July 3, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 494 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation — Eurojust — has announced the opening today of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine in The Hague to support investigations into criminal responsibility for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [more]
• In an article published in Moscow today, Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested the conflict in Ukraine will last for decades and that tensions between the West and Russia are much worse right now than they were during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. [more]
• Grigory Karasin, head of the International Committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament, claimed yesterday that Russia has brought some 700,000 children from the conflict zones in Ukraine into Russian territory. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in Baltimore, Maryland, say at least two people were killed, and 28 others were injured, early Sunday morning in a mass shooting incident during a block party in the city’s Brooklyn neighborhood. Reports say authorities had no information on suspects or a motive as of Monday morning. [more]

MORE U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Nine people were wounded early Sunday when gunfire broke out at a nightclub in Wichita, Kansas, according to local police. Authorities say one suspect has been arrested in connection with the shooting and that others are being sought. [more]

FIRST AMENDMENT VS LGBTQ+ PROTECTION | In a 6-3 ruling Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to crate expressive designs conveying messages with which the designer disagrees -- namely the creation of a website for a same-sex couple. [more]

STUDENT LOANS | In a a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to implement its $400 billion plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federally held student loan debt per borrower for millions of Americans. The Court held that the 2003 HEROES Act, cited by the Biden administration as the legal basis for its plan, did not authorize such a loan cancellation. [more]

SOUTH CAROLINA | Authorities say Ryan Lenard Manigo, 33, has been charged with the attempted murder of a single survivor of a Sunday house fire in which six people were killed in the city of Green Pond, South Carolina. Reports say additional charges against Manigo are still pending. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Thousands of Southern California hotel workers went on strike yesterday after failing to reach new agreements on pay and working conditions with more than 60 hotels. The Unite Here Local 11 union, which represents the striking workers, says the strike affects about half of its 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona. [more]

WOOD STOVES | Attorneys general in 10 U.S. states — Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — have announced their intention to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for what they say is the agency’s failure to review and ensure compliance with emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves. [more]

ISRAEL AND WEST BANK | Reports say at least eight Palestinians were killed, and 50 others were injured, early today in large-scale Israeli drone and ground force operations against militant strongholds in the West Bank town and refugee camp of Jenin. [more]

FRANCE | Rioting sparked last week by the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver during a traffic check continued for a sixth night last night with more than 150 people arrested, according to reports. Officials say a total of 3,354 arrests have been made in connection with the riots since June 27. [more]

CHINA | Emergency officials in China’s central Hunan province say at least 10,000 people were evacuated due to heavy rainfall and flooding over the weekend that destroyed at least 70 houses and damaged more than 2,000 others. [more]

HONG KONG | Police officials in Hong Kong today announced charges, including foreign collusion and incitement to secession, against eight overseas democracy activists and offered rewards of more than $120,000 for information leading to the activists’ arrests. [more]

PAKISTAN | Military authorities in Pakistan say two Pakistani soldiers were killed yesterday by unidentified militants during an anti-insurgent operation in the country’s Baluchistan province. [more]

SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION | A virtual summit of leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization nations begins tomorrow, hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event will be the first multilateral summit for Russian President Vladimir Putin since the aborted mutiny in Russia by the Wagner mercenary group. [more]

OIL EXPORTS | Both Russia and Saudi Arabia announced new cuts to oil export levels for August today, driving up the price of oil in global markets. [more]

PRODUCT REVIEWS | The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Friday proposed a collection of new rules that aim to prevent the use of “illicit review and endorsement practices such as using fake reviews, suppressing honest negative reviews, and paying for positive reviews, which deceive consumers looking for real feedback on a product or service and undercut honest businesses.” [more]

TWITTER | Twitter owner Elon Musk announced new viewing restrictions for the social media platform on Friday to combat what he says is the unauthorized scraping of valuable data. Among the changes announced are a requirement that users log on to view Twitter content and limits on how many pieces of content are viewed per day for both verified and unverified users. [more]

SOCCER | U.S. forward Jesús Ferreira scored three goals in yesterday’s 6-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the last game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup group round, becoming the first U.S. player to score hat tricks in consecutive games in international play. [more]

TENNIS | The 2023 Wimbledon tournament gets underway today at London’s All England Club, with Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek as the favorites for the men’s and women’s titles, respectively. [more]

GOLF | Rickie Fowler beat Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin on the first hole of a playoff yesterday to win the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament in Detroit, Michigan. [more]

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE | "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $60 million in receipts, followed by "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," and "Elemental." [more]

R.I.P. | Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin, died Friday at the age of 89, according to an announcement by his family. Among Arkin’s best-known works were 1966 Best Picture nominee “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” 1969’s “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” for which Arkin was nominated for Best Actor, and “Little Miss Sunshine” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1863, following three days of intense fighting in which casualties numbered more than 50,000, the Battle of Gettysburg ended with a victory for the Union forces. The battle was seen as a turning point in the American Civil War.  [more history]