August 4, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Palestinian health officials say at least 33 people seeking food were killed by Israeli forces yesterday as crowds rushed toward aid distribution sites in Gaza. [more]
• According to Iranian state media, Iran has established a new defense council to formulate defensive plans and improve the country's military capabilities following the recent war with Israel and the United States. Members of the new Supreme National Defense Council will include President Masoud Pezeshkian, the speaker of Parliament, the head of the judiciary, the chiefs of military branches, and others. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,257 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian officials say debris from a downed Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil depot near Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi overnight into Sunday. Reports say more than 120 firefighters are involved in battling the blaze. [more]
• Just days after their independence was restored, two Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies said Saturday that they had uncovered a major graft scheme involving inflated military procurement contracts. Reports say four people have been arrested in the case so far and that Ukrainian National Guard servicemen were among those involved in the graft scheme. [more]

U.S. EMPLOYMENT | The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that U.S. employers added a much-lower-than-expected 73,000 jobs in July and revised the May and June job gains numbers significantly downward. The BLS report also indicated that the U.S. has lost 37,000 manufacturing jobs since the Trump administration launched its new round of trade tariffs in April. President Trump responded to the statistics by suggesting they were rigged and by calling for Bureau of Labor Statistics director Erika McEntarfer to be fired. [full BLS report] [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | The Associated Press reports that over the past three months, the U.S. Justice Department has requested copies of voter registration lists from election administrators in at least 15 states and has requested from one state, Colorado, all records relating to the 2024 and 2020 elections. Analysts say the DOJ requests have raised concern over potential attempts at interference in states' constitutional authority to run elections and violations of federal laws on privacy and data sharing. [more]

U.S. VACCINATIONS | Multiple top U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, were told last week that they would no longer be involved in establishing vaccine recommendations and policies in coordination with the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Reports say at least some of the groups were told by government officials that they are "special interest groups and therefore are expected to have a 'bias' based on their constituency." [more]

U.S. SENATE | The Senate adjourned for its month-long August recess on Saturday without reaching a deal on advancing dozens of President Donald Trump's nominees for various federal offices. Responding to the adjournment, Trump posted on social media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer could "go to hell," and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the chamber could consider rule changes that would allow speedier confirmations. [more]

U.S. SCIENCE FUNDING | A federal judge declined on Friday to order the National Science Foundation to immediately restore hundreds of millions of dollars in research and grant funding to scientists in several states that was withheld under Trump administration policies. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Cronan said the NSF could continue withholding the funds while related court proceedings play out. [more]

TEXAS | Amidst Republican plans to redraw the state's congressional district maps as part of efforts to help maintain Republican control of the House of Representatives following the 2026 mid-term elections, dozens of Texas Democratic legislators left the state over the weekend to ensure the state House would not have a quorum when it meets later today. Gov. Greg Abbott said yesterday that he would try to remove the absent lawmakers from office if they don't return by today. [more]

GLOBAL POLLUTION | As delegates from 170 countries meet today in Switzerland as part of attempts to negotiate a global plastics treaty, a group of scientists and doctors warned in a report in the Lancet yesterday that global plastic pollution is a "grave, growing, and under-recognized danger to human and planetary health." [full report] [more]

YEMEN | Officials at the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration say a boat carrying migrants capsized yesterday in the waters off Yemen's coast, killing at least 68 people and leaving 74 others missing. [more]

BANGLADESH | Student-led demonstrations were held across the capital Dhaka yesterday to mark the one-year anniversary of the ousting of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The rallies come amidst political uncertainty over the timing of the country's next elections and concern about the country's tenuous movement toward a democratic transition. [more]

INDIA AND PHILIPPINES | Amidst regional tensions over China's increased assertiveness in the region, India and the Philippines began two days of joint naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea yesterday. Reports say the Chinese navy monitored the exercises but did not interfere with them. [more]

MEXICO | Authorities in Mexico's Veracruz state say seven inmates were killed, and 11 others were injured, in riots at Tuxpan prison Saturday night, but that fires set by some of the inmates have been extinguished and order has been restored at the facility. [more]

GLOBAL OIL PRODUCTION | Citing a steady global economic outlook and low oil inventories, members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries agreed yesterday to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day in September, suggesting a potential decrease in oil and gasoline prices for consumers. [more]

AVIATION INDUSTRY | Following failed contract talks, 3,200 workers at Boeing facilities in Missouri and Illinois that produce fighter jets went on strike at midnight last night. [more]

GOLF | Japan's Miyu Yamashita shot a final-round 2-under-par 70 yesterday to win the Women's British Open and claim the first major title of her career. [more]

MORE GOLF | Cameron Young won his first PGA Tour event yesterday, finishing with a 2-under-par 68 to win the Wyndham Championship by six shots. [more]

BASKETBALL | A group led by Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has reportedly reached a deal to purchase the Connecticut Sun for $325 million and move the WNBA franchise to Boston. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $40 million in receipts, followed by "The Bad Guys 2" and "The Naked Gun." [more]

R.I.P. | Actress Loni Anderson, best known for her role on the 1970s and 80s hit television comedy "WKRP in Cincinnati," died yesterday at the age of 79. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents, and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. Anne and her sister, Margot, later died at Nazi Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. [more history]