U.S. seizes Iranian cargo ship. And, tariff refund portal launches

Two months after the Supreme Court ruled that most of Trump's tariffs were unconstitutional, the federal government has launched an online portal for business owners to request refunds. It is set to go live this morning. U.S. Customs has estimated it owes $166 billion in tariff refunds. The agency is launching only the first phase of payouts, so not all goods imported under the illegal tariffs will qualify immediately. Federal guidance says that after refund requests are approved, it could take 60 to 90 days for importers to get their money.

• 🎧 NPR's Scott Horsley says the refund process could be a scramble, as 330,000 businesses were wrongly forced to pay these tariffs. The process is supposed to be pretty straightforward and similar to what happens if someone accidentally overpays a tariff. But Customs has never tried to pay this many refunds all at once, Horsley says.

A gunman killed eight children and wounded two women in northwest Louisiana, according to the Shreveport Police Department. The incident stemmed from a domestic disturbance. The adult male suspect is dead, according to authorities. He was believed to be the father of seven of the children killed. One of the women shot was his wife and the mother of seven of the children, police say.

Living better

Wegovy and Zepbound are GLP-1 weight loss treatments. Medicines made by compounding pharmacies are also available and popular. JoNel Aleccia/AP

JoNel Aleccia/AP

Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Zepbound are intended for lifelong use to treat chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity. But many people who start them end up quitting, either because obesity treatment is framed as a limited-duration intervention or because of the cost, loss of insurance or side effects. Some plan to restart the medication later. Research has yet to reveal the health effects of cycling on and off these drugs.

• 💉Consumer behavior for GLP-1s is moving faster than research on the effects of their use in different situations. Limited research exists on the health effects of periodic use. But other studies show that weight regain after stopping GLP-1s is faster than with behavior-focused diets.
• 💉 Experts warn that temporary use of these drugs can undermine health by reducing lean muscle mass each time treatment is resumed.
• 💉While muscle loss is standard with any diet or weight-loss regimen, GLP-1s can cause more dramatic muscle loss, resulting in a bonier, looser-skinned look, says Mahmoud Salama Ahmed, a medical chemist at Texas Tech University.
• 💉 When people stop taking the drugs, they quickly regain fat. Meanwhile, Ahmed says it is unclear how — or how much — the muscle they lost will eventually return.

Picture show

rajeshwari, 44, grades the chile's she has picked in the fields. Her sharp eyes spot the pale white pods from the sea of red. "We sort and grade these chillies by hand," she says. "The ones with the rich red color are the best, but even though the paler ones are of poorer quality, we can still sell these at the market." Viraj Nayar for NPR

Viraj Nayar for NPR

On a searing hot day in Mattiyarenthal, a village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, women farmers toil over chile pepper plants as their sharp, pungent scent fills the air. Women carry out more than 70% of agricultural activities in the region. The women farmers say that the demanding nature of the work in the chile pepper fields discourages men. But for the women, the chile plant is a godsend. The few months of hard labor can earn enough extra income to keep their homes running for the rest of the year. See photos of these overlooked women farmers.

3 things to know before you go

An illustration provided by NASA depicts Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth. AP/NASA

AP/NASA

1. Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object ever built, is running out of power. NASA announced it has shut down one of the spacecraft's remaining scientific instruments to prolong its life.
2. Communities in the Midwest are cleaning up after tornadoes and severe storms tracked through parts of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri on Friday.
3. When Jay was 22 years old, a poor decision landed him in the county detention center. Sitting alone in his cell, he began to lose hope until an unsung hero in the cell next door asked to pray for him. The interaction happened nearly a decade ago, but Jay says he still thinks about that pivotal moment in his life.

This newsletter was edited by Treye Green