The U.S. is now striking Iran at its heaviest rate since the war began, with officials saying the operation is leaning toward expanding — options on the table include seizing Kharg Island and bombing the buried Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site. President Trump confirmed Thursday he is open to eliminating Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps the same way his first administration dismantled ISIS, saying "yeah, we will see what's happening" when asked directly. Military planners say the current bombing tempo is consistent with "preparing the battlefield" for a larger operation.
The House Budget Committee convened Thursday to mark up a budget resolution enabling a third Republican reconciliation bill — a $95 billion package covering $73 billion for defense and intelligence, $10 billion in voter ID and election integrity grants, and $12 billion in farm aid. Leadership is targeting a House floor vote before the August recess, but House-Senate distrust is already a problem, with conservatives warning the Senate will gut provisions like the SAVE America Act before a final bill reaches the president.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a pointed statement Thursday demanding ICE carry out enforcement operations without fatal shootings, nine days after a 52-year-old Mexican construction worker was shot and killed during a vehicle stop in Houston. The agents involved were not wearing body cameras; both the DHS Inspector General and the Texas Rangers are investigating. Abbott's rebuke carries particular weight given his staunch support for immigration enforcement throughout the Trump era.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz drew new fire Thursday after Fox News reported he offered an unusual public defense of his decision to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. The pardon, granted in June by Walz and the state Board of Pardons citing the man's "immigration concerns," was meant to block his deportation — but Secretary of State Marco Rubio deported him anyway, calling the clemency an abuse of executive power.
Iran has signaled it will target the energy infrastructure of neighboring Arab states if U.S. military operations continue — a potential new front that could pull Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states directly into the conflict. Iran has already struck U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan; Thursday's threat expands the target list. American forces also disabled an Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island as the naval blockade tightens its grip.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday there are "no immediate prospects" for resuming peace negotiations with Ukraine, even as Kyiv's foreign minister said Ukraine has concrete proposals and suggested Turkey as a summit venue for Zelensky and Putin. Adding to the concern, President Zelensky warned that Russian shelling has severed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the main power grid, leaving Europe's largest nuclear facility running entirely on diesel generators.
The European Union staged an unprecedented single-day expansion push Thursday, advancing formal membership negotiations with Albania, Montenegro, Moldova, and Ukraine simultaneously. Brussels opened or closed negotiating chapters with all four countries at once — a deliberate signal of intent to grow the bloc eastward. Full membership for any of the four remains years away, but Thursday's coordinated session was the fastest collective movement toward EU enlargement in a generation.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created SpudCell, a synthetic cell assembled entirely from nonliving chemical components that can grow, replicate its own DNA, divide, feed itself, and pass traits to daughter cells — the first synthetic system to complete a full biological cell cycle. The team says the milestone proves life requires no mysterious ingredient, only chemistry, though SpudCell cannot yet survive outside controlled lab conditions. Scientists say the implications for medicine and our understanding of life's origins are profound.
The summer cyclosporiasis outbreak has expanded to 31 states, with Michigan alone reporting over 2,600 confirmed cases and 44 hospitalizations linked to the intestinal parasite traced to contaminated bagged lettuce and salad greens. Public health experts are now warning that pools and splash pads may also be helping spread the waterborne parasite, adding a new layer of concern as summer outdoor season peaks. The CDC has issued a formal health alert to doctors nationwide and is advising consumers to skip bagged salad mixes entirely.
Kaitlyn Tracey, a 33-year-old Canadian national, allegedly walked up to a teenager on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk in New Jersey and slapped her twice — once in the body, once in the face — for wearing pants bearing the words "Trump" and "ICE." Police arrested Tracey on assault and child endangerment charges, then turned her over to federal immigration authorities, who transferred her to Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility. She now faces both criminal charges and potential immigration consequences for the encounter.
