US strikes Iranian launchers on Larak island amid strait of Hormuz tensions  —  Attack was response to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing rockets to launch sea mines into strait, says US  —  US forces have struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak island on Sunday, a US official said …

Pentagon secretly installs military influencers in civilian roles … The Pentagon has secretly installed several conservative military veterans with large online followings in government roles, declining to disclose their assignments as they amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's viewpoints …

The mail ballot mess  —  Presented by With help from Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner  —  Happy Sunday.  This is Eli Okun, updating my reading list after NYT's Dwight Garner today called “The Disappearers” by Marlon James “the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.”

Canada erects giant ‘Lake Ontario’ sign as spat with Trump over name escalates  —  Meanwhile, Trump posts video of himself kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with Lake America sign  —  Donald Trump and Canada continued a verbal duel on Saturday over the US government's administrative renaming …

Trump calls for NBC's Kristen Welker to face ‘rebuke or punishment’ from the FCC  —  Donald Trump Federal agencies People in entertainment Media  —  Treating the Federal Communications Commission like his own personal enforcer, President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday …

Indonesian activists hail ruling to strike down ban on insulting government, but question impact  —  Indonesian legal experts and activists voiced support on Monday for an Indonesian court ruling voiding legal provisions that made insulting the government a criminal offence …

Talarico Is Out-Fundraising Paxton and Flooding the Airwaves in Texas Senate Race  —  Democratic candidate is on the offensive, giving his party hope in the deep-red state  —  Senate candidate James Talarico began August in Massachusetts, standing beside a swimming pool on tony Nantucket …

Trump Is Copying Putin's Losing Playbook With Canada  —  It sometimes feels as though the Trump administration gets its worldview and foreign policy ideas from a Kremlin School of International Relations course taught by Vladimir Putin — though at a CliffsNotes level that fails to consider how those strategies played out.

Inside the socialists' civil war over AOC and 2028  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's potential run for president has exposed long-simmering divisions within the Democratic Socialists of America. … - “We're not in a book club anymore,” said one strategist who works with the DSA.

Massachusetts 2026 Poll: Sen. Markey Holds Commanding Lead Over Rep. Moulton in Democratic Primary  —  The final Emerson College Polling survey of the Massachusetts Democratic Senate Primary finds incumbent Ed Markey leading Rep. Seth Moulton, 60% to 33%, while 7% are undecided.

Netanyahu son evacuated from US over threat  —  Israel's Shin Bet security agency says it urgently evacuated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's oldest son from the United States due to a threat against him.  —  In a brief statement obtained Sunday, the Shin Bet confirmed there had been a “significant threat” to Yair Netanyahu.

USDA cyclospora research projects shelved amid funding cuts and relocations  —  The Trump administration is shuttering research projects key to the federal government's fight against cyclospora, the foodborne parasite sickening thousands of Americans this summer.

Clinton foundation seeks intern with ‘high level of discretion’ — sparking online field day: ‘Bill lost intern privileges’  —  WASHINGTON — Just don't wear a blue dress to work.  —  The Clintons are on the lookout for a new intern to help their global foundation with research, memos, office management, and more.

Deportees Sent to Liberia Recount Harrowing Details of U.S. Expulsion and Treatment by ICE  —  Ten deportees said they experienced or witnessed what they called abusive or violent treatment by ICE.  They spent months in detention, they said, before being sent to nations where they had no ties.