President Donald Trump has reached an awkward moment in his second term as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran began six months ago Friday. It’s a notable milestone for a Republican leader who repeatedly assured Americans that attacking Iran would be a “little excursion” over in weeks.

And another federal judge has halted — at least for now — Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting. Thousands of marchers have converged on the National Mall to support voting rights ahead of the midterm elections. Many are condemning Republican-led changes to voting laws as detrimental to racial justice and to Black Americans in particular.

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Martin Luther King Jr.’s son says the state of the country would disappoint his father

Martin Luther King III told the AP during Friday’s voting right rally at the National Mall that the work of the Civil Rights movement “is further eroding” in the wake of the Supreme Courts’ April ruling that reinterpreted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

King III also said that his father, who worked so hard for that law, would be disappointed with the state of the country.

“Had he lived, we’d be on a totally different trajectory,” King said. “These would not be issues; they would have been resolved.”

US revokes visa of former Iraqi finance minister who won 2022 ‘International Women of Courage’ award

The Trump administration has revoked the U.S. visa of a former Iraqi finance minister who was honored in 2022 with an “International Women of Courage” award by the State Department.

The department said Friday it had revoked the visa of Taif Sami Mohammed Al Shakarchi, who served as Iraq’s finance minister from 2022 until July. Earlier this month she was implicated by Iraqi authorities in a possible corruption scheme.

The department said her visa was revoked after the FBI added her to its “terrorism watchlist.” It was not clear why she had been added to the watchlist but officials said she had left the United States before her visa revoked.

US Treasury targets Egyptian Bank’s UAE branches under ‘Operation Economic Outcast’

The Trump administration is taking steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates, accusing the financial institution of serving as an economic lifeline to Tehran’s leadership as the U.S. war in Iran reaches the six-month mark.

Under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Treasury, the Emirati branches of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, would be severed from access to the U.S. financial system.

This comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a presser earlier in the week announced “Operation Economic Outcast,” warning countries that do business with Iran to sever their financial ties or face retaliation from the U.S.

US goals have shifted after 6 months of Iran war. The Strait of Hormuz is now a top concern

When Trump launched the war with Iran in late February, he forecast it would last four weeks to five weeks. Six months later, there still is no off-ramp in sight, despite Trump’s repeated assertions that the war has been won or a deal to resolve it was nearly complete.

A June memorandum of understanding designed to pave the way to end the war has fallen by the wayside. U.S. stockpiles of key weapons have diminished, and the Republican administration has pivoted to pressuring Iran economically rather than conducting more strikes.

The administration described various goals for the war:

▶ Read more about these objectives and where they stand

Sharpton says this year’s march is the most important yet

“We’ve been doing these marches for years, but this is probably the most important because this is the first year we are marching that the voting rights bill has been nullified by the Supreme Court,” Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The march opened with prayer and statements from Interfaith Alliance representatives who spoke on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, voting rights and systemic racism.

Thousands converge on National Mall in Washington to support voting rights

Friday’s march follows changes to voting laws and redistricting that civil rights groups have condemned as detrimental to racial justice and Black Americans in particular.

The 2026 “Defend the Vote” March on Washington, is organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III and echoes the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 march.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark April decision in Louisiana v. Callais reinterpreted the Voting Rights Act, allowing Southern states to redraw congressional maps in ways that erode equal representation in Black communities.

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The Iran war has changed the Mideast, but not in the way the US and Israel had hoped

It’s been six months since the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial goal of transforming the Middle East through military force. The region has changed, but not in the way they had hoped.

The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Gulf Arab nations saw worrying gaps open up in the American security umbrella they have relied on for decades — and some are looking at alternatives.

Israel has once again thrashed its enemies without defeating them, and after nearly three years of war in Gaza and new land seizures, is at risk of a generational rupture with the U.S., its closest ally. Hopes of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia — another enduring U.S. and Israeli aspiration — have dimmed even further.

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UN shipping regulator says 19 seafarers have been killed in Persian Gulf during Iran War

The International Maritime Organization said Friday that 19 seafarers have been killed in attacks on international shipping since the Iran war began, and at least 6,000 seafarers aboard hundreds of ships remain stranded and unable to leave.

The IMO said it has verified at least 70 attacks on international shipping in the Persian Gulf since the war began on Feb. 28.

“Thousands of seafarers in the region continue to live and work under conditions of heightened risk and uncertainty,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said. He urged practical solutions and cooperation to restore freedom of navigation.

Shipping has been disrupted and the through the Strait of Hormuz has been virtually closed since the Iran war started on Feb. 28. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Warsh faces high stakes as questions about his inflation-fighting may affect rising bond yields

The Fed chair, who replaced his predecessor Jerome Powell three months ago, has said he doesn’t want to provide what analysts call “forward guidance” about whether the Fed will hike or cut rates or stay on hold at upcoming meetings. He argues that it limits the Fed’s flexibility by committing it to a specific policy.

Yet some economists have argued that Warsh could say more about his views on Fed policy without tipping his hand.

Warsh on Friday reiterated his skepticism about providing such guidance or even outlining his broad approach to interest-rate policy.

But he did suggest that interest rates currently aren’t restricting economic activity, pointing to robust business investment in AI equipment and infrastructure and strong consumer spending. As a rule of thumb, interest rates often need to be high enough to limit borrowing and spending to cool inflation.

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Fed Chair Warsh signals rate hikes may be needed with inflation still elevated

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Friday that inflation is still too high and suggested the central bank may have to raise interest rates in the coming months to bring it down, a clearer signal than he had sent previously about his economic outlook.

In his first high-profile speech at the Fed’s annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Warsh acknowledged in prepared remarks that recent inflation reports show it has cooled a bit, but “they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”

“We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed,” Warsh said. “Otherwise, we have work to do.”

Trump, like Bush, declares ‘mission accomplished’

Republican President George W. Bush was widely mocked for a 2003 speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln beneath a White House-produced banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” It came to symbolize a premature declaration of victory for the Iraq War, which would go on for nearly nine more years. More than two decades later, there are still U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

Trump’s war has stretched on far longer than he told Americans it would. It didn’t stop him from sharing a social media post this week declaring “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 2026.” The AI-generated image features Trump against a backdrop of U.S. fighter jets, a warship and American flags above smaller images of Bush and former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike in the opening salvos of the war.

Trump will honor astronauts, unclear if he’ll speak on the war

The president is spending Friday in Houston, where he’ll honor the Artemis II NASA crew for their 10-day mission around the moon earlier this year.

It’s unclear how — or if — Trump will address the six-month anniversary of a conflict that has already cost the United States more than $37.5 billion and damaged his popularity ahead of critical November elections for his party.

As the conflict grinds on, Trump’s talk of finding a quick end to the war also appears to be fading. He stressed this week that he’s “not in a hurry” to get Iran back to the negotiating table, and he continues making the case that the Islamic Republic’s leadership is on the ropes.

“They’re not paying their troops. They’re in deep trouble. They have very little capacity,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “We don’t want to speak to them. We’re not looking to meet or anything.”

Watchdog requests that DOJ criminally investigate RFK Jr after AP and Guardian reporting

American Oversight is calling on the Justice Department to criminally investigate Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for allegedly making false statements during his confirmation hearings.

The liberal watchdog group’s letter Thursday includes a document published by the AP and the Guardian that contradicts Kennedy’s denials about his reasons for a 2019 trip to Samoa.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly testified before two separate Senate committees that his trip to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines. But a letter he wrote to Samoa’s prime minister six years earlier appears to contradict that testimony,” the group’s executive director Chioma Chukwu said. “If Kennedy lied to the Senate while seeking confirmation as the nation’s top health official, the Justice Department must investigate and hold him accountable.”

Knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress is a crime, but it is rarely prosecuted. The Department of Health and Human Services said in response to AP’s questions that the Samoa visit was “unrelated to vaccines.”

CentCom says international shipping lanes are now demined in the Strait of Hormuz

Navy Admiral Bradley Cooper, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East, said Thursday night that international shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of mines.

“Today, international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Gulf states have not commented on the statement, and it was not possible to independently verify the claim. Even without mines, however, ships still face threats from drones, missiles and boats as they pass through the narrow waterway.

The U.S. government has claimed that up to 9 million barrels a day are flowing through the strait “over short time periods,” but commodities analysts at ING bank cautioned that the figure “seems aggressive.” Before the war, some 15 million barrels transited the strait daily.

Judge questions why Kennedy Center is moving so quickly to return Trump’s name to building

A judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about the Kennedy Center’s intention to return Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue by early next month, challenging the board’s insistence on moving forward even in the face of a court ruling that blocked and reversed a previous effort.

Just seconds after the Trump administration’s lawyer, Brantley Mayers, began making his case at a nearly two-hour hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper interrupted to ask why the center needed to begin inscribing the president’s name on the institution’s facade as soon as Sept. 8.

“What’s magic about that date?” Cooper asked, quipping that sometimes judges travel over the Labor Day holiday.

Mayers responded that the timeline was in accordance with a vote earlier this month by the Trump-aligned board. As he returned to his arguments that renovations at the Kennedy Center require energy and talent, Cooper interjected again.

“That’s all fine and good,” the judge said. “What does that have to do with what Congress intended in these statutes? That’s really what’s before me.”

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Judge again blocks Trump mail ballot executive order in ruling that’s likely to be swiftly appealed

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.

The move stalled the directive for a second time only about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the government from implementing the order for two weeks.

The case could soon be appealed back to the Supreme Court, days after the justices handed down a procedural decision that allowed the administration to move ahead.

The ruling Thursday came after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their lawsuits to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision. The high court’s conservative majority did not rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order, instead saying Talwani had acted too soon.

Judge says Pentagon’s measures against Anthropic were ‘illegal and baseless’

A federal judge has ruled in favor of artificial intelligence company Anthropic in its legal battle against the Pentagon after the government labeled the company as a supply chain risk earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued a written order Thursday night that the Pentagon acted illegally by punishing the AI company for its criticism of the Department of Defense’s views on AI use. The government is expected to fight the ruling.

The dispute between the AI company and the government broke out in February when Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Anthropic of endangering national security and designated the company a supply chain risk. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company’s products could be used for mass surveillance or autonomous armed drones.

Lin wrote that the government’s actions “were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its ‘arrogance’ in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model.”

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Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war. Six months later, he claims he’s in no hurry

President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks.

The war isn’t over, though Trump claims that through bombs and blockade, he has already devastated Iran’s leadership, military and economy.

And this week his administration said it would turn its focus to increasing economic pressure — rather than military action — to try to finish off Iran. The shifting strategy centers on threats to punish any country or entity that continues to conduct business with Tehran.

The turn to using sanctions as the cudgel of choice comes as the administration weighs diminished munitions stockpiles after months of war, sparking concerns that the prolonged conflict could undermine U.S. military readiness in other parts of the globe.

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