Early Edition: July 22, 2026

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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:

IRAN WAR

The U.S. military carried out its 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran, with the latest wave lasting about 75 minutes overnight, according to the U.S. Central Command. Iran’s army said it targeted U.S. military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain with drones early this morning. The army said it struck accommodation buildings and equipment storage facilities at Al Azraq air base in Jordan, and later targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain using Arash suicide drones. Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward report for Reuters; Reuters reports.  

President Trump yesterday threatened to accelerate the war in Iran by striking Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground site that the United States and Israel suspect could be used for nuclear activity. “We’ll be hitting that area probably pretty soon,” Trump said during a visit from Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun. “And there’s not a thing they can do about it.” He went on to threaten military action against the Houthis if they go ahead with their announced plan to block Saudi shipping from exiting the Red Sea. David E. Sanger reports for the New York Times; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.  

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that the United States is willing to negotiate an end to the war with Iran, but Tehran is not serious about talks. Speaking in a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, Rubio stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it would create a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asian countries. Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni yesterday visited ​mediators in Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts. Reuters reports; Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.

IRAN WAR – LEBANON

Israeli forces yesterday fired shots near Lebanese Army troops, both sides said, as Lebanese troops began deploying in a village in southern Lebanon after a planned Israeli withdrawal. The Lebanese military issued a statement, saying, “this act of aggression could hinder the implementation of deployment steps in the pilot areas.” The Israeli military said Lebanese forces entered an area outside of the designated “pilot zone,” adding Israeli soldiers “operating in the area fired warning shots into the air only.” Abdi Latif Dahir reports for the New York Times.  

IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that the Defense Department’s latest estimate of the cost of the Iran war was $37.5 billion. Hegseth requested up to $70 billion in emergency funding for the conflict, weapons production, and military modernization. Lawmakers from both parties questioned the need for the additional spending, while Hegseth argued it was necessary because of changing warfare and what he described as shortcomings inherited from the previous administration. Greg Jaffe reports for the New York Times.  

YEMEN 

Six vessels reversed course yesterday as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels began enforcing their Red Sea blockade against Saudi Arabia, according to ship-tracking data and analysis by the maritime firm Lloyd’s List. No attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea or Bab el-Mandeb Strait have been reported since the Houthis announced the blockade. Imogen Piper reports for the Washington Post.  

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday dismissed his top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, amid public protests. This was a major reversal for Zelenskyy, who just days earlier sided with Syrskyi and fired Ukraine’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. Zelenskyy announced last night that he was replacing Syrskyi with Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, the commander of the Joint Forces. The choice is likely to please the protesters, as Drapatyi publicly sided with Fedorov in his clash with Syrskyi over warfighting strategy. Marc Santora reports for the New York Times.  

Ukrainian drones again hit warehouses belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer, Wildberries, injuring 15 people, according to the company’s founder and regional governors. Zelenskyy said today that Ukraine had hit logistics hubs in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions “involved in providing the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment and other gear.” Dan Sales reports for BBC News.  

Civilian injuries and deaths increased by more than a third in Ukraine in the first half of the year, ​driven by rising drone attacks, the U.N. human rights ‌office said yesterday. The office recorded a total of 1,396 deaths and 7,978 injuries in the first six months ​of 2026, representing a 37% increase from the same ​period last year. Reuters reports.  

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS 

Anti-immigrant activists in South Africa have taken the law into their own hands by harassing, intimidating, and even forcibly evicting foreign nationals, claiming immigrants are responsible for crime, unemployment, and pressure on public services despite evidence showing otherwise, the New York Times reports. John Eligon and Zimasa Matiwane report. 

UNHCR said yesterday that 144 people have been reported dead or missing off the coast of Mauritania in an effort to reach Europe, following three rescue operations between July 14-18. Arrivals of migrants and refugees to Europe by sea on the major routes are down by more than a third this year, ⁠with ​just over 40,000 arrivals compared with 65,407 ​in the first half of 2025, U.N. data showed. But the number of deaths and disappearances ​remains at “alarming levels,” UNHCR said. Reuters reports.  

TECH DEVELOPMENTS 

OpenAI said yesterday that two AI systems it was testing broke out of their test environment, accessed the internet, and hacked Hugging Face, a provider of open-source AI tools. The software had been configured “for evaluation purposes” to be less likely to refuse hacking commands, OpenAI said. “We consider this incident to be an unprecedented cyber incident, involving state-of-the-art capabilities.” Robert McMillan and Amrith Ramkumar report for the Wall Street Journal.  

The United States and China are expected to hold their first official AI talks under the Trump administration in September, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leading the U.S. delegation to discuss the risks, regulation, and security implications of advanced AI models, sources told Reuters. Laurie Chen reports. 

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

Trump has formally approved a 30-year civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could allow uranium enrichment in the kingdom, according to administration officials. The deal is designed to give U.S. companies a central role in developing Saudi nuclear infrastructure while shutting out foreign competitors. A key provision of the new accord would have U.S. companies build a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia if a joint U.S.-Saudi study determines that such a step is warranted. The deal is expected to be submitted to Congress for review in the coming days. Michael R. Gordon and Stephen Kalin report for the Wall Street Journal. 

Trump announced yesterday on social media that he was “directing his administration to allow U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land.” Trump’s announcement, which came after he met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, ends a prohibition that has been in place since Hezbollah hijacked a flight in 1985. Karoun Dermijian reports for the New York Times.  

The United States sent a humanitarian flight to Cuba yesterday, the State Department said, the first part of a new $100 million assistance commitment. The State Department said the aid was being delivered by ​Catholic Relief Services. Reuters reports.  

Two studies have found that cuts by the Trump administration to U.S. funding for the global H.I.V. aid program PEPFAR led to the closure of at least 1,700 treatment sites, disruptions to prevention and care services, and reduced access for high-risk groups and children, including a 14% decline in children receiving HIV treatment in 2025. The results are scheduled to be presented next week at a large international AIDS conference in Rio de Janeiro. Apoorva Mandavilli reports for the New York Times.  

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said yesterday that New York does not have the independent legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but urged the federal government to do so. AP News reports. 

U.S. officials have prepared options to allow Trump to launch new tariffs on dozens of countries as the president’s 10 percent global duties expire this week, sources told the Financial Times. Aime Williams reports.

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

A federal judge issued an order on Monday blocking immigration authorities from deporting Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, one of the witnesses in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents in Houston earlier this month. The judge also barred ICE from transferring Rojas Pliego away from the Southern District of Texas without prior approval. Camilo Montoya-Galvez reports for CBS News.  

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected former President Joe Biden’s effort to stop the Justice Department from releasing tapes and transcripts of interviews he had with his ghostwriter for his 2017 memoir. The court said the decision would not take effect until Aug. 3 to allow Biden time to appeal. Karoun Dermijian reports for the New York Times.  

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld the criminal conviction of longtime Trump White House aide Peter Navarro for defying a subpoena from the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Kyle Cheney reports for POLITICO. 

The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday advanced Jay Clayton’s nomination for director of national intelligence in a 9–8 party-line vote, sending it to the Senate floor, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced. Kaia Hubbard reports for CBS News.  

A software error in New Jersey mistakenly registered about 6,600 non-citizens as voters between 2023 and 2024, and fewer than 400 of them were found to have cast ballots, Governor Mikie Sherrill (D) said yesterday. Sherrill added that there was no evidence the votes affected election outcomes. “This latest incident underscores the absolute necessity of the SAVE America Act,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. Joseph Ax and Doina Chiacu report for Reuters.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS 

The Trump administration announced yesterday that it was withholding an additional $1 billion in Medicaid funds from California and Minnesota as a result of suspected fraud in their public health insurance programs. Sarah Kliff reports for the New York Times. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

The former U.S. attorney in Seattle who was fired from his post soon after federal judges in the area selected him filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Trump administration, arguing that his removal was unlawful. Melissa Quinn reports for CBS News.  

A federal judge yesterday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing work permits for thousands of asylum seekers and immigrants with Temporary Protected Status. The ruling pauses policies that would restrict employment authorization, with a decision on a longer-term block expected by August 5. Nate Raymond reports for Reuters.  

Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.

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ICYMI: Yesterday on Just Security