Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Republicans in advancing a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through the midterm elections, averting an imminent shutdown. The deal was negotiated by the top appropriators on both sides, though GOP senators say Schumer didn't get much out of it — Sen. John Kennedy said he thinks he won but just delayed the inevitable. The fiscal year ends September 30, so the clock is already ticking again.
The Senate adjourned for its August recess without passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, Trump's signature election integrity legislation requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote. Every Senate Democrat voted against a voter ID amendment despite Schumer having said on record that Democrats support voter ID — the measure got 52 of the 60 votes needed. With midterms months away, analysts say it is now too late to implement the law before Election Day.
President Trump said Sunday the U.S. is taking a quieter approach to Iran, letting mounting economic sanctions do the heavy lifting rather than escalating militarily. Vice President Vance backed the posture, saying the U.S. is in the "middle of the game" on negotiations and hinting a Hormuz deal could come. Trump signaled patience, noting Tehran is running out of money.
Republican confidence heading into November is climbing, fueled by a Democratic primary landscape in chaos — DSA-backed insurgents have ousted establishment House incumbents in multiple races, exposing a sharp left-vs-center split. Trump is reportedly pressing his team for a clear list of legislative wins to campaign on. Strategists say the fracture on the left could be the gift that keeps giving through fall.
Iran's National Security Council Secretary released a formal list of demands the U.S. must satisfy before Tehran reopens the Strait of Hormuz — including lifting all sanctions, paying war damages, unfreezing Iranian assets, and withdrawing U.S. naval forces from the region. Iran's Foreign Minister added there will be no direct talks with Washington until all demands are met. The sweeping ultimatum goes far beyond mere shipping mechanics, tying commercial passage to total geopolitical concessions.
The leaders of three major Muslim-majority nations gathered in Mecca Friday to sign a mutual defense pact committing each country to treat an attack on any one of them as an attack on all three. The agreement pools Saudi Arabia's oil wealth, Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, and Turkey's NATO-scale military under one framework. Officials called the deal purely defensive and said it is open to other regional powers who wish to join.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev marked the first anniversary of the Trump-brokered Washington Peace Summit, crediting the U.S. president directly with ending three decades of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Aliyev said U.S.-Azerbaijani relations are now at their highest point in 34 years. The deal has held through a year of significant regional turbulence.
In a world first, teleoperated humanoid robots successfully completed two laparoscopic gallbladder surgeries on pigs in a UC San Diego preclinical trial published in the journal Nature. Unlike bulky fixed surgical systems, these five-foot mobile machines used standard surgical tools in an OR designed for humans — one trial featured two robots working as a coordinated team. Researchers say the technology could eventually bring specialist surgical care to rural clinics and remote field hospitals.
A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage made an unplanned crash landing on the lunar surface this week, impacting at roughly 5,400 miles per hour. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called it an unintentional but rare research opportunity, noting the new crater could yield useful data on lunar geology and space debris dynamics. The incident is reigniting a broader conversation about human-made junk accumulating in cislunar space.
A Spider-Man film screening was reportedly evacuated this month after an audience member's intestinal gas release overwhelmed the theater, according to Fox News odd news coverage. No injuries were reported — beyond the obvious assault on everyone's dignity. The culprit was apparently not identified, which somehow makes the whole thing worse.
