NYTIMES (Jenny Gross and Peter Eavis) - Shipping Risks Spread Across Crucial Middle East Oil Routes
Attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait are disrupting the passage of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
NYTIMES (Vivian Nereim and Ismaeel Naar) - Saudi Arabia’s Strikes in Iraq Mark Entry Into U.S.-Iran War.
NPR (Jan Camenzind Broomby) - 'Taiwan Travelogue' rethinks history, colonialism, and identity
The author and translator of Taiwan Travelogue, the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize, discuss identity and history amid the debate over Taiwan's colonial ties to Japan and escalating geopolitical pressure from China.
The author and translator of Taiwan Travelogue, the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize, discuss identity and history amid the debate over Taiwan's colonial ties to Japan and escalating geopolitical pressure from China.Open
NYTIMES (Brad Plumer) - Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers
In the latest example, the Energy Department will convert a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants.
AXIOS (Stef W. Kight) - Scoop: Inside the White House pitch for pre-election MAGA megabill
White House officials will press Senate Republicans behind closed doors Wednesday to pass a blueprint for another GOP-only megabill before they leave for the August recess, but save any possible debt ceiling increase for later, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Senate Republican leaders have been skeptical that there is the time — or the votes — to get it done. President Trump and his team disagree. - White House officials want the Senate to build in flexibility to jam through as much of the SAVE America Act as possible, and they are insisting it can be crafted to avoid tough amendment votes. Zoom in: Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, legislative affairs director James Braid and former House Speaker New…
White House officials will press Senate Republicans behind closed doors Wednesday to pass a blueprint for another GOP-only megabill before they leave for the August recess, but save any possible debt ceiling increase for later, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Senate Republican leaders have been skeptical that there is the time — or the votes — to get it done. President Trump and his team disagree. - White House officials want the Senate to build in flexibility to jam through as much of the SAVE America Act as possible, and they are insisting it can be crafted to avoid tough amendment votes. Zoom in: Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, legislative affairs director James Braid and former House Speaker New…Open
NYTIMES (Alan Rappeport) - Sanctions Bill Would Give Trump Sweeping New Tariff Powers
A bipartisan bill in the Senate would allow President Trump to impose tariffs on the biggest importers of Russian energy.
NYTIMES (Raymond Zhong) - European Wildfires Amplified by Emptying Countryside and Fewer Farms
A warming planet and a shift away from farming have set the stage for larger fires on the continent. “We must learn to coexist with them,” one report said.
NYTIMES (Devlin Barrett and Alan Feuer) - With Blanche Nomination at Stake, Payouts to Trump Allies Continue
A seven-figure settlement is announced two days before a scheduled Senate committee vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general.
AXIOS (Neil Irwin) - Why AI makes central banking tougher
Central bankers, as a rule, try to maintain stable prices, a strong job market and a sound financial system. The AI boom is a complexifier on all three fronts. The big picture: AI is blurring the usual indicators that central bankers rely upon to set policy, a new paper from a leading international body finds, simultaneously affecting the supply and demand sides of the economy and driving both structural and cyclical change. - The upshot, per the Bank for International Settlements — the Basel, Switzerland-based central bank for central banks — is that the rules of thumb on which policymakers have long relied are all being shuffled at once. State of play: In the U.S. and other hotbeds of AI innovation, an investment boom in the near…
Central bankers, as a rule, try to maintain stable prices, a strong job market and a sound financial system. The AI boom is a complexifier on all three fronts. The big picture: AI is blurring the usual indicators that central bankers rely upon to set policy, a new paper from a leading international body finds, simultaneously affecting the supply and demand sides of the economy and driving both structural and cyclical change. - The upshot, per the Bank for International Settlements — the Basel, Switzerland-based central bank for central banks — is that the rules of thumb on which policymakers have long relied are all being shuffled at once. State of play: In the U.S. and other hotbeds of AI innovation, an investment boom in the near…Open
AXIOS (Barak Ravid) - Inside Bibi's pivotal White House meeting with Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed skepticism during his meeting with President Trump about the chance of a deal with Iran and discussed increasing economic pressure on Iran "through kinetic and non-kinetic means," a senior Israeli official said in a briefing with reporters. Why it matters: Tuesday's meeting was the first between Netanyahu and Trump since the start of the war on Feb. 28. It came as Trump is still trying to reach a deal with Iran but also considering a return to major combat operations. - Several hours after the sitdown, Iran launched a missile attack on an American base in Jordan for the first time since Trump paused U.S. strikes in Iran on Friday. - Trump vowed a serious response during an interview…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed skepticism during his meeting with President Trump about the chance of a deal with Iran and discussed increasing economic pressure on Iran "through kinetic and non-kinetic means," a senior Israeli official said in a briefing with reporters. Why it matters: Tuesday's meeting was the first between Netanyahu and Trump since the start of the war on Feb. 28. It came as Trump is still trying to reach a deal with Iran but also considering a return to major combat operations. - Several hours after the sitdown, Iran launched a missile attack on an American base in Jordan for the first time since Trump paused U.S. strikes in Iran on Friday. - Trump vowed a serious response during an interview…Open