Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of drones over the weekend, forcing shutdown of airports in Moscow and throwing Russian air travel in disarray.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 120 Ukrainian drones during the nighttime attacks, and 39 more before 2pm Moscow time (1100 GMT) yesterday.

The Ukrainian drone attack caused flight disruptions at Moscow's Sheremetyevo and St Petersburg's main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced disruptions.

Russia also fired large-scale drone strikes on Ukraine yesterday, injuring three civilians in Kyiv and at least two in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast.

The continuing onslaught comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced deals with his European allies and a leading US defence company that would allow Kyiv to scale up drone production to “hundreds of thousands” more this year.

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Sereen Haddad is a bright young woman. At 20 years old, she just finished a four-year degree in psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in only three years, earning the highest honors along the way. Yet, despite her accomplishments, she still can’t graduate. Her diploma is being withheld by the university, “not because I didn’t complete the requirements”, she told me, “but because I stood up for Palestinian life.”

Haddad, who is Palestinian American, had been raising awareness on her campus about the Palestinian fight for freedom as part of her university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The struggle is also personal for her. With roots in Gaza, she has lost more than 200 members of her extended family to Israel’s war.

She was part of a group of VCU students and supporters who attempted to set up an encampment in April 2024. The university called in the police that same night. Protestors were pepper sprayed and brutalized, and 13 were arrested. Haddad was not charged, but she was taken to the hospital “because of the head trauma that I endured”, she told me. “I was bleeding. I was bruised. Cuts everywhere. The police slammed me down on the concrete, like, six different times.”

But last year’s attempted encampment wasn’t even the reason Haddad’s degree is being withheld. This year’s peaceful memorial of it was. And how that scenario played out, with the university and campus police constantly changing the rules, illustrates something worrisome far beyond the leafy confines of an American campus.

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A fast-moving wildfire in central California became the largest in the state this year after exploding in size overnight as hot temperatures and dry conditions increased the wildfire risk ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

The Madre Fire broke out on the afternoon of July 2 in a remote area of central California near Highway 166, according to Cal Fire. The fire rapidly spread to over 35,000 acres overnight as it burned through grasslands in a section of the Los Padres National Park.

By 5 p.m. PT on July 3, the fire grew to more than 52,000 acres and was only 5% contained, according to Cal Fire data. Evacuation orders and warnings were issued for small communities near Highway 166 as the fire moved toward the Carrizo Plain National Monument, about 69 miles southeast of San Luis Obispo, California.

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Israel has escalated its offensive in Gaza before imminent talks about a ceasefire, with warships and artillery launching one of the deadliest and most intense bombardments in the devastated Palestinian territory for many months.

Medics and officials in Gaza reported that about 90 people were killed overnight and on Thursday, including many women and children. On Tuesday night and Wednesday the toll was higher, they said. Casualties included Marwan al-Sultan, a cardiologist and director of the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, who died in an airstrike that also killed his wife and five children.

In all, about 300 people may have been killed this week and thousands more injured, according to the officials.

Despite the new wave of violence in Gaza, hopes of a ceasefire have risen after Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that Israel had accepted the terms of a potential deal with Hamas. The deal would involve a 60-day initial pause in hostilities, a part withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of some of the hostages still held by Hamas.

Israel’s security cabinet was scheduled to meet on Thursday night to decide whether to move swiftly towards an agreement with Hamas or order further military escalation.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, is due to fly on Sunday to Washington for talks with Trump and senior US officials. They are expected to discuss a ceasefire, the recent war between Israel and Iran, and possibilities for ambitious regional agreements.

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The Supreme Court voted to lift temporary blocks on President Donald Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who were in the country temporarily or without legal authorization.

The court ruled 6-3 that District Court rulings temporarily blocking Trump’s order "likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts." It did not decide whether the order is constitutional - a question that is being argued in lower federal courts.

In other decisions on the last day of the court's term, the justices ruled against a challenge to an Obamacare provision that forces health insurers to cover certain medicines and services, like HIV-preventive medication and cholesterol-lowering drugs; allowed parents to remove their elementary school children from classes where the books include gay characters; and upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for users of pornographic web content.

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) questioned first lady Melania Trump’s reported “Einstein visa” at a House hearing Wednesday.

“Let me remind y’all that Melania, the first lady, a model — and when I say model, I’m not talking about Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford or Naomi Campbell level — applied for and was given an EB-1 visa, and what that stands for is an Einstein visa. Now y’all that don’t know, let me tell you how you receive an Einstein visa,” Crockett said.

“You’re supposed to have some sort of significant achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer, being an Olympic medalist, or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. Last time I checked, the first lady had none of those accolades under her belt,” the Texas Democrat added. “It doesn’t take an Einstein to see that the math ain’t mathin’ here.”

The Washington Post has reported that Trump in 2001 was given a green card via the elite EB-1 program. The program has been used by people such as academic researchers and multinational business executives, as well as people who have demonstrated “sustained national and international acclaim,” according to the Post.

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When the Trump Organization announced its cellular brand earlier this month, it touted that the devices would be “made in the USA,” keeping in line with Trump administration policies. Now, just 10 days later, the company is quietly erasing those claims.

The website for the device has removed all language indicating the phone would be manufactured in the U.S. Instead, it opts for language that still leans toward isolationism, but is much more vague now, saying it was “designed with American values in mind” and it was “brought to life right here in the USA.”

A massive cargo ship carrying an estimated 3,000 vehicles capsized in international waters this week, causing it to sink, according to the US Coast Guard.

The Morning Midas, operated by the London-based company Zodiac Maritime, sank on Monday, June 23, around 5:30 p.m., officials said. The incident occurred about 450 miles southwest of Adak, Alaska.

According to the Coast Guard, the ship carried 1,530 metric tons of very low-sulfur fuel oil, along with 350 tons of marine gas oil. Additionally, it was transporting 3,048 vehicles, including 70 electric and 681 hybrid.

The Liberian-flagged Morning Midas, which was headed to Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, from China, experienced a fire on June 3. As USA TODAY previously reported, 22 crew members abandoned the ship after they failed to put out the fire.

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