First Thing: Supreme court clears way for Trump to mass fire federal workers

Justices lift lower court order that froze ‘reductions in force’ layoffs while litigation in case proceeded. Plus, Ed Sheeran tries his hand at art

Good morning.

The US supreme court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume plans for mass firings of federal workers, which critics warn could threaten important government services.

Extending a winning streak for the US president, the justices yesterday lifted a lower court order that had frozen sweeping federal layoffs known as “reductions in force” while litigation in the case proceeds.

The decision could result in hundreds of thousands of job losses at the departments of agriculture, commerce, health and human services, state, treasury, veterans affairs and other agencies.

It overturned a 22 May ruling by the San Francisco-based district judge Susan Illston who argued that “the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress”.

• What have the Democrats said? They condemned the ruling. Antjuan Seawright, a party strategist, said: “This rightwing activist court has proven ruling after ruling, time after time, that they are going to sing the songs and dance to the tune of Trumpism.”

Gaza aid workers overwhelmed by ‘mass casualty incidents’ at food distribution sites

Medical officials, humanitarian workers and doctors in Gaza say they have been overwhelmed by almost daily “mass casualty incidents” as they struggle to deal with those wounded by Israeli fire on Palestinians seeking aid.

Many of the casualties describe being shot as they try to reach distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive US- and Israel-backed organisation that began handing out food in late May.

Others have been injured as huge crowds form around convoys sent into Gaza by the UN, many of which are stopped and looted.

• How many have been killed seeking food? The casualties totalled 640 killed and more than 4,500 injured between 27 May and 2 July, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

• What has Israel said? The Israeli military has repeatedly said it does not target civilians, takes all feasible precautions to avoid harm to non-combatants and abides by international law.

Trump criticizes Putin and promises to send Ukraine 10 Patriot missiles

Donald Trump has voiced his frustration with Vladimir Putin and promised to send 10 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, after announcing on Monday that US weapons deliveries would resume days after they were halted by the Pentagon, according to an official familiar with the matter.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting yesterday, the US president said he was getting increasingly frustrated with the Russian leader. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” he said.

Asked if he wanted to see further sanctions against Russia, Trump replied: “I’m looking at it.” On Monday he said he was “disappointed” with Russia’s president and would send “more weapons” to Ukraine.

• How did Trump react to the weapons deliveries being halted? He was reportedly caught “flat footed” by the Pentagon’s abrupt move, according to an Associated Press report.

In other news …

• A federal rule designed to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up for them has been struck down just days before it was scheduled to take effect.

• Ten people have been charged with attempted murder after allegedly ambushing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents in Texas on 4 July.

• The largest US honeybee die-off on record has finally been given a cause: a bee virus spread by parasitic mites that appear to have developed resistance to the main chemicals used to control them.

• Saudi Arabia has carried out a “horrifying” number of executions for drug crimes over the past decade, mostly foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International.

Stat of the day: More than 100 people dead and at least 161 still missing after Texas floods

Rescue crews continue to comb through parts of the Texas Hill Country devastated by catastrophic flash flooding. As of yesterday afternoon, the death toll across the six affected counties surpassed 100. Most of the deaths were in Kerr County, where officials said 87 bodies had been recovered, including 56 adults and 30 children.

Don’t miss this: Futurist Adam Dorr on how robots will take our jobs – ‘We don’t have long to get ready.’

If Adam Dorr is correct, robots and artificial intelligence will dominate the global economy within a generation and put practically the entire human race out of a job within 20 years. The futurist has a stark vision of the scale, speed and unstoppability of a technological transformation. Societies urgently need to prepare, he says.

… or this: ‘No feeling or truth’ – a critic on Ed Sheeran’s Pollock homage

“While he has successfully defeated plagiarism claims regarding his songs, Ed Sheeran would have no defence from the Jackson Pollock estate,” writes Jonathan Jones. “His art is, let’s be polite, one big homage to the abstract expressionist painter. Abstract art like Sheeran’s gives all abstract art a bad name because it’s based on the dumb idea that doing your own is a breeze.”

Climate check: Climate breakdown tripled death toll in Europe’s June heatwave, study finds

Planet-heating pollution tripled the death toll from the “quietly devastating” heatwave that seared Europe at the end of June, early analysis covering a dozen cities has found, as experts warned of a worsening health crisis that is being overlooked.

Last Thing: Tiny pet dog hailed for saving hiker trapped in Swiss glacier

A small pet dog is being hailed as a “four-legged hero” for helping to save his owner’s life after he fell down an icy crevasse in the Swiss Alps. The Air Zermatt helicopter company credited the pint-sized pooch with drawing their attention to the location of the hiker.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com