News Wrap: Wildfire smoke brings more air quality alerts to U.S.

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: The Supreme Court also agreed to hear a major Second Amendment case in its next term on whether domestic abusers can own firearms.

Judges will consider the constitutionality of a 30-year-old law restricting gun ownership for people with domestic violence restraining orders. It comes after a ruling last year vastly expanded people's rights to arm themselves in public.

An unrelenting wave of haze and heat put more than half the country under outdoor advisories today. Poor air quality from hundreds of wildfires in Canada continue to disperse, shrouding major U.S. cities like New York in a yellowish tint.

Meantime, indexes remained dangerously high in parts of California and the Deep South. As July 4 nears, Houston's mayor urged Texans to take heat.

Sylvester Turner (D), Mayor of Houston, Texas: It's important that we all take the necessary precautions. Be mindful of not leaving anybody in your car, including pets. And then be mindful, when we come out to celebrate the Fourth of July celebrations, that we have come — that we come prepared.

Geoff Bennett:

The heat has been blamed for more than 14 deaths in the U.S. And Mexico's Health Ministry reported at least 100 deaths there over the past two weeks.

Riots erupted in Paris overnight for a third straight day over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old earlier this week. Demonstrators shot fireworks at police dressed in riot gear and set cars and bushes ablaze. About 1,000 protesters have been arrested.

During an emergency meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron blamed social media for fueling the violence.

Emmanuel Macron, French President (through translator):

We have started taking measures, in coordination with these platforms, to remove the most sensitive content. The authorities are working with these platforms to obtain an effective response. And I expect the platforms to act responsibly.

Geoff Bennett:

President Macron ordered the suspension of public transportation across the country tonight, but stopped short of declaring a state of emergency.

At least 48 people died in a road crash in Kenya today. A truck veered off the highway about 125 miles northwest of Nairobi. It struck several vehicles, before hitting pedestrians and traders at a market. It was one of Kenya's deadliest road accidents in recent years.

Prosecutors in Ukraine have brought their first charges against Russia for allegedly deporting young orphans. They accuse a Russian politician and two Ukrainians of war crimes for having forcibly removed dozens of orphans between the ages of 1 and 4 from the southern city of Kherson. Kyiv claims Moscow has illegally taken more than 19,000 Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-held territory.

Yulia Usenko, Ukrainian Department for the Protection of Children's Interests (through translator): We don't know how these children are, what condition they are kept or what their fate is. They may have been illegally adopted by Russian citizens or taken to Russian institutions.

Geoff Bennett:

The charges follow a wider investigation by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The U.S. flew nuclear-capable bombers to the Korean Peninsula today, in a message to the North as it tries to expand its nuclear arsenal. The B-52 planes were joined by South Korean fighter jets. The drills came after North Korean state TV broadcasts huge anti-American rallies over the weekend that vowed a war of revenge against the U.S.

FOX News will pay a former "Tucker Carlson Tonight" producer $12 million to settle her claims that the show had a cruel and misogynistic work environment. She had also accused the network of trying to coerce her into giving false testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the network. FOX News parted ways with Tucker Carlson back in April.

Wall Street closed out the first half of the year on a high note. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 285 points to close at 34407, the Nasdaq rose 196, and the S&P 500 added 54.

And actor Alan Arkin died Thursday at his home in Carlsbad, California. He started his career back in 1961 on Broadway and won a Tony Award two years later. Arkin went on to appear in more than 100 movies. In 2007, he earned an Oscar for his role as an uninhibited, yet supportive grandfather in "Little Miss Sunshine.:

Alan Arkin, Actor:

Where did you get the idea you were a loser?

Abigail Breslin, Actress:

Because daddy hates losers.

Alan Arkin:

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a minute. You know what a loser is? A real loser is somebody that's so afraid of not winning, they don't even try.

Now, you're trying, right?

Abigail Breslin:

Yes.

Alan Arkin:

Well, then you're not a loser.

Geoff Bennett:

Alan Arkin was 89 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Republican presidential candidates appear at a far right education event; colleges adapt their admissions programs in the wake of the affirmative action Supreme Court ruling; and David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines.