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
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/01/us/video/empire-state-building-banner-video-two-people
Two people who reached the top of the antenna on the Empire State Building in New York City on Wednesday afternoon are in custody, according to the New York Police Department. The individuals, who wore masks, appeared to get engaged. The couple unfurled a banner that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” according to video and images from the scene.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/01/us/empire-state-building-banner