Perennial Millennial

📊 Spanish Wildfire, GOP Tension, and SK Hynix

Farooq Zafar — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:29:55 GMT

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇸 Spain wildfire claims dozen lives. A wildfire tore through an expatriate community in southern Spain overnight. 12 people were killed, 8 were injured and 23 remained missing. The blaze began yesterday near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains in Almería province. Andalusian emergency chief Antonio Sanz said most victims ignored shelter-in-place instructions. Some attempted to escape through a riverbed, which became a death trap; 7 people died on foot after abandoning their cars. Authorities believe most of the dead were foreign nationals, 4 thought to be British because their burned vehicle had a right-side steering wheel. 150 firefighters and 220 military emergency personnel fought the blaze. It consumed more than 3,200 hectares, or 7,900 acres, of farmland and forest. Andalusian leader Juan Manuel Moreno blamed steep terrain, wind, scrubland, and extreme dryness. Spain recorded more than 1K excess deaths during June’s record heat. The flames did not merely outrun cars, they exposed how quickly escape plans collapse amidst climate change.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇬🇧 Tapestry returns to England. The Bayeux Tapestry reached the British Museum before dawn. Its journey from France was conducted under tight secrecy and security. The nearly 1K-year-old work depicts the Norman conquest of England. It has not been on English soil in almost a millennium. The 70-meter, or 230-foot, embroidery traveled inside a climate-controlled container. Workers folded it accordion-style. A shock-absorbing cradle protected the case. Police escorted it through the Channel Tunnel during an 11-hour, 350-mile journey. British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan watched staff unload the container. Diplomats and museum workers applauded its arrival. The tapestry will acclimatize for several days before being unfolded. It goes on display from September 10th through July 2027. About 100K tickets sold during their first day of availability. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the loan during a 2025 state visit. Britain will send Sutton Hoo artifacts and other treasures to Normandy in return. History crossed the Channel concealed in a truck, proving conquest ages into culture but never entirely loses its passport.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏘️ Housing bill goes unsigned. President Trump will allow a bipartisan housing bill to become law without his signature. Trump said he was protesting the Senate’s failure to pass his preferred voter identification legislation. The housing measure already cleared both chambers of Congress. Senators approved it 85-5. The House passed it 358-32. Trump could sign it, veto it, or permit it to take effect unsigned. He chose the third option. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act seeks to lower housing costs and encourage construction. It is the broadest federal housing initiative in decades. White House economists estimate America lacks 10M homes. Trump called the measure unimportant compared with the SAVE America Act. That proposal would require proof of citizenship from voters. It lacks enough Republican support to pass the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the housing bill would still become law and be celebrated. Washington produced housing policy by abstention, with affordability advancing because the pen stayed capped.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⚖️ Illinois gun ban survives. A federal appeals court upheld Illinois’ semiautomatic-weapons ban. The 2-1 decision reversed a lower-court ruling that found the law unconstitutional. The Seventh Circuit said the restrictions do not violate the Second Amendment. Judges found them consistent with America’s tradition of firearm regulation. The majority also rejected claims that semiautomatic weapons do not worsen mass shootings. It cited evidence connecting assault weapons and large-capacity magazines with greater harm. Governor JB Pritzker called the ruling a victory against gun violence. The National Shooting Sports Foundation opposed the decision. The firearms trade group plans to seek review by the Supreme Court. Chief Judge Michael Brennan dissented. He argued that commonly owned firearms such as AR-15 rifles receive constitutional protection. The Protect Illinois Communities Act became law in 2023. It bans AR-15-style rifles, large-capacity magazines, and specified attachments. Lawmakers acted six months after the Highland Park parade shooting. Seven people were killed and more than three dozen were injured there. The ruling preserved the statute, but the argument is already packing for Washington.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

💾 SK Hynix surges 14%. South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix ($000660.KS) jumped 14% during its Wall Street debut. AI demand powered the reception. The company priced its American depositary receipts (ADRs) at $149 each. They opened at $170 on the Nasdaq. SK Hynix sold 177.9M ADRs. The offering raised $26.5B. It became the largest initial American share sale by a foreign company. The company already ranks among South Korea’s largest businesses. Its Seoul-listed shares have more than tripled this year. SK Hynix dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory used in advanced AI systems. It recently partnered with Nvidia ($NVDA) on next-generation memory chips. America generated 68.8% of SK Hynix revenue last year. The company plans its first American production facility in Indiana. Revenue reached nearly $65B in 2025. Profit doubled to about $28B. Investors did not merely buy memory, they paid a record premium for the machinery behind AI’s appetite.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Stocks recover as oil falls. American stocks rose while oil prices eased. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) gained 0.3% during afternoon trading. It headed toward its fourth winning week in five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 121 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Brent crude fell 0.9% to $75.58 a barrel. That remained above Monday’s $72 level. It stayed far below the war’s nearly $120 peak. Investors continued watching whether fighting could obstruct the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said talks with Iran could continue while declaring the ceasefire over. SK Hynix ($000660.KS) supplied Wall Street’s loudest move during its debut. Delta Air Lines ($DAL) said strong travel demand helped absorb higher fuel costs. Its quarterly revenue and profit exceeded expectations. Delta shares still fell 1.6% after entering Friday up 28.2% this year. The 10-year Treasury yield edged from 4.55% to 4.56%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.5%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.2%, and Shanghai fell 1%. Markets found calm, though calm still meant keeping one eye on oil and the other on the next missile.

👀 ICMYI

1. President Trump removes election commission members.

2. Teen Nolan Wells’ family seeks transparency in his death.

3. Passengers pull a man back through broken plane window.

4. Solar tricycles help Cuban citizens endure fuel shortages.

5. Actor Micheal Ward was acquitted of rape and assault.

6. Transgender athletes drop their SCOTUS sports lawsuit.

7. Kia Motors recalls 463K Telluride vehicles over fire risks.

8. Mia Mottley rejected claims former colonies owe Britain.

9. British police arrest suspect in Ann Widdecombe killing.

10. Illinois’ semiautomatic-weapons ban survive appeal.

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📊 African Cleantech, Trump International, and Forever Chemicals

Farooq Zafar — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 03:37:01 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Dimples Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇰🇪 Africa cooking gets funding. African countries secured $900M in commitments for clean cooking. The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the funding. The money will expand cleaner cooking fuels, stoves, and infrastructure. It builds on $2.2B mobilized at the 2024 Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris. Total commitments now exceed $3.1B. Nearly 1B Africans still lack clean cooking access. Many still rely on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting fuels. The IEA says that pollution contributes to an estimated 850K premature deaths each year. Kenyan President William Ruto joined the virtual meeting. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also joined. American Energy Secretary Chris Wright participated too. Clean cooking includes ethanol, biogas, electricity, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). IEA executive director Fatih Birol said $740M has already been deployed across 22 countries. The agency also counted 121 new clean cooking policies across more than 30 African countries. The kitchen became an energy, health, and financing problem.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇨🇳 China factory fire kills 28. A fire at a shoe factory in southeastern China killed 28 people. It was one of China’s deadliest blazes in recent years. The fire broke out in Fujian province. It started at Huiteng shoe company in Jinjiang city. Jinjiang is a major manufacturing hub for sports shoes. Firefighters responded to the scene in Jiangtou village. Ambulances were also sent to the factory. The cause was not immediately known. Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded an all-out search and rescue effort. He also urged a swift investigation. Xi said authorities should strictly hold those responsible accountable. Local fire officials confirmed the factory location. China’s manufacturing scale often hides the fragility of the rooms where it runs. A shoe factory became another reminder that cheap production can become expensive.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

✈️ Trump airport opens. Palm Beach International Airport officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport. Old signs have been removed while new signs go up. Airport officials said the transition will take several weeks. The three-letter airport code will change from PBI to DJT on August 18th. Trump Force One was the first plane to arrive under the new name. The Boeing ($BA) 757 is owned by The Trump Organization. Eric Trump was one of the passengers. The Trump family often uses the airport when visiting President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home nearby. A stretch of road from the airport to the estate was renamed Donald J. Trump Boulevard earlier this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation enabling the name change. The update is expected to cost as much as $5.5M. President Trump praised the renaming on Truth Social. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also attended a Tennessee bridge renaming for Trump. In Florida, infrastructure became tribute, and travel became another boarding pass for politics.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌊 El Niño grows historic. Forecasters said El Niño is strengthening toward historic levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the update Thursday. El Niño is a natural warming of the equatorial Pacific. It alters weather patterns around the world. NOAA said there is an 81% chance it becomes very strong by fall. That is the agency’s top category. It could rank among the strongest events since tracking began in 1950. The pattern formed only last month. It already moved past weak status and became moderate. Ocean temperatures in key Pacific regions are near or at records for this time of year. Emily Becker, a University of Miami scientist, called it extreme but not unprecedented. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, said this is not run-of-the-mill. El Niño likely raises rain chances across much of the American South this winter. It also boosts odds of warmer winter conditions in the northern United States and Canada. The Pacific is warming the room, and the atmosphere is about to pass the bill around.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 New York sues PFAS firms. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued major chemical and agricultural companies Thursday. The lawsuit targets so-called forever chemicals. It names 3M ($MMM), DuPont de Nemours ($DD), Chemours ($CC), Corteva ($CTVA), and other manufacturers. The chemicals are known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They have been used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware, firefighting foam, rain-resistant clothing, and other products. PFAS resist breaking down. They have spread into air, water, and soil. The chemicals have been linked to certain cancers and developmental delays in children. James said large companies knowingly sold toxic products that harmed New Yorkers. The lawsuit was filed in state court in Albany. It seeks environmental cleanup funding. It also seeks consumer warnings. The complaint argues companies knew the chemicals were toxic or environmentally damaging in some cases. The companies did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Forever chemicals got their name because they linger, and now the bill is trying to do the same.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Markets calm down. Stocks recovered Thursday as oil prices eased. Markets calmed while investors waited for the next phase of the Iran war. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) rose 0.8%. It more than recovered Wednesday’s loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%. Brent crude fell 2.2% to $76.30 a barrel. It had closed at $78.02 the day before. It remained above the $71.80 level from the end of last week. Investors are still watching the Strait of Hormuz. A full war could block oil tankers from the Persian Gulf. Gasoline prices climbed a nickel overnight. Regular gasoline averaged $3.85 a gallon Thursday. That was up 68 cents from a year earlier. Micron Technology ($MU) rose 4.5% as chip shares helped lift the market. Calm returned, but it looked less like confidence than a market trying not to read the next headline too loudly.

👀 ICMYI

1. “Total Eclipse” singer Bonnie Tyler dies at age 75.

2. Ukrainian drones struck more Russian oil facilities.

3. China’s missile launch sent a warning to America.

4. Charlie Kirk suspect’s roommate described remorse.

5. British officials warned technology is raising threats.

6. Tuberville’s governor eligibility lawsuit is dismissed.

7. Olympian pleaded not guilty in Reflecting Pool case.

8. President Trump’s triumphal arch won early approval.

9. Andreessen and Chetty joined new Fed task forces.

10. AI notetakers raised workplace privacy concerns.

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📊 Iran Ceasefire Ends, Graham Platner, and Gas Prices

Farooq Zafar — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 02:09:58 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Freezer Pop Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 Iran strikes resume. The United States resumed airstrikes on Iran. Tehran fired back toward Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The exchange again threatened the interim deal meant to end the Gulf war. President Trump said Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz meant the ceasefire was over. He still said talks could continue. American military officials said the strikes targeted military sites and port facilities. They said the goal was to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation. Iran reported explosions in Bushehr, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas, and Sirik. Bushehr hosts Iran’s nuclear power plant complex. Kuwait said it was intercepting incoming drones and missiles. There was no immediate report of damage in the Gulf states. Trump warned Iran that another shipping attack would make things much worse. He also renewed threats against civilian infrastructure and Kharg Island. The ceasefire did not end quietly, it cracked where oil, missiles, and pride share water.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇺🇦 Ukraine gets Patriot license. President Trump said the United States will let Ukraine produce Patriot defense systems. He announced the move beside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit. Trump said the United States would show Ukraine how to make them. He said Kyiv could produce them quickly. Patriots are expensive and in heavy demand. They also take a long time to manufacture. Zelenskyy has asked for more of them for years. He has more recently asked for a production license. Trump praised Zelenskyy’s wartime effectiveness. He also said a deal to end the fighting may be near. Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for Ukraine to join the alliance. Russia strongly opposes that step. NATO leaders pledged $80B for Ukraine’s defense needs this year and next. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s forces eliminate about 30K Russian troops each month. Evidently, the shield Kyiv wanted may arrive as a blueprint before it arrives as steel.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏛️ Platner plans exit. Maine Democrat Graham Platner said Wednesday he plans to withdraw from the United States Senate race. His exit followed a sexual assault allegation. Platner denied the allegation. He said leaving was not an admission of guilt. The former candidate spoke in an 11-minute social media video. He urged an open and democratic replacement process. The race is central to Democratic hopes of retaking the Senate. Republican Senator Susan Collins is seeking another term. Platner had won the June 9th Democratic primary. He was a military veteran and oyster farmer with progressive backing. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had supported him, then recommended he step aside. Maine Democrats held an emergency meeting Wednesday. More than 100 state committee members backed a nominating convention if he withdrew. State law allows replacement if he exits by July 13th. A Senate race became an autopsy before it became a general election.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🕯️ Houston family demands probe. The family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo demanded an independent investigation. He was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Houston. Federal officials said he attempted to ram an agent with his van. His family said he was driving a crew to a homebuilding site. Representative Sylvia Garcia said he had no criminal convictions. His son Ronaldo said his father was working toward legal status. Salgado Araujo had lived in America for decades. The shooting happened Tuesday in Magnolia Park. The neighborhood has long been a Houston Mexican American hub. Firefighters said Salgado Araujo was shot in the abdomen. He later died at a hospital. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the officer fired in self-defense. Civil rights groups joined the family’s call for an outside inquiry. Hundreds marched Wednesday night chanting against ICE. A traffic stop became a funeral, and the record is already contested.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🛢️ Fuel anxiety returns. The fragile American-Iranian ceasefire renewed anxiety over fuel prices. President Trump said the truce was over after Iranian attacks on ships. Oil prices climbed to their highest point in weeks. Rystad Energy analyst Jorge Leon said tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had essentially stopped. Regular gasoline averaged $3.80 a gallon Wednesday. That was up from $3.79 a day earlier. It was still below the $4.16 average from a month earlier. Crude oil makes up the bulk of gasoline prices. Consumers may feel higher oil prices only after weeks. Refiners often use oil bought in advance. Gas station owners also sometimes absorb some cost to stay competitive. Emergency stockpiles have helped suppress prices during the war. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 319.5M barrels as of July 3rd, its lowest level since 1983. Fuel markets again made geopolitics visible on the corner sign.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 Oil shock hits stocks. Oil prices rose and stock markets fell worldwide. President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) fell as much as 1.1%. It later trimmed its loss to 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 576 points, in a 1.1% decline. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% after erasing an early loss. Brent crude climbed 5.2% to $78.02 a barrel, briefly topping $80. The price remains below the nearly $120 peak reached earlier in the war. Investors feared renewed fighting could block the Strait of Hormuz. Higher oil could worsen global inflation. Housing stocks fell as Treasury yields rose. Builders FirstSource ($BLDR) dropped 5.4%. Markets heard one ceasefire sentence and repriced the world.

👀 ICMYI

1. Hamas dissolves Gaza government to transfer power.

2. Drone attacks follow cartel warnings in Mexican village.

3. Diarrhea-causing parasite outbreak tops 1K cases.

4. Telegram predators used code words to hide abuse.

5. Second man killed by Memphis federal task force.

6. John Deere owners win new right-to-repair terms.

7. E. Jean Carroll awarded $5.8M as Trump appeals.

8. Terry Rozier’s NBA return faces bail complications.

9. Two teens were detained after a Waymo joy ride.

10. “The Pitt” landed 13 acting Emmy nominations.

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📊 NATO Summit, Manhattan Evacuation, and Energy Costs

Farooq Zafar — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:43:06 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Macaroni Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 NATO faces Trump test. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders gathered in Turkey on Tuesday. The two-day summit came as America stepped back from its traditional security role in Europe. President Trump demanded loyalty from allies after some resisted letting American forces use bases for attacks. He singled out Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain for criticism. The meeting’s theme is a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO. The Trump administration calls the idea NATO 3.0. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting at his Bestepe Compound in Ankara. Security is heavy, with air defenses on alert. Nearby neighborhoods are closed to traffic, and public gatherings are banned. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend. Defense spending tops the agenda. NATO’s ritual of unity arrived looking less like a family photo than a bill due at the table.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇸🇾 Damascus blasts greet Macron. Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit. Syria’s Interior Ministry said at least 18 people were injured. Macron was inside the presidential palace when the blasts happened; an official said he was safe. The meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa continued. It was the second attack in Damascus in a week. No group immediately claimed responsibility. One bomb had been placed in a garbage bin. Another was placed in a parked car. Four of the wounded were police officers. No deaths were immediately reported. The blasts happened near the Four Seasons Hotel area. Syrian media had reported Macron was staying there. The visit marked a diplomatic milestone after France had closed its embassy in 2012. Syria tried to show the world a new beginning, while the street outside supplied the old soundtrack.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 Manhattan tower buckles. Workers moved to stabilize a Manhattan high-rise. Buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations around the Midtown construction site. Firefighters found precarious conditions inside 235 East 42nd Street. Construction workers were evacuated first. People in nearby buildings were also rushed out. Those buildings included a school, diplomatic offices, and several hotels. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it an extremely serious situation. His office later said contractors could begin emergency repairs. Officials observed no additional movement in damaged columns. The temporary work is expected to stretch into coming days. The building is the former headquarters of Pfizer ($PFE). It sits near Grand Central, the Chrysler Building, and United Nations headquarters. The tower is being converted to luxury apartments. Midtown’s office-to-housing dream met the oldest real estate question, whether the structure can still carry the pitch.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏛️ Maine race turns murky. Maine Democratic nominee Graham Platner has not left the United States Senate race, but a succession fight is already unfolding anyway. Platner faces a new sexual assault allegation, which he has denied. The race against Republican Senator Susan Collins could help decide control of the Senate. Senator Bernie Sanders recommended that Platner step aside. Platner has stayed quiet about whether he will withdraw. Maine Democrats have not publicly announced a replacement process. State law gives them authority to choose a replacement if he exits. The withdrawal deadline is 5 p.m. July 13th. Any replacement must be named by July 27th. Progressive groups and establishment Democrats are already maneuvering. Joseph Geevarghese of Our Revolution said the establishment should not treat the moment as its opening. Former Maine health official Nirav Shah said he is evaluating a run. The campaign became a vacancy before the candidate left the room.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

✈️ Airline fuel bill jumps. American airlines spent $6.66B on jet fuel in May. It was the second straight month above $6B. The figure was 84% higher than a year earlier. Airlines spent $6.47B on fuel in April. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released the data, where the increase came mostly from higher prices, not more fuel use. American carriers used 1.627B gallons in May, down 0.6% from May 2025. Average fuel cost was $4.09 per gallon, slightly below April’s $4.11, and far above $2.21 paid in May 2025. Airlines worldwide have raised fares and fees. Some have trimmed flight schedules. The Iran War disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The passenger may buy the ticket, but the fuel market keeps choosing the fare.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 AI selloff drags markets. AI stocks sank and pulled markets lower worldwide. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) fell 0.4%, though most of its index stocks rose. The Nasdaq composite dropped 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 130 points, 0.2% below its record. Weakness spread in Asia: Samsung Electronics ($005930.KS) tumbled 6.9% in Seoul, but still expected operating profit to surge about 1,800% from last year; investors decided good numbers were not enough. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) fell 6.5%. Intel ($INTC) dropped 9.7%. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 4.7%. SpaceX fell 6.8% in its first trading after joining the Nasdaq 100. AI promised escape velocity, then reminded traders gravity still prices the ticket.

👀 ICMYI

1. NATO inks arms deals, Trump demands Greenland.

2. Cargo plane with five aboard vanished near Karachi.

3. Idaho mother charged in her twin children’s deaths.

4. Democrats pull Platner backing after rape allegations.

5. Ruling: Texas app age checks can be enforced for now.

6. Belgium beats United States 4-1 in World Cup knockout.

7. Spain beats Portugal, Ronaldo’s World Cup career over.

8. Mbappé condemns Paraguayan senator’s racist remarks.

9. Messi led Argentina past Egypt 3-2 in improbable finish.

10. Switzerland beats Colombia in thrilling penalty shootout.

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📊 South Pacific, Heat Deaths, and OPEC Expansion

Farooq Zafar — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:56:10 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Air Traffic Control Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇨🇳 China tests Pacific missile. China’s navy test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Pacific. The missile carried a dummy warhead. The launch happened at 12:01 p.m. local time. Beijing called it routine annual training. It said the test complied with international law and targeted no country. Australia, Japan, and New Zealand criticized the launch. New Zealand said it received only hours of notice. The missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. That zone was created by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the test destabilizing. Japan urged China to rethink tests that could pose regional risks. Lyle Morris, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said it was China’s first publicly acknowledged submarine-launched dummy-warhead test to travel that far into the Pacific. He said notices appeared to go to Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, but not America. The Pentagon estimated China had around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024. The signal was simple: Beijing wants a deterrent that can move, hide, and be seen.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 NATO demands spending plans. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte demanded credible defense spending plans Monday. He spoke in Ankara before the alliance’s two-day summit. The meeting starts Tuesday in Turkey. It comes as the United States scales down its security role in Europe. The 32 allies agreed last year to invest 5% of gross domestic product in defense-related needs. That includes 3.5% for defense budgets. It also includes 1.5% for roads, bridges, and ports to move troops faster. Spain endorsed the goal but said it can meet NATO requirements without spending that much. Some countries still struggle to meet the old 2% target. Asked what happens to allies without clear plans, Rutte said NATO has ways to convince them. American Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said President Trump expects allies to move urgently toward 5%. Rutte said European allies and Canada will invest $258B more in defense in 2025 and 2026 than before. The numbers still may not satisfy Washington. Trump has also demanded loyalty after some allies declined base access during the Iran war. NATO’s ritual slogan became a ledger.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌡️ Jersey heat kills. Several days of punishing heat are suspected in at least 19 New Jersey deaths. Officials said the deaths began appearing Thursday. Most occurred in central and northern New Jersey. State Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington said many victims were found in homes without air conditioning. Some were outside their residences. Others were found on streets or in parked cars. Governor Mikie Sherrill called it the hottest stretch in more than 14 years. LaGuardia Airport in New York hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday. That broke its 1966 record of 101 degrees. Trenton reached 101 degrees and broke a record set in 1901. Newark hit 105 degrees. Atlantic City reached 106 degrees Saturday. Storms then moved in with heavy winds. About 900K utility customers lost power across the central, eastern, and southern United States. The heat dome left receipts on bodies.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗳️ McMorrow exits race. Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow suspended her Senate campaign Sunday. McMorrow is a state senator from Royal Oak. Her exit abruptly reshaped the Democratic primary one month before the election. The race now turns into a two-person contest. Representative Haley Stevens is the moderate candidate. Abdul El-Sayed is the progressive candidate. The seat is being vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters. Democrats view it as necessary to hold if they want to reclaim the Senate majority. The primary winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers. Rogers lost to now-Senator Elissa Slotkin in 2024. McMorrow announced the decision in a statement and video. Ballots had already gone out. She thanked volunteers, donors, and staff. Political pundits cited outside spending boosting Stevens as a major factor. Every faction suddenly had less room to hide.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🛢️ OPEC+ opens taps. Seven countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed Sunday to raise output. The increase will begin in August. The combined expansion totals 188K barrels per day. It is the fifth straight month of production increases. The countries are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman. Producers said they would keep monitoring market conditions. They also said they would remain cautious. The move comes as fuel prices slide. Market optimism has pushed crude lower since the American-Iranian interim deal. That deal reopened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. It also ended the American blockade of Iranian ports. More commercial vessels have since crossed the strait. Traffic remains below prewar levels. Brent crude was near $72 a barrel Sunday night. The waterway still carried politics in every barrel.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 AI stocks rebound. AI stocks rebounded Monday and lifted American indexes. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) rose 0.7% by midday. Most stocks inside the index still fell. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 40 points, or 0.1%. AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks. Investors are questioning whether data centers and chips can earn back the money being spent. Broadcom ($AVGO) rose 3.8%. It announced long-term silicon agreements with Apple ($AAPL). Micron Technology ($MU) climbed 3.5%. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) jumped 9.2%. SK Hynix ($000660.KS) is planning a $28B Nasdaq share sale. TeraWulf ($WULF) jumped 12.3%. Anthropic agreed to a 20-year data center deal with the company in Kentucky. TeraWulf expects about $19B in revenue from that contract. The market still asked whether the engine earns its fuel.

👀 ICMYI

1. President Trump rang Wall Street opening bell in Oval Office.

2. Prosecutors urged trial for alleged killer in Charlie Kirk case.

3. Prince Harry’s United Kingdom trip stirred family speculation.

4. Paul Pelosi involved in Napa hit-and-run, faces misdemeanor.

5. FIFA lifted US player Folarin Balogun’s World Cup suspension.

6. Belgian Federation challenged FIFA over Balogun’s eligibility.

7. Utah doctors warn caution on automated AI prescription refills.

8. Ohio police sergeant fatally shot answering break-in 911 call.

9. Recipe: Hot dog Reuben moves usual deli logic into air fryers.

10. Hemingway’s Pamplona bull-running masterpiece turns 100.

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📊 European Wildfires, Citizenship Ceremony, and Trump Accounts

Farooq Zafar — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 17:53:51 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 Europe fires rage. Hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires across Portugal, Greece, and Spain on Sunday. Spain and Italy sent help to Portugal. The biggest Portuguese fire burned in the central Vouzela area. More than 1.2K firefighters, nearly 400 vehicles, and 15 aircraft fought that blaze. European Union satellite mapping showed it had burned 12K hectares, or about 30K acres. Portugal’s fire appeared to be easing by Sunday afternoon. Officials still warned that hot spots remained. Spain sent 120 firefighters and 45 vehicles as reinforcements. Three firefighting aircraft from Italy and Spain also joined the effort. In northeastern Spain’s Girona region, a wildfire had burned nearly 2.2K hectares. Its perimeter stretched about 40 kilometers, or 25 miles. In Greece, toxic smoke from a burning recycling plant near Thessaloniki forced residents indoors. Evacuation alerts covered three suburbs and a facility housing 157 people with disabilities. Greek fire officials said about 85% of wildfires there are caused by negligence. Southern Europe again showed how heat turns carelessness into a continent-scale emergency.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇨🇳 Maysak floods China. Heavy rains killed five people in northern China this weekend. Tropical Storm Maysak struck southern China and Vietnam. Two villagers died Saturday in a mountain flash flood in eastern Inner Mongolia. One drowned while herding cattle. Another fell into water while moving cattle away. Three others died the same day in Liaoning province’s Fushun city. A heavy rainstorm battered Fushun for several hours early Saturday. Rainfall reached 32.9 centimeters in one area. Video showed streets turned into lakes. About 3.6K residents were moved to safer places. Maysak made landfall Saturday night in Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province. Winds reached 101 kilometers per hour, or 63 miles per hour. It weakened as it moved inland toward Guangxi. In Fangchenggang, rivers overflowed and cars were submerged up to their roofs. The storm moved like a map lesson, teaching each border what water can erase.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🛂 New citizens take oath. One hundred fifty people from 50 countries became United States citizens Saturday. The ceremony took place at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. It came on July 4th and America’s 250th birthday. The crowd sat on Washington’s lawn under punishing sun. Families held American flags and paddle fans. Anne Neal Petri, regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, opened the ceremony. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare from Guinea attended in Dress Blue uniform. He had served two deployments. Others came from countries marked by violence or persecution. Participants stood as their countries were called. The list stretched from Albania to Bangladesh, China, El Salvador, Iraq, Mongolia, and Morocco. They recited the Oath of Allegiance with raised hands. They then said the Pledge of Allegiance. Nearby stood a tulip poplar planted at Washington’s direction 250 years ago. Citizenship became the holiday’s sharpest argument, spoken by people who had just earned its grammar.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 Bridge fire hits show. A fire broke out on the Brooklyn Bridge during New York’s July Fourth fireworks show. Flames spread and sent smoke into the night sky. Fire crews extinguished the blaze. No injuries were reported. Two fire engines were used to put it out. Firefighters were seen dousing flames shortly before 10 p.m. The bridge had been closed to traffic during the show. A city fire department spokesperson said such fires are not unexpected. Officials keep crowds at a distance during fireworks for that reason. The show marked the United States 250th Independence Day anniversary. It involved fireworks over the Hudson and East rivers. The display had been moved earlier because of severe weather threats. Storms also canceled or delayed other East Coast celebrations. Washington evacuated National Mall crowdgoers during its holiday events. New York got its spectacle, then a reminder that spectacle always hires risk.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏦 Trump Accounts launch. President Trump’s administration launched Trump Accounts on July 4th. The program links America’s 250th anniversary to investment accounts for children. Parents can open accounts for children born during Trump’s second term. Eligible newborns receive $1K from the government. Older children may get accounts but not the $1K bonus. Deposits opened July 4th. The United States Treasury Department planned to transfer the seed money the same day. Funds will be invested in the stock market by private firms. Children generally cannot access the money until age 18. Uses are limited to expenses such as school, a home, or starting a business. Trump said the program gives children ownership of America’s future. Dell Technologies ($DELL) founder Michael Dell and Susan Dell pledged $6.25B for some children outside the government bonus. Micron Technology ($MU) CEO Sanjay Mehrotra pledged $250M. Critics say the accounts do little for early childhood costs and sit beside food and Medicaid cuts. The birthday gift came wrapped in capitalism, but the receipt still went to politics.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌭 World Cup eats big. World Cup fans are giving North American food rave reviews. Many came for soccer and stayed for the chewing. Jack Goodwin, a London soccer fan, praised the American food he tried in Dallas, Boston, New York, and Atlanta. International visitors are seeking regional specialties and chains they cannot get at home. Some want In-N-Out Burger and Buc-ee’s. Norway striker Erling Haaland posted a photo outside Katz’s Delicatessen in New York. Harrison Murphy, a London visitor, praised Chick-fil-A in Atlanta. Gary Bishop from Glasgow discovered poutine in Toronto. Texas beer distributor Andrews Distributing welcomed Dutch fans for Heineken and dancing. Paul Barker, founder of Boston’s Pauli’s, said fans from Scotland, Brazil, England, and elsewhere lined up for lobster rolls. Waffle House opened a downtown Atlanta World Cup pop-up. Whataburger CEO Debbie Stroud said visitors left talking about patty melts. Terry Black’s Barbecue prepared extra meat for Dallas and Fort Worth. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) even reminded ranch-dressing converts to pack bottles in checked bags. The World Cup brought nations to the table, and the table won extra time.

👀 ICMYI

1. Djokovic reached Wimbledon quarters with his 106th win.

2. Quake survival depends on injury, air, water, and time.

3. Severe marine heat wave kills seabirds off California.

5. Inner Mongolia leaned into renewables while keeping coal.

6. Pope Leo XIV began his summer break after a forceful start.

7. China freed a pastor after President Trump’s request.

8. Chess officials suspend grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik.

9. High-tech World Cup ball shaped a dramatic call.

10. Doctors urged families to prepare for drowning risks.

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📊 World Cup Security, Semiquincentennial, and Domestic Tourism

Farooq Zafar — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 21:10:46 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇲🇽 Mexico caps World Cup crowds. Mexico City tightened security for Sunday’s Mexico-England World Cup match, after four deaths during celebrations after Mexico beat Ecuador. Mayor Clara Brugada announced the plan Friday. The city will cap access to the Angel of Independence at 25K people. Fans beyond that limit will be directed to screens along Paseo de la Reforma. The Zócalo will also close once it reaches capacity. Officials said more than 50 viewing areas will be available around the capital. Public Security Secretary Pablo Vázquez said 6K officers will patrol Paseo de la Reforma. He said 7.5K officers will be deployed around Estadio Azteca. Another 3.3K will be stationed in the Zócalo. Street vendors and delivery drivers will be barred from some security zones. Alcohol sales on central streets will be banned from early July 5th through the next day. Civil Protection Secretary Myriam Urzúa urged fans to avoid crowd games. England arrived at its hotel under heavy security Friday night. A city built for celebration now has to engineer crowd survival.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇻🇦 Pope prays for migrants at Lampedusa. Pope Leo XIV spent July 4th in Lampedusa, Sicily. The American-born pope visited the island at the center of Europe’s migration debate. Lampedusa is only 9 kilometers long. It is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland. The island is a major arrival point for migrants crossing from Libya and Tunisia. Leo prayed at a migrant cemetery. He also celebrated Mass for residents and new arrivals. He walked alone onto jagged jetty rocks as wind blew off his zucchetto. He blessed a plaque dedicating the dock to Pope Francis. Francis visited Lampedusa in 2013. Leo said gestures need a heart to be human. His July 4th message also addressed Americans. He said welcoming immigrants recognizes human dignity. Italy has recorded 14,464 arrivals so far this year, down from 30,598 during the same period last year. More than 35K migrants are estimated to have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014, and the sea keeps the rest of the ledger.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🎇 America celebrates semiquincentennial. America marked its 250th birthday Saturday with fireworks, heat, hot dogs, and politics. President Trump planned to speak on the National Mall. Organizers billed the Washington fireworks as historically enormous. Trump had spoken Friday at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Navy Pier in Chicago scheduled fireworks. New York planned fireworks against its skyline. New York also held a midnight ball drop to start the holiday. Tall ships passed the Statue of Liberty during Sail250. The event echoed America’s 200th anniversary in 1976. Heat forced cancellations and adjustments along the East Coast. Washington’s main Independence Day parade was canceled. A smaller Capitol Hill parade continued in the morning. A Marine from Guinea became a new citizen at Mount Vernon. Patriot Front members marched in Washington wearing masks and carrying Confederate battle flags. The country celebrated its founding promise while the weather, politics, and symbolism all refused to stay decorative.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⛈️ Storms kill Wisconsin children. Three children died after a boat capsized on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin. Authorities said the children were wearing life vests. The boat carried 10 people, including four children. Police said a sudden and severe storm overtook the private recreational motorboat. Severe wind and waves forced it to take on water. The boat capsized and sank. Six adults and one child were rescued. Three children were recovered after an intensive search. They were unresponsive despite lifesaving efforts. The tragedy hit Walworth County, a vacation area familiar to many Chicago families. The same storm system downed trees and ruptured power lines. Similar weather later struck the New York area. Trains to New Jersey were canceled. Nearly 1M residents lost power at some point across multiple states. A holiday built around water and heat was reminded how fast weather can take control of both.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧳 Local travel lifts shops. Small businesses in tourist towns are seeing more Americans vacation closer to home. Many travelers are choosing road trips over overseas trips. Others are choosing daylong outings over long beach stays. Some are cooking instead of eating out to save money. Higher airfares and gas prices are helping reshape summer travel. The World Cup and America’s 250th birthday also gave families reasons to stay domestic. The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated 72.2M Americans would travel at least 50 miles between June 27th and Sunday, about 0.5% above last year’s July 4th travel period. The forecasted gain mostly comes from cruises, buses, and trains. AAA expected no change in driving or flying totals. Tarik Dogru, a hospitality professor, said local businesses could benefit, citing regional restaurants, local attractions, rental hosts, and roadside stops. Around Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Sports owner Ron Williams said future bookings are 10% higher than last year. The summer getaway got smaller, and the money stayed closer to the register.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🍑 Nectarine fight spills fruit. California farmer Cesar Mora is giving away tons of nectarines. Thousands of people have visited his Reedley farm this week. Mora said he would rather share the fruit than watch it rot. He has given away more than 100K pounds since Monday. Volunteers and family members bagged fruit under “No Nectarines Wasted” shirts. The dispute centers on a white nectarine variety. Giumarra Brothers Fruit claims exclusive rights to sell it. The company sued Mora in 2023. It accused him of breaking contracts by selling the fruit to other packers. Mora has accused the company of unfair and fraudulent business practices. Giumarra said the disagreement concerns written agreements. It said the dispute is being resolved in court and on the facts. A trial is scheduled for later this month. Mora is a third-generation farmer in California’s Central Valley. Patent law met peach season, and the public got dessert while the lawyers sharpened knives.

👀 ICMYI

1. Joey Chestnut reclaimed Nathan’s Mustard Belt with 66 hot dogs.

2. Serena Williams withdrew from Wimbledon doubles with Venus.

3. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married at Madison Square Garden.

4. Wisconsin storms and searing heat kill 3 children on Geneva Lake.

5. Egypt uncovers Dakhla Oasis, lost Byzantine-era desert city.

6. Sustained Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg oil terminal.

7. Quiz: Test your Fourth of July American history knowledge.

8. Washington slavery exhibit changes return under Trump admin.

9. Kelsey Pfendler breaks record, rows solo from California to Hawaii.

10. FIFA: Morocco beats Canada 3-0 and reached the quarterfinals.

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📊 Khamenei Funeral, America 250 Weekend, and Datacenter Debate

Farooq Zafar — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 18:07:13 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 Iran mourns Khamenei. Iran prepared Friday for days of funeral ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was killed in the war at age 86. Banners across Tehran urged public support for the Islamic Republic. State media said millions were expected in the streets beginning Saturday. The scenes were expected to echo the 1989 burial of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla. Coffins of family members killed with him were displayed nearby. They included a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, and a 14-month-old granddaughter. His granddaughter was Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani. Iran’s new Supreme Leader is Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, his son. Mojtaba remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the attack. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf attended. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian also paid respects. A red “Ya Hussein” flag invoked martyrdom and vengeance. Iran turned mourning into theater, and theater into leverage.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇹🇷 Erdogan gets Trump edge. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters next week’s summit with an unusual advantage. President Trump is attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) gathering in Turkey partly because Erdogan asked. Trump has praised Erdogan as a friend and leader. He said he would not have gone for most people. Erdogan’s request helped avoid the disorder Trump’s absence could have created. The alliance remains unsettled by Trump’s threats to reduce America’s role in Europe. Trump has also clashed with members over their reluctance to support his Iran war. The visit could include defense news favorable to Turkey. Ankara wants F-110 jet engines and F-35 fighter jets. Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019. That followed its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system. American officials feared the system could expose F-35 capabilities to Moscow. Vice President JD Vance said Washington is exploring possible jet sales. Congress still has bipartisan resistance. Erdogan found the shortest route through NATO’s maze.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🎆 Heat shadows America 250. America’s 250th anniversary festivities accelerated Friday under punishing heat. President Trump planned to travel to South Dakota for Mount Rushmore fireworks. He was also set to deliver a speech there. In New York, Times Square planned a midnight ball drop for July 4th. Military flyovers shook Washington. Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered New York’s own anniversary address. He described America as a nation of contradictions still seeking its founding promise. In Washington, Glenn Brooks, a January 6th participant pardoned by Trump, praised the celebration. The main event comes Saturday with fireworks across the country. Trump is expected to speak again on the National Mall. Organizers billed the Washington fireworks as historically massive. Heat warnings complicated the pageantry. Officials urged hydration and air-conditioned breaks. Philadelphia canceled its Salute to Independence parade. The Great American State Fair shut down early despite more than 200 people waiting for the Ferris wheel. America threw itself a birthday party while the thermometer worked security.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🔥 Colorado blaze forces evacuations. A wildfire southwest of Denver forced thousands to evacuate. The Aspen Acres fire destroyed more than 160 structures. Erratic winds pushed it across Custer and Pueblo counties. The fire expanded overnight by 17 square miles. That brought it to nearly 105 square miles. Officials said it had zero containment. Fire crews scooped water from Pueblo Reservoir. Colorado City, an unincorporated community of about 2,200, was ordered evacuated. Beulah, Rye, and San Isabel were also ordered out. About 50 National Guard soldiers were being deployed. They were assigned to staff checkpoints in Custer and Pueblo counties. Guard members also helped keep boaters away from water-scooping operations. The fire is one of roughly 40 uncontained large blazes, mostly in the West. Months of dry weather and record-low snow helped feed the risk. The West did not enter fire season, it was handed a match with the receipt already signed.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏭 Data centers heat debate. Extreme heat is intensifying tensions around data centers. In Lowell, Massachusetts, 82-year-old Eileen Castle will not fill her pool this summer. She said the Markley Group data center behind her house brings noise and generator fumes. The site sits near homes and a ballpark in the Sacred Heart neighborhood. State Representative Tara Hong called the area largely working-class and low-income. The district is also heavily Cambodian American. Heat waves raise electricity demand for data centers. Artificial intelligence (AI) growth has made those facilities a political flashpoint. Shaolei Ren, a University of California, Riverside professor, called heat waves nearly the worst scenario for data centers. Refrigeration cooling uses heavy electricity. Evaporative cooling uses heavy water. Backup diesel generators can worsen local air quality. Markley Group says it has planted more than 2K nearby trees. CEO Jeff Markley said generators run only in emergencies and brief tests. Lowell’s City Council voted 10-0 to halt further data center expansion for a year. AI promised the cloud, then asked the neighborhood for water, power, and lungs.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 AI shares split markets. World shares were mixed Friday after the Dow hit a record. Some artificial intelligence (AI) shares bounced back. Others extended losses. American markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) futures gained 0.3%. Dow futures slipped 0.2%. Germany’s DAX rose 0.4%. Paris’ CAC 40 edged 0.1% lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi rebounded 5.8% after sinking nearly 8% Thursday. Samsung Electronics ($005930.KS) rose 8.2%. SK Hynix ($000660.KS) jumped 10.9%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.5%. Tokyo Electron ($8035.T) rose 0.4%. Kioxia ($285A.T) jumped 9.2%. The AI trade regained footing abroad, but its limp still set the rhythm.

👀 ICMYI

1. Bending Spoons hit Wall Street with a $1.7B IPO.

2. South Koreans sought grief comfort in AI videos.

3. Australia debated delays to child social media limits.

4. Rare Declaration copy surfaced in British archives.

5. Neil the 1-ton seal got another privacy warning.

6. Sixteen Ohio children were found in squalor.

7. Chicago’s top federal agent was pushed out.

8. Louisiana’s attorney general was indicted again.

9. England faced Mexico altitude concerns at World Cup.

10. World Cup red cards remained trouble and theater.

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📊 Gaza Genocide, ICE Arrests, and Payroll Report

Farooq Zafar — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 22:55:23 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇵🇸 Gaza genocide marks 1,000 days. Palestinians in Gaza marked 1,000 days of genocide per the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The count begins with the Hamas-coordinated attack on October 7th, 2023, which claimed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, though multiple media sources, such as Haaretz, ABC News, and Daily Telegraph have reported the controversial usage of the Hannibal Directive by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) upon its own soldiers to prevent their capture was credibly invoked. All hostages or their remains have since been released or handed over. Israel’s retaliation has killed 73,066 Palestinians as of Tuesday, Gaza’s Health Ministry says. More than 2M Palestinians remain largely displaced and living amid ruins. The IDF controls over half of Gaza under the Yellow Line ceasefire that began October 10th, which it has violated over 3,000 times, killing over 1,050 and injuring over 2,780. Israel’s national government says it aims to hold 70%. Further ceasefire steps have stalled, which include Hamas disarmament and reconstruction. The campaign’s vocabulary remains annexation, apartheid, blockade, collective punishment, displacement, embargo, ethnic cleansing, ethnofascism, famine, genocide, illegal occupation, irredentism, and settler-colonialism. Palestinians are still trapped inside deprivation and rubble. The future looks less like peace than a postponed verdict. Editor’s Note: The polycrisis afflicting Gaza was officially considered a genocide by the United Nations (UN) and International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), with famine declared formally by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, World Food Program (WFP), and World Health Organization (WHO), along with Global Sumud Flotilla eyewitnesses.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇻🇦 Vatican draws hard line. The Vatican excommunicated bishops and priests in the Society of St. Pius X. The move followed unauthorized bishop consecrations in Econe, Switzerland. Pope Leo XIV had urged the group to stop for the sake of church unity. The group defied him anyway. Four new bishops were consecrated during a five-hour Mass. About 15.5K people attended. The Vatican called the consecrations a schismatic act. It also said the society formally broke with the Catholic Church. The decree excommunicated the four new bishops. It also excommunicated two existing bishops who joined the ceremony. The Vatican said roughly 750 society priests are schismatic and excommunicated. It invalidated confessions and marriages they administer. It warned followers who formally adhere to the group. The old Latin Mass became a line in the sand. Rome answered defiance with the church’s heaviest vocabulary.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🚓 ICE arrests surge. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 10K people in five days at the end of June. The surge marked a major acceleration in President Trump’s deportation push. The pace equals roughly 2K arrests per day. The locations of the arrests were not clear. The data came from a person familiar with unreleased figures. The agency had shifted from high-profile sweeps in major American cities to quieter enforcement methods. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is arresting and deporting people here illegally. ICE detention entries climbed to roughly 39K in June. They had hovered around 30K per month since February. Exact comparisons are difficult because ICE does not publicly release arrest data. December had averaged 1,283 arrests per day. January averaged about 1,212. The new pace is therefore sharply higher. The surge arrived after protests around earlier raids. Enforcement moved out of the spotlight, but the numbers got louder.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏢 Jersey charges employers. New Jersey is launching a fee on companies whose workers use Medicaid. Other states are considering similar charges. Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the measure Tuesday night. The state budget counts on raising $145M this year from the program. The fee applies to employers with at least 50 Medicaid-covered workers. Companies will be billed for employees and dependents enrolled in Medicaid, at $325 per person each year. They rise to $725 for employers with at least 500 Medicaid recipients. Supporters say employers benefit when taxpayers cover lower-income workers. Business groups object. Some liberal policy groups object too. California passed a bill directing officials to study similar options. Medicaid changes have pushed states toward new revenue searches. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects more than 10M people will be uninsured because of last year’s federal law by 2034. Healthcare costs found another invoice and mailed it to payroll.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧊 Hiring cools hard. American employers added only 57K jobs in June. That was less than half the previous month’s total. The report showed employers staying cautious. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.3%. The drop mostly happened because some jobless people stopped looking. Inflation near a 3-year high is still pressuring businesses. Consumer confidence also remains near post-pandemic lows. Economists described a low-hire, low-fire labor market. Workers with jobs still have some security. People looking for work face a harder door. Hiring averaged 92K jobs a month in the first half of the year. April and May gains were revised lower. Restaurants, bars, and hotels cut 61K jobs. Retailers shed 7.5K. The labor market did not collapse, but it stopped pretending momentum was guaranteed.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Dow hits record. Most American stocks rose Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached another record. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) finished virtually unchanged. It edged up by less than 0.1%. The Dow jumped 594 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.8%. Seven of every 10 S&P 500 stocks rose. Slumping chip companies kept indexes mixed. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 5.5% after plunging 10.6% the prior day. Nvidia ($NVDA) fell 1.4%. Lam Research ($LRCX) sank 10.2%. Nvidia remains worth nearly $4.7T. Treasury yields eased after the soft jobs report. Traders saw an 82% chance the Federal Reserve would not raise rates this month. The Dow set a record while AI reminded everyone who still owns the room.

👀 ICMYI

1. New York’s summer became Knicks, World Cup, and Swift.

2. Empire State Building climbers now face felony charges.

3. Administrative assistants are learning to weaponize AI.

4. Former Olympian indicted over Reflecting Pool vandalism.

5. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) expanded Georgia probe.

6. “Country Roads” became American team’s World Cup anthem.

7. Louisiana’s attorney general was indicted in court fight.

8. German sausages became America’s hot dog icon.

9. Swift and Kelce wedding permit showed Garden schedule.

10. Traditionalist bishops defied Pope Leo XIV in Switzerland.

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📊 Minab Postmortem, Empire State Building, and USMCA

Farooq Zafar — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 02:59:27 GMT

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 American strike killed children. A new reconstruction detailed an American strike on an Iranian school. The Pentagon has stayed publicly quiet more than 120 days later. The strike hit Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab on February 28th. The school’s name means “Good Tree” in Farsi. It sat inside a walled compound near a Revolutionary Guard base. Students were waiting after teachers called parents to collect them early. Multiple munitions struck the compound. Hundreds of pounds of explosives collapsed the school. Airwars identified 156 of the dead. That count included 120 children, all age 13 or younger. The group said 95 people were injured. State media had put the death toll at 168. President Trump said last week he had not read the Pentagon report. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said findings would be released at the appropriate time. A school became a target file, then a silence.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇺🇦 Kyiv shakes for hours. Russia launched a large overnight attack on Kyiv into Thursday. Missiles and drones shook the capital for hours. Loud explosions echoed across the city. Residential buildings were damaged. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said one person was killed. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 11 people were injured. The attack affected all 10 districts of the city. Damage spread across both sides of the Dnipro River. Many residents took shelter in metro stations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials had issued warnings before the strikes. Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters. He described a furious enemy attack. A paramedic was among the critically injured in Shevchenkivskyi district. Fires broke out in several districts as debris trapped people in buildings. Kyiv spent another night measuring time by sirens, windows, and rescue crews.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 Empire climbers get arrested. Two climbers scaled the Empire State Building’s antenna Wednesday. They unfurled a banner about the power of love and peace. The stunt appeared tied to a high-altitude marriage proposal. Police identified the Russian climbers as Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov. The pair were featured in the 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story”, and climbed without tethers. The antenna rises above the public areas of the 102-story tower. Video showed them balancing on a narrow ledge. They appeared to kiss above midtown. One then appeared to kneel as part of a proposal. They later descended, embraced, and were arrested. Charges included burglary and reckless endangerment. Management called the episode unauthorized. Love chose the skyline, and the skyline called security.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🕵️ Brennan sues over records. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan sued the Trump administration Wednesday. He wants a court order preserving investigation records. Brennan says the investigations target him for phantom criminal conduct. His lawyers say the records could show officials’ motives. They argue those motives could support a future vindictive-prosecution defense. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington. It cites more than 100 statements President Trump has made since 2017 attacking Brennan. It also cites Trump directives to the Justice Department. Brennan’s lawyers say those directives lacked factual or legal justification. Brennan has long been one of Trump’s most visible intelligence-community critics. The case comes amid investigations tied to Russia-related inquiries and government recordkeeping. Brennan is not asking the court to stop the investigations now. He is asking that records survive long enough for review. The Justice Department did not immediately comment. A paper trail became the battlefield before any indictment arrived.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌐 Trade pact gets reopened. The United States, Canada, and Mexico began renegotiating their trade pact Wednesday. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) came up for renewal. President Trump negotiated the pact in 2020. It replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The region now trades $1.9T a year in goods and services. That equals about $5B a day. Canada and Mexico are America’s top two trading partners. United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said America is not ready to renew the pact as written. The deal remains in effect while talks continue. The countries have until 2036 to resolve differences. One dispute concerns Canada’s dairy protections. Another concerns pressure to make more products in North America. A proposed rule would require 50% of cars to be made in the United States. Canada and Mexico view that as a red line. North America’s trade machine still runs, but the manual is back on the table.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 Tech pulls stocks lower. Most American stocks rose Wednesday. Wall Street still ended lower because major technology shares fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) slipped 0.2%. It was the index’s 8th loss in 11 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 13 points. That was less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%. Three of every 5 S&P 500 stocks rose. General Mills ($GIS) climbed 8.5%. The company reported stronger quarterly results than analysts expected. It also announced a $3B cost-cutting plan over 4 years. Artificial intelligence (AI) favorites weighed on the market. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 10.6%. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) dropped 6.9%. Nvidia ($NVDA) lost 1.3%. Most stocks rose, but the biggest room in the market still controlled the exits.

👀 ICMYI

1. World Cup fans still faced visa and access barriers.

2. Traditionalists defied Pope Leo XIV in Switzerland.

3. Sixteen children were rescued from an Ohio home.

4. Northeast heat clashed with Fourth of July plans.

5. New autopsy deepened Mississippi police outrage.

6. Avi Loeb was picked to lead a UFO council.

7. Qatari jet flew as Air Force One for Trump.

8. President Trump visited the Roosevelt library.

9. NBA: Jaylen Brown was traded to Philadelphia.

10. Swift and Kelce plan Friday Garden wedding.

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📊 Burmese Scams, Birthright Citizenship, and Big Egg

Farooq Zafar — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 02:56:53 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Meteor Watch Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇲🇲 Scam tech scales love. Global scam operations now use American technology as factory machinery. Safeer Mohammed Koorimannil said he was trafficked to a Myanmar scam compound. He impersonated a 28-year-old Singaporean woman named Ella. Supervisors gave him four days to make each victim fall in love. Records he smuggled out showed he targeted about 50K people in at least 17 countries in one month. He said he chatted with more than 100 people at once across dozens of profiles. Software built with artificial intelligence (AI) models from American tech companies helped scale the scripts. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates fraud cost Americans nearly $200B in 2024. Its dataset includes 10.2M fraud complaints from 2021 to 2025. Myanmar compounds such as KK Park show how captivity and cloud infrastructure now merge. Starlink satellite service has been widely used in Myanmar, including at known scam compounds. SpaceX says Starlink has zero tolerance for abuse. It has cut thousands of units near scam centers. Investigators say scammers adapted and moved devices to new compounds. Fraud used to knock on doors, now it runs shifts.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇻🇪 Venezuela hospitals near edge. Aid groups warned Venezuela’s healthcare system is near its limit. The warning came nearly a week after two powerful earthquakes. Hospitals are damaged, understaffed, and crowded with the injured. Infectious diseases are flaring in disaster zones. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) expanded food aid and temporary feeding centers. It had already been operating in La Guaira, the hardest-hit state. Official rescues have collapsed since the first days after the quakes. The government said 5,380 people were saved in the first two days. Only four people were found alive Monday. Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, said one toddler was rescued after six days. The government puts the death toll above 1,900. Experts say that is likely a significant undercount. United Nations agencies estimated 1.2M tons of debris. Thousands of displaced people are sleeping outdoors or in crowded shelters. The earthquake cracked buildings first, then tested every institution underneath.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⚖️ Birthright survives Trump. The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship Tuesday. The ruling rejected President Trump’s executive order limiting it. The order targeted children born to mothers in the country illegally or temporarily. The court struck it down 6-3. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the main opinion. He said the Fourteenth Amendment keeps its promise to free-born people in the country. A bare majority of five justices rested the decision on constitutional grounds. Justice Brett Kavanaugh disagreed with that constitutional reasoning. He still pointed to a federal law broadly conveying birthright citizenship. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas would have upheld Trump’s limits. Trump said Congress could easily address the decision. The ruling’s constitutional basis makes that claim far harder. The order had already been blocked by lower courts, and never took effect in the country. The court left one sentence strong enough to stop a new presidency.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏟️ Court backs sports bans. The Supreme Court upheld state athletic bans Tuesday. The laws bar transgender girls and women from school sports teams. The decision covered laws from Idaho and West Virginia. The court’s six-justice conservative majority said the bans do not violate the Constitution. The justices unanimously said they also do not violate Title IX. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court. He said states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. He cited safety and competitive fairness concerns. More than two dozen Republican-led states have adopted similar bans. The ruling is expected to affect those laws too. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the bench. She said the majority wrongly rejected an equal-protection claim from 16-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson. Sotomayor said the science is still evolving. A national culture war arrived at the court and left with state power expanded.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🥚 Egg settlement cracks. Federal and state officials reached settlements with three major egg producers. The Justice Department and 17 states announced the deals this week. The companies are Cal-Maine Foods ($CALM), Versova, and Hickman’s Egg Ranch. Officials accused them of colluding for years to raise prices. The alleged scheme ran from June 2022 through March 2025. Investigators said the companies coordinated bids to Urner Barry Publications. That index helps determine what stores and restaurants pay for billions of eggs. The complaint said the conduct meant higher prices for consumers. None of the companies admitted wrongdoing. They will collectively pay $3.3M. They will also donate 53M eggs. Those eggs will go to food banks and nonprofits. The settlements still need court approval. Average egg prices hit a record $6.23 per dozen in March 2025. A grocery staple became an antitrust case with shells still on the floor.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Stocks trim June losses. American stocks rose Tuesday and trimmed June losses. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) gained 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 136 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5%. The S&P 500 still ended its first losing month after two strong ones. Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks steadied after pressuring markets in June. Nvidia ($NVDA) rose 2.6%. It helped lift the S&P 500 more than any other stock. Microsoft ($MSFT) rose 1.2%. Microsoft still cut its June loss only to 17.2%. Oracle ($ORCL) slipped 0.8%. Its June loss widened to 35.1%. Investors remain unsure whether AI spending will deliver enough profit. Job openings were stronger than economists expected at the end of May. The market recovered some ground, but June still handed AI its bill.

👀 ICMYI

1. Fed Governor Lisa Cook kept her job for now.

2. Ford Motors recalls more than 741K vehicles.

3. President Trump reported $1.2B from crypto in filing.

4. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. disclosed a depression diagnosis.

5. Deceased infant found at Michigan music festival.

6. NBA: LeBron leaves Lakers, enters free agency.

7. Afghan cosmonaut Abdul Ahad Momand dies at 67.

8. Author Eiko Kadono still finds magic in books at 91.

9. Actress Daveigh Chase died of AIDS at age 35.

10. Avi Loeb will lead new White House UFO council.

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📊 Afghan Strikes, Jail Takeover, and Comcast Split

Farooq Zafar — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:52:25 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Camera Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇵🇰 Pakistani strikes kill Afghan civilians. Pakistani forces carried out ground operations and strikes in Afghanistan overnight. Afghan officials said at least 36 civilians were killed. More than 160 others were wounded. Pakistan said the operations answered militant attacks inside Pakistan. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said security forces killed 29 fighters. Afghanistan condemned the strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces. Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, Afghanistan’s deputy minister for publications, called them a cowardly act of aggression. Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, said Pakistani forces hit a home in Paktia’s Chamkani district. He said an older man and a child were killed there. He said rescuers were struck again after villagers gathered. That second strike killed 28 villagers and wounded 158, he said. Six people, mostly women and children, were killed in Paktika’s Giyan district. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan confirmed at least 28 civilian deaths. Afghanistan and Pakistan summoned each other’s top diplomats Monday. The border again became a place where governments describe targets and civilians count bodies.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇩🇪 German shooting kills six. A shooting in northern Germany killed six people Monday. It happened at a youth welfare facility in Stade. Police said the violence may have stemmed from a custody dispute. Five people died at the scene. They included four women and one man. A sixth adult died later at a hospital. Police said all six were employees of the youth center or its affiliates. The suspected shooter was arrested. Daniela Behrens, interior minister for Lower Saxony, called it an extremely violent crime in cold blood. Police said several people were wounded. Some were seriously hurt. They did not provide a specific injury count. The shooting took place on Dankersstrasse, south of the town center. The facility includes temporary housing for pregnant women or young mothers with children. Germany’s restrictive gun laws make mass shootings rare, but not unimaginable for a Western European nation. A welfare site built for vulnerable families became another address for public grief.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🚨 Jail takeover ends in Carolina. Authorities ended an inmate takeover at a North Carolina jail Monday. Inmates overpowered correctional staff at Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center. The facility is in Windsor, about 120 miles east of Raleigh. Three guards and 88 inmates were inside when the takeover began. Officials said it started around 5 a.m. Local, state, and federal authorities responded. By early afternoon, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had cleared the facility. Officials said all inmates and staff were safe and accounted for. Those injured received treatment. Inmates were transferred to other facilities. The jail will remain secured while damage is assessed. The 90-bed facility houses pretrial detainees and short-term inmates for Bertie and Martin counties. Inmates took two guards captive. A third guard escaped. Negotiations freed the guards and 80 inmates, leaving eight inmates inside. A rural jail became a pressure cooker before force and bargaining put the lid back on.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⚖️ Supreme Court nears final calls. The Supreme Court is nearing the end of its term. Major cases about President Trump’s power remain unresolved. One case concerns Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship. Another concerns his attempt to fire heads of most independent agencies at will. A third involves removing a sitting Federal Reserve governor. The court is also weighing transgender sports cases from West Virginia and Idaho. Those cases concern laws barring transgender girls and women from public school and college women’s sports. Two election cases also remain. One concerns mailed ballots received after Election Day. Another concerns political party spending for congressional and presidential candidates. The court also has a geofence case. That dispute concerns mobile location data collected near crime scenes. Critics call such warrants a civil liberties fishing expedition. The conservative majority has often favored Trump’s immigration moves this term. The court’s final opinions may define how much presidency fits inside the word power.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📺 Comcast plans media split. Comcast ($CMCSA) plans to split itself into two public companies. One company would center on NBCUniversal and Sky. The other would focus on broadband and wireless services. Comcast said the move will let each business pursue its own priorities. Chairman and co-CEO Brian Roberts said the world is changing faster than ever. He said the media and technology businesses face distinct opportunities. The split is expected to take about a year, but needs regulatory approvals and final board approval. Consumers should not feel immediate effects. Xfinity, Peacock, NBC News, Universal Studios, Telemundo, and Bravo currently sit under Comcast’s umbrella. NBCUniversal would lead the media-centered company. Sky would also be part of that portfolio. Philadelphia-based Comcast would keep residential and business internet services. Former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis would become CEO of the broadband company. Cable’s old bundle is learning the same lesson as every empire, that scale eventually wants separate passports.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Stocks rebound after rare slide. American stocks rose Monday. The move recovered some losses from a rare losing week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) climbed 1.2%. It broke a 5-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306 points, or 0.6%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 2.1%. Artificial intelligence (AI) shares helped lift the market. Samsung Electronics ($005930.KS) and SK Hynix ($000660.KS) said they would invest roughly $518B in a South Korean chipmaking hub. Applied Materials ($AMAT) jumped 10.8%. Nvidia ($NVDA) rose 1.3%. Nvidia remains Wall Street’s biggest stock with a value above $4.7T. SpaceX climbed 7.2%. Comcast ($CMCSA) rose 4.5% after announcing its split plan. Verizon Communications ($VZ) fell 5.2% after a $625M joint venture announcement with BT Group ($BT.A). Monday’s rally looked like relief, but relief is still not the same thing as conviction.

👀 ICMYI

1. San Francisco Archdiocese agrees to $395M abuse settlement.

2. Immigration officers released a Texas nun stopped in her habit.

3. Midwest heat canceled plans as cooling centers opened.

4. Stars and Stripes Pie aimed for Fourth of July spectacle.

5. WhatsApp usernames will reduce reliance on phone numbers.

6. Journalist Kara Swisher eyes influence in the 2028 campaign.

7. RFK federal peptide panel to include MAHA wellness advocates.

8. Democrats in half the states sued over Medicaid work rules.

9. Explainer: Heat domes trap hot air under high pressure systems.

10. Paris mortuaries were overwhelmed by record European heat.

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📊 Gulf Strikes, Immigrant Lists, and Knockout Stage

Farooq Zafar — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 21:21:07 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Logistics Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 Iran strikes Gulf states. Iran launched drone and missile attacks at Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday. The attacks followed new American airstrikes against Iran. Tehran also threatened a complete halt to talks if Washington keeps striking. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility. Kuwait said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and 2 missiles. Kuwait hosts a major American military base. No injuries or damage were reported there. Bahrain said strikes damaged a residential building near its international airport. No one was killed in Bahrain. Bahrain is home to the American Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran alone must govern the Strait of Hormuz, which once carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas. The global community has long treated it as an international waterway. Diplomacy keeps asking for a table while missiles keep rearranging the room.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇸🇾 Trump presses Syria on Hezbollah. President Trump is pressing Syria to confront Hezbollah in Lebanon. The idea has alarmed both Lebanon and Israel. Trump has argued Syria’s new government could root out Hezbollah better than Israel. Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in doing so. He also said Trump’s comments were misconstrued. Trump has doubled down anyway. The proposal comes after Washington soured on Israel’s war with Hezbollah. Trump complained this month that too many people were being killed. More than 4K people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Hezbollah joined the Iran war. Israel says it targets Hezbollah and takes steps to protect civilians. Al-Sharaa’s Islamist-led forces overthrew Bashar Assad 18 months ago. Israel views his government with suspicion. Israel has also seized a strip of southern Syria since al-Sharaa took power. Turkey backs al-Sharaa and is competing with Israel for influence in Syria. Washington’s workaround looked simple from far away, which is where dangerous maps are often drawn.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🪪 Mississippi list alarms advocates. A new Mississippi law could create a list of immigrants living illegally in the state. The law takes effect Wednesday. It authorizes the state Department of Public Safety to compile the list. The agency may use all lawful investigative means available. The law targets names, addresses, countries of origin, and age status. It also allows notes on criminal history and deportation proceedings. The department must share suspected violations with state and local authorities. The measure neither requires nor prohibits sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigrant advocates say the list could become a deportation tool. The concern comes as President Trump pursues mass deportations. Republican state Senator Angela Hill sponsored the measure. Hill said states must help discourage illegal immigration. She argued officials need to understand the scale of the issue. More than 100 immigration-related state laws have passed nationally this year. Mississippi turned suspicion into a spreadsheet and called it governance.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🚔 Trump names ICE nominee. President Trump said Saturday he is nominating Lance Schroyer to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Schroyer is a former Oklahoma state trooper. Trump called him a former American Marine with operational experience. He also called Schroyer a proven leader. Schroyer shares Oklahoma ties with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Mullin recently brought Schroyer onstage at a National Sheriffs’ Association event. Mullin said DHS had hired Schroyer. Mullin praised Schroyer’s 29-year law enforcement career. He also cited Schroyer’s work with federal and state partners on immigration enforcement. If confirmed, Schroyer would lead ICE during an aggressive enforcement expansion. ICE has received a one-time $75B injection. That funding has allowed hiring of 12K officers. It also increased detention capacity. Public opinion has soured on Trump’s crackdown after raids and clashes in American cities. A staff pick became a signal about how hard the machine intends to run.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏆 World Cup bracket tilts. The World Cup knockout bracket is set. Some teams received smoother paths than others. The tournament does not reseed like some American sports. That means the bracket can turn lopsided quickly. Argentina and Lionel Messi look well placed. Argentina opens against Cape Verde in the Round of 32. Messi’s match will be stateside, near Inter Miami’s home. France, Mexico, and Argentina were the only teams to finish group play 3-0-0. The Foxborough region looks brutal. Netherlands faces Morocco in the Round of 32. That means one of the 7 highest-ranked teams left will exit before the Round of 16. France and Germany could meet in the Round of 16. The United States faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Inglewood region. Portugal opens against Croatia. Spain opens against Austria. The bracket has no oversight board, but found a way to offend half the field.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌞 Solstice gives longest day. Sunday is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The summer solstice marks the start of astronomical summer north of the equator. In the Southern Hemisphere, it marks the shortest day and the start of winter. The word solstice comes from Latin. “Sol” means sun. “Stitium” can mean pause or stop. The summer solstice ends the sun’s annual climb higher in the sky. The sun then begins its retreat. Days will gradually shorten until late December. People have marked solstices for ages. Sweden holds midsummer celebrations. Stonehenge was designed to align with the sun’s solstice paths. Earth’s tilted orbit creates the unequal sunlight. During solstices, the planet is tipped most sharply toward or away from the sun. Half the world gets a long day, then the light starts billing interest.

👀 ICMYI

1. Israeli drone strike kills Palestinian siblings in Gaza.

2. Olympians visit Capitol to push climate solutions.

3. Hantavirus quarantine ends for last ship passengers.

4. Vespa scooters swarm Rome for 80th anniversary.

5. Nation of Islam’s Khadijah Farrakhan dies at age 90.

6. Bill Maher receives Kennedy Center humor laurels.

7. America 250 revives imperial presidency questions.

8. Ukraine drone assault ignited major Russian refinery.

9. Pride Month ends in America with bicoastal parades.

10. California no-kill shelter yielded at least 117 dead dogs.

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📊 Disarmament, Great American State Fair, and Obamacare

Farooq Zafar — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 04:04:26 GMT

Greetings! Happy National Sunglasses Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇱🇧 Hezbollah deal tests Lebanon. Lebanon’s new framework deal with Israel requires Hezbollah to disarm. That demand may be the hardest part of the agreement. The deal was signed Friday in Washington. It links Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to Hezbollah giving up its weapons. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem rejected it Saturday. He said his group will keep fighting until Israel leaves Lebanon. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The group has since become both a militant force and Lebanese political power. More than 4K people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since March. The deal says Israel will first leave two small pilot zones. The Lebanese army would then assume security responsibility there. Future withdrawal zones would be negotiated later. Lebanon’s government wants Israeli troops gone. Hezbollah and international observers frame resistance through annexation fears, ethnic cleansing claims, illegal occupation, and Greater Israel irredentism. Ultimately, a peace framework entered a country where every condition sounds like surrender to someone.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 Europe breaks heat records. Central Europe baked under record-setting heat Saturday. Switzerland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic set records. Denmark hit 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, in Ødum north of Aarhus. That was its warmest day since records began in 1874. Basel, Switzerland recorded 38.8 degrees Celsius, or 101.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Doksany in the Czech Republic reached 40.8 degrees Celsius, or 105.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Forecasters said the Czech temperature could still rise. Germany expected temperatures near 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Concrete on the A2 outside Berlin burst in two places. The highway had to be closed. Other highway damage was reported across Germany. Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies advised against nonessential train travel. Dozens of nursing home residents in Dormagen were evacuated for medical care. Fire officials said temperatures inside reached 35 degrees Celsius, or 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Much of Europe lacks common air conditioning because old summers did not ask these questions.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🎡 State fair finds division. The Great American State Fair opened on the National Mall. It is meant to help mark America’s 250th anniversary. The fair is part of President Trump’s anniversary rollout. Visitors entered near a 110-foot Ferris wheel. Montana displayed a scaled-up apatosaurus rib cage. Virginia leaned into its American history. Washington offered a cherry-blossom tree and signature banner. South Carolina brought a putting green. Texas brought a space capsule, Alamo facade, and Big Tex. New Jersey displayed a 7K-pound Jersey Shore sandcastle. The fair also included goats, sheep, a calf, baby chicks, and cowboy imagery. Many visitors liked the idea of states showing themselves together. Some also found the event underwhelming or politically marked. Sharyn Bovat said she wanted USA 250 for all people. Maine, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania did not send delegations. A unity fair arrived with booths full and consensus still hard to staff.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🔥 Western fires surge fast. Wildfire activity intensified across the American West. Hot, dry, windy weather fueled flames in Utah, Arizona, and elsewhere. Utah’s Cottonwood Fire became the country’s largest blaze. It burned more than 144 square miles Saturday. The fire moved through rugged terrain in southwest Utah. It destroyed part of a ski resort and several summer cabins. Beaver County officials began assessing damage. Utah Governor Spencer Cox called the scene bleak. He also thanked crews for several saves. Fire spokesperson Alyssa Mason said cliffs and steep slopes slowed crews. Hundreds of firefighters arrived as critical fire weather persisted. Utah has record-low snowpack and its warmest winter on record. Cox declared an emergency earlier this week. The order cleared a path for a fireworks ban before July 4th. Nationally, nearly 3M acres have burned this year. Summer did not start a fire season, it inherited one.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏥 Obamacare rolls shrink. About 3M fewer people had Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans in February compared with last year. New federal data showed enrollment fell from 22.1M in 2025 to 19.2M. That is a 13% drop. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggested a crackdown on fraudulent or phantom enrollment may be one reason. Health analysts pointed to the January 1st subsidy expiration. The subsidy expiration made premiums surge. Many people could not pay their first bills. Data compiled in April captured the marketplace after a nonpayment grace period expired. Cynthia Cox of KFF said real people lost coverage. KFF survey findings showed people leaving plans. Cox said millions faced double or triple digit premium increases. The ACA marketplaces had grown sharply under enhanced subsidies. Their expiration turned paperwork into a household budget shock. The numbers arrived amid larger affordability pressure. Health coverage did not vanish in theory, it disappeared when bills came due.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🛰️ ATF drops phone tracker. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) canceled its Webloc contract. Webloc enabled warrantless tracking of mobile devices. The agency called its use a pilot program. Representative Michael Cloud and Senator Ron Wyden had raised concerns. Webloc uses consumer app and advertising-network data. The information can identify devices in specific areas at specific times. Critics say that lets agencies bypass warrant rules. The Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that police need warrants for historic carrier location data. It has not addressed commercially acquired data. ATF said Webloc did not meet its needs. The agency said it is using no other ad-tech-sourced services. Wyden called the cancellation a victory for constitutional rights. Lawmakers said ATF conducted more than 300 warrantless searches. More than 200 were tied to active cases. Other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), still buy commercial geolocation data. The phone became a witness government could buy without asking the court.

👀 ICMYI

1. Argentina fans brought beef debate to Texas.

2. Panini World Cup sticker packs sold out fast.

3. Druski became the BET Awards’ youngest host.

4. Buffalo Bills declined to honor O.J. Simpson.

5. Samuel Bateman convicted in Arizona abuse case.

6. Egypt drew Iran 1-1 and advanced at World Cup.

7. Cape Verde is smallest World Cup knockout nation.

8. Delayed monsoons strained Indian cities and farms.

9. Blocked COVID vaccine study finally published.

10. Science: scratching bites can make itching worse.

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📊 Tariff Threat, Trump's Washington, and Inflation Spikes

Farooq Zafar — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 03:47:05 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 Digital tax fight escalates. President Trump threatened a new trade confrontation with Europe on Friday. He said any country taxing digital services from American companies could face a 100% tax on goods sent to the United States. The target is a growing set of foreign taxes aimed at search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces. Trump said the penalty would override previously negotiated trade deals. He singled out European countries in his social media post. The warning raised the risk of a larger fight with the 27-member European Union (EU). European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said unilateral measures against such policies were unjustified. Gill said the EU would respond swiftly and decisively if needed. He defended digital services taxes as non-discriminatory. Trump has long opposed foreign taxes and regulations aimed at American technology giants. A prior Trump post said digital taxes were designed to harm American technology. The threat comes before a July 4th deadline for implementing a tariff deal between the EU and the United States. That agreement caps most EU exports at 15%. Digital taxes were not included in it. A trade deal left one wire exposed, and Trump touched it with both hands.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇻🇪 Venezuelans search alone. Venezuelans began searching for missing relatives themselves Friday. The earthquake death toll remained at least 164 and was expected to rise. The number of injured climbed above 3.3K by midday Friday. Authorities said 243 people had been rescued. Civilian databases listed tens of thousands of people as missing. Officials cautioned that some reports may reflect duplicate entries or people unreachable because cellphone service is down. La Guaira remained one of the hardest-hit areas. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said government forces were distributing food and water there. Rodríguez said the country was in critical hours for rescuing people alive. She welcomed foreign rescuers and humanitarian aid. Residents said the help was only a fraction of what they needed. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said up to 6.76M people could be affected. About 2M of them are in Caracas. Experts said successive shallow quakes worsened the destruction. Venezuela’s emergency became brutally intimate, with families digging where the state had not yet arrived.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏛️ Trump remakes Washington. President Trump has left a visible imprint across Washington. The country is entering its 250th year, and the capital is changing with it. Visitors now encounter a city reshaped by presidential symbolism, construction, and removals. Since returning to office 17 months ago, Trump has shown a fixation with the District of Columbia. He has put his image and name on buildings. He has torn down storied structures. He has altered others. He has started large construction projects. He has deployed armed military personnel. National Guard members have appeared in Union Station. A banner with Trump’s image has hung on the Department of Justice building. The Kennedy Center briefly carried Trump’s name before a court decision removed it. A tarp still obscures part of that change. The White House East Wing has become a ballroom construction site. Washington is hosting a birthday party while also becoming the guest book.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📖 Texas mandates Bible readings. Texas’ State Board of Education approved a required reading list Friday. The list will apply to more than 5M public school students. It includes Bible stories and excerpts from the New Testament. It also includes literary works such as Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations.” The mandate takes effect in 2030. The Republican-controlled board approved it 9-5 after weeks of debate. Texas also considered new social studies standards linking Bible stories and American history. Elementary students will read “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” Fourth graders will encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament. Middle school students will read passages including Jesus’ most famous sermon. High schoolers will read Bible passages alongside works by Dickens and Jane Austen. Critics said teachers were losing control over classroom texts. Dallas-area teacher Alyse Dent warned that students may hear instruction as religious teaching. Supporters argued Judeo-Christian traditions shaped American history and civic life. Texas put scripture on the syllabus, then asked the classroom to call it literature.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧾 Inflation hits 3-year high. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose to a 3-year high in May. Consumer prices rose 4.1% from a year earlier. That was the largest annual increase since April 2023. Prices rose 0.4% from April to May. Gas was a major driver. Semiconductors and computer equipment also became more expensive. Demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) buildout helped lift those costs. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has kept its key rate unchanged this year. In January, officials had expected 2 cuts. Some economists now say the next move could be a hike. Mark Vitner of Piedmont Crescent Capital said underlying inflation is closer to 3% than 2%. Gas prices reached nearly $4.50 a gallon on average in May. They later fell to $3.92 on Thursday. Core prices rose 3.4% from a year earlier. Inflation keeps proving it can cool down without ever getting comfortable.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 AI stocks drag Wall Street. Most American stocks rose Friday, but the indexes still struggled. Artificial intelligence (AI) shares again weighed on Wall Street. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) slipped less than 0.1%. It ended only its second losing week in 13 weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.2%. Brent crude fell 3.8% to $72.60. That drop helped companies with large fuel bills. American Airlines Group ($AAL) climbed 1.7%. Eli Lilly ($LLY) jumped 7.1% after a European medicines panel backed several drugs. Nearly 2 of every 3 S&P 500 stocks rose. AI losses still overpowered the broader gains. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 6.7%. SpaceX finished up 0.2% after an intraday slide and rebound. The market rose everywhere except the corner too large to ignore.

👀 ICMYI

1. Gracie the giraffe was found after leaving a Texas ranch.

2. Pete Buttigieg was targeted by a false police report.

3. Supreme Court tensions spilled into public view.

4. John Bolton pleaded guilty over classified information.

5. Charlie Kirk case prosecutors were held in contempt.

6. Saks exited bankruptcy with less debt and a new name.

7. OpenAI and Anthropic limited models during review.

8. Michigan floods exposed gaps in maps and insurance.

9. Colombia’s election may reshape the Amazon’s future.

10. Indian textile workers endure heat and cramped housing.

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📊 Venezuela Earthquake, Scams, and NBA Draft

Farooq Zafar — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:16:33 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇻🇪 Venezuela quakes kill scores. Back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela on Wednesday evening. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said at least 164 people died. She said another 971 people were injured. Rescue teams rushed toward the hardest-hit areas Thursday. Officials were trying to reach people trapped under rubble. The quakes measured magnitude 7.2 and 7.5. They were among Venezuela’s strongest in more than a century. Buildings collapsed in Caracas. Residents ran into streets as walls cracked and dust rose. Venezuela’s main airport was damaged and closed. Buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon region. Rodríguez said rescue teams were moving toward La Guaira, north of Caracas. Caracas subway service was suspended. Natural gas was shut off as a safety measure. A country already trained in crisis woke to the ground itself giving way.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⛴️ Hormuz tankers defy threats. Oil tankers moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. They did so despite threats from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The vessels used a new route close to Oman’s shore. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations maritime agency, promoted that route. Oman helped lay out the passage. The tankers sailed along the United Arab Emirates coast. They then traveled around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula. The Stoic Warrior led the group. The movement followed an initial American-Iranian agreement to open the strait. That agreement also sought to extend a shaky Iran war ceasefire. The Revolutionary Guard objected to the new route. It said the only authorized path was the one declared by Iran. It warned that violators would be dealt with. It did not elaborate. The world’s oil artery reopened with traffic and threats still on the water.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧾 Scam nation stops reporting. Americans are being flooded with suspected scams. A February survey found 58% of American adults receive suspected scams daily. The approaches include texts, calls, emails, online messages, and ads. About 3 in 10 adults said they personally lost money or information to scams. A separate survey found 1 in 10 households lost money last year. Nearly half of those victims lost more than $500. Older adults reported the most frequent contact. About 7 in 10 Americans 60 and older said suspected scammers contact them daily. About 4 in 10 Americans under 30 said the same. Package and banking scams were the most common approaches. About 4 in 10 contacted victims cited Facebook or Messenger. Victims often report losses to banks before law enforcement. Only 18% contacted state or local police. Only 13% contacted federal law enforcement or the Federal Trade Commission. Fraud became so constant that even reporting started to feel like another dead end.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧠 AI workforce group launches. A new bipartisan nonprofit wants workers to survive the artificial intelligence (AI) shock. RAISE US is starting with more than $500M. The group will fund education and training programs. Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is its CEO. Former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb co-founded the group. Raimondo warned that AI unemployment could destabilize democracy. Initial work will begin in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah. The group wants schools tied more closely to employers. It will also explore tax changes and incentives to keep people working. Anchor partners include Amazon ($AMZN), Microsoft ($MSFT), Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation, and Bank of America ($BAC). Other employers include UPS ($UPS), General Motors ($GM), Eli Lilly ($LLY), Mastercard ($MA), Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD), Cisco Systems ($CSCO), and IBM ($IBM). A Boston Consulting Group analysis estimated roughly half of American jobs will be reshaped by AI. It said as many as 25M jobs could be eliminated within 5 years. Goldman Sachs estimated AI could automate one-quarter of American work hours. The machine is arriving faster than the training manual.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏀 NBA second round gets its night. The National Basketball Association (NBA) draft finished Wednesday in New York. The second round opened with the New York Knicks on the clock. New York selected Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton at No. 31. The Knicks had already agreed to trade his rights to Houston. Thornton first received a Knicks hat. He later arrived for interviews wearing a Rockets hat. He joked that Texas meant no state tax. The first round had begun with Washington selecting AJ Dybantsa. The two-night format gave teams more time for deals and evaluation. Duke’s Isaiah Evans waited from Tuesday into Wednesday. Minnesota took him at No. 33 after a trade with Brooklyn. Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas went No. 34 and was dealt to Cleveland. The draft’s romance still lives in the second round. Jalen Brunson and Willis Reed already proved New York knows what hidden value looks like.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📊 Tech rebounds as oil slips. World shares rose Thursday as technology stocks rebounded. Japan and South Korea led the move. Chipmakers rallied after strong signals from American tech companies. Qualcomm ($QCOM) jumped 11.5% in premarket trading. The company raised its annual revenue forecast to $40B from $22B. It also announced a Dragonfly C1000 data center chip for Meta Platforms ($META). Micron Technology ($MU) rose 17% premarket after beating estimates and raising guidance. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) futures gained 0.8%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 4.6% to a record 72,366.34. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% to 8,930.30. Samsung Electronics rose 5.3%. SK Hynix leaped 13%. Brent crude fell 1.2% to $72.97 a barrel early Thursday. Markets found their bounce in chips while oil kept draining fear from the tape.

👀 ICMYI

1. 7.2 earthquake hit northern Japan without tsunami warning.

2. Agility Robotics eyed Wall Street in $2.5B humanoid bet.

3. High SNAP error rates could raise costs for dozens of states.

4. Paris court neared a major TotalEnergies climate ruling.

5. Southern Baptist leaders downplayed clergy abuse concerns.

6. New Mexico’s governor sought federal DEA fentanyl probe.

7. Senate Republicans rejected war powers after Trump pressure.

8. White House OMB sought $87.6B for war, farmers, and Ebola.

9. Chris Van Hollen backed Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan Senate.

10. Norman Rockwell’s West Wing sketches went on public display.

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📊 Colombian Election, National Mall, and World Models

Farooq Zafar — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 21:05:53 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇨🇴 Colombian outsider wins. Progressive candidate Iván Cepeda conceded Colombia’s presidential election Wednesday. He lost to Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative outsider endorsed by President Trump. De la Espriella is a 47-year-old businessman and lawyer. He had never run for public office. Election results showed he defeated Cepeda by 1 percentage point. The margin was nearly 251K votes. Cepeda is a lawmaker from the ruling Historic Pact coalition. He had promised to continue outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies. Those included Petro’s troubled “total peace” talks with armed groups. Cepeda said he would lead a democratic and constructive opposition. De la Espriella will begin a 4-year term August 7th. He claimed victory Sunday and urged Cepeda and Petro to accept the result. His win adds Colombia to a regional swing toward political outsiders. He campaigned on a hard-line public safety message. Voters chose rupture in a country still bargaining with conflict.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇱🇧 Lebanon borderlands live afraid. Southern Lebanon’s border villages are living inside a nervous ceasefire. Milia el-Cheikh still cannot reach her home in Dibbine. The Shiite-majority village was destroyed during Israel’s war with Hezbollah. She now visits Jdeidat Marjayoun for coffee with a church friend. That old ritual now overlooks ruins and barbed wire. Israeli forces occupy wide areas of southern Lebanon. The latest truce, tied to the American-Iranian interim peace deal, has mostly held. Neighboring Christian, Sunni, and Druze towns have been allowed to remain. Their roads are blocked, homes damaged, and nights broken by Israeli raids. Israel says its troops remain for self-defense. It says Hezbollah built tunnels and military infrastructure in civilian areas. Iran says any wider truce must include Lebanon. Hezbollah says it will resist occupation. Lebanon’s government has also demanded an Israeli withdrawal. The border is quiet enough for headlines, not for sleep.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🦅 America 250 becomes rally. President Trump opened America’s 250th anniversary festivities with a rally Wednesday. The event took place on the National Mall in Washington. It launched weeks of celebration under the Great American State Fair banner. The fair is set on the parkland between the United States Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. Trump said the program would include stealth bomber flyovers. He also promised military bands, singer Lee Greenwood, and his own speech. The rally arrived months before November’s critical midterm elections. Trump is trying to show that the Iran war is behind the country. Oil prices have eased as the Strait of Hormuz begins reopening. The celebration also absorbed political turbulence before it began. Young MC canceled his scheduled concert. Martina McBride and the Commodores also canceled. They cited concerns that the event had become politicized. Trump then positioned himself as the headliner. A birthday party for the republic became another mirror held up to power.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 Adams aide faces bribery case. Frank Carone was arrested Wednesday in a federal bribery case. Carone served as chief of staff to former New York Mayor Eric Adams. He was also a Brooklyn Democratic power broker and Adams campaign architect. The indictment is another corruption case touching Adams’ former circle. Adams was not accused of wrongdoing in Carone’s indictment. Adams’ own earlier bribery case had been dismissed. Prosecutors accused Carone of exploiting his position for more than $100K in payoffs. They said he helped steer a migrant shelter contract to a hotel. City social service officials had deemed the hotel unsuitable. Prosecutors said the hotel received $6.8M to house migrants. Carone’s brother Anthony Carone was also charged. Hotel owner Yan Po Zhu and employee Crystal Chen were charged too. All pleaded not guilty through their attorneys. The charges can carry up to 20 years in prison. City hall’s revolving door again sounded like a cash register.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧠 AI chases world models. Artificial intelligence (AI) builders are chasing the next frontier beyond chatbots. Computer scientist Louis Castricato left Brown University to start Overworld. The startup aims to build AI that understands worlds, not just words. Investors are still pouring trillions into chatbot leaders such as Anthropic and OpenAI. Yet more founders are turning toward world models. These systems try to teach AI how physical environments behave. Fei-Fei Li, founder of World Labs, called the term both important and overloaded. She wrote that world models learn space and time. Yann LeCun left Meta Platforms ($META) as chief AI scientist last year. He started Paris-based Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs. LeCun said world models help agents predict consequences of actions. Carnegie Mellon University computer science dean Martial Hebert said chatbots cannot pick up a coffee mug. He said physical AI is the evolution of robotics. Venture investors are funding companies building simulations, games, weather models, and chips. The chatbot learned language, but the robot still needs a body.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📈 Stocks wobble as oil falls. Wall Street wavered Wednesday as technology shares slipped. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) fell 0.3% in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.8%. Technology stocks lost ground for a third straight day. Nvidia ($NVDA) fell 1.2% after Tuesday’s 4.1% drop. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 4.1% after plunging 13.2% Tuesday. Microsoft ($MSFT) fell 1.3%. Alphabet ($GOOGL) slipped 0.8% as it prepares to join the Dow. Brent crude fell 3.8% to $73.87 per barrel. American crude fell 3.9% to $70.34. Exxon Mobil ($XOM) fell 2.4%. Chevron ($CVX) lost 2.3%. Treasury yields eased before Thursday’s inflation update. The market found relief in cheaper oil, then remembered expensive tech still runs the room.

👀 ICMYI

1. South Korean church leader was arrested in an election probe.

2. Pope Leo XIV’s early writings are reaching English readers.

3. Vatican begins its 5-year restoration of iconic Raphael Loggia.

4. Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy after floods killed 28 campers.

5. Philippine Catholics marked John the Baptist with mud rituals.

6. Summer-song predictions put pop’s seasonal crown up for grabs.

7. AI’s energy and water use draws new federal consumer guidance.

8. Dior moves its Paris men’s show earlier amid extreme heat.

9. Guide: Rip current safety begins with floating, not fighting.

10. Agility Robotics heads to Wall Street in $2.5B humanoid bet.

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📊 European Heat Dome, War Powers, and AI Stock Slump

Farooq Zafar — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 02:59:09 GMT

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Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 Heat dome bakes Europe. Europe is sweltering under an early heat wave. Millions of people are facing extreme temperatures across the continent. Experts say a heat dome is the likely driver. Mireia Ginesta, a research associate at Oxford’s Climate Litigation Lab, said heat domes are stationary high-pressure systems. They trap dangerous heat and humidity for days. The pattern begins when the jet stream bends northward. The jet stream is a fast river of high-altitude wind. That bend lets sinking air compress and warm. Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, said the heat dome is the jet stream’s structure. The heat wave is what people feel at the surface. France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (UK) are among the affected countries. France has placed about half the country under a red heat alert. Officials reported around 40 drowning deaths as people sought relief in water. Temperatures may reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius. Climate change has turned summer from season into pressure system.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 Iran inspections split talks. American and Iranian officials disputed Tuesday whether Tehran agreed to United Nations (UN) nuclear inspections. The dispute emerged as technical teams kept working in Switzerland. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also met Pakistani mediators in Islamabad. The talks are meant to make the war-ending framework permanent. A separate plan is forming to clear the Strait of Hormuz shipping bottleneck. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency, said a plan would move 11K stranded crew members through the strait. Iran had blocked the passage after American and Israeli strikes launched the war on February 28th. Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said UN inspectors were not scheduled to examine bombed nuclear sites. He rejected comments made by Vice President JD Vance a day earlier. President Trump said he would cut off talks if Iran had not agreed to inspections. Trump also said there was no rush for inspections to begin. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not commented on its possible role. It has moved in and out of Iran since Israel’s 12-day war in 2025. It has not accessed bombed enrichment sites targeted by American strikes. Negotiators are again discovering that the hardest clause is the one everyone claims already exists.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏛️ Senate rebukes Trump on Iran. The Senate approved a war powers resolution Tuesday for the first time. The measure seeks to block American military action against Iran. It passed 50-48 after 9 earlier Senate attempts failed. The House approved its version earlier this month. The resolution is largely symbolic and does not carry full force of law. Still, it marks a congressional rebuke of President Trump’s Iran war. The administration launched the conflict without Congress and now needs funding. The Pentagon is seeking $80B, mostly for the Iran war. Four Republicans backed the resolution. They were Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania missed the vote. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the war a historic blunder. Trump is expected to meet Republican senators Wednesday. Congress found its voice late, which is still earlier than never.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

⚖️ Texas protesters get decades. Eight people were sentenced Tuesday to decades in federal prison. The case stems from a 2025 shooting at a Texas immigration detention center. The shooting wounded a police officer during a demonstration. Benjamin Song, a former Marine reservist, received 100 years in prison. Prosecutors said Song opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. The seven other defendants received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years. Prosecutors called the crime terrorism. They said the defendants had ties to antifa. Defense lawyers denied those ties. Family members criticized the sentences as extreme. Federal Judge Reed O’Connor said the episode was not a protest but an assault on democracy. All but one of the eight defendants sentenced Tuesday were convicted on terrorism charges. The Justice Department said it was the first sentencing of defendants it described as antifa-affiliated. Defense attorneys said protesters brought firearms for self-protection. A protest case became a national test of violence, labels, and punishment.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧠 AI stocks meet gravity. Investors are questioning whether the artificial intelligence (AI) boom can justify its bill. Big technology companies have been spending heavily on AI systems and data centers. Alphabet ($GOOGL), Amazon ($AMZN), Meta Platforms ($META), and Microsoft ($MSFT) plan up to $720B in spending this year. Much of that money is aimed at AI data centers. Amazon and Alphabet each fell about 5% Monday. Chip names led the broader weakness Tuesday. Nvidia ($NVDA), Micron Technology ($MU), Broadcom ($AVGO), and Lam Research ($LRCX) all came under pressure. Alphabet is raising $80B by selling stock. It plans to spend as much as $190B this year. Amazon sold $54B of bonds in March. It plans roughly $200B in AI spending this year. Marvell Technology ($MRVL) has more than tripled this year. Sandisk ($SNDK) has soared more than 700%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) trades around 25 times earnings. The AI trade still believes in the future, but the invoice has arrived.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 Big Tech drags markets lower. Wall Street gave back recent gains Tuesday. Selling in Big Tech spread from Asia back to American markets. Investors grew worried about higher interest rates later this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) fell 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 2.2%. South Korea’s Kospi sank 10%. European stocks also fell. The selloff focused on companies lifted by artificial intelligence (AI) enthusiasm. More S&P 500 stocks rose than fell, but tech losses overpowered the broader market. Micron Technology ($MU) slumped 13.2%. Nvidia ($NVDA) fell 4.1%. Samsung Electronics ($005930.KS) dropped 12.3% in South Korea. Wall Street sees an 85% chance that the Federal Reserve (Fed) raises rates this year. Markets learned again that concentration can look like leadership until it starts pulling the sled downhill.

👀 ICMYI

1. Tucker Carlson said he will stop supporting Republicans.

2. Savannah Guthrie begged for tips in her mother’s disappearance.

3. President Trump’s Reflecting Pool claims drew new scrutiny.

4. Pope Leo XIV warned wars outpace aid for the hungry.

5. Israeli strikes killed six in Gaza, children and cameraman.

6. Supreme Court rejected a Rastafari prisoner’s dreadlocks suit.

7. Pharrell sent Louis Vuitton surfing at Paris Fashion Week.

8. Extreme pogo mixed aerial tricks with subculture courage.

9. Herbal tea can start with mint and chamomile in your garden.

10. AI chatbots became dating’s modern Cyrano for the lovelorn.

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📊 Starmer, Wildfires, and Greenspan

Farooq Zafar — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:23:56 GMT

Greetings! Happy World Rainforest Day to those celebrating.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇬🇧 Starmer exits Labour’s top job. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he is resigning as United Kingdom (UK) Labour Party leader. He said he will remain caretaker prime minister until Labour chooses a successor. The reversal came less than two years after Labour’s landslide 2024 victory. Starmer had sold himself as the antidote to Conservative chaos. Instead, he was felled by missteps, party infighting, and the Peter Mandelson scandal. Mandelson’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein became a political trap Starmer never escaped. Poor midterm showing accelerated Labour resignations and challenges. Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is now moving toward Downing Street. The UK has had 4 prime ministers in the past 5 years, and 6 prime ministers in the past 10. David Cameron served from 2010 to 2016. Theresa May served from 2016 to 2019. Boris Johnson served from 2019 to 2022, Liz Truss in 2022, Rishi Sunak from 2022 to 2024, and Starmer from 2024 to 2026. Britain keeps changing drivers while the road keeps narrowing.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇶🇦 Qatar gas restart turns explosive. An explosion tore through Qatar’s Ras Laffan gas export complex Sunday night. Workers were trying to restart operations after Iran had bombed the site during the war. Officials said at least 54 people were hurt. Another 18 people remained missing hours later. The blast triggered a fire at the Barzan gas supply facility. State-run QatarEnergy said the explosion came as restart work was underway. The damage scale was still unclear. Ras Laffan is central to Qatar’s energy exports. Qatar is among the world’s top natural gas producers. It had shut production after Iran’s pressure on the Strait of Hormuz blocked shipments. Iran has since loosened its grip as negotiations continue. Barzan can produce almost 1.4B standard cubic feet of sales gas per day. Qatar uses that gas for local electricity and water desalination. ExxonMobil ($XOM) holds a small stake in the plant. A peace process moved on paper while the gas system kept its scars.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🌲 Western wildfires force evacuations. Heat, wind, and drought drove several Western wildfires on Sunday. The Iron Fire in Utah’s Juab County was first detected Saturday. Officials said it had burned 34 square miles. The fire sits about 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It forced the evacuation of Eureka, a town of about 1K people. People at a nearby ranch also had to leave. No homes had been lost by Sunday. Utah Fire Info said firefighters used a successful backburn to protect the town. Kelly Wickens, a Utah fire prevention specialist, said drought was helping the fire grow. Wickens said the fire was human-caused and remains under investigation. Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox visited Eureka on Sunday. The Iron Fire was one of six fires burning in Utah. Near Sedona, Arizona, another blaze burned about 300 acres in steep terrain. About 300 fire personnel fought that fire Sunday. The West entered summer with the landscape already speaking in smoke.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

💊 Fentanyl tactics face new scrutiny. Federal records show Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents watched fentanyl shipments go unseized in New Mexico. Several veteran agents said the tactic shocked them. The DEA said it cannot seize every drug shipment. Its strategy sometimes lets transactions proceed so investigators can follow trafficking networks. Fentanyl’s lethality has made that old playbook far more dangerous. Justice Department guidance encouraged agents to seize the opioid whenever practicable. New Mexico remains a fentanyl epicenter. National overdose deaths fell 14% last year, but New Mexico recorded a 21% spike. Former New Mexico United States attorney Alex Uballez defended the broader strategy. He said bigger cases can save more lives than stopping every deal. DEA Special Agent David Howell filed a whistleblower complaint in 2023. Howell said agents watched a 74K-pill delivery in Albuquerque go unseized. He later reported at least 1.8M fentanyl pills were permitted to move. The DEA said its decisions were lawful and consistent with guidance. The drug war’s chessboard looked different when every pawn could kill.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏦 Greenspan dies at 100. Economist Alan Greenspan died Monday at age 100. His wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said complications from Parkinson’s disease caused his death. Greenspan was Federal Reserve Chairman for 18 1/2 years. He led the Federal Reserve (Fed) from 1987 to 2006. His tenure covered a long American expansion and a historic stock boom. He was nicknamed the Oracle and the Maestro. Traders parsed his words as if monetary policy had become scripture. President Ronald Reagan tapped him to lead the Fed in 1987. His first great test came on Black Monday that October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in the worst one-day percentage loss in American history. Greenspan helped calm markets by pledging liquidity. His legacy later darkened after the 2008 financial crisis. Critics blamed easy money and deregulatory faith for helping inflate the housing bubble. Greenspan later acknowledged his belief in banks’ self-regulation was mistaken. He leaves as both central banker and cautionary tale.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

📉 Oil slides as talks progress. Wall Street futures were mixed early Monday. Oil prices fell on renewed optimism around American-Iranian negotiations. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) futures slipped 0.1% before the opening bell. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were unchanged. Nasdaq futures rose 0.1%. Brent crude fell $1.55, or 2%, to $79.02 per barrel. American crude fell 74 cents to $75.11. Brent had traded near $70 before the war began in late February. High-level talks in Switzerland ended early Monday. Lower-level technical talks are expected through the week. Qatar and Pakistan said negotiators made encouraging progress. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed again over the weekend. American officials said traffic had continued. ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey warned a permanent deal remains difficult. Markets treated diplomacy like oxygen, then remembered smoke was still in the room.

👀 ICMYI

1. Mohamed Salah scored as Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1.

2. Cape Verde held Uruguay 2-2 after its first World Cup goal.

3. Wyndham Clark survived late trouble to win at Shinnecock.

4. Andy Burnham became Labour’s front-runner after Starmer quit.

5. Czech broadcasters staged a warning strike over funding plans.

6. Women’s hockey league added Ilitch and Tanenbaum as investors.

7. Libyan warlord was convicted over detention-center abuses.

8. Watch Duty expanded from fire alerts into flood monitoring.

9. Australia found 3 tons of cocaine hidden underground.

10. Tragic Philippines high school shooting kills 3 people.

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📊 Iran Talks, Chicago Shootings, and Brexit Legacy

Farooq Zafar — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 04:45:10 GMT

Greetings! Happy Father’s Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇮🇷 Iran talks survive Trump threats. American and Iranian negotiators ended their first day of talks in Switzerland on Sunday. Technical talks will continue after Sunday’s opening round. Vice President JD Vance led the American team at the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne. Iran’s delegation was led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The talks are meant to turn last week’s interim Iran war deal into something more durable. They also address Tehran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistani and Qatari mediators joined the technical-level discussions. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Vance during the summit. Vance said the sides had a chance to turn over a new leaf. President Trump complicated the room before the ink had any chance to dry. Trump threatened renewed strikes if Iran supported Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. He also warned Tehran against closing Hormuz, the world’s most watched oil chokepoint. Israeli strikes left damage in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, while a ceasefire appeared to hold. The talks opened inside the usual Middle East paradox. Diplomacy entered by the front door while threats kept rattling every window.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇬🇧 Starmer faces Labour’s cliff edge. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to resign. The pressure comes as Labour rival Andy Burnham prepares to enter the House of Commons. Burnham won a special election last week in Makerfield. He is expected to be sworn in Monday. Starmer has publicly vowed to remain prime minister. Yet some Labour lawmakers now believe his time has expired. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Starmer is reflecting on political realities. Kyle also called resignation reports speculation. Starmer spent the weekend at Chequers with his family. He gave no public signal beyond a Father’s Day post on X. President Trump entered the story before any formal decision. Trump said Starmer would resign and blamed immigration and energy policy. Their once warm relationship has cooled over the Iran war, which Britain did not join. If Starmer quits, Britain would lose its sixth prime minister in 10 years. A party built to govern now looks stuck negotiating with gravity.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🚨 Chicago weekend gunfire kills seven. Chicago police said at least seven people were killed in weekend shootings. Another 38 people were injured after gunfire spread across the city. Police said the violence began after 5 p.m. Friday. Preliminary information pointed to at least two dozen shooting incidents. The dead included a 21-year-old shot in the chest Sunday. Police also cited an 18-year-old shot Saturday evening. A 50-year-old was shot in the chest Friday. One Friday incident wounded at least 12 people in a crowd. Police said an SUV pulled up before two people inside began firing. President Trump used the weekend toll to renew calls for military intervention. Trump asked why Illinois Governor JB Pritzker had not called him for help. Pritzker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. National Guard troops have been deployed under Trump in several Democratic-led cities. Chicago police data shows shootings slightly above last year’s first-half pace. The city’s argument over crime again became a fight over force.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🗽 Concert fall kills man at the Garden. A 51-year-old Connecticut man died after falling at Madison Square Garden. The fall happened Saturday night during a rock concert in New York. Police identified him as Paul Kueker of Niantic, Connecticut. Officers responded to a 911 call around 9:51 p.m. They found Kueker unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicating a fall. Police said he fell from an elevated position. They did not say how far he fell. They said he had been in Section 300. Kueker was attending the concert with his wife. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. Police said they do not suspect foul play. The rock band Goose was performing at the arena. The band said it was reeling from the tragedy. Goose played Sunday in Central Park and directed proceeds toward a charitable fund for fans. A night built for communal noise ended in a hush no venue can absorb.

🗂️ MISC

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🇪🇺 Brexit turns ten and still divides Britain. Britain is marking 10 years since voting to leave the European Union (EU). The June 23rd, 2016 referendum ended with 52% voting leave. More than 17M voters backed departure from the EU. The decision triggered Britain’s sharpest economic and social rupture since World War II. Brexit, short for British exit, took nearly five years to complete. Supporters promised control, revival, and domestic focus after the 2008 financial crisis. Opponents warned of disruption and diminished global standing. The economic ledger remains heavily contested. Merchants face customs paperwork, border certifications, and visa limits when trading with Europe. The 27-nation EU remains Britain’s largest trading partner. Experts say the economy is 4% to 8% smaller than it might have been. Net migration fell from more than 900K in 2023 to 171K last year. Small boat crossings peaked at 46K in 2022 and reached 41K last year. Ipsos polling found 52% would rejoin the EU, while 33% opposed it. Britain left Brussels, then discovered geography still collects rent.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

🧸 Toy Story 5 owns the box office. “Toy Story 5” opened with $160M in domestic ticket sales. Studio estimates made it the biggest opening weekend of the year. It also set a new franchise record for the Pixar series. The previous series best was “Toy Story 4” at $120M in 2019. International sales added $152M. That produced a $312M worldwide opening. The film arrived 31 years after the original “Toy Story.” The Walt Disney ($DIS) franchise had already grossed more than $3B before this release. “Toy Story 4” topped $1B globally. The new sequel cost $250M to make before marketing. Tom Hanks returned as Woody. Tim Allen returned as Buzz Lightyear. Joan Cusack returned as Jessie. Director Andrew Stanton put Bonnie’s toys against a new tablet. Hollywood’s oldest lesson got another sequel because nostalgia still knows where the money sleeps.

👀 ICMYI

1. Los Angeles sought state help as a warehouse fire sent toxic smoke.

2. Tennis legend Serena Williams will play Wimbledon singles at age 44.

3. Heat, wind, and drought drove evacuations across the American West.

4. Prada served luxury basics with Milan’s pasta-pomodoro restraint.

5. Lionel Messi’s American years may be powering Argentina’s latest run.

6. Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei criticized American World Cup restrictions.

7. Iran’s World Cup hotel in Tijuana became a fan gathering place.

8. Federal aviation officials probed a Delta Air Lines Boston go-around.

9. Ukrainian attacks forced Russian-held Crimea to halt gasoline sales.

10. Trump-backed Abelardo de la Espriella held Colombia’s narrow lead.

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