July 23 2000 UTC Brief

In Spain Spain is getting an unusual post-World Cup boost from China, with flight searches to Spanish destinations surging as retailers try to turn football enthusiasm into bookings before Golden Week. Greenpeace also says Spain’s coastline is under severe pressure from development and climate change, and it wants less beach regeneration theater and more nature-based fixes. In U.S. news Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border Thursday afternoon, bringing heavy rain to coastal Texas. Federal health officials are also investigating a new cyclospora outbreak, though they have not yet identified a linked product. In Washington The House narrowly approved a Democratic war powers resolution, but the Senate rejected it. At the same time, the Justice Department said it will drop subpoenas issued to The New York Times, while President Trump continues threatening escalation in the war with Iran and lawmakers from both parties say he still has not made a clear case for how that ends. In Minnesota Vance Boelter has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, including Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband. The judge imposed two life terms plus 40 years, and the victims’ families said the sentence cannot undo the lasting fear and grief. In Latin America Mexican journalist Alejandro Leyva Aguilar was shot dead in Oaxaca while eating at a street food stall. He had spent years reporting on corruption, which makes the killing especially grim. In business Patreon is cutting 20 percent of its workforce, or 93 employees, as it restructures how the company operates. CEO Jack Conte called the move painful and said affected workers will get at least 16 weeks of severance.