Today’s top stories

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from federal prosecution. In a 6-3 opinion along ideological lines, the justices said a former president is entitled to a presumption of immunity for his official acts but lacks immunity for unofficial acts. The court sent the case back to the judge in Trump’s election case to determine whether any of Trump’s actions were part of his official duties. President Biden said the ruling sets a “dangerous precedent” and “undermines the rule of law” in remarks from the White House.

• 🎧 The timing of the court’s decision means there’s “no chance” voters will have a verdict in Trump’s Jan. 6 case before the November election, NPR’s Domenico Montanaro tells Up First. Trust in the court has nosedived due to controversial decisions and ethics issues, according to an NPR poll. The next president could potentially nominate three new justices, as Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonya Sotomayor are all above 70. If Trump wins the presidency and is able to appoint younger, conservative justices, it could “set Democrats back another 20 years,” Domenico says.

Hurricane Beryl strengthened to a Category 5 storm yesterday after it made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the Caribbean. It’s the earliest Atlantic hurricane to reach this strength on record due partly to record-high ocean temperatures.

• 🎧 The speed at which Beryl grew is something climate scientists have been expecting, NPR’s Michael Copley says. Though climate change is still an active area of research, Copley says it’s clear hotter temperatures are strengthening hurricanes. Coastal communities will see the biggest risk from storm surges, which are walls of water that get pushed on shore. Hurricanes can also hold a large amount of water vapor, causing torrential rains and floods that threaten inland communities, even if they’re not in the storm’s path.
• ➡️ Experts are expecting an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season. The best time to prepare is before a storm forms. Learn how to pack a go bag, an essential tool during natural disasters.

Longevity researchers have their eyes on a generic drug that they think could help extend people’s lives. The FDA first approved rapamycin in the 1990s for transplant patients to suppress the immune system and prevent transplant rejection. At lower doses, it helps decrease inflammation. Now, the FDA has approved rapamycin testing in patients with gum disease — a common condition that tends to accelerate with age. Jonathan An, the doctor leading this research, gum disease is the “canary in the coalmine” of age-related diseases, as it’s linked to a higher risk of heart disease and dementia.

Life advice

Nearly 71 million people are expected to make trips for the Independence Day travel period, AAA predicts.

David Schaper/NPR

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David Schaper/NPR

Nearly 71 million Americans are expected to travel for the Fourth of July this week, the AAA predicts. It could be the busiest Independence Day travel season on record — both in the air and on the roads. Here’s what to know and how to avoid slowdowns if you’re planning a trip this week:

• ✈️ It’s vital to get to the airport well before your departure time, says Gerardo Spero, the TSA’s federal security director at Philadelphia International Airport. Travel volumes are up at many airports, so allow extra time for parking,, checking your bags and security.
• 🚗 Drivers in metro areas can expect the worst traffic tomorrow. If you haven’t hit the road already, the best time to start is before 10:00 a.m.
• ☀️ High temperatures and thunderstorms may slow trains and planes. Traveling in the morning or evening can offset these risks.
• 🚫 If a flight is canceled, airlines must offer travelers a refund or book another flight. But the rules for flight delays are more complicated. Check your airline’s policy on the Transportation Department website.

Picture show

Abdul Jabbar’s Boli Khela, a century-old traditional wrestling competition in Chittagong, draws thousands of eager spectators annually. In this picture captured in Chittagong, Bangladesh on April 24, 2023, two individuals are seen wrestling on a sandy stage in front of a street audience.

Sanchayan Chowdhury

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Sanchayan Chowdhury

A pack of pelicans, a snowed-in village and a wrestling match: these are some finalists for the 2024 Siena Drone Photo Awards. Thanks to technological advancements, drone photography has evolved over the years. Drones can fly faster, secure better-quality images, and move more precisely, allowing photographers to capture stunning aerial shots. Emanuela Ascoli, one of the judges, says she’ll consider each photograph’s “emotional and aesthetic impact” and how well it captures “the perfect moment.”

3 things to know before you go

An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis is unveiled during his beatification ceremony at the St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy in October 2020.

Gregorio Borgia/AP

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1. Carlos Acutis, a teen tech whiz who died of leukemia at age 15, will be canonized as the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint. Acutis is fondly remembered as “God’s influencer” and the “patron saint of the internet” for his work cataloging Eucharistic miracles worldwide.
2. Naomi Osaka won her first Wimbledon match in six years yesterday. In 2021, she took a short hiatus from tennis for mental health reasons. She’s been vocal about her struggles on the court
3. Celebrity stingray Charlotte, who was declared pregnant without a male mate earlier this year, has died. The North Carolina aquarium where she lived previously announced she had a “rare reproductive disease.”

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.

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Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, marking the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that the EU’s most pro-Russian leader has visited the war-torn country.

Orbán, the EU and Nato’s most prominent critic of ongoing military aid to Kyiv, and one of the few western leaders to have met Russian President Vladimir Putin since the 2022 invasion, arrived a day after his country assumed the rotating presidency of the EU council.

Orbán will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other senior officials just days after the two spoke at an EU summit in Brussels, according to officials from both countries. They shared a private conversation before the Ukrainian urged all EU leaders to step up their military support to Kyiv.

The leaders will deliver brief statements at the conclusion of their meeting in Kyiv but will not hold a press conference, according to a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy.

The Hungarian premier has regularly opposed financial aid to Ukraine and left the room during an EU leaders’ meeting in December in order not to vote against a decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine — a significant milestone on the country’s path to becoming a full EU member.

Orbán’s government has also vetoed seven legal decisions backed by the EU’s other 26 member states that would release €6.6bn tied to weapons supplies to Ukraine. It prevented the start of formal EU accession talks between Kyiv and Brussels for much of the past 12 months, before lifting its block last month.

Budapest has justified its hardline position on Ukraine by claiming Kyiv is failing to meet its demands in guaranteeing the rights of the country’s Hungarian minority. The EU accession criteria include minority rights.

Almost all EU leaders except Orbán have visited Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He is also one of only two — along with Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer — to have met Putin in that time.

At a conference in Budapest in December, the Hungarian prime minister said he had accepted an invitation from Zelenskyy to visit Kyiv but added: “I told him I’d be at his disposal. We just have to clarify one question: about what?”

Zelenskyy also invited Orbán to the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland last month. Orbán declined but sent his foreign minister Péter Szijjártó.

In reaction to efforts to prevent Hungary from taking up the EU’s rotating presidency, Orbán has made a pledge to other leaders to be a responsible broker of EU legislation, according to people close to the talks.