Qatar says negotiations between Oman and Iran over the future of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are making major progress.
Published On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026
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The NFL has suspended Arizona Cardinals personnel executive Ryan Gold indefinitely for violating the league’s gambling policy.
The league said Friday that its investigation determined that Gold provided confidential, non-public inside information regarding 2026 draft selections by the Cardinals before the picks were announced, and Gold also participated in parlay bets on NFL and college games. The league didn’t say who Gold had provided with the information.
“The Gambling Policy, which is annually reviewed with all NFL personnel, strictly prohibits anyone in the NFL from participating in or facilitating any form of sports gambling, and from providing third parties non-public information,” the NFL said in a statement. “Although there is no reason to believe the integrity of any NFL game was affected, the League takes any violation of the Gambling Policy with the utmost seriousness.”
The Cardinals also issued a statement, saying: “The NFL’s policies and expectations for all employees are clear, comprehensive, and consistently communicated. We fully support the league’s decision in this matter, which involves a single employee. Our focus remains on preparing for the start of training camp next week and the 2026 season.”
Gold, who is in his 13th season with the Cardinals, was promoted to director of college scouting in June 2025. He spent the previous three years (2022-24) as the assistant director of college scouting after working for four seasons (2018-21) as a college scouting coordinator.
Gold has the right to appeal the suspension. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday.
The NFL has strict gambling policies for players and club and league personnel. The league has also dedicated significant resources to its gambling education program, reaching more than 20,000 people associated with the league.
The policy says players must not:
NFL players — but not league or club staff — are allowed to legally place bets on other sports as long as they are off club property or not traveling with the team. They also are allowed to take part in traditional fantasy football leagues (prize money cannot exceed $250) and legally gamble at casinos on personal time.
The NFL said the Cardinals fully cooperated with the investigation and the league has seen no indication that any other member of the organization, coach or player was aware of or involved in this activity. The league also said there was no indication that any play or game was affected by this activity.
The NFL’s review included interviews with relevant people and an examination of electronic records.
At least 15 players have been suspended by the league for gambling violations since 1963, including several in recent years, but none since Isaiah Rodgers (then with the Indianapolis Colts) was suspended indefinitely in June 2023.
Maaddi writes for the Associated Press.
The US has conducted new strikes on Iran, following a drone attack on a Panama-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it hit multiple targets across Iran in direct response to “continued aggression” against commercial shipping.
In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it has launched missiles and drones at US infrastructure in Kuwait and Bahrain, in a statement shared to state media.
Following the exchange of fire, the US and Iran accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Centcom said in a statement, “Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku,” a Panama-flagged tanker.
In response, it said, US fighter jets conducted strikes on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz. These included military equipment, communication systems, air defense sites and drone storage facilities.
In the IRGC’s statement, it said the US had attacked five coastal posts in Iran under what it called “the pretext of the IRGC Navy confronting the offending ship”.
In retaliation, the IRGC said it had launched ballistic missiles and drones at “eight key pieces of infrastructure” at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and the Fifth Naval Fleet in Port Salman, Bahrain, “destroying them”.
A US official has told Reuters that there were no reported US casualties or major impacts or damage to US facilities in the Middle East.
The IRGC said that under the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this month, Iran has arrangements for controlling passage and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and from now on, violating ships will be dealt with more forcefully than in the past.
“Any potential enemy aggression, under any pretext, even if the aggressions are against minor targets, as happened last night and tonight, will have a crushing response,” read the statement.
It also accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreed to in the memorandum of understanding between the two nations, warning that it “will lead to a complete halt to the process”.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also condemned what it described as the “brutal attacks” a violation of the ceasefire, adding it showed that the US “does not place the slightest value and credibility on its commitments, and breaking promises is part of its nature.”
Shortly after the latest US strikes on Iran were announced, Trump said on Truth Social that it was “very possible” that Tehran would “never learn”.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” he wrote on Saturday evening.
The post went on: “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
In the hours following the US strikes, Kuwait and Bahrain both reported that their air defence systems had been activated.
“Kuwaiti air defenses are currently confronting hostile missile and drone attacks,” the Kuwaiti Armed Forces said in a statement shared to X, asking the public to adhere to security instructions.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior has urged citizens to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”.
Centcom said that commercial vessels are continuing to operate in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest strikes come less than a day after the US launched retaliatory strikes on Iran that it said were in response to a drone attack on Singapore-flagged cargo ship, MV Ever Lovely, on 25 June.
Centcom described the American strikes as “a powerful response” to the attack on the cargo ship, adding that the “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire”.
Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway, and said that the retaliatory strikes qualified as a ceasefire violation by the US.
In a statement released on Saturday morning, Iran’s foreign ministry said it had carried out more strikes against targets linked to American forces in response, and blamed the “treaty-breaking US regime” for the situation.
The US and Iran agreed on 17 June to end hostilities under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which had also called for Iran to use its “best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days”.
The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for oil and gas shipments, and was effectively closed by Tehran after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February.
The shutdown of the critical channel caused a spike in global oil prices and prevented shipments of other crucial commodities such as fertiliser.