Category: ESTA News

The area surrounding a famous restaurant in a large shopping mall in Cerritos, was thrown into turmoil after a man wielding a knife went on a rampage and was shot dead by another customer.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), at approximately 2p.m. on the 19^{th of} July a man armed with a knife entered Lucil’s Smokehouse BBQ, located on South Street in Cerritos, and threatened staff and diners. A customer present at the time, who was legally carrying a firearm, demanded that the man drop the knife. However, when the man lunged at the customer while still holding the knife, the customer fired their weapon.

According to the LASD, the man who was shot received emergency medical treatment at the scene but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. The customer who fired the shots remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation. Preliminary police investigations indicate that the incident began before the man entered the restaurant. LASD officials stated that it appears the man drove away in a stolen truck, abandoned it, inflicted self-harm with a weapon at a Starbucks near South Street, and then headed to a restaurant.

Magali Zakarias, a witness working nearby, told ABC7 in an interview that she saw the man driving recklessly before running into the restaurant. “The driver drove recklessly into the shopping centre, abandoned the car, and ran toward Lucilles,” Zakarias said. “He was holding a knife and appeared to be already injured.” She added, “When I looked closely at the vehicle, there was blood on the steering wheel and all over the interior.”

A restaurant employee stated, “I saw a man who appeared to have slit his throat running into the restaurant holding a knife. He entered the main dining area where customers were, aimed a gun at another customer, and fired when the man continued to walk toward him despite being told to put the knife down.”

Multiple police officers responded to the scene, and the area around the restaurant, located in a large shopping centre near the 605 Freeway, was cordoned off while the investigation was conducted. Police questioned witnesses and restaurant staff. According to the LASD, an off-duty officer was also present at the scene and witnessed the shooting but did not fire a gun himself.

Police have not released the identity of the man killed in the shooting, nor have they revealed the exact motive for the crime or why he headed to the restaurant after self-inflicting wounds with a weapon. It was confirmed that the customer who fired the shots possessed a valid concealed carry permit. Police are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident with this customer.

The yield on 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds continues its upward trajectory.

According to Bloomberg data, the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield has exceeded 5% on 27 trading days this year, accounting for 19% of total trading days. Notably, it has surpassed 5% for 12 consecutive trading days recently. This marks the longest period the 30-year Treasury yield has remained above 5% since the 2007 financial crisis.

In 2007, long-term interest rates also exceeded 5% for 50 consecutive trading days. However, since the benchmark interest rate is currently 1.5 percentage points lower than it was then, the rates felt by the market are much higher.

Analysts attribute these high long-term rates to the deterioration of government finances and the increased issuance of corporate bonds by private companies to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Tony Rodriguez, Head of Bond Strategy at Nuveen Asset Management, stated, “The biggest factors driving up long-term rates are massive national debt and fiscal deficits.”

Since 2007, the size of the U.S. Treasury bond market has surged from $4.5 trillion to $31 trillion.

During the same period, the ratio of public national debt to U.S. GDP also doubled, surpassing 100%. Annual interest costs alone exceed $1 trillion.

International credit rating agency Fitch recently warned that “the U.S. debt burden is significantly higher than that of other countries with the same AA rating.”

The massive issuance of corporate bonds by private companies to secure funds for AI infrastructure investment is also pushing up bond yields.

Alex Payne, Senior Portfolio Manager at Vanguard Capital Management, stated, “Pension funds and insurers, the primary buyers of 30-year bonds, now have a wider range of options than before,” but added that he could not be certain whether interest rates have reached their peak.

Rodriguez of Nuveen also remarked, “Governments, hyperscalers, and corporations are all competing to secure investors in the long-term bond market.”

Kevin Flanagan, Head of Investment Strategy at WisdomTree, pointed out, “Fiscal deficits, existing debt, and the potential for increased government bond issuance in the future are all factors to consider when evaluating long-term bond yields.”

Unlike the significant rise in long-term bond yields, yields on mid-to-mid-term bonds with maturities of 2 to 10 years remain at levels seen in early 2025.

This is because, despite the increased likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, investors have flocked to short-term instruments, which they consider relatively safer.

Hank Smith, Chief Investment Strategy Officer at Haverford Trust, said that investors have been concerned about national debt for the past 20 years, adding, “Tax-exempt clients do not invest in long-term bonds with maturities of 10 years or more because the risk-reward ratio does not match.”

With a heatwave forecast and Seattle’s daytime high temperatures surpassing 90 degrees on the 15th, a tragic accident occurred at Lake Sammamish in Issaquah, where a teenage girl drowned. This marks the second drowning accident at the lake this summer. The girl died on the afternoon of the 14th while spending time with her family near Sunset Beach in Lake Sammamish State Park.

According to the Eastside Fire & Rescue Service, the girl was walking along a shallow path leading toward Otel Island outside the designated swimming area when she suddenly entered deep water. The family called 911 around 4:30 p.m., reporting that their daughter was missing. Fire authorities reported that the girl’s whereabouts remained unknown for about 10 minutes, leaving the family in a state of extreme anxiety. Rescue teams arrived at the scene seven minutes after the call, and four divers immediately began a search.

The rescue team found the girl underwater and performed emergency measures, including CPR, but ultimately could not save her. Authorities are currently investigating the exact cause of the drowning. However, the family suggested that the girl may have entered a much deeper section than expected and raised the possibility of a sudden drop-off. Lake Sammamish is a popular summer vacation spot, but it is also known for recurring drowning accidents every year.

On June 5, a 35-year-old man drowned there as well. Experts are urging extreme caution, warning that lakes and rivers in the Pacific Northwest remain very cold even with high temperatures. The explanation is that cold water can instantly cause muscle cramps and hypothermia, putting even skilled swimmers at risk. Fire authorities presented safety guidelines, including: always wearing a life jacket; refraining from swimming after drinking alcohol or taking drugs; notifying others of your entry and exit routes; ensuring an adult always supervises children; and not entering the water if water conditions are uncertain.

Catherine Imboden, a spokesperson for the Eastside Fire & Rescue Service, emphasized, “If someone disappears or goes out of sight in the water, you must call 911 immediately,” adding, “A few minutes make the difference between life and death. In rescue operations, just a few minutes are critical.”

On the 12th, President Donald Trump claimed that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to civilian vessels, stating that the U.S. had carried out a very powerful airstrike against Iran for attacking civilian ships in the strait. This rejected the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s claim to re-block the strait. In telephone interviews with NBC and CNN on the same day, President Trump said, “We attacked them (Iran) very hard last night,” and “Hormuz is open. We bombed them mercilessly last night.”

The attack against Iran mentioned by President Trump refers to the airstrike carried out the previous day by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) against Iranian air and ground surveillance radars, missile and drone depots, missile and drone launch bases, and surface-to-air missile launchers. This was a response to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacking a Cypriot-flagged container ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz at 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time the previous day, marking the third instance of U.S. airstrikes against Iran in the past week.

In a phone interview, President Trump fiercely condemned Iran, calling them “really evil and crazy.” He continued, “We had our last meeting with them. They agreed to an agreement yesterday, and that was a perfect agreement for us,” adding, “It was no nuclear weapons, no one here and no one there.” President Trump further claimed, “They gave up everything, and then we walked out of the meeting room, but less than an hour later, they launched drones and dispatched ships,” stating, “So I said, ‘You are crazy. You are crazy.'”

These remarks by President Trump explain that U.S. airstrikes resumed because Iran attacked a civilian vessel passing through the strait again, despite negotiations and repeated agreements reached the previous day regarding the termination of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran and the situation that triggered the recent armed clashes between the two sides.

Intensive drunk driving crackdowns are taking place across New York and New Jersey during the Independence Day holiday weekend. According to the New York State Police, checkpoints will be set up on public roads and highways throughout the state until July 5, when the holiday weekend ends.

The crackdown will target not only drunk driving but also various other driving offenses, including driving without a license, using a cell phone while driving, unregistered vehicles, and bus lane violations. In particular, the plan involves setting up checkpoints at major roads and deploying a large number of police cars disguised as civilian vehicles to identify drunk drivers and speeding vehicles.

New York City is also deploying more police forces than usual during this period to conduct a large-scale crackdown on drunk drivers. The Bergen County Police Department in New Jersey also plans to set up checkpoints throughout all national roads, including highway exits, during this period to crack down on drunk driving and prevent accidents, aiming to identify illegal drivers. Meanwhile, New York State conducted drunk driving enforcement during last year’s Independence Day holiday weekend, indicting 1,563 drivers on charges of negligent driving and issuing 49,843 traffic violation tickets.

As the Trump administration ordered an expansion of arrests targeting undocumented immigrants subject to deportation, it has been revealed that the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is arresting and detaining an average of 2,000 people per day. Furthermore, unlike in the past when major cities were targeted, unannounced “covert raids” have recently been centered on small and medium-sized cities and suburban areas where immigrants congregate, intensifying the fear of deportation within immigrant communities.

According to a report by the New York Times (NYT) on the 2nd, ICE leadership recently issued an internal directive to concentrate all enforcement agents’ capabilities on arresting deportees. This pressure immediately translated into actual enforcement figures, with over 10,000 people detained in the past five days. The daily average number of arrests has more than doubled from approximately 1,000 at the beginning of this year.

Citing sources, the newspaper reported that ICE officials were asked by the White House to expand enforcement and were notified of a new standard of “2,000 arrests per day.”

Consequently, senior ICE officials are reportedly ordering as many agents as possible to work seven days a week and deploying 80% of their total force to arrest operations. Of particular note is the change in the nature of the crackdowns.

Unlike the flashy operations centered on major cities that garnered massive attention in the past, recent raids are being conducted surprise bypasses in relatively smaller cities and suburban areas. Immigrant advocacy groups have pointed out that this method of enforcement, which reduces external visibility, is actually fueling fear within the immigrant community.

An official from an immigrant rights group in the New York area stated, “While ICE raids in densely populated New York City draw public attention and enable coordinated responses, enforcement operations in suburban immigrant communities that fall out of the public eye are actually difficult to respond to individually.”

The official added, “Enforcement methods that exploit blind spots to infiltrate daily life can be even more frightening for immigrant communities.” Palisades Park, New Jersey, where surprise raids on immigrants have been occurring daily recently, is cited as a typical example of this shift in enforcement methods. In Palisades Park, raid operations resumed last month have not ceased, with arrests targeting Hispanic immigrants taking place along Broad Avenue over three days this week.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, has downgraded its investment rating for emerging market (EM) stocks, including South Korea, by one notch due to artificial intelligence (AI) risks.

In its global investment outlook report for the second half of 2026, published on the 30th of last month, BlackRock Investment Research announced that it was lowering its investment rating for emerging market stocks from “overweight” to “neutral” for the next six to twelve months. As the reason, it pointed to the risks associated with markets like South Korea and Taiwan, where AI-related companies account for a large proportion.

The report stated, “When multiple markets are connected to the same supply chain, geographical diversification does not reduce concentration risk,” adding, “Due to this concentration risk, we have downgraded our investment rating for emerging market equities in general.”

The firm viewed the structure of these countries’ stock markets—led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in Korea, and TSMC in Taiwan—as being concentrated on a small number of large-cap AI-related stocks, as potentially amplifying risk. However, BlackRock maintained an “overweight” rating for the U.S. stock market, which has a high proportion of technology companies.

The report assessed, “We are seeking broad AI investment opportunities through U.S. tech stocks, and accordingly, we maintain an overweight rating on U.S. stocks,” noting, “While it is unclear which companies will ultimately emerge as winners, it is highly likely that many of them will be located in the United States.” Regarding long-term U.S. Treasuries, the firm maintained an “underweight” rating.

It viewed the role of U.S. Treasuries as a haven asset as inflation has been triggered by massive investments in AI infrastructure. Subsequently, the investment rating for short- and medium-term Eurozone government bonds was upgraded from neutral to overweight.

At the same time, it was analyzed that investors are overestimating the duration of monetary policy tightening. Jean Boisbin, Director of BlackRock Investment Research, stated in an interview with Bloomberg, “Due to the disruptive changes brought about by AI, polarization among companies in the corporate bond market will intensify; consequently, ‘selective investment’ that identifies high-quality firms will be necessary to generate excess returns above the market average.”

The amount of Child Tax Credit in New Jersey will be increased by 25% from the current level. The

$60.7 billion state budget bill for fiscal year 2026–2027, scheduled to be processed by the New Jersey Legislature on the 30th, has finalized the inclusion of a provision to increase the state income tax credit under the Child Tax Credit program by 25% over the next three years. This marks the first expansion of the Child Tax Credit in New Jersey in three years, since 2023.

Under this budget bill, the tax credits per child based on annual household income are as follows

: $1,250 per child for households with an annual income of less than $30,000

; $1,000 per child for households with an annual income of $30,000–

$40,000; $750 per child for households with an

annual income of $40,000–$50,000; $500 per child for households with an annual income of $50,000–$60,000

; and $250 per child for households with an annual income of $60,000–$80,000. This increase was finalized as New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill and the Democratic leadership of the state Senate and Assembly recently reached a tentative agreement on a new budget of $60.7 billion. In addition to expanding the Child Tax Credit, the new budget bill includes a provision to lower the eligibility threshold for the “Stay New Jersey” property tax relief program for those aged 65 and older from the current annual income of $500,000 or less to $200,000 or less. Furthermore, it includes a plan to impose a fee of $325 to $725 per employee on companies with 50 or more employees enrolled in Medicaid, a measure that faced significant opposition from the business community. The

Democratic Party in the state legislature officially introduced the new budget bill on the afternoon of the 28th, and after it was approved by both the State Senate and Assembly Budget Committees late that afternoon, it is now set for a vote in the plenary session on the 30th. Governor Sherrill plans to sign the bill immediately once it is finally approved by the legislature.

However, the Republican Party in the state legislature strongly criticized the process, stating that “hasty handling is taking place, such as submitting the massive state budget bill directly to a subcommittee and passing it without sufficient time to properly review it.”

In the Democratic primary for Washington, D.C. mayor held on the 16th, the victory of progressive City Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George, known as “Washington’s Mam Dani,” is considered highly likely.

Additionally, City Councilman Robert White secured his place in the general election after winning a landslide victory in the primary for the D.C. Delegate to Congress.

According to the vote count results announced by the D.C. Board of Elections on the 17th, with approximately 100,000 votes—66% of the total—counted, Lewis George led former City Councilwoman Kenyan McDuffie significantly with over 52% of the vote. McDuffie’s vote share was approximately 37%, while all other candidates remained below 3%. This mayoral election garnered even more attention as Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has led the city for 12 years, decided not to seek a fourth term.

Lewis George, the current Ward 4 council member, put forward easing the cost of living and resolving housing issues as his core campaign pledges. He appealed for voter support by proposing the expansion of Universal Childcare and a plan to supply 72,000 new housing units. As these pledges are seen as similar to the policy stance of Zohran Mamdani, a progressive politician who has recently been gaining attention in New York politics, some are calling Council Member Lewis George “Washington’s Mamdani.”

Candidate Lewis George (38), a graduate of Howard University Law School, is a politician advocating Democratic Socialism and enjoys strong support from labor unions and progressive groups. Following the announcement of the vote count, Council Member George effectively declared victory to his supporters, stating, “This is a victory for those who have not given up hope for a government that works for all citizens.”

On the other hand, Candidate McDuffie, who has served on the council for over 13 years, made strengthening public safety the key agenda of his campaign. Candidate McDuffie is emphasizing economic revitalization and strengthening public safety through a centrist, pragmatic approach. He advocated expanding the nighttime curfew and increasing police personnel and budget, but he failed to narrow the gap in his competition with candidate Louis George. Meanwhile, in the primary for the House of Representatives leadership in D.C., City Councilman Robert White defeated incumbent Brooke Pinto by a large margin.

White recorded approximately 63% of the vote, while Pinto garnered only 21.5%. White stated that he received a phone call from Pinto conceding defeat while the vote count was underway. With this election, White has emerged as the Democratic candidate to succeed Councilman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has held the position for over 30 years. In the primary for D.C. Attorney General, incumbent Brian Schwalb secured the Democratic nomination by defeating his competitor, J.P. Szymkowicz, by a large margin.

With approximately 75% of registered voters in Washington, D.C., being Democrats, the winner of the Democratic primary is projected to effectively win the general election this coming November. The announcement of the results was delayed compared to previous years due to vote counting slowed down by the Ranked Choice Voting system, introduced for the first time in D.C., and a surge of voters just before the polls closed.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50–3.75% at its first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held on the 17th under the leadership of new Chair Kevin Warsh.

The Fed announced that it unanimously decided to maintain the rate at this level during the regular FOMC meeting that concluded on the day. This marks the fourth consecutive time the benchmark rate has frozen.

After cutting the rate by 0.25 percentage points three consecutive times in September, October, and December of last year, the Fed has kept rates frozen in January, March, and April of this year.

In a statement, the Fed said, “Inflation remains high relative to the Committee’s 2% target, partly reflecting supply shocks caused by price increases in certain sectors such as energy,” adding that “the Committee will achieve price stability.”

Of the 18 people who submitted year-end benchmark interest rate forecasts, nine predicted a rate hike. This is interpreted as suggesting the possibility of one rate hike within the year. One person did not submit a forecast. It appears to be Chair Wash, who is reluctant to provide a forecast.

The growth rate of the U.S. economy (real gross domestic product) this year was projected at 2.2%. This is 0.2 percentage points lower than last March.