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In a series of tweets this morning, President Trump announced that transgender people will no longer be eligible for military service. "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump wrote on Twitter. According to a study by RAND Corporation, thousands of active troops are transgender. This story is developing.

The amount of sperm that men in Western countries produce declined by 52 percent over the course of 40 years, a new study indicates. A team of researchers analyzed data from 185 studies conducted between 1973 and 2011 that involved a total of 43,000 men. They concluded that sperm count decreased by an average of 1.4 percent a year during the period. "The results are quite shocking," said lead author Hagai Levine, who works at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The reasons for the sharp decline are unknown, the study says.

A U.S. Navy boat fired warning shots at an Iranian military ship that was headed for a collision, the Defense Department said. U.S. and coalition ships were carrying out a military exercise at an unidentified location when the incident occurred. First the crew on the USS Thunderbolt vessel tried and failed to establish radio contact with the Iranian ship. The U.S. boat then fired warning flares and sounded a danger signal twice. As the Iranian ship came to within 150 yards, shots were fired as a warning, said U.S. Defense Department spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway. – WAPO

Senators on Tuesday evening rejected the Better Care Reconciliation Act designed to partially repeal and replace Obamacare. The bill included amendments from Senator Ted Cruz, to allow the sale of cheaper insurance plans, and from Senator Rob Portman, to add $100 billion in insurance spending for low-income people. Since the amendments had not been reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate’s GOP leadership needed to secure at least 60 votes to approve the bill, instead of a simple majority. Senators will reportedly vote on Wednesday on a separate bill to repeal Obamacare that was approved in 2015 by both chambers of Congress, but was vetoed by then-President Barack Obama. – NBC

Police have detained a man who is accused of wounding two people with a chainsaw in Switzerland earlier this week. Franz Wrousis, a 50-year-old man who has a criminal record and lived in the woods, was arrested in the town of Thalwil, which is about 60 km away from Schaffhausen, where the attacks occurred. The suspect allegedly entered an insurance office on Monday and attacked two people with a chainsaw. The motive of the attack is unknown. – REUTERS

British swimmer Adam Peaty broke the 50 meter breaststroke world record twice on Tuesday. Competing at the world championships in Budapest, the 22-year-old first clocked 26.10 seconds in the heats, breaking the world record of 26.42 seconds he set in 2015. He later won the semi-final in 25.95 seconds, becoming the first person to swim the 50 meter breaststroke in under 26 seconds. Peaty has now broken the 50 meter breaststroke world record four times. He also holds the world record for 100 meter breaststroke of 57.13 seconds, and is trying to become the first person to swim the distance in under 57 seconds. – BBC

A study has found a strong link between playing football at a high level and brain disease. The study analyzed the brains of 111 deceased NFL players and found that 110 of them had a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The disease can only be detected after death. The study analyzed the brains of 202 deceased footballers who had played at different levels and found that 88 percent of them had CTE. The study’s lead author, Ann McKee, says her research shows that footballers who play for longer and at a higher level than most are more likely to develop CTE. – NPR

The Russian government said that sanctions against the country approved by U.S. lawmakers would hurt bilateral relations, if they are implemented. "This is rather sad news from the point of view of Russia-U.S. ties," said a Kremlin spokesman. "We are talking about an extremely unfriendly act." The sanctions were approved by the House of Representatives in a 419-3 vote, but they still need to be ratified by the Senate and President Donald Trump. – REUTERS

Florida officials are investigating a video posted on social media that shows a speeding boat dragging a shark. The video shows three men laughing as the shark is being tossed violently by the speedboat’s wake. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it is trying to identify the men and where the incident took place. – ABC

Wildfires have prompted the evacuation of 10,000 residents and tourists in Southern Fr...

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Senator John McCain returned to Washington D.C. to vote on health care reform today, five days after announcing that he is battling brain cancer. McCain's return could help Majority Leader Mitch McConnell garner enough votes to pass a motion calling for a debate on the health care bill. President Trump tweeted: "Big day for HealthCare. After 7 years of talking, we will soon see whether or not Republicans are willing to step up to the plate!" – NPR

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Johnson & Johnson are developing an HIV vaccine that could protect against multiple strains of the virus at once. Using algorithms, researchers have taken markers from several HIV strains and used them to cobble together a "mosaic vaccine." A preliminary clinical trial with 393 volunteers showed that the vaccine triggered anti-HIV immune responses in all the participants. This is only the fifth time that researchers have tested an HIV vaccine in people. – VOX

The Senate Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to get one-time Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort to testify on Wednesday. Senators want to ask Manafort about a meeting last year with a Russian attorney who had offered Donald Trump Jr. information that could potentially damage Hillary Clinton's campaign. Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. and President Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, took part in the meeting. This story is developing. – POLITICO

The moon’s interior could contain large amounts of water, new research indicates. Using satellite images, a group of scientists at Brown University discovered that nearly all of the volcanic deposits in the moon contain small traces of water. These pyroclastic deposits cover thousands of square kilometers and may be several kilometers deep, said the study’s lead author, Ralph Milliken. This means that, in theory, water could be extracted from the moon’s mantle, Milliken said. The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. – CNN

Israel will remove metal detectors from a holy site in Jerusalem that were fiercely opposed by the Palestinian community. The Israeli government will instead allocate extra officers and invest some $28 million in security equipment to protect the site, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. Israel set up the metal detectors after two Israeli police officers were killed at the site earlier this month. Israeli authorities argued that the detectors were necessary because the men blamed for the attack had smuggled weapons into the site. But thousands of Palestinians took to the streets to protest the decision, which led to clashes with Israeli security forces that left three Palestinians dead on Friday. – BBC

Singer-songwriter Alice Cooper has found a long-forgotten Andy Warhol silkscreen that had been put away with his touring equipment in a storage space. The red-tainted painting is based on a press photograph featuring an electric chair in a death chamber. The singer’s manager, Shep Gordon, said that in 1972 he gave $2,500 to Cindy Lang, Cooper’s girlfriend at the time, to acquire the painting. A green version of Little Electric Chair fetched $11.6 million at an auction in 2015. However, Cooper’s canvas is unlikely to be worth as much because it doesn't bear Warhol's signature. – GUARDIAN

A Federal judge in Detroit has halted the deportation of some 1,400 Iraqis. The decision stems from an injunction filed by civil rights lawyers who argue that the Iraqis face persecution in their home country. The ruling means that the immigrants can now challenge their deportation orders in the courts. "Those who might be subjected to grave harm and possible death are not cast out of this country before having their day in court," U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith wrote in his order. – REUTERS

Justin Bieber has canceled the remaining 14 concerts of his Purpose World Tour. The Canadian singer, 23, was due to play in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and Boston, as well as in Toronto, before heading to Asia. A statement from the singer's representative said the cancelation was due to "unforeseen circumstances." However, a source told People that Bieber decided to cancel the rest of the tour because he is exhausted. So far the tour has included 150 shows across the world over the course of 18 months. – PEOPLE

Some 50 workers from Three Square Market, a tech company in Wisconsin, have agreed to have microchips implanted into their hands. The size of a grain of rice, the microchips will allow the workers to buy snacks during their break, open doors, login to computers, and make photocopies. The chips, which use near-field communications, will be implanted between the thumb and the forefinger. Three Square Market’s CEO Todd Westby said participation in the program is voluntary. The tech company special...

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After his closed-door meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee this morning, Jared Kushner reaffirmed that he did not “collude with Russians” or know anyone in the Trump campaign who did. Prior to the meeting, he issued an 11-page statement on the meetings he had with Russian diplomats during the 2016 election season, and defended his meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, among others. “I had no improper contacts,” Kushner said in his statement. “I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector.” On Tuesday, Kushner will speak to the House Intelligence Committee. – WAPO

At least 35 people were killed and more than 40 injured when a suicide bomber blew up a car in the Afghan capital, Kabul, early on Monday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said they were targeting two buses carrying military personnel. However, a police spokesman said the car bomb blew up next to a bus that was carrying employees of the mines and petroleum ministry. More than 1,700 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan this year. – AP

Doctors say that a South African boy diagnosed with HIV has gone into remission from the virus without a regular drug treatment. The 9-year-old was put in a 40-week course of antiretrovirals when he was one month old, but did not take drugs after that. Doctors suspect that the reason why he seems to have beaten the virus is because he received an aggressive treatment right after the infection occurred. The boy’s case is the third ever reported of a person controlling an HIV infection without drugs. "By studying these cases, we hope we will understand how one can stop (treatment)," said the child’s doctor, Avy Violari, who works at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. – CNN

British cyclist Chris Froome won his fourth Tour de France on Sunday. The 32-year-old has now won the race three years in a row. This year’s cycling competition was marked by crashes that forced leading riders to retire from the 3,540 km (2,220 miles) race, including Froome’s teammate Geraint Thomas and Australian cyclist Richie Porte. Rigoberto Uran, from Colombia, came in 54 seconds behind Froome in the race, while France’s Romain Bardet was third in the podium, 2 min 20 seconds behind the leader. – NPR

The world’s oldest known manatee died on Sunday in an accident in an aquarium in South Florida. Snooty died a day after his 69th birthday, when he got stuck in a hatch in the tank he shared with three other manatees. Snooty was born in captivity and had lived in South Florida Museum since he was a one-year-old. Known as sea cows, manatees can live into their 40s in the wild. Following a population rebound in recent years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service downgraded the protection status of the manatee in May from "endangered" to "threatened." – GUARDIAN

U.S. golfer Jordan Spieth has won the 2017 British Open. Spieth and Jack Nicklaus are the only players who have won three different major tournaments before age 24. Spieth said: "I feel blessed to be able to play the game I love, but I don’t think that comparisons are … I don’t compare myself." In 2015 Spieth won the Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open. – CBS

The parents of the terminally-ill British baby Charlie Gard have decided to end a legal battle to take him to the U.S. for experimental treatment. Tests show that the 11-month-old suffers irreparable muscular damage and taking him abroad will no longer be in "Charlie's best interests," said his parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard. The couple fought a legal battle for five months to take their son, who suffers from a rare condition called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, to the U.S. In April, a judge in London ruled that doctors could stop providing life-support treatment for Charlie, a decision that was later appealed by his parents. – INDEPENDENT

Two Jordanians have been killed at a residential building in the Israeli embassy in Jordan. According to Israeli media, an Israeli security guard at the compound shot at a Jordanian worker who tried to attack him with a screwdriver. The worker and the Jordanian owner of the building were injured in the incident and later died in hospital, Israeli media reported. However, the Jordanian security agency said that one of the people killed was a physician at the scene. The incident has stoked diplomatic tensions between the counties after thousands of Jordanians protested against Israel in Amman on Friday. – AP

Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed reforms that would have given his government power to elect a new Supreme Court. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to protest the reforms last week. The European Union told President Duda that he faced sanctions if he decided to implement the reforms...

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ExxonMobil has sued the U.S. government to contest a fine on the oil giant for breaking sanctions against Russia. The $2 million penalty stems from Exxon’s decision to form a joint venture with Russia’s Rosneft in May 2014, weeks after the U.S. government imposed sanctions against Russia for the annexation of Crimea, in Ukraine. As part of the joint-venture deal, Exxon signed several agreements with the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, who had been blacklisted by the Treasury department. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the CEO of Exxon when the deal was signed. – REUTERS

President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida has filed 70 visa applications to hire foreign workers. The requests would allow the club to hire 35 waiters, 20 cooks and 15 housekeepers for seasonal work between October and May 2018. The U.S. government this week said it will grant 15,000 additional H-2B visas in the second half of the 2017 fiscal year to allow companies to hire more foreign workers. The White House has themed this as the “Made in America” week in a bid to promote both national workers and the products made in the country. – WAPO

A space enthusiast has sold a bag full of moon dust for $1.8 million. Inside the bag, made with a type cloth similar to the one used to make space suits, Neil Armstrong gathered a small amount of dust when he landed on the moon in 1969. Nancy Carlson bought it in 2015 for $995 at an auction of items that had been confiscated from a man named Max Ary, a former director of a space museum in Kansas. In a bid to regain control of the bag, NASA sued Carlson, but a judge said she was the legitimate owner of the moon dust. – NPR

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has stepped down. Spicer said he disagreed with President Trump's decision to appointment Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci as the White House communications director this morning. This story is developing. – NYT

Google is set to radically change its homepage for the first time since 1996. The company is using algorithms to develop a feed of personal information that will be added to its homepage. The feed will incorporate news items, popular videos and music suggestions, as well as information about what is trending in the area where the user is located, said Google’s vice president of engineering Shashi Thakur. Some of these features already appear in Google’s search apps, but they will be included for the first time on desktop sites over the next two weeks. – GUARDIAN

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Greek and Turkish tourist sites last night, killing two vacationers and injuring around 500 people. The two victims, from Sweden and Turkey, perished when a building collapsed on the Greek island of Kos. The impact on infrastructure was limited, but the tremor damaged an old mosque in Kos, a harbor and a 14th century castle. Last month a powerful earthquake hit the Greek island of Lesbos killing one woman. – AP

A general strike against Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro brought much of the country to a halt on Thursday, leading to clashes between protesters and police. Demonstrators built barricades and painted graffiti, and some of them hurled stones to riot police, who responded firing tear gas. Four people died during the strike. The chamber of commerce and industry, some unions and student groups supported the strike. The opposition wants President Maduro to call off plans to rewrite the country’s constitution. They say the move would allow the leftist leader to amass more power. But in a televised speech Maduro vowed to press ahead with his plans to organize a July 30 referendum to select the members of the assembly who will write a new constitution. – AP

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk says he has “verbal” approval from the government to build an ultra-fast “hyperloop” transport system to connect New York and Washington, D.C. The system will use electromagnetic propulsion to shoot pods through underground vacuum tubes. Musk says the “hyperloop” will transport passengers and cargo between the cities in 29 minutes, whereas the existing train takes three hours. Musk recently launched a firm called Boring Company to build tunnels for the project. – REUTERS

Hawaii has unveiled a campaign to educate locals and tourists about the dangers of a missile attack from North Korea. "We do not want to cause any undue stress for the public; however, we have a responsibility to plan for all hazards," Vern Miyagi, from the emergency management agency, told Hawaii News Now. The chances of a missile attack are slim, but if it were to happen, a North Korean missile could reach Hawaii in 12 to 20 minutes, the agency said. The state also plans to develop a new siren to warn residents of a missile attack. Earlier this month, North Korea tested an intercontinental missile that could potentially reach the U.S. mainland. – NBC ...

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President Donald Trump has criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia probe and told Special Counsel Robert Mueller not to dig into his family’s finances. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump said that if he had known that Sessions was not going to take part in the investigation about Russia’s attempt to meddle in last year’s election he "would have picked somebody else" as Attorney General. Meanwhile, Trump warned Mueller that the former F.B.I. director would be crossing "a red line" if he digs into the finances of the president's family as he proceeds with his investigation into Russia's electoral interference. – NYT

Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with a malignant glioblastoma, a very aggressive type of brain tumor, his office said. Patients diagnosed with this type of cancer have an average survival rate of around 14 months, while about 10 percent live for more than five years. Doctors made the diagnosis after removing a blood clot from above McCain's left eye. The Senator’s office said he’s recovering "amazingly well" from the operation. Former President Barack Obama tweeted: "Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John." – CNN

A new scientific study indicates that nearly two thirds of all the plastic ever made has been wasted. About 9 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s, of which 5.5 billion tons have ended up wasted on land and in the water because plastics don’t biodegrade. Around 12 percent of all plastic has been incinerated and only 9 percent has been recycled, the study says. "At the current rate, we are really heading toward a plastic planet," said lead author Roland Geyer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. About a third of the plastic produced is used to make packaging, including water and soda bottles. The study, which is based on data provided by the plastic industry, was published in the journal Science Advances. – AP

The shareholders of British American Tobacco (BAT) and Reynolds have agreed to a $49 billion merger that will create the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company. The agreement calls for BAT to acquire the 57.8 percent interest in Reynolds that it does not yet control. The merger gives BAT a bigger foothold in the U.S. market. The British cigarette-maker will be able to save some $400 million a year through the merger, but its debt burden will increase to $60 billion. BAT controls the Dunhill, Rothmans, Kent, Benson & Hedges and Lucky Strike brands. Reynolds produces Camel, Pall Mall, Newport and Natural American Spirit. – USAT

The U.S. government has decided to terminate a program to train and arm Syrian rebels. Instead, the Trump administration wants to work with Russia – Damascus’ main international ally – to find a negotiated solution to the conflict. Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin announced a ceasefire in southwest Syria earlier this month. A government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the decision to end the Obama-era program means that "Putin won in Syria." The program’s goal was to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Although the covert operation is over, the Pentagon will continue cooperating with Syrian rebels fighting ISIS. – WAPO

Chilean senators have ratified a law legalizing abortion in some cases. Until now, women who underwent the procedure in the South American country faced a jail sentence of up to five years. The new law, which had already been approved by the lower chamber of Congress, legalizes abortions in three cases: if the mother’s life is at risk, if the pregnancy is the result of rape and if the fetus is not viable. Chile’s abortion laws have long been considered among the harshest in the world. "It's a historic morning," President Michelle Bachelet said after the law was passed. – REUTERS

Trump’s one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort owed millions of dollars to Russian interests, financial records in Cyprus indicate. The statements from shell companies connected to Manafort date from December 2015. They show that he owed about $17 million to firms connected with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs. A spokesman for Manafort said the documents are "stale and do not purport to reflect any current financial arrangements." The debts come from the years in which Manafort worked as a consultant for the Party of Regions in Ukraine. – NYT

A suspected ISIS fighter detained in Mosul, Iraq, may be a teenage German girl who disappeared last year. Video footage taken in Mosul that surfaced over the weekend shows a girl that resembles Linda Wenzel, a 16-year-old girl who vanished from her home in Germany last July. The girl seen in the video was part of a group of 20 female ISIS supporters from Russia, Turkey, Canada, Libya and Syria found by Iraqi forces in an underground tunn...

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The Supreme Court has granted President Trump permission to “strictly enforce” the ban on refugees. Up to 24,000 refugees may be impacted by the recent decision. Last month, the court justices allowed a partial 90-day ban on travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day ban on refugees from around the world. This latest move will be in effect until a federal appeals court can weigh in on the decision. – AP

Some 500 members of a German boys choir suffered sexual and physical abuse over the course of six decades, according to a report commissioned by the Regensburg diocese. The abused described the Catholic choir as "a prison, hell and a concentration camp." The alleged crimes took place between 1945 and the 1990s, the report says. Ulrich Weber, the lawyer in charge of the investigation, said he had uncovered 500 cases of physical abuse and 67 cases of sexual abuse in the period. Some 49 members of the clergy, as well as school staff, perpetrated the abuse, while nine of them carried out sexual abuse, the report says. Georg Ratzinger, brother of retired Pope Benedict XVI, was head of the choir between 1964 and 1994. Weber said Ratzinger was not aware that choir members had been abused, but that he may have chosen to look "the other way." – BBC

Religious police in Saudi Arabia have questioned a woman who allegedly broke strict religious laws when she walked in public wearing a miniskirt and a crop top. A video of the woman walking in a heritage site was posted on Snapchat. She told investigators that the video had been posted without her knowledge, local media reported. The country’s laws mandate that women wear full-length robes and headscarves in public. – GUARDIAN

U.S. President Donald Trump held a second, previously undisclosed, meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Germany. The meeting lasted for "nearly an hour", a White House official told CNN. However, an official statement described the talk as "a brief conversation" that took place during a dinner hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump spoke with Putin through Russia's translator; this was later explained as a necessity, as the U.S. translator only spoke Japanese. President Trump responded to the news reports about the meeting with a Tweet: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is 'sick.' All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!" – CNN

U.S. lawmakers have approved a bill delaying the implementation of Obama-era air pollution rules by eight more years. House Republicans said the new bill will protect American jobs. Representative Pete Olson, who sponsored the legislation, said the rules approved by the previous administration had to be delayed because they would have forced energy companies to invest billions of dollars to reduce air pollution. Democrats said the new bill will lead to higher incidences of conditions such as lung disease and asthma among people. The new legislation calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to review air pollution standards every ten years, instead of every five years. – AP

An elderly jewel thief was arrested after trying to steal $86.22 worth of merchandise from a Walmart store near Atlanta. Doris Payne, 86, has reportedly stolen expensive jewels from stores around the world. In this case, according to her lawyer, she was trying to snatch groceries and medical supplies. Payne was arrested after a Walmart employee told an off-duty police officer that she had hidden some items in her purse. Payne’s thieving career was profiled in a 2013 documentary film, "The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne." – ABC

According to a new study, the Tyrannosaurus Rex moved at a top speed of 12 miles (20 km) per hour because moving faster would have broken its legs. Previous research indicated that the T. rex could run as fast as 45 miles per hour. However, using a computer simulator, scientists at the University of Manchester, found that, given the T. rex size and weight, its leg bones would have buckled if it ran at high speeds. ''That means that T. rex was actually quite slow and therefore not a pursuit predator,'' said lead author William Sellers. The study was published in the Peer J journal. – BBC

Hundreds of firefighters are battling a wildfire that has forced some 4,000 people to evacuate their homes near the Yosemite National Park. The Detwiler Fire started on Sunday but spread rapidly on Tuesday. The fire has burned some 25,000 acres and it is only 5 percent contained. Strong winds and dry conditions are fueling the flames. The fire is spreading south of Yosemite, and it could cut the power supply to the national park. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency to direct more resources toward firefighting efforts in the area. – CBS

McCormick has agreed to b...

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Two more Republican senators announced on Monday night that they oppose the health care bill. The decision by Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah has derailed a plan by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold a vote on the bill this week. McConnell could only afford two defections and Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine had previously said they opposed bill. "Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," McConnell said. President Donald Trump responded to the collapse of the health care bill by tweeting that Republican senators should seek to repeal Obamacare first, and work on a new health care law at a later date. – Business Insider

The U.S. government will grant 15,000 additional temporary visas to foreign workers for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year. The visas will allow the seafood, tourism, landscaping and construction sectors to temporarily hire foreigners. Companies that want to obtain the visas have to prove they need to hire foreign workers to comply with existing contracts. Several industries including fisheries and hospitality had asked the Trump administration to grant additional H-2B visas. Some 120,000 temporary visas have been requested so far in the 2017 fiscal year. The law says the government can only issue up to 33,000 such visas for each half of the fiscal year. – WAPO

Netflix stock soared 11% on Monday, after the video-streaming company announced that it had added 5.2 million new customers in the second quarter, well above analysts’ expectations. Netflix now has more customers abroad – 52 million – than in the U.S., where it has 51.9 million subscribers in the second quarter. The company added 4.14 million subscribers abroad and 1.07 million subscribers in the U.S. Netflix has credited "13 Reasons Why" and the new season of "House of Cards" for the strong growth in the April-to-June period. The company is investing $6 billion in new content this year. – REUTERS

Apple plans to launch new emojis later this year. Food items such as a sandwich and a coconut, fictional creatures like a zombie and an elf, as well as a woman breastfeeding and a man sitting in the lotus position will be among the new emojis, Apple said. The announcement was made to mark World Emoji Day. – PCMAG

The U.S. government plans to impose sanctions on Venezuela if President Nicolas Maduro creates an assembly to write a new constitution. "The United States will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles. If the Maduro regime imposes its Constituent Assembly on July 30, the United States will take strong and swift economic actions," President Donald Trump said in a statement. The announcement comes days after some 7 million people voted in a symbolic referendum to protest against Maduro’s plans to rewrite the constitution. Opposition leaders say the assembly would allow Maduro to tighten his grip on power. The opposition has called for a 24-hour strike on Thursday. – REUTERS

Amazon has filed a trademark to register a new meal-kit business. The new company will sell prepared kits that include ingredients like grains, poultry and seafood, Amazon said. The trademark includes a registration for the slogan "We do the prep. You be the chef." The service will be in direct competition with Blue Apron, the leading meal-kit delivery company in the U.S. Blue Apron’s shares fell 11 percent in value after Amazon’s plans were made public. TechCrunch reports that Amazon has already run a limited trial for a food kit delivery service. – CNBC

The U.S. government introduced new sanctions against Iran on Tuesday for developing ballistic missiles and stoking regional tensions. The measures target 16 entities or individuals for their involvement in "illicit" activities. A day earlier, the Trump administration said Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, and can therefore continue benefiting from sanctions relief. However, the U.S. said Tehran is betraying "the spirit" of the accord. The agreement called for the Islamic state to freeze its nuclear development program in exchange for lifting sanctions that were crippling the Iranian economy. – REUTERS

The body cameras of two police officers involved in the killing of an Australian yoga instructor in Minneapolis were turned off when the shooting occurred. Justine Ruszczyk, 40, called the police to report an incident in her neighborhood on Saturday. She died when one of the officers who were dispatched to investigate the report shot at her from the passenger seat of the police car. Ruszczyk’s fiancé, Don Damond, told reporters on Monday that she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault. Officer Mohamed Noor has been identified as Ruszczyk's killer. – NBC

Turkey is holding six activists after accusing them of aiding a terror organiz...

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Nine people have been killed by a flash flood in Tonto National Forest, Arizona. The dead include five children and four adults who were spending the day along a popular swimming hole. A 13-year old boy was still missing by Sunday night. The flash flood was caused by heavy rains upriver. Some 40 people and a helicopter took part in a search and rescue operation that found the bodies and rescued four people. – ABC

Martin Landau, who won an Oscar for his performance as Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood”, has died. He was 89. Landau’s breakthrough movie was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic "North by Northwest." He starred in the CBS series “Mission: Impossible” in the 1960s. He received two best supporting actor nominations in the late 1980s, for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and for Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors”. Before becoming an actor, Landau worked as a cartoonist for New York Daily News for five years. He died of “unexpected complications” after a brief stay at a hospital in Los Angeles, a representative said. – HR

In a referendum this weekend, some 7 million Venezuelans voted against plans by president Nicolas Maduro to rewrite the country’s constitution, the opposition said. Maduro has vowed to ignore the protest vote, but the relatively strong turn out could sway the international community against the leftist leader. Maduro has called for a July 30 vote to elect the members of an assembly that would rewrite the country’s constitution. Opposition politicians say the move would allow Maduro to amass more power for himself and his socialist party. More than 90 people have been killed in clashes between police and anti-government protesters over the past three and half months as the country faces a severe economic crisis. A woman was killed and four people were injured when government supporters attacked a polling station in Caracas on Sunday. – AP

South Korea says it would like to start talks with North Korea with the hope of de-escalating tensions along their border. If the proposal is accepted, the talks will be held in the border town of Panmunjom on Friday. The government of Moon Jae-in has suggested that the countries discuss issues related to the border, as well as the reunion of families separated by the Korean War in the 1950s. Pyongyang has not yet responded to the proposal, which comes almost two weeks after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially reach the U.S. mainland. Officials from the two countries have not met face to face since late 2015. – NPR

Gunmen killed five Congolese park rangers during an operation to rescue three other park rangers and a U.S. journalist who had gone missing in a wildlife reserve. Local media reported that the rangers and the U.S. journalist had been kidnapped by Mai Mai militia fighters. The American journalist was found safe, the U.S. State Department said without identifying the reporter due to privacy concerns. The group of rangers and army officials was attacked in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in Mambasa, in eastern Congo. Two Dutch journalists and some others survived the attack. – REUTERS

About 66 people have been arrested in Europe in an operation to dismantle a criminal ring that sold horse meat unsuitable for human consumption. The suspects are accused of falsifying the paperwork of old horses they bought in Spain and Portugal, and sending the meat to Belgium after slaughtering the animals. Spain’s Civil Guard security force said the ring was making some $23 million a year. Authorities in eight European countries took part in the months-long operation. – AP

Iran has sentenced a U.S. researcher to 10 years in prison for spying. Chinese-born Xiyue Wang was arrested last summer while doing research in Iran for his dissertation. "The Iranian regime continues to detain U.S. citizens and other foreigners on fabricated national-security-related changes," a U.S. State Department official said. Three other Americans are imprisoned in Iran. The U.S. released seven Iranians, while Iran let four American citizens go in a prisoner swap last year. – CNN

Horror film director George Romero, who helmed “Night of the Living Dead”, has died of lung cancer at the age of 77. Romero reinvented the zombie movie genre with his breakthrough film in 1968. After the low-budget black-and-white “Night of the Living Dead” became a cult classic, Romero directed five sequels, including 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” and 1985’s “Day of the Dead.” Many of his movies flopped at the box office, but his style influenced horror film directors for decades. The writer Stephen King tweeted: "Sad to hear my favorite collaborator—and good old friend—George Romero has died. George, there will never be another like you." – LAT

The United Arab Emirates has denied a Washington Post report claiming ...

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A Hawaii federal judge has declared that grandparents and other extended relatives should be exempted from President Trump’s travel ban. The policy restricts entry in the U.S. to people from six predominantly Muslim countries. Supreme Court judges late last month said people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can enter the U.S. if they have close family ties with someone in the country. However, the policy restricts entry to extended relatives, including grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson said the government’s definition of close family ties is too narrow. “Grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The Government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be,” he wrote in his decision. – WAPO

Cosmo DiNardo, 20, has confessed to the murders of four men who disappeared in Pennsylvania last week. DiNardo admited the crime as part of a deal with the district attorney, who will not to seek the death penalty in the case. DiNardo was declared a person of interest earlier this week after prosecutors charged him with trying to steal the car of one of the men. His parents own a property in Bucks County where the body of Dean Finocchiaro, 19, was found along unidentified human remains. The other three missing men are Mark Sturgis, 22, Tom Meo, 21 and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19. – NPR

Venus Williams has reached the Wimbledon tennis final after beating Johanna Konta, the world's No. 7 player. Williams, 37, has won five Wimbledon tournaments, but has not played a final there since 2009, when she lost the title to her sister Serena. Williams will play the final on Saturday against Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, 23, who defeated Magdalena Rybarikova in straight sets. – NYT

The Sri Lankan Navy has rescued an elephant that was swimming in the Indian Ocean, about 10 miles from the coast. A navy spokesman said the animal was probably dragged far from the shore by strong currents when it was crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, which is separated from the Indian Ocean by a sand bar. Wildlife officials and divers tied ropes around the pachyderm and two navy vessels helped tow the animal back to shore in a 12-hour rescue operation. Pictures published by the navy showed how the elephant was using its trunk as a snorkel when one of the vessels approached. – GUARDIAN

The State Department wants nations across the world to provide travel data about their citizens to better protect the U.S. from terrorism. According to a cable sent to U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide, the countries that fail to comply with the policy could face travel sanctions. As part of the new rules, the U.S. will demand that all nations issue electronic passports and regularly report lost or stolen passports to Interpol. The new policy also states that countries must agree to provide personal information – such as biometrics – about people applying for a U.S. visa. – REUTERS

Three suspected terrorists, believed to be responsible for shooting and killing two officers in Jerusalem, were themselves killed by Israeli police. Images released by police showed a knife, a pistol and a makeshift automatic gun that were allegedly used by the assailants. The attacks occurred in the Old City, near a holy site that the Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary and Jews call the Temple Mount. The terrorists were Israeli Arabs from northern Israel, police said. – CNN

A judge has ordered former Peruvian president Ollanta Humala and his wife to spend up to 18 months in jail while prosecutors prepare a money laundering case against them. Prosecutors argued that the pre-trial jail term was necessary because there was a risk that the couple would flee the country or try to derail the case. Humala, who ruled the Latin American country between 2011 and 2016, is accused of accepting funds from late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and from two construction companies in Brazil to finance political campaigns and for his own personal profit. He denies the charges. – REUTERS

Two teenagers were arrested early on Friday on charges of throwing acid in people’s faces in London. The suspects, age 15 and 16, allegedly carried out a string of attacks in north and east London over the course of 90 minutes, injuring five people. They are accused of robbery and causing grievous body harm. The attackers stole scooters from four of the five victims, one of whom suffered life-changing facial injuries. – BBC

Some 7,500 pounds of slime eels were spilled in a highway in Oregon after the truck that carried them had an accident. The eels, also known as hagfish, were inside 13 containers that fell from the truck. One of the containers hit a car traveling in the opposite direction causing a four-vehicle pileup and minor injuries to one of the drivers. The Depoe Bay Fire District tweeted a vide...

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Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel laureate, has died of liver cancer. Liu was released from jail in late June on medical parole. China allowed two doctors from the U.S. and Germany to visit Liu, but the government refused to give him permission to travel abroad to receive treatment. "We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Liu was handed an 11-year prison sentence in 2009 after publishing a manifesto calling for sweeping political reforms in China. He received the Nobel Peace Prize the following year “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”. – REUTERS

An advisory panel has endorsed the approval of a pioneering gene therapy treatment to fight cancer. The therapy consists of genetically-modifying cells from the patient’s immune system so that they attack cancer. This "living drug" has been endorsed by a Federal Drug Administration’s advisory panel to be used in children and young adults with a common type of leukemia. The FDA is expected to follow the committee’s advice and approve the treatment. If that’s the case, it would be the first time that a gene therapy treatment is approved in the country. "This is a major advance and is ushering in a new era in treating children," said Malcolm Smith, a pediatric oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, and a member of the advisory panel. – NPR

Google avoided a €1.12 billion ($1.3 billion) tax bill after a court in France ruled that the internet company did not abuse legal loopholes to skip tax payments. The French tax office argued that Google was liable for hefty tax payments for the 2005-2010 period because the firm and its Irish subsidiary had been selling ads to clients in France. But a court has ruled that since Google does not have a "permanent establishment" in the country, “Google Ireland Ltd. isn’t taxable in France over the period 2005-2010.” – BBG

World No. 1 and defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was knocked out of the tennis tournament by Sam Querrey. A hip injury is said to have hindered Murray’s performance during the quarter-final match. Querrey, 29, will face Marin Cilic in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the world No. 4, Novak Djokovic, had to pull out of his quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych due to an elbow injury. Swiss veteran Roger Federer won his 100th singles match at Wimbledon against Milos Raonic to move into the last four. – BBC

A lawsuit filed by immigration advocacy groups claims the U.S. government has systematically blocked applications from asylum seekers. The complaint says that Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol have endangered the lives of asylum seekers. The seven groups behind the suit allege that officials have used intimidation and physical force to block people from filing asylum applications. The lawsuit cites a June 2017 Amnesty International report that claims that immigration officials told asylum seekers the government had scrapped the asylum request process. – GUARDIAN

The cadaver of one of the four men who went missing in Pennsylvania last week has been found in a grave. Dean Finocchiaro, 19, was found in a 12-foot deep grave in a property in Bucks County that police had been searching with metal detectors, cadaver dogs and heavy digging equipment. Other human remains that have not yet been identified were also found in the grave. The other three missing men are Mark Sturgis, 22, Tom Meo, 21 and Jimi Tar Patrick, 19. Cosmo DiNardo, whose parents own the farm, has been arrested and accused of stealing and trying to sell Meo’s car. – CNN

Some 400 people have been charged in the "largest health care fraud takedown operation in American history," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. The suspects are accused of making false insurance claims worth $1.3 billion. Among those charged are 120 people involved in prescribing and distributing narcotics. "They seem oblivious to the disastrous consequences of their greed. Their actions not only enrich themselves, often at the expense of taxpayers, but also feed addictions and cause addictions to start," Sessions said. – AP

More than 50 U.S. cities will be hit by severe flooding linked to sea level rise by 2100, according to a new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Cities in New Jersey, North Carolina and Louisiana are among the most vulnerable and would be inundated by 2035. The study says an area is "inundated" when it gets flooded at least 26 times per year. "This research hones in on exactly how sea level rise is hitting us first. The number of people experiencing chronic floods will grow much more quickly than sea level itself," Benjamin Strauss, vice president for Sea Level and ...