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New Mideast Attacks, Foodborne Parasite Outbreak & Meta's Muse - Wednesday, July 8, 2026
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Today is Wednesday, July 8th. We'll tell you about the latest strikes between the US and Iran and how calls are mounting for Graham Platner to drop out of the U.S. senate race. Also, a stomach illness surging in several states and the steps you can take to help prevent it. Plus, where grocery prices are finally getting cheaper, why philosophy majors are now in high demand, and how the World cup has made a song from the 1970s popular again. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the newsworthy news. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. As we published early this morning, missiles are once again flying in the Middle East. It's considered the most significant escalation since the US And Iran came to an agreement last month to open the Strait of Hormuz and wind down the war. The latest issue is the US Is upset about Iran attacking ships near the strait. So the American military says it launched a new series of strikes in Iran, hitting more than 80 targets. Plus, the Trump administration again blocked Iran's ability to sell oil legally. Then this morning, Iran launched counterattacks in Bahrain and Kuwait, countries that host U.S. bases and have accommodated the U.S. military throughout the war. Iran blamed the U.S. for violating its interim deal, though the U.S. says the ceasefire is still in effect and that it will keep negotiating with Iran toward a final agreement. An immigration stop turned deadly yesterday in Texas when an ICE agent shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in Houston. Federal authorities say the man was in the US Illegally and that he tried to run over an ICE officer with his car, so the officer fired his gun in self defense. This is just the latest in a series of similar incidents over the last year. Homeland Security has repeatedly accused immigrants of weaponizing their vehicles before officers shot them. Immigration agents have fired at or into civilian vehicles at least a dozen times, though this seems to be the first shooting by federal immigration officers that actually killed someone since the controversial deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Preddy back in January. Of course, those deaths sparked widespread backlash. And now at least one civil rights organization is calling for an investigation into this latest shooting. It even announced a $5,000 reward for anyone with more information. Maine's Democratic candidate for US Senate is now facing growing pressure to drop out of the race. Reports out this week detailed allegations from a woman who dated Graham Platner. She says back in 2021, Platner came into her home uninvited and raped her. This is new, but even before Platner secured the nomination. There were allegations from several of his ex girlfriends who called his behavior angry and erratic, and there were other scandals like the discovery of a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol. He still held onto a great deal of support, but now since the rape accusation has come out, Platner's high profile backers like US Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are pulling their support, and even the main Democratic Party has called on him to step aside. Platner insists he never did anything that wasn't consensual, but he still postponed several events that were scheduled for this week, saying he's taking time to reflect on the best path forward. If he does withdraw, he must do so by Monday in order for his name to be removed from the state's ballot and be replaced by another candidate, and his replacement would have to be named by the end of the month. So now, even before Platner makes a public decision, some fellow Democrats are clashing over whether they want a progressive or a moderate to take his place and how they want to choose that replacement through a last minute convention, caucus or some other way. The stakes for Dems are high since this race in Maine is seen as pivotal to their chances of gaining control of the Senate overall. To be continued as President Trump meets with NATO allies, he's renewing his call for the US to take over Greenland. Of course, Greenland is still a self governing, semi autonomous territory owned by Denmark, but Trump has repeatedly argued it should be under American control instead as a way to counter threats from Russia and China. He made the claim again yesterday, drawing immediate pushback from Greenland and Denmark, who say an American takeover will never happen for any amount of money. Separately, Trump brought up other complaints with NATO, including members unwillingness to join the US And Israel in their fight against Iran, and he criticized Europe over its energy and immigration policies. Meanwhile, NATO has been announcing billions of dollars worth of arms deals in what reports say has been an attempt to appease Trump. Today, Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been pushing to join the alliance. To be continued Russian teams could soon be back at the Olympics, since this week the International Olympic Committee announced it lifted its suspension. The IOC first banned the Russian Olympic Committee in 2023, more than 18 months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. So at the last couple of Olympic Games, Russian athletes who qualified had to compete as individual neutral athletes not under the Russian flag. Well now the IOC is loosening the rules even though the war is ongoing, the IOC explained to say it still does not support the war, but it also believes athletes should not be punished for the actions of their government. Ukraine strongly objected, saying the decision contradicts Olympic values that should be based on respect for human dignity and peace. Either way, this decision is not likely to mean Russian athletes participating fully across all sports, since many international sports federations still have their own eligibility rules or restrictions. Olympic qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Games have already taken place for some sports, but most kick off their qualifiers later this year and next. This week's World cup game between the US And Belgium set another record as the most watched soccer telecast in American history. Fox says at least 30 million people watched the match, which is comparable to an NFL playoff game, and at one point the audience peaked at nearly 37 million people. Unfortunately, Team USA did not deliver for the massive audience of American fans, having lost that game 4 to 1. But what the team did to capture America's heart and attention over the past few weeks is still a big deal, both for the game of soccer and also for other parts of American culture, like music. There's been a new surge in popularity for unofficial US anthems during the competition. Take John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads from 1971. Streams rose 20% after one of Team USA's recent games and Billboard says the song has reached number three on its digital sales list for the week. More news is still coming up, but first a quick break for our sponsor. Every pet owner knows that your pet is part of your family and that's why I was so interested in Smalls when their food arrived for my cat. 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You can get 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com newsworthy that's 60% off your first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com newsworthy now back to the news. The four year legal battle pitting celebrities like Prince Harry and Elton John up against a UK Tabloid has come to an end. Yesterday the group lost their case against Associated Newspapers limited that publishes the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and more. The Prince and other plaintiffs say the tabloids violated their privacy from the late 1990s into the 2010s, alleging they used illegal tactics. Associated Newspapers has always denied the allegations and in the end the judge determined there wasn't enough evidence. Prince Harry called the ruling a complete and obvious whitewash and he pointed to his previous legal victories against other British tabloid publishers. Well, now Associated Newspaper says it's going to try to recover its legal costs estimated at more than US$60 million. A high rise tower in midtown Manhattan sparked major safety concerns yesterday, and engineers warned it's at risk of collapsing. The building near Grand Central Terminal used to be the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, but it's being converted into an apartment complex with more than 1,600 units. It's what's now the country's largest ever office to residential conversion. And yesterday two supporting columns on the building's 21st floor buckled and steel beams began to bend. Upper floors were sagging and bricks started falling. So after the construction workers fled yesterday, people in much of the surrounding area did the same, including roughly 400 children who were at a school nearby. No one has been reported hurt as of last night. The New York City buildings commissioner said the high rise was stable, but Mayor Mamdani still warned New Yorkers to avoid the area. Federal health officials are now rushing to get to the bottom of a stomach illness that's been spreading in more than a dozen states at this point. Most cases have been reported in Michigan, Illinois, New York and Texas. The sickness is called cyclospirasis, and it's caused by a microscopic parasite that typically impacts people through contaminated food. It's usually not life threatening, but people can experience severe symptoms and if it's not treated with antibiotics, they can last over a month. Again, officials have yet to find an exact source of this outbreak, but in the past, cases have been traced back to prepackaged food and fresh produce. So the CDC says the best way to avoid it is to cook any raw foods. And for things you don't cook, like salad, just make sure you wash them thoroughly. America's largest grocer announced price cuts on thousands of items. Specifically, Walmart says it's lowering the price of ground beef by 12%, the price of cherries is being halved, a 24 pack of coca Cola is dropping by a third, and the company is cutting prices on household products, toys, apparel, seasonal items and so on. President Trump says Walmart is making the moves at the request of his administration to celebrate America's 250th birthday. But Walmart says it's just a summer savings push and did not mention the White House. Either way, Trump is now calling on other retailers to follow suit. Meta just came out with its new free AI image generator called Muse Image. Of course, image generation has been a thing for a while now on competitors like OpenAI and Google, but since this is Meta, the reach could be wider. With Muse Image now available on popular social media apps like Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, users can create images from text prompts, edit images using sketches or notes, and even use existing photos as a starting point. But one feature is sparking some major privacy concerns. By default, users can manipulate another person's Instagram photos with AI as long as that person's profile is public, they just have to tag them. And Meta says it won't notify people when this happens. To be clear, people who don't want their public photos used this way would need to opt out of anyone reusing their content at all through Instagram sharing and reuse settings or make their account private. Meta says Muse video is already in development. Country music legend Dolly Parton is headed to Broadway. A show about her life and career has been in the works for a while and this week it was announced Dolly, a true original musical, will officially open on Broadway this winter. It will include some of her classic hits like 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love youe as well as some new music she specifically wrote for the show. Dolly says the musical covers everything from quote, where I've lived, what I've lost, what I've loved, and how I found my way. Pre sale tickets go on sale today with general tickets available this Friday. And that's it for the main news today. But now it's time for Work Wednesday when we break down one interesting career, career or work related news story every Wednesday. But first a break to tell you about our sponsor Summer is when I appreciate a wardrobe that does not need much thought. I want pieces I can grab, wear comfortably and know that they'll work whether I'm doing camp, pickup, heading to dinner or packing for a weekend away. That's why Quint's has become such an easy go to I recently got their jeans and they really have that rare balance of looking structured and polished while still feeling soft and comfortable. 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Quince.comnewsworthy now back to work Wednesday Philosophy majors who have been the butt of jokes about unemployable degrees could now be getting the last laugh. That's because some of the world's most powerful artificial intelligence companies have recently been grappling with questions about how their AI systems behave, what values they reflect and how much they can be trusted. So there's now a growing demand for people trained to think through those kinds of problems, and philosophers are being recruited. Plus, those who have already been hired are taking more of a hands on role than previous safety and ethics experts, instead of being simply advisory philosophers, are now actually writing model specifications and behavioral policies. And that means a bigger salary than they'd be offered typically. For now, the jobs are still relatively rare, though they're increasing in a trend that's expected to continue. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back with even more news to know tomorrow. Until then, have a great day.