US hits Iran after promised retaliation; GOP senators delay Blanche nomination
The U.S. promised a “powerful response” after Iran targeted American forces. What comes next is becoming harder to predict.
Plus, Dr. Anthony Fauci refused to answer senators’ questions. Now his repeated response is fueling a push to hold him in contempt.
And actor Jared Leto faces new sexual assault allegations spanning nearly two decades.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, July 30, 2026.
US delivers promised retaliation as military targets dozens of sites inside Iran
The U.S. has launched a new wave of strikes inside Iran after President Donald Trump promised to hit back. The U.S. military said it hit dozens of targets inside Iran overnight, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal defense sites and other strategic locations.
The strikes came just hours after Trump vowed retaliation for Iran’s attempted attack on U.S. forces, saying, “It’s our turn to hit them.”
As the strikes continued, the fallout reached other countries across the region.
Egyptian officials said a drone sparked a fire at a port on the Mediterranean coast, though they have not said who was responsible.
In Jordan, the military said it intercepted five missiles fired from Iran. And in Kuwait, officials said an Iranian strike hit a building used by a Chinese company, killing one worker.
‘Russian missile’ crosses into Poland, appears to enter NATO territory
A Russian missile strike on Ukraine may have sent a cruise missile deep into NATO territory.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a missile believed to have been fired by Russia exploded in a field in eastern Poland early Thursday. Authorities said the blast left a large crater in Lublin province, about 55 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Tusk said “all indications” point to a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. He said Poland was prepared to shoot it down if it had continued on its course, and that NATO allies had been kept informed.
The missile appeared to land away from homes, but the wider attack struck cities across Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired more than 70 missiles and more than 280 attack drones overnight. The attack killed at least eight people, including children, according to officials.
Zelenskyy said one strike destroyed a family home in southern Ukraine, killing two parents and their three children.
Sens. Cornyn and Tillis block committee vote on Blanche’s appointment
Two top Senate Republicans have stalled Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general, forcing a last-minute delay of a key committee vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate.
But Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina said they wanted stronger assurances that a proposed settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS would not shield him or his family from future tax audits.
The delay followed hours of negotiations with the Justice Department on Wednesday.
When asked about the holdup in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to downplay the dispute.
“Well, all I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding, and I thought he’s, I thought it was pretty routine because he’s so good. He — you just wouldn’t find a better person. So I don’t know, maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard he’s going through quite nicely,” Trump said.
Cornyn has said he wants the settlement rewritten to make clear it applies only to current IRS audits and does not protect the president from any future audits.
Republicans push to hold Fauci in contempt after he repeatedly refused to answer Senate questions
Republicans said they will seek to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a heated Senate hearing on the COVID pandemic and his role in public policy.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) refused to answer questions from lawmakers Wednesday, saying, more than 100 times, that his attorneys advised him to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Fauci accused Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Sen. Rand Paul of trying to trap him into making statements that could be used against him after Paul recently released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s personal diaries.
“Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,” Fauci said. “Therefore, although it pains me to do so because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions”
Republicans called Fauci a villain and focused their questioning on the origins of COVID, federal funding for virus research in China, and whether Fauci misled Congress about the government’s response to the pandemic.
“The real question is, was it dangerous?” Paul asked. “Was it a wise decision to fund this? And you haven’t deviated from that. You’ve never admitted that it could have been a mistake funding this research in China.”
The hearing grew even more contentious when Fauci’s attorney tried to address the committee. Paul refused to recognize him, then called for Capitol Police to escort him out.
Democrats, meanwhile, argued the hearing was less about finding answers and more about targeting Fauci.
“It is unfortunate that you have been put in the position that you are in today, and it must be enormously frustrating to know that this hearing is designed to entrap you,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said.
The hearing followed the release of Fauci’s diaries and internal records, which Paul said cast doubt on Fauci’s public statements to the American people during the pandemic.
The White House has also launched a website promoting the lab-leak theory as the origin of COVID, though the virus’s origin remains disputed.
The hearing also drew a response from Trump, who said he watched it all.
“Well, I watched the whole thing today. But more importantly, I was a part of the whole Fauci situation,” Trump said. “I inherited Fauci … But Fauci wanted to have nobody wearing masks, if you remember. And then everybody had to wear five masks, as many masks as you could get. I mean, he made a lot of mistakes. He wasn’t a big factor for me. He was a very big factor for Biden.”
Paul said the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.
Trump appeals Carroll verdict, asks Supreme Court to overturn defamation judgment
Trump has taken his fight over an $83 million defamation verdict to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the high court to overturn the verdict a federal jury awarded E. Jean Carroll last year.
The award followed a jury’s finding that Trump defamed Carroll after he called her a “whack job,” said he had never met her, and denied her allegations following her win of a separate $5 million civil judgment against him.
That earlier case stemmed from Carroll’s claim that Trump sexually abused her in the mid-1990s. A jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding her $5 million. Trump has long denied the allegations.
In the Supreme Court filing, Trump’s lawyers argue the appeals court failed to properly consider whether he was protected by presidential immunity when he made statements about Carroll. They said the ruling could expose future presidents to personal civil liability for statements made while in office. The lawyers also argued Trump made those remarks from the White House while responding to reporters’ questions about the allegations.
Leto denies new assault claims after 10 women speak out in BBC documentary
Actor and musician Jared Leto has pushed back against a new wave of sexual misconduct and assault allegations, several of which involve women who say they were teenagers at the time.
Ten women spoke to the BBC for its new documentary, “Jared Leto: Hollywood’s dark secret.” Nine told their stories publicly for the first time. Four accused Leto of conduct the BBC said may be criminal.
One woman said he sexually assaulted her in a motel bathroom when she was 17. Another said she had sex with Leto in California at 17, which would constitute statutory rape. A third said he threatened her with sexual assault when she was 19. And another said Leto made repeated sexually explicit calls to her when she was 16.
In a statement to The New York Times, Leto denied the allegations, saying, “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false.”
The women alleged the encounters occurred between 2002 and 2016, when Leto was in his 30s and 40s.
The BBC said it corroborated several accounts with friends and family and reviewed photos and messages that support some of what the women allege.
Leto has not been charged with any crime related to the allegations.
Trump announces $22.5B Dulles International Airport overhaul
Trump has unveiled another major renovation project in the Washington area. This time, it’s at Dulles International Airport.
On Wednesday, Trump announced a $22.5 billion plan to modernize and expand Dulles International Airport, which opened in 1962. The project would add or renovate more than five million square feet of space, including replacing the aging C and D concourses and constructing a 32,000-space parking garage closer to the terminals.
It would also phase out the airport’s familiar “People Movers,” the mobile lounges that have transported passengers between the main terminal and the gates for more than six decades. They would be replaced by a U-shaped passenger train, a central pedestrian tunnel and additional moving walkways.
Trump said the goal is to modernize the airport while preserving its iconic main terminal.
“It’s considered one of the worst airports anywhere in the world. We’re going to make it, maybe the best, with some hard work and some good thought process,” Trump said.
“All the while preserving the iconic original terminal, that is one of the great architects of the world did the original terminal. And it was very, very important that it be left,” he continued.
Trump said some parts of the project will require congressional approval. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said construction could begin as early as spring 2027 if lawmakers approve the plan.
The Dulles project joins a growing list of high-profile construction projects backed by the president, including plans for a new White House ballroom and a proposed triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.
More from Straight Arrow:
Are more children developing autism, or are doctors diagnosing it differently?
The statistics are staggering: In the 1960s and ‘70s, autism was considered a rare condition. Early epidemiological studies suggested that about two to four children per 10,000 were autistic. By 2000, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched its nationwide surveillance program, the agency reported that about 1 in 150 American children had autism.
Today, that number has risen to 1 in 31, or roughly 322 cases per 10,000 children — about 100 times greater than estimates from 50 years ago.
The dramatic increase has fueled one of the most contentious disputes in medicine and public health: Is autism actually becoming more common, or are clinicians simply becoming better at recognizing it?
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
