An Associated Press fact check published July 3 found experts reject President Donald Trump’s recent efforts to portray Democrats as communists. Historians and scholars said the label does not fit the Democratic Party or the candidates Trump has singled out.

OpenAI has discussed giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company, a share worth about $42.6 billion at its latest valuation. The proposal, reported July 2, comes as the Trump administration increases scrutiny of advanced AI model releases.

A federal appeals court on July 2 ordered the Trump administration to preserve the jobs of 19 intelligence officers targeted for dismissal over temporary DEI-related assignments. The ruling says the CIA and ODNI must follow their own reassignment and appeal rules before terminating the officers.

The Vatican on July 2 formally declared the Society of St. Pius X to be in schism after four bishops were consecrated without papal approval in Switzerland. The decree excommunicated six bishops and warned priests and lay followers that formal adherence to the rupture can also carry penalties.

U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs in June, the smallest monthly gain in line with the past year’s slowing trend, while wage growth remained below inflation based on the latest available price data. The June 2026 labor report also showed weaker revisions to April and May payrolls.

Wildfire activity across the West has pushed the nation to Preparedness Level 4, with more than 605,000 active acres and major fires burning from Utah and Colorado to Arizona and Washington. Federal and state agencies say hot, dry and windy conditions are straining crews and keeping evacuation orders in place in several communities.

President Donald Trump used a July 3, 2020, speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota to warn supporters about what he described as a left-wing and communist threat from progressive Democrats. The speech tied Independence Day messaging to a broader culture-war argument during an election year.

Meta’s reported plan to sell excess AI computing capacity is sharpening attention on where the next wave of AI data centers will be built. Saudi Arabia’s state-backed push into low-cost, energy-heavy computing has become part of that conversation.

Cape Verde captain Ryan Mendes is under police investigation over a rape allegation dating to a March team trip in New Zealand, according to multiple reports published days before the country’s knockout match against Argentina. No charge has been publicly announced, and Cape Verde’s football federation has not issued a detailed public response.

President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure shows his accounts bought as much as $12.8 million in stocks on April 8, 2025, one day before he announced a 90-day pause on many tariffs. The filing is drawing renewed scrutiny because the policy shift helped trigger one of Wall Street’s biggest single-day rallies in years.

A June 30 shooting in a North Lauderdale Walmart parking lot left a 62-year-old man dead after an argument over a parking space, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Detectives said the woman involved remained at the scene and told investigators she acted in self-defense.

Michigan health officials are investigating a fast-growing cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened more than 300 people, far above the state's typical annual total. Residents are being advised to take precautions with fresh produce and seek care for persistent watery diarrhea.