US, Iran halt attacks after escalation

CAIRO — The United States has not attacked Iran for a second day, and Tehran says it has also halted attacks. This pause comes amid efforts to resume negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal.

The U.S. previously targeted Iranian coastal areas after Iran fired at ships in the vital Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon has not commented on the pause. Mediation efforts by countries like Pakistan and Qatar remain unclear. Concerns about shipping in the region persist, especially with threats from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Talks with Oman about safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz are ongoing, with some progress reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to Washington and meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday,

2 die in Ukraine from Russian attacks

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv early Sunday, igniting fires and wounding at least three civilians. Local officials reported that later attacks in other parts of Ukraine killed at least two people.

These strikes follow Ukraine’s successful drone attacks, which have stalled Russian advances and increased pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian drone strike reportedly killed four civilians in Horlivka.

Netanyahu blasts Mayor Mamdani

WASHINGTON — Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor’s suggestion that he is not welcome. He also plans to be in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with President Donald Trump.

Logger Troy Jackson is new Senate candidate for Maine

BANGOR, Maine — Former state lawmaker and logger Troy Jackson secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Maine on Saturday and will face longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November in a race that could decide which party controls the chamber.

Jackson replaces Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary in June but withdrew from the race earlier this month following an allegation of sexual assault that Platner has denied. Maine Democrats met Saturday to choose a new Senate nominee to face Collins.

Support coalesced around Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and fifth-generation logger from rural northern Maine who campaigned alongside Platner during a failed bid for governor and was a favorite among progressives to replace him.

“When the people in power refuse to listen, you have to organize, you have to stand in solidarity, together. And you have to make them listen,” Jackson said during a speech at the last-minute nominating convention.

Democrats view Maine as the party’s best opportunity to flip a Senate seat this year because it’s a competitive race in a state President Donald Trump lost in 2024

The Associated Press