Iran warns of military ship ban in Hormuz under potential deal with Oman, and other Middle East news

Iran won’t allow military vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz under an agreement that the Islamic Republic is negotiating with Oman, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said.

The top diplomats of the two countries met to discuss managing commercial shipping traffic in the vital waterway, which remains largely shut down nearly six months after the Iran war began.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza continued, testing the already fragile ceasefire with Hamas.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Iran and Oman have reached a potential agreement for managing ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz that would exclude military vessels from traversing the vital waterway.

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Meta reaches landmark $18 billion settlement with states in trial over teen social media addiction

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Meta agreed Wednesday to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state.

The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention.

The agreement “institutes real change, real transparency, real protections for children and teens across the country,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

If approved by the court, the deal will stop an avalanche of litigation by states against Meta, although the company still faces lawsuits from individuals and school districts throughout the U.S. For the states, the settlement delivers money for mental-health programs for kids, including after-school or summer activities and digital literacy counselors.

Advocates cheered the new protections, including default time limits and the disabling of features such as “like” counts.

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At least 160 killed and hundreds missing after flash floods in Nepal and China

UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal (AP) — Massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed at least 160 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt. Experts said an avalanche from a glacier was the likely cause in the warming Himalaya region.

Police in Nepal reported at least 157 dead. China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported at least three dead and 265 missing in the Tibet region’s Gyirong County near the border. Drone footage showed roads destroyed and buildings buried by thundering water the color of wet cement. State news agency Xinhua reported significant casualties.

The region’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors but precarious ones when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal’s hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

There was little time for anyone to flee.

“When I reached Dhunge bazaar, in half an hour, the flood came and damaged all the market. People were preparing to go to office then,” resident Shoyam Rajbhandari said. “How many people are missing or dead, we don’t know.”

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Dolly Parton’s philanthropy was based on ‘her belief in the goodness of people’

NEW YORK (AP) — Dolly Parton didn’t think her philanthropy made her special. She thought it was just part of being human.

“I think it’s important for everyone to do their share to help their fellow man,” she told The Associated Press in 2022, adding, “I get paid more attention than maybe some others that are doing more than me.”

Fans across generations and places may disagree, saying it will remain a pillar of the music legend and multimillionaire businesswoman’s legacy, following her death Tuesday at the age of 80. One of her most enduring images is that of the charismatic humanitarian, whose good humor and straightforward generosity lifted the well-being of communities in her home state and beyond.

Weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the American South in 2024, she donated $1 million of her money, matched by her Dollywood companies and their partners, to the flood-ravaged community in her native Tennessee. The Library of Congress called Parton a “titan of children’s literacy” for the millions of free books provided monthly through her Imagination Library.

Also well-known is the $1 million gift she made to Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center to help develop Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The not-for-profit Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital recently received an undisclosed sum to improve pediatric care across eastern Tennessee.

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Army to spend $2B to build nuclear microreactors at 5 bases as US seeks to ramp up nuclear power

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that it plans to add nuclear microreactors at five military bases from New York to Texas as a reliable source of energy independent of the commercial electric grid.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration pushes hard to develop the next generation of nuclear power, including billions in loans for large nuclear reactors to meet skyrocketing power demand from data centers and a pilot program to boost advanced reactor designs and projects for military and civilian use. No nuclear microreactors are supplying power to the commercial electric grid in the United States today.

Five companies selected by the Army will be awarded up to $2.2 billion in total over five years to own, construct and operate the microreactors, if they hit set milestones along the way for their performance. The Army expects that more than 20 nuclear microreactors will be built and operated.

Army and industry officials say microreactors offer a resilient power source for critical infrastructure at military installations in case the grid fails. Reactors can run for years without refueling.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the awards will accelerate the military’s ability “to deliver safe, reliable baseload power directly to our installations. We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids,” he said.

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Judge removes one hurdle for Trump mail voting order as states file new challenge before midterms

A federal judge on Wednesday lifted a major obstacle to President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting, even as Democratic state officials filed a new court challenge with the midterm elections fast approaching.

The fresh round of legal wrangling comes just two days after the Supreme Court handed down a procedural ruling in Trump’s favor, and could mean the issue lands before the high court again before the pivotal contests for control of Congress. The first mailed ballots are set to be sent out next week.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston agreed to lift an order prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump’s order for November’s elections. She wrote that she was “compelled” to do so after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that a similar injunction she granted in a separate case was premature.

Talwani nevertheless said the executive order could unleash “chaos” and referred to it as “likely unconstitutional.”

The administration can now move forward and implement a Postal Service rule published late Friday. It would require states to follow a uniform envelope style for mail ballots and to give the Postal Service a list of voters eligible to receive them.

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Republican nominee for Maine governor says he wants ICE agents at polling places in the state

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s Republican nominee for governor recently told a crowd of supporters that he would ask a top Department of Homeland Security official to send U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places in the state for this fall’s midterm elections, according to audio obtained by The Associated Press.

During an Aug. 20 event in Arundel, Bobby Charles told a group of supporters that he would ask Tom Homan, the White House border czar, to send federal agents to polling places in the weeks before Election Day. The audio was first reported by the Bangor Daily News.

“Here’s my secret,” Charles told members of a Maine Young Republicans chapter. “I have a friend named Tom Homan. Tom and I used to get on Fox all the time together. Tom’s an awesome guy.”

“I’m going to ask Tom, I’m going to actually — three or four weeks before the election, maybe three — I’m going to make an appeal for ICE and Marshals to be at our voting booths,” Charles said, according to the audio.

On Wednesday, he explained his comments by saying state and local authorities who manage elections should have an open line of communication with federal authorities if needed to “prevent violence at a voting place, in order to prevent intimidation at a voting place and in order to prevent illegality at a voting place.”

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Maryland court rules Democratic-backed redistricting amendment cannot go on November ballot

A Maryland court has ruled against a proposed constitutional amendment that could have paved the way for Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections.

The ruling Wednesday by a judge in the state’s capital city marks another setback in Democrats’ national attempts to counter a Republican redistricting movement pushed by President Donald Trump ahead of this year’s elections. The judge ruled that the amendment cannot appear on the November ballot, but he paused the effect of that ruling to allow for an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Democrats already control seven of Maryland’s eight congressional seats. Democratic Gov. Wes Moore called lawmakers into a special session in August with a goal of making it easier to claim that final seat.

An amendment referred to the ballot by lawmakers seeks to sidestep a court ruling that struck down a previous Democratic redistricting plan in 2022. It would declare that a constitutional requirement for districts to be compact and take into account “natural boundaries” applies only to state legislative districts, not congressional ones.

That would allow Democratic state lawmakers to draw congressional districts that cross the Chesapeake Bay, reshaping a district east of the bay that is held by Republican Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

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Father says college student was killed by police in Pennsylvania after he went to wrong house

A 22-year-old college student killed by Pennsylvania police responding to a possible burglary had just realized he was at the wrong home and was waiting for friends to come get him when he was shot, his father said Wednesday.

Police in Upper Pottsgrove Township, northwest of Philadelphia, responded around 12:30 a.m. Sunday to a 911 call about a possible break-in attempt, according to the Montgomery County district attorney’s office. The office said in a statement that police found Glenwood Pysher IV at the rear of the home and ultimately shot and killed him.

Pysher’s father, Glen Pysher, said his son and his friends had visited several bars earlier in the evening and were splitting up to spend the night in two homes when his son took a wrong turn in the woods. Based on what he has been told by his son’s friends, Pysher believes his son mistakenly tried to enter what he thought was his friend’s house. His son wasn’t carrying any weapons, just a phone and backpack containing clothing and a few beers, he said.

“He tried to open the doorknob and obviously startled the homeowner,” he said. “From what we understand, he announced, ‘Hey! Open the door!’ because he thought he was at his friend’s house.”

Pysher then sat down on the back porch and contacted his friends, who realized he was in the wrong place and set out to find him. But minutes later, they saw police and emergency vehicles and figured their friend would be arrested for public drunkenness. Instead, he was shot.

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NFL owners unanimously approve the sale of the Seahawks to Vinod Khosla and his family

ATLANTA (AP) — NFL owners on Wednesday unanimously approved the $9.612 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks to Vinod Khosla and his family, currently part owners of the San Francisco 49ers.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell congratulated the family for having “great timing” in purchasing the team that is coming off its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

“It’s not very often you can buy a Super Bowl championship team, but you’ve done that,” Goodell said. “Many of our members struggle to find ways to get in the Super Bowl and win a trophy and you’ll be walking into your new building shortly with a fresh, shiny trophy there for you.”

The sales agreement was announced on July 11 and awaited Wednesday’s approval at a special owners meeting in Atlanta to become official. The sale was in accordance with the wishes of late team owner Paul Allen.

Vinod Khosla thanked Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, and the Allen Trust “for trusting us for this franchise.”