109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

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Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent wildfire blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

Visas will be shortened to 240 days, down from five years, and Chinese journalists will be limited to 90 days

The Trump administration has said it will drastically shorten visas for foreign journalists in the US to 240 days, down from five years, and cut those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.

The rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will do away with the “duration of status” system, which allows foreign journalists to stay and work in the United States as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

Up to 16in of rain fell in some areas as forecasters warn another foot could fall, prompting rescues and road closures

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Heavy rains in south Texas have washed out highways and stranded motorists, with forecasters warning that more severe weather could bring dangerous flooding to already drenched counties near the border with Mexico.

On Tuesday, storms dumped up to 16in of rain in some rural areas of the state, leading to the dispatch of emergency crews to make at least two dozen rescues across the region. Officials shut down parts of a highway near Uvalde, 80 miles west of San Antonio.

British Columbia pilot was only person aboard helicopter that crashed during aerial firefighting

The pilot who died when his helicopter crashed while fighting a Colorado wildfire has been named as Nicholas Dale of Sooke, British Columbia.

Dale, 56, died when his helicopter crashed into the Silver Jack reservoir on Monday while fighting what authorities have named the Gold Mountain fire, the local Gunnison county sheriff’s office said. His body was later recovered from the submerged helicopter by divers.

Skeleton judged to be one of the largest and most complete ever unearthed was excavated on a ranch in South Dakota

A vast, fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed Gus sold at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday for $50.1m with fees (£37.4m) to a phone bidder – making it the most valuable dinosaur fossil sold at auction.

It also sold well above a pre-sale estimate of $20m to $30m (£15m to £22.4m).

Rapper paid JM Burkman & Associates $600,000 to push for president’s pardon but firm says no partial refund promised

Louisiana rapper Boosie Badazz is reportedly looking to claw back $300,000 from a firm of Washington DC lobbyists after they failed to secure a Donald Trump pardon that he hired them to pursue over his conviction on charges of possessing a loaded weapon at music video shooting in 2023.

Boosie – whose legal name is Torence Hatch and who hails from his home state’s capital of Baton Rouge – paid JM Burkman & Associates $600,000 in 2025 to advance his push for a pardon from the US president, according to a report on Monday from Notus, which covers the federal government.

Man reportedly seriously injured by the bison, described as ‘agitated’ and ‘charging anything’ by photographer

An enraged, 2,000lb (900kg) bull bison hooked a tourist and tossed him 8ft into the air at a campsite in Wyoming’s Yellowstone national park on Friday – an encounter captured by a professional photographer who said the animal was “agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything”.

The tourist was reported to be seriously injured by the male bison while walking with his grandson through the Bridge Bay campground, south of Fishing Bridge.

Trump says US senator was ‘a true American patriot’ while Zelenskyy says he’s ‘deeply saddened’ by his death

• Graham’s death triggers a scramble to replace him – what happens next?

• Lindsey Graham dies after sudden illness aged 71

Washington woke up to the unexpected death of Republican senator Lindsey Graham, 71, who changed the course of modern history with his hawkish Iran platform and key role in establishing the stridently conservative US supreme court.

Donald Trump was one of the first to pay tribute to the controversial South Carolina lawmaker, a close ally despite past differences, in a social media post. “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!”

Trump later told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that one of Graham’s legacies as a legislator was helping to confirm US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

‘Haiti is a failed state’, says Carlos Giménez, congressman and Miami Cuban exile, after controversial court ruling

Carlos Giménez, a Republican congressman from Florida, broke with the Trump administration on Sunday, calling on the White House to reconsider its push to eliminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitian migrants.

Returning about 350,000 Haitians to their chaotic, dangerous homeland following the US supreme court’s ruling that the Trump administration can cut off temporary legal protections, would be a grave error, Giménez said.

Agency says drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities in restricted airspace since tournament began

More than 600 drones flying over restricted World Cup airspace in the US have been seized since the tournament began in June, the FBI said on Saturday – including 99 captured flying in Miami, 77 in Atlanta and 32 in Kansas City.

In a statement on X, the law enforcement agency said that drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities by FBI and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Incident took place late in the evening on Independence Day, reports say, with woman said to be in critical condition

At ⁠least eight people, including four children, were shot and wounded on Saturday during the Fourth of July holiday in New York City’s Coney Island section, according to police.

The shooting happened ​at about 10.35pm on the Brooklyn neighborhood’s West 30th Street – not far from a boardwalk where a fireworks display had been set less than an hour earlier.

Mt Olive Pickle Company says it was unaware image of flag was included in exhibit, and cites value of ‘human dignity’

A leading vendor of the US delicacy that is the pickle has withdrawn from the Great American State Fair in Washington DC after North Carolina’s booth displayed a video containing a Confederate flag.

The Mt Olive Pickle Company, which is located in eastern North Carolina and bills itself as the “#1 bestselling brand of pickles, peppers and relishes in the US”, told local news station WNCT it had been unaware that an image of the flag would be included in a video as part of the state’s exhibit.