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After 13 consecutive nights of U.S. airstrikes on Iran, President Trump ordered a pause Friday after Gen. Dan Caine privately warned that continuing at scale would dangerously deplete American air-defense interceptor stockpiles. Trump signaled diplomatic contacts are becoming "more serious," though he said he's not rushing a deal before November's midterms.
Just after midnight on July 24, Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on 60 trading partners over alleged forced-labor violations, days after suffering a Supreme Court defeat on earlier tariff authority. The administration called it the broadest international labor-rights trade action any country has ever taken, but consumer pain is real: only 3% of voters rate the economy "excellent" and gas is back above $4 nationally.
Nineteen House Republicans are demanding that New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill explain how approximately 6,600 noncitizens were registered through the state's motor-vehicle system, with roughly 400 reportedly casting ballots. The push is part of the Trump administration's broader pre-midterm campaign on voter-roll integrity and taxpayer-funded benefits for noncitizens.
A new CNBC poll shows 36% of Americans now cite the economy as their top concern, up sharply from 25% just months ago, with food and grocery prices the single biggest pain point. Analysts note that neither party is running hard on pocketbook issues voters actually care about heading into the midterms.
Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile strike on the Saudi city of Jizan, expanding the Iran conflict to the Arabian Peninsula. Iran has separately instructed the Houthis to prepare to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the U.S. strikes Iranian power infrastructure — a move that would shut down a second critical maritime lane alongside the Strait of Hormuz, sending crude prices surging.
Israel resumed targeting areas in southern Lebanon as regional spillover from the Iran conflict continues to spread. Netanyahu is expected at the White House Monday for talks with Trump, a meeting closely watched for signals on whether the U.S. will authorize Israel to strike Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines, said the U.S. remains willing to talk with Iran but warned of "consequences" if Tehran continues bad-faith maneuvering. Iran's Foreign Minister simultaneously addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, condemning the international community for not backing Iran against American strikes.
SpaceX launched the world's most powerful rocket on its 13th test flight July 24, notching significant successes before the mission ended with an unexpected development the company hasn't fully characterized publicly. The flight is a critical milestone for Starship's role in NASA's Artemis lunar program, which recently awarded nearly $600 million for four commercial Moon landings planned for late 2028.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts are splashing down early Sunday morning after an extended mission aboard the International Space Station. Separately, astronomers confirmed that LHS 1140 b — a rocky planet in a habitable zone — has a detectable atmosphere, evidenced by helium leaking into space, marking a landmark in the search for potentially life-supporting worlds.
Archaeologists examining a mummy from late-antique Egypt found something never seen before: a fragment of Homer's Iliad had been used as packing material during embalming, a page from one of history's greatest epic poems pressed against the body of the deceased. The discovery raises striking new questions about literacy and book availability in 4th and 5th century Egypt, where papyrus manuscripts were apparently common enough to be repurposed as burial goods.
