What happened

The US-Saudi nuclear cooperation agreement signed this week was thrown into uncertainty on Thursday after President Donald Trump said the deal would depend on Saudi Arabia establishing diplomatic ties with Israel. In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned that the agreement allowing Riyadh to pursue civilian nuclear power using U.S. technology was “totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” the initiative that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states during his first term. The condition was not specified when the deal was announced.

Who said what

Trump’s White House “had faced down considerable political opposition to push forward with the Saudi deal,” said The Washington Post. By highlighting caveats to the agreement, Trump is “responding to two of the bigger criticisms: that it could open the door to nuclear enrichment and that Washington gave up leverage to push a peace deal with Israel,” said Axios.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the new condition as a “historic leap for peace.” Saudi officials have previously resisted linking nuclear cooperation to recognition of Israel.

What next?

“It is unclear,” said CNN, what “impact Trump’s social media missive will have on the signed agreement,” which is expected to be submitted to Congress for review.

What happened

Vance Boelter, the man who assassinated former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband at their home last summer, was sentenced on Thursday to two life terms plus 40 years in prison. Boelter, 59, who also shot and critically injured state Sen. John A. Hoffman (D) and his wife, pleaded guilty last month to federal charges “so federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty,” said The Associated Press.

Who said what

Boelter’s attacks “raised nationwide alarm” about “rising political violence,” said The Washington Post. His is the “longest sentence I have imposed,” said Judge John Tunheim, but “I do believe it is deserved.”

“No sentence can do justice for the horrific and unconscionable acts this monster perpetrated,” members of the Hoffman family said in a statement to The Minnesota Star Tribune. We must “start leading with kindness in grace in our public dialogue.”

What next?

With his federal case over, Boelter “will soon face accountability in a Hennepin County courtroom” on state charges, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. Boelter is scheduled to appear in court on August 3.

What happened

Undeterred by Supreme Court rulings rejecting his tariff regime, President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a new workaround to continue taxing foreign imports. Under the new scheme, which replaces an expiring near-blanket 10% duty, the United States will introduce new tariffs of 12.5% on goods from trading partners, including China and Japan, that have allegedly failed to impose or enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor. Those deemed to have taken steps against forced labor, such as the United Kingdom and the European Union, qualify for a lower 10% rate. Goods from the 60 affected trading partners make up 99.4% of U.S. imports.

Who said what

“The real message here that everyone needs to take away is the president is going to always use the tools at his disposal to achieve his trade policy objectives,” a White House official told CNN. But “Trump’s new tariffs are angering voters,” said Politico. This latest move will only serve to “aggravate Americans who were already blaming the tariffs for stubborn inflation ahead of a midterm election dominated by economic issues.”

Trump has also “once again inspired anger and confusion in U.S. allies and trading partners,” said The Guardian. Many officials argued that the “rationale was hard to swallow.”

What next?

The tariffs are expected to face fresh legal challenges and risk in-kind retaliation. “Everything is on the table,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said after meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts on Thursday to discuss a response.

What happened

French professional model recruiter Daniel Siad, who introduced Jeffrey Epstein to young women and teenage girls, was found dead in his home near Paris, French prosecutors said Wednesday. Siad’s name “appears more than 2,000 times” in the Justice Department’s Epstein files, which also document the deceased Epstein paying him “tens of thousands of dollars,” CNN said.

Who said what

Siad, 69, had been the “subject of special investigative techniques,” including phone taps, as part of an ongoing investigation of Epstein-related human trafficking and tax fraud, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. But nothing had “produced evidence justifying his immediate arrest.”

The Epstein files exposed not only the sex offender’s “cozy relationships with high-profile and powerful” people, The Washington Post said, but also a “network of lesser-known associates — including those from the modeling industry — who offered to bring women into his orbit,” often via “crude and sexualized” emails in which the “purpose of the introduction was not explicitly stated.” Siad is the “second man publicly linked to Epstein who has died in France,” Reuters said, after modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who was “found hanged in his prison cell in 2022.”

What next?

Siad died of a heart attack, his lawyer Ménya Arab-Tigrine told Reuters, though “we must await the autopsy results to confirm.”

What happened

More than 1,000 people have died of Ebola in Congo, in the fastest-growing outbreak on record, African health officials said Wednesday. Congo’s Ministry of Health said 2,536 cases have been reported since this outbreak was declared May 15. There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak.

Who said what

“These are people dying” because “we don’t have vaccines, we don’t have medicine, we don’t have funding,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a health summit in Ghana. In the worst outbreak to date, which killed more than 11,000 people between 2013 and 2016, it “took about eight months from the first case to reach 1,000 deaths,” The Associated Press said. The current outbreak in Congo appears to be “spreading faster than health officials can track it.”

What next?

An Ebola vaccine from Merck licensed to target the Zaire virus could also offer some protection against the Bundibugyo species, according to a paper published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The World Health Organization has “expressed lukewarm support” for testing the vaccine in Congo, Stat News said, but Bundibugyo-specific vaccines are “still months away” from clinical trials.

What happened

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on Thursday morning said they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, enforcing a threatened blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb waterway that Saudi Arabia has been using to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The attack “threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy” as the U.S. and Iran “vie for control of vital shipping lanes,” The Associated Press said. Both sides have also “increasingly threatened civilian infrastructure.”

The U.S. conducted a 12th night of airstrikes against Iran, which fired at U.S. allies in the region. Along with striking U.S. military bases, Iran has also hit several CIA sites, prompting U.S. intelligence to “investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or ​advanced drone technology,” Reuters said.

Who said what

President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened on social media to “destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT” in Iran every time Tehran “shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran will respond in kind with an “eye for an eye” defense against the U.S. and its enablers. “Current and former military officials caution it isn’t lawful to strike an adversary’s infrastructure for political purposes,” The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

Trump is considering “both a ceasefire and a significant military escalation” in Iran, Axios said. The Pentagon is “surging forces, medics and weaponry to the Middle East,” suggesting “Trump is considering escalating the conflict,” the Journal said.

What happened

President Donald Trump has approved a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could open the door to uranium enrichment inside the kingdom, The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday night. The 30-year agreement is “designed to give American companies a central role” in developing Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear infrastructure, the Journal said. But it’s “certain to prove controversial” among U.S. allies and lawmakers opposed to the “spread of nuclear technology in the volatile Middle East.”

Who said what

The nuclear cooperation agreement “has been under discussion for years,” The New York Times said. Trump dropped a Biden administration stipulation that the Saudis first normalize relations with Israel, and to “get the deal done with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” he “had to agree to terms that may limit international inspectors” from visiting sites “they think could be a pathway to diverting fuel to weapons projects.” Bin Salman has vowed to build nuclear weapons if Iran does.

The White House argues that the U.S. role “would ensure enrichment remains peaceful,” the Journal said. But if the Saudis can enrich uranium, so “goes the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt,” Henry Sokolski of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center told the Journal. “The idea that this will have a happy ending is delusional.”

What next?

U.S. and Saudi officials are expected to sign the accord on Wednesday.

What happened

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s Iran war had cost an estimated $37.5 billion so far, and that the $67 billion in supplemental war funding he was requesting is an “urgent, necessary” stopgap as Congress debates Trump’s $1.5 trillion annual Pentagon budget request. Hegseth faced “fiery questions” during the “combative Senate Appropriations Committee hearing,” The Associated Press said. And the scrutiny was “bipartisan,” The Washington Post said, as “frustrated lawmakers” pressed him to “explain the Trump administration’s strategy for the war” amid “renewed hostilities.”

Who said what

Hegseth’s appearance “represented an attempt by the administration to sell the unpopular conflict as a necessary expense,” Politico said. But Senate Democrats “questioned both the success of the war so far and the need for more military money, citing $75 billion in unused funds” from last year’s huge GOP-only spending package. “The problem is not a lack of money, but poor planning,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told Hegseth. “This war is now spiraling out of control again,” and Trump is “asking for $70 billion more — and for us to just trust him it’ll all work out fine.”

What next?

The House plans to quit Washington on Thursday “for a month-long recess,” the Post said, “leaving any deal on military funding weeks away at the earliest.”

What happened

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday dismissed the country’s top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, and replaced him with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi. The switch “comes amid ongoing mass protests” that erupted across Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s ouster last week of “popular reformist” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had clashed with Syrskyi, The Kyiv Independent said.

Demonstrators said Zelenskyy should have sacked Syrskyi instead when he picked sides in the dispute. Drapatyi, the widely respected commander of day-to-day combat operations, had publicly backed Fedorov.

Who said what

Fedorov had “emphasized the strategic importance of new military technology, particularly drones,” CNN said, and his “six-month tenure as defense minister coincided with Ukraine’s recent success on the battlefield” and in damaging Russia. Syrskyi, by contrast, was widely seen as a “Soviet-school commander reluctant to implement radical changes in the army,” the BBC said.

As the protests swelled, “it became clear” that for many Ukrainians, Fedorov “embodied a tech-driven path to victory that might spare lives,” while “Syrskyi had come to represent the darkest, most punishing realities” of the war, The New York Times said. The clash of visions fueled “concerns that the national unity that had helped the country survive nearly five years of war was in danger of fracturing.”

What next?

After meeting with Fedorov on Tuesday, Zelenskyy “offered him what he called a respected position in the government,” The Associated Press said. It “wasn’t clear if Fedorov accepted,” but he congratulated Drapatyi, calling his promotion a “new hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice.”

What happened

Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham took office Monday as the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister in 10 years, vowing that his government would be a “circuit breaker” after a series of “wrong turns” by successive leaders since the 1980s. “I know people at home are fed up with politics,” Burnham said in a speech outside No. 10 Downing Street shortly after King Charles III officially appointed him prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation. “We need to be better. We will be.”

Who said what

Burnham “wasted no time” showing there’s “much more to him than the friendly, folksy image he’s cultivated in public by swiftly banishing Keir Starmer’s closest allies from the Cabinet,” Politico said. The “biggest surprise” was Burnham’s appointment of former defense secretary John Healey as chancellor of the exchequer, putting the U.K. Treasury in a “safe pair of hands” as he moves to decentralize power from London, re-industrialize the country and unwind the privatization of key utilities. The new prime minister also named Ed Miliband as foreign secretary and kept Shabana Mahmood as home secretary, signaling he’s “largely backing her efforts to crack down on legal and illegal migration,” The New York Times said.

What next?

Burnham said he was working on a 10-year plan for Britain and on Tuesday would unveil some initial measures “to give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living.” He also pledged to end “rough sleeping,” or homelessness.

What happened

A federal judge in California on Monday paused Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, agreeing with 12 states that the merger of two of Hollywood’s remaining five major movie studios could run afoul of antitrust laws. The combined company would also amalgamate CBS, CNN, HBO Max, Paramount+ and dozens of cable channels. The “pause will last only 14 days,” said The New York Times. But in her ruling, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín “raised the prospect of a much longer delay.”

Who said what

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, hailed the ruling as a “critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day,” he said in a statement. Paramount said the lawsuit’s “antitrust arguments are without merit” and it would “vigorously defend” its “lawful, pro-competitive” merger. Along with the dozen states, the merger is being challenged in court by a group of consumers, the Writers Guild of America and Paramount shareholders.

What next?

Martínez-Olguín said in her order she would consider issuing a longer injunction at an Aug. 3 hearing. Any lengthy delay in the merger, which had been set to be completed as soon as Tuesday, would “have huge financial costs for Paramount,” NPR said. Starting Oct. 1, it has to pay Warner shareholders “roughly $650 million for every 90 days the deal is set back.”

What happened

President Donald Trump on Monday signed proclamations imposing 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports, claiming that America’s second-largest trading partner has unfairly discriminated against U.S. cars, alcohol and dairy products. The tariffs, set to take effect in 30 days, rely on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which has never been used to levy import duties and is untested in court. Some products, like energy, would be exempt, but the new tax will apply to goods that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, the White House said in a fact sheet.

Who said what

The new tariffs “could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations” with Canada, The Associated Press said. A senior administration official “said that Canada was one of the only nations other than China that retaliated against Trump’s previous tariffs and must be held accountable.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that “Canada, as is its right,” had “merely matched” Trump’s tariffs, but his country “stands ready to engage intensively” to address a “trade dispute” that “has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S.”

What next?

The new tariffs would apply to nearly $20 billion of Canadian goods, the White House said, or roughly 5.2% of Canadian imports last year. But Trump’s “invocation of 338 is the nuclear option,” threatening all U.S. trading partners and injecting “massive uncertainty” into the global economy, Cato Institute economist Scott Lincicome said to the AP. “We crossed the Rubicon.”

What happened

U.S. Marshals arrested controversial “manosphere” influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate in Florida on Saturday after British prosecutors said they had filed 38 new criminal charges against the brothers. Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said the Tates, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, now face a total of 59 charges, including rape, assault, sex trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child.” They were arrested “pursuant to extradition proceedings,” a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson told NPR.

Who said what

The arrest of the Tate brothers, whose “social media empire” promotes “wealth, male dominance and misogyny,” puts the U.S. “at the center of an international legal saga,” The Associated Press said. In 2024, British police “secured European arrest warrants for the pair to have them returned from Romania, where they are based and are under criminal investigation,” the BBC said. But after what Romania said was intervention from the Trump administration, the Tates were allowed to fly to Florida last year.

What next?

The brothers are expected to appear before a magistrate judge in Miami on Monday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make the “ultimate decision” about whether to order their extradition, the AP said, but the State Department has “granted nearly every British request since ratifying a strengthened extradition treaty in 2007.”

What happened

Spain beat defending champions Argentina 1-0 on Sunday to win its second World Cup title, with Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal in the 106th minute. Spanish captain Rodri was crowned the Golden Ball winner as best player, while goalkeeper Unai Simón won the Golden Glove after conceding just one goal during Spain’s eight games. The Golden Boot went to France’s Kylian Mbappé, whose 10 goals in the tournament edged out the eight scored by Argentinian star Lionel Messi.

Who said what

Spain was so good, not even an “absolute icon” like Messi “had any answers” amid its “airtight defense,” The Associated Press said. Messi “has put in some of the great World Cup performances,” The Athletic said, but his final international match “was not even within a million miles of being one of them,” and “Argentina had nothing else.” Only a “near-perfect game” by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez “kept this from being a laugher,” Nancy Armour said at USA Today.

What next?

President Donald Trump, who was “loudly booed as he entered the field after the match” to hand out medals, is “already seeking an opportunity to host” the next World Cup, The Washington Post said. But the 2030 men’s tournament “will be primarily co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, and Saudi Arabia is widely expected to host the 2034 competition.” Next year’s Women’s World Cup is in Brazil.

What happened

The U.S. military early Monday morning completed a ninth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iranian targets, and Iran again fired missiles and drones at Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. The Pentagon said a U.S. service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone, and human remains were found at a military base in Jordan hit by Iranian strikes last week. That attack killed two U.S. troops, and if the remains are confirmed to be a soldier missing since the strikes, the U.S. death toll from the Iran war will be 18. Iran said U.S. strikes had killed at least 50 people since a ceasefire collapsed this month.

Who said what

The U.S. hit Iran “very hard again” throughout the night “in honor of” the “great patriots” killed, Trump told reporters. “We feel very badly,” but “those great people” were “fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Iran has been “stepping up” its strikes on Jordan “as it seeks to produce American casualties and deter Washington from escalating its test of wills with Tehran,” The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

“Even larger American attacks may be coming” as “more U.S. warplanes head to the Middle East,” the Journal said. “The U.S. is planning for a wider war,” a U.S. official told The Washington Post, but with dwindling munitions stockpiles and growing battle damage, “we do not have enough to safely sustain operations, and I don’t think the White House is aware of that.”

What happened

U.S. health officials have linked an ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak to iceberg lettuce from Mexico that was sent to Taco Bell locations across five states. The supplier has not been officially named, but “two individuals familiar with the inquiry” told The Washington Post the company is Taylor Farms. At least 1,645 cases of the parasitic infection, which can cause explosive diarrhea, have been confirmed as of Friday, most of them in Michigan.

Who said what

“Do not eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia,” the CDC said in a statement. Taco Bell itself has “taken immediate action” to “indefinitely” remove the lettuce from its nationwide supply chain, the company said in a press release.

What next?

The FDA said it had “increased screening at the border” for the “implicated” products and is working with the supplier to figure out if any contaminated lettuce remains on the market. Taylor Farms is “one of the largest producers of fresh lettuce and vegetables in the country,” serving many leading restaurant chains, The New York Times said. “Additional implicated brands, restaurants, retailers, or distribution channels” may yet emerge, the FDA warned.

What happened

President Donald Trump repeated his longstanding grievances about the security of the American voting system in a primetime speech Thursday. The president claimed, without evidence, that mail-in ballots are “inherently corrupt”; voting machines are “easily compromised”; China interfered with the 2020 elections; and 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote. He called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would severely tighten ID rules for voters.

Who said what

These “unsubstantiated claims” are based on “incomplete” data with “no underlying evidence,” Bloomberg said. “All we got is more rehashed, debunked conspiracy theories,” David Becker of The Center for Election Innovation & Research told CBS News. The speech comes as Republicans are “facing the prospect of losing one or both chambers of Congress in ​November,” Reuters said.

What next?

The SAVE America Act “lacks the necessary support” to clear the Senate, NBC News said, but House Republicans want to “force the bill through” without Democratic support by weaving parts of it into a new reconciliation bill. It’s “far from clear” this legislation “will have enough support to pass,” The New York Times said.

What happened

Canadian wildfires have sent “massive plumes” of smoke “pouring over the border” into the U.S., CNN said. The combination of wildfires in Ontario and a “heat dome in the central U.S. spells smoky trouble,” with dangerous air quality for “more than 120 million people in the Midwest and Northeast.”

Who said what

In cities including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis and Toronto, air quality readings “surged to levels so dangerous” that one public health expert warned “nobody should spend time outside,” The New York Times said. Sensors across the upper Midwest on Thursday recorded the “worst air quality in North America,” with Chicago reportedly having the worst in the world.

The smoke “arrived in force,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Steven Freitag told The Associated Press. “It’s really pretty extreme levels.” And air in coastal cities like New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., was also at “unhealthy levels,” said the Times.

What next?

The Midwest could “face weeks to months of continued smoke and flare-ups,” depending on wind patterns, said Brent Williams, the head of the University of Minnesota’s Soil, Water and Climate Department, to the AP. Republican lawmakers have meanwhile “threatened punitive action against Canada,” accusing its government of “mismanaging the wildfires,” said the Times. “I will be introducing a bill next week to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) on X.

What happened

More than 100 wildfires are burning out of control in Canada this week, sending plumes of smoke south across the border to blanket parts of the Northeast and Midwest and turning skies orange. Poor air quality triggered health warnings across multiple states including New York, Michigan and Massachusetts. In Canada, Toronto’s air quality briefly registered as the worst of any city in the world.

Who said what

The “primary health concern” with wildfire smoke is fine particulate matter, which can “bypass the body’s defenses” when inhaled, Canadian physician Dr. Farhan M. Asrar said at The Conversation. The “best thing to do” is to keep a close eye on the air quality in your area, Heatmap News said. This summer’s wildfire activity in Canada is “nowhere near the hyperactivity of 2023,” CNN said, but “planet-heating fossil fuel pollution is increasing the chance of prolonged smoke seasons.”

What next?

Forecasters expect air quality to remain poor across the Midwest and Northeast on Thursday and possibly Friday. It’s “too early to determine the weekend outlook,” The Wall Street Journal said.

What happened

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the Pentagon will introduce testosterone screenings for soldiers over the age of 30. The screenings will be available to troops under 30 by request, and any soldier found to have lower testosterone levels will have the option to undergo hormone treatment. The new policy is designed so soldiers “have the right testosterone levels to operate at” their “absolute best,” Hegseth said in a video on X captioned “The High-T Department of War.”

Who said what

The secretary’s messaging “blends known science” on testosterone with “broader and less substantiated claims,” The Associated Press said. The new policy shows the secretary “takes direction from the far corners of the manosphere,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an Air Force veteran, told the AP. Hegseth “did not address” whether the “thousands” of women who “serve in frontline combat roles” would also be “subjected to hormone testing,” Politico said.

What next?

The screenings will be “conducted annually as part of service members’ periodic health assessments,” said Task & Purpose. But Hegseth has not disclosed when the screenings will begin.

What happened

Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, faced five hours of intense questioning on Wednesday from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers during his confirmation hearing. GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas “raised serious questions” about Blanche’s involvement in creating a now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for Trump’s allies, The New York Times said. Democrats “seized on” his oversight of the Justice Department’s “sloppy redactions” in its release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, The Washington Post said. At one point Blanche, currently the acting attorney general, accidentally said he was the president’s lawyer, a “job he had earlier in his career,” Politico said.

Who said what

“President Trump trusts me to give him counsel,” Blanche told Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.). “Counsel does not mean I’m a yes man.” Democrats on ⁠the Judiciary Committee are united in their opposition to Blanche’s appointment, so “even one Republican committee vote against him would be enough to sink the nomination,” the Post said. “I continue to have some concerns,” Cornyn told reporters afterwards. Blanche’s gaffe about still being Trump’s lawyer “could haunt him,” Politico said.

What next?

Several witnesses are expected to testify Thursday about Blanche’s character, including Epstein accuser Liz Oyer, whom Blanche fired from her post as DOJ pardon attorney. The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote on Blanche’s confirmation as early as July 30. Committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said “he’ll be confirmed probably the last week before we go on August recess.”

What happened

China on Tuesday reported “one of its lowest quarterly growth rates in decades,” the Financial Times said. From April to June, the world’s second-largest economy grew just 4.3% compared to the same period last year — below economists’ projections of 4.5% and down from 5% growth in the first quarter.

Who said what

This is a “rare admission of economic weakness for China,” CNN said. Despite “surging exports buoyed by the AI boom,” the country still faces a “weak domestic economy and sluggish consumer spending,” The Wall Street Journal said. “Tensions with trade partners, including the U.S. and the European Union,” also remain, CNBC said. Focusing heavily on exports while domestic demand falters is “really quite unsustainable, to be frank,” Alicia Garcia-Herrero, an economist with financial firm Natixis, told CNN.

What next?

Such “disappointing growth” is likely to fuel calls for government stimulus measures, “including a policy rate cut,” CNBC said. The ruling Communist Party’s policymaking body meets later this month and the “extent of the slowdown will likely dominate the agenda,” said Bloomberg.

What happened

Health officials are investigating whether restaurant chain Taco Bell “played a role” in the ongoing multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis, The Washington Post said Tuesday. The foodborne parasitic infection can cause explosive diarrhea and is suspected to have sickened nearly 7,000 people across at least 34 states.

Who said what

Salad greens could be a “potential source for this outbreak,” Michigan’s health department said in a statement. But no “specific food item” has yet been confirmed as the culprit, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The public is “largely flying blind” about what foods to avoid, CBS News said. Taco Bell said it has started “voluntarily and temporarily” removing some ingredients from select restaurants “as a precautionary measure.”

What next?

Taco Bell said it will continue to “closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities.” The CDC is analyzing lab data “to find a signal connecting the cases,” said Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of the CDC’s division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases. Reports of new cyclosporiasis infections will likely continue through August, she added.

What happened

The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to suspend most vehicle stops after two fatal shootings by federal officers in the past week. The deaths of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado ⁠Araujo in Texas “brought to at least seven the number of people shot dead” during ICE enforcement operations since January 2025, Reuters said. An unnamed 28-year-old Mexican national also died Tuesday in Florida after being struck by a tractor-trailer while reportedly fleeing ICE agents.

Who said what

“In the United States, in 2026, whether someone runs or complies with ICE, death is a very real possible outcome,” Florida Immigrant Coalition spokesperson Adriana Rivera said. Pausing vehicle stops “could hamper the agency’s ability to increase arrests,” said The New York Times, at a time when ICE faces “increasing pressure to deliver on the president’s promise of mass deportations.” The pause applies solely to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and “not Homeland Security Investigations, which primarily handles criminal investigations,” CBS News said.

What next?

The stoppage is expected to be temporary while ERO officers “receive additional training on vehicle-stop tactics,” CBS News said. President Donald Trump also contradicted the stoppage, saying the stops should continue. “We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” he wrote on social media.

What happened

The price of oil has jumped nearly 10% following renewed violence in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed to $83 a barrel Monday, marking the “largest daily percentage gain since May 2020,” The Wall Street Journal said. The U.S. military launched its third straight night of attacks against Iran Monday night; Iran responded by striking two United Arab Emirates tankers.

Who said what

The new attacks “signaled a return to open conflict” in the region less than a month after the two nations agreed to a ceasefire, The New York Times said. They follow President Donald Trump’s social media declaration that the U.S. is “reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” and will take over the strait, charging a 20% fee for secure passage. That would “be a major new tax on global energy flows and would drive up the cost of the world’s oil and gas,” The Washington Post said.

What next?

The blockade goes into effect Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Oil markets are facing a new reality, the Journal said, as the Strait of Hormuz is “no longer expected to return to a prewar norm.”

What happened

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) on Monday appointed Darline Graham Nordone, the younger sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), to serve the rest of her late brother’s term in the Senate following his unexpected death this weekend. Her appointment “comes with the support of President Donald Trump,” who had “recommended Graham’s sister to the Republican governor,” said CNN.

Who said what

“Lindsey has always been there for me,” said Graham Nordone at a press conference with McMaster. “Now I will be there for him.” She has “largely kept out of the public eye” and has “not previously held elected office,” said Fox News.

Her appointment comes after “several prominent South Carolina Republicans” have “expressed interest in running for the seat,” said The Washington Post. That group includes Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, as well as Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, “all of whom lost the competitive gubernatorial primary last month.”

What next?

Graham’s death launches a “sprint primary election to replace him on the November ballot,” said CNN. “At this point,” said Fox, it’s “unclear” if his sister will run for the full term.

What happened

A federal judge on Monday accused President Donald Trump of attempting to “manipulate the judicial process” when he sued the IRS for $10 billion in January over his leaked tax returns. Trump eventually struck a deal with the Justice Department that granted him immunity from tax audits and created the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for his allies. But Monday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams bars him, his family and his lawyers from citing the deal in future legal proceedings, potentially voiding Trump’s tax immunity. Williams also suggested that Trump’s legal team in the case, including Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, should be sanctioned.

Who said what

Trump’s lawsuit was clearly “an attempt to use the court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the president,” Williams wrote in her ruling. A group of 35 former judges who pushed Williams to examine the case called her ruling a “resounding victory for the rule of law.”

But it’s “unclear” whether the ruling’s restrictions “could practically limit the tax protections it laid out for Trump and his family,” The Washington Post said. A Justice Department spokesperson accused Williams of being a “partisan judge,” and insisted Trump and his family were “victims of admitted violations of law.”

What next?

Although its “practical impacts” may be limited, the decision still “amounts to a scathing rebuke,” The Associated Press said. It also “tees up a politically uncomfortable line of questioning” for Blanche, who faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing this week.

What happened

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) revealed Sunday that a fall at his Washington home last month led to a hospital stay. His announcement ends a “weekslong silence” that had “spurred speculation about his condition,” The Wall Street Journal said.

The 84-year-old senator said he briefly lost consciousness after the incident but did not break any bones or suffer a concussion, stroke, heart attack or other serious injury. He was later diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia.

Who said what

McConnell acknowledged the delay in explaining his condition, saying in a statement that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older.” McConnell’s injuries were “minor” and he “responded rapidly” to pneumonia treatment, his attending physician said. The Kentucky senator “has faced a string of health concerns in recent years that have caused some to question his ability to serve in the legislature,” The Hill said.

What next?

McConnell said he remains focused on completing his Senate work before retiring when his current term ends in January.

What happened

The U.S. military on Sunday night conducted a fresh wave of airstrikes against Iranian targets as retaliatory attacks between the two nations increase. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for attacks on a U.S. refueling facility at the Omani port of Duqm, as well as attacks on American bases in Qatar and Jordan. Tehran also said it had shut the Strait of Hormuz and struck commercial vessels transiting the strategic waterway. The latest exchange follows fresh U.S. airstrikes on 140 Iranian military targets.

Who said what

Iran accused the U.S. of undermining diplomatic efforts, saying American attacks had “rendered futile” recent negotiations. The two nations have “traded fire and recriminations,” said The New York Times. Both have accused the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire and “leaving the region suspended between war and peace.” As the war “heats up” again, CNN said, U.S. weapon stocks “remain significantly depleted,” risking the military’s “ability to fight” any “future war.”

What next?

In a televised statement, Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen since the Feb. 28 death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that “vengeance” for his father’s killing “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out”.

What happened

The death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Saturday has triggered uncertainty over the future of his South Carolina seat and created fresh challenges for a party with a narrow Senate majority. Graham died at age 71, following a “brief and sudden illness,” according to his office, with preliminary findings from the Washington, D.C., medical examiner indicating a ruptured aorta.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) is expected to appoint a temporary replacement, while the state prepares for a special Republican primary to choose a new candidate for November’s midterm election. The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews.

Who said what

President Donald Trump already has someone in mind as a temporary replacement, but “I don’t want to say it now because it just, you know, it’s too soon with Lindsey,” he told “Meet the Press.” Graham’s death might not have any “short-term impact on the overall balance of power in the Senate,” CNN said, but he was a “key player on major issues in the chamber.” He would have been an “outspoken advocate for additional defense funding amid the Iran war.”

Without Graham, the president is deprived of “one of his most effective Capitol Hill operators,” Politico said. And his death leaves Senate Republicans “without one of their strongest links to the White House.”

What next?

The special Republican primary is slated for Aug. 11. South Carolina “leans heavily conservative,” so the next nominee “would have a strong chance of becoming the state’s next senator,” The New York Times said.

What happened

The Bayeux Tapestry, a wool-on-linen depiction of the Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066, arrived in London this morning after a secret journey from France. It’s the first time the Medieval artwork has returned to Britain since its creation nearly 1,000 years ago.

The high-security, “dead of night” delivery to the British Museum was “like a heist movie in reverse,” The Associated Press said.

Who said what

The Bayeux Tapestry is an “epic depiction” of the defeat of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, the BBC said. It was the last successful conquest of England and it “changed everything, reshaping the country entirely.” When French President Emmanuel Macron “offered us the tapestry, I think he understood that it would have far more impact in the U.K.,” Peter Ricketts, the retired British diplomat who helped secure the loan, told the AP. Everybody in Britain “knows 1066.” The 230-foot tapestry’s 58 scenes brim with “vivid and sometimes gory detail,” the AP said, including “mutilated bodies and the unlucky Harold, felled by an arrow through his eye.”

What next?

Before going on public display in September, the AP said, the tapestry “will spend several days acclimatizing before it is carefully unpacked and unfolded” for the exhibition, which the British Museum “expects to be one of the most popular in its history.”

What happened

President Donald Trump Thursday pushed out the remaining three members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, firing the two Democratic commissioners while allowing the Republican member to resign. The fourth member, a Republican, quit in April to join the Heritage Foundation.

Who said what

The EAC, an independent agency created in 2002, is a “crucial guardrail for ensuring election security across the country,” The New York Times said. Trump’s ouster of its leadership is an “apparent move to assert control over voting ahead of the midterms,” Politico said, and “election officials across the country expressed various degrees of confusion and alarm.” Trump issued executive orders last year to require proof of citizenship on the EAC-maintained national voter registration form and to “block the EAC from distributing funds to states that did not adjust voter forms to have a citizenship check,” but were both “blocked in court.”

What next?

The Supreme Court last month gave Trump “precedence” to “remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring ​every legal vote is counted,” a White House official said Thursday. Without at least three Senate-confirmed “bipartisan replacements,” NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice said, the EAC “cannot lawfully make any decisions that affect how Americans vote.”

What happened

The Department of Homeland Security Thursday said that the ICE agents who killed Houston homebuilder Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on Monday were not wearing body cameras and were searching for different migrants in a white van when they stopped him and three of his work crew.

The fatal shooting of Salgado Araujo, a Mexican father of three who had lived in Houston for 35 years, “has incited outrage in Texas and beyond,” The New York Times said. The Mexican government Thursday said it will request U.S. criminal charges over the deaths of Salgado Araujo and 16 other Mexicans who died in ICE custody or during President Donald Trump’s immigration operations.

Who said what

ICE has provided no evidence to support its initial claim that Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle” and the agent shot him in “self-defense,” and similar previous assertions have been contradicted by video. DHS Thursday said the agents involved had not yet been issued body cameras and “blamed Democrats for holding them up” with a government shutdown, The Texas Tribune said. DHS “has more money than it knows what to do with and still can’t manage basic accountability,” said Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas).

What next?

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said his office is investigating Salgado Araujo’s death, though without access to federal evidence. No clear video or photos of the shooting have emerged. And the three eyewitnesses from the van are in detention and “being pressured to sign self-deportation orders,” League of United Latin American Citizens CEO Juan Proaño told The New Republic.

What happened

A federal judge in Manhattan Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll the $5 million a jury awarded her in 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said in Thursday’s ruling, and after the Supreme Court last week denied his appeal of the verdict, “it is time ⁠for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”

Who said what

Trump’s legal team had asked Kaplan to pause releasing the $5.8 million held in escrow — Trump’s deposit plus interest — until the Supreme Court decided whether to reconsider his appeal. Kaplan denied the request. In the “highly unlikely ​event” the justices accepted his petition and overturned the verdict, he wrote, Trump could sue to “recover any funds erroneously disbursed.” The “American People” stand with Trump and “demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” Trump’s legal team said in a statement.

What next?

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday night rejected an emergency motion by Trump to prevent the release of the money. “Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid,” her lawyers wrote in an appellate filing. “She should not have to wait any longer.”

What happened

President Donald Trump Wednesday ended the two-day NATO summit in Turkey with warm words for U.S. allies, a promise to let Ukraine produce Patriot air-defense missiles and renewed fighting with Iran. After declaring the ceasefire “over,” Trump ordered a second night of strikes on Iran, which again fired at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Iran’s leaders are “scum” and “sick people,” Trump told reporters. If Iran keeps bombing ships in the Strait of Hormuz, he said on social media, the “retribution” will “get much worse!”

Who said what

Trump began the NATO summit “publicly bashing the alliance and reciting a list of grievances,” Politico said, but “behind closed doors” he “was far more positive” with fellow leaders. “There was a lot of love in that room,” Trump told reporters. “A lot of unity.” The Ankara summit “amounted to a master class in how to manage a mercurial president and minimize damage,” CNN said. “It’s a lesson clearly not absorbed by, or of much interest to, Iran.”

What next?

The reignited battle over the Strait of Hormuz reflects a “divide among Iran’s leadership” between “hard-liners seeking lasting control of the waterway” and “pragmatists” seeking sanctions relief, The Associated Press said. It also leaves Trump back “mired in an unpopular war that he cannot seem to end,” The Washington Post said, “with midterm elections less than four months away.”

What happened

Graham Platner Wednesday suspended his campaign to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), saying in a video he intended to file “paperwork to withdraw” from the pivotal Senate race. The Maine Democratic Party shortly before had announced that if Platner bowed out, his replacement would be chosen at an expedited party convention.

Platner’s political and financial support evaporated Monday after an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, and his last major backer, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), urged him to quit the race on Tuesday.

Who said what

“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” Platner said in his 11-minute exit video. “I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not.” Former state Sen. Troy Jackson, brewery owner Dan Kleban and ex-congressional staffer Jordan Wood jumped in the race Wednesday, and more candidates are expected.

“Platner and his supporters have sought to influence who replaces him,” The Washington Post said, but few potential successors “appear hungry for his endorsement,” and some ruled it out. For all the new uncertainty, Platner’s exit “will be an enormous break for Democrats,” Nate Cohn said at The New York Times. Few of the likely replacements are “especially well known,” but “in this political environment,” Collins “would be in jeopardy against any one of them.”

What next?

The pop-up Democratic convention, to be held before July 27, will include “500 delegates elected proportionally by county committees” and the roughly 100 state party committee members, said the Bangor Daily News.

What happened

An ICE agent fatally shot a Houston man in his car early Tuesday during a “targeted enforcement operation,” the agency said in a statement. “From information we are receiving,” Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, “refused to follow multiple verbal commands and weaponized his vehicle,” causing the agent to fire “in self-defense.” Local officials and civil rights groups demanded that ICE release all video footage as part of an independent investigation.

Who said what

Araujo’s family said the father of three was a construction worker who had been in the U.S. for 35 years and was in the process of getting his work permit. In most of the 20 recent cases where immigration agents have shot people in their cars, The New York Times said, officials said it was justified “because the vehicles had been ‘weaponized’ and the agents’ lives were in danger.”

ICE’s account of Araujo’s killing “echoed many of the statements the agency quickly issued in other shootings,” The Washington Post said. But in the killings of Renee Good in Minneapolis, 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez in Texas and “several” other instances, video evidence established that “the officers were not in danger and, in some cases, acted as the aggressors.”

What next?

ICE said the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating Araujo’s shooting.

What happened

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen Tuesday announced she will run for president in 2027, hours after an appeals court cut short her five-year ban on seeking public office.

The court upheld the 2025 embezzlement conviction that prompted the ban, handing Le Pen a three-year prison sentence for her National Rally party’s misuse of $3.2 million in European Union funds. But the judges suspended two years of her sentence and said she could serve the third wearing an electronic monitor.

Who said what

Tuesday’s “stunning turnaround” in Le Pen’s fortunes makes her the “front-runner” to replace term-limited President Emmanuel Macron, The New York Times said. But running with a criminal conviction is a “remarkable political gamble,” the BBC said.

“As recently as last week,” Politico said, Le Pen “said she would not run for president if wearing an ankle monitor and would cede the role” to 30-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella, who is “slightly more popular” with voters. But Le Pen also announced she was appealing the ruling to France’s highest court, a process that “will suspend her requirement to wear an electronic bracelet” until a decision arrives, likely in January, The Wall Street Journal said.

What next?

If the high court upholds Tuesday’s ruling, the Journal said, “Le Pen would be required to wear the bracelet” while campaigning, limiting her movement before April’s election.

What happened

President Donald Trump arrived in Turkey Tuesday for a two-day NATO summit, and “within hours of landing” he “revived a host of grievances” against America’s closest allies, Politico said. Trump criticized Europe for not helping with his Iran war and threatened to pull U.S. troops from NATO countries if he didn’t gain control of Greenland. His “sour mood” tempered hopes for a “low-key,” constructive summit focused on collective defense.

Who said what

Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump said during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Being refused control of the semiautonomous island is “what hurt my relationship with NATO.” Denmark’s prime minister and other European leaders once more firmly rejected Trump’s demand, but he returned to the idea this morning. “Greenland is very important to the United States,” he said. “We need it for protection of the world.”

NATO “sought to demonstrate that its European members were heeding Trump’s ​calls to spend more on their own defense,” Reuters said. “Announcing billions in arms deals” was “an attempt to appease the mercurial U.S. leader,” The Associated Press said.

What next?

Trump “surprised NATO leaders” by launching airstrikes on Iran Tuesday night, soon after a dinner hosted by Erdogan, the AP said. This morning he told reporters that the ceasefire with Tehran was “over.” Talks can continue, he said, “but I think they’re wasting their time.”

What happened

Two bombs exploded Tuesday morning near the Damascus hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron is staying during his historic stopover in Syria. Macron, who arrived in Damascus last night, is the first major Western leader to visit the country since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in 2024.

At least 18 people were wounded in the explosions, including four police officers, Syria’s Interior Ministry said. But Macron had already left the Four Seasons, Reuters said, and the “blasts were not audible from the presidential motorcade” as he headed toward his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Who said what

The explosions “are a blow for al-Sharaa,” who has “pushed to assert full control and bring stability in war-torn Syria” after his Islamist-led insurgency toppled Assad, The Associated Press said. Macron “played a major role in pushing Europe and the United States to drop most sanctions on Syria” after al-Sharaa took over, and he is “scheduled to sign memorandums of understanding” as the “battered country tries to lure investors to help it rebuild after 14 years of war.”

“I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people,” Macron said on social media. “Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace.”

What next?

France said Macron “intended to stick to his planned schedule for the day” before heading to Turkey for a NATO summit, Reuters said.

What happened

A man in Rochester, New York, Monday sued the Department of Homeland Security and ICE after two agents tracked him down last month to deliver a “warning notice” over an email he sent in January. In it, David Streever called acting ICE Director Todd Lyons a “monstrous human being” who “will never know peace” due to his “shame” over “protecting the obvious execution” of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses DHS of violating Streever’s First Amendment rights and requests that the court prohibit similar investigations into lawful criticism of government officials.

Who said what

The Homeland Security Investigations agents who tried to confront Streever at home, then at his New York City hotel when he returned from Finland two days later, warned that the email to Lyons may have constituted an illegal threat. The same HSI agents issued a “similar warning the same day to a poll worker in Syracuse,” Paigelynne Gonyea, over a January Instagram post about the ICE agent who killed Good, The New York Times said. After Gonyea went public, The Washington Post said, “she heard from six other people around the country — including Streever — who say they also received similar visits from federal agents in recent months.”

What next?

“Any allegation DHS and its components are attempting to ‘squash’ free speech is categorically FALSE,” DHS said in a statement Monday. But “anyone who assaults or threatens our law enforcement officers will face the consequences.”

What happened

Maine and national Democrats and a growing number of high-profile progressive Graham Platner endorsers Monday called for the Democratic Senate nominee to drop out of the race to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R) due to a rape accusation from a former girlfriend.

“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in a video after Politico published the allegation. “Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”

Who said what

Maine resident Jenny Racicot told Politico that Platner, whom she had dated on and off, came over drunk and uninvited one night in 2021 and forced her into unwanted sex. She provided corroborative evidence. “He violated multiple layers of consent that night,” she told CNN Monday night.

Platner “has long been controversial,” The Associated Press said, but the “sexual allegation sparked a flight away from the candidate.” The “three biggest Democratic groups trying to flip the Senate” all “dropped their nominee in a must-win race,” Politico said, and support from “key outside groups” also “immediately dried up.”

What next?

If Platner withdraws from the race by next Monday, the state Democratic Party can still replace him up to July 27. Top Maine Democratic Party officials have discussed a “pop-up convention” or a “statewide caucus” to pick Platner’s potential replacement, but have “ruled out having the state party’s committee” make the choice, The New York Times said.

What happened

FIFA Sunday lifted U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension from a red card he drew during last week’s 2-0 World Cup win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. The unusual decision means that Balogun, the top U.S. scorer in this tournament, can play in today’s knockout round-of-16 match against Belgium. Shortly after FIFA announced its decision, news organizations reported that President Donald Trump had called FIFA President Gianni Infantino following the match and asked him to review Balogun’s suspension. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said on social media Sunday.

Who said what

Balogun’s red card was one of the World Cup’s “most controversial and consequential decisions,” The Associated Press said. But FIFA’s “extraordinary” decision to reverse it was the “first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup did not result in a suspension.” It is “highly unusual for a head of state to intervene in a soccer disciplinary matter with FIFA’s top official,” The Washington Post said. FIFA “insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee,” Politico said, though it didn’t say if there was a vote.

What next?

Belgium’s soccer federation said it was “astonished” by FIFA’s apparent violation of its own rules and was “investigating all potential options” to “protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport.”

What happened

President Donald Trump’s Domestic Policy Council late Saturday issued a report criticizing the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, and especially the National Museum of American History, for allegedly painting an insufficiently positive and “patriotic” view of the U.S. and its founding.

The Smithsonian leaders “cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying and worthy of our great republic,” the report said.

Who said what

The Smithsonian “has long been regarded as independent of the executive branch,” The New York Times said, but Trump has tried to exert control over the world’s largest museum institution for more than a year. The report “comes in the midst of Trump’s aggressive campaign to overhaul some of Washington’s most sacred cultural and historic institutions,” The Associated Press said, and it indicates he “may be preparing to install his own team.”

Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian’s first Black leader, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday he was motivated by the “notion of being a more perfect union, not the perfect union,” and by the “responsibility to continue to make those aspirations available, accessible, meaningful to a whole range of people.”

What next?

“For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so,” a Smithsonian spokesperson said in a statement.

What happened

Slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral procession began advancing through the streets of Tehran this morning after Sunday’s prayers at the capital’s sprawling Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla complex. Three of Khamenei’s sons appeared publicly Sunday for the first time since their father and other family members were killed in the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes of the Iran war, but Mojtaba Khamenei, the son who succeeded him as supreme leader, has still not made any public appearances.

Who said what

The funeral procession route was “packed to capacity” with black-clad mourners “hoping to gain a glimpse of the passing cortège,” CNN said. Some mourners said they were disappointed at the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, whose face was reportedly “disfigured” and “one or ​both legs” significantly injured in U.S.-Israeli strikes, Reuters said. He is believed to be in hiding “due to the dangers of Israeli threats to his life,” Al Jazeera said.

The “increasingly” common “threats from mourners to avenge Khamenei’s death” included chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and signs calling for the “killing of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” The Associated Press said. As the poet Mohammad Rasouli asked why “the biggest bastard in the world” was “still alive” to cheering mourners at the Mosalla complex, Trump was boasting he “wiped out” Iran’s military during “a speech at the same time across the world” to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

What next?

After a 12-hour procession through Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be transported to Qom, then to important Shiite shrines in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, and finally to Thursday’s burial in his hometown of Mashhad.

What happened

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group “committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing” during its 2024-25 campaign to capture the city of el-Fasher in North Darfur, Amnesty International said in a report Wednesday. “The RSF’s crimes included murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, extermination and persecution.”

Who said what

Amnesty analyzed video and documentary evidence and interviewed 246 people for its report, including 208 survivors, 39 of whom were children. The report “accused the RSF of deliberately targeting children,” The Guardian said.

The public was “warned of the horrors that civilians in el-Fasher confronted as the RSF laid siege to the city,” said Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard. The resulting atrocities are a “stain on the conscience of humanity.” A United Nations fact-finding mission said in February the RSF’s el-Fasher siege bore the “hallmarks of genocide” against non-Arab communities.

What next?

Sudan’s “ongoing civil war” between the army and RSF has “killed hundreds of thousands of people” and displaced more than 14 million, the BBC said. A “nationwide ceasefire” is “immediately needed” in Sudan, said Amnesty. There must also be an “independent and adequately resourced international force” assigned to “protect civilians against crimes by all parties to the conflict.”

What happened

Scientists at the University of Minnesota Wednesday announced that they created synthetic cells from non-living chemicals that can perform many of the functions of living cells, like feeding, growing, dividing and replicating their genetic material. Lead researcher Kate Adamala said she named them SpudCells after Sputnik but also “because I’m mostly made of potatoes.” Her team said they are the “first synthetic cell with a complete cell cycle.”

Who said what

The SpudCell is a “major step” toward “discovering the alchemy by which chemicals can be turned into life,” The New York Times said. With just 36 genes, it’s a “limited and fragile prototype,” CNN said, “but it could help scientists better understand the origins of life” and potentially solve “human problems” like “new cancer treatments and novel ways to capture carbon or manufacture chemicals.” The SpudCell could also “challenge our preconceived notions of what’s considered ‘life,’” said Futurism.

“We’re going to remember this moment,” said computational cell biologist Roseanna Zia, who wasn’t involved in the research, per the Times. The “shake-the-ground accomplishment here” was the ability of SpudCells to compete with each other, leading to more sophisticated progeny.

What next?

While Adamala’s research undergoes peer review, she and three colleagues created a public-benefit institution to disseminate the SpudCell “recipe” and collaborate with scientists worldwide to improve and utilize the breakthrough.

What happened

An anti-modernist Catholic breakaway group Wednesday consecrated four new bishops without the consent of Pope Leo XIV, a violation of canon law that incurs automatic excommunication for the new prelates and the two bishops who ordained them.

Thursday morning, the Vatican “went above and beyond the minimal sanctions” and also declared all 733 priests of the Society of St. Pius X “to be schismatic, and therefore excommunicated,” The Associated Press said. And it said the lay followers “who adhere formally” to the society are schismatic and excommunicated as well.

Wednesday’s five-hour ceremony at the SSPX seminary in Econe, Switzerland, was a blow to Leo’s “efforts to bridge divisions within the church,” The New York Times said. The pope on Monday had pleaded with the group to call off what he called a “sin of extreme gravity.”

Who said what

SSPX, formed by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, uses an old version of the Latin Mass and rejects the modernizing reforms of Vatican II. The group claims 600,000 members worldwide and maintains that “only it is upholding the true faith of Christ,” the AP said. But even many “conservative and traditional” Catholics “opposed the consecrations as an act of severe disobedience.”

What next?

The Vatican’s response, especially “targeting the priests, the faithful and the sacraments they can receive,” was “particularly harsh, and reversed concessions the Vatican had granted the SSPX in recent years,” the AP said. In 2009, Pope Benedict XIV reversed the excommunications Pope John Paul II had declared against Lefebvre and the four bishops he consecrated in 1988, but Wednesday’s sanctions suggest that “after nearly five decades of trying to negotiate with the society, the Holy See has had enough.”

What happened

The European Union’s prosecutor’s office Tuesday said it was conducting raids “in France and other European countries” as part of an “investigation into the use of EU funds by a former political group of the European Parliament.”

France’s Le Monde said the raids in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy were a significant advance in a “judicial investigation into possible embezzlement” of $5 million in EU funds by Identity and Democracy (ID), a bloc of right-wing parties that was disbanded in 2024 and replaced by the Patriots for Europe group.

Who said what

Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s far-right National Rally party and head of the Patriots group, said on social media Tuesday night that “searches have been underway at the offices and private homes” of contractors who “have worked with us.” When the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the investigation into ID last July, Bardella had called it a “new harassment operation by the European Parliament.” Along with National Rally, ID and its successor group include Italy’s League (Lega) and Germany’s AfD.

What next?

Bardella’s party is “eyeing its best chance yet of winning the presidency in France next year,” Euronews said. Polls suggest the far-right party “will have a commanding lead in the first round of voting.”

What happened

President Donald Trump took in at least $2.2 billion in revenue last year, including $1.4 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures, according to a mandatory annual filing released Tuesday.

Trump’s “traditional businesses — in particular golf courses and resorts — continued to bring in millions,” Reuters said, but he “now derives most of his income from ​digital assets that have benefited from his policies.” Trump’s reported 2024 income was $622 million.

Who said what

Trump’s new disclosure lists $635 million in royalties from $TRUMP memecoins and $799 million from token sales and other income from World Liberty Financial. “Both the tokens and the coins have plunged in value since the sales,” The Associated Press said. A Reuters analysis last month found that Trump’s family crypto ventures raked in at least $2.3 billion in profits during his second term, while their investors lost $2.3 billion.

Trump’s open pursuit of profit in office is “completely unprecedented,” presidential wealth historian Megan Gorman told The New York Times. It’s a “betrayal of the American social contract: that those who lead the country prioritize country over self.” Trump has never “engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

What next?

Presidents are exempt from the conflict-of-interest laws governing most federal workers, former federal ethics office chief Dan Fox told Reuters. But Trump “makes the case better than anyone that it’s time for additional ethics reforms.”