Man charged with bomb threat against US Consulate in Halifax — 12:57 p.m.
By the Associated Press
Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the U.S. Consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto this year.
Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a vehicle linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday morning. The vehicle contained a propane tank and containers believed to hold flammable liquids, police said
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Police said Assakereh, 54, was scheduled to appear in provincial court on charges of uttering threats and public mischief. They said they learned of the threat on Sunday night.
The Halifax case follows two shootings this year at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, Canada’s largest city.
Trump announces release of American detained in Russia, says no prisoner swap took place — 12:45 p.m.
By the Associated Press
The U.S. president said Tuesday that Robert Gilman, a Marine veteran who was detained in 2022, is being released on a “humanitarian basis” after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place,” Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Gilman is scheduled to land at Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night, Trump said. He is being accompanied on the plane back to the U.S. by his mother, Nancy.
“I just spoke to him, and he had one request — A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands,” Trump said in his post. “I will take care of that!”
Senator Markey says Gilman’s return was long overdue — 11:57 a.m.
By Chloe Craft, Globe Correspondent
Sen. Ed Markey, whose office has been working closely with Gilman’s family, said in a statement that while the news “is deeply welcomed, it is long overdue.”
“It is a tragedy that it took Robert’s near-death condition for his case to receive the attention that it required for his release to be negotiated,” Markey said. “I urge the Trump administration to use Robert’s case as motivation to continue to advocate for the release of others wrongfully detained in Russia and around the world.”
Gilman’s sister: ‘Why did they do this to such a wonderful person?’ — 11:54 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Gilman’s sister, Lexie Hudson, credited President Trump and Senator Ed Markey for the former Marine’s release.
“There is no other reason that Robert is alive today other than that President Trump heard about the case and took action,” said Hudson, who thanked Markey in the statement from Global Reach “for leading our advocacy efforts in Congress.”
“The Russians treated my brother so badly,” Hudson said. “They hurt him for no reason, other than that he was both an American and a Marine. What did they get out of this? Why did they do this to such a wonderful person?”
Russian hospital said Gilman’s condition was ‘dire and life-threatening’ — 11:37 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Those reports pushed the U.S. government into action and led to “a unilateral humanitarian release” by Russian officials, Eric Lebson said.
Gilman’s family flew to Texas to meet him, advocates say — 11:22 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Robert Gilman’s mother had been in Russia, attempting to see him there. Gilman had been in “a dissociative stupor” for 47 days due to the abuse he has suffered in prison, and was moved to a civilian hospital, where he was hooked up to a feeding tube and handcuffed to a bed, aid Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach.
Now he’ll be medically and psychologically assessed and treated at a U.S. military hospital, Lebson said.
The 32-year-old teacher was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance, and his sentence was extended last year to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards.
Sen. Edward Markey had called on Russia and the U.S. to work together to release the Massachusetts resident, one of at least 8 Americans who remained in Russian custody after a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges.
Mass. man freed from Russian prison after four years on Putin-approved pardon — 10:59 a.m.
By Chloe Craft, Globe Correspondent
Russia freed a former US Marine from Massachusetts Tuesday who has been imprisoned on disputed charges since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly approved a pardon on humanitarian grounds.
Robert Gilman and his sister, Lexie Hudson, in 2019.Uncredited/Gilman family via AP
Robert Gilman, of Lowell, is being released after his family said he was in a life-threatening, near catatonic state in a hospital in southwestern Russia.
US officials said Gilman was on a State Department plane from Russia to Washington Dulles Airport Tuesday morning, according to reporting by Reuters. One US official, who reportedly spoke to Gilman, said he was walking and talking.
“All things considered he seems to be in good shape,” the official told Reuters.
The officials, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said Gilman would be evaluated on the flight by a team of doctors. Gilman’s mother, Nina, was also on board the flight.
Iran war effect: Soaring US home prices and mortgage rates drag on sales — 10:56 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed again in July as record prices and the highest mortgage rates in a year prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for many prospective homebuyers.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that existing home sales fell 1.7% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units, and the median price increased 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100.
Sales remain sluggish as mortgage rates have mostly trended higher since the Iran war started. Expectations of higher inflation amid surging oil prices have pushed up the long-term bond yields lenders use to price home loans, causing mortgage rates to climb.
Russian attacks kill 10 in Ukraine as Zelensky says Moscow is getting more North Korean missiles — 10:41 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with missiles, drones and glide bombs Tuesday, killing at least 10 civilians, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow is getting more North Korean help to extend its 4-year invasion.
Zelensky said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in the overnight attack, and is preparing to deploy more of its troops to Russia. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un already sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of weapons to support Putin’s invasion.
Now Ukraine says Russia aims to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors, which worsened after US diplomacy to end the war fizzled and Washington turned its attention to the Iran war.
“Every step Russia takes — increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization — all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelensky said on social media.
An Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia on August 11, 2026.DARYA NAZAROVA/AFP via Getty ImagesTrump told Ukraine it had no cards. Then Kyiv took the war to Russia. — 10:25 a.m.
By the Associated Press
When Trump told the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office last year that he had “no cards” in the fight against Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy already had a bold plan to take the fight deep inside Russian territory.
While Trump was warmly welcoming President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and encouraging Ukraine to accept an unfavorable peace deal, Ukraine was smuggling drones for an attack that destroyed Russian bombers worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
And since then, Kyiv’s campaign of longer-range strikes has targeted Russian air defenses, oil infrastructure and military suppliers, embarrassing Putin and impressing Trump. When Trump and Zelenskyy met at a NATO summit in July, the American president said the Ukrainian leader had “been very effective” in the war.
An Associated Press analysis shows how Ukraine has shifted the narrative about the war in Washington, but it’s still not clear if it will be able to push Putin toward the negotiating table.
Houthi rebels attack vessel in Bab el-Mandeb, killing four — 10:04 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels fired missiles on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday and killed four people, Yemeni authorities said.
The transportation ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the dead included three Pakistani nationals and an Indonesian.
The ministry statement said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles on the Yemeni commercial vessel, and then fired another missile that targeted rescue teams, wounding a Yemeni rescuer.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down by Iran, there has been a renewed focus on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait at Yemen’s southern tip, which is an alternate route for Saudi Arabia to ship its oil.
Congressional Democrats probe alleged coordination between ICE and Iran to deport detainees — 9:41 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Adam Schiff are requesting access to all potential communications between two private immigration detention centers and Iranian diplomats, according to two letters shared with The Associated Press.
Iranian asylum seekers sued last month, alleging that the Department of Homeland Security endangered them by sharing details of their application records with the Iranian government.
The applicants said they were forced to meet with Iranian Interests Section officials who had confidential information about their claims of persecution in Iran for converting to Christianity, for their sexuality or for participating in the Women, Life, Freedom protests against the Iranian government, according to court filings.
“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” a DHS statement said.
Analysis: In rejecting Trump’s Gaza plan, Netanyahu reprises a balancing act he has mastered — 9:35 a.m.
By the Associated Press
It’s possibly the most important job of any Israeli prime minister: maintain good relations with the United States while pushing back on demands seen as undermining Israel’s security.
No one has managed the balancing act longer than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader.
But with the Iran war at a stalemate, and U.S. President Donald Trump looking to advance peace efforts elsewhere, Netanyahu’s task is getting harder less than three months away from Israeli elections.
On Sunday, Netanyahu rejected Trump’s latest plan to advance the stalled ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60% of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed — something the militant group controlling the other 40% has long resisted.
President Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Dec. 29, 2025.Alex Brandon/AP Photo/Alex BrandonHouthis hit Red Sea port city, threatening regional shipping — 9:04 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels renewed attacks Tuesday on government-controlled areas in Yemen as the violence threatened to reignite civil war and raised fears over new threats to regional shipping lanes.
Yemen’s military said the rebels targeted the government-held port city of Mokha and the central province of Marib with missiles and drones but did not provide further details. The Houthis also hit Mokha with missiles and drones over the weekend and killed at least seven people, it said.
The escalation by the Houthis against government forces in Yemen and oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia aims to threaten the kingdom’s alternative route for shipping its oil. The attacks could reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce, and open a new front in the Middle East war.
Iran and Germany’s foreign ministers describe their call — 9:00 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Iran’s Abbas Araghchi said on his Telegram channel that in a call with Germany’s Johann Wadephul late Monday, he had “emphasized that making the Strait of Hormuz secure requires an end to the United States’ aggressive actions and unlawful interventions, including the naval blockade and other violations of U.S. obligations.”
Wadephul said on X that he had emphasized “the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened unconditionally ensuring free and safe navigation for all.”
Iranian foreign minister underlines Tehran’s demands — 8:45 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran is insisting that the Strait of Hormuz won’t be reopened until the US meets its conditions, after Trump said he wants compensation from Iran “for all of the people that they have killed” in the past.
Abbas Araghchi told reporters that Iran has “astonished the whole world” in the war against the United States and Israel, proving “that it is a tough and invincible power.”
Iran effectively closed the strait by threatening shipping after Israel and the US attacked the country on Feb. 28.
Oil prices jumped, gasoline over $4 after Trump’s latest Iran war comments — 8:38 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Oil prices are settling in a state of uncertainty about when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to global energy supplies, after jumping about 7.5% since Trump scoffed at Iranian demands for compensation for war damage.
Motor club AAA says the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline ticked up overnight to $4.01.
Brent crude oil was trading at about $87.61 a barrel early Tuesday, and US benchmark crude at $82.19. Shares of major U.S. oil companies — including Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips — were close to unchanged after jumping 4.5% on Monday.
Higher oil prices mean consumers pay more for all manner of products as companies pay more for fuel to produce and transport goods. Accordingly, the main event for Wall Street this week will be Wednesday’s update on U.S. inflation.
Trump used elaborate ruse to fly out of Turkey following summit because of Iran threat, report says — 12:02 a.m.
By the Associated Press
President Trump secretly flew out of last month’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on an alternate military aircraft while the White House made it appear that the Republican president was flying on Air Force One, according to a report published by The Washington Post on Monday.
The Post said the operation was prompted by an Iranian assassination threat against Trump. The ruse was carried out as journalists and some White House staff members were led to believe they were on the same plane as the president as he began his journey back to Washington from the annual gathering of NATO country leaders.