The Feed — Political Takes, Live

Asked about Iran “trying to take over” the Strait of Hormuz, the President said flatly: “Well, we’re taking over the strait” — confirming the reimposed blockade and a 20 per cent toll on all vessels transiting the waterway.

CENTCOM confirmed a fourth consecutive night of strikes hit military targets across Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas — the broadest geographic spread of the campaign to date.

A federal judge found that President Trump and his family acted in bad faith in bringing their $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS — a scathing rebuke that puts the $1.8 billion settlement fund and the president’s own audit freeze in doubt.

Burnham’s nomination tally reached 349 on Tuesday — more than 85 per cent of Labour MPs — with the window closing 6pm Wednesday and aides briefing that some Number 10 functions could move to Manchester.

Brent cleared $83 and WTI approached $78 — a four-week high — as desks began pricing the Hormuz toll as a standing cost of Gulf crude rather than a war premium that fades with a ceasefire.

Officials said the fourth wave, beginning at 4:45pm Eastern and running five hours, aimed to further degrade Iran’s capacity to strike commercial shipping — the broadest target list of the campaign so far.

Kuwait said an Iranian drone attack on a US military site struck a Patriot missile battery, fuel tanks, a watchtower, an ammunition depot and communications systems — the most direct hit yet on American hardware in the Gulf.

Indian officials confirmed they were seeking full details on the Indian national killed aboard the UAE-flagged tanker struck in Omani waters, and consular access for the eight crew members wounded in the same attack.

Paul renewed his long-standing demand for a congressional vote before any blockade or transit-toll authority is exercised, arguing that charging foreign shipping to use an international strait edges the mission from war-fighting toward open-ended occupation.

Team Burnham confirmed 27 further nominations arrived Monday alone, pushing the total to 349 and leaving barely sixty Labour MPs who have not yet publicly declared — with a swearing-in as early as July 20 now under discussion.

Officials familiar with the transition planning said Angela Rayner’s interim premiership is being framed internally as a bridge rather than a mandate, with handover logistics already under discussion ahead of a confirmed Burnham win.

Aides said discussions are underway to relocate elements of the Downing Street operation to Manchester — leaning into the “King of the North” branding that carried Burnham from the mayoralty to the brink of Number 10 in under two months.

Farage’s party continues organising its summer around the August 13 by-election he called on himself, treating Thursday’s Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner vote as a bellwether for its rural advance.

Officials confirmed President Trump will not veto the bipartisan housing bill, allowing it to become law without his signature after Congress failed to deliver the elections-overhaul legislation he had demanded in exchange for his support.

Supporters called the measure “the biggest housing legislation in more than 30 years, and the biggest affordability win for the American people in this Congress” — credit claimed without a signing ceremony to share it.

The Governor’s office confirmed Darline Graham Nordone accepted appointment to serve out her late brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate term, maintaining Republican control of the seat ahead of a future special election.

Thirteen days remain: with Graham Platner out of the Senate race, party officials must still submit a replacement nominee by July 27 for the seat facing Susan Collins in November.

Monday’s 9.4 per cent surge in WTI held through Tuesday’s open rather than reversing — a pattern traders read as conviction that the toll represents a durable repricing, not a one-day panic spike.

Crossings through the strait fell by roughly 52 per cent between July 10 and July 12 compared with the previous week — a decline that predates Tuesday’s toll and reflects both danger and rerouting.

Underwriters who had held Gulf premiums relatively steady through weeks of strikes now face a disabled tanker, a missing crewman and a fatal strike within the same fortnight — and expect another leg higher in rates before the week is out.

The bar on all Iranian oil transactions still takes effect at 12:01am Eastern on Friday, July 17 — a sanctions deadline now arriving in the middle of a blockade, a toll and a rising casualty count.