First Thing: US state department to lay off nearly 15% of its domestic staff

The move, which is expected to eliminate 1,800 jobs, will come into force after the supreme court sided with the Trump administration. Plus, Florida records more than 700,000 human trafficking victims in 2024

Good morning.

The US state department has announced that it will proceed with mass layoffs that would slash domestic staffing levels by almost 15%.

A senior state department official said the job losses at the department, which advises the president and directs US foreign policy, would affect almost 1,800 people. The restructuring will also result in several hundred bureaus being merged or eliminated.

Officials say the changes and layoffs will reshape the department in line with Donald Trump’s vision of “America first”: for example, some bureaus focusing on immigration and democracy promotion will have their missions significantly altered, with the bureau of population, refugees and migration changed to include a department to facilitate deportations.

Why is it happening now? The move was long expected, but will now be put into action after the supreme court this week ruled that the firings could go ahead.

Five reported dead in Gaza after Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced people

Israeli strikes have killed at least six people in northern Gaza so far on Friday, including five at a school that was sheltering displaced people, Gaza’s civil defence agency has said.

In a separate strike on Gaza City, the agency said at least one person was killed and several others wounded. Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza, said it received several casualties after Israeli forces opened fire on civilians near an aid distribution point.

The killings come a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 15 people, including 10 children, as they queued outside a medical point for nutritional supplements and treatment in central Gaza.

Is any resistance to Israel’s actions gaining ground internationally? EU diplomats have presented 10 options to sanction Israel over Gaza after finding “indications” that it has breached its human rights obligations in the territory and the West Bank. It remains unclear if any will move ahead.

US will impose 35% tariffs on Canadian imports, Trump says

Donald Trump has said he will hit Canadian imports with a 35% tariff next month and vowed to increase it if Canada retaliates.

In a letter released on his social media platform, Trump told Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, that the new rate would go into effect on 1 August. Trump in March imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian cars and auto parts, and a 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum imports in June. The new rate would apply to all other goods.

It was one of more than 20 letters published by Trump this week announcing tariffs against countries around the world, and comes as Canada and Mexico try to negotiate with Trump to restore the free trade deal uniting the three countries.

How has Carney responded? He said on X that his government would continue to defend Canadian workers and businesses as he negotiates with the US ahead of the deadline.

In other news …

A Slovakian festival hosting Kanye West was cancelled after thousands signed a petition condemning the concert after the rapper released a song glorifying Adolf Hitler.

A North Korean defector is suing Kim Jong-un in a South Korean court, alleging torture and sexual violence in the regime’s detention facilities.

The Texas floods are confirmed to have killed at least 120 people as search efforts continue for the 161 people still missing in Kerr county.

Stat of the day: Florida records more than 700,000 people as victims of human trafficking in 2024

More than 700,000 people were victims of human trafficking in Florida in 2024, including 100,000 children targeted for sex trafficking, a shocking new study has found. As well as due to being the US’s third most populous state, Florida has particularly high numbers of victims owing to having several airports and ports as well as industries where poor conditions and pay are commonplace.

Don’t miss this: ‘A postcard delivered 121 years late led me to my long-lost family’

Nick Davies connected with family members he didn’t know through an unlikely event: the arrival of a postcard 121 years after it was posted. Sent by his grandfather, the postcard made it on to the news where Davies then met his cousins, who showed him pictures of his great-grandparents: “New connections were made, and anonymous names in my family tree suddenly gained faces.”

Climate check: Heat could cause ‘30,000 deaths a year in England and Wales by 2070s’

Heat mortality in England and Wales could rise more than fiftyfold in 50 years because of climate heating, according to new scientific modeling, resulting in more than 30,000 people a year dying in the countries by the 2070s. This would happen if the worst-case scenario of 4.3C of heating by the end of the century comes to pass with minimal adaptations. For context, the average number of heat-related deaths in England and Wales between 1981 and 2021 was 634, but in the record-breaking summer of 2020, 2,985 deaths were recorded.

Last Thing: Museum known for dinosaurs finds dinosaur fossil under its parking lot

A Denver natural science museum popular with dinosaur enthusiasts has discovered a fossil bone buried just yards away, in its parking lot. It was found during drilling to study geothermal heating potential, and caused huge excitement, with James Hagadorn, the museum’s curator of geology stressing the discovery’s rarity: “Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It’s like winning the Willy Wonka factory.” But as incredible as it may be, Hagadorn acknowledged that as much as he’d like to excavate the rest of the dinosaur, he didn’t think that was likely for the most mundane of reasons: “We really need parking.”

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