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🇮🇶 Baghdad’s press corps gets a new warning. Freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped Tuesday in the Iraqi capital, officials said. Iraqi authorities launched a search after gunmen used two vehicles in the abduction. One car crashed near Al-Haswa in Babil province during the pursuit. Kittleson was transferred into a second vehicle that escaped. The interior ministry said one suspect was arrested and one vehicle seized. An American official blamed Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia. Iraqi officials did not publicly assign responsibility themselves. The case lands in a country where militias, politics, and foreign influence already overlap too neatly. As it turns out in Baghdad, even reporting the story can become part of it.

🌍 Gulf royals want the war finished properly. Behind closed doors, Gulf allies including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are urging President Donald Trump to keep going. Officials from Kuwait and Bahrain have also argued against ending the campaign too soon. Their case is blunt. Iran has been hurt, but not decisively weakened. Some regional officials now see a rare opening to cripple Tehran’s clerical rule further. That marks a shift from earlier complaints that Washington gave them too little warning. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has privately argued that deeper degradation of Iran serves the Gulf’s long-term interests. Yet the same governments still fear strikes on their own energy infrastructure if the war drags on. The region wants Iran smaller, but not its own oil fields burning in the process.

✈️ Trump turns memory into real estate again. Ron DeSantis signed a bill clearing Palm Beach International Airport to be renamed after President Trump in July. The airport sits near Mar-a-Lago, so geography is already doing half the branding. Hours later, Trump himself posted a Truth Social video unveiling a Miami tower meant to house his presidential library. The design was less archive than spectacle. It featured a presidential jet in the lobby, a gold escalator, rooftop gardens, and a replica Oval Office. A ballroom also appeared, echoing the one he wants at the White House. The project website says only that it is coming soon and solicits donations. The takeaway message was patently unmistakable: memory, in Trump’s hands, is not a vault but a skyline.

🚢 Trump tells allies to guard their own oil. President Trump said keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is not America’s job. Countries that rely on the waterway, he argued, should protect it themselves. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharpened the point by telling partners to step up or learn to fight. Trump also said the military offensive could be over in two to three weeks. That optimism arrived while missiles still flew and Isfahan burned. The closure has already pushed average American gas prices above $4 a gallon. Tehran also struck a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Gulf. More than 3,000 people have died in the wider war, according to the report. According to its critics, Washington now wants the benefits of global order without paying the full patrol fee.

⚖️ Judge finally slows Trump’s ballroom fantasy. Federal Judge Richard Leon halted the $400M ballroom project after finding the administration likely exceeded its authority. His opinion was unusually blunt. The president, he wrote, is a steward of the White House, not its owner. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued after the East Wing was demolished for a 90,000-square-foot hall designed to seat 999 people. Leon paused the order for 14 days, anticipating an appeal and logistical complications. He also allowed security-related work to continue. President Trump responded angrily and said bunkers, medical facilities, and other defenses could still be built. The National Capital Planning Commission is still expected to meet Thursday. Even in a city built on grandiosity, this was a rare case of a courtroom telling a wrecking ball to wait.

💣 Live shell turned up in checked luggage. Police detained an American Marine after screeners found a live 25 mm explosive round in his checked bag. The munition was discovered Monday at Palm Springs International Airport. The Marine told investigators he found it in the field about a year ago and assumed it was inert. That assumption failed the X-ray. Because rust and corrosion had obscured the identifying paint, officers could not initially tell whether it was live. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team confirmed that it was. The round was taken to a desert area near Interstate 10 and safely destroyed. No one was injured. In an era of endless airport absurdity, this was the kind that still earns handcuffs.

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