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KYIV
Russia struck Kyiv again.
The attack began at 6 p.m. Sunday. Russia launched 68 missiles and 351 drones from ground, air, and sea. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 37 missiles and 326 drones. The remaining 29 missiles and 18 drones struck targets at 34 locations across the city. Ukraine’s air force said it failed to intercept the missiles that broke through because it has run out of Patriot interceptor missiles. At least 14 people are dead and at least 60 are injured, including three children. Residential buildings in four districts of Kyiv were struck. In the Podilskyi district, a building lost its top floors.
It is the second major strike on Kyiv in four days. The July 2 attack killed 31 people and injured 102.
“Kyiv was under a massive Russian strike tonight,” President Zelensky wrote Sunday. He called on the United States and European partners to deliver interceptor missiles. “It is critically important that the world — first and foremost the United States and our European partners — come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense.”
The NATO summit begins Tuesday in Ankara, Turkey. Zelensky is scheduled to meet Trump on its sidelines on July 8. Days before the summit, Trump had a 90-minute call with Putin in which, according to the Kremlin, Trump “offered to help end the war.” Putin had already pledged to continue large-scale strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Russia cited Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure as its justification for the attack. Ukraine’s position is what it has always been: Russia started this war in February 2022. Ukraine strikes Russian military and energy infrastructure in self-defense. Russia strikes Kyiv apartment buildings. These are not equivalent acts.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: CNN published a piece on the Kyiv strike noting it came “on the eve of a critical NATO summit in Turkey” and that Trump plans to attend. The Kyiv Post confirmed the attack’s scope and the failure of air defenses. The international frame is simple: Russia is hitting Kyiv’s residential buildings with weapons Ukraine cannot shoot down, two days before a NATO summit where Ukraine is pleading for the missiles to stop them.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Russia killed at least 14 people in Kyiv overnight, including three children among the 60 injured. Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptors. Zelensky is asking Trump directly for those missiles at a NATO summit in two days. Trump just offered to help end the war in a phone call with Putin. Putin responded by launching 29 missiles at a civilian city.
Sources: Kyiv Post (Ukraine — 14 killed/60+ injured/3 children confirmed, 68 missiles/351 drones confirmed, 29 missiles/18 drones struck 34 locations confirmed, zero missiles intercepted confirmed, July 6); Kyiv Independent (Ukraine — attack began 6 p.m. July 5 confirmed, Podilskyi top floors destroyed confirmed, Zelensky statement confirmed, Trump-Putin call confirmed, NATO summit July 8 Zelensky-Trump meeting confirmed, July 6); CNN (US — “eve of critical NATO summit” confirmed, Trump offered to help end war confirmed, Zelensky interceptor plea confirmed, July 6)
THE DAY AFTER
Two things happened in America on July 5, the day after the 250th birthday.
In Memphis, Tennessee, at approximately 4 a.m., Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. Johnson was armed and fled on foot from officers responding to reports of shots fired in downtown Memphis. Memphis police said he turned toward the soldiers with his weapon. Two soldiers fired, striking him twice in the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson lived in Nashville. He worked in construction. He was taking university classes. He had just had his first child. His older cousin, Terracle Nelson, 46, was present when TBI agents told the family what had happened. “I just want to know, how they shot a 20-year-old twice in the chest, he hadn’t harmed anyone,” she said. She told the Associated Press he was “as good a boy as can be.”
The National Guard has been patrolling Memphis since October 2025 as part of a federal task force created by Trump, who deployed soldiers and federal agents to cities he described as overrun with crime. The deployment cost nearly half a billion dollars through the end of December and is projected to cost taxpayers more than $1 billion this year. Violent crime in Memphis, as in dozens of Democrat-led cities, was already declining before the Guard arrived.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the use of federal military forces to perform domestic law enforcement functions. Trump’s Memphis deployment has been challenged in court on those grounds. In April, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that local Democratic officials lacked standing to block the deployment — not that Posse Comitatus permitted it. That legal question was not resolved. It was deferred. On Sunday morning it became concrete: a federal soldier killed an American civilian in an American city while performing a domestic law enforcement function.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.
One thousand miles away, in Newport Beach, California, the same weekend produced something different. 402 people were arrested during Fourth of July celebrations on the Balboa Peninsula, most of them in a single chaotic incident Saturday night in which crowds of young people, many of them non-residents from inland California, flooded the area after social media posts coordinated the gathering. Fireworks were thrown at police officers. A Pavilions grocery store was looted. Officers on horseback charged into crowds on the beach. The Newport Beach Police Department, aided by 350 officers from 17 agencies, declared an unlawful assembly and closed the beaches.
The previous year’s arrest total for the same period: 60.
The Trump administration deployed the National Guard to Memphis because it is a majority-Black city led by a Democratic mayor. Newport Beach is one of the wealthiest, most predominantly white communities in California. 402 arrests, fireworks thrown at officers, a looted grocery store — and not a single federal soldier in sight. No presidential statement. No task force. No deployment.
The contrast is not an allegation. It is a documented fact about where the federal government chose to send soldiers, and where it did not.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: A federally deployed National Guard soldier killed a 20-year-old Black man in Memphis on July 5. The man worked construction, took university classes, and had just had a child. The same weekend, 402 people were arrested in Newport Beach after fireworks were thrown at police and a grocery store was looted. No federal forces were deployed to Newport Beach. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the military from performing domestic law enforcement. That legal question has not been answered. It now has a body attached to it.
Sources: NPR (US — Tyrin Johnson named, 4 a.m. July 5 confirmed, armed/fleeing confirmed, Memphis Safe Task Force confirmed, TBI investigating confirmed, July 5); PBS NewsHour / AP (US wire — Nelson “as good a boy” quote confirmed, construction/classes/child confirmed, $500M through December confirmed, $1B+ this year confirmed, crime already falling confirmed, April court ruling confirmed, July 5); CNN (US — shot twice in chest confirmed, no prior criminal record confirmed, July 5); ABC7 / KABC (US — 402 arrests confirmed, Pavilions looting confirmed, fireworks at officers confirmed, 60 arrests 2025 confirmed, social media coordination confirmed, July 5); Santa Monica Observer (US — 350 officers/17 agencies confirmed, unlawful assembly 10:50 p.m. confirmed, horseback charges confirmed, July 6)
SUPER TYPHOON BAVI
Super Typhoon Bavi made landfall Monday morning on Rota, a US territorial island in the Pacific with a population of 2,000, with maximum sustained winds of 180 miles per hour. Authorities on Rota reported “major damage.” The National Weather Service told residents across the Northern Mariana Islands that “entering outside can result in death from flying projectiles.”
The Northern Mariana Islands and nearby Guam are home to 210,000 people and some of the most strategically significant US military infrastructure in the Pacific. Tinian Island — from which the B-29 bombers that dropped atomic bombs on Japan in World War II departed — is currently being renovated as an alternate military base to Guam. The typhoon is now tracking west toward Taiwan and China, where it may arrive as a Category 3 or stronger storm by Friday.
This is the second super typhoon to strike US Pacific territories in less than three months. Super Typhoon Sinlaku made landfall in the Northern Marianas in April, killing 17 people and causing approximately $1.5 billion in damage. The islands had not fully recovered when Bavi arrived.
Bavi peaked at Category 5 strength with maximum sustained winds over 175 miles per hour. The National Weather Service said it could bring at least 20 inches of rain to the region. Yale Climate Connections, a meteorological publication, documented the wider pattern: Bavi is the 10th Category 4 or 5 tropical cyclone to hit a US state or territory in the past ten years, as many as struck in the prior 57 years combined.
The US is engaged in active military operations in the Middle East, negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, attending a NATO summit in Turkey, and now managing a Category 5 typhoon on its own Pacific territory — all simultaneously.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: A Category 5 super typhoon hit US territory this morning. It is the second super typhoon to strike the Northern Mariana Islands in three months. The islands are home to critical military bases. The prior storm killed 17 people and caused $1.5 billion in damage. The region had not recovered. The US has suffered as many Category 4 and 5 landfalls on its territory in the past ten years as it did in the prior 57 years combined.
Sources: CNN (US — Rota landfall confirmed, 180 mph winds confirmed, Tinian military base context confirmed, B-29 history confirmed, Taiwan/China track confirmed, July 6); Euronews (Europe — “major damage” Rota confirmed, 210,000 population confirmed, Sinlaku April comparison confirmed, 51 cm rain confirmed, July 6); ABC News / AP (US wire — “imminent danger to life” confirmed, 150 mph Rota winds confirmed, 20 inches rain confirmed, July 6); Yale Climate Connections (meteorological — Sinlaku 17 killed/$1.5B confirmed, 10th Cat 4-5 in 10 years vs prior 57 years confirmed, Bavi 175 mph peak confirmed, July 5)
THE RED CARD
On December 5, 2025, Gianni Infantino awarded Donald Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at a White House ceremony. Standing before the president, Infantino said, “You can always count, Mr. President, on my support, on the support of the entire soccer community to help you make peace and make the world prosper.”
Seven months later, Trump called Infantino to ask him to review a red card.
The red card was issued to US Men’s National Team striker Folarin Balogun on July 1, after Balogun’s cleat made contact with the ankle of a Bosnian defender during a World Cup round of 32 match. The referee, advised by VAR review, issued a red card for serious foul play. A red card in the World Cup triggers an automatic one-game suspension, a rule FIFA had communicated clearly to all competing nations before the tournament began. US Soccer was told specifically that “there is no mechanism for appeal.”
There was, apparently, a mechanism — once the president called.
Trump contacted Infantino in the days after the match. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House’s World Cup task force, also spoke with Infantino. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was also in communication with FIFA. On Sunday morning, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee announced it had invoked Article 27 of its disciplinary code to suspend Balogun’s ban for a one-year probationary period. He plays Monday against Belgium.
Belgium’s football federation said it was “astonished” by the decision and called it “in direct contradiction” to FIFA’s own stated rules for the tournament. Coach Rudi Garcia said derisively, “I didn’t know that at the World Cup, the 5th of July is actually the first of April.” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken, after his team’s win over Brazil on Sunday, said, “I think that’s a big mistake by FIFA; it’s not a great conclusion. He has got a red card, VAR concluded it was a red card, and he was sent off, so that means he is suspended for one game. The Belgians will be furious, and what happens if he scores a goal that wins the game?”
Balogun plays against Belgium today.
Throughout this World Cup, FIFA has been asked repeatedly to address the impact of US immigration policies on players, officials, and fans. Its answer has been consistent. When Somali referee Omar Artan — who had a valid US visa and had been selected by FIFA to officiate at the tournament — was denied entry at Miami airport, FIFA said: “FIFA is not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas.” When Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours at O’Hare airport, his phone searched before he was allowed in, and his team’s photographer was denied entry entirely after 10 hours of detention — FIFA was not involved. When Palestinian Football Federation president Jibril Rajoub could not get a US visa despite FIFA accreditation, and Iranian support staff were denied entry forcing the team to base itself in Mexico and commute to US matches, and Moroccan fans who had bought tickets and booked hotels were denied visas — FIFA was not involved.
When Trump called about a red card, FIFA was involved within days.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump called FIFA’s president and asked him to overturn a red card. FIFA found a mechanism it had told US Soccer didn’t exist. Every time a non-white player, official, or fan was detained, denied entry, or locked out of the tournament America is hosting — FIFA said it was not involved. Trump received FIFA’s first-ever Peace Prize in December. Infantino told him he could count on FIFA’s support. He could.
Sources: CBS News (US — Trump called Infantino Thursday confirmed, Giuliani/Lutnick involvement confirmed, “no mechanism for appeal” confirmed, July 5); CNBC (US — Article 27 text confirmed, “great injustice” Trump quote confirmed, Infantino “you can always count on my support” confirmed, FIFA Peace Prize December 2025 confirmed, July 5); PBS NewsHour / AP (US wire — Belgian federation “astonished” confirmed, Garcia “April Fools” quote confirmed, Solbakken “big mistake” quote confirmed, July 5); ESPN (US — Garcia full quote confirmed, Courtois quote confirmed, Solbakken full quote confirmed, “in direct contradiction” confirmed, July 5); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — Artan denial confirmed, Hussein 7-hour detention confirmed, Salah denial confirmed, FIFA “not involved” statement confirmed, Rajoub no visa confirmed, Iran team Mexico base confirmed, June 11); American Immigration Council (US nonpartisan — FIFA “not involved” statement verbatim confirmed, full immigration incident list confirmed, Moroccan fans denied visas confirmed, travel ban impact confirmed, June 11)
WAR DAY 129 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468 killed, 26,500+ injured (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, updated June 25)
🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (Israeli news source via Time, June 21 — tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — Iraq 118, Kuwait 7, Bahrain 3, Oman 3 (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🛢️ Brent crude: $71.62/barrel (OilPrice.com — OPEC+ July production increase continuing to weigh; down $24.52 from the May 21 peak of $96.14)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.80/gallon (AAA — down $0.76 from the May 21 peak of $4.56)
Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon. Lebanon updated to 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured per Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, confirmed June 25. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
