Iniaes

In U.S. policy and the economy

Private payroll growth slowed in June, with ADP saying employers added 98,000 jobs, well below forecasts. Health care led the gains.

Separately, a Pew survey found 56 percent of U.S. adults support banning social media for people under 16, with 21 percent opposed and 23 percent unsure.

Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory also say they have developed a low-cost catalyst that can turn wasted methane into liquid fuel precursors, a possible step toward making flared or stranded gas easier to use.

In Washington and foreign policy

The U.S. Trade Representative says the United States will not renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, though the pact remains in force for now while the remaining issues are sorted out, or until it expires on its own.

Vice President Vance said the U.S. could return to war with Iran if the current ceasefire collapses, while stressing that any renewed military action would need a defined purpose.

In the Middle East

Israeli drone fire near a hospital and fuel station in Gaza killed at least three people, according to Wafa, despite the ceasefire. The report says the strike hit near the facility and left people dead on the ground.

In brief

Minnesota’s Board of Pardons, including Gov. Tim Walz, granted a pardon to Tou Lue Vang, who was convicted of sexually abusing a child and faced deportation to Laos. The board said he expressed remorse, and he said the pardon could help him remain in the U.S. with his family.

Nicolás Maduro has been sued in U.S. court over alleged extrajudicial killings in Venezuela. A British court separately upheld the rejection of citizenship for a man identified as CT on national-security grounds, using closed evidence.

In U.S. politics

The Senate is still very much in play, according to a new New York Times/Siena poll, with Democrats competitive in six battleground states and leading in North Carolina. That race is shaping up around Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley for the seat left open by Sen. Thom Tillis.

Separately, House Oversight Chair James Comer says he wants to end his tenure with public hearings on Jeffrey Epstein and a report from the committee’s investigation. In another Trump-related filing, E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers are asking a federal judge to release the $5.8 million owed to her in that case. FBI Director Kash Patel is also drawing scrutiny after reporting a six-figure MicroStrategy stock purchase, a reminder that paperwork is still the closest thing Washington has to accountability.

In business

The United States will let the deadline pass without renewing a trade deal covering North American automakers, leaving the USMCA auto issue to drift a little longer than anyone pretending to manage it would like.

Meanwhile, Kroger says it has agreed to buy Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion, adding 197 stores and 11 standalone pharmacies to its footprint. The company says the deal will expand its grocery and pharmacy reach.

In crime and public safety

Police in Maplewood, Minnesota, say a 16-year-old girl has been charged with killing her mother with a hammer after an argument that included the mother taking away her phone. Investigators say surveillance video, blood evidence, and the girl’s own statements helped lead to the second-degree murder charge. She remains in custody.

On tech and family life

UNICEF says children are adopting AI faster than adults, with millions using it for homework help and, in some cases, personal advice. The agency says safeguards for young users are still lagging far behind the pace of adoption.

In business and tech

Microsoft is preparing to cut thousands of jobs as early as next week, with layoffs expected across sales, consulting, and Xbox. The company is also weighing the closure or sale of several Xbox studios. That would make this one of the biggest job cuts in gaming.

SpaceX is seeking a New York valuation above $1.7 trillion, even though it brings in less annual revenue than Macy’s. Meanwhile, Alvarez & Marsal says it wants to grow its Middle East business sharply over the next few years, even as demand for advisory work softens and Saudi Arabia keeps squeezing consultants.

In politics and policy

Donald Trump is facing a split inside his own coalition over pesticides, after a meeting with farm lobbyists exposed tension between Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement and agriculture groups that want to keep conventional pest killers in place. In Britain, Rachel Reeves has announced a temporary cut in vehicle excise duty for most heavy goods vehicles, a short-term relief measure for freight operators facing higher costs.

Also in the UK, the long-delayed defense spending plan through 2030 is being blasted as underfunded, with a reported shortfall of about $17 billion and pressure to find the money elsewhere in the budget.

Public safety and disruption

Police in rural Michigan are asking for the public’s help after the body of a baby was found in a portable toilet at a music festival. Authorities have not released further details.

In Philadelphia, SEPTA Regional Rail is dealing with major delays after an overnight derailment in North Philadelphia.

A Gallup survey says nearly three in four U.S. scam victims reported mental health harm in 2025, alongside an estimated $68 billion in financial losses.

In sports

Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 to advance to the World Cup round of 16, ending a 40-year wait for a knockout-stage win.

In U.S. politics and courts

The Supreme Court has struck down limits on how much political parties can spend on behalf of their candidates, a ruling that will reshape campaign finance heading into the midterms. Meanwhile, 13 House Republicans blocked a procedural vote that would have tied Donald Trump’s voter ID bill to the annual defense package, exposing fresh fractures inside Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow majority.

In U.S. news

A 79-year-old woman was killed and five others injured when a Tesla failed a turn, drove onto the pavement, and crashed into a cafe in Simi Valley. Police said she was found trapped beneath the vehicle. Separately, a report on student debt says millions of Americans in their 60s are still carrying loans into retirement, with some, like one 71-year-old borrower, still owing tens of thousands of dollars decades later.

In Europe

Airlines and airports are urging the European Union to pause new biometric border checks during the summer travel rush, warning of queues stretching to five hours and flights leaving half full. In another European development, the EU is facing pressure to keep climate policy business-friendly, while a new spider record in Portugal adds a small footnote to Iberian biodiversity.

In the Middle East and South Asia

Pakistan says it intercepted four drones launched from Afghanistan, while Afghanistan’s defence ministry says it carried out air strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The two sides are trading claims, and the border is doing what border disputes tend to do.

In U.S. politics

Colorado’s primary elections delivered a sharp jolt to the Democratic establishment, with Sen. John Hickenlooper projected to win his party’s Senate nomination and Rep. Diana DeGette projected to lose her House seat to Melat Kiros, a democratic socialist candidate. Hickenlooper’s race had looked closer than expected, while DeGette’s defeat is another reminder that primaries are where parties sometimes discover they’ve been left behind.

Separately, President Trump reported billions of dollars in income and proceeds during his first year back in the White House, driven in part by crypto and other business activity.

In public safety

In Wilmington, dozens marched from Rodney Square to police headquarters demanding body camera footage and more transparency after police shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner. Police say an officer saw him come out of a home with a gun pointed toward a crowd, then shot him after he ran. Skinner’s family says he was shot in the back. The officer is on administrative leave, and both local and state-level investigations are underway.

A separate vigil at First Unitarian Church drew a few dozen people to mourn the victims of the Wilmington hospital shooting and to reckon with the trauma left behind. In Pennsylvania, authorities are searching for two 16-year-olds, Kaiseem Smith and Azzubair Outen-Fleming, in connection with the killing of Penn State student Billy Schmidt.

The FBI also says the three ransom notes sent to media outlets after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance were fake.

In world affairs

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that millions of Palestinians could be at risk as UNRWA faces a funding shortfall, and he criticized what he called disinformation and smear campaigns against the agency.

Iran says the U.S. blockade of its ports stopped all oil exports during that period, with the chief negotiator claiming not a single barrel left the country.

In Europe

Berlin officials want to clear a surviving bunker from Hitler’s former chancellery complex to make room for housing and office space, while opponents want it preserved as a memorial and exhibition site. The housing senator backing the plan says preserving the site should not block new homes, and warned it could draw neo-Nazi pilgrims. History, it turns out, is still competing with zoning.

In Britain, Keir Starmer’s defence plan boosts military spending while cutting or trimming several major programmes, including Storm Shadow missiles, Skynet 6, Type 83 destroyers, Type 32 frigates, and some Chinook and Wildcat helicopters. The government says the shift is meant to favor drones and autonomous systems and save money.

In sports

France beat Sweden 3-0 to reach the World Cup round of 16, with Kylian Mbappé scoring twice and Bradley Barcola adding the third. The United States, meanwhile, faces Bosnia and Herzegovina in a knockout match with momentum, and a little pride, on the line.

In U.S. politics and the courts

After the Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, Republicans are reportedly floating new visa limits for pregnant travelers, another workaround in the long project to make a constitutional right feel negotiable. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also used her concurrence to swipe at Justice Clarence Thomas, saying his dissent took too narrow a view of the 14th Amendment.

Trump, meanwhile, reported more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency income in a personal financial disclosure, which is a very modern sentence for a very old kind of power story.

Separately, the Republican Party says it is preparing for the 2026 midterm fight, with Trump unveiling plans for a future GOP convention as the party tries to hold both chambers of Congress.

In public health

Health officials are investigating a multistate cyclospora outbreak that has sickened 145 people and hospitalized 20 across several states, with the source still unknown. New York, Texas, and Illinois have reported the most cases, and investigators suspect food may be involved.

In Asia markets and supply chains

The yen has fallen to nearly a 40-year low, around 162 to the dollar, adding pressure on South Korea’s won and pushing up concerns about import prices, capital flows, and exporters. In a separate blow to regional supply chains, China’s detention of two Japanese workers over alleged rare-earth smuggling is raising legal and sourcing risks for South Korean firms that depend on those materials.

In South Korea’s security push

South Korean Marines joined KAMANDAG 10 drills in the Philippines, taking part in amphibious, jungle, and live-fire training alongside maintenance exchanges on KAAV vehicles. Seoul is also moving to tie private investment in its space industry more closely to national security, as officials warn that satellites, cyberattacks, electronic warfare, and collision risks are all climbing at once.

In Venezuela

Humanitarian concerns are growing after the U.S. deported at least 146 people to Venezuela hours before deadly earthquakes hit. Those deported are still reported missing, while UK charities have launched an appeal after the disaster left at least 1,700 people dead and tens of thousands still feared missing.

In U.S. news

UC Santa Barbara has issued another campus-wide warning after a woman said she was stalked and groped in broad daylight on June 24. Police say the suspect was seen circling the victim on a bicycle before approaching from behind and fleeing toward Tierra De Fortuna Park, while investigators are still searching for the person accused in an earlier unsolved rape and strangulation case from May.

In Pennsylvania, hazmat crews are responding to a freight train derailment in Bensalem after five to 10 cars came off the tracks near Street Road and the Neshaminy Falls station. Officials say they are still determining what the cars were carrying, and nearby residents have been told to shelter in place.

Amy Coney Barrett is drawing sharp criticism from right-wing commentators after joining rulings that undercut key parts of Donald Trump’s agenda, including the fight over birthright citizenship.

In science and tech

New analysis from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument suggests the universe may be less uniform than cosmologists expected. Researchers found directional patterns in galaxy distribution that appear to persist across billions of light years, and if the result holds up, parts of the standard model may need a rethink.

WhatsApp says it will soon let users reserve usernames and use them instead of phone numbers, with the goal of improving privacy. The company says exact handles will be needed for first contact, there will be no public directory, and high-profile accounts will be protected from impersonation.

In the UK

A young sapling grown from Sycamore Gap seeds has been stolen from Wray Castle in Cumbria, prompting a police investigation. The tree was one of 15 grown as symbols of renewal after the original Sycamore Gap tree was illegally cut down in 2023.

Labour says it plans 45,000 more deportations over the next decade, following nearly 70,000 removals since taking office. The Home Office says the aim is to restore control of the immigration system and speed up the removal of foreign criminals.

In Africa

Ebola continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of Congo, though local healthcare workers say conditions on the ground have improved. The outbreak remains a serious public health concern, with response teams still trying to contain transmission.

In South Africa, campaign groups set a June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave, and protests followed. The pressure campaign has sharpened tensions around migration and enforcement.

In Europe

Germany is facing political backlash after a recent heat wave, with critics arguing the government is not moving fast enough on climate adaptation. The immediate weather event has faded, but the policy problem has not.

Russia’s fuel shortage is worsening as Ukrainian drone strikes continue to hit infrastructure and strain supply. The repeated attacks are adding pressure to an already tight fuel market.

In U.S. politics

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Trump administration’s birthright citizenship restrictions creates, in his words, “serious challenges.”

On Capitol Hill, House Republicans are also trying to tie the annual defense bill to the Trump-backed SAVE Act, while hard-line members continue to threaten floor business unless GOP leaders move on the stalled elections measure. Trump is still pitching the bill as essential to Republican victories, which is a lot of pressure to place on one voting measure, even by Washington standards.

In Europe

Italian police arrested four suspects over an attack involving an explosive device in a public place targeting a journalist. The group also faces charges including criminal damage and threats.

In Hungary, a lawyer for seven Ukrainians detained after a cash convoy raid says former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and three other officials should have been detained as well, and suggested prosecutors may be shielding him from scrutiny.

President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range strikes are contributing to fuel shortages inside Russia, while insisting the situation is still “not critical.” That is a notably less breezy line than the Kremlin usually prefers on the subject.

In Britain

Former defence secretary John Healey says Labour still needs a bigger defence budget, even after recent increases. He told MPs the extra money is welcome but not enough, and argued the government needs a clearer plan to reach 3 percent of GDP and meet NATO’s 3.5 percent target by 2035.

In U.S. security

An investigation says several federal websites rebuilt under the Trump administration’s National Design Studio included visitor-tracking tools that privacy advocates say may not have met federal transparency rules. Separately, the Trump administration is demanding that U.S. intelligence officials turn over the names of all foreign espionage targets, including suspected spies and possible recruits, to create a master list. Current and former officials worry that kind of inventory could be misused and could expose active operations. In Texas, ICE briefly detained Catholic nun Sister Leticia Ugboaja on her way to Mass in McAllen, then released her quickly, prompting new criticism of the agency’s tactics.

On Iran

Talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators may resume in Doha, but the two sides are not describing the meeting the same way. Trump has said Iran wants to meet after the recent attacks, while Tehran says it is only sending a delegation to discuss frozen funds, not broader negotiations. Iranian hard-liners are still resisting major concessions.

In Ukraine and Russia

Russian military bloggers say troops sent into some of the most dangerous parts of the front line are surviving for only 20 to 35 minutes after reaching combat positions, as Ukrainian drones hit quickly. The reports underline how punishing those sectors of the war have become for Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has acknowledged there was no prior deal with Trump in Alaska, after Russian officials spent months claiming the Anchorage meeting had set a path to end the war on Moscow’s terms.

In Europe

Authorities in Monaco say Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev was likely the target of a mail bomb that exploded at his home. Yermolaiev, his wife, and his son were all injured in the blast.

In business

A battery industry executive says building gigafactories in the UK can take three to four times longer and cost far more than in China, citing high energy prices, slow grid connections, and weak project integration. Agratas says it is building its India plant first, then applying those lessons to its Somerset site.

In aviation, Scandinavian Airlines has placed its biggest-ever order, agreeing to buy up to 40 Airbus widebody jets in a deal worth more than $10 billion. It is a sizable vote of confidence from a carrier that came out of bankruptcy two years ago.

In the UK

The UK economy grew 0.6% in the January-to-March quarter, the fastest pace in the G7, but households still ended up worse off. Real household disposable income fell 0.8% from the previous quarter as inflation outpaced earnings, and the saving rate slipped to 8.9% as people dipped into savings to keep spending.

Separately, Emily Barley, whose daughter died after failings at Barnsley Hospital, says the proposed national maternity commissioner would not fix the wider problems in England’s maternity system. She wants more staff at triage, independent investigations for families when care goes wrong, replacement of the NHS compensation process, and a proper effort to root out racism and discrimination in maternity and neonatal care.

And a new survey from hospitality groups says nearly a quarter of UK pubs, bars and restaurants are losing money, with celebrity chefs and business owners renewing calls to cut VAT in the sector from 20% to 10%.

In tech and security

Apple has pushed out security updates for iOS, macOS and Safari to fix more than 30 vulnerabilities, including four WebKit flaws that were identified with AI tools such as Anthropic Claude and OpenAI Codex Security.

In Europe

A parcel bomb exploded in a residential building in Monaco, severely injuring Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev and two other adults. A couple and a teenager were also hurt in the blast on a street near the French border.

In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vučić says he will resign within weeks and call early presidential and parliamentary elections.

In Africa

South African authorities have deployed heavy security ahead of anti-migrant protests, while thousands of people have already left the country before a Tuesday deadline set by the groups behind the demonstrations.

In Latin America

Emergency crews in La Guaira are searching through the rubble after an earthquake flattened a government holding facility shortly after a U.S. repatriation flight arrived. Officials fear 146 Venezuelan deportees may be dead, including seven children and 19 women, as rescue efforts continue.