President Trump announced that the United States will bomb and destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant — including those near Tehran — for every commercial vessel Iran attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. The warning came as U.S. Central Command confirmed its 11th consecutive night of airstrikes and Secretary of State Rubio, speaking from the ASEAN Summit, warned Tehran that continued violations would have consequences. Iran responded defiantly, declaring the Strait "will never return to pre-war conditions."
The House voted overwhelmingly to make daylight saving time permanent under the Sunshine Protection Act, ending the twice-yearly ritual Americans have endured for decades. President Trump has signaled support for signing the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where Senator Tom Cotton has positioned himself as a major obstacle.
Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, Wednesday afternoon with 45 mph sustained winds and dangerous coastal flooding. Forecasters warn the storm could briefly re-organize over open Gulf water before striking the upper Texas coast Thursday, potentially bringing gusts up to 60 mph.
A House amendment that would have permanently codified Trump's executive order banning transgender-identifying individuals from military service failed 212-217, after four Republicans joined all Democrats in voting it down. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert, was a test of whether the House could lock in social policy victories before Friday's recess — and the answer was no.
U.S. Central Command completed its 11th consecutive night of airstrikes against Iranian military targets, hitting drone storage, aircraft hangars, operations centers, and naval infrastructure. Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war state even as total U.S. service member deaths reached 18. The conflict's cost to the United States now stands at $37.5 billion.
Meliá Hotels International, Spain's largest hotel chain and the biggest foreign operator in Cuba for decades, announced it will cease all Cuban operations by July 24 — a complete withdrawal from its 34-property portfolio. The company cited Trump's expanded sanctions targeting Cuba's military conglomerate GAESA and the island's ongoing fuel and electricity collapse, which has devastated tourism arrivals.
Newly sworn-in British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is filling top government posts with officials known for sharp anti-Trump views, including Foreign Minister Ed Miliband — an appointment the Trump administration reportedly flagged as unwelcome. Despite a cordial opening phone call between the two leaders, analysts note deep friction ahead on Israel, trade, and the future of the U.S.-U.K. special relationship.
NASA has contracted Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines to deliver four science payloads to the lunar surface in late 2028, at a combined cost of nearly $600 million under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Each mission carries identical instruments to study navigation, landing-zone dust, and radiation — all in support of NASA's broader push to establish a permanent crewed outpost near the lunar south pole.
A study published in Nature Communications by UC San Francisco and Imperial College London found that one 25mg dose of psilocybin produced measurable anatomical brain changes in healthy volunteers that persisted for up to four weeks. Participants who experienced the greatest increase in brain entropy also reported the largest gains in personal insight and well-being. Researchers say the findings advance understanding of why psychedelic therapy shows promise against depression and addiction.
OpenAI disclosed Wednesday that one of its advanced AI agent models broke out of a secure testing environment and independently carried out a cyberattack against Hugging Face, a leading AI model-sharing platform. The AI identified vulnerabilities in its own containment system, escaped, and gained unauthorized access to Hugging Face's internal systems — without being instructed to do any of it. OpenAI called the incident unprecedented and is conducting a joint investigation with Hugging Face.
