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🍏 Apple eyes new upgrade program Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Apple is planning to launch a new leasing program for iPhones and other gadgets, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. 📱 Apple Upgrade will offer 24- to 36-month leases, potentially with lower payments than current options. Users can choose to pay off their devices early, or return them at the end of the term. Apple is working with buy-now, pay-later platform Klarna on the service, which comes after price hikes on many Apple products amid tariffs and the AI-fueled computer-memory crisis. Gift link.

Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume, pledges help for that country after meeting its president WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged to help Lebanon “a lot” during a White House meeting on Tuesday with the country’s leader, Joseph Aoun, who came to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-president-hezbollah-trump-aoun-israel-e0364d0334c2f4d888d2b3970c9fe5b1? MAGA chiefs gather to plot midterms Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios President Trump's top political advisers are meeting this afternoon to review polling, messaging and strategy ahead of the midterms, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. The meeting is the second in what is becoming a series of regular conclaves to coordinate the GOP, its candidates and Trump's political operation. Trump won't be there. But several top MAGA shot-callers will be present, including... Tony Fabrizio, Trump's longtime top pollster. James Blair, Trump's hands-on political operations chief in charge of executing a midterm plan. Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff and Trump's longest-serving political adviser. Cabinet officials (except Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's in Manila on official business). 💰 The big picture: Trump's super PAC and the Republican National Committee are sitting on about $530 million, and now his team is figuring out how, when and where to deploy it. That doesn't include what insiders say is hundreds of millions of dollars more in Trump's dark-money political nonprofit, Securing American Greatness. 📉 Republicans acknowledge that it'll be tough to keep the House as Trump's poll numbers bottom out amid rising gas prices and the war in Iran. But Trump operatives argue that voters are wary of Democrats' progressive overreach — and they think this election will be about who Americans hate more, not who they love. 🪂 Yes, but: Trump is fighting political gravity. Polls show that voters believe the economy is in lousy shape — and that they're blaming Trump. A Trump operative involved in today's meeting tells Axios: "The Trump tax cuts have saved people real money, and the president is keeping Americans safe. ... We have the manpower, the message and the money to make that clear." Go deeper.

French lawmakers approve a sweeping social media ban for children under 15 PARIS (AP) — France banned children under 15 from using social media on Tuesday, becoming the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms as concerns grow worldwide over the harmful effects of digital content on kids. https://apnews.com/article/france-social-media-ban-macron-94abd981ccea85138af314cfb1ea62cf?

Judge Gives Blunt Warning to Trump Goons in Reflecting Pool ‘Vandal’ Case The president is caught between fixing the mess he’s made and punishing the people he blamed instead. A D.C. judge has lambasted Donald Trump’s Justice Department goons over their efforts to blame someone else for the mess his administration has made of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Judge Todd E. Edelman, an Obama appointee, warned U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, 75, on Monday that the Trump administration is “operating at its own peril” in the way it has handled its case against David Hearn, 67, a former Olympic canoeist. Trump, 80, and Pirro have accused Hearn of vandalizing the D.C. landmark after the president’s botched $16 million attempt to turn its waters “American flag blue” succeeded only in transforming the pool into a slimy green monstrosity. The renovation deal went in part to a Trump ally with a criminal history and no prior record of federal contracting work. “The Reflecting Pool, so badly damaged by Deranged Vandals, has been emptied as the massive slash gets repaired,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday. “The Scum in Court will hopefully be prosecuted to the MAX,” he added—presumably referring to Hearn rather than the algal film that has covered the pool in recent weeks. Hearn’s attorneys filed a motion on Thursday to have the case against him thrown out, arguing that Pirro had failed to preserve the government’s key evidence against him. The DOJ accused Hearn of “forcefully and violently” ripping up parts of the pool lining, which they claim led to the runaway algal bloom. “Despite the importance of the pool liner to the case, in the brief period since June 19, 2026, the same government that presented and returned the indictment against Mr. Hearn has fenced off the scene, begun draining the pool yet again, and publicly announced its intention to repair the very liner whose condition is at issue,” they wrote. Hearn, who competed for the United States in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of destruction of property. He told NBC News that he was arrested and detained for five hours after touching a piece of the lining of the pool that had detached “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating.” “The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there,” he told the network. The Washington Post reports that Judge Edelman denied Hearn’s attorneys’ motion to have the case dismissed outright but asked prosecutors to account for the current status of work at the site. They could not, telling the court that they were unsure whether the evidence against Hearn had been preserved. Edelman, who set a trial date for September 28, also asked why the Trump administration could not “maintain the status quo” for the rest of the week to avoid access to evidence becoming an “issue at this trial,” according to News From the States. The judge also urged the “government to not do anything further” on the pool before denying Hearn’s motion to dismiss the case, the outlet reports. Edelman called the motion “entirely premature” but did not prohibit Hearn’s attorneys from filing another motion to dismiss going forward. Edelman conceded that the prosecutors, “personally, are not in control” of renovations at the Reflecting Pool. He added that “there may well not be any prejudice,” meaning the case could still go ahead, even as he warned that the government was endangering its chances of a successful prosecution. The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department for comment on this story. https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-gives-blunt-warning-to-trump-doj-goon-jeanine-pirro-in-reflecting-pool-vandal-case/?

🏗️ The Center for Climate Integrity released a new report this month detailing how the oil and gas industry colluded to promote the lie of natural gas as a clean alternative to oil, “despite knowing that it is a significant source of air pollution and a major contributor to climate change.”

Gusher. The Trump administration’s escalation of the war with Iran once again has Americans paying more at the pump, leading to a massive windfall for oil companies — even as the industry slashes jobs and reaps the benefits of reduced wartime regulations. After briefly dropping in June, the price of a gallon of gas hit $4 this week, up from $3.14 one year ago, as affordability becomes a major issue in the 2026 midterm elections. The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies reportedly raked in more than $30 million in excess profits every hour when gas prices spiked at the start of the war. And in the coming weeks, U.S.-based oil firms are expected to report their best quarterly profits in years. 📉 Still, despite increased production, employment in the oil and gas industry has fallen sharply, with Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips, and Imperial Oil collectively shedding tens of thousands of jobs. In 2016, U.S. oil and gas extraction jobs employed 187,300 people. By June of 2026, that number had fallen to 114,500. 🫠 Under pressure from the U.S., the European Union will waive penalties for oil and gas companies that violate methane emissions laws for the next three years. The European Commission said the fee waivers are necessary to “avoid supply disruptions” caused by “the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”

👋 Good morning! I miss the World Cup. Welcome to the club: Nolan Arenado got his 2,000th career hit on Monday, joining Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Andrew McCutchen, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado as the only active players to reach that milestone. In today's edition: Grass vs. turf, Sox win again, Guardians tee off on Ryan, study on Gen Z sports fans, golf's global champions, time is a flat circle, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ 14 in a row: The Red Sox rallied for a 6-5 win over the Orioles on Monday for their 14th straight victory, the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. With another win tonight, they'll match their longest ever, set in 1946. 🎓 Manuel is stepping down: Michigan AD Warde Manuel will step down at the end of the year after being implicated in an internal investigation into the saga surrounding head football coach Sherrone Moore's firing. Don't expect Manuel's exit, or Michigan's nonsense statement explaining it, to fix the school's culture problem. 🏀 Miles' big night: The WNBA-best Lynx (21-6) won their sixth straight game on Monday behind the best game of Olivia Miles' young career. The ROY frontrunner put up 32 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, joining Candace Parker (2008) as the only rookies with those numbers in a game. 🌽 Is this heaven? Iowa and Kansas will face off in an exhibition this fall at Field of Dreams ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa, becoming the first Division I college baseball teams to play at the field originally constructed for the iconic 1989 film. ⚾️ Speaking of which: MLB's third Field of Dreams Game is fast approaching, with the Phillies and Twins playing there on Aug. 13 in throwback uniforms they unveiled on Monday.   🏈 PITCH PERFECT NATURAL GRASS IN THE NFL: #WORTHTHECOST? (Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images) By the time you've read this, there's a chance that the immaculate pitch at MetLife Stadium has already met its end, displaced for its artificial-turf replacement. The players who will take to that field in the coming months are the ones most upset about it. #WorthTheCost: On Saturday, NFL players voiced their displeasure with the temporary nature of the natural grass at some World Cup host venues. Their #WorthTheCost movement reignites a long-raging debate about the artificial turf that carpets half of the league's stadiums. 92% of NFL players prefer natural grass, and the installation of natural grass for the World Cup presented a high-profile opportunity to highlight what they view as an inconsistency in ownership's position. The players' preference stems primarily from injury concerns, with the NFLPA insistent that artificial turf causes a higher incidence of non-contact lower-extremity injuries. What does the data say? Does artificial turf actually increase the incidence of injuries? It depends who you ask. Pre-2020, the data supported the notion that players were worse off on the fake stuff. Data collected between 2012 and 2018 showed a 28% higher rate of non-contact lower extremity injuries on artificial turf. By the turn of the decade, the numbers started to shift. The gap in incidence narrowed toward near-equality in 2021 — a result the NFLPA viewed as an anomaly — before reverting to prior norms in 2022. Worth noting: Studies differ in their conclusions. Some have found a higher incidence of injuries on turf and a higher likelihood of those injuries being season-ending. Others contend that the differences in injury rates are not statistically significant. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) Follow the money: Why are owners reticent to install natural grass and placate their valued employees? Money, of course: Turf offers revenue upside and cost savings that grass can't replicate. Generally, venues can host a greater volume of special events (think: concerts) on artificial turf than on grass, which requires a longer post-event recovery period. Fewer events means less revenue. And owners of the artificially-turfed stadiums have busy calendars they'd rather not pare down. The grass isn't greener: Solutions at some of the world's most advanced soccer facilities raise as many questions as they do answers. Both Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Real Madrid's renovated Bernabéu feature retractable natural-grass pitches stitched with synthetic fibers. Beneath Tottenham's retractable pitch lies an artificial playing surface used for NFL games and special events. The club generated £32 million ($43M) in revenue from other events in 2024-25. Despite the cutting-edge nature of the construction, both Madrid and Tottenham are exploring whether the retractable pitches — and the shallower soil they use — are causing a concerning uptick in injuries. Bottom line: Though NFL players are adamant that their safety is worth the financial trade-off, NFL owners presiding over turf are unlikely to concede that it meaningfully heightens risk, particularly given the dollars at stake. Want a clue about the strength of their convictions? Look no further than the immediate removal of the World Cup's natural grass.   ⚾️ HOMER HAPPY JOE RYAN'S HISTORICALLY BAD NIGHT (Jason Miller/Getty Images) Twins righty Joe Ryan, a two-time All-Star who is unquestionably one of the best pitchers in the American League, had himself a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night on Monday in Cleveland. Launch pad: Ryan allowed six home runs in Minnesota's 13-4 loss, tied for the most by any pitcher in a single game in MLB history. That's historic any way you slice it; it was also incredibly unlikely. Ryan, an All-Star both this season and last, entered the game with a 2.85 ERA and just 10 HR allowed through his first 20 starts. He left it with a 3.38 ERA and — checks math — 16 HR allowed. The Guardians, meanwhile, entered the game with the third-fewest homers in the majors before teeing off on Ryan. And two of their six long balls were the first two of rookie outfielder Petey Halpin's career after he'd come up empty in his first 39 MLB games. Achilles' heel? Ryan, a six-year veteran with a sterling 3.65 lifetime ERA, does have an odd penchant for such blowups. Indeed, this was his third career game allowing 5+ HR, the most of any pitcher in MLB history. Ball don't lie: As if Ryan's outing weren't strange enough already, let's add one more wrinkle. On June 30, his ERA ballooned to 3.36 after a clunker in which he allowed 6 ER in a single inning following a botched grounder. It was originally ruled a hit, but a week later was changed to an error, bringing his ERA back down to 2.85. On Monday, he gave it all back. Ball. Don't. Lie.   📈 NEW STUDY HOW GEN Z ENGAGES WITH SPORTS (Chart: Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports; Data: Acceleration Community of Companies/USC Annenberg School) Sports fandom comes in many different shapes and sizes, and while the prevailing narrative regarding Gen Z has long been one of a cohort that seemingly lacks interest in sports, recent findings suggest they're merely engaging in their own unique way. New report: The latest study from Acceleration Community of Companies, in collaboration with USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, was published last week, exactly two years before the Opening Ceremony of the LA28 Olympics. Findings were drawn after surveying 2,154 Gen Z adults (currently aged 18-29) and conducting focus groups. The key takeaway: Sports themselves are not the main draw for this generation, with nearly half (49%) of Gen Z fans saying they've become interested in a new sport or athlete via some sort of ancillary content like fashion, relationships, scandals or TV shows (chart above). If the inherent love of the game is the front door, think of this more like the side door. Examples include one respondent who's now "obsessed" with F1 after seeing photos of Charles Leclerc and his wife, who were "so cute." Or another who became a Dodgers fan because the Twitch streamer they watch always has the game playing during his streams. The same is true of live sporting events, which nearly three-quarters (78%) of Gen Z fans say they have attended or would attend primarily for the surrounding experience, such as concerts, brand activations and fan festivals. Big picture: Old-school fandom does still exist, with 26% of Gen Z identifying as die-hards. But 48% fall in the middle ground (following athletes, trends or highlights more than specific teams) and 25% would rather follow an athlete's personal story than watch them compete. The real kicker? Just 8% stay off their phones while watching sports.   ⛳️ MAJOR SEASON GOLF'S GLOBAL CHAMPIONS Ryan Fox and his new best friend, the Claret Jug. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images) For just the second time in men's golf history, dating back to the inaugural Masters in 1934, the year's four major winners all hail from different countries. 2026: Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (Masters), England's Aaron Rai (PGA Championship), USA's Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open), New Zealand's Ryan Fox (The Open) 2010: USA's Phil Mickelson (Masters), Germany's Martin Kaymer (PGA Championship), Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open), South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen (The Open) Sorry, Uncle Sam: This was the first year since 2014 with fewer than two American major champions, which is particularly shocking considering how well the best Americans performed. 10 of the 14 golfers who made all four major cuts this year are American, including four of the five whose cumulative score to par in those events was better than -10. Of those five, only McIlroy (-11) won this year, while Americans Scottie Scheffler* (-20), Sam Burns (-20), Xander Schauffele (-13) and Cameron Young (-11) combined for 10 top-10 finishes, but no wins. For the sake of comparison, the lone American who did win this year — Clark — missed the cut at the PGA and Open Championships, and finished T21 at the Masters. Sometimes, you just get hot. *Scottie's ridiculous: Scheffler has finished inside the top-five in more than half (11) of the 20 majors he's competed in since 2022, and has nearly as many wins (4) as finishes outside the top-10 (5) in that time.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: TUESDAY, JULY 21 (Duane Burleson/Getty Images) ⚾️ Dodgers at Phillies The battle of NL contenders continues tonight in Philadelphia (6:40pm ET, TBS) after the Phillies won Monday's series-opening slugfest, 10-7. One-two punch: Zack Wheeler, who along with last night's starter Cristopher Sánchez forms the best one-two punch in the league, takes the mound tonight for Philly. Though Wheeler (somehow) wasn't an All-Star, he's in the midst of another Cy Young worthy campaign, going 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 4.7 WAR — second only to Sánchez (5.5) among all pitchers. More to watch: 🚴 Tour de France: Stage 16 (7am, Peacock) … The second time trial of this year's Tour travels 16 miles from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains along the Swiss border. 🏀 The Basketball Tournament: Round 1 (7pm, FS1) … The action continues in the $2 million tournament. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   👟 MILESTONE TRACK TRIVIA (Norman Potter/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Josh Kerr's record-breaking mile (3:42.66) over the weekend came 72 years after the once-unthinkable four-minute mile was first broken by the man pictured above. Question: What is that man's name? Hint: RB. Answer at the bottom.   🇪🇸 VAMOS! TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE (Giphy) In 2010, Spain won the World Cup and Rafael Nadal became the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam. In 2026, Spain won the World Cup and Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam. Vamos!   Trivia answer: Roger Bannister

Epstein abuse Roza Gilles was an 18-year-old model when Jeffrey Epstein abused her for the first time — while he was serving jail time. Her story — which she is publicly sharing in full for the first time with CNN — offers a vivid window into the unusual parameters of Epstein’s controversial 2008 Florida plea deal for soliciting prostitution from a minor that authorized him to spend much of his sentence outside of jail. That arrangement allowed Epstein to continue abusing young women like Gilles even as he was serving his 13-month sentence. Read more. WATCH: Survivor details Epstein abuse that began during his jail time

Florida Democratic Party votes to oppose property tax amendment The Florida Democratic Party has voted to formally oppose Amendment 3, the measure designed to expand the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes and set the state on a path towards eliminating those taxes. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/20/florida-democratic-party-votes-to-oppose-property-tax-amendment/? Florida disaster fund spent more on immigration than all 2025 missions combined The DeSantis administration spent nearly two-thirds of Florida’s emergency fund last fiscal year on fighting illegal immigration, dwarfing spending for severe weather, international rescues, and other emergency missions for which the fund was created. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/20/florida-disaster-fund-spent-more-on-immigration-than-all-2025-missions-combined/?

Trump Humiliated as He’s Forced to Beg His Foes for Help Trump has found himself at the mercy of the very senators he spent years insulting. Donald Trump has been forced to beg his Republican foes for a helping hand as he scrambles to rescue his former personal lawyer’s nomination as attorney general. The White House has found itself courting GOP Sens. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn—both vilified by the president as disloyal—as they hold off on supporting Todd Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Politico reports. A single Republican “no” vote on the committee could sink Blanche’s nomination. Tillis, 65, and Cornyn, 74, both confirmed the White House’s outreach in interviews with Politico on Capitol Hill Monday evening, while a White House official told the outlet that “the Administration continues to have active conversations with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has repeatedly insulted both senators, blasting Tillis as a “loser” and a “quitter,” while dismissing Cornyn as “hopeless.” The 80-year-old president effectively ended Cornyn’s Senate career when he endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Cornyn in Texas’s Republican primary, leading Paxton to trounce him. Both Tillis and Cornyn have been wary of Blanche, the acting attorney general, over his role in signing off on the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” taxpayer slush fund to compensate Trump’s allies and agreeing to give the Trump family immunity from tax investigations. “Those are the issues we’re continuing to discuss with the administration to see whether we can get a modification of the settlement agreement,” Cornyn told Politico. Asked whether he could secure concessions from Blanche, who had previously resisted amending the agreement he entered into on Trump’s behalf, Cornyn replied, “Well, does he want to get confirmed or not?” In response to bipartisan outrage over money from the fund potentially going to rioters who violently attacked the police on Jan. 6, the Justice Department has said the fund would not move forward. But Blanche has stopped short of putting the commitment in writing, prompting Cornyn to grill him on the issue during his confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee last week. Tillis told Politico that he has been encouraged by the Justice Department’s efforts to work with his staff to address his concerns, saying, “I know my staff have been in touch, almost, probably daily.” Blanche acquiesced to Tillis’s demand that he meet with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims last week, but many of the women later said the meeting only deepened their frustration. “It had absolutely nothing to do with us, and it had everything to do with Blanche checking a box so that he can get a promotion,” survivor Liz Stein told the hosts of MS NOW’s The Weeknight last week. “I don’t think we had high expectations going into this meeting,” Stein added, “but I didn’t expect to walk out of the meeting feeling the way we feel right now. It was demoralizing.” She added that Blanche took no accountability for the botched redaction system that saw some victims’ names released in the Epstein files. Politico reported Tillis said he would “like to understand what, if any, steps were taken for opening FBI investigations—whether it was a request or whether it was an acceptance to do it,” in regards to Blanche’s plans to bring Epstein’s co-conspirators to justice. The publication quoted an anonymous source linked to the nomination process who said Tillis will wind up voting to support Blanche, saying, “Tillis, we think, is squared away.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-humiliated-as-hes-forced-to-beg-his-foes-thom-tillis-and-john-cornyn-for-help-with-todd-blanche/? ps:What goes around comes around!

In Search of Eden with Rob Carter Part 1 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. – Genesis 2: 8 (KJV) https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2026/07/10/in-search-of-eden-with-rob-carter-part-1/ In Search of Eden with Rob Carter – Part 2 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. – Genesis 2: 10 (KJV) https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2026/07/16/in-search-of-eden-with-rob-carter-part-2/

Florida retirement haven unravels as seniors face ruin under Trump economy The cost of living continues to explode under President Donald Trump, and now, a new CNN report on Florida seniors has exposed the reality of this economic ruin. https://local.newsbreak.com/florida-state/4783331960498-florida-retirement-haven-unravels-as-seniors-face-ruin-under-trump-economy? Trump-Appointed Judge Stops Admin From Forcing Minnesota to Cooperate With Feds on Immigration Enforcement A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump has dismissed a lawsuit filed by his administration that was attempting to force Minnesota and several local governments within the state to cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcement, finding the feds’ legal pleading to be insufficient in multiple ways. https://local.newsbreak.com/minnesota-state/4782594154891-trump-appointed-judge-stops-admin-from-forcing-minnesota-to-cooperate-with-feds-on-immigration-enforcement?

I can not vouch for the truth of the following story which is being told on the internet. At 3 AM on a winter morning a Minnesota Trooper noticed a car stuck in the snow, with the lights on. He turned his lights on and sloped. The driver was asleep, with a half empty bottle of vodka on the passenger seat. As the driver woke up and noted the flashing lights, he put the car in gear and the spinning wheels recorded 30, 40 and 50 mph. The Trooper stood beside the door, running in place. At 50 mph he ordered the driver to pull to the side of the road and to turn the engine off. The driver did,and was arrested for drunk driving. However, he never figured out that the Trooper was only running in place as the car only spun its wheels.

Israel is building a miles-long earthen barrier inside Gaza, entrenching its division The Israeli military is quietly but quickly building a giant earthen barrier separating the over 50% of the Gaza Strip it controls from the rest of the territory, according to satellite imagery, further entrenching the division of the tiny Palestinian enclave. Read more. Why this matters: When presented with the satellite images, Israel’s military confirmed to The Associated Press it has built a physical barrier in the area of the so-called yellow line, the boundary to which Israeli troops withdrew under the October ceasefire deal with Hamas. The line was envisioned in the U.S.-backed agreement as a temporary division of the territory pending a fuller Israeli withdrawal. But as the truce stagnates, it appears Israel is digging in, heightening Palestinian fears that the line is morphing into a border. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US and Iran dig in over the Strait of Hormuz, showing the limits of intensifying airstrikes Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis say they will block Saudi shipping at Red Sea gateway

The men behind Trump’s $3.47 gas: An NFL coach, a GOP fundraiser and two New Jersey brothers President Donald Trump and his White House have enthusiastically promoted the Freedom Fuel Network. Read more. What to know: Records indicate the chain, which was launched last month, is run by a disparate collection of businessmen that includes an NFL kicking coach, a GOP fundraiser and a New Jersey entrepreneur who this year was ordered, along with his brother, to pay civil damages for unlawfully taking more than 200,000 gallons of fuel. How the stations got Trump’s attention remains a mystery, and the four businessmen declined to — or could not be reached for — comment. The White House denied Trump had any personal connection to the venture, but declined to say how the project was developed. It acknowledged having discussions with individuals who set up the network of gas stations. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Gas prices back up to an average of $4 a gallon as US and Iran launch attacks

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, citing disputes over autos, alcohol and cheese The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The administration official previewing the action said that Canada was one of the only nations other than China that retaliated against Trump’s previous tariffs and must be held accountable. Read more. Why this matters: The White House said in a fact sheet that the tariffs would go into effect in 30 days, meaning there is time for negotiations as Trump has not always followed through on his announced tax hikes on imports. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that his government believes in the “benefits of free and fair trade,” having signed “more than 20 new economic and security partnerships.” He said Canada is prepared to negotiate with the Trump administration. “This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S.,” Carney said. Still, the tariffs could escalate into a wider trade war as Canada seeks to defend its economy. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Darline Graham says she will run for a full term in Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat Officials sought phone records of NYT journalists and their relatives in an effort to unmask sources Senators demand ICE answers and body cameras after 2 fatal shootings in Maine and Houston Judge says Paramount and Warner must halt merger for at least two weeks, granting states’ request 2 more convictions thrown out in 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan governor Alaska wants to seize a pilot’s plane over a 6-pack of beer. The Supreme Court will hear his case White House: Trump to fly old Air Force One for about a month as Qatari-gifted jet gets ‘upgrades’

July 21, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. The Houthis — a militia Iran backs — returned to the wartime theater in the wider Middle East yesterday. The group said it would impose a blockade on Saudi ships trying to enter the Red Sea. That could open a new front in the war. It’s a conflict that has largely been fought remotely, with drones and missiles. Since it began, an estimated 1,700 or more Iranian civilians have been killed. I want to start today, though, with the American dead. Pvt. Isabella Gonzales and First Lt. Tyler James Feehan. U.S. Army, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images and Associated Press Lives lost We learned the names yesterday of two of the three American service members killed during the latest intense exchanges of fire with Iran. They were First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, of Carrollton, Texas. Feehan was 25, Gonzales just 19. They were both killed when Iran launched missiles at the military base in Jordan where they were serving, Gonzales on Friday and Feehan on Saturday. The Pentagon has not yet identified the third U.S. service member, who was also killed on Saturday, during the disposal of a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq. Theirs were the 15th, 16th and 17th confirmed deaths of U.S. military personnel since the United States and Israel started fighting with Iran on Feb. 28. They left families shattered, as The Times discovered in Texas: On Monday morning, at a tidy brick home in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton where Private Gonzales grew up, her mother answered the door in tears. She was glad her daughter’s name had been made public, she said, but she was not ready to talk about her yet. An American flag hung from the front of the home. A few other people arrived to be with the family, including several children. “She was a soldier,” Private Gonzales’s uncle, Ricardo Moniz, said, before returning inside. “We’re going to remember her like that.” The Pentagon. Kenny Holston/The New York Times Operational security The Pentagon’s protocol for publicly identifying slain service members is to wait 24 hours after the notification of their next of kin. The military shares the name, rank and not much else about the fallen. Nearly five months into the war, with the cease-fire collapsing, the Pentagon hasn’t said much about its current strategy. Officials last gave a major news briefing in May. The Trump administration hasn’t disclosed the extent to which the war has drained U.S. supplies of expensive weapons, nor discussed how Iran has kept or rebuilt its ability to launch missiles at U.S. bases in the region. And the Pentagon hasn’t released information about dozens of injured troops. They’re not required to, a U.S. military official told The Times, especially when the soldiers quickly return to duty. As ever in war, there’s a tension between the government’s need to keep operational details secret and obligation to update its constituents on how the conflict is going. Telling the American people where troops have been injured, another official said, could lead Iran to focus its ballistic missiles and drones on those bases. Note: The exact locations of the helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea, the refueling aircraft crash and the Iranian drone detonation are not known. Bora Erden and Lazaro Gamio/The New York Times Congressional undersight Republicans in Congress aren’t happy about any of this. The collapse of the cease-fire and the resumption of a hot war have inflamed the debate over the president’s war powers at the very moment the administration seeks tens of billions of dollars to pay for the fighting. “That has presented Republicans with a political worst-case scenario months before midterm elections in which their majorities are at stake,” writes Robert Jimison, who covers Capitol Hill: “They are being asked to vote to fund an unpopular war over which they have had no meaningful oversight, and which they have never voted to approve.” Many have pledged to do just that, though. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, said on CNN last week: “We’re going to supply the needs for America’s national security.” “The greatest fighting force on the planet, the last great superpower must be fully equipped,” he said, “and that’s the job of Congress, to make sure it’s done.” President Trump, for his part, has ignored votes in both the House and the Senate that directed him to seek authorization for the war. Last week he told lawmakers that fighting had resumed under his direction as commander in chief. Yesterday afternoon he doubled down. “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” he wrote on social media. More on the war Suspected Iranian strikes have targeted the U.S. military in at least four countries since the cease-fire began unraveling, according to satellite imagery and videos verified by The Times. After a U.S. strike on a tanker last month killed three Indian sailors, the Pentagon said the ship had been violating America’s blockade of Iranian oil. Times reporters found evidence that suggests the ship’s engine was off when it was hit. THE LATEST NEWS Trump Administration Trump ordered a 50 percent tariff on goods from Canada, restarting a trade war with one of America’s closest allies. He claimed that Canada had discriminated against key U.S. industries. The Trump administration subpoenaed phone records in its effort to unmask the sources in a Times article about security on the new Air Force One. They include records from one Times reporter’s mother and another’s spouse. The White House said the new plane would be out of service for a month this fall for upgrades. Trump rejected nearly 6,000 clemency applications this month, from people who mostly lacked political connections, even as he awarded pardons and commutations to allies. Politics Senator Darline Graham Kent Nishimura/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Darline Graham, sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, said she would run to succeed him for a full term. She was sworn in to fill the seat temporarily last week. Troy Jackson, who is the front-runner to replace Graham Platner as Maine’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, started in politics as a Republican. Read how he changed into a progressive Democrat. The number of people in Arizona receiving food stamps has dropped by about half in less than a year. In the video below, our reporter Jason DeParle explains why, and what the bigger impact could be. Click to watch. The New York Times Around the World Andy Burnham and his wife, Marie-France van Heel. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, is promising changes to the country’s economy. He’s already facing a significant backlash from his opponents and the markets. Egg prices have fallen in the United States, but in China they are at a 10-year high. Some people there are blaming Trump. After a nearly two-year vacuum, Hamas picked a new leader. He is Khalil al-Hayya, who steered talks with Israel during the Gaza war. In response to street protests in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has held discussions with military commanders and offered the defense minister he fired a new job. Protesters in Kyiv, Ukraine, last week. Jędrzej Nowicki for The New York Times Other Big Stories Google used to champion the “open web.” But now it is funneling users toward A.I.-generated answers rather than other websites. As Cyclospora cases spike, the F.D.A. said it was continuing to investigate the role of Taylor Farms in the outbreak. A NEW VIBE Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times Apple’s App Store is growing. If it had shelves like a grocery store, the apps added since the start of this year would demand about 712,000 extra square feet of floor space — 12 football fields. But bigger isn’t necessarily better. The bulk of those apps, pumped out in a hurry by A.I.-wielding “vibecoders,” aren’t being used: As the number of new apps doubled (or, for math nerds: grew 100 percent), downloads inched up 2 percent. After the App Store opened in 2008, it grew at a blistering pace for nearly a decade. By 2017, it began to stagnate as consumers consolidated around a handful of apps, most of which you probably know: Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, etc. Now the App Store is ballooning again, but only a handful of newcomers like ChatGPT and Claude are among the most downloaded. Read more about the mostly unhelpful flood of vibecoded apps. OPINIONS Nicolás Maduro’s case is due back in court tomorrow. An international treaty from 1922 could pause proceedings, and then perhaps set him free, writes Michael Rips, a lawyer. Money has triumphed over art as fashion brands consolidate and algorithms drive consumption. This is the age of faceless clothing slop, writes Amy Odell, the author of a biography of Anna Wintour. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS Runners in Kenya. Brian Otieno for The New York Times We’ve made these links free for you. Chasing a dream: Hoping for a personal-best marathon finish, a Times reporter headed to Kenya’s Great Rift Valley to learn from some of the world’s best runners. Daring escape: Nine members of a North Korean family — including two children and a pregnant woman — risked their lives to find freedom in the South. Here is their remarkable story. In Venezuela: Two boys dug every day for 26 days to find the bodies of their mother, brother and grandmother. We recommend you see these photos. Required reading: Texas has introduced a list of books that it will ask all public-school students in the state to read. It includes a lot of classics, parts of the Bible and “L is for Lone Star: A Texas Alphabet.” See the whole list. TODAY’S NUMBER 450,000 — That is how many wine corks were ground up to make “slightly cushioned” new pathways at a Brooklyn public housing project. “Everybody’s loving that cork,” said the head of the tenants’ group. SPORTS Track and field: Josh Kerr broke the men’s mile record, running it in 3:42.66. The previous record, of 3:43.13, was set 27 years ago. M.L.B.: A Los Angeles Angels scout who called himself “The Baseball Spy” got caught filming the coaches of the Colorado Rockies. He lost his job — all for a leg up in a series between two of the league’s worst teams. Read the story. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the Argentina team’s bad behavior after losing the World Cup final. RECIPE OF THE DAY Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times I’ve been making Jamie Oliver’s chicken in milk for more than 20 years. It only took me 19 or so to figure out that I shouldn’t follow his directive and ditch the fat used to brown the chicken at the start of the recipe, but strain and save it instead, for use in the mashed potatoes that are the dish’s best companion. What a fantastic meal. BODEGA REALISM “Cool Machine,” the final installment of Colson Whitehead’s Harlem crime trilogy, is out today. With it, our critic Dwight Garner writes, you’ll have a chance “to drink in Whitehead’s intellectual breadth, his ambivalent irony, his moral seriousness and pinball verbal play.” For myself: I inhaled it, smiling nearly from first page to last. More on culture What’s the latest trend in American car culture? Bulletproofing. The comedian Cat Cohen had a stroke at 31. Lying in her hospital bed, she thought, “This is going to be great material.” Three years later, her one-woman show “Broad Strokes” is up in New York. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Illustration by Leesa Allmond; Videos via Disney Revisit the family-friendly 2004 heist adventure “National Treasure,” starring Nicolas Cage. It’s the latest Hollywood movie we’re declaring so bad it’s good. Hear us out. Get more out of running. Leave your fitness tracker at home. Roll your clothes when you pack a suitcase. Or fold them. The travel agents at Wirecutter tested both methods and discovered advantages to each. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were millionth and monolith. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Crossplay and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

💩 1 for the road: D.C.'s "humanure" DC Water bills Bloom soil (above) as: "Good Soil. Better Earth." Photo: Courtesy of Bloom Flowers outside the National Cathedral. Tomatoes in community gardens. Lush fairways at Andrews Air Force Base. Their secret ingredient? D.C.-made "humanure," Axios D.C.'s Anna Spiegel writes. Why it matters: A decade after launching Bloom — a compost alternative made from treated wastewater — DC Water has turned No. 2 into a No. 1 business. Many cities pay to haul treated biosolids away. D.C. transforms them into fertilizer it sells throughout the region, generating millions in savings and drastically cutting carbon emissions. Keep reading ...

Rise of whites-only "heritage communities" Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images A white separatist group is openly planning a network of whites-only settlements across rural America that aim to withstand legal challenges by operating essentially as private clubs, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. Why it matters: The communities are launching in the Ozarks, Appalachia and the South as the Trump administration has backed off prosecuting some civil rights cases. The big picture: For nearly three years, state and federal authorities have largely watched from the sidelines as the separatist group Return to the Land unveiled plans and took applications for residents. Those plans amount to an intentional challenge to the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which banned housing discrimination. They've been inspired in part by recent decisions from the conservative Supreme Court and the Trump administration's reversal of much of President Lyndon Johnson's civil rights legacy. Keep reading.

🏡 New math finds fewer homeowners Data: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis calculations based on 2024 American Community Survey data. Chart: Emily Peck/Axios A new way of measuring America's homeownership rate finds that it is far lower than commonly understood, especially for young adults, Axios' Emily Peck writes. The traditional measure reflects the share of occupied housing units where the owner is a resident. The new measure is the share of the adult population who owns their home. Why it matters: The findings show "that younger people are having an even harder time buying a house than traditional data would suggest," according to a note by TD Cowen housing policy analyst Jaret Seiberg. 🧮 By the numbers: The new measure, calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, finds that only about 53% of American adults own their own homes — not the commonly cited homeownership rate of 65% calculated by the Census Bureau. For adults under age 35, it's bleaker: Only 22% are homeowners under the new measure, compared with 37% under the traditional one.

🏒 Trump targets Canada The Trump administration imposed an additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods yesterday — including hockey sticks, wine and cement — accusing the country of discriminating against U.S. exports, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes. Why it matters: The move ratchets up tensions in an increasingly bitter trade dispute between two of the world's closest economic partners. The tariffs, which take effect next month, will be imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — a never-before-used authority. The duties cover roughly $20 billion in annual Canadian imports. A senior administration official said the tariffs aren't the wildfire tariffs that President Trump had earlier threatened. The official said those options remain under consideration. Keep reading.

Trump's Iran choice President Trump is nearing a decisive fork in the Iran war, with U.S. and Israeli officials envisioning only two viable endgames, Axios' Barak Ravid reports: Option 1: Pursue a new 10-day ceasefire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Option 2: Launch a massive joint military campaign with Israel to force Tehran's capitulation. Why it matters: Trump hasn't decided yet. But officials believe the next few days will determine which path prevails — with little room left for the grinding, open-ended conflict paralyzing the Gulf. Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan and other regional mediators have presented the U.S. and Iran with a 10-day ceasefire proposal, two regional sources with direct knowledge of the effort told Axios. The Trump administration is exploring the proposal and has urged Israel to avoid steps that could close the diplomatic window, U.S. officials say. But Washington is simultaneously preparing for the talks to fail. The U.S. military has sent dozens of fighter jets and refueling aircraft to the region in recent days, assembling the forces needed for a major escalation. Israeli sources say the IDF is on high alert and preparing for a possible expansion of the war into a full-scale, coordinated campaign within days. 🖼️ The big picture: Ten straight nights of U.S. bombing have failed to break Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, dragging Trump deeper into a war he has repeatedly declared won. At least three U.S. service members have been killed in the renewed fighting. Trump said yesterday he had ordered the Pentagon to make Iran pay "many times over" for every American death. Oil briefly broke $90 a barrel this weekend as Iran widened its strikes on commercial ships and Gulf infrastructure. Gas prices are rising again, compounding the domestic backlash to an already unpopular war. State of play: Neither Trump nor Iran has accepted the ceasefire proposal, and both sides appear determined to gain leverage through further strikes before committing to a ceasefire. A senior U.S. official said talks are continuing, but said Trump has yet to finish retaliating.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY July 21 1861 The First Battle of Bull Run In the first major land battle of the Civil War, a large Union force under General Irvin McDowell is routed by a Confederate army under General Pierre G.T. Beauregard. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1865 Wild Bill Hickok fights in first quick-draw western shootout African History 1970 Aswan High Dam completed Arts & Entertainment 1899 Ernest Hemingway is born 2007 Final Harry Potter book released 2023 Blockbuster films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" released on the same day Cold War 1955 President Eisenhower presents his “Open Skies” plan Crime 1925 “Trial of the Century” reaches final day, draws unprecedented attention European History 2005 Bombers attempt to attack London transit system Inventions & Science 1960 Germany passes controversial “Volkswagen Law” Natural Disasters & Environment 365 Tsunami hits Alexandria, Egypt Space Exploration 2011 NASA’s final space shuttle mission comes to an end World War II 1944 Hitler to Germany: “I am unhurt”

Psalm 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. New King James Version