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Aug. 22 (UPI) — The United States Postal Service has prepared a final rule changing how mail voting is administered under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump despite a pair of court injunctions against it, documents show.

An unpublished version of the rule was entered into the Federal Register late on Friday, indicating the USPS intends to press ahead with implementation of a measure the administration says is necessary to prevent fraud in mail-in voting — a popular method of casting ballots that Trump has called “inherently corrupt.”

But critics contend actual fraud in mail-in voting is exceedingly rare and have denounced the measure as one of the most serious attempts by the administration to federalize control of elections in violation of the U.S. Constitution, which reserves such power for the states.

A federal judge 10 days ago expanded an earlier injunction against Trump’s executive order, under which the USPS would be required to decide who will get mail-in ballots.

The injunction blocked it from implementing Section 3 of the order for this year’s midterm elections, which most polls shows will likely favor Democratic congressional candidates.

Despite the court rulings, USPS promulgated the final rule with Friday’s filing, thus making it available to be officially published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. After that it would theoretically take effect immediately, even though it will be blocked for this year’s midterm elections unless a court decides otherwise.

The current filing is an amended version of the initial proposal which received more than 200,000 comments during its review phase.

Trump signed the order on March 31 directing the Department of Homeland Security to build a list of citizens from federal data, which would then be sent to state election officials.

The USPS would then only send absentee or mail-in ballots to people it has determined are eligible to vote, and the U.S. Attorney General would investigate and prosecute election officials who issue federal ballots to those ineligible to vote.

Twenty-three mostly Democratic-led states sued to block the order and U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani agreed with the plaintiffs.

The administration appealed the decision and failed. It appealed again on July 27 to the Supreme Court, which has yet to make a ruling.

“Yesterday’s new mail-in voting rule is an attempt to weaponize USPS as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to take over elections,” Michael McNulty of the bipartisan political reform group Issue One said in a statement issued Saturday.

“If it holds up in court, it would mean postal workers shift from neutral transporters of a state-led process to a federal gatekeeper of states’ outbound mail ballots — requiring states to provide USPS with voter-level ballot information and giving USPS authority to reject ballots that do not meet the new federal requirements.”

He dismissed Trump’s oft-stated concerns about voter fraud as “tired, debunked conspiracy theories to justify gaining control over secure, verified, and effective methods of voting, including mail-in voting, to tilt the playing field” in favor of Republican candidates.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — The casting of Meghan Markle to play a role in the Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn amid intense backlash in Britain, it was reported Saturday.

The Duchess of Sussex had been in talks to return to acting when she and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, return to Britain after living in California for the past six years.

She had been hoping to join the third season of the Guy Ritchie show The Gentlemen on Netflix.

But the casting was reportedly withdrawn.

“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward,” wrote Tina Brown, the former editor in chief of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, in her Substack.

Markle, who starred in seven seasons of the legal drama Suits, stepped back from acting in 2018 after marrying Prince Harry.

It was reported this week that the couple is planning on returning to Britain within days.

They plan on living in a private residence outside London with Prince Archie, 7, and Princes Lilibet, 5, and have reportedly enrolled the children in a British school for the fall term.

The Sussexes, who stepped away from royal duties in 2020, will return as private citizens and are not expected to resume their previous roles.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday said he now considers the Strait of Hormuz to be “an American territory.”

“We don’t even know if we won, because I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now,” he told a crowd of supporters during a campaign event in South Carolina.

Trump first floated the idea of claiming the waterway last week, saying he would wait until the conclusion of the war in Iran to declare the strait a territory of the United States.

Then on Tuesday he posted an image on Truth Social showing the strait with the label “New U.S. Territory.”

He took his threats further on Friday during a campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., as she attempts to fill her late brother Lindsey Graham‘s Senate seat.

“It’s an American territory,” he said.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, had previously called the president’s remarks “fanciful delusions.”

“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” he said.

Trump this week said he would launch “economic warfare” against Iran as efforts to end the war continue to fail.

On Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the economic operation was “bound to fail.”

“We have seen this movie before,” Araghchi wrote in a statement on X. “Same bull. Different bullies.”

As part of his economic warfare threat, Trump said institutions or governments providing any support to Iran would face “tremendous” consequences.

Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Trump’s move “is an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.”

“The end result would be the complete erosion of sovereignty as the foundational basis of the UN-based inter-State system, and a recipe for an abysmal return to full-scale classic colonialism,” he added in a statement on X.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — A laptop caught fire on an American Airlines flight during landing at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, with one passenger getting treatment for burns after landing.

The flight, American Airlines Flight 2398, left Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Friday, People reported.

“American Airlines Flight 2398 landed safely at DFW after reports of smoke from a customer’s device during landing,” the airline said in a statement to the media. “We thank our crew for their professionalism and swift response to quickly contain the device.”

One passenger was treated on site and was later released, the airline said.

“After landing, the aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power. Per procedure, emergency personnel met the aircraft upon arrival to the gate,” the airline said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement: “Flight attendants contained the fire with a thermal containment bag.” It said the plane was an Airbus A321.

The FDA reported 58 lithium-ion battery incidents causing smoke or fire on passenger planes this year.

“All lithium-ion batteries are capable of overheating and undergoing a process called thermal runaway,” the FAA said on its website, along with safety tips for packing them on a plane. “Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of various factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged or improperly packed. Thermal runaway can also occur on its own due to manufacturing defects.”

Lithium-ion batteries must be stowed in carry-on baggage only, the FAA said.

Aug. 22 (UPI) — A 50% tariff on Canadian goods went into effect early Saturday after talks between the two countries collapsed.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from the negotiations and said Canada would retaliate against the tariffs.

Negotiators had been in Washington, D.C., working with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to try to come to an agreement. But just before the midnight deadline Friday, Carney released a statement on X announcing that there would be no deal.

“In recent weeks, we made important progress toward improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S. However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians. As a result this evening I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa,” Carney said in the statement.

“At midnight tonight, the U.S. intends to impose a 50% tariff on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods. Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” Carney added.

Greer posted a statement on X saying, “Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk-backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days.”

“This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States, which is the fastest growing economy in the G7,” Greer said.

President Donald Trump signed orders in July to add the new tariffs on goods, including cement, hockey sticks, beer, cheese and other items that would make up about 2% of the entire trade between the two countries.

They were set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, but Trump extended the deadline to Friday night. He announced on Truth Social about 90 minutes before the deadline, saying the two countries “have a DEAL!”

Carney responded on X: “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.”

Analysts have said this is bad news for the United States and Canada.

“Economically, [the new tariffs are] not that important – except that the relationship itself is extremely important,” said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a nonpartisan research organization, The Washington Post reported.

Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said it will hurt both countries economically.

“This will be a body blow to North American competitiveness in this self-defeating trade saga,” Laing said in a statement. “Americans will see their costs go up, and Canadians will see customers, investment and small businesses disappear.”

Aug. 21 (UPI) — Arizona, Colorado and Nevada will see reductions in their water deliveries from the Colorado River by a combined 1.25 million acre-feet per year under a new framework finalized by federal officials on Friday.

Under the new 10-year “Decision Framework” governing the operations of the drought-afflicted Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs along the Colorado River Basin, Arizona implements the largest reduction in deliveries of river water — some 760,000-acre-feet in each of the next two years.

Meanwhile, California will be hit with yearly reductions of 440,000 acre-feet and Nevada would see 50,000 acre-foot declines as state and federal officials grapple with a prolonged drought during which the two reservoirs have reached their lowest-ever recorded levels.

One acre-foot is enough water for as many as four households to use for a whole year.

The cuts represent the largest ever proposed for the three “Lower Basin” states.

The combined contents of Lake Powell and Lake Mead have not been this low since before Lake Powell began filling following the closure of the gates at Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum noted in announcing the new framework.

“We are grateful for the seven basin states, the thirty basin tribes, Mexico, and many other basin stakeholders who have provided the feedback and voluntary arrangements necessary for the development of the 2027-2028 operating guidelines.” he said.

“Forty million people, millions of acres of farmland and ranchland, industries that power the American West, and some of our nation’s fastest growing metropolitan areas depend on the Colorado River.”

In addition to the reduction in water deliveries, the framework allows for the three Lower Basin States to voluntarily conserve and store at least 700,000 acre-feet of water over the two-year period to protect the system.

The Colorado River Basin has been experiencing what federal officials have called an “unprecedented multidecadal drought,” resulting in historically low runoff and reservoir levels.

Conditions worsened during 2026, driven in part by the lowest observed snowpack on record during the winter of 2025-2026.

Aug. 21 (UPI) — The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed construction on President Donald Trump‘s White House ballroom to continue, staying a lower court injunction demanding that it stop.

In a one-page order signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court for now blocked an injunction issued in April by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruling that only that security-related, underground components of the $400 million project could move go ahead without congressional approval.

Leon’s ruling found that construction at the White House requires authorization from Congress and ordered the construction to halt while a legal challenge brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation plays out.

He carved out an exception for the government to continue underground work deemed necessary for the White House’s safety and security.

The administration quickly appealed that order, citing a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as evidence that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is a security necessity.

Trump, meanwhile, harshly criticized Leon, calling him an “out of control Trump hating” judge whose ruling “severely jeopardizes the lives and welfare of the people who work, and will be working, at the White House.”

The administration said in Supreme Court filings last week that construction on the ballroom is already 65% complete as a 250-person crew is working on it nearly 24 hours per day.

Leon’s ruling would “halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued, while also claiming the group does not have standing to sue.

The National Trust, meanwhile, contended the administration is illegally trying to complete construction as soon as possible in a bid to “outrun judicial review” and push the project “beyond the point of no return.”

But its efforts “to foil judicial review and arrogate Congress’s exclusive powers should not be rewarded with a stay that allows [it] to complete a ballroom [it] lacked any authority to commence in the first place,” the Trust argued.

Aug. 21 (UPI) — The Pentagon has fired the publisher, editor-in-chief and Middle East reporter of the venerable military newspaper Stars and Stripes, the publication reported Friday.

Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer Jr. and civilian reporter Lara Korte, who covers the Middle East, have all received termination notices, a Pentagon source confirmed to the newspaper.

Despite being part of the Department of Defense, Stars and Stripes has long maintained editorial independence from the top leaders but it has faced pressure under the administration of President Donald Trump, whose defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has repeatedly clashed with media covering the Pentagon.

Slavin said he was fired for insubordination after telling CBS News last month that he would regard any attempt by the Pentagon to interfere with Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence as a “red line.”

Asked in an interview if he had any “red lines” in his mind when it came to censorship, Slavin answered, “Yes, I do,” and gave as an example, “Well, don’t run a perfectly accurate story. Run this instead. Here it is.”

On Friday, Slavin issued a statement to the newspaper saying, “I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

During the same interview, Korte said, “I’m working for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policy maker. I’m here to cover the military community.”

Korte said Friday she was informed that she, too, had been fired for insubordination due to her remarks in the interview.

“I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” she said.

Lederer, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, was fired after more than 30 years of working for the paper.

Capt. William Urban, the military deputy to Lederer, didn’t directly address the terminations in an “open letter to stakeholders” published in Stars and Stripes on Friday, but rather spoke of increasing its readership through digital strategies.

“We may never be able to have the same impact for our service members digitally that our paper had during World War II in a vastly different media environment, but I also believe that we can do better — that we must do better for our most important constituency, the men and women who make up the U.S. Armed Forces,” he wrote.

“My vision for the future of Stars and Stripes is simple: More eyeballs on our content and more impact on our service members while maintaining the highest standard of professional journalism with the credibility that comes with editorial independence.”

Stars and Stripes’ independence first appeared to come into the administration’s crosshairs in January when Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman and a senior advisor to Hegseth, said the department was aiming to bring it “into the 21st century.

“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.”

The firing of its leadership elicited alarm from journalists.

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. called the moves “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military and should be immediately reversed.”

He cited the April firing of the the newspaper’s ombudsman, a role “established and charged by Congress to provide independent oversight and protect the paper’s editorial integrity,” and a March memo that imposed content restrictions and tightened the Pentagon’s oversight of the newsroom.

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the U.S. military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff added.

“This is an assault on the fundamental principle that journalists must be free to report the news without fear of retaliation from the government officials they cover,” he said. “The Pentagon must reaffirm that principle and make clear that Stars and Stripes journalists will not be punished for doing their jobs.”

Aug. 21 (UPI) — Defense lawyers representing Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy, on trial for the murders of her three children, rested their case Friday after testimony from a doctor who claimed she is innocent due to mental illness.

Attorney Kevin Reddington told the presiding judge in Plymouth, Mass., Superior Court that the defense had concluded its case following the testimony of Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist with expertise in postpartum disorders.

He told jurors Clancy was “frankly psychotic” on Jan. 24, 2023, when she killed her children.

A series of defense witnesses this week sought to show Clancy, 36, is not guilty of murdering her children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — at their Duxbury, Mass., home.

Clancy cut herself and jumped from a second-story window in a failed suicide attempt following the slayings, after which she became paralyzed from the waist down.

While not denying she killed the children by strangulation, they contend she is not criminally responsible because she was suffering from bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis.

She faces a possible sentence of mandatory life imprisonment without the chance of parole.

When questioned by Reddington, Resnick stated in his video testimony that based on his diagnosis Clancy suffered from a “postpartum psychosis” following the birth of Callum, noting that she heard voices commanding her kill her children and herself.

This, he said, triggered a “delusion of influence” in which a victim feels their body is overtaken by an “external force,” and thus Clancy should not be held criminally responsible for her actions, the Boston Globe reported.

“She felt that she had to obey the instructions,” he said. “It was a matter where she was just following the command, rather than being able to make any decision to do this or not.”

After the defense rested, prosecutors called several rebuttal witnesses including Dr. Avram Mack, a psychiatrist, who agreed with prosecutors that Clancy was able to understand that her actions were wrong when she killed her children, thus making her guilty of murder under state law.

He testified that Clancy had interacted normally with other people in the hours before the killings.

“There was the ability to act normally,” he said, adding that Clancy had said “Go to God” while committing the slayings, which he took to mean she knew her children were innocent as they died.

Aug. 21 (UPI) — Dozens of people across 15 states have been sickened by alfalfa sprouts tainted with E. coli bacteria and salmonella, federal health officials said Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a safety alert that 55 people have suffered symptoms such as severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea and/or vomiting after consuming alfalfa sprout sold in grocery stores under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands.

Four hospitalizations have resulted from the outbreak.

Some 38 of the 55 of the cases have been recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin combined, with fewer cases reported in North and South Dakota, New York, Washington state, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, New Hampshire and Florida.

CDC officials warned that the number of illnesses is likely to increase as investigators continue their probe.

The tainted food was determined to originated from Everything Sprouts, a Minneapolis-based hydroponic grower.

“Traceback information from Minnesota and Wisconsin restaurants identified alfalfa sprouts distributed by Everything Sprouts as a source of illness in this outbreak,” the CDC said in a statement.”[The Food and Frug Administration] is working to determine if there are additional sources of contaminated sprouts and if there is a common seed supplier.”

The same company last year was issued a warning letter by the FDA following an inspection that produced what it called “serious violations” of the Produce Safety Rule, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

Inspectors documented roof leaks that allowed water to drip near or onto exposed mung bean sprouts while condensation from refrigeration equipment was also found dripping in areas where sprouts were grown or stored.

Aug. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s threatened 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods hung in the balance Friday as U.S. and Canadian negotiators met in Washington with a midnight deadline looming.

Canadian Minister for Internal Trade Dominic LeBlanc, his country’s lead negotiator, arrived at the offices of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer shortly after noon as the two sides met to strike a deal ahead of Trump’s 12:01 a.m. Saturday deadline, the CBC reported.

The U.S. president signed orders in July to impose 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, including cement, hockey sticks and many other items, representing about 2% of the entire trade between the United States and Canada.

The tariffs were to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, but were delayed through the end of Friday by an announcement on social media issued about 90 minutes before the deadline in which Trump said the two sides “have a DEAL!” with final implementation to come.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, however, was much more cautious, saying only that “substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done.”

Details of the touted agreement have been scarce. However, Trump teased the possibility that it could reinstate work on the abandoned proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta, which was dropped by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 over climate concerns.

The U.S. president also intimated that U.S. tariffs on Canadian autos could be part of the deal, which Greer suggested that the United States could adjust its current tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Canadian negotiators, meanwhile, want to ease the tariffs already imposed on Canadian industries, including duties of up to 50% on steel, aluminum and autos. Some tariffs also affect Canadian softwood lumber.

On Wednesday, after Trump extended the deadline, Carney urged a “Team Canada” approach during a virtual meeting with provincial and territorial premiers as some of them have toed a hard line in refusing to stock American alcohol products, which is seen as a main irritant to the Trump administration.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on Thursday told reporters if a new deal allows a return of U.S. beer and spirits to Canadian shelves, local consumers should “leave it there.

“Don’t buy it. Let it sit on the shelf … and buy the Canadian stuff instead,” he said.

Carney on Wednesday emphasized “continued collaboration with provincial and territorial governments as the federal government works to finalize a deal with the United States,” according to an official readout of the meeting.

He reiterated the government’s goal is to “secure the best deal for Canadians — one that provides the greatest possible U.S. market access for Canadian businesses,” and emphasized “the importance of remaining focused on Canada’s central economic strategy: building our economic strength at home and diversifying our partners abroad.”

Aug. 20 (UPI) — Authorities in Delaware repeatedly called on Dover residents Thursday to “STAY HOME” after a likely tornado caused “significant” damage throughout the city.

The Dover Police Department declared “a state emergency” at 6:20 p.m. EDT, saying the city “likely experienced a tornado, with significant damage reported throughout parts of the city.”

“PLEASE STAY OFF THE ROADS AND STAY HOME!!!!!!” it said on Facebook.

The hardest-hit area of the city was the corridor of Division Street and Lockerman Street, it said without detailing specific damage incurred. Earlier, it said the storm downed numerous trees, caused flooding and other “storm-related damage.”

Power outages were also reported, it said.

“Our officers and emergency crews are working throughout the city,” the Dover Police Department said in a statement.

“The best thing you can do right now is stay home and give them room to work. Dover — please take this seriously. Stay home. Stay safe.”

Dover Motor Speedway, known for hosting NASCAR races, said that it appeared to have suffered no major damage, while stating it was hopeful that others in the community were safe and that no one was injured.

“We’ll continue to monitor the situation and plan to conduct a more thorough survey of the facility in the coming days,” the speedway said in a statement.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning that was in effect until 6:45 p.m. for the Delaware areas of Dover, Camden and Rodney.

It came as parts of the U.S. East Coast were expected to see torrential downpours and flash flooding over the weekend.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — The percentage of Americans who say they consume alcohol remains at record-low levels, according to a new survey by Gallup.

Some 54% of adults surveyed last month said they drink alcohol – the same as last year – and the lowest mark since the analytics firm started surveying Americans on the topic in 1939.

“We saw a significant decline in people’s use of alcohol last year, but whether that was a one-time reaction or a trend, we had to wait and see,” Gallup Director of U.S. Social Research Lydia Saad told Time. “This year’s result tells us that whatever is happening out there is a sustained change. Drinking has gone down across all age groups.”

The percentage of drinks began falling in 2022, when it was at 67%. In the mid-1970s, it was 71%.

A record low 13% said they drink too much sometimes. According to Gallup, the “decline in drinking since 2023 is evident across most demographic groups.”

They survey showed that the percentage of Republicans and independents said they drank has dropped more than 10%. Meanwhile, Democrats saw a 1% decline. Some 63% of Democrats said they drink, compared with 53% of Republicans and half of independents.

Increased public awareness of the risks of alcohol use may be a cause of Americans drinking less, the results of the poll indicated. Just over half of Americans this year said alcohol is “bad for health,” up from 26% in 2016.

This year, 86% of those surveyed said they were aware of recent studies on alcohol’s long-term effects, up from 79% two years ago.

“The decline in alcohol use coincides with a sharp increase in concern about the health risks of drinking,” Saad told Time.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — Walmart on Thursday reported sales grew at their slowest pace in the retailer’s latest fiscal quarter in six years, sending its shares down more than 9%.

In the second quarter ended July 31, comparable sales in the US, including stores and digital channels open for at least a year, were 2.6%, the smallest advance since 2020, Walmart said.

“Customers tell us they’re still feeling some pressure,” Walmart CEO John Furner said on an earnings call with analysts.

Walmart blamed the disappointing sales growth partly on new federal rules on drug pricing that cut the prices of several costly medications for those enrolled in Medicare.

The company is also anticipating at least $2 billion in extra costs this year from higher gasoline prices due to rising oil prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

As the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has risen to $4.10 from $2.98 and inflation spiked to 3.4% from 2.4% before the conflict, Walmart said consumers are making adjustments.

“As you go through month by month in the last quarter, you can tell when fuel prices increased and got above $4, and perhaps there’s a psychological impact to that, that there are choices that consumers are making,” Walmart finance chief John David Rainey told analysts. “It’s why we have leaned so heavily into lower prices.”

Meanwhile, Walmart said it has seen gains as more affluent customers trade down as their budgets tighten.

For the full year, Walmart expects net sales to rise 4% to 5%, up from 3.5$ to 4.5% previously. Operating income is expected to rise 7.5% to 8.5%, up from an earlier view for 6% to 8%.

Rainey told CNBC that Walmart is eligible for tariff refunds of around $2.9 billion, and it has yet to receive nearly $100 million of that. He said the funds would be used to lower prices.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — NASA and Katalyst Space have announced that the mission to boost the altitude of a Swift Observatory space telescope has failed.

The announcement came down on Wednesday after an attempt to use the LINK spacecraft ran into altitude control issues, NASA and Katalyst Space said in a press release. The spacecraft was meant to raise NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude.

LINK is still set to attempt rendezvous and proximity operations with the Swift Observatory.

“NASA should be willing to move quickly and take smart risks when the potential return is worth it, and that is exactly what we did with this mission,” Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator, said in a statement. “This is not the outcome we were working toward, but it does not change why this mission was worth attempting.”

If the mission was successful, LINK would have allowed the Swift Observatory to extend its mission, the press release says. NASA expects Swift to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere this year.

The Swift mission launched in 2004. The observatory has been used to study gamma-ray bursts. While planned originally as a two-year prime mission, it has remained in operation in low Earth orbit for 21 years.

Increased solar activity has caused what NASA describes as a rapid “decay” of Swift’s low Earth Orbit.

The LINK spacecraft was launched on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Kawjalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, on July 3.

Katalyst designed and manufactured LINK in less than a year after being awarded a $30 million Swift Boost contract from NASA in 2025.

“We knew this was a high-risk, high-reward mission — a first-of-its kind attempt, developed on an unprecedented timeline driven by the Sun’s activity,” Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, said in a statement. “We were all hoping for more science from Swift. But we knew the takeaways from this mission would be worthwhile either way, and we have gained so much through the series of accomplishments up to this point.”

Aug. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has nominated White House aide Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration, drawing anger from Democrats and criticism from a key Republican senator.

Trump announced his nomination of Overton to be the next FDA commissioner on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, calling the deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council “a ROCKSTAR in my administration.”

“She is known to take on the HARDEST issues, and bring me solutions that work best for the Country,” Trump said. “We need her leadership at the FDA now to ensure that the U.S. remains the WORLD LEADER for Scientific Discovery and CURES.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Overton will be tasked with overseeing agency policy concerning drugs, vaccines, tobacco products and much of the food supply, among other responsibilities. Kyle Diamantas, a friend of Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. has been serving as acting FDA commissioner since Marty Makary resigned as head of the agency in May following reported clashes with the Trump administration over its decision to authorize fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes.

“Heidi brings exceptional judgment, professionalism, discipline and an unwavering commitment to the American people,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement supporting her nomination to lead the FDA under him.

“I have seen her challenge assumptions, demand excellence and turn bold ideas into meaningful results.”

She has had an increasingly visible presence near the president in recent months and most recently appeared with him earlier this month when he signed an executive order to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children, which has sparked widespread concern among the medical community.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Overton “a woman of deep faith, an accomplished physician and a champion of the America First agenda” as he congratulated her on the nomination.

“I have seen firsthand her ability to navigate complex policy challenges with conviction and clarity,” he said in a social media statement.

“She will serve our country well.”

While Republicans praised Trump’ pick, Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, broke ranks, saying that while he respected her experience as a physician, “I have strong concerns about her nomination,” citing her lack of managerial experience of a large organization, such as the FDA, which is dealing with staffing and morale issues.

“Additionally, Dr. Overton’s active role in last week’s nonsensical vaccine executive order calls into question her commitment to standing up for sound science and protecting children’s health,” he said online.

“That alone is almost disqualifying.”

Cassidy, who represents Louisiana, will play a key roe in her confirmation as chairman of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee a key vote in whether she is confirmed. Republicans can afford to lose only three votes on the Senate floor, as they only hold a 53-seat majority. The two independent senators caucus with the Democrats, who are all expected to all vote against her nomination.

“Heidi Overton is a far-right, anti-abortion extremist who has no business leading the FDA,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement.

“The American people deserve someone who will put science and facts FIRST, not another Trump sycophant who will make it their mission to attack medication abortion.

“I will vote NO.”

Reproductive health organizations also criticized Trump’s pick, pointing to Overton’s celebration of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, returning oversight of abortion to the states, as a “huge victory” and to her advocacy for what they described as the politicization of government agencies when she worked at the far-right America First Policy Institute think tank.

“Donald Trump is trying to put an anti-abortion extremist in charge of any agency that could seriously undermine reproductive healthcare — including the agency that could roll back access to mifepristone nationwide,” Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju said in a statement, referring to a prescription oral medication used to terminate an early pregnancy.

“Her nomination is another alarming step in Trump’s plan to weaponize every part of the federal government to restrict abortion nationwide.”

Aug. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump declared “economic warfare” against Iran on Wednesday night amid stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Few specifics were offered about what this apparent intensification of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign would look like, but the president said it would be “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!”

“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump said in his social media statement.

Financial institutions, businesses, airports and government entities accused of providing “any type of lifeline to Iran” will face what Trump called “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,” though he did not elaborate further.

“Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW,” he said. “You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY.”

To enforce the plan, Trump called on all U.S. allies to work with Washington to isolate Iran.

“These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide,” he said.

The announcement came hours after Trump told reporters at the White House that there are more sanctions the United States could impose on Iran.

“Well, we have things that we could sanction,” he said. “We have very draconian sanctions and we’ll see what happens.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump also said formal negotiations with Iran could restart “at some point,” while suggesting there was no urgency to resume talks.

“Right now, I think the situation is so good, but maybe at some point,” he said.

Trump has long relied on economic pressure as a means to coerce Iran. During his first term, after unilaterally withdrawing the United States from an Obama-era multinational accord aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Trump launched his maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other punitive measures against Tehran, failing in its objective to force Iran back to the negotiating table on a new deal. Instead, Iran began gradually reducing its compliance with the nuclear accord.

Trump reinstated that maximum pressure campaign after returning to the White House last year. The Treasury has since folded its sanctions efforts into a campaign it calls Economic Fury, complementing Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign that began Feb. 28 and ended May 5, though the broader war continues.

Trump has been seeking a phased end to the war, but negotiations have stalled over competing demands concerning the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is seeking to restore freedom of navigation through the important energy route, while Iran is seeking to retain the leverage it gained by restricting passage through the strait.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — A Missouri judge ruled Wednesday against voters seeking to put a Republican redistricting effort in the state to a referendum, stating that the new GOP-favored maps can be used in November’s midterm elections.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green ruled that referendum provisions in the state’s constitution do not apply to congressional redistricting.

“The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process,” Green wrote in his ruling.

The People Not Politicians coalition that filed the lawsuit told UPI in an emailed statement that what was important was that a ruling had been made, while accusing the Republicans of stalling the litigation process and stating that the case can now move forward toward the Missouri Supreme Court.

“The most important thing that happened today is that there was a ruling,” PNP Executive Director Richard von Glahn said.

“The state has tried to slow down the judicial process for months and now that we are out of Cole County, the real decision will be made. Our case now moves forward.”

Missouri Republicans spearheaded efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map last summer as part of President Donald Trump‘s push for GOP-led states to create more GOP-favored seats for November’s midterm elections.

The map, signed into law in September, redraws a Democrat-held district in Kansas City to be more rural, positioning it to lean more favorably toward Republicans. Of the state’s eight House seats, two are currently held by Democrats. The redraw is expected to reduce that to one.

Voters have challenged the redistricting effort. In December, PNP submitted more than 300,000 signatures to Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, to trigger a statewide referendum on the issue. While PNP contended that delivering the signatures would pause use of the new map, Hoskins disagreed.

In May, the state Supreme Court upheld the new map, while rejecting an argument that submitting referendum petitions automatically suspended the map.

On the day of the Aug. 4 primary, Hoskins issued a certificate finding PNP’s referendum petition was insufficient, stating the state’s Constitution does not permit referenda on congressional maps, prompting PNP to file a lawsuit that evening.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, celebrated Wednesday’s decision in a social media statement, calling Green’s decision a “quick, common-sense ruling.”

“Missourians voted for candidates using this map in August, and they deserve the ability to elect those candidates in November,” he said.

The Republican Party also cheered it as a “resounding victory for Missouri voters and election integrity.”

“The court rejected Democrats’ latest scheme to overturn lawful congressional maps and create chaos ahead of the election. Missouri’s maps were fairly enacted by the legislature, upheld in court and used in this year’s primary. Today’s ruling makes clear those maps will stand,” Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement.

The nationwide GOP effort to redraw maps comes as Trump has repeatedly voiced concern about potential impeachment proceedings if Republicans lose the House in November. Creating additional Republican-leaning seats increases the GOP’s chances of maintaining control of the chamber, making impeachment less likely while strengthening the Republicans’ ability to advance Trump’s agenda.

Texas was the first state to move on mid-decade redistricting, kicking off a gerrymandering arms race in which Democratic-led states sought to counter with their own maps and Republican-led states responded with additional redraws.

Since summer 2025, 17 statesMike Kehoe have moved to redistrict, with 10 states having changed their maps, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of those 10 states, eight adopted GOP-favored maps while two adopted maps expected to benefit Democrats.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Wednesday approved a $15.5 billion budget for Dulles International Airport, setting the stage for renovations proposed by President Donald Trump.

The board approved the proposal for the Revitalizing Washington Dulles International Airport Project, an initiative launched by the Department of Transportation in December.

The approval includes $3.75 billion for new underground tunnels which will replace the airport’s shuttle system, the renovation of Concourses C and D, and $6.2 million for the reconstruction of the main terminal.

The project is slated to begin in late 2027.

Trump said during a briefing at the White House last month that more than 5 million square feet will be either new or renovated space at the airport. He called the airport in its current state “a terrible place to be.”

The president said in July that the estimated cost of the project is more than $20 billion.

About $14.2 billion of the funding will come from new bond issuances, $200 million from grants and $1.1 billion in Passenger Facility Charges: fees that travelers pay for using the airport.

New expenditures included in the budget amount to about $48 million, MWAA’s report says.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it will buy back about twice the usual amount of its bonds in a move to prevent rising interest rates on mortgages and consumer loans.

The department, which is led by Secretary Scott Bessent, said it will target the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year portion of the market. Those bonds have faced a buyers’ strike since late June, CNBC reported.

Treasury said it will at least double the maximum size of its usual buyback, from $2 billion to “at least” $4 billion, an announcement from the department said. The buyback operation will be from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4.

The yields on longer-term debt have been at their highest levels since 2007, pushed up by war with Iran and other concerns, such as growing competition for financing with borrowers and growing federal deficits, Politico reported.

After the announcement, yields plummeted, while stock market futures spiked, CNBC reported.

The 10-year note dropped 6 basis points to 4.647% and the 30-year bond plunged 9 basis points to 5.196%. A basis point equals 0.01%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.

It’s the latest move by Bessent to affect treasury yields.

The department conducted a joint operation with Japan to boost the yen, which was trading at its weakest against the dollar in about 40 years. He had warned in January that Japanese government bonds were causing issues in the U.S. treasury market.

The department also recently alluded to possibly issuing less longer-term debt in the future, Politico reported.

“This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury’s desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants, as evidenced by the significant volume of high-quality offers Treasury routinely receives in longer-dated buyback operations,” the department’s press release said.

The move “can help crowd in potential buyers tempted by the prior run-up in yields and force some near-term short-covering, while discouraging investors from going max short in the future for fear of being ambushed again,” Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a client note, CNBC reported.

“But the operation changes almost nothing in terms of the fundamentals, in particular the unchanged need to finance the tidal wave of hyperscaler debt in addition to very large government deficits,” Guha added.

It could actually end up making the Federal Reserve‘s job of getting inflation back to 2% more difficult, said RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas.

The buyback could artificially suppress yields and make controlling inflation more challenging.

“Bessent is a political actor. His interest is purely short-term and is organized around the upcoming election and not a return to price stability,” Brusuelas wrote.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House policy aide, to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

The decision was reported by the Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico, all citing anonymous sources. Overton is an aide at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council and will be tapped to be the next FDA commissioner, sources say.

Overton will replace Marty Makary, who left the position in May, and the Senate will have to confirm her to the position.

The FDA commissioner is one of the most powerful jobs in U.S. health care. The FDA oversees drugs, vaccines, tobacco products, the bulk of the food supply and more. The position has remained open longer than expected as some have turned it down over fears of administration interference, the Post reported.

The position has been run by acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas, a friend of Donald Trump Jr., and a former partner at the law firm Jones Day.

Overton is board-certified in public health and general preventive medicine and was a general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where she also earned a doctorate in clinical investigation. She worked at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. She has also written articles calling abortion “corrosive” to women. She called abortion pills “far more dangerous to women” and has called for more controls on the pills.

In September, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Overton and Calley Means worked on a Make America Healthy Again strategy report calling for more review of chemicals in food and an increase in oversight over pharmaceutical advertisements, The Times reported.

Makary left the position in May because he disagreed with the administration’s policy of allowing tobacco and e-cigarette companies to sell flavored vapes. The White House had been pressuring Makary to allow the vapes, but he disagreed, citing their appeal to teens and young adults.

The FDA approved mango and blueberry vapes just after Trump had lunch with tobacco executives, The Times reported.

While she is a doctor and has been present for many FDA announcements at the White House, she hasn’t run a large agency before. The FDA has thousands of employees and shapes food safety and pharmaceutical policies.

Aug. 19 (UPI) — David Morens, a former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases employee, pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to hide federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morens made his guilty plea on Tuesday in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and defraud the United States. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act requests and the Federal Records Act by hiding federal records.

Morens is one of three people alleged to be part of the scheme. He faces up to five years in prison.

The person referred to as “co-conspirator 1” by the Justice Department was a CEO of a New York-based nonprofit that received the “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” grant in 2014. That grant is a key part of the indictment as its termination precipitated the alleged scheme.

Co-conspirator 1 created a subaward with the grant and awarded it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan China, which has been the subject of theories that the COVID-19 virus leaked from the lab, sparking the pandemic.

The Justice Department said that Morens and two co-conspirators carried out the scheme after one of the co-conspirators’ National Institute of Health grant was terminated. The three people involved planned the scheme to restore the terminated grant.

In his guilty plea, Morens admitted that he hid emails that related to the pandemic in a personal account to avoid them being publicly released, circumventing public records laws. He had previously explained that he did this to stop the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and to protect Dr. Anthony Fauci from receiving threats.

Fauci has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the case.

Morens served as a senior adviser at NIAID’s Office of the Director between 2006 and 2022. The Justice Department indicted him in April on five counts related to the plan to hide federal records from the public.