Today's five.

The timing here is genuinely remarkable: the U.S. struck Iran on the same week Trump brokered a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. An American Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz Monday; by Tuesday afternoon, CENTCOM was hitting Iranian air defense and radar sites around the area. Iran retaliated with drones aimed at the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. Axios noted investigators hadn't even confirmed the downing was intentional before the strikes were ordered. Bloomberg led with the threat to peace talks. Time led with the strikes themselves. Both are right.

Running a Senate campaign on a scandal-plagued resume is apparently fine if you're the only progressive oyster farmer in the race. Platner won the Democratic primary in Maine despite some Democrats and independents souring on him — Politico notes his scandals have "left a bad taste," which is an oyster metaphor they probably earned. He'll face Susan Collins in November, and the NYT is already focused on what really matters in American politics: the money. Both candidates are strong fundraisers, and the super PACs are mobilizing. Collins has held that seat since 1997. Platner has held oysters.

Running for governor without a Trump endorsement in South Carolina turns out to be about as viable as it sounds. Nancy Mace conceded Tuesday after losing the Republican primary — a race she entered as a sitting congresswoman and exited without the one thing that apparently mattered more than any of that. Mace herself blamed her support for releasing the Epstein files as the reason Trump stayed out of it. Forbes led with the endorsement snub; The Daily Caller led with what it proved about Trump's grip on the party. Both were correct.

The Pentagon is making sure Cuba knows exactly who's watching. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to Tampa and Guantanamo Bay as part of the Trump administration's ongoing push for regime change in Cuba — a trip that's equal parts logistics and message. NBC 6 framed it as continued pressure; WSVN went straight to "regime change," which is a different kind of sentence. Guantanamo has always been as much symbol as facility, and showing up there isn't subtle. The administration appears to be fine with that.

For nearly four years, Dr. Stacy Seyb has been sending high-risk patients out of state to get care he used to provide himself — because Idaho's near-total abortion ban doesn't carve out enough room for the complicated pregnancies he specializes in. His federal lawsuit is asking for medical exemptions that would let him treat those cases at home. He testified on the first day of trial. It's one of several legal challenges to Idaho's ban. The patients leaving the state aren't seeking abortions so much as they're seeking medicine, which is the distinction at the center of all of this.