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It’s Tuesday, July 16 — here’s what you’ll find in today’s newsletter:

• Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate

• A man who tried to smuggle snakes in his pants

• 4 quick hits of news from the last 24 hours

Trump picks J.D. Vance

Trump picked J.D. Vance as his 2024 running mate. National Review says Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” entered politics recently and is now one of Trump's most loyal supporters.

Hot Air thinks Vance is a good pick: He'll keep Trump's base happy -- plus, Vance is a younger candidate who'll bring vigor to his campaign.

Free Beacon added that Vance will solidify Trump's Rust Belt support: Vance's message of economic populism will be popular there.

But Vox sounded the alarm: Trump’s VP pick is an authoritarian threat to democracy.

By the way, WaPo notes that Vance wasn't always a big fan of Trump. In fact, he compared Trump to “cultural heroin” in a 2016 Atlantic piece.

The snakes-in-pants smuggler

A man tried to slither across the Chinese border with 104 live snakes in his pants. WaPo says he claimed to have “nothing to declare”.

NPR says it could bite him in the asp -- there are serious fines and criminal charges for animal smuggling.

NBC: Yup, China really wants to defang the illegal wildlife trade. Most of the man's trouser snakes were non-native, that definitely rattled the authorities.

IFL Science says it's a scaly situation for sure. The smuggler was stopped at Shenzhen's Futian Port carrying six bags of snakes taped inside his pants pockets. Moral of the story -- don't be ssstupid!

1) Five killed and dozens wounded in a rare attack on a Shiite mosque in Oman during the holy month of Muharram.

2) Over half a million in the Midwest are without power after severe storms and multiple tornadoes hit the region.

3) Trump appears at the GOP convention with a bandage after an assassination attempt, with immigration as the next focus.

4) Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers clinches victory at the MLB Home Run Derby, beating Bobby Witt Jr.