Iran fires back after overnight strikes; Maine ICE shooting raises new questions
U.S. strikes on Iran enter a third straight night, and Tehran is already firing back. Plus, President Donald Trump is making an even bolder claim about the Strait of Hormuz.
Also, another Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation ends in a deadly shooting, but officials now say the man who died wasn’t the person agents were trying to arrest.
And Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat stays in the family. His younger sister heads to Washington as a high-stakes race to replace him takes shape.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, July 14, 2026.
US strikes enter third night, Iran fires back as tensions grow
Iran experienced a third straight night of U.S. strikes. This comes as Trump follows through on his threat to hit the country “hard.”
Iran fired back Tuesday morning, with Bahrain confirming new attacks after U.S. Central Command said its latest wave of strikes lasted five hours and hit military targets across Iran.
The military said the goal was to further weaken Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping after several ships were targeted in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.
Trump told Fox News the U.S. is now “going to keep” the Strait and “probably run it.”
“We’re knocking out all of their offensive capability. And we’re controlling the straits; we’re putting the blockade back, and it’s a blockade not for anybody but Iran. In other words, anybody doing business with Iran can’t go through. Everyone else will be able to go through, so it’s a very strong blockade. The blockade was probably more effective even than hitting them, but I think the combination is the thing that really does it.”
President Donald Trump
Trump also said the U.S. will impose a 20% fee on cargo ships passing through the strait. Iran, meanwhile, said the waterway is now completely closed.
Senator says man killed by ICE in Maine was not the target agents were seeking
For the second time in a week, an ICE agent shot and killed an immigrant who was not the person agents were trying to arrest.
Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin initially told him ICE had a final deportation order for the man who was killed. But King said Mullin called back hours later to clarify that the victim was not the target of the arrest operation.
The man’s identity has not been officially disclosed, but two Maine immigrant advocacy groups identified him as a 26-year-old Colombian man who was authorized to work in the U.S. and held a Social Security number.
According to King, the shooting happened during an attempted traffic stop after Mullin said the driver tried to use his vehicle as a weapon.
Security video from nearby businesses appears to show a white car circling the area before an SUV rammed it, bringing the car to a stop.
A witness said the driver appeared to have already been shot when agents pulled him from the vehicle.
“ICE agent got out, tried to open the door and had a difficult time, but eventually opened it and pulled the guy out,” Daniel Boucher, a witness, said. “His face was bloody; his head was bloody.”
He continued, “And I clearly heard the victim say, I tried to stop. Clearly heard him say that.”
King said the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins said the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI are now investigating the shooting.
Lindsey Graham’s sister appointed to serve out his Senate term
Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat now has a temporary successor, and it’s someone who has been by his side for nearly his entire life.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to serve the remainder of his term through early January. The announcement came just hours after Trump publicly urged McMaster to make the pick, calling it “a fabulous tribute” to the late senator.
At a news conference Monday, McMaster called Graham “irreplaceable” before asking his sister to carry on his work.
“It’s my honor to ask his little sister, Darline Graham, to finish his work for him now,” McMaster said.
The two siblings shared an unusually close bond. After both parents died within 15 months of each other, Graham became his 13-year-old sister’s legal guardian and later legally adopted her so she could receive his military benefits.
Nordone has often appeared alongside her brother at campaign events and, most recently, served on South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind.
“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work … And I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother … I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted and I plan to honor him in this way,” Darline Graham said.
The appointment quickly drew endorsements from fellow South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who wrote: “There is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state and our country.”
She will become South Carolina’s first woman U.S. senator when she’s sworn in Tuesday, though the appointment is temporary.
A special Republican primary is scheduled for next month, with several high-profile Republicans, including Rep. Nancy Mace and Rep. Ralph Norman, considering bids for the seat.
Justices defend court budget as rising security threats drive push for more funding
Two Supreme Court justices will make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, not to defend a decision, but to advocate for the court’s security funding.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan will testify before House and Senate appropriators, asking lawmakers for millions of dollars to expand protection for the nation’s highest court as threats against judges continue to rise.
The request includes funding to hire more Supreme Court police officers, improve security for justices when they travel and begin planning a new off-site visitor screening facility outside the courthouse.
The push comes after a series of high-profile security incidents.
In 2022, an armed man traveled to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home intending to kill him after the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
More recently, Justice Barrett’s Virginia home was targeted in a swatting attack, and her sister’s South Carolina home was the scene of a pipe bomb hoax.
Those threats have transformed security around the court.
The Supreme Court Police now provide around-the-clock protection for the justices and their families. The force continues to grow as it recruits new officers to meet expanding responsibilities.
Lawmakers could also press the justices on several of the court’s recent high-profile rulings.
This will be the first time sitting Supreme Court justices testify before Congress since 2019.
Judge rebukes Trump over IRS lawsuit
A federal judge is sharply criticizing the Trump administration over the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, saying the case was used to manipulate the judicial process.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled Trump pursued the lawsuit for an “improper purpose,” arguing he sued the IRS even though the agency was under his own administration — not a legal adversary.
The case ended in a settlement that shielded Trump from future IRS audits and initially created a $1.7 billion anti-weaponization fund to compensate people who claim they were wrongfully prosecuted during the Biden administration. That fund was later scrapped after bipartisan criticism that it could be used to funnel taxpayer money to Trump’s political allies.
The judge also referred Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida Bar for possible disciplinary action. A second Justice Department lawyer is barred from filing motions in Florida’s Southern District for up to a year.
The case is also expected to come up Wednesday when acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing.
The White House continues to argue that the lawsuit was justified because the IRS failed to prevent the leak of Trump’s tax returns to news organizations in 2018 and 2020.
Space discovery adds another ingredient to life’s cosmic recipe
It turns out the Milky Way may be living up to its name.
Astronomers say they’ve discovered a naturally occurring sugar floating in a giant cloud of gas and dust near the center of our galaxy.
Using two radio telescopes in Spain, researchers detected a sugar molecule in a massive cloud within the interstellar medium — the gas and dust that fills the space between stars.
The same type of sugar occurs naturally in raspberries and is also used in some self-tanning products.
Scientists say finding it in deep space adds to growing evidence that many of life’s basic chemical ingredients may be more widespread across the universe than once believed.
Researchers hope discoveries like this will help answer one of science’s biggest questions: whether comets and asteroids delivered some of the building blocks that made life on Earth possible.
More from Straight Arrow:
Education Dept. launches crackdown on school sexual misconduct, but critics question impact
The warning from the Department of Education is clear: schools that fail to protect students from sexual predators could face consequences. But advocates want to know whether this latest move will finally change how schools handle allegations of abuse — or simply repeat a familiar cycle.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has launched an initiative to crack down on the issue of adults sexually assaulting students in schools. They’ve issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to lay out their plan.
“I think all of us in the community that’s trying to prevent sexual misconduct among teachers and assault on kids think the letter is a good idea, and is a step in the right direction,” Charol Shakeshaft, distinguished professor emerita from Virginia Commonwealth University, told Straight Arrow.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
