Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
Today’s primary elections will test Trump’s influenceIn deep-red Indiana, voters went to the polls today to cast ballots in the state’s primary elections. Such races rarely receive attention outside the Midwest. But this year, President Trump changed that. The president is seeking to oust seven Republican state senators whom he deems insufficiently loyal. They had helped defeat a redistricting effort that could have boosted the party’s chances of maintaining control of the U.S. House, so Trump found seven challengers to endorse instead. Many of the candidates in the president’s cross hairs are staunch conservatives with long track records. Tonight’s results, which we are tracking here, will serve as a test of Trump’s ability to bend the Republican Party’s rank-and-file to his will. In the coming weeks, the president also hopes to oust more well-known Republicans in Louisiana and Kentucky.
The U.S. and Iran both claim control of the Strait of HormuzTrump and other top U.S. officials said today that the cease-fire with Iran remained intact, despite the U.A.E. accusing Iranian forces of attacking it for the second day in a row. The president dismissed those assaults, and others directed at American ships, as minor. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said that the U.S. had concluded Epic Fury, the combat operations that started the war. His comments expanded an argument Trump made to explain why he had avoided seeking Congressional approval, even after the war hit the 60-day legal limit. Rubio said that U.S. efforts to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz were a wholly new operation, called Project Freedom. The strait remains at a standstill. Only two ships were known to have passed through the waterway yesterday, and none appeared to make the trip today. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. was still controlling the strait and working to free trapped vessels. Iran maintained that it was in control there. Some 1,600 ships with 20,000 seafarers remain stranded. For more:
The F.D.A. blocked studies that had found vaccines to be safeThe Food and Drug Administration recently halted the publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles. The studies, which cost millions of dollars in public funds, found serious side effects to be very rare. A spokesman for the Health department said “the studies were withdrawn because the authors drew broad conclusions that were not supported by the underlying data.” Experts who reviewed some of the studies said they were generally well done. In other Trump administration news:
About 150 people are stuck on a cruise ship with an outbreakA cruise ship that was struck by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus is expected to sail to the Canary Islands, the World Health Organization said today. So far, its passengers have not been allowed to disembark. Spanish officials said that disease experts would inspect the vessel before it was given permission to dock. The W.H.O. said that some of those who had fallen ill might have been infected through human-to-human transmission, though hantavirus is primarily transmitted by inhaling particles of mouse feces or urine. In this video, a passenger speaks about the anxiety onboard. More top news
Most doctors encourage people to eat vegetables and avoid consuming too much red meat. That perspective is of little interest at Meatstock, a three-day convention in Gatlinburg, Tenn. There, devotees of the carnivore diet bond over butter-dipped brisket and cups of raw milk. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he follows the diet.
‘Schmigadoon!’ and ‘Lost Boys’ lead this year’s Tony nomineesIn an unusual Broadway season, thin on new musicals, “Schmigadoon!” and “The Lost Boys” had 12 Tony Award nominations apiece, more than any other show. The full list of nominees revealed this morning also reflects Broadway’s embrace of star actors who drive ticket sales: John Lithgow, Daniel Radcliffe and Rose Byrne each earned a nomination. Our critics noticed several snubs. Bleak shows were largely shut out. And did the Tony voters forget about Lea Michele and Kristin Chenoweth?
Find your next great readI’m quite fond of Tuesdays — the day when new books are published and bookshops can finally put them on shelves. My colleagues at the Book Review have built a tool to help you sort through what is worth reading based on your tastes. Here’s a sprinkling of what’s new today:
Dinner table topics
Cook: These |
