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Why this matters:

• Trump has tried to assure Americans that he has a plan to trim the roughly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit. However economists say Trump’s strategies are unlikely to deliver the promised results.
  
  

• Higher interest rates make it harder to buy or renovate a home, afford a new car or manage credit card debt. And the rising rates are giving Democratic candidates another line of attack to use in November’s midterm elections at a time when voters are already concerned about high costs for food and gas.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Jerome Powell warns against political pressure on Fed, courts and schools
  
  
• Judge to decide if a key hearing for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk will be public
  
  
• Congress has taken on Epstein. But lawmakers and survivors are still searching for accountability
  
  
• Platner’s wife calls news coverage of Senate hopeful’s sexually explicit texts with women ‘shameful’
  
  
• Iowa Democrats hoping to flip a US Senate seat are torn over which of 2 hopefuls has the best shot
  
  
• Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms show off head start in Georgia as Republicans battle in runoff 
  
  
• Newark mayor imposes curfew around Delaney Hall after clashes over immigration detention center
  
  
• WATCH: NYC Mayor Mamdani skips annual parade celebrating Israel

WORLD NEWS

US bombs Iranian military sites and Kuwait is hit by drone and missile fire

The United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it launched a strike of its own, and Kuwait reported incoming fire. Read more.

Why this matters:

• The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with such back-and-forth attacks, even as officials from both countries try to negotiate an end to the war. It’s not clear how close they are to a deal — and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks.
  
  

• In the meantime, Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and fighting has also escalated between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Israeli army captures strategic castle in Lebanon in deepest incursion into the country in 26 years
  
  
• WATCH: Israeli military footage said to be of troops capturing castle
  
  
• Soaring prices during the Iran war jeopardize travel to tourism-dependent countries in Asia

WORLD NEWS

Pro-Trump candidate pulls ahead in Colombia presidential vote as ruling party sows doubt in results

Tough-on-crime, pro-Trump outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia’s presidential race in the first round of voting Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of Colombia’s outgoing President Gustavo Petro who questioned the results of the election. Read more.

Why this matters:

• Voters across Latin America are increasingly ditching leaders that pitched progressive policies aimed at addressing the root issues of conflict. Instead, voters have increasingly turned to candidates promising heavy-handed security crackdowns.
  
  

• The polarized vote comes as the Trump administration is playing a more aggressive role in Latin America than any U.S. government in decades, placing mounting pressure on countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador to crack down on crime.