NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey would back Sweden's membership to the alliance,China warned against any potential eastward expansion of NATO,Cuba condemned the presence of a US submarine at Guantanamo Bay,and North Korea criticized a US plan to deploy nuclear submarines near the Korean peninsula,and launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.Meanwhile, the US House passed its annual defense spending bill,China and the Solomon Islands launched a strategic partnership,the US and Israel held joint military exercises,the UN said 87 bodies were found in a mass grave in Sudan,and Myanmar's military regime was accused of killing political prisoners.

As a two-day NATO summit began in Lithuania on Tuesday, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy re-echoed calls for Kyiv's accession to the alliance.These efforts were stalled as the bloc issued a communique that neither extended an invitation nor established a clear path to its membership.The end of the summit saw officials announce a new program to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets slated to begin next month.This came as Washington confirmed on Thursday that US-made cluster bombs had successfully been delivered to Ukraine.Meanwhile, a report published on Monday detailed Wagner PMC head Yevgeny Prigozhin's account of the mercenary's short-lived mutiny, with the leader allegedly pledging his allegiance to Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin.Though Prigozhin's whereabouts remain unknown, Belarus claimed on Friday that Wagner fighters are training its soldiers.

US Pres. Joe Biden met with UK PM Rishi Sunak,Iranian Pres. Ebrahim Raisi made a state visit to Africa,which saw Tehran and Zimbabwe sign a key agreement,Dutch PM Mark Rutte announced plans to leave politics,Thailand's National Assembly failed to elect a new prime minister,and a Guatemalan court ruled that Bernardo Arévalo can partake in next month's presidential runoff.Meanwhile, US government emails were reportedly hacked by suspected Chinese-linked hackers,protests in Israel were reignited after PM Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul bill restarted,India's Supreme Court agreed to hear pleas against the removal of Kashmir's special status,and the Philippines agreed to allow the new Barbie film with a blurred South China Sea map.In other news, cross-border aid to Syria failed to gain approval at the UN Security Council,and Spain rescued 86 peopleafter three migrant boats went missing near the Canary Islands.

Former Pres. Donald Trump requested that the classified documents trial be postponed until after the 2024 election,the Dept. of Justice ruled that Trump isn't immune from columnist E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit,the legal team for Biden's son sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter,a Hunter Biden "whistleblower" was charged with acting as a Chinese agent,Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly testified before the Jan. 6 grand jury,and Fox News faced a new lawsuit related to its reporting on Jan. 6.Meanwhile, House Republicans grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray,and Biden detailed healthcare reforms to crack down on so-called "junk" insurance plans, announced plans to forgive $39B in student debt,and accused Sen. Tommy Tuberville of "jeopardizing US security" by blocking hundreds of military nominations.

Several US tax filing firms reportedly shared customers' private data with Google and Meta,Iowa passed a six-week abortion ban,Canada launched a probe into Nike over allegations it used forced Uyghur labor,and critics claimed that São Paulo's facial recognition surveillance will aggravate racism.Meanwhile, the UN passed a resolution to prevent Quran burnings,Russia's lower parliament passed a bill banning sex change operations,and Australian activist Cha Van Kham was freed from a Vietnamese prison.

Elon Musk launched his new artificial intelligence company xAI,the US Federal Trade Commission opened a probe into ChatGPT's OpenAI for possible consumer harm,Twitter was sued for allegedly failing to pay severance to former employees,and Meta detailed plans to add labels for state-run media outlets on its new Twitter competitor, Threads,which became that fastest growing app as it hit 100M users.Meanwhile, a judge ruled in favor of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition,Foxconn withdrew from its semiconductor deal with India's Vedanta,and Farmers Insurance pulled out of Florida.In other news, Amazon challenged the EU's digital content rules,a former reporter sued CNN over alleged discrimination,and thousands of Hollywood actors joined writers in their strike.

UK police met with the BBC after a presenter- identified as Huw Edwards - was accused of paying a teenager for explicit photos but found no crime had been committed,six were killed in a kindergarten stabbing in China,and Libya jailed 38 for human trafficking.

The UN found that 3.3B live in countries that spend more on debt than health or education,the International Monetary Fund approved a $3B bailout for Pakistan,and Egypt announced plans to sell $1.9B in assets to boost its private sector.Meanwhile, US inflation dropped to 3% in June,Bank of America was fined $250M for allegedly imposing junk fees,and the former parent company of Silicon Valley Bank sued a US banking regulator for seizing its deposits.In other news, Australia named the first woman to lead its central bank.

A study found that transparent mice could potentially improve cancer drug tests,the US Food and Drug Admin. approved the nation's first non-prescription birth control pill,the WHO said aspartame is safe within limits,the UN warned that an ongoing bird flu outbreak could spread to humans,and the EU lifted its food import restrictions on Japan.

Government statistics showed that deforestation in Colombia dropped by 29% last year.

The US Senate probed the PGA-LIV Golf merger.

India successfully launched its third lunar mission,and Volkswagen used AI to digitally resurrect a famous Brazilian singer.

A team of archaeologists speculated humans reached the Americas earlier than previously thought..