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MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• The Palestinian-run Gaza Health Ministry reports that at least 74 people were killed in Gaza yesterday when, in separate incidents, an Israeli airstrike hit a crowded cafe in Gaza City and Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd gathering near an aid distribution site in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. [more]

U.S. SPENDING AND TAX BILL | Senate consideration of the spending and tax bill supported by President Donald Trump continued overnight, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune characterizing the process as "elusive." Major points of contention include proposed reductions in Medicaid and conservative desires for steeper cuts to hold down deficits. [more]

USAID | Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono were among those who addressed staff members of the U.S. Agency for International Development yesterday on the organization's last day as an independent agency before being absorbed into the State Department. The speakers praised the USAID's life-saving efforts over its six-decade history and its peaceful promotion of U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. [more]

U.S. HEALTH CARE FRAUD | The Justice Department announced charges against more than 320 people yesterday as part of investigations into some $14.6 billion in health care fraud schemes and false claims. [more]

U.S. TRANSGENDER | The Supreme Court yesterday threw out appellate court rulings in Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and West Virginia involving state funding for certain medical treatments for transgender persons. The lower court rulings all included findings that restrictions on transgender people imposed by the states violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. [more]

PENNSYLVANIA | Some 10,000 city workers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, went on strike today after failing to reach a new contract agreement with the city. Reports note that city services affected by the strike include trash collection, 911 call services, city pools, and other sectors, but not policing and firefighting. [more]

IOWA | Under a law that takes effect today, Iowa becomes the first U.S. state to remove gender identity from its civil rights code, revoking discrimination protections for transgender and nonbinary residents in employment, housing, and other areas. The law also removes the ability for state residents to change the sex designation on their birth certificates. [more]

IDAHO | Prosecutors say suspect Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to the November 2022 murder of four University of Idaho students at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. [more]

U.S. AND CUBA | President Donald Trump instructed his Cabinet yesterday to review U.S. policies and sanctions on Cuba and to present a plan to toughen them within 30 days. The presidential directive also says the U.S. should look for ways to shut down all tourism to the island nation and to restrict educational tours to groups that are organized and run only by American citizens. [more]

U.S. AND NORTH KOREA | The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges yesterday against persons involved in an alleged North Korean scheme to fund its weapons programs using the salaries of remote information technology workers employed unwittingly by U.S. companies. [more]

THAILAND | Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office by Thailand's Constitutional Court today amidst an ethics investigation into a recent border clash-related phone call she had with a senior Cambodian leader that opposition leaders have characterized as appeasement. [more]

CHINA | Chinese state media reports that at least nine people have died, and tens of thousands have been displaced, amidst widespread flooding in central and southern China in recent days. Reports note that more heavy rainfall is expected in the coming days in affected regions. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India's southern stat of Telangana say at least 36 people were killed yesterday in an explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory near the state capital of Hyderabad. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. [more]

EUROPEAN WEATHER | School closures in France, bans on outdoor work in Italy, and health alerts in multiple countries are among the measures implemented this week amidst an ongoing heat wave affecting much of Europe. [more]

SPAIN | According to Spain's national weather service, the Mediterranean-region city of Barcelona recorded its hottest June in more than 100 years this year, with an average temperature of 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit). [more]

IRAQ | Iraq's Federal Supreme Court is set to resume operations this week as nine judges who recently tendered their resignations over alleged interference undermining the court’s independence return to work following the retirement of the court's president, Judge Jassim Mohammed Abboud Al-Amiri. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | A federal judge yesterday denied a request to throw out a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit against Apple that claims the tech giant has acted illegally to protect its product markets by erecting "technological barricades that constitute anticompetitive conduct." [more]

BASKETBALL | The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia all set to join the women's professional basketball league by 2030, according to league Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect. Called Dominion Day until 1982, the national holiday is now known as Canada Day. [more history]