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U.S. tariff revenue under President Trump has hit $124 billion — a 304 percent jump from the prior year — as the administration heads toward a landmark Supreme Court challenge over whether the White House holds the authority to impose sweeping trade tariffs unilaterally. The legal outcome could reshape trade policy for decades. Meanwhile, midterm polling shows voters still rank prices and affordability as their top domestic concern.
Voters in five states head to the polls today in some of the most consequential midterm primary contests of the 2026 cycle. Michigan's Democratic Senate race pits progressive Abdul El-Sayed against establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in a fight exposing the party's deep divide over Israel and foreign policy. In Kansas, a ballot measure to shift Supreme Court justices to popular elections raises the stakes in the state's ongoing abortion battle.
The FBI and EPA have issued a joint emergency warning after Iranian-affiliated hackers targeted municipal water systems in at least seven states, following a coordinated breach of more than 30 facilities in Minnesota. Attackers exploited internet-connected industrial controllers, changing passwords and network settings remotely, with some utilities reporting dangerous drops in water pressure. Officials warn that significant pressure loss can allow untreated groundwater to enter drinking water lines through cracks and leaks.
Republicans are growing cautiously optimistic about their 2026 midterm prospects after a string of favorable polling and primary dynamics. Democrats need just a net three Senate seats to reclaim the majority — historically achievable for the party out of the White House — but the Washington Examiner's midterm tracker now shows key battleground states trending in the GOP's favor. Nobody is declaring victory, but the mood on the Republican side has meaningfully improved over the past few weeks.
President Trump says negotiations with Iran are back on, calling this Tehran's "last chance" before a U.S. military response he warned would be larger than anything since World War II. Iran's Foreign Ministry disputes the framing, insisting talks are with Oman about Strait of Hormuz shipping arrangements — not direct negotiations with Washington. Secretary Rubio has made clear this is a fundamentally different kind of president than Iran has dealt with before.
A Liberia-flagged dry bulk carrier, the Minoan Pioneer, was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman — the fourth vessel attacked in the waterway in less than a week. The hit sparked a fire in the ship's accommodation area, forcing the crew to abandon ship with one crew member still missing. The Strait carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG shipments, meaning every attack there ripples through energy markets worldwide.
A joint investigation by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde documented 616 instances of security cooperation between China and Russia during the Ukraine conflict, confirming Beijing has been a critical enabler of Moscow's war effort despite its public peace-advocacy posture. A separate strategic report describes China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as a coordinated axis of aggressors designed to simultaneously overload U.S. strategic capacity. The findings add fresh pressure to the Trump administration's ongoing trade and diplomatic negotiations with Beijing.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed that the space agency holds imagery of unidentified objects it cannot explain, saying: "Based on the data within that imagery, we don't know what it is." He stopped short of claiming evidence of extraterrestrial life but said he is confident humanity will one day confirm the existence of life beyond Earth. The disclosure comes as the Trump administration continues its broader declassification push on UAP files, with a second document release expected soon.
Archaeologists have fully excavated a remarkably preserved geometric mosaic in Smyrna — one of the seven churches of Asia named in the Book of Revelation — buried beneath modern-day Izmir, Turkey, for roughly 1,500 years. The colorful geometric artwork dates to between the 4th and 6th centuries A.D. and had only been partially uncovered during last year's dig season. Smyrna is among the most historically significant early Christian cities in the ancient world.
Close-up images of the Quest — the last ship of legendary Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton — have been released, showing the wreck draped in pink coral and fishing nets some 1,280 feet beneath the Labrador Sea off Newfoundland, Canada. Shackleton died aboard the Quest in 1922 at age 47 from a heart attack; the ship itself sank in 1962 after being crushed by Arctic ice floes. The wreck remains in surprisingly recognizable condition, with portholes and metal superstructure still clearly intact a century later.
