Trump warns of communist threat on America s 250th Reuters World News

Hi, I'm Kim Bernal in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Saturday, July 4th. Today, the United States of America turns 250 with a call to protect freedom from President Trump. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce celebrate tying the knot with a star-studded party at Madison Square Garden. Iran begins days of funeral processions for its assassinated Supreme Leader. And Argentina narrowly beat Cape Verde in a match being called an all-time World Cup great. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Tonight, on the threshold of our 25th year, we stand beneath the monument of these heroes, a true group of unbelievable people. And we rededicate ourselves to being a nation as big, bold, noble, and as great as these American giants. And that's not easy to do, but we're going to do it. President Donald Trump speaking at Mount Rushmore on the eve of America's 250th birthday. He called on Americans to protect the freedoms the nation's founders envisioned against what he portrayed as the communist threat posed by progressive Democrats. These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations. Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. The granite mountain providing the ultimate patriotic backdrop for the speech. Trump will make another address on the National Mall ahead of a firework show tonight in Washington. Reuters reporters traveled with Trump on Air Force One to Mount Rushmore, as they often do. And if you've ever wondered what that is like, check out this week's On Assignment podcast with host Jonah Green, where we pull the curtain on the White House beat. How is the food on Air Force One? It's Air Force food. It's good. Airplane food? Is it good airplane food? Or, you know, curious. You know, what they usually do at the end of a long trip, they'll do this cheeseburger that's this massive feast with chips or french fries. We'll drop a link in the show notes. A dangerous heat wave disrupted other 4th of July celebrations, forcing the cancellation or postponement of parades, concerts, and fireworks displays from Washington to Boston. The Great American State Fair on the National Mall, a centerpiece of festivities, was temporarily shut down as temperatures climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. More than 185 million Americans were under heat alerts, with the extreme conditions straining power grids. Shielded from the heat, inside New York's Madison Square Garden, another big celebration. Now, literally, this is our royal wedding of the century. Yes, I agree. Yes, after all the is-it-happening, isn't-it-happening, is-it-a-decoy, we can confirm Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are married. Screens around the city began flashing, JUST AND TEE MARRIED, with two capital T's, so reading T and T in a reference to Taylor and Travis, in case that didn't come across. Minutes later, Swift's publicist confirmed the pair tied the knot, with Adam Sandler officiating. Taylor's brother Austin served as her man of honor, and Kelsey's brother Jason served as his best man. Stars including Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, and Hugh Grant were seen entering the venue, although most of the expected thousand-strong guest list managed to avoid the cameras. Reuters' Kurt Hall was outside. Guests are arriving and getting out of cars underneath tents. Cameras are flashing, cameras are rolling, but we don't know exactly who's getting out of these cars as they pull through. Fans, on the other hand, have been showing up in numbers. We've seen fans gathering all around Madison Square Garden. One fan has recorded himself say Taylor Swift's name 100,000 times. Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor Swift! Taylor! Taylor! Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift! It's 46,000 times. This is my way of I'm here. I'd like to do something here outside the venue to cheer her on and support her. Another fan came with a wedding gown that he thinks would suit Swift. You know, anytime you wear the wedding dress, even in a garment bag closed up on a street, like, it causes commotion. People are always excited about a wedding, you know, it's one of those emotional reactions people have. They're so excited for whoever's getting married. Famous guests mostly left the same way they came in, quietly. Although this unnamed attendee gave fans one small tidbit. Did they cry? They cried and they laughed and they danced and they hugged and they kissed. Over to Iran now. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. Where a week of mass funeral processions for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is underway, with Khamenei's body lying in state in a vast hall in Tehran. Dignitaries including Pakistan's Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif and Iraqi President Nizar Ahmadi paid their respects. Some, like Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Barker Kalabaf, could be seen crying. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes on the first day of the war. His death, and the succession of his son Mojtaba, mark a defining moment in the Islamic Republic's history. Iranian commanders have warned the US and Israel not to attack during the funeral period, promising harsh retaliation for any threat. Conservative Keiko Fujimori has been officially declared the winner of Peru's presidential election, a win which reaffirms Latin America's rightward shift. She edged just ahead of leftist lawmaker Roberto Sanchez by about 50,000 votes out of 18 million. The announcement by the country's electoral office follows weeks of fraud allegations, protests and reviews of contested ballots. Fujimori, who is making her fourth run for the presidency, takes office later this month. This is not a drill. It is a red alert that needs to land on the desks of heads of state and government around the world. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Töck warning another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan, this time around the besieged city of El Obeid. The city has been the focus of recent fighting in the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Töck says his office has documented patterns of executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence along the routes taken by people displaced from the fighting. The UN has sounded similar warnings before, including in Al-Fashir, where at least 6,000 people were killed in just three days when the RSF took the city in October last year. Sudan's foreign minister told the council that the international community should apply concrete pressure to stop weapons flowing to the RSF. And finally, Argentina fans in Sao Paulo celebrate after their team's narrow 3-2 victory against Cape Verde in Miami in what's being described as one of the all-time great World Cup matches. The tiny African nation equalised twice against the current World Cup title holders, taking the match into extra time. Reuters' Nick Mulvaney was there. It's amazing. I mean, obviously we had Cape Verde who have never been to a World Cup before. It's a tiny nation, 500,000 people, turning up at the World Cup for the first time. They're playing one of the great teams of World Cup football, three times World Champions. We've got 65,000 people in the stadium. Messi scores a goal. Mostly Argentinians going crazy. We think that's it, they're all gone. But no, Cape Verde come back and they score a goal and equalise. Unbelievable. That's in about an hour mark. So then the game goes into extra time, right? We're not expecting this at all. And then I think two or three minutes into extra time, another brilliant Argentine goal. Everyone thinks, okay, it's got to be over now, right? There's no way this team can come out from this. But they do, with a sensational goal from their left back. And we're thinking, oh, is this going to go to penalties? This can't go to penalties, surely. And then finally, Argentina just managed to get over the line, an own goal in the second half of extra time, and the World Champions have through to the last 16. And it really was unbelievable how much Cape Verde were in the game. Cape Verde's players don't play in elite leagues. Largely, they're like 35-year-olds. The goalkeeper's 40. But nothing anywhere near like Lionel Messi, who's played, as we know, for Barcelona and has been at the top of the game. And all his teammates, these are the players that played for Chelsea and the big clubs in the world. And the Cape Verdeans, they just didn't give up. For more World Cup news, check out our World Cup podcast, Reuters Pitchside. There's a link in the show notes. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters, seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.