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A California wildfire, Apple's historic contract, and Israel fights Hezbollah

 
Today's weather story

Firefighters battle enormous California wildfire

What happened
A wildfire in Northern California expanded Sunday to cover an area larger than the city of Los Angeles as firefighters battled the blaze. The inferno, dubbed the Park Fire, is the largest in California so far this year and has currently burned more than 353,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire is one of several blazes currently in the Western U.S. and Canada. 

Who said what
The fire has "so far destroyed 134 structures as it marched northward from Chico and spread from Butte to Tehama County," said NBC News. Following four days without any containment, firefighters "had the blaze 12% contained Sunday." The firefighters are "doing what they can" to fight the inferno, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said on X. The governor further described it as "one of the largest wildfires in California history," noting that there were "aerial assets above" putting "all hands on deck" to extinguish the flames.

What next?
About 2,500 firefighters and 16 helicopters are continuing to fight the wildfire. Some experts believe that "cooler temperatures and an increase in humidity could help slow the Park Fire," said The Associated Press. However, this "doesn't mean that fires that are existing will go away," Marc Chenard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, told the AP.

 
 
Today's Business story

Apple in first union contract with retail employees

What happened
Tech conglomerate Apple reached a collective bargaining deal Saturday with unionized employees at its Towson, Maryland, store (pictured above). This marks the first labor agreement not just for an Apple retail store, but for any American employees of the company. The Towson employees joined the International Association of Machinists union in 2022 and have been working toward a union deal with Apple since then. 

Who said what
Apple is "one of many prominent workplaces where unions have scored landmark U.S. organizing victories since the start of the pandemic," said Bloomberg. However, most of these unions "have yet to reach collective bargaining agreements." Apple officials said in a statement that they were engaging with the union "respectfully and in good faith." 

What next?
The agreement remains subject to approval by the 85 unionized employees, who will vote on the deal Aug. 6. If ratified, the deal will ensure an average pay increase of 10%, along with several other labor benefits.

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

Fears of all-out war grow after Golan Heights strike

What happened
World leaders mounted a diplomatic effort to dissuade Israel from increasing its attacks on Lebanon amid fears that an all-out war would envelop the region in response to a rocket strike that killed 12 people, including children, in the occupied Golan Heights.

Who said what
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pledged a heavy response to the attack on the town of Majdal Shams. "Hezbollah is responsible for this and they will pay the price," he said.

Hezbollah "firmly denies" it was behind the strike that killed children playing on a soccer field, suggesting it may have been an Israeli interceptor missile that went astray.

As tensions rose French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France remained committed to doing "everything to avoid a new escalation in the region".

What next?
So far the skirmishes that have killed both civilians and soldiers in Lebanon and Israel have been "relatively contained," said the BBC. But now "the question is how far Israel will go in response to Saturday's tragedy."

Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN "a war against Lebanon is a regional war."

 
 

It's not all bad

A nine-year-old girl who helped her photographer dad shoot a wedding impressed everyone with her beautifully composed images. Jerome Cole said his daughter, Aisha, often asked if she could be his assistant at a wedding. When a client asked for two specific shots, Aisha was granted permission to take the photos, and they turned out "better than I was even expecting," Cole said to People. Aisha captured different angles and perspectives and "absolutely nailed" her photo of the first kiss.

 
 
Under the radar

Ukrainian Olympians go for gold in line of fire

Ukraine's Olympic team heads into the Paris Games with a "spirit of defiance and resilience," said The New York Times, hoping to win 15 to 20 medals. But this year's 140 athletes are also a poignant reminder of what the country's prestigious sporting world has lost. About 500 current and former high-level athletes and coaches have died in the war, according to Ukraine's sports ministry. 

Ukraine's sporting deaths "far exceed" the 155 competitors it sent to the Tokyo Games in 2020, said the Center for European Policy Analysis, and some of those killed might have qualified for this year's games, the first since Russia's invasion in 2022. The toll of the war and the "widespread destruction" of sports facilities "threaten to erode Ukraine's edge" in Paris and imperil the country's future as a "powerhouse of Olympic sport," said ABC News. 

Another challenge will be the prospect of crossing paths with athletes from Russia, whose participation in this year's games has been the subject of serious debate. Russians and Belarusians without a connection to the military are allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes. They will wear neutral uniforms and be carefully vetted to make sure they have not publicly supported the invasion. 

Some Ukrainian athletes are "armed with new motivation to fight, through sport, for the broader national cause." For competitor Anna Ryzhykova, her goal is "not just gold but also to rivet global attention on her country's fight for survival." "Our victories are to draw attention to Ukraine," said the hurdler. "You're not doing it for yourself anymore."

 
 
On this day

July 29, 1958

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The creation of NASA came after the Soviet Union launched the first-ever satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, causing the U.S. to expand its plans for the Space Race. The agency officially began operations in October 1958.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Israel has authorized a "retaliatory strike" in Lebanon, says The Wall Street Journal, despite an "American-led" push to "contain the fallout." Diplomats are struggling to "prevent all-out war" between Israel and Hezbollah after the "carnage" in the Golan Heights, says The Boston Globe. But there have been "threats from both Israel and Iran," says The New York Times. Meanwhile, the New York Post focuses on the "furor" over the Paris Olympics opening ceremony that featured "The Last Supper" with drag queens. Those "responsible for the debacle" are continuing to "defend the parody," it adds. Black women are "not all in" on Kamala Harris, says the Los Angeles Times, and their votes "can't be taken for granted" by the Democrats.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Seeds of doubt

Travelers arriving at Incheon Airport in South Korea are greeted with signs warning against entering with bottles of Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning. This popular mix contains sesame seeds, dried garlic and onion, salt, and poppy seeds, which South Korea designates as a narcotic. Everything but the Bagel was placed on the country's prohibited foods list in 2022, and customs officials have been "strengthening" a crackdown on "narcotic-related items," said an airport spokesperson to CNN.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Summer Meza, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber, and Adrienne Wyper, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images; Andrew Harnik / Getty Images; Jalaa Marey / AFP via Getty Images; Benjamin Cremel / AFP via Getty Images