The New York Times

1. Like Trump, U.S. Embassies Are Raising Cash for Lavish July Fourth Parties

   Some of Washington’s diplomatic outposts in Asia are raising millions for events to mark the 250th independence anniversary. One ambassador offered to sing and dance.

2. Trump’s Relentless Self-Promotion Fosters an American Cult of Personality

   President Trump has engaged in a spree of self-aggrandizement unlike any of his predecessors, fostering a mythologized superhuman persona and making himself the inescapable force at home and around the world.

3. Canada Gives U.S. Arms Makers the Cold Shoulder on Military Spending

   Canada plans to unveil a new strategy that will shift its current reliance on American companies to Canadian military suppliers.

4. Trump Administration Ends Credit for Start-Stop Feature in Cars

   Manufacturers will no longer get a credit toward vehicle emissions standards by installing engines that automatically stop at red lights.

5. Republican State Legislators Rush to Limit Their Own Regulators

   South Carolina’s state legislature is one of 17, mainly in heavily Republican states, that is moving to handcuff state agencies at a moment of tectonic changes in energy, technology and finance.