Vance hails ‘good day’ of Iran talks as US waives oil sanctions

Vice President JD Vance said talks with Iran over the weekend were “very, very good,” as the sides attempt to reach a peace deal within two months and formally end a war that’s reverberated through the global economy.

His comments echoed those from Iranian officials after all-night discussions in Switzerland, with Vance leading the U.S. team and Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, doing the same for the Islamic Republic.

Vance, speaking to reporters, dismissed criticism of last week’s interim agreement between the U.S. and Iran and said it would bring relief to Americans in the form of lower energy prices. He added that Tehran would buy American soy, wheat and corn with frozen funds it may be allowed to use as part of the deal.

“If Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people,” Vance said, explaining that the U.S. and Qatar would have approval over the process. It’s unclear if Iran agrees and the memorandum of understanding it signed with the U.S. last week states that the Iranian central bank will be able to designate the beneficiaries of unfrozen funds.

—Bloomberg News

'I got crushed': AI giants are funding ad wars in races across the country

In congressional races across the country, a new crop of super PACs is taking to the air with millions of dollars worth of advertisements to sway voters.

"President Trump said it best, 'Celeste Maloy will never let you down,'" says one advertisement supporting the Utah Republican representative in her upcoming primary election. "Standing up to big pharma, fighting for local jobs, Val Hoyle doesn't back down," says an ad backing the Oregon Democratic representative ahead of her primary victory last month.

The super PACs have nondescript names — such as Jobs and Democracy PAC and American Mission — and the text is so generic that it almost seems to have been created by artificial intelligence.

That isn't so far off the mark. The AI industry has funded the ads. One network of super PACs is linked to Anthropic, maker of the popular AI tool Claude, and the other to Open AI, maker of ChatGPT. They have been among the most prolific political spenders so far in the 2026 midterm elections, splashing out more than $37 million to date to influence races across the country and making the groups among the biggest outside spenders so far in congressional races.

—Los Angeles Times

Colorado River system continues slide toward crash, despite emergency actions sending water to Lake Powell

The two major reservoirs on the Colorado River face dire outlooks that will likely spur federal officials to restrict the amount of water flowing downstream — and decrease hydropower generation — in the coming months, even after they ordered recent emergency measures.

Projections released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation show that if dry conditions persist, Lake Powell’s water level could dip below a threshold called “minimum power pool” as soon as February. That’s the level below which water can no longer flow through the reservoir’s hydropower turbines.

Without intervention, the projections say, the lake will remain below the critical elevation for the foreseeable future.

The threat of Powell hitting that threshold — 3,490 feet in elevation — has hovered above federal water managers for months as the reservoir has continued to drop to record-low levels.

—The Denver Post

Did South Florida help decide Colombia’s election? See what voters are saying

For many Colombians in South Florida, the outcome of Colombia’s presidential election felt deeply personal.

As preliminary results showed conservative candidate Abelardo de la Espriella narrowly defeating leftist rival Iván Cepeda, supporters across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties poured into the streets waving Colombian flags, honking horns in long car caravans and chanting in scenes that mirrored celebrations unfolding simultaneously in Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla.

In Doral, Weston, Kendall and parts of Palm Beach County, yellow, blue and red flags fluttered from car windows as supporters drove through neighborhoods, many describing the moment as one of relief after what they viewed as four difficult years under President Gustavo Petro.

For members of the Colombian diaspora, the celebrations reflected more than partisan victory. Many said they felt their votes, cast over seven days, may have directly influenced the outcome.

—Miami Herald