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ISTANBUL — President Trump says that the U.S. will not allow Iranian ships to move through the Strait of Hormuz. "We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," he said in a post online. Trump said other countries will be able to move through the waterway, but that the U.S. would charge a 20% toll on cargo.

Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter, sent every weekday morning. A dozen states, led by California, are suing to block Paramount from buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood mega-merger that would unite some of the nation's largest movie studios, television newsrooms, and other entertainment properties.

Updated July 13, 2026 at 9:12 AM MDT BANGKOK — A huge fire tore through a music bar in Bangkok overnight, killing at least 27 people and leaving 25 hospitalized in critical condition on Monday as investigations began into the Thai capital's deadliest blaze in 17 years. Bangkok city officials said the fire at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar in a northern part of the Thai capital broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, and it took about half an hour for firefighters to bring it under control.

Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter, sent every weekday morning. On a sweltering morning in early July, Thomas Andrade, the co-owner of Everett Auto Parts in Massachusetts, supervises as a team of workers carefully straps two Chevy Volt hybrid batteries to a pallet, ready to ship out for recycling. Selling off valuable bits and pieces of a vehicle is, fundamentally, how a salvage yard makes money.

Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly. AI-powered platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates in text messages, holding personalized conversations with thousands of potential voters simultaneously. The bots are also gathering data, learning what each voter wants from their representatives and using that information to shape future campaign messaging.

Updated July 13, 2026 at 1:09 PM MDT ISTANBUL — President Trump says that the U.S. will not allow Iranian ships to move through the Strait of Hormuz and will charge a toll on other countries' ship cargo, following a weekend of fighting between the U.S. and Iran. "We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," he said in a post online.

This is a recap of the most recent episode of HBO's House of the Dragon. It contains spoilers. That's what a recap is. Credits! And the only addition to the Die, You! Tapestry we get this week is difficult to decipher at first. Looks to me like a woman whispering into the ear of a stout gentleman with a thin, John Waters mustache. Alys and Daemon? Alys and Aemond? Or — OK, no, wait, I see it now — it's Aemond, murdering my sweet babboo Ser Simon Strong back in episode 2. Wow. Cold.

This much is undisputed: On Nov. 2, 2023, a guard and a prisoner at a federal penitentiary in California got into it over a straw sunhat that the officer had confiscated. The man — identified in court records by his initials, J.M. — walked out of the office, as Officer Sandra Munagay followed him. When he stopped and turned around, Munagay "cocked back … and punched me in my face," he said in an interview. That is on camera.

The landscape for music discovery has changed drastically over the last few decades. Largely gone are the days of finding your new favorite song by watching MTV or switching through radio stations. Magazine and newspaper reviews are harder and harder to come by, given the decline of print journalism (and arts coverage in particular).

Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4. Now, Florida is expanding a program to teach its youngest to swim and prioritizing children with autism who are at a much higher risk. NPR’s Jonaki Mehta reports. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. Copyright 2026 WBUR