July 18 0000 UTC Brief

In U.S. news Wildfire smoke is spreading unsafe air across large parts of the country, putting health officials back in the familiar position of telling people to stay inside and pretend inhaling the atmosphere is optional. Taylor Farms is also pulling some vegetables linked to a growing cyclosporiasis outbreak. Democrats are pressing for answers after an ICE officer shot and killed an immigrant in Maine, following reports about the officer’s past behavior and calls to review how the agency screens and hires its personnel. Separately, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner over records tied to how his office handles immigration cases. In politics President Trump used a prime-time White House address to warn about supposed vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system, citing newly declassified material on foreign interference but offering no new evidence that past results were fraudulent. The administration then escalated the pressure further, with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatening local election officials with jail time if they do not cooperate with requests for voter data. Trump also urged Sen. Darline Graham Nordone to run for a full Senate term. That is one way to keep the endorsement machine warm. In the Middle East and abroad Pressure is building inside the EU for sanctions on Israel over settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians, after fresh concern about settler attacks on children. Trump is also threatening Canada with higher tariff costs, this time tying it to wildfire smoke. International trade policy, still a deeply normal thing to steer by grievance. In the Americas A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the Mexico-Guatemala coast on Friday and was felt as far away as El Salvador. No major damage or casualty update was included in the summary. In California A father and son surrendered to law enforcement early Friday, ending a hostage situation in rural northern California that began with the kidnapping of two U.S. Forest Service workers.