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Today’s top stories
The U.S. Senate returns today with a packed agenda to tackle for its final session before a long recess until mid-September. On the to-do list is the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche. In a letter released last night, Blanche formally rescinded a plan for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate people who allege they’ve been unfairly targeted by the federal government. Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis have withheld support for Blanche’s nomination because of their opposition to the fund, which was created as part of a settlement deal for a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over leaked tax returns.
FILE – Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
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Mark Schiefelbein/AP
- 🎧 The provision of the deal that protects Trump and his family from future IRS tax audits was not addressed in Blanche’s order, NPR’s Claudia Grisales says. So while the order tackles a significant hurdle for the committee’s confirmation process, Grisalies says it leaves several questions unanswered. She adds that it’s uncertain whether Blanche has sufficient Republican support on the Senate floor for confirmation. With Republicans working with slim margins, even a few dissenting members could easily derail the vote.
Over the weekend, Trump posted on social media that the U.S. is canceling planned attacks on Iran, and that “the perimeters of a deal” had been reached. The president credited allies for persuading him to avoid renewed attacks. The U.S. and Israel were poised to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure over the weekend, according to news reports. Trump said the potential deal would ensure the immediate total opening of the Strait of Hormuz and eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat.
- 🎧 When it comes to the war, Trump has been in a pattern of threatening military strikes, then backing off and saying a diplomatic resolution has been reached, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi tells Up First. This routine has played out multiple times since the U.S. struck an initial deal with Iran in April. Trump said that talks on the latest agreement would begin today, but Iran has not yet confirmed this. After Trump’s announcement, oil prices took a nosedive. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped by 8% to around $83 per barrel yesterday. Since the war started at the end of February, oil prices have surged past $100 per barrel on several occasions.
An NPR review of court records from the last five years reveals a dramatic shift in how the Department of Justice is using a Civil War–era statute to bring forth charges of conspiracy to impede or injure an officer. Since Trump took office last year, the department has charged more than three dozen people. All of the cases involve people protesting federal immigration enforcement. Before 2025, most of the cases using the statute involved the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a new court filing, Capital One formally revealed that its decision to close roughly 385 bank accounts tied to the Trump Organization and its affiliates in mid-2021 was the result of an internal anti-money-laundering review. Trump-affiliated businesses alleged in an ongoing lawsuit that the accounts were closed due to political retaliation following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Capital One Bank has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
Life advice
Mark Ragsdale refills a stock tank, July 17, 2026 in Redvale, Colo.
Brittany Peterson/AP
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Brittany Peterson/AP
The U.S. saw three major heat domes last month. The latest brought extreme temperatures to much of the South and parts of the Midwest at the end of July, and the soaring temperatures shifted toward California and parts of the Four Corners over the weekend. As record-breaking heat domes and prolonged heat waves become more frequent, medical experts warn of heat-related health risks, including heat stroke and sleep loss due to uncomfortable temperatures. Extreme heat increases the risks for millions of people who lack easy access to air conditioning. Here’s how to stay safe:
- 🌡️ Try to stay out of the sun as much as you can and drink plenty of water.
- 🌡️ If you do go outside, wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.
- 🌡️ Know the warning signs of heat stroke, which include dizziness, headache, nausea and severe fatigue.
- 🌡️ As you wait for an ambulance, help someone experiencing heat stroke by immersing them in cold water.
Picture show
Ibtisam & Mari Eva (In-Shadow)
Ibtisam Tasnim Zaman, a Black lesbian American, conceptual, multidisciplinary and intersectional feminist artist and one of Laila Stevens’ close friends, at home with her momma, Mari-Eva Mendes.
Laila AnnMarie Stevens
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Laila AnnMarie Stevens
In “The Clayton Sisterhood Project,” Black queer photographer Laila Annmarie Stevens captures her family’s “reverse migration” from Queens, New York, to Clayton, North Carolina. Through intimate portraits, she documents a growing trend of Black families returning to the South in search of affordability, community and a better quality of life. Stevens views the relocation as a reversal of the Great Migration of the early 20th century, when thousands of Black families relocated from the South to the North to escape racial injustice and better their lives. See some of the photos from the series and read about how the project reflects a broader shift among Black Americans moving back South.
3 things to know before you go
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A with a payload of a pair of lunar landers at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.
John Raoux/AP
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John Raoux/AP
- Scientists say they expect a piece of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to crash into the moon at more than 5,000 miles per hour on Wednesday.
- An avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak has killed famed climber Nirmal Purja and the nine other members of a mountaineering expedition who were trying to reach one of the highest peaks on Earth.
- Following backlash and a planned boycott from European nations, FIFA swiftly abandoned its plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to minority investors just days after the announcement.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
