“A Falcon 9 rocket topped with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office launched from Florida’s east coast early Thursday. The rocket launched at 3:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Little information about the NROL-95 mission has been made public aside from the fact that the payload was designed, built and will be operated by the NRO. The broadcast of the launch was restricted at the request of the NRO, SpaceX said, with the second stage two and deployment of the payload not shown.” (07/29/26)
“The U.S. Army on Sunday revealed it has tested a new warfare system overseas designed to covertly scramble the navigation signals used by enemy precision weapons, making it harder for adversaries to accurately strike targets from long distances while avoiding detection. The electronic system, dubbed ‘Hammer of the Gods,’ was tested at sea off the U.S. West Coast for the first time in mid-July as part of the Project Convergence Capstone 6 (PC-C6) experiment. While land-based versions have been demonstrated over the past two years, the exercise marked the official debut of the maritime variant, the Army said.” (07/29/26)
“President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled plans to revamp Dulles International Airport that would create an underground train and ditch the controversial ‘people movers,’ the bus-like mobile vehicles that transport passengers arriving from international destinations. Trump has taken a keen interest in the long-discussed overhaul of the airport in Northern Virginia, while disparaging it as ‘terrible’ and ‘incorrectly designed.’ … The proposed upgrades would significantly overhaul the experience for passengers at Dulles. Expanded parking, redesigned check-in areas and more efficient security screening aimed at reducing congestion are among the proposed upgrades. The project will preserve Dulles’ legendary main terminal, which was designed by Eero Saarinen, officials said.” (07/29/26)
“A San Francisco robot startup, already embroiled in a local controversy over an Airbnb rental, is now facing a class action lawsuit from former workers who say the company failed to pay them. Former contract workers are suing the Bot Company, also known as Botco, and multiple contract agencies for allegedly unpaid overtime wages, reimbursements of expenses, allegedly not providing work-free lunches and breaks, and termination pay. Originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court in April, the lawsuit obtained class action status on June 29, with three more former Botco workers signing on to a new complaint. Botco is the latest venture of Kyle Vogt, the former CEO of failed robotaxi startup Cruise.” (07/29/26)
“Turkish police detained the opposition mayor of Ankara’s Etimesgut district and 51 other suspects on Thursday in a graft investigation, the Interior Ministry said. Mayor Erdal Besikcioglu was among 37 municipality employees detained after police raided the municipality in western Ankara. Detention warrants were issued for a total 55 suspects, including 18 company officials, the ministry said. Three suspects were still being sought. It was the latest step in an unprecedented legal crackdown on municipalities run by the main opposition to President Tayyip Erdogan.” (07/30/26)
“Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the nation’s infectious disease efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, invoked the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday and declined to answer questions from a Senate committee investigating the origins of the coronavirus. Fauci said Homeland Security Chair Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was trying to get him to say something that could put him in legal jeopardy. Former President Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci before leaving office, but Fauci argues he could be in trouble if he makes any statements that could open new lines of investigation for the committee. … Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Fauci he wasn’t surprised the former top infectious disease expert was taking the Fifth: ‘I think it would be almost impossible for you to answer the questions truthfully without really demonstrating what you did.'” (07/29/26)
“The U.S. carried out strikes on Iran Thursday morning, hours after President Trump told reporters the U.S. would ‘be hitting them very hard’ in response to new attacks by Iran targeting U.S. forces in the Mideast. Hours later, Jordan shot down five missiles launched from Iran, Jordan’s state-run news agency said.At least 20 people were killed in joint U.S.-Saudi strikes on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, an umbrella paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces said Wednesday. Central Command said U.S. and Saudi forces conducted strikes late Tuesday on Iranian proxies in Iraq, the first confirmed attacks by a Gulf state during the war.” (07/30/26)
“An explosion in Poland left a 10m-wide crater after Russia launched an overnight missile attack on Ukraine. Polish armed forces are investigating a possible missile incursion after fighter jets were scrambled and sirens sounded in the eastern border city of Lublin in response to the Russian attack. Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian city of Lviv overnight, near the Polish border, in a huge overnight bombardment of 74 missiles and 284 drones spanning east to west Ukraine. The operational command of the Polish armed forces said on Thursday morning that at least 12 missiles had been observed over western Ukraine, but they had not identified what had crashed into its territory.” (07/30/26)
“The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday despite persistently high inflation and a spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war. The Fed’s rate-setting committee reached the 9-3 decision after two days of deliberations, marking the fifth straight meeting at which the benchmark rate was kept at around 3.6%. Dissenting in favor of a quarter-point interest rate hike were Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed; and Lorie Logan, president of the Dallas Fed. Inflation has been stuck above the central bank’s 2% target for more than five years.” (07/29/26)
“Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead. The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination. … Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, is already serving as acting US attorney general. He needs the vote of every Republican on the Senate judiciary panel to advance his nomination to land the role on a permanent basis. … But a swing vote on the committee, John Cornyn of Texas, told reporters on Wednesday he would not support Blanche’s nomination until he received written confirmation that the fund was not moving ahead.” (07/29/26)
