☕️ The latest on the Idaho murder case

Good morning!

President Trump invited a 16-year-old lifeguard from California to the White House after video emerged of him performing a dramatic rescue of a 10-year-old boy trapped in the wash from 8-to-10 foot waves at a beach in Santa Cruz.

"We’re going to bring this heroic young man, and his family, into the White House with, perhaps, the boy he saved, to give him a High Civilian Honor. Very brave, he deserves it!" Trump wrote on X.

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Some headlines from this morning:

• Iran launched multiple ballistic missile strikes at a U.S. military base in Jordan for the first time since President Trump suspended U.S. attacks on Friday. The U.S. Central Military Command said that all missiles were intercepted despite an "attempted surprise attack" by the Iranians. The attacks came a day after President Trump told local media they were deep in talks with their Iranian counterparts, promising “strong military action” if the talks failed.

• The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the director of national intelligence on Tuesday with a vote of 51 to 47, with Democrats abandoning their initial support of him after he failed to acknowledge Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The confirmation ends the tenure of acting DNI director Bill Pulte, who stepped into the role over a month ago when former DNI director Tulsi Gabbard resigned.

• Russia charged the founder of encrypted messaging app Telegram with aiding terrorism on Tuesday, accusing the app of facilitating Ukrainian military operations. Pavel Durov, who was also put on an international wanted list by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), is Russian-born but now lives between France and the United Arab Emirates. The charges relate specifically to the alleged use of Telegram by Ukrainian agents to recruit Russian men for “sabotage and terrorism activities”. Telegram is one of the most popular messaging apps in the country, partly for the increased security it offers its users.

• The funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham took place on Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral and was attended by President Trump in addition to other national heads of state. The President described Graham as one of the “one of the great figures in Senate history” whilst eulogising his former ally. Graham, who was an advocate for the funding of Israeli and Ukrainian war efforts, was honoured by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the funeral.

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The death toll from an earthquake in Japan’s Kumamoto area rose to 13 on Monday as rescue teams continue to try to free trapped survivors and search for missing people.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit on Tuesday, causing buildings to collapse and catch on fire and setting off an explosion in a shopping mall, killing two and trapping dozens.

The government is now warning the city’s 700,000 residents of an ongoing heatwave and possible aftershocks.

The earthquake

At 4:30 p.m. local time in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu island, the southernmost of Japan’s main islands, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck.

It was initially measured as 7.1 magnitude but later revised to 6.8.

The quake caused multiple buildings to collapse, disrupted the operation of the bullet train in the province, and caused mass water and electricity outages, which are ongoing.

In addition to the 13 dead, over 130 people are being treated for injuries in the province’s hospitals.

Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to assist in recovery efforts, and over 200,000 people have been evacuated from homes and dwellings.

The Aeon mall explosion

An hour after the quake struck, an explosion caused the Aeon mall in Kumamoto city to partially collapse.

The explosion has left 20 to 30 mall workers and customers unaccounted for even after rescuers pulled the bodies of two women in their 20s and freed another eight people.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion and have theorized it was caused by a gas leak.

Kumamoto braces for more…

With power cut and people forced out of their homes, officials have warned of the impact of the ongoing heatwave on the already embattled population in Kumamoto.

In Kumamoto City, officials are scrambling to provide power to operate air conditioning in the 500 shelters that now accommodate over 9,000 people.

Concerns have also been raised about the possibility of aftershocks, which could cause more damage and frustrate rescue efforts.

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A man sentenced to life in prison for the murder of four University of Idaho students has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

In a letter to the court, Bryan Kohberger claimed he was “convinced to falsely confess” to the 2022 killings.

The 31-year-old told The New York Times his plea “MUST be withdrawn.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Background

Bryan Kohberger was accused of breaking into the home of six University of Idaho students in November 2022.

Four people – Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin – were murdered in the attack. Two others survived.

Kohberger was charged with murder the following month. In June 2023, prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty.

Kohberger pleaded guilty in 2025. He received four life sentences but was spared from the death penalty in exchange for his plea.

Latest

This week, Kohberger filed a handwritten petition with an Idaho court, seeking to overturn his guilty plea.

In the filing, obtained by People, Kohberger said he was “convinced to falsely confess to capital murder and felony burglary”.

“My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn,” Kohberger said in a statement sent to The New York Times.

Why did he plead?

Kohberger claims he was manipulated through “coercion, disinformation, false promises, and withholding of exculpatory discovery”.

Exculpatory evidence is evidence that could help prove a defendant's innocence. One example Kohberger points to is an “unknown hair in Chapin’s hand.”

In his petition, he wrote that his attorneys promised him “immediate contact visits, freedom of movement, employment” and that they told him “elaborate lies of DR (death row) life.”

This comes despite his confirmation on multiple occasions during the trial that he had ‘freely and voluntarily’ pleaded guilty.

Response

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador responded to the filing in a statement on social media, saying: “My heart goes out to the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan, who have already endured unimaginable loss and now must face today’s deeply painful news.”

“My office stands ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure justice is fully carried out,” he added.

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