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A judge on Monday temporarily barred the Trump administration from revoking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, partially freezing a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just days after Trump signed it into law.

The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani lasts 14 days and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed" to Planned Parenthood. The ruling, which came after a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, doesn't apply to any other health care providers.

The lawsuit takes aim at a portion of Mr. Trump's signature domestic policy bill that would cut off any federal Medicaid funding to groups "primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care" that provide abortions.

 

While Trump did not explicitly name China in his tariff announcement, he did issue an overall warning of higher tariffs on transshipped goods, which typically originate in China.

Chinese state media warned the Trump administration Tuesday against striking deals that sideline China, after the president announced that Asian countries would face higher tariffs starting Aug. 1, unless other arrangements are agreed on before then.

“If such situations arise, China will not accept them and will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the People’s Daily, a state-run newspaper, said in a commentary.

Donald Trump said there would be 25% import tariffs on U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, 36% on Thailand and Cambodia, 35% on Bangladesh, 32% on Indonesia, 40% on Myanmar and Laos, and 25% on Malaysia.

 

Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, arrested last week in Miami-Dade, is now being held at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility in the Everglades.

He and other detainees claim they are enduring inhumane conditions, including lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights.

La Figura, whose real name is Leamsy Isquierdo, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery. He was initially held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) before being transferred to Alligator Alcatraz.

 

The team behind “Superman” is responding to the backlash after director James Gunn said the DC tentpole is the story of “an immigrant that came from other places.”

When asked about the reaction to his comments, James Gunn explained that the movie is for “everyone” and that he doesn’t have “anything to say to anybody” spreading negativity around “Superman.”

“I’m not here to judge people,” he told Variety at Monday night’s “Superman” premiere at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre. “I think this is a movie about kindness and I think that’s something everyone can relate to.”

 

Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.

His lobbyists, who represented Tesla, SpaceX and the social media giant X Corp., spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like gifts and meals for Texas elected officials and others during the session, according to an analysis of state ethics data. In most cases, Texas transparency laws do not require lobbyists to disclose which politicians they wined and dined or on behalf of which clients.

A slate of ethics bills, including several to require transparency into who funds mass text messages for political campaigns, failed to become law this year, according to The Texas Tribune. Meanwhile, legislators approved a new law that will reduce the fine for former lawmakers who engage in illegal lobbying activity.

 

“The endangerment of German personnel and the disruption of the mission are completely unacceptable,” foreign office fumes.

The German government on Tuesday accused the Chinese military of using a laser to target an aircraft involved in an EU-backed Red Sea operation. Berlin summoned the Chinese ambassador regarding the incident.

“The endangerment of German personnel and the disruption of the mission are completely unacceptable,” the German foreign office said Tuesday morning. It did not identify the precise location where the incident occurred.

According to German outlet Der Spiegel, the incident took place near the coast of Yemen. The jet was a reconnaissance airplane, and the laser came from a Chinese vessel, Spiegel reported.

 

Hundreds put to death for non-violent drug offences over past decade, with little scrutiny of Saudis, says Amnesty

Saudi Arabia has carried out a “horrifying” number of executions for drug crimes over the past decade, most of which were of foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International.

Almost 600 people have been executed over the past decade for drug-related offences, Amnesty International has found, three-quarters of whom were foreign nationals from countries including Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and Egypt.

After a temporary moratorium on drug-related capital punishments between 2021 and 2022, the executions jumped to record levels, with 122 in 2024 and 118 so far this year up until the end of last month.

 

A recent effort to bolster emergency communication infrastructure failed in the Texas Senate earlier this year

As the death toll from flash floods in Central Texas climbs past 80, scrutiny is mounting over Kerr County's past decisions to reject an outdoor siren alert system due to cost concerns.

Kerr County, located in a flood-prone region of the Texas Hill Country, has previously dismissed proposals for siren-based warning systems, citing financial burden on local taxpayers.

A recent effort at the state level to bolster emergency communication infrastructure, House Bill 13, failed in the Texas Senate earlier this year. The bill would have funded improved disaster alert systems and provided grants for counties to build infrastructure like sirens and radio towers, according to the Texas Tribune.

Some lawmakers, including state Rep. Wes Virdell, voted against it due to its projected $500 million cost, though several now admit they're reconsidering in the wake of recent events.

 

Cuts and chaos instigated by Trump come as threat from extreme weather grows due to human-caused climate crisis

The deadly Texas floods could signal a new norm in the US, as Donald Trump and his allies dismantle crucial federal agencies that help states prepare and respond to extreme weather and other hazards, experts warn.

More than 100 are dead and dozens more remain missing after flash floods in the parched area known as Texas Hill Country swept away entire holiday camps and homes on Friday night – in what appears to have been another unremarkable storm that stalled before dumping huge quantities of rain over a short period of time, a phenomena that has becoming increasingly common as the planet warms.

It remains unclear why the early warning system failed to result in the timely evacuation of Camp Mystic, where 700 girls were camped on a known flood plain on the Guadalupe River, but there is mounting concern that the chaos and cuts instigated by Trump and his billionaire donor Elon Musk at the National Weather Service (NWS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) may have contributed to the death toll.

 

More than 200 children are being treated in hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China after school chefs used inedible paint to decorate their food.

Eight people have been arrested after tests showed the food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui City in Gansu province had lead levels that were 2,000 times over the national safety limit.

In total, 233 children from Peixin Kindergarten had high levels of lead in their blood after eating steamed red date cake and sausage corn bun.

 

Hungarian police said that they will not prosecute marchers in the Budapest Pride parade, despite the event being banned. This year's Pride attracted a record crowd, with organizers reporting over 200,000 participants.

Police in Budapest announced Monday that they will not initiate any legal proceedings against participants of the Pride parade that occurred in the Hungarian capital at the end of June, despite the ceremony being prohibited.

The decision from the police came amid fears that those who took part could face fines and with organizers facing up to a year in prison.

Pride parades are held across the globe in support of LGBTQ+ rights. Budapest police said in a statement that this year's organizers created public uncertainty about the event's legal status.

Among them was Budapest's liberal mayor, Gergely Karacsony, who declared Pride an official municipal event and argued this renders the government's ban irrelevant.

 

Research in Chile suggests climate crisis makes eruptions more likely and explosive, and warns of Antarctica risk

The melting of glaciers and ice caps by the climate crisis could unleash a barrage of explosive volcanic eruptions, a study suggests.

The loss of ice releases the pressure on underground magma chambers and makes eruptions more likely. This process has been seen in Iceland, an unusual island that sits on a mid-ocean tectonic plate boundary. But the research in Chile is one of the first studies to show a surge in volcanism on a continent in the past, after the last ice age ended.

Global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels is now melting ice caps and glaciers across the world. The biggest risk of a resurgence of volcanic eruptions is in west Antarctica, the researchers said, where at least 100 volcanoes lie under the thick ice. This ice is very likely to be lost in the coming decades and centuries as the world warms.

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