U.S., Iran Trade Strikes as Tehran Hits Gulf Bases

Vance Touts H-1B Fraud Crackdown as Subpoenas Target Companies

Platner Quits Maine Senate Race, Leaving Democrats Scrambling

Supreme Court Lets Texas Enforce App-Store Age Checks

Trump Grants Ukraine License to Build Patriot Missiles

U.S., Iran Trade Strikes as Tehran Hits Gulf Bases

The renewed war between the United States and Iran escalated sharply Thursday, July 9, 2026, when U.S. forces launched a fresh round of airstrikes on Iran and Tehran retaliated for the first time by firing missiles and drones at American military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit Iranian air defenses, coastal surveillance and anti-ship missile and drone launch sites, with explosions reported at the Kharg Island oil terminal and the southern ports of Sirik and Bandar Abbas. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet district in Bahrain and Kuwait's Ali Al Salem air base. The escalation came a day after President Donald Trump declared the roughly three-week-old ceasefire "over" following Iranian attacks on three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, as he threatened to seize Kharg Island and strike Iranian power and water plants. The renewed fighting jeopardizes a fragile deal that had lifted a U.S. naval blockade and reopened the Strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes, pushing oil prices up more than 4% and putting American troops across the region back in the line of fire. Citizen Journal covered the ceasefire's collapse in Wednesday's national digest.

NPR / PBS / Al Jazeera / Arab News / CNBC / Citizen Journal

Vance Touts H-1B Fraud Crackdown as Subpoenas Target Companies

Vice President JD Vance promoted the administration's first major H-1B and PERM visa fraud investigation during an anti-fraud event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, saying big corporations and overseas fraudsters are using the program to "undercut the wages of American workers." Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito said investigators have issued dozens of subpoenas to companies and labor brokers suspected of manipulating the visa system, with Indian IT firm Cognizant among those under scrutiny. The multi-agency probe, which involves the Labor Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department, is examining alleged wage-kickback schemes and labor trafficking. The H-1B program admits up to 85,000 new skilled foreign workers each year, most of them in technology roles, while PERM is the labor-certification process employers use to sponsor foreign workers for green cards; both require employers to attest that hiring will not undercut U.S. wages. The investigation follows the administration's broader tightening of the program, including a $100,000 fee imposed on new H-1B petitions last fall. For American tech workers and the companies that employ them, the probe signals that visa enforcement has moved from rhetoric to subpoenas, with potential criminal exposure for firms found to have gamed the system.

The Hill

Platner Quits Maine Senate Race, Leaving Democrats Scrambling

Democratic nominee Graham Platner announced Wednesday night, July 8, 2026, that he is abandoning his campaign for U.S. Senate in Maine, ending a run that drew broad grassroots support but was plagued by a growing series of controversies. His decision came days after a former romantic partner publicly accused him of sexual assault, an allegation he has fiercely denied, and in his exit video Platner blamed the media and political establishment for acting as "judge, jury and executioner." His departure allows the state Democratic Party to place a replacement on the November ballot to face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, though party officials and Platner's campaign have clashed publicly over what role he and his supporters will have in choosing a new nominee ahead of a July 27 deadline set by state law. Democrats consider the seat a must-win in their fight to retake the chamber, which Republicans control 53-47, and Collins, the only GOP senator seeking re-election in a state that voted Democratic in the 2024 presidential election, is the chamber's most vulnerable Republican. If Democrats lose Maine, their path to a majority would run through states normally considered solidly Republican, such as Texas, Ohio and Iowa.

WSJ

Supreme Court Lets Texas Enforce App-Store Age Checks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, July 6, 2026, allowed Texas to keep enforcing a first-of-its-kind law that requires app stores to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent before minors can download most apps. In a pair of brief, unsigned orders with no public dissents, the justices denied requests to pause the Texas App Store Accountability Act (SB 2420) while legal challenges play out in the lower courts, where the Fifth Circuit has scheduled an expedited hearing for August. The law forces companies such as Apple and Google to confirm the age of every user and to block those under 18 from downloading apps or making in-app purchases without a parent's approval. Tech-industry groups, including the Computer & Communications Industry Association, argue the statute violates the First Amendment by restricting access to lawful speech and information, while Texas counters that it regulates only commercial conduct, which receives less constitutional protection. The order leaves the law in force without resolving the underlying constitutional question, and because Texas is one of the largest U.S. markets and Utah and Louisiana have passed similar laws, the mandate pressures Apple and Google to build age-verification systems that could quickly become the national default.

SCOTUSblog

Trump Grants Ukraine License to Build Patriot Missiles

At the close of a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, President Trump said Wednesday, July 8, 2026, that the United States will give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air-defense interceptors on its own soil. The announcement, made during a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marks a significant reversal after Washington long resisted allowing foreign production of one of its most advanced weapons systems. Ukraine has warned that its stockpile of interceptors, essential for shooting down the Russian missiles and drones that batter its cities nightly, has fallen to dangerously low levels. Trump acknowledged that the system's manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and RTX, had not yet been told of the decision, leaving the timeline and terms unclear. The move came as Russia pressed on with heavy strikes, including an attack that killed and wounded dozens in Kharkiv, and it signals a notable shift in Trump's posture toward Kyiv that could give Ukraine a path to sustain its own air defenses rather than depending solely on limited American deliveries.

CBS News / ABC News / Euronews / Citizen Journal

JULY 9, 1877: WIMBLEDON TOURNAMENT BEGINS

The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club opened its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, with 22 amateurs entered in the Gentlemen’s Singles. The club’s new rectangular court, clock-face scoring system, and other formal rules laid the foundation for modern lawn tennis and helped launch what became the world’s premier grass-court championship.

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Sources

1. NPR — U.S.-Iran attacks / PBS — Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait / Al Jazeera — Trump says ceasefire over / Arab News — Middle East coverage / CNBC — Oil prices rise on Hormuz tensions / Citizen Journal — Top 5 US News Stories
2. The Hill — Vance H-1B visa fraud speech
3. WSJ — Platner drops out of Maine Senate race
4. SCOTUSblog — Supreme Court allows Texas app-store law
5. CBS News — Trump Ukraine Patriot license / ABC News — Trump-Zelenskyy NATO summit meeting / Euronews — U.S. Patriot licence for Ukraine / Citizen Journal — Top 5 US News Stories