture.

As part of his plea, El Mayo, 76, admitted he was responsible for at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine and vast quantities of heroin and fentanyl.

Federal prosecutors said El Mayo represents “serious security concerns” that must be considered when the judge recommends a prison where he will serve his sentence.

“The defendant is the co-founder of one of the world’s most violent criminal organizations, and for decades directed its operations, including its violence. Moreover, many members of the Cartel remain loyal to the defendant, including one of the defendant’s sons, who remains a key leader of the defendant’s faction of the Cartel in the defendant’s absence,” federal prosecutors said.

The defense noted that El Mayo spared the judicial system a trial and “helped protect the safety of potential witnesses who will not need to be disclosed or called to testify.”

In a statement, El Mayo said he recognized the “grave harm that illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico and elsewhere.” He also said he recognized the “human toll of the violence and lawlessness that my criminal organization engaged in.”

El Mayo said he took responsibility for his role in all of it and apologized to “everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.”

Gas prices top $4 a gallon as Iran war escalates

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

Gas prices top a gallon as Iran war escalates

Gas prices top $4 a gallon as Iran war escalates — A person prepares to pump gas at a Valero gas station on June 16, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Gas prices in the United States topped $4 per gallon on average Monday as an escalation of the Iran war renewed fears of a global oil shortage.

Prices at the pump have jumped 13 cents per gallon, or 3%, over the past week, AAA data showed, with the average price per gallon now at $4.003.

The recent cost rise brings gasoline prices back to a level achieved soon after the Iran war began in late February. The Middle East conflict prompted Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime trading route that facilitates transportation of about one-fifth of global oil supply. The historic oil disruption sent gasoline prices surging.

Gas prices temporarily fell below $4 a gallon last month after the U.S. and Iran struck a preliminary agreement aimed at ending the war. Before the Iran war, fuel costs had last exceeded $4 a gallon in August 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran in recent days has reignited large-scale fighting and dampened prospects of a resolution.

President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. hit Iran “hard” in honor of the U.S. service members who were killed by Iran over the weekend.

U.S. Central Command said two service members were killed in an attack on Jordan on Friday, and that a third service member remained missing. Another service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, CENTCOM said.

The U.S. resumed its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz last week, reversing a key commitment made as part of the agreement. That move came after Iran fired upon oil tankers in the strait.

The Iran war triggered one of the largest oil shocks ever recorded, sending the national average price of gasoline as high as $4.56 a gallon on May 21, AAA data showed.

Oil and gasoline prices began to fall in late May, however, as Iran and the U.S. appeared willing to strike an agreement that would reopen the strait. By late June, those prices gad fallen fell to their lowest level since before the war began.

Relief at the pump helped bring down prices overall. Inflation dropped more than expected in June as gas prices eased, federal government data on Tuesday showed.

Gas prices rose 3.5% in June compared to a year earlier, marking a retreat from a year-over-year inflation rate of 4.2% in the prior month. The reading for June marked the lowest inflation since March, though the pace of price increases remains more than a percentage point higher than its pre-war level.

Even after easing last month, overall inflation stands markedly higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

ABC News’ David Brennan contributed to this report.

Man in custody after setting off ‘incendiary device’ outside federal building in Manhattan

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A man with a history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity set off an “incendiary device” outside a Manhattan federal building that houses an immigration court, authorities said.

Video captured the moment the suspect poured a liquid and then ignited it outside 26 Federal Plaza, sparking a massive fire. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said the suspect used fireworks to set the blaze.

Two people — a federal employee and a civilian — suffered minor injuries and were treated and released, officials said.

Barnacle called it an “anti-government attack on a federal facility.” He said the suspect had an incendiary device, a pellet gun and a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets.”

The suspect was taken into custody, the FBI said, and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Purported gang members charged in social media influencer’s killing

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A dozen purported members of the Bad Boys 7, a set of the Trinitarios, were indicted Monday on racketeering conspiracy charges that accused them of five murders, including the carjacking death last August of Ariela La Langosta, a nightlife influencer with more than half a million followers on Instagram.

She was shot multiple times and found dead in her car on the Cross County Parkway in Mount Vernon.

La Langosta, 33, whose real name was Ariela Mejia-Polanco, was a mother of two.

Her family said she left her job at Ikon New York around 4:30 that Sunday morning. The Westchester County Police Department said she was found deceased a few hours later, about 8 a.m., behind the wheel of her car on the eastbound Cross County Parkway near the Broad Street exit in Mount Vernon.

Andy Burnham becomes UK’s next prime minister after meeting with King Charles III

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Andy Burnham officially became British prime minister on Monday — the country’s seventh leader in 10 years — having already been elected as the leader of the country’s Labour Party last week.

Burnham, who until recently was serving as the mayor of Greater Manchester, succeeded outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Speaking outside the prime minister’s official residence — 10 Downing Street — on Monday morning, Starmer said, “Today I am here to offer my resignation and close the book on my time as prime minister. My work is done.”

“I thank the British people for the opportunity to serve. I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved. Thank you very much,” Starmer added.

Of his successor, the outgoing prime minister said, “I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support.”

After his address, Starmer traveled the short distance to Buckingham Palace to formally inform King Charles III of his resignation. Burnham then also traveled to palace where the king asked him to form a government.

The new prime minister then traveled to Downing Street to give his first address, telling the assembled press that Britain must show “that we can regain our stability.”

Burnham said his appointment will serve as “a circuit-breaker” for the country, pledging to deliver a new political and economic model and a 10-year plan.

Among the new prime’s commitments were to address cost of living concerns, help young people into work, end homelessness, re-industrialize the country, put “life’s essentials back under public control” and push for more local powers.

Through the rest of Monday, Burnham is expected to begin appointing cabinet ministers from Number 10.

Starmer announced that he would step down in June, following months of domestic political turmoil. Despite leading Labour to a historic majority in parliament in the 2024 general election, Starmer faced persistent external and internal criticism over his perceived failure to deliver rapid change after 14 years of Conservative Party rule in Britain.

Many in Starmer’s party had written to the prime minister asking him to step down following local elections in May, which saw the party lose more than 1,000 seats on local councils, results that were widely interpreted as a repudiation by British voters of Labour’s performance under the prime minister’s leadership.

Starmer long said he intended to see out his full five-year. Announcing his resignation in June, Starmer said, “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”

Burnham was the only candidate in the subsequent leadership election, ultimately winning nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour members of parliament — of the 650 MPs in total — in the House of Commons.

In accepting the leadership of Labour last week, Burnham said his mission was “to bring back hope” and address decades of economic inequality plus falling living standards.

“We must recognize that this generation of politicians — myself included — have failed to challenge a political culture and an economic model that simply doesn’t work well enough for ordinary people,” he said.

Burnham will become the seventh leader to take the reins of the country in 10 years, a reflection of the political and economic turbulence that has beset the country since the Brexit vote in 2016.

The incoming prime minister said he would also make British politics “less toxic, adding, “I will work to build a new politics. The country is crying out for it.”

Burnham, 56, was born in the Lancashire region of northern England. Burnham started out as a journalist, writing for trade magazines, before transitioning to work as a Labour parliamentary researcher while in his early 20s.

Burnham rose through the party ranks before being elected as the MP for his hometown of Leigh, in Greater Manchester, in 2001. He held that seat for 16 years, during which time he was appointed to several cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

During Labour’s years in opposition, Burnham bid to become Labour leader twice, but was defeated by — and then served in shadow cabinets of — Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.

In 2017, Burnham left parliament to become the mayor of Greater Manchester. In his victory speech, Burnham heralded what he called “the dawn of a new era, not just for this city region but for politics in our country. It has been too London-centric for too long. The old political and party structures haven’t delivered for all people and for all places.”

Burnham is associated with the center left of the Labour Party, and has described himself as a socialist. Burnham’s time as Manchester mayor saw him emerge as a major proponent of shifting investment and political power out of London, and earned him the nickname “the King of the North.”

ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.

Nolan Wells’ family, friends to gather at his funeral in Mississippi as death investigation continues

July 20, 2026 by WDNY Radio

(OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.) — Family and friends of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells will gather on Monday for his funeral as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to deliver a eulogy at the service at Center Pointe Church in Wells’ hometown, Ocean Springs.

The 18-year-old went missing on the 4th of July after going on a boat trip with his high school friends to the popular, undeveloped Horn Island, just south of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, according to officials and family attorney Ben Crump.

“[The friends] left [Horn Island] and went back without Nolan,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. “From what we understand, he chose to stay there.”

Wells’ body was recovered two days later, according to officials.

Authorities said they believe the college football player drowned and don’t suspect foul play, but the sheriff’s office stressed that investigators are “working diligently to determine exactly what occurred.”

Wells’ family is desperate for answers and sent his body to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, Crump noted.

Ledbetter told ABC News that the sheriff’s office welcomes the family’s independent investigation.

“By all means, that’s more information looking into the death of Nolan that will be made available and another set of eyes looking at it,” he said.

“We’re working towards the same goal as the family — we want a thorough investigation,” the sheriff said.

Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, told ABC News her son was a “bright light,” recalling that “his smile, his energy was just, just so infectious.”

“He was just a genuinely a good person,” she said