These are the top stories for June 29th.
Headlines
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles and drones at U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday, in retaliation for the latest round of American airstrikes near the Strait of Hormuz. No U.S. casualties or significant damage were reported, and President Trump warned Iran could face “annihilation” if attacks continued. See Details
President Trump announced Saturday that he has nominated Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper currently serving as a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pending Senate confirmation, to replace acting director David Venturella. Source
The official death toll from last Wednesday’s devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela has climbed to at least 1,430, with more than 68,900 people still unaccounted for, as international rescue teams work around the clock to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Caracas and the coastal city of La Guaira. Find out More
Politics
Rep. Julia Letlow clinched the Republican Senate nomination in Louisiana Saturday night, defeating state Treasurer John Fleming 57-43 percent in the party runoff, putting her on track to become the first female Republican senator from the Pelican State in the November general election against Democrat Jamie Davis. Source
At the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference, President Trump cast Democratic gains in recent New York City elections as an existential threat, calling progressive candidates “hard-core, godless Communists,” as Faith & Freedom chairman Ralph Reed acknowledged the GOP faces an enthusiasm gap of 11-14 points heading into November. Find out More
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner warned the Trump administration in a letter to preserve all records related to the 2026 midterm election, citing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s threats to withhold mail-in ballots and what they called a “secret agreement” to share Social Security data with a partisan group. Source
U.S. News
A U.S. official told ABC News that federal search-and-rescue teams from Virginia and Miami-Dade, including a newly federalized team deployed for the first time in over a decade, are actively pulling survivors from rubble in Venezuela, with the Trump administration preparing a new “nine-figure” aid package to be announced imminently. Source
Firefighters battling the nation’s largest active wildfire in southern Utah face extreme winds, record-low humidity, and historic dryness that have pushed the blaze far beyond initial containment lines, with forecasters warning that the critical fire weather pattern is expected to persist through the weekend. See Details
Business
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell to $69.23 and international benchmark Brent settled at $71.99 a barrel on Saturday — the lowest WTI close since before the Iran war began February 28 — after tankers resumed transit of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain failed to cause major damage, while stock futures also fell on renewed conflict risk. Source
Markets face a big week with falling oil prices, AI stocks on a roller coaster, and the June jobs report due out on Friday. Source
President Trump threatened 100% tariffs on the European Union if it moved ahead with a digital services tax targeting U.S. tech companies. Source
World News
President Trump issued fresh warnings to Iran on Sunday, saying the U.S. may “complete the job” after American forces struck Iranian missile storage sites, coastal radar stations, and drone facilities — the second consecutive day of U.S. military action — following Iran’s attack on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Source
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared Saturday that the framework agreement signed Friday by Lebanon and Israel in Washington is “null and void,” calling its linkage of Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah’s disarmament a “humiliation” that the group’s fighters will resist, even as Lebanon’s state news agency reported a fresh Israeli drone strike in the south. Read More
Russian-appointed Crimean head Sergei Aksyonov declared a state of economic emergency on the peninsula Friday, citing disruption to civilian fuel supplies, tourism, and children’s summer camps in the wake of intensified Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Crimean infrastructure. Source
Entertainment
Stevie Nicks and Tim McGraw are confirmed as the musical entertainment for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s weddings. Source
Legendary music mogul Clive Davis, who died Monday at 94 after more than six decades shaping the careers of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and Alicia Keys, will be honored Monday at a private New York funeral ceremony featuring performances and eulogies from many of the artists whose careers he defined. Find out More
Oprah continues to face backlash over claiming Whitney Houston relapsed before her final appearance on Oprah’s show in 2009. See Details
Sports
Lionel Messi came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the 2026 World Cup tournament Saturday, extending his record as the all-time leading scorer in men’s World Cup history and capping Argentina’s 3-1 win over Jordan that completed a perfect group-stage campaign for the defending champions, who now face Cape Verde in the Round of 32. Find out More
A miracle goal in stoppage time sent Austria through to the knockout stage of the World Cup and eliminated Iran. Source
Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham says opposing players are targeting Caitlan Clark for cheap shots. Find out More
Off the Wall
Rescue crews in California had to extract a man from a campground outhouse sewage tank after he climbed in trying to retrieve a pair of dropped sunglasses, in what authorities described as a preventable situation that required a hazmat-level response and left the would-be retriever with significantly more to clean up than just his glasses. Source
