News - Friday, July 10, 2026

“At this point in my life, I want to help people who remind me of the young man I once was.”

A. Hamid Andalib leans forward for emphasis before finishing the thought that has come to define the next chapter of his life.

“I want to multiply myself in the lives of others.”

A. Hamid Andalib was recently awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of the nation’s most prestigious recognitions celebrating the contributions of immigrants and other Americans who have made a lasting impact on the country through professional achievement, community service and patriotism.

When Gary Starnes first took the bench in August 2012, he brought with him nearly three decades of legal experience, a tireless work ethic and a promise to treat every person who entered his courtroom with dignity and respect.

Fourteen years later, those qualities have become the hallmarks of his judicial career – and they were the very traits colleagues celebrated Monday as dozens of attorneys and judges gathered outside the Hamilton County Courthouse to send him a message of encouragement as he faces the battle of his life: cancer.

With flames racing across the roof of an apartment building in Hixson, firefighters faced a problem that had nothing to do with fire.

They needed water.

Hydrants inside the Integra Vistas apartment complex could only provide so much. The nearest city hydrants capable of supplying the volume firefighters needed were about a mile away on Highway 153.

Moving into a new home is exciting, but the unpacking can feel like its own full-time job. After the paperwork, packing, closing and moving day, it’s easy to look around at all those boxes and wonder where to start.

The National Association of Realtors offers a helpful guide with practical unpacking tips to make settling in feel more manageable. We’re sharing that guidance here to help homeowners tackle the process, one realistic goal at a time.

Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s vice provost for faculty affairs, has been selected for the 2026-27 Becoming a Provost Academy, a national leadership program offered by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Hamilton County recorded more than $511.7 million in property sales during June 2026, the monthly sales and mortgages report released by Register of Deeds Marc Gravitt reveals. The office also recorded more than $574.7 million in mortgage activity during the month.

Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services, in partnership with Blood Assurance and local public safety agencies, will host the Scenic City Saves Lives Community Blood Drive July 11, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Miller Park, 928 Market Street in downtown Chattanooga. The event aims to raise awareness about the ongoing need for blood donations while supporting HCEMS’s recently launched prehospital whole blood program, which enables specially trained crews to administer whole blood to patients suffering severe trauma and life-threatening hemorrhaging before reaching the hospital. In addition to donating blood, attendees can meet representatives from public safety agencies, view emergency vehicles and equipment, and learn more about emergency preparedness, trauma care and the lifesaving role blood donors play in supporting emergency medical services.

Visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza this summer will discover a new way to experience the state’s rivers.

As part of the nationwide celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the Tennessee Aquarium installed a series of outdoor signs highlighting 10 remarkable Tennessee rivers and the roles they’ve played in shaping the state’s history, ecology and identity.

From the moment Candace Parker left the University of Tennessee campus it was almost assured she would return to Knoxville one day to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

That time arrived last month as Parker was part of the eight-member Class of 2026 that was honored for their outstanding contributions to the sport. Parker was the final speaker of the night, and arrived on stage at the Tennessee Theatre wearing an outfit that honored the late legendary Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt.

The United States is out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. Men’s National Team lost 4-1 to Belgium in Seattle Monday night, crashing out in a dismal showing after beginning to feel hope following their impressive group showing. 

From before the match ever began, the good vibes that had surrounded this team had started to wane, and ultimately, off-pitch controversy seemed to suck the energy out of what had been a vibrant team.

Years and years ago, in response to a book titled “Real Texans Don’t Drink Scotch in Their Dr Pepper,” I wrote a column suggesting what “Real Missipians” do and don’t do.

(And yes, that’s how I spelled it, to align with proper Magnolia State pronunciation. Who needs every one of those syllables?)

Financial security doesn’t have to come from a big salary, a lucky investment or some dramatic turning point. For most people, wealth is built more simply, through small habits repeated many times over. 

If you’re like many young people, you may feel you don’t have enough money to start investing. The reality is that you’re in a great position to build the small habits that will help you create lasting wealth. Here are five tips to help you get started.

Many new electric vehicles are prohibitively expensive for car shoppers. But there are a few relatively low-cost options that provide plenty of usable range and utility. 

One great example is the Nissan Leaf. Originally debuting for 2011, it’s today’s longest-tenured EV and remains among the most affordable ways to go electric. The 2026 Leaf has been fully redesigned and features sleeker styling and a maximum estimated range of more than 300 miles.

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times, the Daily News and other media outlets are asking a federal judge to impose sanctions on OpenAI, escalating a fight over artificial intelligence and copyright that could shape the future of a struggling news industry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo reported stronger-than-expected revenue in the second quarter despite weaker demand in North America, where it said consumers tightened their budgets as the Iran war caused gas prices to spike.

"I think the consumer is worse than what we had anticipated, and it's driven mainly by gas prices," PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said Thursday during a conference call with investors.

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men's and women's college basketball players suing the NCAA for eligibility, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.

Judge Christopher Wagner said Thursday the NCAA eligibility rules have been applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's attorney general sued several large chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they knowingly sold harmful so-called forever chemicals used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware and other products.

The lawsuit against 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company and Corteva and other manufacturers is the latest legal action over PFAS, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he's not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should "finish the job." But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, economist Raj Chetty and former Bank of England governor Mervyn King are among a slate of names released by the Federal Reserve Thursday that will help develop recommended changes to the central bank's operations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's plans to build a skyline-altering arch in the nation's capital is getting another review from the federal commission whose approval he needs, but the agency's staff says the project should be revised before it gets the go-ahead.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose, and oil prices eased Thursday as financial markets calmed in the wait to see what will come next after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the temporary truce in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% and more than recovered its loss from the day before, even though the United States launched new airstrikes against Iran, which responded by targeting U.S. allies in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 139 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.3%.

NEW YORK (AP) — The former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational media company, interrupted jury selection at his money laundering trial on Thursday to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in a $67 million fraud scheme.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will let the bipartisan housing bill approved by Congress become law without his signature, saying Friday that he was refusing to put his name on it because of the little progress made in passing a strict voter ID bill that he has been pushing.

NEW YORK (AP) — When two steel columns buckled this week inside the former Pfizer headquarters in midtown Manhattan, the scare prompted evacuations and halted work on one of the nation's largest office-to-apartment conversions.

It also highlighted the complex engineering behind adaptive reuse projects, which have become increasingly popular as officials try to tackle a nationwide housing shortage by transforming offices that have sat underused since the COVID-19 pandemic.

BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen reported weak sales numbers on Friday, a day after the giant German automaker announced plans to slash the number of models by nearly half as sales plunged, particularly in China.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said group sales fell 8.6% in the second quarter to just under 2.1 million vehicles, with sales in China alone plummeted by more than one-third.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kia America has issued a new recall for nearly 463,000 of its Telluride SUVs, urging owners to again park their vehicles outside and away from buildings after several customers reported fires following previous repairs.

The recall, announced this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, replaces a prior one Kia initiated in 2024. Certain Tellurides from the 2020-2024 model years are affected, with the NHTSA warning that the front power seat motor of these vehicles may overheat due to a stuck slide knob.

Most of America's Lower 48 states are about to swelter under an unusually large, strong and long-lasting heat dome that will spike temperatures in a way that the National Weather Service calls "significant and dangerous."

The heat wave will start this weekend and last at least a week, with some areas feeling its effects until the end of the month, meteorologists said. Temperatures will be 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night, they said. Hotter nighttime temperatures are especially bad for both human health and efforts to tamp down an already active wildfire season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Last December, after Make America Healthy Again activists drew up a petition to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — African countries have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives, the International Energy Agency, IEA, said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Jewish adults feel unsafe in the United States, a new AP-NORC poll finds, with a majority saying they feel less safe than they did before Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research points to how Jewish adults' attitudes toward their own personal safety have changed over a relatively short period as more Americans became critical of the United States' close alliance with Israel. The war in Gaza sparked U.S. protests over Israel's military actions against the Palestinians in Gaza, and coincided with an increase in violent attacks against U.S. Jewish communities.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mysterious, unclaimed airstrikes that hit Iran after the U.S. said it finished its attacks have again raised questions of who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.

The strikes Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country's theocracy hasn't directly blamed anyone, though one lawmaker warned the United Arab Emirates about allegedly providing support to the U.S. campaign against Iran.

President Donald Trump has ousted members of a bipartisan federal election commission that resisted his efforts to require would-be voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.

The White House on Friday confirmed the executive action against members of the Election Assistance Commission, which distributes federal grants to states, oversees the testing of voting systems and maintains the national voter registration forms.

HOUSTON (AP) — Three men inside a van who witnessed the fatal shooting of the driver by an immigration officer in Houston said the Mexican man was shot through a passenger window and that the officer was never threatened, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks ticked higher Friday after Wall Street showed its appetite is still big for winners of the artificial-intelligence boom.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to close out its fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 149 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.3%.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix rose 13.1% as they made their debut on Wall Street, at a time when demand for chips is surging thanks to the frenzy around artificial intelligence.

The company is already one of the largest in South Korea, along with Samsung Electronics, and is a member of the Kospi index. Even with a recent pullback, the country's Kospi index is up 77% so far this year and SK Hynix shares have more than tripled.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Crews are again draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as President Donald Trump's problem-plagued efforts to revamp the waterway pushes well past his initial goal of having it ready by July 4 to mark the nation's 250th birthday.

SAWYER, Mich. (AP) — A completed bridge linking Detroit and Canada is expected to open by the end of the month after U.S. and Canadian officials reached an agreement to resolve the dispute that delayed its debut, according to two people directly involved in the negotiations.

Dickson County Mayoral Forum. Hear directly from mayoral candidates Ben Shepard, Reggie Weaver, Danny Williams and Caleb Wray as they discuss important issues facing Dickson County. The forum will be moderated by Alex Denis and provides an opportunity for community members to learn more about each candidate before Election Day. Monday, 7-8:30 p.m., Dickson County Fairgrounds, Pageant Building, Dickson. Information

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns was filed for an "improper purpose," a judge said Monday in a scathing decision that recommended attorney sanctions and disciplinary action.

NEW YORK (AP) — Twelve states challenged Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, filing a lawsuit that argues the $81 billion mega merger would "extinguish competition" in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

The office of California's attorney general, who is leading the case, said the states are asking Warner Bros. and Paramount to not close their merger "until after the judicial process concludes" — and if the companies do not agree, the coalition will then file a temporary restraining order.

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man was found guilty Monday of conspiring to unlawfully export electronic components to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, who worked at the global electronics company Analog Devices, was accused of helping an Iranian business associate get around American export control laws. U.S. prosecutors say the business associate's Tehran-based company makes navigation systems for the military drone program of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Authorities say the scheme included the creation of a front company in Switzerland.

BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen's CEO indicated in comments published Sunday that he's trying to avoid closing plants as he seeks to turn around the automaker's performance.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company faces pressure to cut costs at home and increasingly intense competition in the lucrative Chinese market, in particular.

BRUSSELS (AP) — A top European Union official on Monday called for limits to be placed on children using social media as a special EU panel looking into the challenge recommended forbidding access for those under 13 until tech companies can prove their platforms are safe.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa's biggest clean energy challenge is shifting from building projects to building the institutions, markets and regulatory systems needed to deliver them at scale, experts say.

That challenge is emerging even as clean energy reaches a historic milestone globally. Renewables generated 34% of the world's electricity in 2025, overtaking coal's 33% share. Together with nuclear power, renewables are expected to provide half of global electricity by 2030.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States is "reinstating" a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and will charge other ships for safe passage. Iran has insisted it controls the critical waterway, as another exchange of fire threatened a return to all-out war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is taking additional steps to prevent people living in the U.S. illegally from using the nation's banking system, cracking down on financial institutions that are lending money to them.

On Monday, a group of financial regulators is set to issue guidance intended to remind banks and other financial institutions of their know-your-customer requirements with respect to credit risk management, particularly as it relates to borrowers who are not authorized to work in the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers — and the Federal Reserve — are being hit with another high-cost headache.

The gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors and other equipment, as well as electricity, more expensive. Economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year.

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine and nine other countries announced Monday they were forming a coalition to protect Europe from ballistic missiles, utilizing Kyiv's experience in fighting Russia's full-scale invasion for over four years.

"Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe," the 10 nations said in a statement in Paris at talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he's recommended that Lindsey Graham's sister be named as his temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate.

Support for Israel is a key component of the religious identity of many Jewish adults ages 45 and older in the United States, but younger Jewish adults are more likely to prioritize other forms of connection, like celebrating Jewish holidays, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans will return to Washington on Monday with an uncertain agenda after the sudden death of prominent Republican Lindsey Graham, a committee chairman and key player who served as a crucial ally with President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran " at levels they've never seen before " if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him.

But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized "dead man's switch" that would prompt immediate retaliation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress who traveled the globe to advocate for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy, died after a tear in his aorta, according to a preliminary medical examiner finding shared by his office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican's health.

McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was "briefly unconscious" around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of tests to try and determine what led to his fall. He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia and has been moved to a rehabilitation facility.

Dickson County Mayoral Forum. Hear directly from mayoral candidates Ben Shepard, Reggie Weaver, Danny Williams and Caleb Wray as they discuss important issues facing Dickson County. The forum will be moderated by Alex Denis and provides an opportunity for community members to learn more about each candidate before Election Day. Monday, 7-8:30 p.m., Dickson County Fairgrounds, Pageant Building, Dickson. Information

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns was filed for an "improper purpose," a judge said Monday in a scathing decision that referred one of his lawyers for potential disciplinary action and characterized the $10 billion complaint as an exercise in self-dealing.

NEW YORK (AP) — Twelve states challenged Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, filing a lawsuit that argues the $81 billion mega merger would "extinguish competition" in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

The office of California's attorney general, who is leading the case, said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close their merger "until after the judicial process concludes" — and if the companies do not agree, the coalition will then file a temporary restraining order.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hundreds of economists say in an open letter that institutions "must act now" to address how artificial intelligence could transform the economy and could put many people out of work.

The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices jumped Monday following a weekend of attacks in the Middle East, while more losses for computer chip companies and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom dragged stock markets lower.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 9.6% to $83.30 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Fighting in the region has kept oil tankers from using the strait to deliver crude to customers from the Persian Gulf, which drives up fuel prices worldwide.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lindsey Graham's sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother's temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate after his unexpected death over the weekend.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham's current term, which expires in January. She's expected to be sworn in this week, making her the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Darline Graham Nordone, who was appointed to serve the remaining months of the Senate term that her late brother, Lindsey Graham, left behind when he died over the weekend, hasn't been in office before.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans returned to Washington on Monday with an uncertain agenda after the sudden death of prominent Republican Lindsey Graham, a committee chairman and key player who served as a crucial ally with President Donald Trump.

Infrastructure Summit. The Tennessee Chamber’s Infrastructure Summit is bringing together leaders from business, government, transportation, utilities, manufacturing, finance and economic development for one day of conversations focused on Tennessee’s future. From state and local government officials to CEOs, industry executives and infrastructure experts, attendees will gain insights into the policies, partnerships and investments shaping Tennessee’s future. Tuesday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Embassy Suites, 820 Crescent Centre Drive, Franklin. Information

Beginning with next year's NCAA women's basketball tournament, the top 16 teams will be placed in the bracket in their true ranking regardless of conference affiliation.

In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four. For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU fifth and Vanderbilt seventh. LSU was dropped down to seventh and Vanderbilt eighth in the bracketing to avoid having them be in the same regions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers Tuesday that a sharp increase in threats targeting her and other justices is increasingly encroaching on their personal and family lives.

During a rare appearance by justices before Congress, Barrett said she had to wear a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, something she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An experimental drug might help slow early Alzheimer's disease in a markedly different way than today's treatments — by lowering levels of a brain protein called tau, researchers reported Tuesday.

Tau is one part of a toxic duo fueling Alzheimer's but prior attempts to develop drugs that can target the protein have failed. Two Alzheimer's drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, try to clear buildup of the better-known amyloid protein and can modestly slow cognitive decline.

NEW YORK (AP) — No large data centers can be built in New York for up to a year as the state creates rules to protect the environment and the energy grid from power-hungry facilities fueling artificial intelligence.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

TOKYO (AP) — Worries about a bubble in artificial intelligence investments are absurd, SoftBank Group's CEO Masayoshi Son said Tuesday, deriding such doubts as backward and akin to questioning the use of cars and planes.

Dangerous. Brazen. Unprecedented. Uncharted territory. Reaction in the media world has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a legal maneuver seen as a troubling escalation of the Trump administration's campaign to control and intimidate independent media outlets.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Revisiting actions from his first term that were reversed, President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will scale back the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

The Republican's actions undo proclamations from his predecessors who deemed the sites worthy of preservation under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law that gives presidents power to protect areas of cultural, historic or scientific interest.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has been trying to force Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz for months, turning to everything from airstrikes and naval blockades to negotiations and threats to destroy a "whole civilization."

But restoring oil tanker traffic in the vital Middle East shipping corridor to prewar flows likely will require a much bigger armada of U.S. warships if not tens of thousands of American troops on Iranian soil, experts say. Despite on-and-off fighting, Iran can still target vessels in the narrow Persian Gulf waterway with drones and missiles that have been hidden in a country a third of the size of the continental United States.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a reversal of plans to charge a 20% toll on cargo going through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Middle Eastern countries will instead make investment and trade deals with the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military's official tally of deaths in the Iran war has risen to 14 service members, with the death of a Navy pilot in a helicopter crash in early July in the Arabian Sea.

The number of wounded troops from the conflict also has grown to more than 400 as of Monday. Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the majority of them suffered traumatic brain injuries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation cooled last month as the cost of gas, clothes, and used cars fell, providing some relief to consumers, while underlying price pressures also cooled more than expected.

Prices dropped 0.4% in June from May, the largest monthly drop in four years, the Labor Department said Tuesday. On a yearly basis, inflation declined to 3.5%, down from a year-over-year gain of 4.2% in May and lower than many economists expected.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Tuesday that the Fed will make high inflation "a thing of the past," yet he provided no signal about the central bank's next steps.

Fed policymakers "have no tolerance for persistently elevated inflation," Warsh said in his first appearance before Congress since becoming chair May 22, replacing former chair Jerome Powell. "And we share a resolute commitment to restoring price stability."

HONG KONG (AP) — China's exports accelerated in June, jumping 27% from a year earlier thanks partly to the boom in artificial intelligence, the customs agency said Tuesday.

The increase in exports in June was much better than economists had expected. Exports rose 19.4% year-on-year in May.

WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday that it logged $16.9 billion in second-quarter profit as its equities trading division again took advantage of market volatility triggered by the war in Iran.

The nation's largest bank by asset size, JPMorgan said that revenue in every line of its business hit record levels in the quarter, including its markets division, where revenue grew 35% over the same period last year. Revenue in its equity markets division skyrocketed 86%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Todd Blanche is heading into a high-stakes test this week in his bid to become attorney general, with key Republicans still undecided about whether to back his nomination.

Blanche will need the support of all GOP lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to advance his nomination to lead the Justice Department, which he has done in an acting capacity since April.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed Iraq's new prime minister to the White House on Tuesday after strongly backing the political neophyte in his bid for office.

Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman with no political background, emerged as a consensus candidate in Iraq after months of deadlock over the premiership following last year's parliamentary elections. When al-Zaidi was formally installed as prime minister-designate in April, Trump said in a social media post that it was the "beginning of a tremendous new chapter between our Nations — Prosperity, Stability, and Success like never seen before."

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Sen. Lindsey Graham's phone number popped up on his call list, Sen. Chuck Schumer said his heart skipped a beat.

It was shortly after the 2012 presidential election and Republicans had lost badly to President Barack Obama.