Budget bill, Tesla, 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Australia abuse case
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Today, Trump's budget bill heads back to the House, where some Republicans have already voiced their opposition to Senate provisions. We'll look at how the spending and tax cut package could impact Elon Musk's business interests. Australia looks to overhaul its childcare system in the wake of shocking abuse allegations. And Alligator Alcatraz gets set to open.

It's Wednesday, July 2nd. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Kim Van Nel in Whanganui, New Zealand. Amazon One Medical presents Painful Thoughts. I've been on hold to make a doctor's appointment for 23 minutes now. The automated voice has told me 47 times that my call is very important to them.

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U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill is now heading to the House of Representatives after passing through the Senate. And even though Republicans control the House, the bill's path to Trump's desk is still uncertain, as our politics editor Scott Malone explains.

Trump's Republicans control the House, but by a narrow margin. They can only afford to lose three votes if they want to pass a bill that Democrats are united in opposition to. It's not going to be smooth sailing. The House Republicans have been a rowdy caucus. They're very supportive of Trump, but there are concerns about the bill from multiple camps on the right.

You have the House Freedom Caucus and their allies who are concerned about the heavy toll that the bill will take on the U.S. national debt. You also have moderates who are concerned about the bills hit to Medicaid. So look for more trouble ahead, although I should say that House Speaker Mike Johnson has reiterated his plans to pass the bill ahead of the July 4th Independence Day holiday. That's been Trump's informal deadline for a long time now.

So look for some action in the coming days. Trump's one-time ally, Elon Musk, renewed his criticism of the tax cut and spending plan as a feud reignited between the pair. Trump is threatening to cut billions of dollars worth of subsidies that Musk's companies receive. He also says the cost-cutting body Musk has set up may now turn its sights on its creatives.

Those are the monsters that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible? David Geffen is our U.S. Companies Editor. The risk here is certainly more for Musk than it is for Trump. Tesla benefits from billions of dollars in tax credits and other policy benefits because of its business in clean transport and renewable energy. And the administration has control over a lot of those programs, and some of that is targeted in this tax bill.

Also, there's been this long-time tax credit for consumers at $7,500 a vehicle that makes buying or leasing EVs more attractive for people. This may tamp down some of the interest in buying electric vehicles. Musk's opinion for the longest time is that this will hurt his competitors more than it hurts him. But right now...

So you put all of those things together and you can see that there are big risks here. Trump campaigned on getting rid of this credit. This is not a surprise to him.

While D.C. focuses on the budget, markets are focused on trade tensions. President Trump says he won't extend the July 9th deadline for imposing higher tariffs on trading partners. Kamal Crimmins explains. More than a dozen countries are negotiating with the Trump administration to avoid a steep hike in tariff rates next week. Now, Trump told reporters that the U.S. could reach a trade agreement with India, but he's threatening to hike tariffs on Japan.

That sent shares in Tokyo down today, highlighting the nerves in markets over what lies ahead.

The jury in Sean Diddy Combs' sex trafficking trial has reached a verdict on four of the five counts he's facing. They've agreed to as-yet-unknown verdicts on two counts of sex trafficking and two of transportation to engage in prostitution. But the judge says the jury hasn't been able to reach a verdict on the racketeering conspiracy charge because jurors had, quote, "'unpersuadable opinions' on both sides."

An exclusive Reuters report reveals Iran made preparations to mine the Strait of Hormuz, according to two US officials. They say Iran loaded naval mines onto ships in the Persian Gulf after Israel began its attacks on the country's nuclear facilities. The mines weren't deployed. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical choke point for global oil trade. Any threat to its security could have major impacts on global energy supplies and prices.

Trump is urging Iran-backed Hamas to agree to what he's calling a final proposal for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza. He says the proposal will be delivered by mediators Qatar and Egypt. Trump says Israel has already agreed.

A tearful Coco Gauff said she did not cope well with the switch from Paris Clay to Wimbledon grass as she was dumped out of the championships in the first round on Tuesday. She was the day's most surprising casualty. The home crowd will have plenty to cheer on centre court in the second round at Wimbledon today as British qualifier Oliver Tarvert takes on twice defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu meets former winner Marketa Vondrosova.

And the Dalai Lama has ended the speculation about his next successor, saying he will be reincarnated, adding that his non-profit institution will have the sole authority to identify his reincarnation. His comments counter China's insistence that it will choose the successor of the Tibetan Buddhist leader.

An isolated migrant detention center in Florida's Everglades could receive its first migrant detainees as soon as today. That's according to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who alongside President Trump says he'll send 100 National Guard troops to the facility, which is dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. Which is very appropriate because I looked outside and it's

Not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon. Donald Trump touring the facility on Tuesday. The complex sits in a vast subtropical wetland teeming with pythons, crocodiles and alligators, thus the name. Trevor Hunnicutt covers the White House.

President Trump has described this as a facility that's designed for the worst of the worst, people with criminal records, people who have hostile intentions when it comes to national security or street crime. But there are big questions. We don't know exactly who's going to this facility. There's been no accounting as to who or why or where from.

We know that the U.S. has really struggled to keep up with the deportation numbers that Trump promised during his 2024 presidential campaign. And more and more over time of these people who have been held in these facilities have not had a criminal record beyond their alleged illegal border crossing.

So when this place starts receiving detained migrants, what will that process look like? That's an open legal question. We know that these people have not been afforded the same rights that would be due a U.S. citizen. The Trump administration has put forward the idea that a lot of these cases would be able to be handled in the facility so that those cases can be adjudicated fairly quickly and those deportations move ahead very quickly.

No warning, some may find details of this story distressing. Australia is planning new measures to strip funding from childcare centres that fall short of safety norms after a Melbourne man was charged with more than 70 offences over child sex abuse.

Authorities have asked the parents of some 1,200 children to get their kids tested for sexually transmitted infections after confirming the charges relate to the alleged sexual abuse of eight children who he looked after at daycare. Christine Chen is covering the story.

Yes, so there's a lot of changes being proposed at both the state and federal levels. So federally, the education minister says he wants to introduce some new laws that will basically allow him to pull funding to centres who fail to meet quality and safety standards. The government will also be examining whether the permit system that regulates workers'

who interact with children, whether that needs to be improved because police said yesterday that the alleged offender, Joshua Brown, had a valid permit at the time of his arrest. There are also some changes underway regarding the childcare framework, such as implementing a register of all workers and banning the use of personal devices like phones in the centre.

Fourth of July savings are here at the Home Depot. So it's time to get your grilling on. Pick up the Traeger Pro Series 22 pellet grill and smoker now on special buy for $389 was $549. Smoke a rack of ribs or bacon apple pie. This grill is versatile enough to do it all. This summer, no matter how you like your steaks, your barbecues are guaranteed to be well done. Celebrate Fourth of July with fast free delivery on select grills right now at the Home Depot. It's up to availability.

And for today's recommended read, they tried made in the USA, but it was too expensive for their customers. We spotlight the dilemma facing small and mid-sized manufacturers in America, facing the choice between paying steep tariffs on Chinese imports or trying to sell more expensive homemade products.

There'll be a link to that story in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. And don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.