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To all of our American viewers, we at TWN hope you had a wonderful American Independence Day. To our viewers outside of the U.S, we recommend this article as a quick read to inform you about the holiday. Here's the news for today. To start off, we have some saddening news. On July 2, a wildfire formed in Skamania County, Washington State and has burned a total of 500 acres. At least 10 structures have been destroyed. To add on to the list of things going wrong, the heat waves going on in the country are fueling the flames. Also, the fire is raging in the Columbia River Gorge, a deep canyon going up to 4,000 feet deep in some areas. All this is hindering the progress of the firefighters who are trying to stop the fire. This is just another sign of the heat that keeps on plaguing the globe as temperatures rise across the world. In fact, Monday, July 3rd, holds the latest record for the hottest day ever recorded globally, with the average global temperature reaching 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit). August 2016 originally held the record of 16.92ºC (62.46ºF). On another sad note, there is more news regarding the killing of the teen in France. Two fundraisers have been set up. One for the teen's family, and one for the family of the policeman who killed the teen. The teen's family's fundraiser raised €380,000 ($414,000), while the policeman's family's fundraiser raised €1.5 million ($1.6 million). Why? Well, the second fundraiser was created by French media personality and former politician Jean Messiha. According to CNN reporter Christian Edwards, "[many] French lawmakers have criticzed the fundraiser and questioned the motives of the organizers." Also, just before midnight on Monday, 11 people were shot in the neighborhood of Como, in Fort Worth, Texas. Three were declared dead and the other eight were wounded. There was no indication of who did the shooting.

First Monday of the month completed! Now let's move into the news. Today, the last of the surviving D-Day commando ranks, Frenchman Leon Gautier died at age 100. He had participated in the liberation invasion at the age of 21. Also, today was day 3, stage 3 of Tour de France, the world's largest cycling event. Yesterday's stage winner was French racer Victor Lafay on the 130-mi (209-km) track from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastian, Spain. Today's stage winner was Belgian racer Jasper Phillipsen on the 115-mi (185-km) track from Amorebieta-Etxano, Spain to Bayonne, France. Finally, the Vietnamese government has banned the upcoming movie Barbie from airing in this southeast-Asian country for a very unique reason. Apparently, in one of Barbie's scenes, there is a map which says all of the South China Sea is under Chinese control, while in real life, all the countries surrounding the water body also have a claim on it, including Vietnam. By Mihir Gupta For more information on Tour de France, go to its official website.

We finished the first day of July! Woohoo! Now let's go into what happened today. First, some sad news. 18-year-old Dutch F1 race car driver Dilano van't Hoff died when racing in Stavelot, Belgium. The details of his death have not been revealed yet, but we will keep you posted. Second, some even more bad news. Last Tuesday, policemen in France stopped a black 18-year-old named Nahel Marzouk. They were telling him something when a policeman shot Nahel in the head. Footage of this shooting was recorded and shared throughout France. This wasn't the first time it had happened. 14 other people have been killed like this in the past two years. Riots started popping up all throughout the country, and they are still continuing today. Third, some better, sporty news. The annual bike race called Tour de France started today. This 23-day race is split up into 21 stages, and the first one happened today. It took place on a 113-mile (182-km) path in Bilbao, Spain. The stage winner was British racer Adam Yates, followed by his twin brother, Simon. Finally, some really cool news. The Dutch king, Willam-Alexander, formally apologized for the Netherlands' involvement in slavery. He also said this on a important date, for July 1st is known as Keti Koti, and is celebrated to remember the abolition of slavery in the Netherlands and all of its colonies.

It's the last day of June, and here's the news for today! There were many protests in France today with 6000 people attending, after a 17 year-old was shot near Paris on Tuesday. A third night of protests lead to over 400 arrests in the country, and the president has urged citizens to let the justice system handle the situation. Also, the US is experiencing some very hot and dry conditions, with dangerous heat waves in west and south of the country. Central and Northern California has been warned as temperatures are rising to 110°F on Saturday. There are high concerns about wildfires in the area as well. Texas has experienced around thirteen deaths due to the intense heat. Finally, read our monthly newsletter here, with a HUGE announcement: https://shoutout.wix.com/so/41OZmTI_8?languageTag=en

We have some crazy news for South Koreans: you are officially a year or two younger! Overnight, all South Koreans became younger as the country got rid of its traditional way of counting age. Around the world, all babies start at the age zero when they are born, and turn one year older on their birthday. In South Korea, there were two other ways of counting age. One was the 'Korean age,' in which you started at one-year-old when you were born and turned one year older each year on January 1. There was also the 'calendar age,' in which your age started at zero when you were born, but you turned one year older on January 1. Because of these different ways of counting age, it was often not accurate, and this caused a lot of confusion as to people's ages in the East Asian country. However, they have just changed that, and as of Wednesday, June 28, South Korea has officially adopted the 'international age' system, making every South Korean one or two years younger. On another note, air quality is still plummeting in the United States as the Canadian wildfires intensify once again. Cities across the Midwest and Northern US continue to have some of the worst air quality in the world, including the major cities of Chicago, Detroit, and Washington DC. The wildfires are still spreading in Canada, with no sign of stopping. Dry, arid conditions persist as firefighters from both Canada and the US heroically battle the flames, but the weather is not helping. Smoke is suffocating the entire area, and sone study suggests that it may have even reached Europe by now.

Almost 45 million people are now being scorched by a massive heat wave that is burning the southern United States, in what meteorologists are calling a 'heat dome.' Heat domes are large areas of high pressure which create hot, dry, arid conditions with low humidity and few clouds. They sit over a certain area for weeks at a time, blazing the area they are above. It is called a 'dome' because the heat gets trapped in that area, building the temperatures up to highly dangerous levels. Right now, this heat dome is mainly affecting Texas and the states around it, with temperatures in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio reaching temperatures of 102ºF (39ºC) this week, El Paso reaching 106ºF (41ºC), and Laredo hitting 110ºF (43ºC). Meanwhile, slightly west, Phoenix, Arizona is expected to reach 113ºF (45ºC) this week, and Death Valley, California expected to hit 120ºF (49ºC) on the same day. Because of the extreme heat, officials say that over two-thirds of the US could go through a power outage this summer. On another note, the Canadian wildfires have picked up again, with the smoke spreading across North America again on Tuesday. Air quality in Midwestern cities like Chicago and Minneapolis were among the worst in the world, surpassing cities notorious for pollution (such as New Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan)- Chicago even ranked number one in the world for worst air quality. Some Chicago residents reported that it was almost like a foggy haze that 'smelled like a campfire,' and similar reports were heard across the Midwest. However, the Canadian wildfires show no sign of stopping, as the dry, hot weather continues in the provinces. Thousands of firefighters from both the US and Canada are fighting the intense flames, but they are becoming worse and worse. One study said that the smoke may have even reached Europe by now.

Many people now believe that Russia is in some trouble, as Putin now appears weak (from some people's perspectives) after the recent uprisings in the country. The Wagner Paramilitary Group, who are also known as Putin's private army, rose up against him over the weekend in what they called a 'march for justice.' The leader of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of launching attacks on his own group and hiding the bodies of the over 2,000 people that were killed. He led the remainder of his troops onward to Russia's capital of Moscow, but stopped in the city of Rostov. He sent a message to Putin - send the chief of the general staff and Shoigu, or the Wagner group will blockade Rostov and head to Moscow. Putin refused and addressed Russia in a speech, where he talked about how Prigozhin's revolt was a huge stab in the back to him, as they used to be good friends. When Prigozhin and his army of over 5,000 men approached the outskirts of Moscow, the Belarusian president called in and spoke to the leader of the Wagner group. He said that all charges would be dropped against them and they could avoid bloodshed if the Wagner group backed off. The group listened and retreated, and they moved to positions in Belarus. However, many people think that this could be a sign of Putin's weakness, as he needed the Belarusian president to step in to stop a civil war. On another note, recently, after extreme heat plagued northern India, they are now receiving the opposite. The states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are now suffering as a severe monsoon floods the region, washing away cars, boats, and even entire houses. People believed that the rains could finally bring some good, after the dry, arid weather from the past few weeks, but the monsoon has brought more hardship than relief. Four people are already dead, and damage costs are racking up- one estimate puts the costs at over $100,000 USD (Rs 78-lakh) already!

Today's only big news is all about weather. Let's dive in. Extreme heat continues to plague multiple countries around the world, especially the United States and China. Phoenix, Arizona (USA) has hit scorching temperatures very early this season, with temps in the desert city hitting highs of over 110ºF (43ºC), and lows reaching at least 80ºF (27ºC). When you move slightly west, you come to Texas, where temperatures in cities like Dallas and Houston hitting highs of over 102ºF (39ºC) and southern towns like Laredo reaching highs of over 110ºF (43ºC). Over 10,000 people are out of power, but no end is in sight to the deadly heat wave. Meanwhile, in China, cities like Beijing and Tianjin are sweltering in record-breaking heat, with both of the two hitting highs of 106ºF (41ºC) and 105ºF (40ºC), respectively. On the other hand, the Southeast and Midwestern United States are suffering as severe thunderstorms dump rain and bring strong winds through the areas. Over 705,000 people are out of power in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, the latter having almost 200,000 outages alone. Multiple tornadoes also swept through the states, with a powerful EF3 tornado devastating Indiana's Johnson County. Wind gusts of over 60 mph were also reported in other states, with hail of up to an inch doing damage as well.

Today's only news is that a verdict has finally arrived on the missing Titanic touring submersible, and it is not good. A submarine discovered debris early Thursday in two sections on the ocean floor, near to the Titanic. The debris fields included the OceanGate sub's tailfin, amongst other pieces, which suggests a catastrophic implosion. Some statistics show that the implosion may have been caused due to the building, and that the sub was only able to withstand pressures of 1300 meters, while the sub actually went down to 4000 meters. OceanGate has declared that they send their hearts out to all of the loved ones and family members of the people onboard, but they have not released any comments on the cause of the implosion. The bodies are unlikely to be found, given the high pressures at that depth, but vessels are still searching for them in the area.

June 21 was the summer solstice (for the northern hemisphere, winter solstice for the southern hemisphere), the longest day of the year (shortest for southern hemisphere), and it also marks the official start to summer (or winter, for the southern hemisphere)! However, many areas across the northern hemisphere are already experiencing severe summer heat, with areas like Texas, United States getting into highs of over 104ºF (40ºC). The town of Laredo, in southern Texas, even hit a high of 115ºF (46ºC)! Also, cities like New Delhi, India are hitting highs of over 100ºF (38ºC), but it feels much hotter there due to the humidity and thick haze. Hundreds of people have already died across the northern hemisphere due to extreme heat this summer, so stay inside if temperatures are too hot. Now, let's get into today's news. People are losing hope in the search for the Titanic touring submersible owned by OceanGate that went missing three days ago in the Atlantic only 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive, carrying five passengers. The sub's air will only last for today, so if it is not found, all hope is lost. However, a Canadian aircraft reported hearing banging sounds, but all searches by the US Coast Guard in the area have been negative. Then, the next day, banging sounds were heard again, so rescue efforts are ramping up in that area of the Atlantic. The OceanGate touring submersible named Titan was carrying five people: British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, a 77-year-old French diver and Titanic expert named Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, a Pakistani businessman named Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman.