U.S. Launches Second Day Of Strikes On Iran

BELFAST - Police used a water cannon on a second night of unrest in Northern Ireland after a viral video of a stabbing set off anti-immigrant protests and fires across Belfast. Masked crowds threw bottles and rocks, blocked roads, and torched homes and vehicles. Authorities say the suspect, a Sudanese man, is due in court Wednesday. The internet did the rest.

OTTAWA - Canada has introduced a bill that would ban social media for children under 16, with exemptions for platforms that meet safety standards. The move follows Australia’s ban and comes after Ottawa’s earlier effort to push tech companies to protect young users collapsed under civil-liberties criticism. France, Denmark and Poland are circling the same idea. The internet, as usual, is not making this easy.

BARCELONA - Pope Leo XIV is blessing the newly completed central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família on Wednesday, then celebrating Mass inside the basilica that is now the world’s tallest church. The 172.5-meter tower caps a project that has taken 144 years. The visit also marks 100 years since Antoni Gaudí’s death, and crowds were already lining the route hours early.

BRUSSELS - Only 11% of Europeans across 15 countries now see the United States as an ally, a historic low in a new European Council on Foreign Relations poll. Majorities in every country surveyed said they do not think Washington would come to their aid if attacked. Half now call the U.S. a necessary partner. Many expect relations to improve after Trump leaves office.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump brushed off a 4.2% jump in US consumer prices in May, the fastest annual pace in three years, and said, “I love the inflation.” He argued prices will fall “like a rock” once the Iran war ends, tying the outlook to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, China factory-gate prices rose at the fastest rate in four years.

WASHINGTON - U.S. consumer prices rose 4.2% in May, the fastest annual pace since April 2023, as higher energy costs kept pushing the inflation gauge higher. Economists had expected that. The Federal Reserve meets later this month, and it will have to decide whether to treat this as a one-month jolt or a more stubborn problem. Gasoline did most of the heavy lifting, which is not the kind of help anyone wanted.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Wednesday declined to block the Trump administration’s $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, saying the government’s promise not to move ahead made the case look moot. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also warned the Justice Department not to “play possum” with the court. The ruling is an early win for the administration, but the fund is not exactly out of the woods yet.

WASHINGTON - President Trump signed a $70 billion bill Wednesday to fully fund immigration enforcement agencies through the rest of his term, ending a months-long fight that had stalled ICE and Border Patrol money on Capitol Hill. The House passed the measure 214 to 212 after the Senate cleared it last week. Democrats called it a blank check. Trump called the agencies heroes and said the fight was over.

NEW YORK - Elliott Hill came out of retirement to revive Nike. Twenty months later, investors are learning the fix will take years, not quarters. The stock has fallen more than 45 percent since he took over, a reminder that brand repair is slower than the market's patience. Hill was brought back to steady the company. So far, the market is not impressed.

CUPERTINO - SpaceX's initial public offering has attracted demand for more than four times the available shares, according to people familiar with the matter. That is a strong start, but it is also the sort of number that can get people talking before the price is even set. Bloomberg's Michael Hytha says the latest developments are still moving.

NEW YORK - The Spurs made the Finals interesting again Monday, beating the Knicks 115-111 at Madison Square Garden to cut New York's series lead to 2-1. Victor Wembanyama had 32 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns was scoreless in the fourth quarter for the third straight game. Game 4 is Wednesday, and the Knicks now have to prove this was a wobble, not a trend.

NEW YORK - The city canceled the planned Game 4 watch party outside Madison Square Garden after Monday night’s postgame violence left eight people arrested and five officers hurt. The NYPD kept a security perimeter around the arena in place, and Knicks owner James Dolan blamed Mayor Zohran Mamdani for freezing out fans. Mamdani said MSG had requested a ticketed permit, then pulled the plug.

ATLANTA - Drake London signed a four-year, $141 million extension with the Falcons on Monday, then spent Tuesday talking like a player who knows the bill is coming due. The deal keeps him in Atlanta through 2030 and makes him the NFL's third-highest paid receiver. London said the money changes the expectations, not the work. He has led the Falcons in receiving yards in three of four seasons, and he is still chasing a bigger finish.

HOLLYWOOD - Glenn Close and Ridley Scott will get honorary Oscars at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Nov. 15, a long-delayed nod for two of Hollywood’s most decorated also-rans.

Close has eight acting nominations and no wins. Scott has four nominations and no competitive Oscar. The Academy is also honoring Disney animator Floyd Norman and producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. For Close and Scott, it is the kind of recognition that arrives after the argument has mostly ended.

LONDON - Shakespeare’s *Hamlet* is heading back to the stage with Radiohead’s 2003 album *Hail to the Thief* threaded through it. *Hamlet Hail to the Thief* opens at the Barbican Theatre on Oct. 31 and runs through Jan. 23, 2027, after sold-out runs in Manchester and at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Thom Yorke reworked the songs for a cast of musicians and actors. Samuel Blenkin returns as Hamlet, and Yorke says he is glad it will reach a wider audience in such an intense space.

TOKYO - Australian production company Titantale Film is mid-shoot on *Tanabata: The Evening of the Seventh*, a supernatural romance starring Yamada Takayuki. The film moves through Edo-period Japan, 1865 New South Wales and 2027 Australia, following three versions of the same souls through love and possession. Gillian Roberts wrote and is directing; Sabin Gnawali is producing. The second block began in Japan in May, with an Australia shoot set for October. Yamada, of *The Naked Director*, leads the cast.