Iran’s surprise attack fails; Fauci returns to Capitol Hill as diaries take center stage
Iran is accused of attempting a sneak attack on U.S. forces just days after the fighting appeared to cool. The U.S. says it responded quickly, but what happens next could shape where the conflict goes from here.
Plus, Anthony Fauci heads back to Capitol Hill with thousands of pages of newly released diary entries looming over the hearing.
And a new photo of Sen. Mitch McConnell smiling isn’t quieting concerns about his health. Now, Kentucky’s governor is demanding something he says the public deserves to see.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
US stops Iranian missiles, joins Saudi forces in striking Iran-backed target
The war between the U.S. and Iran escalated after both sides traded strikes overnight. Jordan said its air defenses shot down five missiles fired from Iran early Wednesday morning.
U.S. Central Command said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also launched multiple ballistic missiles at American forces in the region in what it called an “attempted surprise attack.”
CENTCOM said every missile was intercepted and no U.S. personnel were harmed.
The attack followed days of drone strikes the U.S. said were carried out by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq.
Hours later, U.S. and Saudi forces launched joint precision strikes on multiple logistics and weapons sites used by those Iran-aligned groups, according to CENTCOM.
The Iraq-based Popular Mobilization Forces said at least 20 of their fighters were killed and 32 others were wounded. They also claimed seven headquarters were hit.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it stopped three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The extent of any damage and whether any crew members were injured have not been confirmed.
Senate confirms Jay Clayton as new intelligence chief
The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
In a 51-47 party-line vote Tuesday night, the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence.
Republicans had hoped to confirm Clayton in June, but Trump delayed the process, temporarily installing Bill Pulte as acting director while pressing Congress to pass the Save America Act.
Democrats raised concerns during Clayton’s confirmation hearing after he repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
Meanwhile, Republicans say Clayton will help restore the office of the Director of National Intelligence to its original mission.
“It has been clear for months that under this administration the main qualification to be DNI is the willingness to use the position to spread conspiracy theories about elections and to help Donald Trump make it harder for Americans to vote,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.
“Mr. Clayton assured the committee that he would assist our efforts to return the office of the director of national intelligence to its original size, scope, and mission,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said. “He also pledged to work with the committee to secure the essential funding the intelligence community needs.”
Clayton takes over as Congress continues to debate renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), after key surveillance authorities expired last month.
Fauci returns to Capitol Hill for new testimony after private diary entries released
More than one thousand pages from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private pandemic diary are now public, just ahead of his return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul released the entries ahead of Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the origins of COVID-19.
Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, subpoenaed Fauci to testify.
The entries cover Fauci’s private thoughts from the start of the pandemic through his retirement in 2022.
Paul argues the notes conflict with Fauci’s public messaging about COVID’s origins. Fauci has repeatedly denied claims that he helped cover up the possibility of a leak at a Chinese lab.
The entries show scientists wrestling early with where the virus came from. In a January 2020 entry, Fauci wrote that the Wuhan market was “not the source” but rather “the amplifier.”
The diaries also reveal Fauci’s often tense relationship with Trump, including private frustration with what he described as the president’s “rambling” news conferences. Trump went on Truth Social on Tuesday and called Fauci a phony.
Pressure grows on McConnell as Beshear demands public proof of capacity to serve
Demands for greater transparency about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health have intensified. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has publicly urged the 84-year-old Republican to prove he’s still able to serve or step down.
McConnell has been hospitalized and in rehabilitation since a June fall that left him briefly unconscious.
On Monday, his office released a new photo of the senator with his wife, Elaine Chao, and a statement from the attending physician confirming he continues intensive physical therapy. But the governor said that’s not enough.
In a letter, Beshear wrote, “As governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.”
Beshear told Bloomberg TV that Senate Majority Leader John Thune should look into McConnell’s condition if the senator doesn’t respond.
“Mitch McConnell owes the people of Kentucky, who are his boss, who have elected him repeatedly, a lot more transparency than this. All we’ve gotten are two photos and statements virtually anybody can put out there … if Mitch McConnell won’t level with the people of Kentucky and the United States, Sen. Thune has a duty to do so,” Beshear said.
Thune said Tuesday he had not seen Beshear’s letter and called it a matter between McConnell and the people of Kentucky.
McConnell’s office has not commented. The former Senate majority leader is not seeking re-election in November.
Parole denied for Georgia teen convicted in Apalachee student killings
A Georgia teen who killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School will spend the rest of his life in prison.
On Tuesday, a judge sentenced 16-year-old Colt Gray to life without parole for the September 2024 school shooting that also wounded nine others. Gray showed little reaction as he stood to be handcuffed after the judge handed down the sentence.
The decision came just days after he pleaded guilty to 55 counts, including four counts of murder.
“Four lives were stolen, two of them really just beginning, and it wasn’t done out of fear or anger. You weren’t being bullied at Apalachee. It wasn’t done out of hatred. You didn’t even know anyone at that school. It was done for the infamy of it,” Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm said.
“Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility, and I will sentence you to life without parole for each of the malice murders that you committed,” Primm said.
Prosecutors argued Gray planned the attack for more than a year and carried it out in search of fame, citing his writings, online posts and jailhouse phone calls. Defense attorneys asked for the possibility of parole, pointing to his age, troubled upbringing and mental health struggles.
The attack at Apalachee High School was the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history. Students return to campus for the new school year on Friday.
Meanwhile, Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray, is set to be sentenced Thursday after his conviction earlier this year for giving his son the rifle used in the mass shooting and leaving it unsecured.
Black hole shreds distant star in rare act of cosmic destruction
Astronomers have captured what they believe is a rare glimpse of a black hole about 750 million light-years from Earth, tearing a star apart.
The bright flash is believed to be an orphan black hole, shredding the star. There’s even a name for the phenomenon: a tidal disruption event.
Unlike most supermassive black holes, which sit at the centers of galaxies, this one appears to be wandering far from the galaxy’s core, earning it the nickname “Orphan.”
NASA said the black hole’s gravity overpowered the star, tearing it apart and releasing an intense burst of light. Scientists first detected the event last November, and their findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
More from Straight Arrow:
College ROI vs. federal tracking. The fight over the College Transparency Act
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is expected to take up legislation that has student privacy advocates on high alert.
Nearly a decade in the making, the College Transparency Act would repeal a 2008 federal ban that prevents the government from tracking individual student outcomes across their lives.
Supporters argue the bill will help students and families make smarter financial choices by giving them clear visibility into actual job earnings before taking on thousands of dollars in debt.
But critics warn that clarity comes at a steep cost, requiring students to surrender their personal data to a centralized federal tracking system.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
