THE NEWS

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plummeted more than 7% in early Thursday trading.

On July 2, 1964, the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law with the signature of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced on Wednesday the state’s intention to use a new state law to designate dozens of groups as terrorist organizations, a move that would still require approval by the Florida Cabinet, prompting legal objections from at least one of the groups.HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and went into effect on Wednesday.The governor said the state plans to implement its new statutory authority to “identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida” in the first use of powers established under the legislation.Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa, though the proposed designations must be approved by the governor and Cabinet before they are finalized under the statute.FLORIDA’S CAIR THREATENS LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS AFTER HE LABELS GROUP A ‘FOREIGN TERRORIST’ ORGANIZATION”Last December, I signed an Executive Order to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and the organizations that promote them in Florida. This year, I signed legislation to strengthen those protections and give Florida permanent statutory tools to combat terrorism while defending the Constitutional rights of our citizens,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list—along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels.”However, under HB 1471, the Chief of Domestic Security may designate qualifying organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, but the governor and Cabinet may approve or reject those designations by majority vote before they are published in the Florida Administrative Register.Some of the foreign organizations added to the list include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gangs such as Cartel de Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua, Cartel del Noreste and Cartel del Golfo.The new law allows the governor and Cabinet to approve or reject designations initially made by the chief of domestic security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”Keeping our community safe starts with identifying the threat,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said. “The safety of our community is strengthened by that knowledge every day, and reinforced by the collaboration between our officers, our federal partners, and—most importantly—the people we serve.”HB 1471 directs agencies to deny groups public support and taxpayer funding. The law also establishes state enforcement mechanisms and criminal penalties for providing material support to designated terrorist organizations.More specifically, the law restricts certain public benefits, funding and institutional support connected to designated groups, and creates criminal penalties for knowingly providing, attempting to provide or conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated domestic terrorist organization.The law also ensures that foreign or religious legal codes cannot override the U.S. or Florida Constitutions in state courts.CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, condemned the move and said it would continue challenging the state’s actions, following the governor’s announcement on Wednesday, saying the organization does not engage in “terrorist activity” and has not been charged or convicted of a crime. CAIR and CAIR-Florida have also previously sued over DeSantis’ December executive order targeting CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.”Throughout CAIR’s long history, our civil rights organization has worked to protect the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech, religious freedom and equality under the law,” the group said in a statement. “We have also pursued justice for all people, including American Muslims impacted by hate. This is exactly why Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly targeted our organization. We see through Gov. DeSantis’ latest biased attempt to punish us for our views and our values. We look forward to fighting these baseless attacks in court and proving once again that the Constitution is stronger than any politician’s bigotry.”FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYSCritics, including CAIR and civil liberties groups, argue the designations are politically motivated and threaten First Amendment-protected speech and association. DeSantis and state officials have argued the law is aimed at preventing taxpayer support for groups they say promote or support terrorism.CAIR and civil liberties groups said they would challenge the designation as baseless and unconstitutional.”Florida’s imminent designation of our clients is both dire and unmoored from reality. CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s speech and advocacy are protected by the First Amendment, which includes their right to criticize the governor, other officials, and their policies. We’re asking the court to protect our clients’ cardinal freedoms,” Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.The designations, if approved by the Cabinet, would operate under Florida law and would not be the same as a federal foreign terrorist organization designation, which is made by the U.S. State Department.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday rejected California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claims that the Justice Department is politically targeting him, saying the governor’s assertions are not “grounded in fact.”Blanche responded to comments made by Newsom, who said last month that the Justice Department is investigating him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, under orders from President Donald Trump.While Blanche declined to comment on any ongoing investigations, he dismissed the governor’s claims.GAVIN NEWSOM CLAIMS TRUMP ORDERED DOJ PROBE TARGETING HIM AND HIS WIFE”The only thing I’ll say about what he chose to do and what he chose to say is, I’m not sure his words are in any way grounded in fact,” Blanche said during a news conference.”He’d have to address that,” Blanche added.Newsom claimed June 15 that Trump had directed the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife in an effort to undermine a potential White House campaign.The California governor has described the investigation as a politically motivated “fishing expedition” by Trump’s DOJ, saying he and his wife have “nothing to hide.” Newsom has also argued the inquiry is aimed at him because he is considering a presidential run, saying, “To get me, he’s coming after my wife.”WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEWSOM-LINKED CHARITIES REPORTEDLY CAUGHT IN DOJ’S SIGHTS”Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean Tweets. He’s coming after me because I am considering running for President,” Newsom said. “Because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out – over and over again – for his lies and deceit. Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt President in American history.”Blanche also rejected Newsom’s broader characterization of the situation.”He can choose to say whatever he thinks helps him,” Blanche said. “It doesn’t make it true.”NEWSOM UNDER FIRE AS CALIFORNIA GAS TAX HIKE SENDS PUMP PRICES EVEN HIGHERSources previously told Fox News the investigation has been ongoing since 2025 and is based on whistleblower complaints related to Newsom and his wife’s personal finances. The matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.Federal sources confirmed to Fox News there are investigations involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, but Fox News has not learned of any federal investigation directly targeting Gov. Newsom himself.The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed any investigation involving Newsom or his wife.Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a documentary filmmaker who runs The Representation Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance feminism through media production. Fox News Digital previously reported the charity has faced “pay-for-play” allegations, with critics claiming corporations with business interests in California donated to the organization in an effort to gain influence with Newsom.”There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way. This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in a previous statement to Fox News.Following Blanche’s remarks Wednesday, the governor’s office posted a meme on social media with the caption, “Why you always lyin.”The governor’s press office also wrote, “Trump goons know that it’s not a crime to lie to a reporter.”Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for additional comment.Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

A large Russian attack struck Kyiv overnight and into Thursday morning, killing at least 13 people and wounding many others, officials said.

Russia Buying Gasoline From India To Tackle Shortages

Russia, whose refining capacity has come under significant strain in recent months, has started seaborne imports of gasoline from India (the same country it exports millions of barrels of oil to), Reuters reported citing industry ​sources, in an effort to mitigate fuel shortages triggered by ‌Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Fuel shortages are being felt across Russia’s 11 time zones with rationing, long queues at filling stations and a record gasoline price increase, as a result of relentless Ukraine strikes on the country’s refineries. 

On Tuesday, the Kremlin said that Russia was in contact with ​other countries and discussing imports of fuel at acceptable prices.

An industry source said ⁠at least 60,000 metric tons of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia. Another ​source said that two tankers, with parcels of 30,000 to 40,000 tons each, have been sent. A third ​source said that in total, Russia plans to import 400,000 tons of gasoline from various countries each month, including from neighboring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia.

Gasoline consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 ​tons per day in summer, when demand for fuel is high.

It was not immediately clear which ​Indian refiner will be supplying gasoline to Russia.

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Sunday at a meeting with government ministers and other ‌officials ⁠that Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries had triggered fuel shortages in some regions, but said that Russia was dealing with them. 

Elsewhere, Belarus almost tripled gasoline rail supplies to Russia to more than 70,000 tons in the first half of June versus the first half of May, according to Reuters ​calculations and sources.

Russia’s parliament approved amendments ​to its tax ⁠code last week aimed at tackling the fuel shortages due to Ukrainian drone attacks, while also offering subsidies on fuel imports, pegged to Indian ​delivery costs and prices.

If Russia is the world’s gas station, then India is rapidly emerging as the world’s refiner: in what is emerging as a giant processing round trip, India’s crude oil imports from Russia surged to a record ​high in ⁠June, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed, as refiners snapped up Russian barrels to mitigate the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure on other sources of supply.

Russian oil accounted for more ⁠than half ​of India’s overall imports in June, up from 36.5% ​in May, the Kpler data showed.

And now India is selling back the refined product back to Russia. 

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, received about 2.70 million barrels per day of oil ​from Russia in June, preliminary data from Kpler and LSEG showed.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 – 02:45

A Mexican national was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison after admitting to participating in a human smuggling operation that prosecutors say used THC-laced candy to sedate children as young as 5 before bringing them across the U.S.-Mexico border.Federal prosecutors said one child suffered THC poisoning and was hospitalized after being given the drug-laced candy during one of the smuggling operations.Manuel Valenzuela, 35, pleaded guilty last November to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, three counts of bringing aliens into the United States for financial gain and one count of aiding and abetting.WATCH: TRUMP DHS ESCALATES PRESSURE OVER MIGRANT CHILD WARNINGS IT SAYS BIDEN IGNORED: ‘MOVE HEAVEN AND HELL’Valenzuela was one of four people charged last year in the alleged smuggling scheme. Prosecutors accused the group of transporting unaccompanied children between the ages of 5 and 13 from Juárez, Mexico, into the United States.According to court documents, the smugglers presented U.S. identification documents to border officers while falsely claiming the children were their own parents.Prosecutors said the children were then transported to El Paso after crossing the border.TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NAMES ROSARIO ‘PETE’ VASQUEZ TO SERVE AS NEXT US BORDER PATROL CHIEFAssistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division condemned the scheme, saying, “Needing to sedate children with THC under the guise of giving them candy shows just how heinous crimes like this are.””Smuggling unaccompanied children into the country, pretending to be their parents, and then lying to U.S. immigration officials shows the lengths to which criminals like this will go to smuggle children across our borders,” Duva continued. “The Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners will put an end to this conduct. Protecting children and keeping our borders safe go hand-in-hand.”Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan McRae of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso said using children in smuggling operations shows a “total disregard for human life and safety.”DHS HAS ONLY 7 CHILD EXPLOITATION ANALYSTS, HAWLEY MEASURE WOULD FUND 200 INVESTIGATORS”Using THC-infused candy to facilitate the smuggling of children across the border into the United States is reprehensible and cruel and puts vulnerable minors at serious risk,” McRae said. “HSI will relentlessly pursue transnational criminal organizations responsible for these heinous tactics and bring them to justice.”According to the criminal complaint, the smuggling events took place between May 1 and Oct. 18, 2024.Prosecutors said proof-of-life photographs of some of the children were recovered from the suspects’ cellphones.Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.

Volkswagen is poised for a boardroom showdown following reports that the auto giant is weighing up shutting four factories and implementing 100,000 job cuts.

Alastair Crooke: Russia Hearing The European Clamor For War, Announces It’s Ready

Authored by Alastair Crooke

The de-escalation framework that unfolded in the US-Iran Lucerne talks largely stayed true to the original Iranian 10-point plan. Meanwhile, President Trump and Vice-President Vance deliberately muddy the waters, claiming that Iran has already agreed to IAEA inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities (a claim repeatedly denied by Iran): Vance announced that the IAEA could have begun inspections this week. No – – the “Framework” only refers to the possible IAEA supervision of the dilution to the 60% enriched stockpile subject to a final agreement with the US having been reached.

Trump, writing on social media, later falsely asserted: “Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future.” In fact, the IAEA are only inspecting the joint Iran-Russia power station in Bushier at Russia’s request, because Russia wants to ensure compliance on its involvement. In other words, it is a Russian request to satisfy its own IAEA compliance commitment.

Trump then warned Iran that he may have to “finish the job [militarily]” — (if he doesn’t get a very good deal) — which, he says, would take “ about a week,” and adds that Iran will be required to use any unfrozen Iranian funds to be held in ESCROW accounts (accounts controlled by the US) to buy “corn and soybeans for their people, because right now their people are very hungry — and they’re buying exclusively from us.”

So, it’s pretty clear what’s ahead — Trump is reverting to his New York real-estate mode of negotiations. In the Art of the Deal, his 1987 book, ghost written by Tony Schwartz, the text advises the use of “extreme and unpredictable demands to create anxiety and force concessions from rivals.”

Thus, we are back to the General Kellogg playbook — Kellogg advised Trump that the only thing that works with Putin or the Iranians is pressure — and then still more pressure.

Familiar Trumpian tactics. Show a little initial flexibility to tease out adversaries in order to pull them into negotiations; subsequent false claims of Iranian concessions and extreme demands are then used to increase pressure on Iran (whilst Trump appears tough to the angry neocon constituency and to his “base” back home).

This style of pressure may work for New York real-estate deals, but will be ineffective with both Iran and Russia.

Such threats will be counterproductive with Iran, and place the US on a collision course. “The Islamabad understanding was not the result of pressure and coercion, but rather the result of the resistance and authority of the Iranian nation,” Mr Qalibaf, the chief Iranian negotiator, retorted.

In practical terms, as Will Schryver, a shrewd observer of the US military, notes, Iran has pressure points “more numerous and capable than the US can bring to bear on the battlefield” —

“In my view, [Schryver says], a powerful US military presence in the Persian Gulf region has become utterly untenable. They’re just trying to save face now. I do not believe, [he concludes] the US military can mount even a 72-hour high-intensity operation at this point in time.”

“But I think they’ll try. Probably just Trump bluff, but it would not surprise me if they try to play one last card to gain the upper hand.” (Maybe after the midterms, and with the US having rebuilt somewhat its munitions shortfall).

To which Iran likely will respond by closing the Strait of Hormuz again, and attacking, pari passu, regional (Gulf) infrastructure. Trump will be gaming the economy who first plays “Chicken.” A further military venture likely will only further erode American military standing.

Quite possibly, however, Trump may be prepared to cut his losses in Iran — the war anyway is a liability to his Midterm electoral calculus — by circling back to Ukraine and Russia. The Kiev Independent released a report yesterday, quoting a “senior Ukrainian official saying that Trump had privately given Zelensky the greenlight to act ‘more boldly’ against Russia.”

Here we go again, roundabout time — “Trump says he doesn’t really believe Putin will do anything without pressure,” the Ukrainian official added.

Simplicius speculates:

Trump has clearly been frustrated by his inability to settle any of the conflicts he had promised easily. And recently, on the heels of the Iranian memorandum saga, he even admitted that he would now be “turning his attention” back to Ukraine.
As such, it’s plausible that Trump would have given secret encouragement to the Europeans to ‘shape the battlefield’ in order to ‘soften’ Russia up ahead of whatever next Trump might have planned.

If this is true (and it probably is), the Europeans are playing with matches and risk lighting a conflagration. The E3 leaders, Starmer, Merz and Macron, met on 7 June with Zelensky to promise both unwavering support and — in the context of pledging further pressure on Russia —

…underlining the urgent need to scale up the production of interceptors; deep strike capabilities and anti-ballistic missile co-development — and further to support the future sustainability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In short, the Europeans intend to ratchet up deep strikes into Moscow and St Petersburg, which will likely kill and unsettle their inhabitants.

The E3 carefully planned how to stage-manage the upcoming G7 summit, the EU summit, with Zelensky showcased at both events, promising to increase the pressure on “President Putin to agree to an immediate and complete ceasefire, taking the current contact line for its start-point.” European leaders also pledged to co-ordinate ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara (7-8 July) to achieve increased pledges of military support for Ukraine.

The E3 states are explicitly gearing up with new missiles to strike deeper, and more destructively, into Russia. The British government, for example, has announced that —

…the UK project to develop low-cost advanced long-range strike weapons for Ukraine has reached a significant milestone, with three British-designed systems successfully flight tested. The ground-launched strike weapons reportedly are capable of hitting targets more than 500km distant, at a speed of 600 km/h – whilst carrying a 225 kg warhead.

According to the Financial Times, Trump was “hugely impressed and enthusiastic” with Ukraine’s recent campaign of long-range strikes on targets deep inside Russia at last week’s G7 summit. At the summit, Trump also agreed to increase sanctions on Russian energy.

It is clear that the E3 had been plotting a major psy-op to convince Trump that Ukraine was not on the back-foot against Russia (as Trump may have been briefed); but rather had regained the front foot, and that the US should support the European agenda to force a Russian capitulation agenda (ceasefire, borders unchanged, reparations paid by Russia and war-crimes trials for Russian officials indicted with crimes, etc).

BREAKING AND UNUSUAL
It appears STRATEGIC matters will be discussed, as six red folders were seen during Putin’s meeting with members of the Security Council. pic.twitter.com/UFqMhzQFmw
— RussiaNews 🇷🇺 (@mog_russEN) July 1, 2026
These developments have brought two major developments out of Russia…

Firstly, senior Kremlin aides, notably Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s spokesman, have been saying over the past three days the “spirt” of the Anchorage summit, and its concomitant understandings, “have effectively collapsed” — “The US abandoned them.” Moscow no longer expects those commitments to be honoured and is focused solely on securing its own “victory” through military means.

Foreign Minister Lavrov went further, describing the Alaska meeting as an American “ploy” designed to buy time for Ukraine to rebuild and rearm its military — essentially likening them to the Minsk Accords that similarly were mounted as a deceit.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said:

We also see Washington’s line moving closer to the most rabid anti-Russian policies pursued by the US’s closest European allies – namely, the UK and France.

This represents a huge strategic shift. Russia no longer seeks a relationship with Washington, though contact with DC will continue.

The second development stems from President Putin’s address at the St George’s Hall to military cadets on June 23. Putin, in summary, told the young officers that the West manufactures a Russia threat, then accuses Russia of creating that very threat. This, said Putin, is a historically repeated pattern going back to 1941.

Putin implied that a threshold had now been crossed: He stated that whilst, until recently, NATO countries had limited themselves to supporting the Kiev regime to wage war on Russia, the West today is openly talking about preparing for a war against Russia, and is building up their military offensive budgets. German Chancellor Mertz has been quite vocal in this regard, Putin said.

Russia’s response, he said, is focused on modernizing its nuclear triad and its Army, and strengthening the combat capability of the Aerospace Forces and the Navy. The explicit mention of the nuclear triad in direct proximity to the discussion of Western preparation for war against Russia was certainly a pointed message to Trump and the Europeans.

Russia has heard the European clamor for war. It has now made the strategic decision in response to prepare for war in Europe.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 07/02/2026 – 02:00

The Russian defence ministry said that it launched a “massive strike using long-range precision air, land, and sea-based weapons and attack drones.”