☕️ Why the Pentagon changed Iran death toll

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Some headlines from this morning:

• The U.S. and Iran paused attacks for a second straight day Sunday as diplomatic efforts continued toward an interim ceasefire deal. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said President Trump is giving talks "some space," with negotiators engaged at all levels in recent days. A regional mediation official called the pause a "positive signal" for de-escalation efforts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday in response to the pause.

• Police shot and killed the suspect in Saturday's deadly Berlin Pride attack during a confrontation Sunday in a Berlin suburb. Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, had allegedly driven a van into a crowd near the festival before stabbing others with a machete, authorities said. The attack killed 1 person and injured 29 others. Prosecutors said Ballout had previously sought to join the Islamic State group. Police said he ran toward officers with a sharp instrument in Spandau before at least one shot was fired.

• French President Emmanuel Macron has called a crisis meeting over wildfires that have forced more than 300,000 people to flee their homes. The largest blaze, in France's Gironde region, has burned an area 4 times the size of Paris but remained "globally stable" overnight, the prefecture said. In Spain, wildfires around Madrid and Valencia forced 76,000 evacuations and confined 30,000 others to their homes. Macron said: "We will rebuild, we will repair, and we will be present for as long as necessary." A forecast temperature surge from Tuesday could complicate firefighting efforts, authorities said.

• At least 40 million people have spent the weekend under extreme heat warnings across the central and southern parts of the country, as a heat dome trapped high temperatures for a second straight day. Heat indexes topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit from Minnesota to Mississippi, with parts of the Southwest expected to reach 120 degrees, the National Weather Service said. Rapid City, South Dakota, hit an all-time high of 112 degrees Saturday.

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Three people were killed and four others injured in a shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival near the Space Needle on Sunday evening.

A suspect is in police custody, but authorities are still searching for a second person believed to have fired shots.

Here's what you need to know.

What happened

Police responded to 911 calls reporting a shooting at the Seattle Center at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday.

The three-day Bite of Seattle food festival, running since 1982, was expected to draw 350,000 attendees this year.

Witnesses said they heard 7 to 8 shots before people began to panic, with many sheltering in the nearby Space Needle.

2 people were killed immediately, and a third died later at the hospital.

Harborview Medical Center said it admitted a toddler, a 23-year-old man and 2 adult women among the wounded.

Manhunt continues

Police say they took 1 suspect into custody along with 2 weapons allegedly used in the shooting.

A second suspect remains at large.

Seattle Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis said investigators believe the 2 men were shooting at each other, and that bystanders were struck in the crossfire.

City reaction

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said in a statement: "What happened at the Seattle Center today was an act of horrific violence."

Wilson said: "In the days ahead, we will establish what happened and be transparent with the public about what we have learned."

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Four US service members have been removed from the official Iran War death toll and moved into a new category called 'Overseas Operations.'

The change comes as the war grows increasingly unpopular and raises questions about how officials are calculating casualties.

Here's what you need to know.

The Iran War so far

The US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The strikes followed collapsed talks over Iran's nuclear program. Iran retaliated with strikes on US-linked defense sites.

A temporary ceasefire held in April, and an interim deal to end the war followed in mid-June. That deal collapsed in early July, and both sides have continued fighting since.

How the death toll changed

Early last week, the Pentagon reported 18 deaths and 482 injuries from the war.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System, the official casualty tracker, now lists 14 dead and 420 wounded.

A new category called Overseas Operations was added, accounting for 4 more deaths and 207 additional injuries.

President Trump attended the return of the 4 troops now counted under Overseas Operations on Wednesday, in a dignified transfer ceremony.

Three were killed in a July 17 Iranian strike on a US base in Jordan, and 1 died in Iraq when a drone he was disarming exploded.

Trump said Thursday: "One is too many, but it's 18, whereas in Vietnam, we lost 200,000."

The Pentagon's response

Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said Thursday the change was due to "temporary data disruptions" and would be corrected soon.

The death toll was not corrected, and the Overseas Operations category was added Sunday, described as covering "operations casualties starting July 7th 2026," the day fighting resumed.

The Pentagon has not commented since. Officials have not held a press briefing since early May.

US Central Command now directs reporters to the Defense Casualty Analysis System for death toll updates.

Lawmakers and families push back

A group of Democratic senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Thursday demanding a "comprehensive accounting" of the war's death toll.

The senators wrote: "The American people, Congress, service members, and their families are entitled to a full and accurate accounting of the human costs of war."

The brother of one deceased service member told the New York Times the change reflected "gross incompetence" or "a deliberate attempt to mislead or mischaracterize reality."

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