US forces launched strikes on Iranian targets Friday after an IRGC drone hit the Singapore-flagged cargo carrier M/V Ever Lovely as it exited the Strait of Hormuz, with President Trump calling it a "foolish violation" of the fragile ceasefire. Central Command said US aircraft hit Iranian missile and drone storage sites along with coastal radar installations. Trump said Iran fired at least four one-way attack drones at ships transiting the strait, one of which struck the vessel's upper deck.
Former national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty Friday to one count of retaining national defense information, telling the court "and I am sorry for it." Prosecutors dropped the other 17 counts from his October indictment as part of the deal. He faces up to five years in prison and a $2.25 million fine, with sentencing set for October 28.
The White House Religious Liberty Commission released its 224-page draft report Friday afternoon, arguing the country should replace strict separation of church and state with the idea of building bridges between them. It calls for the Justice Department to push an "originalist" view of religion in government and to scrap the Johnson Amendment that bars churches from endorsing candidates. The commission, created by Trump last year, also recommends "Know Your Rights" posters and hotlines for religious liberty complaints.
Wall Street closed mixed Friday in a global tech sell-off, with the Nasdaq down 0.5% to 25,358.6 and the S&P 500 essentially flat at 7,357.49, while the Dow edged up 0.1% to 51,920.62. Investors fretted over mounting costs tied to data centers and a report that one major tech firm may delay its IPO to next year. Chip stocks led the decline amid the broader volatility.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the State Department on Friday to sign a trilateral framework under which Israel will hand two "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon back to the Lebanese army. The withdrawal is tied not to a fixed timetable but to measurable progress disarming Hezbollah. Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed the deal as a "major blow to Iran" while stressing Israeli forces stay in their security zone until disarmament is complete.
Days after twin magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 quakes struck Yaracuy state, Venezuela's death toll climbed toward 1,000 Friday, with more than 4,500 injured and tens of thousands still unaccounted for. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a nationwide state of emergency as rescue teams from Mexico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic arrived. Authorities cut the gas supply in Caracas to prevent explosions in collapsed buildings.
A brutal heat wave continued to bake France, Spain, the UK and Germany Friday, with France having broken 224 all-time local temperature records during the event and Spain reporting more than 200 heat-related deaths in four days. French grid operator Enedis said roughly 50,000 customers lost power on Friday as the system strained under the heat. Forecasters warned the dangerous conditions would push into central Europe through early next week.
Astronomers unveiled RAD-BAARG, a radio galaxy with an arc-like structure stretching nearly 1.8 million light-years, first noticed by a citizen scientist during a weekend online class run by India's RAD@home network. The object appears to be falling supersonically into a galaxy cluster, ploughing up a glowing bow shock of radio plasma. Scientists call it one of the clearest direct views ever of a phenomenon theorized for decades but rarely observed.
A new study in Geophysical Research Letters from the University of New Hampshire finds that in the hours and days after a solar storm, parts of North America see sharp drops in rain and snowfall — and stronger storms produce bigger effects. Researchers combined 67 years of space-weather records with atmospheric data and anomaly mapping to draw the link. Summer and winter storms appeared to suppress precipitation more than those in spring and fall.
After nearly two weeks loose in the Texas Hill Country, a 3-year-old giraffe named Gracie was spotted from a helicopter Friday morning about four miles south of her ranch near Leakey. The Real County Sheriff's Office said owner Vick Jones is assembling a veterinary team to safely capture her and bring her home. Sheriff Nathan Johnson summed up her condition simply: "She's fat and happy."
