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The race for influence is playing out across geopolitics, technology, and culture. From growing competition in the Arctic to a startup taking on AI's biggest names and U2's first new music in years, today's headlines reveal a world in motion.

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American forces pounded Iranian air defenses, radar sites, and more than 60 Revolutionary Guard boats in overnight raids. Washington then revoked the license that let Tehran sell its oil openly, squeezing the regime's finances. Officials framed the assault as a direct answer to this week's tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran answered within hours, firing at US bases in the Gulf and triggering missile alerts in Bahrain and Kuwait. Bahrain, home to the Navy's Fifth Fleet, sounded its sirens twice as interceptors lit the sky. NATO chief Mark Rutte called the American strikes "necessary," a sign the alliance will not break ranks.

Meeting in Turkey, NATO members unveiled billions in fresh arms deals meant to showcase unity and firepower. Trump used the summit stage to revive his demand for US control of Greenland, unsettling European allies. Leaders scrambled to keep the alliance's message focused on deterrence rather than internal friction.

Denmark's prime minister refused to blink, vowing to defend Greenland from any takeover. Copenhagen recast the standoff as a test of NATO's own borders, not just its spending targets. Other capitals watched warily, reluctant to see a public rift while a war rages to the east.

Typhoon Maysak unleashed floods and rare tornadoes across Guangxi, bursting a dam wall and killing at least four. Roughly 62,000 people fled their homes as water swallowed entire streets within minutes. Rescue teams struggled to reach isolated villages cut off by the rising torrent.

Stranded residents told the BBC that food and rescuers still cannot reach the worst-hit towns. Forecasters warn that heavier rain is coming before the system finally clears the region. Local officials are bracing for the toll to climb as floodwaters slowly recede.

The UN's rights chief warns that El-Obeid faces siege conditions after 18 months on the front line. Constant drone strikes have sealed the city off, choking off food and medical supplies. Aid groups fear a massacre if the encirclement is not broken soon.

A major failure at Australia's largest telecom disrupted train networks and even emergency calls. Engineers traced the fault to data centers in Sydney and Melbourne, though the root cause remains unclear. Millions of customers faced hours of dropped service before systems slowly recovered.

A mountain of rubbish in Indonesia has been burning for more than a week, and environmental activists say the blaze is a symptom of the country's growing waste crisis. Regional officials have begun evacuating nearby villages as the smoke plume drifts over Jakarta.

McConnell, 84, has been in hospital for more than four weeks, and his staff have not yet said why he was admitted. Silence has left Senate leadership planning for scenarios his office has refused to confirm, and colleagues on both sides of the aisle are pressing for a formal update.

A federal judge approved a $47M payout for victims of the 2023 hack of 23andMe, the DNA-testing firm that has never fully recovered its consumer-trust standing. The company will also be required to submit to third-party security audits for the next four years.

The Utah boarding school where Paris Hilton alleged abuse has lost its state license, with regulators citing neglect and use of unnecessary restraints. Hilton said the facility "failed the children" and pushed for the closure through years of survivor testimony.

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GameStop shareholders approved a share-issuance change that clears the runway for a renewed attempt to acquire eBay. The meme-stock-turned-conglomerate is again testing whether shareholder loyalty can be converted into serious M&A firepower.

Amazon is raising at least $25 billion in bonds to bankroll its sprawling AI infrastructure buildout. Executives told underwriters the company will issue no further debt for the rest of 2026. Capital spending is now guided toward roughly $200 billion this year, up sharply from 2025.

UK regulator Ofcom fined Virgin Media £28 million after finding millions of cancellation calls were "likely mishandled" over nearly three years. The penalty is one of the largest ever imposed for consumer treatment failures in the UK telecom sector.

Samsung-backed startup Rebellions plans a 2027 IPO for AI chips designed for inference, not training. Founders bet that cheaper, specialized silicon can chip away at Nvidia's dominance. J.P. Morgan and Samsung Securities are lined up to steer the Korean listing.

New research suggests creatine may help treat depression, extending the supplement's reputation beyond the weight room. If confirmed in larger trials, one of the cheapest and most-studied supplements in the world could join the mental-health toolkit.

NASA is flying a robotic servicing mission to rescue the aging Swift gamma-ray-burst telescope before it deorbits. Success would create a template for extending the working life of dozens of other satellites — commercial and scientific — that have run past their original service windows.

Novak Djokovic survived a five-set Wimbledon thriller, the longest quarterfinal in the tournament's history. At 39, he becomes the oldest man to reach a major semifinal since 1977. Jannik Sinner, the defending champion, awaits him on Friday.

Switzerland edged Colombia 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes in Vancouver. Keeper Gregor Kobel made the decisive stop before Rubén Vargas buried the winner. The Swiss now face Argentina in Kansas City on Sunday.

Tyler Tolbert of the Royals tied a major-league record with hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances, closing the mark with an infield single in a 16-12 win over the Mets. Streak stretched across four games and made him only the eighth player ever to reach that number.

On a day the MLB unveiled All-Star replacements without him, an annoyed Zack Wheeler tied a career high with 14 strikeouts as the Phillies beat the Reds 4-1. Wheeler stopped short of naming names but said the omission "wasn't a great look" for the selection process.

U2 released a new single, 'Street of Dreams', their first fresh music in nine years. Fans get an early taste of a full album now on the way. The band calls the record its most ambitious effort in over a decade.

Paramount+ moved up 'Avatar: Aang' to July 25 and dropped its first trailer. Producers hope the beloved animated saga wins over a whole new generation. Early footage leans hard into the franchise's sweeping, elemental spectacle.

Geena Davis will play killer Dorothea Puente in a chilling new HBO drama. Writers frame the murderous landlady as a study in evil hiding in plain sight. The role marks a sharp, sinister turn for the Oscar winner.

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What it is: The International Olympic Committee has advised sports federations to end their three-year vetting program for Russian and Belarusian athletes ahead of qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Decision effectively restores Russia's federation-by-federation participation for a Summer Games that will be held in the US for the first time since 1996.

The detail: Since the invasion of Ukraine, federations had been screening Russian and Belarusian athletes for ties to the state or the military and admitting only those who cleared a neutral-status review. Vetting had produced a modest number of neutral-flag competitors at Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026, but IOC officials say the program is administratively unsustainable at LA-sized scale and no longer commands consensus among member federations. Ukraine, its allies, and several major athlete-representation bodies have already condemned the move.

Why it matters: LA hosts the Games in an American political environment already primed for arguments about Russian participation. City officials, LA 2028 organizers, and the US Olympic Committee will now spend the next two years navigating diplomatic protests, potential athlete boycotts, and security planning that assumes visible protests around Russian competitors. Broadcast partners — NBC in the US and its counterparts abroad — have to build storylines around a Russia return most viewers did not expect this quickly.

What to watch: Watch which national federations lead the political pushback — Poland, the Nordics, and the Baltic states have already publicly objected. Watch whether Ukraine's National Olympic Committee threatens a partial boycott, and how LA 2028 organizers structure ceremonial elements. Also watch US visa policy — the State Department gets a final say on entry for individual athletes, and could shape the Russian delegation more than the IOC decision suggests.

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—The Five Minute Daily Team