July 20 2000 UTC Brief

In sports The Women’s Tennis Association will require players to take a one-time DNA sex test starting in 2026, making the screening a condition of eligibility. The tour says the rule is meant to determine biological sex for competition purposes. In public safety Five people died in Ohio after a group tried to rescue a swimmer in trouble in a river. The deaths came two days after five members of one family were killed in southern Utah when a flash flood swept through canyons during a hiking trip. In Florida, police say a mother was arrested after her 8-year-old autistic daughter was found wandering outside naked and barefoot, and deputies then found the children living in a home with severe contamination, exposed wiring, and other unsafe conditions. She faces three felony child neglect counts. Authorities in New York are also investigating an explosion outside an FBI building in lower Manhattan that houses an ICE field office. Three people were reported injured, and a suspect was taken into custody after allegedly throwing an incendiary device. In business and health The FDA has retracted a Taylor Farms cyclospora test result as a false positive, reopening confusion around one of the worst outbreak investigations in years. The reversal also renewed scrutiny of a political donation tied to the company’s founder. In British politics In Worcestershire, Reform county councillor Karl Perks has defected to the Conservatives after a dispute over whether paint daubed on roundabouts as part of the “Raise the Colours” campaign should have led to criminal charges. He said he lost confidence in Reform’s culture, and the move shifts the balance on the county council’s opposition benches. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appointed Louise Haigh as First Secretary of State in his new government despite her past fraud conviction, while Chancellor Healey is already under pressure to prove he can back the armed forces after resigning as defence secretary over military spending. Westminster has moved quickly from “new era” to “please explain.” In the Middle East Khalil al-Hayya has won Hamas leadership by a single vote, a narrow result that points to a stronger focus on Gaza as Israeli attacks continue.