GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The nonstop severe weather across the country has run the gamut today from heat to hail.

In the West, Phoenix faced a 21st straight day of readings above 110 degrees.

And in the Midwest, strong storms brought reports of hail the size of ping pong balls.

Meantime, Western Kentucky tried to recover from severe flooding this week.

And in Eastern North Carolina, a pharmaceutical plant lay in ruins after a tornado on Wednesday.

Cities across Southern Ukraine counted the casualties and damage today after a third straight night of heavy Russian bombardment.

The latest air raids again targeted Odesa and Mykolaiv, sending entire buildings up in flames.

Two people died and at least 19 were wounded, including a child.

The Chinese consulate in Odesa was among the damaged buildings.

In Iraq, protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, outraged that an Iraqi atheist in Stockholm threatened to burn a copy of the Koran for a second time.

Before dawn, demonstrators overran the embassy compound and started a fire while police stood by.

Signs in the crowd showed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who spoke later at a news conference.

MUQTADA AL-SADR, Iraqi Political Leader (through translator): I call on the countries of the world to enact a law that criminalizes the burning of the Koran and makes it a terrorist crime.

Just as the transgression of antisemitism in the LGBT community is considered a crime, so the burning of the Koran must also be considered a crime.

Otherwise, this would be a double standard.

GEOFF BENNETT: Iraq's government also expelled the Swedish ambassador.

In the end, the anti-Islamic protester in Stockholm kicked and stepped on the Koran, but did not set it on fire, as he had done last month.

Hackers linked to China may have broken into the official e-mail account of Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal and others report it's believed hundreds of thousands of unclassified U.S. government e-mails were accessed.

It's part of a broader cyber espionage scheme disclosed earlier this month.

Security has tightened in New Zealand for the soccer Women's World Cup after a gunman attacked construction workers in Auckland.

The shooter killed two people at a building site where he had worked.

He was found dead after a gun battle with police near hotels where soccer teams are staying.

Still, fans seemed undeterred.

JEMPSON VELEZ, Soccer Fan: I do think New Zealand is doing a good job with security.

There hasn't been any issues other than this morning, which is tragic and unfortunate.

But I do believe they were able to contain it, keep the crowd away, keep the situation under control and find alternate routes for the people to get to these games.

GEOFF BENNETT: The competition opened with New Zealand upsetting Norway 1-0 for its first ever win in Women's World Cup play.

Co-host Australia also won its opening match 1-0 over Ireland.

The U.S. starts play Friday night against Vietnam.

Back in this country, New York City will pay more than $13 million in a settlement with some 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police in 2020.

The federal lawsuit focused on protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

If approved by a judge, the settlement would be among the most expensive ever involving mass arrests.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new code of ethics today for Supreme Court justices.

Democrats pushed it after revelations that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito failed to disclose ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors and the Justice Sonia Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded court staff to help sell her books.

Republicans unanimously oppose the bill and it's unlikely to pass the full Senate.

And on Wall Street, blue chips advanced, but tech stocks hit a wall over worries about future profits at big tech companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 164 points, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 294 points.

The S&P 500 was down nearly 31 points.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before Congress, as his conspiracy theories draw increased scrutiny; the president of Stanford University resigns following student reporting over flawed research; and a common injury increasingly sidelines female athletes, including some top players during the World Cup.