For years, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pushed ethnic minority groups like Tibetans and Uyghurs to adopt an identity rooted in Chinese nationality and allegiance to the ruling Communist Party. Now, that push has been codified into a sweeping new law that reaches into classrooms, neighborhoods and homes – and gives Beijing the right to target people outside of its borders that it believes violate its rules. The statute, officially known as the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, came into effect on July 1. It bans acts that “undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division” among China’s 56 officially recognized ethnicities, which include a Han Chinese majority that makes up over 90% of the country’s 1.4 billion people.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/01/china/china-ethnic-unity-law-intl-hnk
The planet’s oceans are at unprecedented temperatures for this time of year, breaking the all-time June record, according to new data, with alarming implications for global weather and marine life. On June 21, average global sea surface temperatures reached 69.5 degrees Fahrenheit (20.86 Celsius), edging above the June record last set in 2024, according to data from Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, which combines measurements from satellites, ships and buoys. The record was echoed in another data set. Data from the Copernicus Marine Service, implemented by the non-profit Mercator Ocean International, found sea temperatures hit 69.38 Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) on June 21, beating the previous record last set in 2024 by 0.18 degrees Fahrenheit.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/01/climate/global-oceans-break-june-temperature-record
President Donald Trump collected billions of dollars through an array of cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments and property investments last year, according to his latest annual financial disclosure released on Tuesday. The 2025 report, which totals 927 pages, provides the most extensive look so far at the growing fortune that the president has amassed since returning to office, including through his stakes in companies co-founded by family members. Trump netted more than $526 million from sales of cryptocurrency tokens tied to World Liberty Financial LLC — a firm managed in part by his sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. The president holds several other cryptocurrency investments totaling millions of dollars, according to the disclosures.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/30/politics/trump-cryptocurrency-millions-disclosures
Democratic socialists struck another blow against the Democratic establishment on Tuesday in Colorado, where CNN’s Decision Desk projects that 29-year-old Melat Kiros will defeat incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected before Kiros was born, in a primary. Kiros was the third progressive challenger to defeat a sitting House member in eight days, after two more won last week in New York. And, after successes in mayor’s races, congressional primaries and more on both coasts, Kiros’ win showed the expanding geographical reach of the left-wing insurgency seeking to remake the Democratic Party ahead of this year’s midterm elections — and as the 2028 presidential primary looms increasingly large.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/30/politics/what-to-watch-colorado-primaries
Two years ago, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent millions of dollars through its super PAC to defeat two vocal critics of Israel, Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York. “AIPAC, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down,” Bush vowed in her concession speech. Now AIPAC’s opponents believe that they are on the offensive – and a new group called American Priorities has a lot to do with it.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/01/politics/american-priorities-aipac-democratic-socialists