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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 ...