The Republican National Committee kicks off an unprecedented two-day midterm convention today at the American Airlines Center, with more than 100 speakers and programming items on the schedule. Trump is now expected to speak both nights alongside Vice President JD Vance, with night one built around tax cuts, health care costs, border security and manufacturing. A Politico canvass found 45 of roughly 70 GOP candidates and members surveyed are skipping or undecided — including New Hampshire's John Sununu.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied Missouri's emergency application to revive the Trump-backed congressional map, acting alone without referring it to the full Court. That leaves the Missouri Supreme Court's September 3 ruling intact — the 2022 map governs the November 3 election, and the new plan goes to a statewide referendum. Missouri had argued the reversal creates a "federal-election-administration disaster" since the August primary already ran under the new lines.
Republican John E. Sununu crushed former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown with 69.6 percent to take the GOP nomination Tuesday. On the Democratic side, Rep. Chris Pappas beat progressive challenger Karishma Manzur, keeping the establishment lane. The winner replaces retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in a race Inside Elections recently moved toward toss-up.
Brent crude pushed above 100 dollars a barrel for the first time in six weeks and US benchmark crude cleared 95, driven by the fighting around the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel has stayed above 5 dollars a gallon since July 15, putting 2026 on track to be the most expensive diesel year in US history — and diesel is what moves freight, farming and delivery. The national gasoline average sits at 4.11 a gallon, and polling has Trump's marks on cost of living in the mid-20s heading into the midterms.
CENTCOM says American forces destroyed five Iranian Revolutionary Guard oil tankers Tuesday after Iran twice targeted a US Navy warship — bringing the week's total to ten vessels in what the Pentagon calls a multibillion-dollar "shadow network." Iran answered by firing roughly twenty ballistic missiles toward a US base in Jordan; Jordanian air defenses intercepted eighteen and the other two fell in empty ground. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's line: every time they try it, they lose tankers.
Iran-backed Houthi forces struck an air base at Khamis Mushait plus oil facilities in Abha, Najran and Jazan, injuring 73 people with no reported deaths. Jazan hosts one of Saudi Arabia's largest refineries — meaning a second major oil chokepoint is now in play alongside Hormuz. Riyadh called it a "dangerous escalation" and promised to strike back at the source of the threat.
Britain, Canada, France, Spain and eight others jointly declared they will restrict trade in goods from West Bank settlements, citing settler violence and the E1 project tenders. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the British measures "antisemitic" and retaliated by closing the UK's Jerusalem consulate and expelling British aid workers. Rubio said Washington "obviously" will not join.
New Hubble observations reveal a decagon — a ten-sided geometric cloud boundary — wrapped around Saturn's south pole. That mirrors the famous hexagon at the north pole, first seen in Voyager data back in 1987. Scientists think the straight edges come from waves forming where fast-moving mid-latitude gas grinds against slower polar air.
The Washington-state company completed the initial close of a 1 billion dollar Series E co-led by Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital, pushing total capital raised to about 2.3 billion. Both stages of its Nova rocket are designed to fly back and be reused — a bet aimed squarely at SpaceX. First orbital flight of Nova Pathfinder has slipped to early 2027, with the bigger Block 2 targeted for 2029.
Ground-penetrating radar in Roskilde, Denmark, turned up St. Clare's Convent — a massive medieval complex lost for centuries — sitting barely three feet beneath a working soccer pitch. The survey was routine prep work for an underground parking garage. Generations of Danes have been playing pickup matches on top of it without a clue.
