First Thing: Trump calls Iran’s leaders ‘scum’ and declares fragile ceasefire over

Good morning. Hostilities have resumed between the US and Iran. Tehran accused the US of violating the agreement intended to end the war, after the US military launched strikes around the strait of Hormuz and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil exports. The attacks were the latest in a string of ceasefire violations by the two sides despite a truce that came into effect in April, and have led to an immediate ۳% rise in oil prices.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Ankara, Donald Trump said the memorandum of understanding with Iran was over and called the country’s leaders “vicious, violent people” who he would not deal with because they were, in the US president’s words, “scum”. He nevertheless appeared to indicate that talks would continue. Nato’s ⁠secretary general, Mark Rutte, backed the US attacks, saying: “When you ​have ‌a ‌ceasefire and Iran ‌is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is ‌totally crucial that the ​US forcefully react.”

• What occurred to break the fragile ceasefire? The US military said that it hit more than ۸۰ targets in the early hours of Wednesday in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were ⁠passing through the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Iran responded by launching attacks on US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said ۸۵ facilities had been targeted.

Bernie Sanders calls on Graham Platner to withdraw from Senate race

The progressive senator Bernie Sanders called on Graham Platner to withdraw from the US Senate race in Maine, citing “very serious allegations” of sexual assault, hours before the nominee faced another claim of sexual misconduct.

Platner has denied the latest allegations, reported by Politico and later by the Washington Post, but the initial report prompted a wave of prominent Democrats to urge him to stand aside as the party’s nominee in the consequential Senate contest. Platner has said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward”.

• How could Democrats replace Platner? It is possible for Democrats to select a new Senate nominee in Maine, but the clock is ticking. To have a new candidate on the ballot for November’s midterm elections, Platner needs to end his campaign by ۵pm ET on ۱۳ July, according to state law. That would give the Democrats a two-week window – until ۵pm ET on ۲۷ July – to pick a replacement.

US appeals court strikes down key part of Florida law restricting campus race and gender discussions

A federal appeals panel has struck down a significant chunk of Ron DeSantis’s so-called Stop Woke Act, delivering another rebuff to the Republican Florida governor’s efforts to stifle free speech in higher education.

In a scathing order, judges of the ۱۱th circuit court of appeal ruled by a ۲-۱ majority that the higher education component of the law – which prevented college and university professors teaching or sharing thoughts on concepts of race and gender – breached the free expression rights guaranteed under the US constitution’s first amendment.

• What did the judges conclude? Britt Grant, a Donald Trump-appointed judge who wrote the majority opinion, said the proposed law was “a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the state’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry. The ideas Florida targets may well be noxious. Or maybe not. Either way, in this context the first amendment trusts students to figure it out for themselves.”

In other news …

• Prosecutors say video shows the suspect in Charlie Kirk killing climbing on to a roof. The Utah county attorney’s office says the evidence against Tyler James Robinson is sufficient for case to move to trial.

• The International Olympic Committee has lifted its suspension on Russia, paving the way for Russian teams to appear at the Los Angeles ۲۰۲۸ Games.

• US authorities have announced charges against the leader of an Indian criminal group in connection with the political assassination of a prominent Sikh activist in Canada.

• Nigel Farage, the Trump-aligned British rightwing politician, has resigned as an MP in an attempt to force his re-election, a move opponents have dismissed as a publicity stunt and seem likely to boycott.

• More than ۴۰۰ people were arrested at a Fourth of July ‘TikTok takeover’ of a beach in California.

Stat of the day: DC records world’s worst air quality for a city after ۸۵۰,۰۰۰ Fourth of July fireworks

Washington DC residents breathed in “unhealthy” air for hours after a ۴۰-minute Independence Day fireworks show over the National Mall on Saturday night. The country’s capital briefly recording the worst air quality of any major city in the world. The display came as the Trump administration rolls back an unprecedented number of pollution controls.

Well Actually: How to start volunteering

There are mental and physical benefits to volunteering, including increased quality of life, pride, empowerment, motivation, social support and sense of community. But where to start? Madeleine Aggeler asked a set of experts.

Don’t miss this: The US had the biggest opportunity in the history of American soccer and they wasted it

Alexander Abnos writes that the humbling exit of the USMNT from the Fifa men’s World Cup the country has been co-hosting was a missed generational chance to put the sport in the spotlight. Jeff Rueter meanwhile, who was at Seattle Stadium to see the US capitulate ۴-۱ to Belgium, laments that injury robbed the star player Christian Pulisic of showing his true potential during the tournament, while the future of coach Mauricio Pochettino appears uncertain.

… or this: Can Netflix reboot Little House on the Prairie for a new generation?

The original ۱۹۳۰s books traded on a powerful, intoxicating myth of American resilience at a time when so many were struggling and losing faith in those in power, the ۱۹۷۰s TV series was often cited as Ronald Reagan’s favourite show, and Netflix is betting big on its new adaptation. Matthew Allan examines how a strange confluence of cultural trends and political circumstances could help it soar.

Climate check: Water crisis deepens in US west

Lake Powell, the US’s second-largest reservoir, threatens to plunge to unprecedentedly low levels this year after a historically bleak snowpack failed to raise its water level. That is imperilling hydroelectric power and throwing more uncertainty into an already contentious negotiation over how to divvy up an increasingly unreliable water supply used by ۴۰ million people across seven states, dozens of tribal nations and two countries.

Last Thing: Dolly Parton musical set for Broadway this winter

Billed as “a remarkable journey through the life of this trailblazing woman”, the incomparable Dolly Parton will celebrate turning ۸۱ with the opening of a musical about her life on Broadway later this year. Featuring signature hits such as I Will Always Love You, Jolene, Coat of Many Colors and ۹ to ۵, Parton described the show coming to New York as “a dream come true”.

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