The United States has renewed its attacks on Iran, with multiple explosions reported in southern regions, including the port city of Sirik, Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and Kharg Island. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran’s military pledged a “crushing response.” Soon after, air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait as U.S. military sites came under Iranian drone and missile fire. The U.S. strikes came hours after the Treasury Department revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that allowed Iran to sell oil on the open market. That led to a surge in oil prices and a steep decline in Asian stock markets, which shed more than $700 billion in value during a broad sell-off. 

President Trump has declared the ceasefire deal with Iran “over,” condemning Iran’s leaders as “scum” and declaring negotiations with them as a “waste of time.” Trump was responding to a reporter’s question at the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Reporter: “Is the ceasefire over? Is the ceasefire done? Is the MOU dead?” 

President Donald Trump: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the most recent U.S. attacks on Iran, calling them “absolutely necessary,” while telling Trump, “I’m with you.” Rutte’s attempts at flattery came after Trump castigated NATO allies for refusing to aid the U.S. and Israel in attacks on Iran. Trump also lashed out at NATO leaders for rejecting his efforts to claim Greenland. And he refused to rule out additional U.S. troop reductions in Europe. 

Meanwhile, Trump announced he would lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey that were imposed in 2020 over its purchase of a Russian air defense system. Trump made the announcement ahead of a lavish state dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom Trump praised as a “great leader” and Turkey’s “biggest asset.” This comes as the mayor of Istanbul and other Turkish politicians, civil society figures and journalists remain jailed on politically motivated charges. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has canceled plans to visit Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. The Pentagon cited the renewed U.S. attacks on Iran as the reason for Hesgeth’s change of plans. He had been scheduled to discuss Israel’s objections to President Trump’s plans to supply Turkey with F-35 fighter jets. Ahead of the NATO summit, Netanyahu made the rounds on U.S. media outlets to criticize President Trump’s friendship with Turkish President Erdoğan.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Turkey is a great country, but it’s governed by a man who calls openly for the annihilation of Israel. He occupies half of Cyprus, a NATO country. He’s threatening Greece, another NATO country. And he talks openly about conquering Jerusalem.”

The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, is considering abandoning military bases in Gulf nations including Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to be replaced with new bases in Israel. This comes after Iranian attacks earlier this year caused damage to at least 20 U.S. bases across the Gulf. This is former CENTCOM commander, retired General Frank McKenzie, speaking in a recent webinar.

Frank McKenzie: “No one in their right mind would ever put the CENTCOM forward headquarters, you know, a hundred miles away from Iran. Yet that’s where it is.” 

In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on the Sabra neighborhood Tuesday evening killed Palestinian aid official Mohammed al-Wahidi, along with a taxi driver and two children — 10-year-old Hamza al-Deri and his 8-year-old brother Fari. Al-Wahidi was director of public relations for the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza and had just organized a public screening of the Egypt-Argentina World Cup match. Israel killed him less than an hour before kickoff. Since October, when Israel agreed to a so-called ceasefire, it has killed at least 1,027 people in Gaza, including 258 children. 

Here in New York, pro-Palestine activists rallied outside the United Nations on Tuesday to celebrate the cancellation of a planned visit by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He’d been scheduled to lead an Israeli delegation to the U.N. Chiefs of Police Summit but pulled out under pressure from human rights groups who urged an investigation into Ben-Gvir’s crimes against New Yorkers, among other demands. Democracy Now! spoke with Nas Issa, a member of the New York City branch of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Nas Issa: “So, when we heard Ben-Gvir was planning to come to the city, a variety of organizations came together to mount a campaign to pressure both U.N. officials and the New York attorney general, alongside other New York officials, to investigate and prosecute him for war crimes, should he come to New York City. And we were able to mount a grassroots campaign that garnered a petition with 7,000 signatures, alongside filings to the Department of Justice and legal complaints to the New York Attorney General’s Office. And the culmination of this pressure was that we found out that Ben-Gvir decided to cancel his planned visit to the U.N. policing summit.”

In Texas, immigration and civil rights advocacy groups are demanding an independent investigation into the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican father who was killed by ICE during an attempted arrest in Houston Tuesday morning. Araujo’s son, Ronaldo Salgado, said in a statement his father was driving to work and was in Magnolia Park, a historically Latino neighborhood in Houston, picking up workers in the area, when ICE agents targeted him. His son added, “My father has been in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for myself, my two brothers, and my mother. … My father did not deserve this.”

ICE claimed — as it has in previous shootings — that Araujo had attempted to drive away, ramming an agency vehicle when he was shot in the abdomen. This is Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, a Houston-based immigration advocacy group.

Cesar Espinosa: “We are calling for an independent — fully independent — investigation from the authorities. We are calling for transparency from ICE. And we are calling for justice for this person. ICE does not get to be judge, jury and executioner whenever they want to.”

Advocates are also demanding the release of video footage. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s fatal shooting came on the six-month anniversary of the ICE killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Deaths in ICE custody also continue to rise under President Trump’s second term in office. In the latest reported case, Adrian Andreas Florian, an 85-year-old man from Germany, died in late June while hospitalized in Texas. According to immigration researcher and data analyst Austin Kocher, ICE had transferred Florian to the hospital in November over signs of dementia and other health issues. He was then pronounced dead on June 24 after about 10 months in ICE custody. He is at least the 21st person to die in ICE custody this year alone. 

In more immigration news, the GEO Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison and immigration detention contractors, has agreed to pay a fine of more than $100,000 in a landmark case over the company’s abusive and dangerous treatment of immigrant workers detained in at least five of its California ICE jails. The case had been ongoing for more than four years. 

A French court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction but cleared the way for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election. Le Pen announced her candidacy just hours after the court upheld her conviction for misappropriating EU funds to pay her National Rally party staff. Le Pen was ordered to wear an electronic ankle monitor. Her racist, anti-immigrant National Rally party is currently leading in the polls less than a year before centrist French President Emmanuel Macron steps down. This would be Le Pen’s fourth bid for the French presidency.

In Colombia, President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has suspended the transition process with outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro after Petro accused the right-wing candidate of fraud in the June runoff election. Leftist candidate Iván Cepeda has also expressed concerns of fraud and accused Espriella, who has dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship, of working for the Trump administration.

Iván Cepeda: “The U.S. authorities must clarify whether Mr. Abelardo de la Espriella has been or is an agent or collaborator of the DEA, the CIA or any other U.S. security agency. This status would call into question his suitability to be the Colombian head of state, guarantor of our sovereignty and, of course, guardian of the political constitution.”

Cepeda narrowly lost the election to Espriella, who is backed by President Donald Trump. Cepeda has urged supporters to engage in civil disobedience to pressure Espriella to renounce his U.S. citizenship and stop the persecution of his opponents. 

In China, at least 21 people are dead after heavy wind and rain triggered a landslide in the western province of Gansu. The disaster was caused by the remnants of Typhoon Maysak, which spawned rare tornadoes in central China, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes.

In the Pacific, recovery efforts are underway in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands from severe damage caused by a Category 5-equivalent typhoon that made landfall on Monday.

In France, more than 10,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes as a fast-moving wildfire sweeps across the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains. Firefighters are also battling blazes in Portugal, Spain, Greece and the Balkans.

Here in the U.S., more than 1,200 firefighters are battling the Babylon Fire, which has consumed over 100,000 acres, becoming the largest wildfire in Utah in nearly a decade.

According to Climate Central, July is the hottest month for most of the United States, and it’s getting hotter as the planet warms. U.S. cities have seen average temperatures rise by more than two-and-a-half degrees since the 1970s. 

A top attorney at ExxonMobil is joining the Trump administration. Robert Levy, executive counsel at the fossil fuel giant, recently announced he’s retiring after 17 years at ExxonMobil and will join the Justice Department’s newly renamed Energy and Natural Resources Division. It was previously the Environment and Natural Resources Division. In November, Levy was one of a few major oil company executives to attend the COP30 United Nations climate talks in Brazil, where he promoted the continued burning of fossil fuels.

Darren Woods: “Crude, crude oil, and hydrocarbons are going to play a critical role in everybody’s life for a long time to come.”

In response, Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, wrote, “Big Oil’s capture of the U.S. government is now complete. … The Justice Department that should be fighting to protect clean air and water and avert catastrophic climate change will now work on behalf of polluters to advance the poisoning of people and the planet.”