Alan Greenspan, the longtime Federal Reserve chairman who steered the U.S. economy through the end of the Cold War, the dot-com bubble and two recessions, died Monday at his home from complications of Parkinson's disease, his wife Andrea Mitchell said. Appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1987, he served five terms under four presidents before retiring in 2006. His legacy is mixed: praised for the longest expansion in American history at the time, then faulted for the easy-money and deregulation policies critics tie to the 2008 crash, a mistake he later acknowledged.
The first round of high-level U.S.-Iran negotiations wrapped in Switzerland on Monday with a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal and a communication line to avoid incidents in the Strait of Hormuz. Vice President JD Vance called it "a productive 36 hours," saying the headline win was Iran's agreement to invite IAEA inspectors back into the country, though he cautioned the deal will be judged by implementation, not rhetoric. Iran's foreign ministry pushed back that real talks on the "nuclear issue" haven't even started yet.
As part of Trump's memorandum, the Treasury confirmed it is waiving all existing U.S. sanctions on the production, delivery and sale of Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemicals and petroleum products through August 21, 2026. The waiver even lets the U.S. import Iranian-origin crude for domestic use, a striking carrot tied to Iran's pledge to allow nuclear inspectors and keep Hormuz open. The move drew immediate scrutiny from GOP senators already at odds with the White House.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an Arkansas-based case, leaving in place an 8th Circuit ruling that private individuals and groups cannot sue to enforce a key Voting Rights Act provision across seven mostly Midwestern states. The decision affects Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. It lands amid an already heated 2026 midterm landscape reshaped by this spring's Louisiana v. Callais ruling.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer formally announced his resignation Monday, less than two years after leading Labour to a landslide, following months of pressure from his own MPs amid the rise of Reform UK and dismal council results. His likely successor, former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham — who just won the Makerfield by-election with nearly 55% — would become Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade. Burnham said the move "marks the beginning of a transition" and confirmed he'll put himself forward.
China's Commerce Ministry announced Monday it is blocking exports of "dual-use" items to 10 American military-related companies — including drone makers Red Cat and Teal, plus rare-earth players MP Materials and USA Rare Earth — in retaliation for the U.S. barring Chinese tech firms from defense contracts. Third-country firms are also banned from transferring Chinese dual-use goods to the blacklisted Americans. Beijing framed it as defending national security against Washington's "wrongful expansion" of its Chinese Military Companies list.
Mediators Qatar and Pakistan said the concluded Swiss talks were "positive and constructive," establishing a High Level Committee to provide political oversight and working groups on nuclear issues and sanctions. Negotiators reported an immediate commencement of technical talks, with discussions continuing this week. The framework is meant to keep both sides talking and avoid a flashpoint after Iran's earlier move on the Strait of Hormuz nearly derailed the process.
A new study of 17 tyrannosaur specimens — the most complete T. rex life history ever assembled — concludes the king of carnivores took roughly four decades to hit its full eight-ton size, far longer than the prior estimate of about age 25. Researchers used advanced statistics and special-light bone slices to reveal hidden growth rings missed before. The slow climb to adulthood means young T. rex likely competed against smaller predators for years.
Scientists report that tropical Heliconius butterflies have evolved extraordinarily long lifespans — Heliconius hewitsoni reached 348 days versus just 14 days for a close relative, a stunning 25-fold gap. The insects show lower baseline mortality and little detectable age-related decline, a trick linked to their unique habit of feeding on pollen for amino acids in adulthood. Even without pollen, the extended lifespan persisted, suggesting both diet and deeper evolved mechanisms are at play.
A Seattle neighborhood landed in the record books by gathering 830 people to eat dim sum together at once, setting a new Guinness World Record for the world's largest dim sum gathering. It's the kind of joyful, low-stakes community spectacle that proves you can break a world record with little more than dumplings and a big enough table. Organizers turned a neighborhood get-together into international bragging rights.
