Data center backlash midterms fight spreads as Iran attacks resume

The data center backlash midterms fight is no longer a local zoning scuffle, according to NBC News: it is now showing up in primaries, general election campaigns and even a presidential speech.

President Donald Trump’s economic remarks in Michigan on Monday were interrupted by demonstrators holding signs opposing data centers, NBC News reported. Candidates at the state and federal levels are also putting their positions on the developments into campaign advertising.

NBC News reported that polling shows broad public resistance to data centers being built near where people live, while research points to growing strength among groups organizing against the projects.

Why are data centers becoming a midterm issue?

For Democrats, NBC News reported, the political opening includes worries about environmental effects, possible job losses and broader suspicion of artificial intelligence and big corporations. The party is also splitting between candidates who want to slow development and those willing to allow expansion with restrictions.

Republicans are shifting, too. NBC News reported that more GOP figures are focusing on whether data centers could raise household electricity costs. Trump is among the Republicans taking that line, according to the network.

What happened between the U.S. and Iran?

Overnight attacks by Iran on U.S. forces in the Middle East ended several days of relative quiet, NBC News reported. The United States and Saudi Arabia responded by striking a Tehran-backed militia in Iraq, raising concern that the fighting could widen.

Iran had stopped attacks during renewed attempts to reach an agreement with Washington, NBC News reported. Earlier this week, Iran warned that it would not let the U.S. dictate the “timing of war and peace” and said the Strait of Hormuz remained “closed.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit a U.S. air base and a military command center in Jordan, state-run Nour News reported early Wednesday local time. Iran’s navy also struck three oil tankers that it said violated its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, according to state-run IRNA.

Fed weighs rates as prices stay hot

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate near 3.6% when its Federal Open Market Committee meeting ends today, NBC News reported. The decision is due this afternoon.

Inflation is still squeezing affordability, with NBC News pointing to Trump administration tariffs and higher energy costs tied to the Iran war. Inflation has stayed above the Fed’s 2% goal for more than five years, and traders expect a rate increase before year’s end, though Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has offered little signal about the central bank’s next step.

Pope Leo XIV keeps a summer tradition

About an hour from Rome, the papal summer retreat includes 135 acres of gardens with vineyards, olive groves, ancient ruins and an observatory, NBC News reported. The estate, alongside the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, has been used by popes for centuries, and Pope Leo XIV is continuing the custom.

Rev. Manuel “Manny” Dorantes told “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas during a tour of the Borgo Laudato Si’ gardens that popes have long gone there to rest, leave behind the rush of Rome and recharge. Pope Leo is set to lead a “Concert for Peace” there featuring an international choir and Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli.

Protein craze leaves cheese behind

NBC News business and economy intern Grace Thomas reported that America’s appetite for whey protein is pushing dairy processors to make record amounts of cheese, because whey production also produces cheese. Americans are not eating much more cheddar, NBC News reported, and the answer to where the extra goes lies with buyers abroad.

This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.