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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., touted the close coordination between Congress and President Donald Trump to successfully pass the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ saying the collaboration is part of the ‘beauty of unified government.’

Congress officially passed Trump’s multitrillion-dollar bill Thursday afternoon after back-to-back sleepless sessions for both the House and Senate.

The massive agenda package now goes to Trump’s desk to be signed into law just in time for Republicans’ self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.

The ‘big, beautiful bill’s’ passage marks the first major piece of legislation passed under the Trump administration and the first to pass while Republicans have control of the executive branch and both chambers of Congress.

Speaking with reporters after the mega-spending bill’s passage Thursday, Johnson said, ‘The beauty of unified government is this is exactly how it can work.

‘How it’s supposed to work is that you have an interaction between the executive and the legislative branches, because that’s what’s best for the people, and that coordination is going to yield great results for the folks.’

The speaker said people inside the Trump administration, including Cabinet secretaries, the vice president and the president, were all willing to take questions from members of Congress.

‘President Trump was so generous with his time answering questions himself. Vice President JD Vance was directly engaged. We had Cabinet secretaries at a number of different federal agencies answering questions from members. Some of them even brought their agency attorneys in to get really deep in the weeds on the details,’ said Johnson.

‘We had a tough four years before this last election cycle,’ the speaker added. ‘We knew that if we got unified government, we’d have to quite literally fix every area of public policy. Everything was an absolute disaster under the Biden-Harris radical woke Progressive Democrat regime.’

The bill, which advances Trump’s policies on taxes, the border, defense, energy and the national debt, narrowly passed the House of Representatives in a mostly party-line vote. All but two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., voted for the bill, which passed 218-214.

It’s a commanding victory for Johnson and for the president, both of whom spent hours overnight trying to persuade GOP critics of the bill.

Speaking after the bill’s passage, Johnson explained his role in getting GOP holdouts to switch their vote to ‘yes,’ saying, ‘My leadership style is I try to be a servant leader.’

He said that because many members wanted to take time to ‘go really deep in the weeds’ on changes the Senate made to the bill, he felt it was his job as speaker to give each member the time to have their concerns addressed.

‘I knew as the leader that we would have to take the time to do that,’ he explained. ‘And, so, some of that went late into the night, and I was not going to make anybody — I was not going to demand anybody’s vote or their position on the bill until they felt that they had exhausted that opportunity. So, we did it. And that’s how we got everybody to ‘yes.’’

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

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Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman secretly met with President Donald Trump and other key officials in the White House on Thursday to discuss de-escalation efforts with Iran, multiple sources confirmed with Fox News.

Khalid, also known as KBS, is the younger brother of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Multiple sources told Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor Bret Baier about the meeting.

According to sources, the talks included discussions about de-escalation with Iran and getting to the negotiating table.

The talks were also reportedly about ending the war in Gaza and negotiating the release of the remaining hostages – whether dead or alive – and about working toward peace in the Middle East.

Although the talks were not exclusively about the possibility of normalization with Israel, sources said the conversation dealt with steps that needed to occur to get there.

Sources also said, ‘there was progress and optimism on all fronts.’

The Saudis are in the process of finalizing a defense and trade deal with the U.S., and the message shared between the two allies, sources added, is that they see eye-to-eye on all issues.

The meeting comes days after Trump said other nations have suggested they would like to join the Abraham Accords amid recent Middle East shakeups that saw Israel and the U.S. inhibit Iran’s nuclear ambitions during what has been dubbed the ’12-Day War.’

The Abraham Accords, which sought to normalize relations between Israel, Sunni Gulf States and North African countries, was signed at the White House during the first Trump administration in September 2020.

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on June 25 that expanding the accords is one of the president’s ‘key objectives’ and predicted that the administration will have some ‘big announcements’ on countries coming into the accords soon.

Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt named Syria as one of the nations the president was keen to join, noting their historic meeting in Saudi Arabia earlier in the year.

One of the largest Hebrew-language outlets, Israel Hayom, reported Tuesday that Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi believes those countries are Syria and Lebanon as the top Middle East states who could join the Abraham Accords.

In May, Trump asked Syrian President al-Sharaa to fully normalize relations with Israel in exchange for sanctions relief. 

‘The barriers of entry for expanding the Abraham Accords are incredibly low. It will not surprise me if President Trump expands the Accords within his second term,’ Robert Greenway, former senior director for the National Security Counciland key architect of the Abraham Accords, told Maria Bartiromo, on ‘Mornings With Maria’ on FOX Business.

After the completion of the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in 2020, there was a growing expectation among U.S. officials and Middle East experts that Saudi Arabia would follow suit.

In February, Fox News Digital reported that Trump administration officials said the White House was seeking an expansion of the Abraham Accords.

The Biden administration faced criticism for failing to expand the Abraham Accords and for picking fights with states who made peace with Israel as part of the landmark agreement.

Fox News Digital’s Benjamin Weinthal, Morgan Phillips and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

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The Supreme Court ended its term last week, but the justices aren’t done yet, partly due to a legal blitz President Donald Trump has strategically deployed in his second term, one that’s proven surprisingly effective in advancing his sweeping agenda.

Lawyers for the Trump administration filed their 20th emergency application to the Supreme Court Thursday in just a 23-week period. 

The dizzying pace of applications comes as the administration looks to advance some of Trump’s sweeping policy actions. And, in many cases, the court’s 6-3 majority has given the administration the green light to proceed. 

The high court has ruled in Trump’s favor in the majority of emergency applications, allowing the administration to proceed with its ban on transgender service members in the military, its termination of millions of dollars in Education Department grants and its firing of probationary employees across the federal government, among many other actions.

Like most emergency orders, the rulings are often unsigned, giving little indication what the justices might be thinking.

Emergency applications — and the Supreme Court’s responses — aren’t meant to offer lasting relief. But Trump has found success using a ‘move fast and break things’ strategy to push key requests through the court’s so-called ‘shadow’ docket.

For context, Trump has filed more emergency applications in five months than his predecessors did in years. Former President Joe Biden submitted just 19 over his entire term, while presidents Obama and George W. Bush filed only eight combined during their time in office.

In the interim, the strategy has allowed him to enforce many of the sweeping executive orders he signed upon taking office. These orders were met with hundreds of lawsuits across the country and blocked by many lower courts, prompting the administration to appeal them, again and again, through the federal judiciary. 

For now, those near-term wins have energized Trump allies, allowing them to press forward with a blitz of executive actions and claim ‘victory,’ however temporary. The approach allows Trump to advance major policy priorities without relying on a slow-moving Congress.

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North Korean officials accused the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) of running ‘an absurd smear campaign’ after announcing that it had unraveled several schemes by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) to fund the regime through remote information technology work for U.S. companies.

Earlier this week, the DOJ said North Korean actors were helped by individuals in the U.S., China, the United Emirates and Taiwan to obtain employment with over 100 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 companies.

The scheme allegedly involved the workers getting laptops from the companies that hired them and allowing remote North Korean IT workers to remotely access the computers. In another scheme, North Korean IT workers used false identities to gain employment with a blockchain research and development company in Atlanta, Georgia, and steal over $900,000 in virtual currency.

As part of its announcement about the North Korean scheme, the DOJ unsealed a five-count indictment against Zhenxing Wang, a U.S. national living in New Jersey, who has since been arrested.

Wang and his co-conspirators, the DOJ said, obtained remote IT work with U.S. companies and generated over $5 million in revenue.

Also charged in the indictment are Chinese nationals Jing Bin Huang, Baoyu Zhou, Tong Yuze, Yongzhe Xu, Ziyou Yuan and Zhenbang Zhou. Taiwanese nationals Mengting Liu and Enchia Liu were also charged in the indictment.

Also indicted was U.S. national Kejia ‘Tony’ Wang, also of New Jersey, who was charged separately.

North Korean news agency KCNA reported that a spokesperson for the DPRK Foreign Ministry lambasted the U.S. judicial system for its actions against DPRK citizens on the suspicion of a cybercrime.

‘The recent incident is an absurd smear campaign and grave violation of sovereignty aimed at tarnishing the image of our state as it is a continuation of the hostile move of the successive U.S. administrations that have talked much about the non-existent ‘cyber threat’ from the DPRK,’ the spokesperson reportedly said. ‘The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK expresses serious concern over the U.S. judicial authorities’ provocation which is threatening and encroaching on the security, rights and interests of our citizens by fabricating the groundless ‘cyber’ drama, and strongly denounces and rejects it.’

The spokesperson accused the U.S. of creating ‘international cyberspace instability,’ and not the DPRK.

‘The U.S. has long been posing a constant threat to the cybersecurity of the DPRK and other sovereign states by making cyber space a scene of battle and abusing the cyber issue as a political weapon to tarnish the image of other countries and impair the exercise of their legitimate rights,’ the spokesperson said. 

‘The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has the right to take a proper and proportionate countermeasure to thoroughly protect the security and rights of its citizens from the judicial enforcement for a sinister political purpose, and to call to strict legal account the outsiders who took malicious action,’ the spokesperson concluded.

The DOJ said the indictment alleges that from 2021 and through most of 2024, the defendants and other co-conspirators compromised the identities of over 80 people in the U.S. to obtain remote jobs at more than 100 companies. As a result, the victim companies incurred legal fees, computer network remediation costs and other damages and losses to the tune of at least $3 million.

Kejia and Zhenxing, along with at least four other U.S. facilitators, allegedly helped overseas IT workers with various parts of the scheme.

Kejia and Zhenxing allegedly established shell companies with websites and financial accounts to make it appear as though the overseas IT workers were affiliated with legitimate businesses in the U.S. Once established, the two allegedly received money from U.S. companies, and the funds were transferred to co-conspirators overseas.

In exchange for their services, Kejia, Zhenxing and the other four conspirators in the U.S. received at least $696,000 from the IT workers.

The DOJ said one of the companies the schemers allegedly accessed data from was a defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technology. By accessing the company’s data, the schemers were privy to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the DOJ said.

The DOJ also announced that the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) seized 17 web domains used as part of the scheme, along with 29 financial accounts holding tens of thousands of dollars, used to launder revenue for the North Korean regime.

The DOJ unveiled another part of the scheme, which resulted in a five-count wire fraud and money laundering indictment against four North Korean nationals: Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Change Nam II.

The suspects are accused of scheming to steal virtual currency from two companies, with a value of over $900,000 at the time of the thefts, and to launder the proceeds.

All four nationals, the DOJ said, are at large and wanted by the FBI.

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Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Thursday night, President Donald Trump announced that the military flight team that launched the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be honored at the White House on Independence Day.

Trump said that he took issue with early media reports suggesting that the strikes on Iran only partially damaged the targets because he considered it an insult to the ‘great’ American military members who executed the mission.

Remember when CNN said it wasn’t obliterated? It was maybe damaged or damaged badly, but obliterated is too strong a word. No, it was obliterated. That’s now been proven,’ said Trump.

They were trying to demean me by saying that, but they were really demeaning those great pilots and people and mechanics that got those planes over there and were able to shoot from high up in the air, going very, very fast, with potentially a lot of things being shot at them, and hit every single one,’ he said. ‘They’re trying to demean me, but to me, they were demeaning them. And they got out of the plane, and they said, ‘What? We hit every single target.’ They know better than anybody.’

These people did one of the greatest military hits and maneuvers in the history of our country, and I want them to be appreciated for it,’ the president went on. ‘So, they’re coming. They’re coming to the White House tomorrow night.’

They’re going to be in Washington tomorrow at the White House, and we’re going to be celebrating.’

Trump said the White House will host not only the pilots, but the entire flight crew, including ‘the people that flew the other planes’ and ‘the mechanics that had these planes going for 37 hours without a stop.’

China, Russia, they were all watching. Everybody was watching,’ he said. ‘We have the greatest equipment anywhere in the world. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world, and we have the strongest military anywhere in the world.’

During his address on Thursday, Trump also claimed that Iran called ahead of their retaliatory strike on the U.S. military base in Qatar to clear the attack with the White House.

They called me to tell me they have to take a shot at us. This was Iran. Very respectful. That means they respect us because we dropped 14 bombs. They said we’d like to take 14 shots at you. I said, ‘Go ahead, I understand,’’ he said.

‘They said where they would do it. I said, ‘Good.’ We emptied out the fort. It was a beautiful military base in Qatar who treated us really fantastically well,’ he said.

Trump claimed that Iran went so far as to ask what time of day would be acceptable for their retaliatory strike.

‘They said, ‘Sir, is 1:00 okay?’ I said it was fine, [they said], ‘We could make it later.’ And we had nobody but four gunners,’ he said. So, all of a sudden, they said, ‘We’re ready.’ And they were a little nervous about doing it. I want to tell, you can you imagine, they were nice enough – this is Iran – to call me and tell me that they would like to shoot me at 14 times, so they want to shoot us. And I said, go ahead. And they shot 14 high grade, very fast missiles every single one of them was shot down routinely by these four unbelievable gunmen. And they did their job. And that was the end of that.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

The first time I remember celebrating the Fourth of July was during the American bicentennial in 1976. As children living in New York City, my parents woke my sisters and I up early to see the Parade of Tall Ships as it entered the Hudson River. Even as a kid, this magnificent display conveyed to me a sense of the grand power of the U.S. The extraordinary event also offered me another feeling: that America, my home country, would do anything and everything in its power to keep me, my family, and indeed, all of its citizens, safe.

This Fourth of July, Americans will find themselves in two very different realities. Most will be surrounded by family and friends, enjoying baseball, hot dogs and ice cream cones. But for my American family, as well as dozens of other families of hostages, this day will be a stark contrast. On this day that celebrates freedom, my son Itay will spend the Fourth of July like he has the last 637 days – likely alone, in the cold, dark tunnels of Hamas in Gaza. He and 49 other hostages remain stripped of their freedom, while their families are in limbo, not able to embrace the holiday of independence. We need to remember, especially on this day, that Hamas is still holding Americans hostage, and 50 hostages in total.

On this day, we must look past the haze of fireworks and remember that the Fourth of July is about something more. It’s about celebrating our hard-fought, long-defended freedom and knowing that an attack on the freedom of any American – and taking them hostage – is an attack on the freedom of us all. Taking U.S. citizens as hostages should be a liability, not an asset, with severe consequences attached. So long as Hamas holds U.S. citizens, we are letting evil and terrorism win.

My son was 19 when he was taken hostage. On this Independence Day, he can no longer watch the Mets games with his brothers, something he loved and cherished. He can no longer try to strike me out in the neighborhood pickup game, or check in every five minutes at the grill asking when the food will be ready. On this Independence Day, his lack of freedom rings loudly.

This Fourth of July, my family and I will wake up again to the same nightmare we do every day, where every moment begs the same agonizing question: Where is my son, and what can we do to get him back?

Right now, all of our energy is focused on one thing. As every parent knows, when your child disappears from your sight – even for a few moments at a playground or store – panic sets in instantly. But when your child is kidnapped, especially by terrorists, the only thing you can think about is getting them back, whatever their condition. Until we can embrace Itay again, we cannot even begin to process what lies ahead or plan for the future. It’s impossible to move forward when this remains an open wound.

After the historic wins over Iran, Hezbollah, and yes, Hamas, now is the time for us to pause and adopt President Donald Trump’s policy of ‘Peace Through Strength.’ It is time for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to collaborate with the U.S. and bring the hostages back. The U.S. was successful last month in bringing New Jersey native Edan Alexander back home, independent of Israel, but it needs Israel to bring the remaining others out.

No fan of half-measures, President Trump is in a prime position to pull off the ‘Big Beautiful Deal,’ a comprehensive diplomatic initiative which would end hostilities in both Iran and Gaza, secure the release of all 50 remaining hostages in Gaza – including my son – and help stabilize the entire Middle East through a carefully negotiated framework.

President Trump is uniquely positioned to drive such an initiative forward. During his previous presidency, he successfully brokered the Abraham Accords, achieving what many had previously considered near impossible normalization between Israel and several Arab nations. The Big Beautiful Deal would be a direct extension of this diplomatic milestone, offering a more comprehensive and regional approach to peacemaking. The president’s unorthodox style has demonstrated that breakthroughs are possible even in the most entrenched conflicts.

America defined the values of freedom and human dignity that we celebrate on the Fourth of July. They didn’t come easily – we had to fight for them, good versus evil – and our continued defense of democracy is an essential part of the American identity.

In the last few months, my family has met Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and others who promise us that President Trump’s policy of ‘America First’ is not hollow words and ‘America First’ prioritizes the release of American hostages and those unlawfully detained all around the world, including Gaza. 

To date, the Trump administration has been able to release 47 such Americans, and we pray Itay will be one of them as well soon. This Fourth of July, keep in mind that there was an attack on our freedom on Oct. 7, and fellow Americans remain in captivity. I call on President Trump: Do everything in your power to quash terrorism, and ensure that freedom wins the day with the release of the hostages.

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In a year when the U.S. consumer has been weighed down by economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and inflation, Black entrepreneurs are eager to get to the Essence Festival of Culture to connect with their core customers.

“Essence Fest is like my Black Friday,” said Rochelle Ivory, owner of beauty brand On the Edge Baby Hair. “It is my biggest sales weekend of the year. It’s where I make all the capital I reinvest in my business.”

Essence Fest kicks off on Friday, with roughly 500,000 people attending the event in New Orleans. It generates around $1 billion in economic activity, according to organizers.

“It’s the cannot-miss event for us,” said Brittney Adams, owner of eyewear brand Focus and Frame. She said this year Essence Fest is even more important because she’s seen Black consumers pulling back on spending.

“I would say the uncertainty of just the economic and political climate — that’s giving people a little bit of hesitancy. Should they save the money? Should they buy the things they want?” Adams said.

Ivory said her sales are down roughly 30% year over year, but she’s hopeful people come to New Orleans looking to spend their time and money in the festival marketplace.

“This could make or break some of us,” she said. “It’s one of the few places where Black women, Black founders can really come together and be seen.”

The Global Black Economic Forum aims to bring visibility and create solutions for Black business owners at Essence Fest. This year speakers include Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Last year, then-Vice President Kamala Harris spoke.

“We intentionally curate a space that allows leaders to preserve, build and reimagine how we can collectively increase economic opportunity to thrive,” said Alphonso David, CEO of the GBEF.

While many Black Americans express economic anxiety, the data is less clear.

In the first quarter of this year, according to Federal Reserve data, the median weekly salary for Black workers was $1,192 a 5% increase year over year. Black unemployment stood at 6% in the most recent jobs report, a historically low number, but still higher than the national average of 4.2%.

However, the data doesn’t appear to fully reflect the sentiment for many Black Americans who are concerned about the political, cultural and economic shifts that have taken place since President Donald Trump’s election.

“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” said John Hope Bryant, founder and CEO of Operation Hope, one of the nation’s largest non-profits focused on financial education and empowerment.

Bryant said he sees the concerns of Black Americans as an opportunity in the second half of 2025.

“This president has done something that hasn’t been done since the 1960s, which is unify Black America. Wealth was created in the early 20th century because Blacks were forced to work together. But instead of Black Lives Matter, let’s make Black capitalist matter,” he said.

Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has galvanized Black consumers with an organized boycott of Target that began in February in response to the retailer’s decision to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Bryant said he is in discussions with Target but is ready to organize a longer-term boycott if the retailer does not fulfill the promises it made to the Black community after the killing of George Floyd. He is urging Black Americans to use the estimated $2.1 trillion dollars in spending power forecast by 2026 to drive economic and political change.

“I would dare say that ‘pocketbook protests’ are a revolutionary activity,” said Bryant.

“I think we have to be very selective in light of the ‘Big Ugly Bill’ that just passed and how it will adversely affect our community,” he said, referencing Trump’s megabill that passed through Congress this week.

Invest Fest, an event that blends commerce and culture created by financially focused media company Earn Your Leisure kicks off in Atlanta in August.

Co-CEOs Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings said the event will remain focused on financial literacy, but this year they are emphasizing the urgent need for education and entrepreneurship in technology.

“It’s definitely now or never, the time is now,” said Bilal.

“The important thing this year is the way technology is going to disrupt a lot of career paths and the businesses, and we have to prepare for that, which is why AI is at the forefront of the conversation, crypto is at the forefront of the conversations, real estate as always and entrepreneurship,” said Millings.

New this year is a partnership with venture capital firm Open Opportunity and a pitch competition where an entrepreneur can win $125,000 in funding to scale their business.

“We need more businesses that can reach $100 million valuation to a $1 billion valuation, get on the stock market. The pathway to that 9 times out of 10 is technology,” Bilal said.

The National Black MBA Association Conference in Houston in September will have a similar tone. The event is known for its career fair where the nation’s largest companies recruit as well as for networking and vibrant social activities.

This year, interim CEO Orlando Ashford is working to establish artificial intelligence education and financial literacy as pillars of the event.

“Doing business as usual is not an option,” Ashford told CNBC. “AI is something I literally refer to as a tsunami of change that’s on its way. All of us will be forced to pivot in some ways as it relates to AI. Those of us that are out in front, that embrace it and leverage it actually can turn it into a tremendous and powerful opportunity. Those that wait and ignore it will be overtaken by the wave.”

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Constellation Brands on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as beer demand slid and tariffs on aluminum weighed on its profitability.

Still, the brewer reiterated its forecast for fiscal 2026, showing confidence that it can hit its financial targets despite the weaker-than-expected quarterly performance and higher duties.

Shares of the company fell less than 1% in extended trading on Tuesday evening but rose 3% during morning trading on Wednesday after the company’s conference call.

The stock has shed more than 20% of its value this year, fueled by concerns about how the higher duties imposed by President Donald Trump would affect demand for its beer.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

The report, which covers the three months ended May 31, includes the start of Trump’s tariffs on canned beer imports in early April. He also hiked trade duties on aluminum to 25% in mid-March and to 50% in early June.

Both imported beer and aluminum are crucial to Constellation’s beer business, which accounts for roughly 80% of the company’s overall revenue. Constellation’s beer portfolio only includes Mexican imports, like Corona, Pacifico and Modelo Especial, which overtook Bud Light as the top-selling beer brand in the U.S. two years ago.

Constellation reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $516.1 million, or $2.90 per share, down from $877 million, or $4.78 per share, a year earlier. Constellation’s operating margin fell 150 basis points, or 1.5%, in the quarter, in part driven by higher aluminum costs.

Excluding items, the brewer earned $3.22 per share.

Net sales dropped 5.8% to $2.52 billion, fueled by weaker demand for its beer and the company’s divestiture of Svedka vodka.

Constellation is still facing softer consumer demand, CEO Bill Newlands said in a statement. He attributed the weaker sales to “non-structural socioeconomic factors.” Constellation’s beer business saw shipment volumes fall 3.3%, caused by weaker consumer demand.

Last quarter, Newlands said Hispanic consumers were buying less of the company’s beer because of fears over Trump’s immigration policy. Roughly half of Constellation’s beer sales come from Hispanic consumers, according to the company.

But on Wednesday, Newlands demurred when asked about Hispanic consumer sentiment, saying that all shoppers are concerned about higher prices.

“When you see a fair amount of change, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic consumers are concerned about inflation and about cost structure,” Newlands said.

He added that consumers aren’t going out to eat as much and hosting fewer social occasions, which means they are drinking less beer. Still, he maintained that consumer interest in drinking beer hasn’t waned; while shoppers’ overall spending on beer has fallen, their relative spend on beer compared with their total grocery bill has held steady.

For fiscal 2026, Constellation continues to expect comparable earnings per share of $12.60 to $12.90. The company is projecting that organic net sales will range from declining 2% to rising 1%.

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Donald Trump has not been shy about his desire for an end to the war in Gaza.

After the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran concluded with a ceasefire, the US president has been pushing hard for a truce between Israel and Hamas, saying he was “looking for it to happen next week,” when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the White House.

Trump announced Tuesday that Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalize a 60-day ceasefire. Netanyahu will convene his full cabinet on Saturday night to discuss it. Hamas, meanwhile, said it was considering the latest proposal, without indicating whether it would accept it.

The two sides have long had conflicting demands that negotiators have been unable to bridge, but there are renewed hopes of a deal as the war enters its 21st month. Here’s what to know.

Why now?

Netanyahu’s government has faced mounting international criticism for the suffering its war is inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian deliveries to the enclave in March. It somewhat eased the blockade in May, after a chorus of global experts warned that hundreds of thousands of people could soon starve.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli strikes in recent days. And aid distribution has been marred by violence, with hundreds killed on their way to try to obtain food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US-backed aid initiative.

Pressure is also growing on Netanyahu from within Israel. Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Wednesday that he would join the coalition government to make a hostage deal possible.

Trump predicted Tuesday that Netanyahu wanted to end the war. “He wants to. I can tell you he wants to. I think we’ll have a deal next week,” Trump told reporters.

What’s in the proposed deal?

The precise details of the new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal remain murky.

The Qatari prime minister previously said Qatar and Egypt had been working to find a “middle ground” to move forward from the US-conceived truce proposed months ago. That proposal outlined a 60-day ceasefire during which Hamas would release 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of a further 18 hostages taken by Hamas during its attacks on October 7, 2023.

Of the 50 hostages still in Gaza, at least 20 of them are believed to be alive, according to the Israeli government.

As part of the latest proposal, Israel has also agreed to allow a surge of humanitarian aid through traditional UN-run humanitarian channels rather than through the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israeli official said.

What are Israel’s demands?

In addition to the aim of bringing the hostages home, Netanyahu has not wavered from his more maximalist aims: disarmament of Gaza and the destruction of Hamas’ military capabilities and governance abilities.

“I’m telling you — there will be no Hamas. No ‘Hamastan.’ We are not going back to that. It’s over,” Netanyahu said Wednesday. “We will bring back all our hostages.”

But over the weekend, the prime minister made a rhetorical shift in laying out Israel’s goals – for the first time prioritizing the return of hostages ahead of what he once called the “supreme objective” of defeating Hamas.

Netanyahu said “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home everyone still held captive by Hamas. “Firstly, to rescue the hostages,” he said. “Of course, we will also need to solve the Gaza issue, defeat Hamas, but I believe we will accomplish both missions.”

It comes as the Israeli military this week recommended pursuing a diplomatic path in Gaza after nearly two years of fighting and the elimination of much of Hamas’ senior leadership.

What about Hamas?

Hamas has three main demands: a permanent end to the fighting, for humanitarian assistance to be carried out by the United Nations, and for Israel to retreat to the positions it held on March 2 this year, before it renewed its offensive and occupied the northern part of the Strip.

In response to the earlier Trump administration-backed ceasefire proposal in May, Hamas requested US assurances that permanent ceasefire negotiations will continue and that fighting will not resume after the 60-day pause.

Whether the ceasefire will be temporary or a pathway to a permanent truce is the biggest sticking point between the warring parties.

Hamas has also shown no willingness to relinquish its political and military power in Gaza.

When were the previous ceasefires?

In the 21 months of war between Israel and Hamas, ceasefires have been in place for a total of only nine weeks.

More than 57,000 people, of which more than 17,000 are children, have been killed in Gaza during the fighting, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The first ceasefire came into effect in November 2023, but lasted only a week. In that time, 105 hostages were released from Gaza, in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.

A second ceasefire was not struck until January 2025, shortly before Trump’s return to the White House. In just over 8 weeks – the first “phase” of the ceasefire – Hamas freed 33 hostages, with Israel releasing around 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli freed.

Under the planned second stage, Israel was supposed to agree to a permanent ceasefire. But Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, shattering the ceasefire and derailing the talks, saying it did so to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

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A teenage pilot, who is attempting to fly all seven continents solo, hit a patch of rough air this weekend when Chilean authorities detained him for changing his flight plan without their permission and landing in Antarctica.

Chilean prosecutors say American influencer Ethan Guo, 19, broke “multiple national and international regulations” by changing his flight plans without prior notice, landing on a part of Antarctica where the South American country maintains a territorial claim.

Guo, whose website states he is trying to raise $1 million for cancer research by becoming “the first person ever to fly to all seven continents solo,” has broadcast his continent-hopping journey since last September to more than a million Instagram followers.

His last post, on June 23, documents a flight over the Philippines.

Chilean authorities say that on Saturday, Guo submitted a false flight plan and took off from Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Airport in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas as the sole passenger and crew member aboard a Cessna 182Q aircraft, registered as N182WT. At one point during that flight, authorities say he turned off course toward Antarctica.

“The accused provided false information to the aeronautical authority. He submitted a flight plan indicating that he was going to fly over the city of Punta Arenas,” said Cristian Crisosto Rifo, the Regional Prosecutor of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica.

“However, he continued toward Antarctica without informing anyone and without any authorization, landing at the airfield of Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base in Chilean Antarctic territory. With this behavior, the accused seriously endangered the safety of air traffic to Antarctica and the Magallanes region,” the prosecutor added.

Cristoso explained that as soon as Guo landed in Antarctica, he was detained and formally charged. “The accused not only violated the Aeronautical Code but also multiple national and international regulations regarding routes to Antarctica and access to the white continent,” emphasized Crisosto.

On Sunday, his lawyer told reporters at a press conference after Guo was charged that the young pilot experienced “complications” while flying. “While already in the air, he began to experience a series of complications,” Karina Ulloa said, adding that Guo claims “that he was conducting an exploratory flight to see if he could follow this route or not.”

The Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic Prosecutor’s Office determined on Sunday that the teen must remain in the Chilean sector of the frozen continent until authorities give him permission to return to the city of Punta Arenas.

The Chilean court decreed a 90-day investigation period for this case, during which time Guo must remain in Chile.

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