U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday, executed a second wave of daylight strikes against Iran and disabled the Curaçao-flagged tanker M/T Belma with Hellfire missiles after it ignored warnings while attempting to violate the reimposed U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Following a heavy 90-minute wave of morning strikes that concluded around 11430 UTC (which hit coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage on Greater Tunb Island), the U.S. launched a second wave of daylight strikes at 1900 UTC. These daytime strikes are highly unusual and signal a significant increase in operational tempo.

The U.S. military stated these actions target Iranian capabilities threatening the Strait of Hormuz, having already redirected two other compliant vessels during the first 24 hours of enforcement.

In rapid retaliation, Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)  and Iranian army launched coordinated missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. military command centers, air defenses in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, UAE and Erbil Air Base/U.S. Consulate Area, and a primary "gathering center" of U.S. forces in northern Iraq.

The U.S. reinstated its maritime blockade on Tuesday to stop vessels from entering or exiting Iranian ports, a move President Donald Trump clarified would not include a previously proposed 20% cargo fee but would instead rely on new trade deals with Gulf states.

During enforcement, CENTCOM fired missiles into the M/T Belma's smokestack as it headed toward Kharg Island, marking the tenth commercial ship disabled since April for resisting U.S. instructions.

The blockade aims to secure the waterway, through which roughly 20% of global oil supplies typically move, following recent Iranian attacks on commercial shipping.

Following the U.S. strikes on Iranian coastal defenses and missile sites, Tehran threatened to halt all Middle East energy exports, declaring that regional oil would be available "to everyone or to no one."

 The conflict has disrupted global trade, pushing Brent crude prices above $85 a barrel, and raises fears of a wider regional war involving the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran has escalated dramatically following the breakdown of a short-lived June ceasefire.

Meanwhile Trump announced in a Truth Social that a detained American citizen has been freed  by Iran. "Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the “presidency” of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country. She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!" the president wrote.

Spain defeated France 2-0 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-final, ending the French team's bid for a third consecutive final appearance and securing Spain's first final spot since their 2010 victory. The match, played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, saw Spain completely neutralize France’s star-studded attack led by Kylian Mbappé, who was rendered ineffective by a disciplined Spanish defensive structure.

The decisive moment arrived in the 22nd minute when Lamine Yamal drew a foul from Lucas Digne inside the box, leading to a penalty converted by Mikel Oyarzabal. This goal marked the first time France had trailed in the tournament, shifting the psychological momentum significantly.

France’s troubles compounded when William Saliba was forced off with an injury shortly after, disrupting their defensive stability. In the 58th minute, Pedro Porro doubled Spain’s lead with a clinical strike, effectively sealing the match.

Despite France’s attempts to inject energy with substitutions like Rayan Cherki and Desire Doue, they failed to create meaningful chances against a Spanish side that had conceded only once throughout the entire tournament. Spain will now face the winner of the England-Argentina semi-final in the championship match on July 19.

A Russian Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft, carrying NASA astronaut Anil Menon, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov, and Anna Kikina, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1447 UTC Tuesday (July 14) and autonomously docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 1752 UTC, just three hours after liftoff.

The Soyuz executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after liftoff, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later, as the rocket flew at 169 kilometers(km) in altitude. Third stage orbital insertion and separation was completed at about 8 minutes and 46 seconds, putting Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft and crew on course to chase down the ISS.

The Soyuz MS-29 capsule autonomously docked with the Prichal module of the ISS while both were flying about 418 km above the Mediterranean Sea. Following hatch opening at 2030 UTC, the trio floated into the ISS, welcomed by the seven astronauts already living aboard the ISS — NASA's Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot, and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev, and Andrey Fedyaev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

The MS-29 trio will spend about eight months living and working on the orbiting lab. Menon will help conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments during that stretch.

"He will continue research to refine in-space production of semiconductor crystals to enable the large-scale manufacturing of components needed for high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, and improved medical devices," NASA officials wrote in a July 9 media advisory. "Menon also will perform ultrasound using augmented reality and artificial intelligence methods that could eliminate the need for medical support from Earth on future space missions."

This is Menon’s first spaceflight and the second for Dubrov and Kikina, who will remain on the station for an eight-month mission through April 2027. The new trio will transition to Expedition 75 after the current crew commander Kud-Sverchkov, flight engineers Williams and Mikaev depart on Soyuz MS-28 later in the month.

Menon has already been to space, though not with NASA. In September 2024, while an employee of SpaceX, she flew on the company's Polaris Dawn mission to Earth orbit becoming the company's first flight surgeon. That five-day flight, which was funded and commanded by current NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, featured the first-ever commercial spacewalk and reached a maximum altitude of 1,400.7 km — higher than any previous crewed Earth-orbiting mission had gotten.

Kikina, the only female member of Russia's active astronaut corps, flew to and from the ISS back then on SpaceX's Crew-5 mission. That was a big deal: She was the first Russian ever to fly on a private U.S. spacecraft, and the first cosmonaut to fly on any American space vehicle since December 2002, when cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergey Treshchov came back to Earth from the ISS aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.