Abroad: Iran is maintaining its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and resisting nuclear concessions. Its government remains largely intact. Doubts are growing that Donald Trump can translate military successes into an outcome he can frame as a geopolitical win.
At home: Congressional Republicans are revolting over Trump’s $1.776 billion fund for people he says were victims of government “weaponization.” The friction likely will intensify in the months before midterm elections following primary election victories of Trump-endorsed challengers over sitting Republican lawmakers. And Tulsi Gabbard is quitting her job as director of national intelligence, saying she is leaving to help her husband, who was diagnosed with bone cancer.
Reports: Activists who were released from Israeli custody said several of their number were hospitalized with injuries. At least 15 reported sexual assaults. Western governments voiced outrage over Israel’s far-right security minister who posted a video of himself taunting the activists while they were pinned to the ground.
Casus belli: Russia’s ambassador to the U.N. said Ukraine planned to launch military drones from Latvia and other Baltic nations and that Moscow could retaliate despite those countries being NATO members. The Baltic foreign ministers denied what they called Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign. They also say that Russia used electronic jamming to steer Ukrainian drones into their airspace.
Underground: Have you seen Finland’s bomb shelters? They’re much bigger than the dugout that your dad built. In fact, one enormous cave carved in bedrock beneath Helsinki can hold up to 6,000 people. Hundreds of foreign delegations have visited the Merihaka shelter and interest in the Finnish companies that outfit these shelters is rising.
The latest: The U.S. banned the entry of lawful permanent residents who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days, citing concerns over the Bundibugyo outbreak. The World Health Organization raised the outbreak risk in the DRC to “very high.” A Congolese province banned funeral wakes to contain the virus’ spread.
Hantavirus: Learn more about the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, the lab in Senegal that cracked the case of the shipborne hantavirus outbreak. And just in case you were wondering: The WHO’s comments on the long incubation period of the Andes strain of the virus is based on decades of research, and not a new narrative to justify lockdowns. Also: The Simpsons did not warn us of such an outbreak on an episode that aired 14 years ago.
Fatal fall: İsak Andiç died after falling off a cliff while hiking with his son Jonathan near Barcelona in December 2024. A judge said the case is now under investigation as a homicide after first being ruled an accident. The heir to the Mango family fortune held a financial grudge against his father and gave police and emergency services contradictory statements about the day of his father’s death, a judicial writ says.
Formula: Nestlé and Danone are facing yet more scrutiny over their handling of infant formula contamination after Belgian, French and Swiss public media said Nestlé delayed alerting authorities about the presence of a toxin in an ingredient in the formula supplied by a Chinese company.
At least 90 people were killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China. Officials ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in a Los Angeles suburb because of a failing chemical tank that might leak or explode.
India is the world’s most populous nation with 1.42 billion people. And yet, some policymakers and Hindu groups say family sizes should increase.
