Hundreds of American diplomats and their families in the Middle East ordered to evacuate at the start of the Iran war are frustrated with a lack of answers. A new wave of U.S. tariffs take effect, hitting dozens of global trade partners. And four people with a rare brain cancer share a surprising connection.
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Here’s what to know today.
U.S. diplomats and their families live in limbo amid Iran war
Hundreds of American diplomats and their families sit in limbo months after they were ordered to evacuate the Middle East ahead of Iran’s retaliatory strikes on U.S. facilities and, more recently, after President Donald Trump declared a collapse of a ceasefire between the two countries. Dozens of families are uncertain when — or whether — they will return to their homes and schools.
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The diplomats, stationed at embassies and consulates across seven countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Oman — have packed and unpacked their bags with every ceasefire announcement. They don’t know when the next orders will come, where they might be sent or whether to enroll their children in schools at home or abroad.
Frustrations boiled over at a virtual town hall earlier this month, when diplomats raised questions about whether the State Department has a clear plan for them as the Iran war escalates. At another meeting yesterday, a person who attended said it didn’t alleviate the frustrations that many have.
The State Department faces a six-month deadline at the end of August to decide the future of the embassies and consulates, including whether diplomats’ families can join them.
The options the State Department are considering.
More Iran war news:
- The House voted in favor of a non-binding resolution to end the war in Iran. In the Senate, Republicans rejected a separate resolution, allowing Trump to continue.
- Oil prices rose to over $100 per barrel, after Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
U.S. sets new tariffs on dozens of countries
A new wave of U.S. tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on dozens of trading partners took effect overnight after the Trump administration replaced the president’s temporary 10% levy, which expired at midnight. Canada, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom are among those facing a 10% rate, while Taiwan and the European Union face duties of up to 12.5%
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s tariffs that were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The latest wave of levies were enacted under a section of the Trade Act of 1974.
Here’s which products are exempted from the duties.
More politics news:
- The Justice Department agreed to withdraw subpoenas seeking testimony and records from New York Times reporters and their family members.
- A member of JD Vance’s Secret Service detail was removed pending an investigation into allegations that they compromised the vice president’s security.
Man killed in Wisconsin police shooting is identified
Protests and calls for accountability grew louder in Madison, Wisconsin, a day after a man was fatally shot during a struggle with police in which he pulled out a knife. Officials identified the man as Corey Ruiz, who was in his 30s. Madison Police Chief John Patterson said the name of the officer who fired his weapon would be released. A news conference was briefly disrupted by two protesters, including one who took over the microphone to condemn police brutality and demand the officer involved be jailed.
Public records show that Ruiz had 40 misdemeanor and felony convictions from 2009 to 2025, most recently resisting law enforcement and drug paraphernalia possession. Jazzman Brown, a community organizer, said Ruiz was a father who was experiencing homelessness and mental health struggles.
Here’s what else we know.
What experts think about the OpenAI cyberattack
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OpenAI president on ‘unprecedented cyber incident’
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A rogue OpenAI model’s cyberattack on the startup Hugging Face has sparked a mix of alarm and skepticism among security experts, some of whom worry that this is just the start of a new era of AI-induced insecurity. In a blog post this week, OpenAI detailed how some of its most advanced models went “to extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal” and escaped what was supposed to be a secure environment, accessed the internet and hacked into Hugging Face.
One cybersecurity expert said the models pursued their objective “further than their operators anticipated,” but “that’s fundamentally different from an AI deciding to rebel.” Another said the situation was rooted in giving the AI “a task with poor parameters,” versus the AI acting without human control.
The hack has stoked debate over whether the U.S. government should enact more AI guardrails and whether open-source models should be reined in.
Why the incident has some concerned about future cyberattacks.
Staff Pick: Four people with a rare brain cancer. Only one known connection.
Earlier this month, my editor Pilar Melendez came across a local report covering the death of Philadelphia police officer Joe Cooney. The report said that Cooney and two other officers died from glioblastoma and that their wives believe they got the rare form of brain cancer from working at a police building located at Frankford Arsenal, a shuttered Army ammunition plant. A lawyer representing the wives then put us in touch with them, and they shared their husbands’ stories.
The reporting took an interesting turn when the lawyer connected us with Jennifer O’Brien, whose 29-year-old daughter, Emily Lauck, is dying from glioblastoma. O’Brien told us that Lauck went to two schools located at Frankford Arsenal during the same period the three officers worked nearby.
There’s no way to prove that the cluster of cases are related or that the cancer diagnoses are linked to environmental exposure. But the illnesses have raised questions about the safety of a property that currently houses the two schools, food supplier Honor Foods, a veterinarian and other businesses. — Matt Lavietes, reporter
Read All About It
- Trump said that a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia requires the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel, a significant condition not previously mentioned.
- A man accused of stabbing two people near Manhattan’s Central Park yesterday reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” during the attacks.
- An FDA advisory committee narrowly voted in favor of loosening restrictions on peptides over strong objections from career scientists.
- The former head of Miss Hall’s School is accused of prioritizing the Massachusetts school’s reputation when failing to investigate concerns about a former teacher who has been charged with rape.
NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified
Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale is finally here, and our editors sifted through thousands of products to find the best deals to shop, including up to 40% off Dyson, Kiehl’s, Adidas and more. For any soccer fans missing the hype of the World Cup, now is the best time to buy new jerseys and other memorabilia from this year’s competition at a deep discount.
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