Reuters World News - American party, Iranian prayers, Russia’s gasoline crisis and England’s pubs

Episode Date: July 5, 2026

America celebrates Independence Day with military flyovers, flotillas and fireworks. Funeral prayers and tears for slain Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but still no sign of his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei. Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg region oil terminal as Russia’s fuel crisis deepens. And, England fans can drink till dawn after the UK government allows the pubs to open until 5 am for the World Cup match with Mexico. Watch the latest On Assignment ⁠Fourth of July from inside the White House
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Hi, I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. It's Sunday, July 5th. Today, Americans celebrate the country's 250th birthday with fireworks and flotillas. Crowds of Iranians throng Tehran to mourn Ayatollah Hamani. Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg as Russia's fuel crisis deepens. And, last orders at dawn. English pubs they open until 5 a.m. for the country's World Cup game against Mexico. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Fireworks light up the night sky across America, from New York City to Washington and all the way to Huntington Beach, California. A grand finale to the nation's 250th anniversary.

Americans celebrating with parades and festivities, even as extreme heat and storms disrupted some events. In New York, a flotilla of tall ships' sales. pass the Statue of Liberty, while military jets fly overhead, sending plumes of red, white, and blue smoke through the sky. And in D.C., after a storm-related delay of nearly two hours, President Trump appears on the National Mall, with a campaign-style speech referring to left-wing Democratic candidates as communists. And all these talks from the communists, they haven't got a chance. Not even a chance. We don't want communists in our country.

Before Trump, US presidents generally avoided in-person appearances at July 4 celebrations. A Reuters Ipsos poll found that a majority of Americans, including three quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans, think the events celebrating the country's 250th anniversary have grown too political. Earlier on Saturday, before D.C.'s celebrations got underway, hundreds of members of the White Nationalist Group Patriot Front marched through parts of the capital with flags, chanting Reclaim America, wearing white face coverings, baseball hats and sunglasses

they used the city's metro trains to get around. Crowds throng the vast courtyard of Aman Khomeini Grand Masala, a sprawling religious complex in Tehran for the funeral of Iranian leader Ayatollah al-Hamenei. Mani weep and beat their chests

as the coffin, draped in the Iranian flag, is brought out. State TV shows three of Khomeini's sons at the ceremony, crying and praying, but not Moshaba, the son who has succeeded him as Iran's supreme leader. There have been no public sightings or images released of Moshaba since February 28th, when his father and other family members were killed at the start of a US and Israeli bombing campaign. Moshaba's face was disfigured and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs in the attack.

That's according to people close to his inner circle. His father is only being buried now after a ceasefire. was agreed last month with the U.S. Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khomeini in a show of public devotion to the state. It's a turbulent moment for the country which saw huge anti-government protests before the war, followed by months of conflict.

President Trump told the Axios News website that peace talks are being paused for a week to allow the funeral to go ahead. Russia's second city, St. Petersburg, came under a major Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday. The Barat hitting the city's oil terminal and oil port. It's part of a wider Ukrainian campaign targeting Russia's energy infrastructure that's left one of the world's biggest oil producers facing a fuel crisis.

The day before the strike, drivers south of St. Petersburg queued for hours waiting to buy gas. Irina says her kids are going stir-crazy in the back of the car. They've been waiting for an hour and a half. As fuel prices rise to some of the highest levels in Europe, drivers are crowdsourcing maps and tips on where to find cheaper supplies. Correspondent Alexander Apprentice explains how Russia is dealing with the shortage. Most regions have imposed some kind of restriction or curb on the amount of fuel drivers can buy.

These curbs are most severe in southern Russia, Siberia, and parts of Russian-controlled Ukraine. We spoke to people in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, who said they were regularly waiting three plus hours to be fuel. It's also a major challenge for the agricultural sector. The crisis hit just as they were gearing up for the main harvesting campaign. That's quite a problem for the world's largest wheat exporter. The authorities who originally downplayed the situation as localized bottlenecks have now acknowledged that there are fuel shortages and Putin recently promised that action would be taken. Social media is full of frustrated people waiting in line. There's even been viral videos of fights breaking out. If the crisis persists, it could affect how people view the war in Ukraine.

They were already feeling more pessimistic about the economy than at any time in the past 20 years, according to a recent poll by Gallo. Now it's Sunday, and if you're Catholic, that means mass. But for members of one Catholic group, this Sunday is different. That's because the Vatican as excommunicated members of the Swiss-based society of St. Pius I, the 10th, after it ordained. four bishops without Pope Leo's approval. Jean-Yves Qatar, a priest with the breakaway group, says he's disappointed with the Pope's action.

But in Catholicism, only the Pope's can green light a new bishop. It's the whole basis of the church's authority, stretching back to Jesus's 12 apostles. Our Vatican correspondent, Joshua McElwee, has the story. So it's a firm move from the Vatican, showing a firmness from Pope Leo to enforce the church's teaching. This breakaway sect, the Society of St. Pius X, pretty broadly rejects the reforms the church

undertook in the 1960s, including that the mass could now be celebrated in local languages and not only Latin. They had also ordained four bishops in 1988, which led that Pope at the time John Paul II to also excommunicate four bishops. And today what we're seeing from Pope Leo is a similar measure. Leo came into his job promising unity, but there are limits. Leo began his papacy last year promising to try to unify the global Catholic Church after years of fraught divisions. He still wants to unify the global Catholic Church.

But there are certain things that Catholic teaching is firm on. And Pope Leo, like every pope before him since those reforms, is saying they are mandatory. Leo is also saying these members have excommunicated themselves by their actions. And in order to be part of the church again, they would need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Now, maybe you're more focused on your barbecue and your icebox this July 4th weekend. But U.S. automakers want to grab your attention. Our autos reporter Nora Eckhart tells us what they're up to.

automakers are really seizing on the 250th birthday for the United States as a chance to connect with customers. And there's some really funny and big initiatives from a lot of our automakers in Detroit and elsewhere. One is from Jeep makers Stalantis, where if the U.S. wins the World Cup, they're offering 100 people named George Washington, legally named after our first president, a Jeep Wrangler. Ford is also offering employee pricing on its vehicles, which is basically reduced cost across most of its lineup. And Corvette, owned by GM, had a stunt where they fed one of their models around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, effectively blowing out 250 massive birthday candles. Nora says the America First messaging also helps with the White House. Automakers have for decades

lead into patriotic messaging, but we've seen a lot more aggressive pushes lately during this latest Trump administration. And it's really paying off for automakers to get approval from the president. I mean, there have been times, particularly with a Ford ad, that President Trump posted to Truth Social, that he loved the ad. So they're really trying to directly message to the president a lot of times with this marketing. And finally, the teens are being whittled down in the Soccer World Cup, and tonight's Mexico versus England clash is a big one, particularly for England's pubs. With the match kicking off at 1 a.m. UK time, Prime Minister Kirst Starrmer has given pubs and bars across England and Wales, permission to stay open until 5am on Monday morning.

Terrero Moswaka, a bar supervisor at a London pub, says staff are under no illusions about what the night will bring. They're not going to wait until 11 to get a drink in them. They're going to be drinking from six with their dinners. Police chiefs, though, are raising concerns, warning the last-minute announcement is stretching their resources and urging fans to drink responsibly. And for some, the 1am kickoff is simply not practical. Naomi Pitt, a solicitor and mother of two,

says while she understands the excitement, staying up through the night is easier said than done for most families. I get it if you're young, carefree, no kids and can go out to a pub. But most people I would have thought will just be trying to keep awake. For more than any of the stories from today, check out roiders.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite 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.