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Brent oil tops $100 per barrel, as tumbles for Tesla and Alphabet yank Wall Street lower NEW YORK (AP) — Brent oil shot to its highest price since May after increased fighting in the Middle East on Thursday threatened to slow the global flow of crude. At the same time, sharp drops for two of Wall Street’s most influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked the U.S. stock market to its worst loss in a month. https://apnews.com/article/stocks-markets-iran-trump-ai-inflation-45b9165d6c518f5bea668b6ba7a89838?

👋 Good morning! Have you subscribed to Yahoo Sports Biz yet? In today's edition: "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images, Sox streak ends, Indiana's scoring surge continues, fantasy football rankings, Littler's nine-darter, bad golf etiquette, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚾️ Sox streak ends: The Red Sox tied their franchise record with their 15th consecutive win in the first leg of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Orioles, but saw their streak finally end with a loss in the nightcap. 15 in a row was MLB's longest streak since 2021. 🏀 Phee's back: Napheesa Collier made her season debut for the Lynx on Wednesday after missing the first 27 games recovering from offseason ankle surgeries. The five-time All-Star didn't miss a beat, dropping 24 and 10 as first-place Minnesota won its seventh straight game. 🎮 Cover athletes: Victor Wembanyama will grace the cover of the upcoming NBA 2K27 video game, coming out in early September. Caitlin Clark will appear on the cover of the deluxe edition, and Derrick Rose will be on the cover of the ultra edition. ⚽️ Tampering investigation: MLS is investigating tampering claims against Inter Miami after they signed Brazilian superstar Casemiro. Speaking of Inter, please watch this disastrous own goal they allowed on Wednesday before coming back to beat Chicago.   📸 PHOTOGRAPHY BEHIND THE LENS: WORLD CUP EDITION Getty Images captured more than 2.6 million photos during the 2026 World Cup, when their 115-person team traveled over 650,000 miles across five weeks, 104 games, three countries and 16 cities. Below, we go "Behind the Lens" to get the backstory on some of our favorite images. (David Ramos/Getty Images) East Rutherford, New Jersey — Where else to start but at the end, as Spain's Ferran Torres celebrates his game-winner in extra time of the World Cup Final, as shot by David Ramos. Behind the lens: Here's David… What stands out most to me is the importance of the moment. These are exactly the historic, unrepeatable scenes we work to capture: creating an honest visual document, without filters or artificial effects, that can preserve the memory for decades. Ferran Torres' expression conveys pure happiness, and his teammates running towards him in the background completes the story. I was lucky to capture this moment, but it is a team effort. I was especially pleased that it was Ferran, a player I admire for his sacrifice, resilience and team mentality, particularly after the criticism he has faced in recent years. (Hector Vivas/FIFA via Getty Images) Guadalupe, Mexico — Fans arrive to Monterrey Stadium ahead of the Round of 32 match between Netherlands and Morocco, captured by Hector Vivas. Behind the lens: Here's Hector… Monterrey Stadium is one of my favorites, not just of the World Cup, but of all the stadiums I've ever visited. It's a stadium that broke the mold of how the city of Monterrey was laid out so that from one of its ends, Cerro de la Silla — one of the city's most iconic landmarks — could be framed like a painting. Without a doubt, one of the best ways for fans to arrive at any stadium during the World Cup was at Estadio Monterrey, where an elevated pedestrian walkway offered the best view of the stadium and its stunning backdrop. That's what I tried to capture in this photo. Framing Cerro de la Silla, from inside or outside the stadium, became a favorite activity for photographers and fans alike during the World Cup group stage. (Dan Mullan/FIFA via Getty Images) Arlington, Texas — Players and match officials line up before the group stage match between Argentina and Australia. Shot by Dan Mullan with a remote camera hanging from the bottom of the jumbotron at Jerry World. Behind the lens: Here's Dan… This particular angle took quite a lot of planning and preparation. Ahead of the tournament, our team liaised with FIFA and the Dallas Stadium to allow us to attach a remote camera to the bottom of the giant screen. This involved being winched up to the screen from the middle of the pitch in a basket. Myself and my colleagues, Madison Higham and Chris Graythen, worked together to do this installation a few days before the first match in the stadium. The camera was hung on the bottom of the big screen pointing straight down to give a very unique angle of the pitch. We ran power and network to the camera position, which enabled us to leave the camera on for the duration of the tournament and be able to access all its controls. On match days, it was fired using a radio transmitter from the field level with our pitchside photographers. We also had the ability to fire the camera from our office in New York, where we could see exactly what was happening as if you were looking through the viewfinder. It was the perfect angle to capture the pre-match ceremony where the two teams lined up around the center circle for their national anthems, flanked by their national flags. Coming tomorrow: "Behind the Lens" Part 2.   🏀 KEEPIN' IT 100 INDIANA'S SCORING SURGE Caitlin Clark scored a game-high 27 points. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) The Fever torched the nets again on Wednesday night in a record-breaking performance representative of the highest-scoring campaign in WNBA history. Finishing strong: Indiana (17-10) closed out the first half with a bang, breaking their franchise scoring record in a 123-88 win over the Sun for their third straight victory heading into the All-Star break. It was their 11th 100-point game this year, tied with the 2023 Aces for the most in a single season — a record they still have 17 games left to break. It also raised their scoring average to 95.5 points per game, on pace to break the single-season record set by the Mercury in 2010 (93.9). Big picture: The Fever are merely the most extreme example of this season's scoring boom, with teams averaging a record-shattering 86.8 points per game. There have also been 67 100-point outings after there were just 34 last year, and five of the top eight single-game scoring marks in WNBA history — including Indiana's 123 — have happened this season. What's next: The league heads to Chicago this weekend for the All-Star Game before the regular season resumes on Tuesday.   🏈 TOP 10 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports) The NFL season kicks off in just seven short weeks, so as fútbol transitions into football, we're marking the occasion by diving into our draft boards and running down the best players in fantasy football. Top 10: The best of the best, according to Yahoo Sports' Justin Boone, are an even split of running backs and receivers. Jahmyr Gibbs, RB (Lions): His 49 TDs since debuting in 2023 are the most in the NFL, and with David Montgomery no longer in Detroit, Gibbs' usage should only increase. One thing to watch? The Lions have a new OC in Drew Petzing, formerly with Arizona. Bijan Robinson, RB (Falcons): Similar to Gibbs, Robinson's TD-vulturing teammate (Tyler Allgeier) has switched teams, which should yield significantly more goal-line touches. Also like Gibbs, he'll have a different play-caller in new head coach Kevin Stefanski. Ja'Marr Chase, WR (Bengals): The only player with more receiving yards through his first five NFL seasons than Chase (6,837) is his former LSU teammate Justin Jefferson (7,432). Puka Nacua, WR (Rams): Puka's 95.3 receiving yards per game are the most in NFL history, and Matthew Stafford's favorite target should again be the linchpin of an offense projected to lead the league in scoring. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR (Seahawks): JSN exploded last year after DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett left Seattle, yielding the biggest target share in the league (35%). He led the NFL in receiving, was named OPOY and won the Super Bowl. Not bad. Jonathan Taylor, RB (Colts): We probably shouldn't expect another 18-touchdown, 1,585-yard tour de force, but JT can drop off quite a bit and still be a top-five RB. Christian McCaffrey, RB (49ers): He always feels like a bit of a dice roll given he's played more than 11 games just three times since 2019, but if he's healthy he's a league-winner. CeeDee Lamb, WR (Cowboys): George Pickens' breakout had few if any negative effects on Lamb's production last season, which looked a lot like it had in previous years when accounting for injuries and bad touchdown luck. This offense, and Lamb, should flourish. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR (Lions): The Sun God has three straight seasons with 10+ TDs and 115+ receptions. Entering his age-27 season, he's as safe a bet as any to make it four in a row. James Cook III, RB (Bills): Some thought his 16-TD campaign in 2024 couldn't be replicated, but he followed it up with 12 scores and a league-leading 1,621 rushing yards last year. Next 10: Ashton Jeanty (RB, Raiders), Justin Jefferson (WR, Vikings), Chase Brown (RB, Bengals), Omarion Hampton (RB, Chargers), De'Von Achane (RB, Dolphins), Saquon Barkley (RB, Eagles), Kenneth Walker III (RB, Chiefs), Brock Bowers (TE, Raiders), Drake London (WR, Falcons), Jeremiyah Love (RB, Cardinals)   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Batting leadoff for your Gwinnett Stripers, Ronald Acuña Jr! (Gwinnett Stripers) ⚾️ 1,038 HR Well, you don't see this every day. The Gwinnett Stripers (Braves Triple-A) trotted out a lineup on Tuesday that has combined to hit 1,038 major league home runs. And superstar Ronald Acuña Jr., one of two former MVPs in the lineup, wasn't even close to the leader. (On Wednesday, their slightly different lineup had fewer HR but 61 years of MLB service time.) Who's on the squad? Carlos Santana (335 career HR), 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen (333) and Rowdy Tellez (123) are all on minor league deals, while Acuña (193) and SS Ha-Seong Kim (52) are on rehab assignments. Utility player Luke Williams (2) was also in the mix. ⚽️ 2,852 minutes Four years ago, MLS players logged just 241 minutes in the knockout rounds of the 2022 World Cup. This year? That number increased ten-fold to 2,852, sixth-most among all leagues, representing by far MLS' best showing at a World Cup. The leaders: Only Europe's "Big Five" leagues logged more minutes than MLS at this year's World Cup. The English Premier League led the way (18,558 knockout minutes), followed by La Liga (10,452), the Bundesliga (6,326), Serie A (6,030) and Ligue 1 (5,682). Ladies and gentlemen, Luke Littler. (Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images) 🎯 9 darts There have been only 112 "nine-darters" in televised darts matches since 1984, and 19-year-old Luke Littler — already a two-time world champion — nearly had two on Tuesday alone in the World Matchplay of Darts. He landed one in his opening leg (game), and came within a wire of landing a second later in the match. How it works: The most common game in professional darts is 501, the goal of which is to get your score down from 501 to exactly zero by hitting a double (the outer ring) on your last dart. With three darts per turn and a maximum of 60 points per dart, a "perfect game" features just nine darts. Littler's nine-darter on Tuesday featured seven consecutive triple-20s (501-420=81), a triple-17 (81-51=30) and a double-15. 🎾 10th-most weeks Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have both now spent the 10th-most weeks as the world's No. 1 player on their respective tours. Sinner (81 weeks) passed Lleyton Hewitt on Monday, while Sabalenka (100) passed Lindsay Davenport last week before reaching the vaunted century mark this week. Streaking: While Sinner only reclaimed the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz back in April, Sabalenka has been the No. 1 woman for 92 weeks and counting, the seventh-longest streak ever. If she wants to catch the co-leaders on that list — Steffi Graf and Serena Williams at 186 consecutive weeks — she'll need to continue her reign for nearly two more years.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: THURSDAY, JULY 23 (David Berding/Getty Images) ⛳️ 3M Open The first tournament after the year's final major can often be a letdown, as most of the best golfers take the opportunity to rest and fans are already counting down the days to Augusta, or at least the playoffs. But today (7:45am ET, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf), some guy named Scottie Scheffler will make his tournament debut at TPC Twin Cities. Overwhelming favorite: Scheffler is by far the most accomplished player in the 144-man field, and is thus the +275 betting favorite to hoist the trophy on Sunday. Second on that list? Defending champion and world No. 37 Kurt Kitayama, all the way down at +2500. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Padres at Braves (12:15pm, MLB) … Atlanta's Chris Sale (10-6, 2.06 ERA) is in the thick of the NL Cy Young race. 🚴 Tour de France: Stage 18 (6:35am, Peacock) … Today kicks off a run of three straight mountain stages before Sunday's conclusion. Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city.   🏀 CLIMBING THE LADDER WNBA TRIVIA (Kenny Giarla/NBAE via Getty Images) A'ja Wilson recorded her 45th career 30-point game on Wednesday, the second-most in WNBA history. Question: Who has the most, with 54? Hint: Mercury Answer at the bottom.   ⛳️ BAD FORM REALLY, DUDE? (Giphy) Charlie Woods' run in the U.S. Junior Amateur came to a frustrating end on Wednesday when someone's camera went off during his backswing, causing him to chunk a critical shot in a playoff. "Really, dude?" was all the 17-year-old could muster, which is much tamer than what I would have said. Flashback: Charlie's dad, Tiger, won three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs from 1991-93, then won three straight U.S. Amateurs from 1994-96… then won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes at age 21. LOL.   Trivia answer: Diana Taurasi

“Cover-Up” Unravels as Pentagon Admits Nearly 100 Injured in Iran Strikes The Pentagon belatedly admitted that almost 100 U.S. troops have been injured in the last two weeks as Iran has hit U.S. targets across the Middle East, following months of reporting by The Intercept that found the Pentagon’s official tally of dead and wounded personnel is a gross undercount, which one U.S. government official previously called a “casualty cover-up.” https://theintercept.com/2026/07/21/iran-war-pentagon-casualties-injuries/? Google Is Censoring Reviews of ICE Detention Centers While they’re not as common as reviews for cafes and dry cleaners, reviews have poured into Google Maps by the thousands for the growing network of jails operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The reviews have come from internet users sharing their often harrowing experiences in the detention facilities. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/20/google-maps-reviews-ice-detention-centers/? William Lawrence Is Running in a Purple Michigan District — on His Pro-Palestine Credentials In key swing districts across the country, Democratic Party leaders have backed centrist candidates with carefully calibrated positions on charged issues such as artificial intelligence and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/22/michigan-primary-will-lawrence-palestine/? GOP Rep. Called Israeli–U.S. Defense Tech Integration “Dangerous.” The House Passed It Anyway. The House passed a $1.15 trillion defense authorization bill Wednesday with a controversial provision expanding U.S.-Israel military technology cooperation intact, despite a bipartisan effort to remove it and warnings from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that the measure could compromise American sovereignty and national security. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/22/ndaa-defense-bill-pentagon-israel-massie/? Nancy Pelosi’s Pick for Her SF House Seat Takes Anti-AIPAC Pledge Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s preferred successor for her San Francisco congressional seat has gained the endorsement of the political arm of the pro-Palestine and anti-genocide advocacy group TrackAIPAC after pledging to back an arms embargo on Israel if elected to Congress. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/21/connie-chan-san-francisco-aipac-pelosi/? Hegseth’s War Department Slashed Civilian Protection Staff, Brought in AI Assessments Self-styled War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon has gutted its premier center devoted to preventing civilian casualties in war zones, cutting staff, scrapping a civilian harm records database, and developing an AI assistant to accelerate assessments, according to a new report shared with The Intercept. These revelations come as the Trump administration has renewed attacks on civilian sites in Iran. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/20/hegseth-civilian-harm-deaths-war/? ICE Mandates Dress Code After Killings and Botched Arrest Following a pair of deadly shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the division of the agency responsible for street arrests and deportations issued a new policy mandating a dress code for field operations. https://theintercept.com/2026/07/21/ice-undercover-plainclothes-uniform/?

Trump Thirsts Over His Eighth War in Unlikely Country The Trump administration is reportedly torn over whether to go forward with the strikes. President Donald Trump is now considering waging another war—this time in the West African country of Mali. The Trump administration is looking to strike an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as JNIM, the Washington Post has reported, citing current and former U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations. If approved, it would mark the eighth country that Trump, who has dubbed himself “president of peace,” has ordered strikes on in his second term. But senior U.S. officials are reportedly in disagreement on whether they should actually attack the militant group. National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, Sebastian Gorka, is the most vocal advocate for striking them, the Post reported. Gorka, who has been a prominent architect of U.S. counterterrorism policy under the second Trump administration, long pushed for the U.S. to get involved in countering Islamist extremism. He has been an outspoken advocate for confronting Iran, and has been highly critical of those who have questioned the administration’s current war there. In recent years, Mali has seen bouts of violence between Islamist militant groups and the Russian mercenaries whom the government hired to get the country under control. The militant groups, in particular the JNIM, which the administration is considering striking, have grown increasingly powerful and have turned the nation into a terrorism hotspot. Mali had been supported by French troops and U.N. forces, but after its former government President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was toppled in a coup, the new military-led government effectively expelled them and tore up security cooperation with the U.S. Following the withdrawal of French and U.N. forces from Mali in 2023, Russia’s military and paramilitary forces have joined with Mali’s junta to try and combat Islamist insurgents, including groups like the al-Qaeda linked JNIM. But since the Russians showed up, the security situation has remained very volatile as the Russian-backed forces have seen major defeats. The Sahel region has turned into the world’s deadliest terrorism hot spot, according to the Global Terrorism Index. When reached for comment, the Pentagon declined to comment on the Mali strike plans, and referred the Daily Beast to the White House, which did not confirm or deny the potential strikes. A White House official told the Daily Beast that the U.S. “hopes the Alliance of Sahel States prevails against terrorism, but the blame for the deteriorating security situation falls upon Russia, who has proven to be an ineffective security partner for Mali.” The official said the U.S. “has been urging North and West African governments to purchase U.S. equipment and services to support their war efforts against the terrorists.” “We urge regional partners and NATO allies to support the Alliance of Sahel States in their war against JNIM and ISIS,” the official added. The Alliance of Sahel States includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, West African countries whose military-led governments have turned to Russia for security help after overthrowing their democratically elected governments and cutting ties with the U.S. and Europe. A new skirmish in Africa comes as Trump has repeatedly boasted that he has ended eight wars during his second administration. Trump has claimed he has ended conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Pakistan and India, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ethiopia, Cambodia and Thailand, and Serbia and Kosovo. In reality, several of these conflicts were not full-fledged wars, nor have they been completely resolved. Before his war with Iran, the president had also been claiming that he ended conflicts between Israel and Iran, but those claims have gone away after Israel and the U.S. together launched strikes on the country starting on February 28. Potential military action in Mali would only add to the list of countries Trump has ordered strikes against, which includes Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela, whose former president the administration kidnapped in January. Trump has also threatened to take several places by force, but those have not materialized. These include Greenland, Canada, Cuba, the Gaza Strip, which he has called an “oceanfront property” and the “Riviera of the Middle East,” and Panama, to gain control of the Panama Canal. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-thirsts-over-his-eighth-war-in-unlikely-country/?

Trump, 80, Threatens to Cry if He Doesn’t Get His Way The octogenarian president is acting like a 2-year-old. Donald Trump is threatening to cry if he doesn’t get what he wants. The 80-year-old president held a rally in Marietta, Georgia, where he ranted about the Senate blocking the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and ID to be shown at the polling booth. The bill has already passed the House but Democrats have filibustered the bill in the Senate, meaning it needs a supermajority of 60 votes to pass. Republicans hold the Senate 53-47. Republican senators were in Trump’s firing line at the rally, where he demanded the filibuster be abolished and warned that next time the Democrats seize power they would get rid of it anyway for their own ends. “We’re not going to be able to take it much longer when they can’t get past voter ID, proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots because they’re crooked as hell,” Trump ranted. “So right now, Congress is working to get as much of our plan as possible into the budget bill to identify and really terminate. “Look, what they should do? Very simple. A lot of you don’t know about the filibuster. They should terminate the filibuster and approve everything. Because the Democrats are going to do it. The Democrats are going to terminate the filibuster as soon as they have a chance. And then they’re gonna approve Puerto Rico and D.C. as a state. They got four more senators. They’re gonna end up with 12 more congressmen. They’re going to get like 40 electoral votes.”The president then conjured up a bizarre image, picturing himself sitting crying at home if the bill failed to get through, powerless to do anything about it.“If they are allowed to do that, by that time I’ll be sitting home,” he said. “And I’m not a big crier. I don’t think you wanna see me cry, you know? There are some people they do very well when they cry, but you don’t wanna see me cry. But I may be crying when I’ll be sitting home, and I’ll say, I told them they got to really terminate the filibuster…” He then spun off on a bizarre tangent about his political rivals, before refinding his thread. “They should terminate the filibuster,” he continued. “Everybody call John Thune at the Senate—he’s the leader of the Republican Party—and tell them to get this stuff approved. So we’re fighting so that all voters must show voter ID. We’re fighting so that all voters must provide proof of citizenship, OK? And also the no mail-in ballots. Very important.” Thune has previously rejected Trump’s demands, saying there aren’t enough votes to push the bill through. Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer has positioned the Democrats as a major hurdle to Trump’s bill, telling The Hill: “Trump said Republicans have to terminate the filibuster, or we’ll have a shutdown in September. Mr. President, the SAVE Act ain’t passing. It ain’t passing in the Senate, it ain’t passing with Democrats, and it ain’t passing in the courts. It’s not happening, so give up on that.” “Trump said the quiet part out loud. He’s willing to shut down the government to get his way,” he added. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-threatens-to-cry-if-he-doesnt-get-his-way/?

Florida student discipline records to follow them to college, a response to FSU shooting High school students headed to college will have their disciplinary records transferred to the institution they attend, a policy prompted by the Legislature’s post-Florida State University shootings higher education safety package. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/22/florida-student-discipline-records-to-follow-them-to-college-a-response-to-fsu-shooting/? Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida releases congressional slate for Aug. 18 primaries Demonstrating that a lot of the political energy in the progressive parts of the Democratic Party lies with fresher faces, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida has unveiled its congressional slate for the Aug. 18 primary elections. https://floridaphoenix.com/briefs/democratic-progressive-caucus-of-florida-releases-congressional-slate-for-aug-18-primaries/? Florida wildlife agency targeted its critics for secret surveillance In his dystopian novel “1984,” George Orwell warned that a dictator would create a surveillance state masked as something beneficial. The hallmark of the evil regime was its slogan: “Big Brother Is Watching You.” https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/23/florida-wildlife-agency-targeted-its-critics-for-secret-surveillance/?

Tropical Storm Bertha weakens after bringing strong winds and heavy surf to Louisiana and Texas Tropical Storm Bertha brought heavy surf and some flooding to southern Louisiana and Texas as it came ashore on the Gulf Coast for a second time Thursday, hours before weakening to a tropical depression. https://apnews.com/article/tropical-storm-bertha-gulf-florida-alabama-louisiana-c98b62c56f938bc6b7c0c26e7b08cfeb?

US military launches new strikes on Iran as clashes escalate over shipping routes CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military launched the 13th night of strikes Thursday against Iran, targeting key military and commercial sites as clashes continued to escalate over shipping routes. The attacks came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped $100 a barrel. https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-hormuz-strait-war-60d46bf8c83c43a8f2268b7b87627c55?

Nepal aid workers left jobless by USAID cuts turn to sex work to survive After the United States slashed its foreign aid funding last year, more than 280,000 aid workers worldwide lost their jobs. AP global investigative reporter Kristen Gelineau found that in Nepal, LGBTQ+ aid workers left jobless have turned to sex work to survive. Read the full story here. Gelineau sat down for a Q&A to take us behind the scenes of telling such a difficult story. Here is an excerpt: Why did you decide to focus on these aid workers? The few stories that have been done have largely focused on American USAID staffers, even though they make up less than 10% of those left jobless by the cuts. Most of the workers who lost their jobs live overseas, often in conflict zones or impoverished countries where other job options are scarce to nonexistent. I wanted to know what had happened to those people, who are particularly vulnerable and face very different challenges to Americans. How did you find the workers and get them to talk? It took months to find and earn the trust of these workers, who are highly traumatized. This required working through layers of contacts within Nepal’s LGBTQ+ community, sharing examples of my previous work to demonstrate that I have a history of reporting ethically on marginalized communities, and then initially making contact over text messages before working our way up to in-person interviews. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Gelineau’s full behind-the-scenes Q&A Telling the story through photos WATCH: Former aid workers in their own words

Amish Shah wins Arizona Democratic congressional primary in a blow to the party establishment Shah, an emergency physician, won the primary Wednesday in a hotly contested district, delivering another defeat to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which backed a rival, as more voters reject the preferences of party leaders in Washington. Read more. Why this matters: “I wasn’t exactly my party’s pick,” Shah told supporters Tuesday night. “And I was willing to stand up to that establishment. And that’s what the voters of this district want.” Antiestablishment fervor has spooked congressional leaders, who fear that swing voters will see some insurgent candidates as too extreme and squander Democrats’ opportunity to take advantage of Trump’s unpopularity. Shah will face Republican Jay Feely, a former NFL player who was endorsed by Trump in the fall. Before becoming political opponents, Feely and Shah were part of the same team: the New York Jets. Shah was a doctor on the sidelines, while Feely was the kicker. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Messy primaries plague both major political parties, causing chaos and confusion in the midterms Republican Hilton tells Californians they can hate Trump but still vote for him in governor’s race

Navy revises what information about sailors can be released, citing internal misinterpretation WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing an internal misinterpretation of a change in policy, the U.S. Navy is backing away from statements that it would begin to restrict press and public access to sailors’ service histories — information that has been freely offered for decades. https://apnews.com/article/media-navy-press-policy-access-pentagon-b4d5d0f60709692e107e3331370422cd?

House votes for Department of War renaming as part of an annual defense bill WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday passed a defense policy bill that incorporates President Donald Trump’s request for a historic $1.15 trillion in spending for national security and that would designate the Department of Defense as the Department of War. https://apnews.com/article/defense-pentagon-congress-iran-spending-trump-de65f6e0ee4f4d69699fb9f1f647083e? House Republicans adopt $95 billion package for the Iran war and Trump’s priorities WASHINGTON (AP) — The House adopted a Republican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and a few GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections. https://apnews.com/article/gop-95-billion-iran-war-trump-johnson-f9dea5ef800bfeb0e343256e841af38f?

FDA panel narrowly backs unapproved peptide drugs favored by RFK Jr. and wellness influencers WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of federal health advisers on Thursday narrowly recommended easing access to several peptides popular with wellness influencers and celebrities, despite warnings from government scientists that the chemicals haven’t been shown to be safe or effective. https://apnews.com/article/peptides-fda-rfk-kennedy-bpc157-tb500-7267d0fad0110e7c2ed301d03cf5f0c2?

Judge questions Hegseth’s testosterone policy U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new initiative to test and treat troops for low testosterone has prompted a federal judge to question the differences between that kind of testosterone replacement therapy and hormone treatment for transgender men in the military. Read more. What to know: U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington raised the question Wednesday in an ongoing lawsuit against President Donald Trump's ban on transgender troops. Reyes ordered both parties in the lawsuit to address “the similarities and differences” in administering testosterone replacement therapy “for trans men compared to other service members, including cis individuals.” Reyes’ order comes a week after Hegseth announced the new screening program, calling it necessary to allow troops to operate at their “absolute best.”

ASHLAND COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - A Canton pastor will spend three years in prison for a crime involving a 13-year-old girl. Jesse Santos was sentenced by Ashland County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Stimpert Thursday afternoon. Santos, pastor of Canton Seventh-Day Adventist Church, was arrested in February 2025 and charged with kidnapping, two counts of gross sexual imposition, and endangering children. In January, Santos entered a guilty plea to the amended charge of abduction. According to the police report, the crime happened at a campsite in the 3000 block of Ashland County Rd. at River Run Campground in Loudonville in September 2025. https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/03/06/canton-pastor-going-prison-crime-involving-13-year-old-girl/

This episode deals with deals with the issue of racism or prejudice. We also see a confirmation bias played out. The Jews and Samaritans had grievances against each other. Each was resistant to allow evidence to changed how they felt for the other group. Jesus was calling them to rise above historical grievances. There are many examples of such grievances in the world today. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us could find areas where we are prejudice. Prejudice may be manifested as stereotypes. There are stereotypes of other religions. Some have preconceived ideas about various ethic groups. Some are viewed as lazy, others dirty, others ignorant, others greedy and the list goes on and on. Jesus calls us to come out of that way of thinking. There are two groups of people in the world - the saved and the lost. Jesus calls us to work for the lost. That isn't simply condemning them as lost. That means we work for their betterment. That starts with seeing their basic needs are met. People need food, shelter, healthcare and protection from harm. Those physical needs. That is where we start. We build trust with the lost and when they see we are authentic, they are more likely to be open to the gospel truth.

July 23, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. As the war between the United States and Iran continues, I want to look at how The Times uses photographs and video to better understand what’s happening on the ground. A photograph, circulating online and verified by The Times, shows the aftermath of the most recent strike on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. MenchOsint, via X Photographic evidence Here are two sentences that jumped out at me yesterday from our live coverage of the war: The Iranian military said in statements carried by the country’s state news media early Wednesday that it had targeted U.S. military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the U.S. military or the authorities in any of the three countries. What struck me was how familiar that sounded. We heard this week about the deaths of four U.S. service members, soldiers assigned to missile defense work. But we haven’t heard very much at all about the extent of damage Iranian strikes have caused to American military bases in the region. And it’s hard to find. The Pentagon hasn’t held a major news briefing since early May. There’s not a lot of high-resolution satellite imagery. The Trump administration asked major U.S. satellite providers to withhold visual images of the region. Our visual investigations team, however, was able to assess the damage to two U.S. sites in Jordan by comparing images from disparate sources. Iran, for instance, often releases satellite imagery of strikes as part of its propaganda campaign. The Times journalists corroborated those images using videos captured from inside and outside the sites, along with photography and lower-resolution satellite imagery they were able to gather. Here are some key findings from their investigation — the Pentagon, by the way, declined to comment: Three of the soldiers killed last week were stationed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. After the attacks there on Friday night, a video appeared on social media showing a projectile exploding near several buildings. The original source of the footage is unknown, but The Times was able to verify it, and reports that it was likely filmed by personnel on the base. Iran later released several satellite images that showed significant damage to the station, and The Times assessed it using a range of visual evidence, including satellite imagery from the European Space Agency. At least 20 structures appeared completely or partially destroyed. High-resolution satellite imagery released by Iran, which was distributed along with the annotation seen in red, shows damage to a structure at the Tower 22 outpost. The Times has verified that the image provides an accurate depiction of the damage. Fars News Agency, via Telegram Iran also struck Tower 22, a U.S. military outpost on Jordan’s border with Syria. The destruction there first appeared in low-resolution European satellite imagery that my colleagues corroborated, and then in a higher-resolution satellite image published by Iranian state media showing that one of the base’s buildings had been badly damaged. The Times corroborated that, too. The New York Times A video that was shared on Telegram, and which was verified by The Times, also showed a building reduced to rubble at Tower 22. It is unclear if the strike caused casualties. Cartographic evidence You can learn a lot looking at those kinds of pictures. At maps, too. Check out the ones my colleagues made to show how the threat of a Houthi blockade in the Red Sea could again upend global oil markets by compromising a crucial fallback for the Strait of Hormuz. The New York Times More on the war: Oil prices surged after the Houthis said they had attacked two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. Read the latest news. A PERSONAL RECKONING Thomas Gibbons-Neff, center, while serving as a Marine in Afghanistan in 2010. Bryan Denton for The New York Times One more war story. Back in 2010, Thomas Gibbons-Neff was in the Marine Corps, the 22-year-old leader of a scout sniper team in one of the largest operations of the war against the Taliban: the battle of Marja. He’s spent the past decade as a reporter covering wars and gun culture in the United States, first for The Washington Post and, since 2017, here at The Times. Now he is going back to school to become an English teacher. As he prepared to leave The Times, Gibbons-Neff returned to Afghanistan to speak with the people he fought against, in search of answers and maybe closure. “I’ve had a hand in killing around six people,” he writes. “Maybe seven. I don’t know if one man bled out on the side of the road or was taken to a doctor. I think about him often.” His is a searing, difficult, somehow beautiful story. I urge you to read it closely, all the way through. We’ve removed the paywall to make it free for you. THE LATEST NEWS Saudi Nuclear Deal President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November. Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times The Trump administration signed a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could allow the kingdom to enrich its own uranium. Under the terms of the deal, Saudi Arabia does not have to allow international inspectors into its facilities — a requirement that applies to more than 140 countries. The deal is a coup for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has pushed for years to obtain American nuclear technology. Israel is concerned that the deal will encourage other countries to develop nuclear programs — and experts say that could lead to an arms race in the Middle East. On Capitol Hill The House adopted Republicans’ $95 billion budget plan to fund the war in Iran and impose new voting restrictions demanded by President Trump. It could face an uphill battle in the Senate. The chamber also approved a $1.15 trillion military spending bill over the opposition of Democrats, who said backing it was akin to embracing the war in Iran. Without significant revisions, it lacks votes to pass in the Senate. Also passed in the House: a bill to limit stock trading by members of Congress. More on Politics The Trump administration canceled grants to teen pregnancy programs, saying they encouraged premarital sex. The new proposal? Teach abstinence only. Tens of thousands of immigrants have received letters from the federal government demanding that they pay up to $1.8 million in fines or leave the country. Around the World The gallery at the Louvre Museum in Paris where thieves took crown jewels worth $100 million reopened to the public. The only difference: no gems. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola seems to be spreading in the cramped camps that house more than a million displaced people. Other Big Stories European Union regulators fined Google $1 billion for using its position as the world’s largest search engine to unfairly promote its own services. A Florida pastor sued OpenAI, claiming that advice from ChatGPT led him to delay treatment for a life-threatening embolism. It appears to be the first case arguing that a chatbot harmed someone seeking medical advice. Scientists in Vermont have identified a contagious form of skin cancer in catfish. They recommend not eating the fish. THE MORNING QUIZ This question comes from a recent edition of the newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.) Which leader set off a debate over work-life balance after writing on social media this week that she typically gets “zero to three hours” of sleep a night? President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy Senator Darline Graham Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan OPINIONS Illustration by The New York Times; source photographs by Danielle James/The Flint Journal and Ryan Sun/Associated Press Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens are two Democrats vying to represent Michigan in the Senate. Times Opinion assembled a panel to discuss how each might fare in Congress. Why is Gen-Z is in a sex recession? Experts debate the reasons on the Opinions podcast. Deeply reported journalism needs your support. The Times relies on subscribers to help fund our mission. Become a subscriber today. MORNING READS Oliver Parini for The New York Times We’ve made these links free for you. Exposure therapy: To conquer his fear of heights, a hiker crossed a river gorge on a tightrope. Did it work? “The Surrendered Wife”: Laura Doyle believes women are too controlling. Some say she’s saved their marriages. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about Jimothy, the raccoon taking over the internet. A killer tactic: A sunfish can weigh over 2,000 pounds. Watch how orcas made one explode. TODAY’S NUMBER Brad Trone for The New York Times 50 — That is how many years it has taken the artist Charles Ross to complete a giant earthwork in eastern New Mexico called “Star Axis.” It is part observatory and part pyramid, with a staircase that rises 11 stories through a tunnel inside a mesa 6,000 feet above sea level. You end up in a viewing chamber with a circular window that frames Polaris, the North Star. Have a look. SPORTS Tour de France: Doping control officers are testing riders in the middle of the night. Some athletes think disturbed sleep could contribute to crashes. W.N.B.A.: Caitlin Clark picked up her seventh technical foul of the year in the Indiana Fever’s 123-88 blowout win over the Connecticut Sun. Another would bring her a one-game suspension. RECIPE OF THE DAY Christopher Testani for The New York Times Remember that chicken in milk recipe I suggested the other day? I used the leftovers to make chicken salad, with some dill pickles as a mix-in. Then I made sandwiches of buttered sourdough bread, thin-sliced deli ham, good Swiss cheese and a mound of the salad. Grilled crisp in a hot pan, they were outrageously good, like modified, madcap Monte Cristos. And you don’t need a recipe! INTO THE WOODS I loved Elisabeth Egan’s profile of the mystery writer Caitlin Mullen, whose latest novel, “Heather,” is set in the wilderness of southern New Jersey, desolate and strange. “You have no vantage points,” Mullen explained when they toured the region together. “You can’t see where you’ve come from. You can’t see what you’re heading toward.” That’s not a bad explanation of the book, either. More on culture Oskar Eustis announced yesterday that he is retiring as artistic director of the Public Theater in New York after 21 years. In 2020, the Criterion Collection had four African-American directors in its catalog. Today its online store has 99 DVD entries in its “Black Lives” section. “I haven’t seen such a major rethink of a cinematic organization maybe ever,” a film history professor told The Times. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Phoebe Bridgers Todd Owyoung/NBC, via Getty Images Listen to Phoebe Bridgers’s “Chinese Satellite,” from the dark days of 2020. Lindsay Zoladz, who writes “The Amplifier” newsletter, says, “The whole song is frighteningly good, but here’s the line that always destroys me: ‘You know I’d stand on the corner, embarrassed with a picket sign / If it meant I would see you when I die.’” Sign up for The Amplifier newsletter. Your alternative to the algorithm — a real, live human helps you discover songs you’ll love. Get it in your inbox. Exercise on the beach. Among other things, it brings fitness benefits you can’t usually get in a gym. Learn a new language. Apps can help. But if you really want to succeed, follow these tips assembled by the multilingual authorities at Wirecutter. As they say in Lyon, plonge-toi. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was hardtack. 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: The toughest ticket This year's Masters rejection. Tons of golf fans learned this week they didn't win the Masters ticket lottery — an annual rejection that has become almost as much of a tradition as the tournament itself, Axios' Mike Szvetitz writes. About 2 million people apply for Masters tickets for each tournament day, with applicants having just a 0.55% chance — roughly 1 in 182 — of being selected, according to one estimate from Bookies.com. Those are better odds than being struck by lightning or winning the lottery.

🚘 Milestone for self-driving cars Waymo robotaxis navigate San Francisco earlier this month. Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images Axios transportation correspondent Joann Muller, who has covered autos for 35+ years, writes: An independent study finds Waymo's robotaxis are involved in fewer crashes than human drivers — a key milestone for earning public trust. Why it matters: Research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety offers some of the strongest evidence yet that driverless vehicles can outperform human drivers on safety. Zoom in: Researchers compared crash rates of human-driven cars and Waymo robotaxis in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin, four cities where robotaxis are prevalent. Waymo vehicles had 68% fewer "police-reportable crashes" per mile traveled than human drivers in those cities. Waymo had 85% fewer single-vehicle crashes than human drivers.

🧐 Stock market mystery Data: FactSet. Chart: Emily Peck/Axios A markets mystery has perplexed some analysts this year: Why are stocks near all-time highs while geopolitical conflict and inflation rock the global economy? The usual retort is that the stock market isn't the economy, but a new Moody's report offers a more nuanced explanation: Markets have adjusted — you just have to know where to look, Axios' Emily Peck writes. 💡 How it works: It's visible with bonds and under the hood in the stock market, where certain sectors are struggling (charted above). Software stocks have fallen this year, thanks to AI, as have those for autos, consumer goods and apparel, as consumers struggle with higher prices. The new hot sectors are energy, because of the Iran war and other conflicts, and hardware and semiconductors, as investors flock to the picks and shovels of the AI boom. Keep reading.

🤖 AI's alarming new skill Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios Frontier AI models are getting scary good at breaking rules in ways their creators didn't anticipate, Axios' Sam Sabin writes. Why it matters: Forget AGI and superintelligence timelines. Today's models already slip past guardrails, carry out sophisticated, multistep cyberattacks and — in at least one case — compromise real-world infrastructure, sometimes before their creators know what happened. ⚠️ Case in point: OpenAI said Tuesday that GPT-5.6 Sol and an upcoming model carried out last week's AI-led cyberattack on Hugging Face, a popular host for AI models and datasets. OpenAI says its models were asked to solve a hacking challenge during pre-deployment testing and went to extreme lengths to win. The models decided on their own to break out of their walled testing environment, inferring that Hugging Face might hold the test's answers. They used stolen credentials and other vulnerabilities to access part of Hugging Face's production infrastructure. Clément Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, called the incident an "attack unlike anything we've seen before" and praised OpenAI for its partnership as the companies investigate what happened. Logan Graham, head of Anthropic's frontier red team, said he told his team to "remember this moment as the first true AI safety incident." 👀 The intrigue: Hugging Face used GLM 5.2, an open-weight model from Chinese AI company Z.ai, to analyze the attack after running into guardrails when using U.S. frontier models. Keep reading ...

🗳️ Big Dem feud over 2028 Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios A long-simmering feud between Black and Latino Democratic leaders exploded yesterday over which state should vote first in the 2028 presidential primary: South Carolina or Nevada, Axios' Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein write. Why it matters: The racially fraught battle could help determine which candidates gain an early edge in the race to become the party's next White House nominee. 🎰 State of play: South Carolina, with its large Black population, and Nevada, with its large Latino population, have emerged as the states most likely to lead off the Democratic contest in 2028, according to interviews with seven members of the Democratic National Committee, state party officials and strategists. That has prompted sniping between leading Black and Latino voices ahead of the DNC's powerful Rules & Bylaws Committee meeting today. 👓 Between the lines: The order in which states vote can boost certain candidates over others. South Carolina going first could give former Vice President Harris an advantage in a 2028 primary. Early polls show her dominating the potential 2028 field among Black voters. Progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won Nevada comfortably in 2020. His protégé, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is weighing a White House run and could start with a base of support if Nevada, where organized labor wields more influence, were to go first. More on the feud.

AI optimist alliance Two of the most powerful CEOs in tech — Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg — are making separate, loud bets on AI optimism this week. Why it matters: Together, the CEOs represent a significant counterweight to the voices urging Washington to pump the brakes. In an hourlong interview with me for our "Behind the Curtain" video series, Huang railed against AI doomerism, implicitly challenging fellow tech CEOs who emphasize the technology's potentially catastrophic risks. "The fact that this is going to be the end of humanity — it's complete nonsense," Huang said. "The fact that this is going to destroy half of the American jobs is complete nonsense." Scaring workers and companies away from using AI, he said, poses the greater danger. Zuckerberg strikes the same note this morning in a video ad and Facebook post that argues Meta's focus on connecting the world will only be strengthened by AI — a shot at rivals he says promote fear and a dystopian vision of the future, Axios' Sara Fischer writes. The ad says: "Some people will have you believe AI will make us less connected, that it's going to leave us behind. We couldn't disagree more. … Call us optimists, call us dreamers, call us whatever the hell you want. But we're betting on people, and we like those odds." In his Facebook post, Zuckerberg says Meta "has always believed in giving people the power to share, connect, and shape your world in the ways you want. … We're focused on giving every person the tools to reach your full potential and making sure the benefits of technology are distributed to everyone." 👀 What we're watching: In an upcoming policy memo, Zuckerberg is expected to echo Huang on open source and competition (Let all models rip!) and will put a heavy emphasis on getting free AI into the hands of consumers, a big differentiator with Meta's competitors, we're told. 🎬 Huang — who is influential with the Trump administration — told me policymakers should consult more than "one or two" CEOs and avoid restricting AI based on scenarios that haven't materialized. He also suggested some companies invoke safety concerns to win favorable regulations: "Some of the companies hope that the government would be helpful in creating regulations to their advantage." 🖼️ The big picture: Anthropic and OpenAI have pushed Washington to take the most advanced systems and their potential risks seriously. Critics say those campaigns could also entrench their market position. Washington is also deciding what to do about powerful open-source models emerging from China. 🔬 Zoom in: Officials accuse Chinese firms of stealing from American models to build their own as they rapidly become more competitive with OpenAI and Anthropic. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent yesterday threatened sanctions against Chinese firms conducting what he called "industrial-scale distillation attacks." Earlier that day, the White House's top science official accused Chinese startup Moonshot AI of distilling Anthropic's technology to build its fast-rising Kimi model. The bottom line: Asked whether he feared the administration could overcorrect, Huang said yes.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY July 23 1885 Former president Ulysses S. Grant dies On July 23, 1885, just after completing his memoirs, Civil War hero and former president Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer. The son of a tanner, Grant showed little enthusiasm for joining his father’s business, so the elder Grant enrolled his son at West Point in 1839. Though Grant later admitted in his memoirs […] read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1960s 1967 Detroit Riots of 1967 begin 1980s 1984 Miss America resigns over nude photos African History 1952 Military seizes power in Egypt Arts & Entertainment 1988 Guns N’ Roses make popular breakthrough with “Sweet Child O’ Mine” 2011 Amy Winehouse is found dead in her London apartment 1999 Woodstock ’99 begins 1982 Actor and two children killed on “Twilight Zone” set Crime 1923 John Dillinger joins the Navy in an attempt to avoid prosecution 1918 Nebraska serial killer poisons her first victim Sports 1996 U.S. women take home gymnastics gold U.S. Presidents 1973 President Nixon refuses to hand over tapes World War I 1914 Austria-Hungary issues ultimatum to Serbia