Today is Tuesday, Aug. 4, the 216th day of 2026. There are 149 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 4, 2020, nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored for years in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring more than 7,000 and devastating nearby neighborhoods.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has put it in writing, issuing a formal order terminating President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate his political allies. The move follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination for the permanent job.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said Monday.
Editorials from The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – The head of U.S. Pacific Command said Monday that coercive actions by China and other actors are challenging regional stability, warning the United States will not allow any nation to dominate the Indo-Pacific.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has played this hand before during the 5-month-old Iran war. It starts with a grim warning to Tehran that the Republican president is on the cusp of ordering U.S. forces to “obliterate” its power plants or seize key parts of its oil industry if its leaders don’t quickly agree to U.S. terms to end the war.
News Minute – Video of Major World Affairs – August 3
Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia kills one and injures dozens, authorities say
CAIRO (AP) – After calling off a fresh round of strikes against Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that new talks to wind down the war would start Monday, even as Iranian officials claimed their diplomatic efforts were focused on neighboring nations.