News Wrap: Inflation falls to lowest level since early 2021

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: Inflation in June cooled to its lowest level since early 2021, helped by easing prices on gas, groceries and airline tickets. The Labor Department reports consumer prices rose 3 percent from a year earlier. That was down from a 4 percent rate in May, but still above of the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target.

Inflation at the retail level peaked in June of last year at an annual rate of 9 percent.

The flooding that ravaged Vermont this week was receding today. In Montpelier, the capital, cleanup crews plowed through sludge as cars struggled to maneuver on streets slick with mud. At a briefing, FEMA Chief Deanne Criswell said it's evidence that climate change is at work and getting worse.

Deanne Criswell, FEMA Administrator:

I have seen an increase in records being broken records, right, records that have stood for decades or even a century. And it's happening over and over again.

We have to start to think about what is this going to look like in 10 years from now, so we can understand what those risks are going to be, because I think what we're facing today is not what we faced 10 years ago.

Geoff Bennett:

Meantime, the National Weather Service issued a new round of heat alerts to more than 108 million Americans today. Forecasts called for the Southwest to break temperature records again.

The European Union's Parliament has approved a major climate change bill. It would impose the world's most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets, including restoring at least a fifth of Europe's nature areas. Today's razor-thin vote highlighted — highlighted divisions over the plan, with conservatives warning it'll harm farmers and fuel inflation.

Microsoft reports a Chinese-based hacking group has breached e-mail accounts linked to government agencies in the U.S. and Western Europe. The company says the intrusions went undetected for a month. The State Department says it cannot confirm China was involved, but has no reason to doubt Microsoft's claim. Beijing dismissed the accusations as disinformation.

North Korea is drawing fresh condemnation after firing its first intercontinental ballistic missile in three months. It blasted off near Pyongyang today and flew for 74 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan. That's the longest flight time yet for a North Korean test.

South Korea's president reacted in Lithuania, where he and the Japanese prime minister attended the NATO summit.

Yoon Suk-Yeol, South Korean President (through translator):

North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile again. This is a threat to peace and stability in the region and the world. It is also a provocation and an obvious violation of U.N. resolutions.

Geoff Bennett:

The North Koreans had accused the U.S. of sending spy planes into their airspace in recent days and had threatened retaliation.

Back in this country, Hollywood actors could join striking screenwriters in walking out, as a deadline looms at midnight Pacific time. The SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed to let federal mediators intervene in a final effort to reach an agreement. But they said they're not hopeful. They're demanding better pay and safeguards around studios' usage of artificial intelligence.

On Wall Street, the inflation numbers helped stocks gain a bit more ground. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to 86 points to close at 34347. The Nasdaq rose 158 points and the S&P 500 added 33 points.

And a passing of note. The Czech-born novelist Milan Kundera has died in Paris, where he lived for decades. His work explored humanity and depicted the struggles of living under totalitarian rule. His best-known work, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," was centered in Czechoslovakia after Soviet tanks crushed a pro-democracy movement in 1968. Milan Kundera was 94 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Iowa Republicans pass one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans; a podcast looks at the ongoing.