MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

PLANE SCARED OF EVIL: Obama administration ponders increasing airport security as attack on U.S.-bound flights heighten

The Obama administration is seriously considering a ramp-up of airport security measures over fears Islamic militants are developing a new generation of hard-to-detect bombs in war-torn Syria.

KILLED FOR HIS WALLET: Young Marine fatally shot, wife injured during mugging outside Kentucky bar as they left birthday bash: cops

Lance Cpl. Jonathan Price, a 26-year-old Marine, and wife Megan Price were the targets of a senselessly brutal robbery outside a Kentucky bar, Lexington police now believe.

Dad strangles 8-year-old son in Queens home before failed suicide attempt

A father murdered his 8-year-old son inside their Queens home and then tried to take his own life on Sunday night, authorities said. The child was found dead with no signs of trauma to his body inside the home on Underhill Ave. in Fresh Meadows at 10:20 p.m., police said.

'THERE WERE BODIES EVERYWHERE': 'Two cowardly young men' open fire in New Orleans, injuring 9: cops

Two gunmen opened fire early Sunday morning in the heart of Bourbon Street, critically injuring two people and wounding seven others as tourists scrambled for cover.

Jason Kidd burns bridge with Nets, but may be left in limbo as Bucks balk at pick demands

Now it’s just a leverage contest and a haggle over Jason Kidd’s worth – a fitting conclusion considering this all started because of Kidd’s overinflated sense of self.

SEXY DUO: Nicki, Pharrell snag top honors at BET Awards

Do the wrong thing? Spike Lee takes cheap shot at late Ed Koch at screening

Spike Lee celebrated the 25th anniversary of his movie “Do the Right Thing” at a star-studded screening 21/2 miles from where the seminal flick was shot. Entering the event at Brooklyn’s BAM Harvey Theater, Lee, 57, took at shot at the late Ed Koch, who was mayor when the film was released in 1989 and focused attention on racial tensions in New York City.

SEE IT Parents furious over Canadian school principal's lewd photos, memes on her social media accounts

Canadian parents are fed up with a school principal’s history of unprofessional behavior that started with a photo of Penny Mueller pretending to perform oral sex on the Washington Monument.

Texas Tech dismisses freshman football player for allegedly punching female basketball player

Texas Tech has dismissed freshman defensive back Nigel Bethel II from the team after he allegedly punched women’s basketball player Amber Battle. She reportedly will need surgery as a result of the incident.

North Korea to try two American tourists for 'hostile acts'

Tourists Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle’s “hostile acts were confirmed by evidence and their own testimonies,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Shia LaBeouf picks a fight in front of NYC strip club

EXCLUSIVE Audit finds Bilinguals Inc. used taxpayer funds for fancy cars, apartment, funeral expenses

A Queens-based provider of bilingual pre-school special education services was hit by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli in a new audit for improperly spending taxpayer money on fancy cars, a Manhattan apartment, and even a recent hire's funeral expenses.

NASA launching carbon dioxide tracking satellite July 1 to monitor planetary levels of the greenhouse gas

Five years after a NASA satellite to track carbon dioxide plunged into the ocean after liftoff, the space agency is launching a carbon copy — this time on a different rocket.

Carmelo Anthony confident about 'max deal' from Knicks, plans to meet with Bulls, Mavericks, Rockets and Lakers

Carmelo Anthony is confident the Knicks will offer him a "max deal" to ensure that the free agent small forward re-signs with the club, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Bill Clinton: Let states decide whether they want to legalize pot

Bill Clinton wants states to experiment with marijuana as cautiously as he claims he did.

Gov. Chris Christie doubles down on war on drugs in New Jersey

On no one's early list of issues likely to headline the 2016 Republican presidential primaries is the nation's ``war on drugs.''

SEE IT: Erykah Badu tries to kiss WPIX reporter during Shia LaBeouf coverage

Lovett: State GOP attacks mayor in pleas to donors

Mayor de Blasio, who this week is headlining a state Senate Democratic fund-raiser, is also helping Republicans raise money — but in a much different way.

SEE IT U.S. astronaut on International Space Station captures massive lightning storm above Texas

As thunder and lightning boomed over Texas, astronauts watched the silent, bright blips aboard the International Space Station.

OOPS! Vendor accidentally shoots woman in leg during demo at Pennsylvania gun show

Geoffrey Hawk was showing a gun and holster to Krista Gearhart on Saturday at the Eagle Arms Gun Show when the weapon fired a bullet into her leg. Hawk told police he thought the gun was not loaded.

Florida woman gets life sentence for killing 11-year-old autistic stepdaughter by gagging her too tightly

A jury took just over two hours to convict Misty Stoddard of the first-degree murder of Melissa Stoddard. The girl had been tied to a wooden plank with her mouth duct-taped shut and ultimately suffocated

Oscar Pistorius heads back to trial after psychological evaluation

The fallen hero returns to court for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation at a hospital.

Marilyn to Diana, see Hollywood stars who made The News

Look back at the greatest moments in sports since 1919

New York

New Yorkers uncover family immigration history through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' genealogy program

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ little-known records office in Washington, D.C., includes a historian, librarian and more than a dozen researchers.

Two young women busted in 'knockout' attack on Orthodox Jewish man, 79, in Brooklyn

Two women were arrested after hitting a 79-year-old man in the back of the head and knocking him to the ground in Brooklyn Sunday, cops said.

Rockaway beachgoers remain confused by closures, absence of lifeguards

Two large sections of the Rockaways, Queens, beach remained officially shuttered Sunday due to a sand replenishment program by the Army Corps of Engineers to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

Three killed, 18 wounded as wave of gun violence sweeps across all five boroughs

The mayhem began about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, when a gunman opened fire outside a deli on Mermaid Ave. near W. 24th St., two blocks from the Coney Island boardwalk.

Cops hunt man who choked woman, stabbed good Samaritan with screwdriver on Staten Island

Cops are hunting for an unhinged man who assaulted a woman in Staten Island then drove a screwdriver into the back of a good Samaritan who tried to stop him, police said Saturday.

Prince Harry set to inherit $17M left by Diana: report

E-cigarette refills need child-proof caps: Sen. Chuck Schumer

Citing a rising number of calls to poison control centers relating to liquid nicotine, Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the federal government to require child-proof caps on containers used to refill e-cigarettes.

EDITORIAL Boehner vs. Obama: A farce, with a point

Shane: To the skeptical, Speaker John Boehner’s threatened lawsuit against the President for not faithfully executing the laws seems a cynical attempt to appease a GOP faction that thinks “governing while Obama” is an impeachable offense.

Fire breaks out in cruise ship boiler room, returns to port in Seattle with its 3,000 passengers

Holland America says that there were no injuries among the guests and crew of the MS Westerdam following the blaze Saturday night.

Obama to seek $2 billion in border control aid as immigration reform remains stalled

President Barack Obama will seek more than $2 billion to respond to the flood of immigrants illegally entering the U.S. through the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas and ask for new powers to deal with returning immigrant children apprehended while traveling without their parents, a White House official said Saturday.

HORSE PLAY: Kaley Cuoco enters L.A. equestrian event

Islamic extremists kill at least 30 people in raid in Nigeria near site where girls were kidnapped

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Witnesses say suspected Islamic extremists sprayed gunfire at worshippers and torched four churches in a village just miles from the town where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped.

Former Procter & Gamble CEO is Obama's Veterans Affairs pick

Obama is expected to announce Monday that he’s nominating Bob McDonald, 61, the former president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, to be his new secretary of the department.

Lawmaker evicted for sexual harassment violation

Assemblyman Micah Kellner on Monday will lose his offices in both Albany and Manhattan as his punishment for continuing to ignore the rules after he was found to have violated the chamber’s sexual harassment policies.

‘I’m for it!’ — Bill Clinton makes no secret of support for Hillary run as GOP continues attacks

Bill Clinton clearly wants his wife Hillary to run for president in 2016, but he’s promising to let her make her own decision.

Sports

Bondy: Past success vs. Belgium in World Cup gives U.S. hope

We know all about the Belgians, know how the U.S. always dominates them in the World Cup every time. We also know they whine when they lose, complain about the referee and the state of the field.

CONCACAF teams make case for extra World Cup berth

If CONCACAF is just a mid-major conference in the big-money world of soccer, then it has a Butler going for it here in Brazil.

World Cup Diary: Filildo playing the waiting game in Brazil

Breakfast is free, it comes with the room. This is a very good thing for me, because I’m still without money or cards at the moment. For the past two days, I’ve been smuggling out hastily prepared cheese sandwiches from breakfast for my dinner, figuring the exorbitant rates justify this criminal act.

Coffey: Grigor Dimitrov making name for himself at Wimbledon

He comes from a nation known for its weightlifters, its wrestlers, its Maleeva Sisters. Grigor Dimitrov is forcing his way into the conversation, and it is happening fast.

Bondy: Past success vs. Belgium in World Cup gives U.S. hope

We know all about the Belgians, know how the U.S. always dominates them in the World Cup every time. We also know they whine when they lose, complain about the referee and the state of the field.

LATEST NEWS: Costa Rica prevails in penalties over Greece at World Cup; U.S. soccer fan dressed as Teddy Roosevelt rallies nation; Bondy: Past success vs. Belgium in World Cup gives U.S. hope; CONCACAF teams make case for extra World Cup berth; Belgians are sure about World Cup victory over U.S.; View All

Chilean journalist flashes World Cups to celebrate goal

Islamist rebels in Somalia kill three as Ramadan starts

Islamist rebels shot dead three members of Somalia's security forces in the capital on Sunday, police and witnesses said on the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month when insurgents had warned they would stage attacks.

A REAL HEART-STOPPER: Brazil fan suffers fatal heart attack while watching stunning 3-2 victory in World Cup match

Brazil’s World Cup shootout against Chile was a literal heart-stopper. A 69-year-old fan watching the final moment’s of the host team’s stunning 3-2 victory in a bar at the stadium suffered a fatal heart attack, the Estado de Minas newspaper reported.