July 1 0800 UTC Brief

In U.S. politics and courts The Supreme Court has struck down limits on how much political parties can spend on behalf of their candidates, a ruling that will reshape campaign finance heading into the midterms. Meanwhile, 13 House Republicans blocked a procedural vote that would have tied Donald Trump’s voter ID bill to the annual defense package, exposing fresh fractures inside Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow majority. In U.S. news A 79-year-old woman was killed and five others injured when a Tesla failed a turn, drove onto the pavement, and crashed into a cafe in Simi Valley. Police said she was found trapped beneath the vehicle. Separately, a report on student debt says millions of Americans in their 60s are still carrying loans into retirement, with some, like one 71-year-old borrower, still owing tens of thousands of dollars decades later. In Europe Airlines and airports are urging the European Union to pause new biometric border checks during the summer travel rush, warning of queues stretching to five hours and flights leaving half full. In another European development, the EU is facing pressure to keep climate policy business-friendly, while a new spider record in Portugal adds a small footnote to Iberian biodiversity. In the Middle East and South Asia Pakistan says it intercepted four drones launched from Afghanistan, while Afghanistan’s defence ministry says it carried out air strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The two sides are trading claims, and the border is doing what border disputes tend to do.