ABC News

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released June 2026 CPI data on July 14 showing a 3.5 percent year-over-year increase, down from 4.2 percent in May, with a 0.4 percent monthly decline. Core CPI rose 2.6 percent year-over-year. Multiple outlets attribute the headline drop primarily to lower energy prices linked to a temporary US-Iran agreement that later ended.

Russia launched NASA astronaut Anil Menon with Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina aboard Soyuz MS-29 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday at 10:47 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft reached orbit after approximately 10 minutes and is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 1:56 p.m. EDT as part of Expedition 75. The crew will remain aboard the station for about eight months.

U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged strikes on military facilities and assets over the weekend, according to multiple reports. Iran asserted control over the Strait of Hormuz while tanker traffic slowed and oil prices rose. An interim agreement signed last month has entered a crisis stage with no resolution from recent Oman talks.

The UK Home Office announced proscriptions against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, and the Russian Federation Volunteer Corps under national security legislation. Support for the IRGC becomes a criminal offence carrying up to 14 years imprisonment. The measures follow documented plots and attacks attributed to the groups.

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the PROMISE Act to establish a legislative process addressing Social Security's projected 2032 retirement trust fund shortfall. The bill is backed by Sens. Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, and Thom Tillis. Sources disagree on whether the legislation was unveiled Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 last week to refer two voter complaints about Elon Musk's distribution of $1 million checks to the Brown County district attorney's office. Musk and aligned groups spent at least $20 million supporting Republican candidate Brad Schimel, who lost the 2025 state Supreme Court election by 10 points to Democrat-backed Susan Crawford amid over $100 million in total spending. Prosecutors have 40 days to report findings.

On July 14, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified before Congress, marking the first such appearance by sitting justices since 2019 outside confirmation hearings. They requested a roughly 10 percent budget increase to $228 million. Threat statistics remain disputed across sources, while verified events include the 2022 Roe v. Wade draft leak and related security measures for Justice Barrett.

A federal judge in Florida referred attorneys involved in a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS for possible bar discipline, finding the filing served an improper purpose tied to a Justice Department settlement. The suit led to creation of a short-lived Anti-Weaponization Fund that is now defunct. Sources disagree on whether the fund totaled $1.8 billion.

Kathy Ruemmler, former White House counsel under President Obama and later top lawyer at Goldman Sachs, appeared in a closed-door House Oversight Committee session regarding her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein after his July 6, 2019 arrest. Supported records show she received one of Epstein's first post-arrest calls, provided informal legal and public relations advice without formal representation, and stated she cut off contact after arraignment while seeing no evidence of criminal conduct. Unverified reports include a resignation linked to Epstein ties and specific hearing date and quotes.

Multiple outlets report that U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died at age 71 on a Saturday night. Governor Henry McMaster is expected to appoint a temporary replacement for the seat, which expires in January. Cause of death and certain election details remain disputed or unverified across sources.

A fire broke out Tuesday on a pontoon pleasure boat near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, resulting in 17 rescues and one person still missing. The U.S. Coast Guard and San Francisco Fire Department coordinated search-and-rescue operations after the vessel caught fire and sank approximately 600 yards from the island. Two left-center sources reported consistent details on the incident timeline and response.

Youlin Chen, a China-born American seismologist from Boston, has been held in China without trial for nearly two years according to his wife and Global Reach. President Trump raised the case with Xi Jinping in May; the Biden administration previously secured releases of three other Americans in 2024. Chen is the only U.S. citizen the State Department has designated as wrongfully detained in China.

On July 13, 2026, ICE officers fatally shot 26-year-old Colombian migrant Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during a traffic stop on Pool Street in Biddeford, Maine. The individual was not the target of the operation, according to statements from Sen. Angus King. Maine Gov. Janet Mills subsequently called for congressional reform or abolition of ICE, while local protests and a memorial followed.

More than 830 wildfires burned in Canada on July 15, 2026, with additional fires in northern Minnesota and heavy smoke observed over Duluth, Marquette, and northern Wisconsin. Smoke from the fires was visible across the U.S. East Coast on July 14. All reported details originate from a single left-center source.