August 6, 2026

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 160.

• Reports say Iranian and Omani negotiators are close to finalizing a draft agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz, potentially creating a path for the resumption of talks between Iran and the United States. [more]
• Reuters cites unnamed Iranian and Gulf-region sources as saying Iran has urged Persian Gulf countries to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from launching renewed military strikes on Iran and warned that any such strikes would prompt retaliation against U.S. assets ​and energy facilities across the Gulf. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,622 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• The governor of Russia's Yaroslavl region said today that a major oil refinery in the region is on fire following a large Ukrainian drone attack overnight. [more]

U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL | The Senate voted, 51-44, yesterday to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz as the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Schwartz was President Donald Trump's third nominee for the position in the past 18 months. [more]

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY | Local and federal authorities say Jeanine John Taele, 38, was arrested Sunday near President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course as he pretended to be part of the security detail preparing for a visit by Trump. Taele was found to be in possession of several firearms. [more]

U.S. EPSTEIN INVESTIGATIONS | New Mexico filed a lawsuit yesterday accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of blocking the state from investigating sex crimes at a Santa Fe-area ranch formerly owned by late financier and convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit seeks judicial intervention to force the federal government to turn over materials to state investigators. [more]

U.S. PARASITIC ILLNESS | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday that the ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis – a parasitic illness characterized by diarrhea – has grown from nine states to 15. States in which cases have been recorded include Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. [CDC data] [more]

WASHINGTON | Emergency response officials said yesterday that firefighters, taking advantage of cooler weather, had established containment lines around the perimeters of all three fires affecting Spokane, Washington, but warned that hotter, drier, and more windy conditions are expected to return to the area late this week. [more]

UTAH | A federal judge ruled yesterday that Utah can enforce its strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket. [more]

U.S. AND MEXICO | The U.S. government yesterday offered a $25 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Juan Carlos González, a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen who has emerged as the alleged leader of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel. [more]

U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA | Days after local authorities urged residents to evacuate over concerns about a suspected leak, the U.S. military said today its investigations confirmed there was no white phosphorus leak at its Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. [more]

ISRAEL AND LEBANON | Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and four others were wounded, yesterday in an explosion in southern Lebanon. Reports note the deaths were the first Israeli casualties in Lebanon since the implementation of a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in June. [more]

NIGERIA | President Bola Tinubu said in a statement yesterday that Nigeria's military rescued at least 308 people abducted by militant groups in northern Nigeria in February. [more]

GERMANY | Security officials said yesterday that a drone loaded with explosives was found at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport this week. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who characterized the incident as "a new quality of danger," did not comment on who might have been responsible for placing the drone. [more]

GUATEMALA | Emergency officials in Guatemala say eruption of the country's Fuego volcano, which began early Monday, showed signs of weakening yesterday and that some of the 1,700 people evacuated from communities near the volcano have been allowed to return to their homes. [more]

RUSSIA | Russian state media reports that Vladimir Tkachuk, a high-profile supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and director of a factory that supplies drones to the Russian military, was severely injured yesterday when the car in which he was riding exploded. [more]

NORTH KOREA | South Korean and Japanese authorities say North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the waters off its east coast today in the latest of a series of weapons tests by the country this year. [more]

FINLAND | Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority granted an operating license earlier this week for what is planned to be the world's first permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel. A final operating permit for the repository in Eurajoki, on Finland’s west coast, is expected to be reviewed by government regulators later this year. [more]

SPACE | As predicted, a SpaceX rocket that launched a pair of lunar landers in January 2025 crashed into the moon yesterday near Einstein Crater. SpaceX said a combination of solar activity and gravity accidentally put the rocket on a collision course with the moon and that it is working with NASA to avoid future such wrecks. [more]

SOCCER | World soccer governing body FIFA yesterday apologized for errors made in organization president Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and committed to "ensure they do not happen again." FIFA senior staff also reaffirmed their "full support" for Infantino’s presidency. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan, as part of efforts to hasten the end of World War II. The bombing – the first-ever use of a nuclear weapon in armed conflict – killed more than 70,000 people and destroyed most of the city. [more history]