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War in Middle East appears to expand
IN THE NEWS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A drone strike on gas vessels in Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta signaled a potential new front in the U.S.-Iran war, raising the prospect of threats to navigation through the Suez Canal, one of the last remaining export routes for Saudi oil.
Egypt's Cabinet said Thursday an initial investigation found an unidentified drone caused a fire on two vessels at the port the prior day. No group claimed responsibility, the Cabinet said.
The United States and Iran continued to trade strikes in the region. In a first in the five-month war, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday publicly joined strikes alongside U.S. forces, targeting Iran-aligned groups in Iraq in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil targets.
ECONOMY: U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as the trade deficit widened, but robust consumer spending and business investment related to the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout underscored strong domestic demand, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
RATES: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in the 3.50% to 3.75% range at a meeting Wednesday, as inflation remains above the central bank's 2% target. Three policymakers, who "preferred" a quarter-percentage-point hike, dissented.
MAIL BALLOTS: President Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow implementation of his executive order aimed at tightening rules for mail-in voting ahead of the November midterm elections.
WASHINGTON PAYS TRIBUTE TO LATE SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM
Mourners surround the flag-draped casket of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., during a congressional tribute Tuesday at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Graham, who died suddenly from a heart ailment July 11 at age 71, regularly called for an interventionist U.S. role on the world stage and backed both Israel and Ukraine. President Donald Trump eulogized him as a fixture of national politics and an unflinching foreign policy hawk, as the leaders of Israel and Ukraine joined Washington's most powerful at the funeral.
BIG NUMBER
$5.5 billion
The amount Johnson & Johnson said Monday it would pay in a landmark deal to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging the company's talc products cause cancer.
HE SAID …
"Under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions."
— Anthony Fauci, former top U.S. infectious-disease expert and frequent target of conservatives, at a Senate hearing Wednesday about the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE WATER COOLER
HALL HONORS: Few Baseball Hall of Famers waited longer than Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent to feel like rookies one more time. Their collective patience was rewarded last Sunday, when they gave speeches and were officially enshrined in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000 on a sun-splashed day at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.
TOUR DE FRANCE: With a record-tying fifth Tour de France title already in hand, Tadej Pogacar relented near the finish of the final stage, which was shortened due to wildfires, in Paris last Sunday. The cycling star from Slovenia was overtaken but won the overall title in a time of 73 hours, 56 minutes, 26 seconds.
JARED LETO: Oscar-winning American actor Jared Leto, 54, on Wednesday denied sexual misconduct claims of four women who told the BBC he assaulted them when they were teenagers. In a documentary called "Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret," the women described encounters with him between 2002 and 2016, when the actor was in his 30s or 40s. The BBC said it corroborated a number of the women's accounts.
GLEN HANSARD (1970-2026): Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, who won a Best Original Song Oscar in 2008 for the indie film "Once" and was lead singer for rock group The Frames, died in a motorcycle crash at age 56 early Wednesday, his management company said.
Republicans confirm Trump spy chief pick
IN THE NEWS
— Lee wire services
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, to be the nation's spy chief Tuesday despite opposition from Democrats.
Clayton fills a role vacated in June when Tulsi Gabbard stepped down after a tenure marked by clashes with congressional Democrats, who accused her of advancing Trump's political agenda and promoting debunked election claims. The vote was 51-47 to confirm Clayton to be director of National Intelligence, overseeing the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.
Clayton has no intelligence background and lacks extensive national security experience. During his confirmation hearing, he refused to directly acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden.
NOMINEE: President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that he could withdraw his nomination of his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as U.S. attorney general and then re-nominate him after two senators from his own party who held up the confirmation leave office in January.
SHOOTING: Three people were killed and four others, including a toddler, were wounded last Sunday in a shooting at a downtown Seattle food festival, police said.
SENTENCED: Colt Gray, 16, will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing four people and injuring nine others in a 2024 Georgia school shooting, a judge ruled Tuesday. Gray pleaded guilty to 55 counts including murder and assault charges the prior week.
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