Sunday, August 2, 2026
Saturday, August 1, 2026
'Iran state media ridicules Trump over decision to halt planned strike'
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB on Saturday mocked President Donald Trump after he said he had agreed to cancel a planned attack on Iran, portraying the decision as a retreat from his threats of military action.
IRIB said Trump had “once again retreated from his rhetoric and threats” against Iran, calling him a “warmongering US president.”
The broadcaster said Trump’s decision showed Washington had been forced to reconsider its plans, saying the move followed pressure from Iran and other regional countries.
'Iran’s hardline daily criticizes Pezeshkian for failing to adopt a ‘wartime posture’'
Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper criticized President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government on Sunday for failing to adopt a “wartime posture.”
“The economy and people’s livelihoods are an integral part of hybrid warfare. Yet, despite more than 150 days having passed since the war began, we still see no wartime posture in the Pezeshkian government,” said the newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by the Supreme Leader.
It also criticized parliament for failing to adjust its approach adequately to the war and said some government officials continued to create distractions.
'Iran forces implementing Supreme Leader’s orders on Hormuz, MP says'
Iran’s armed forces are implementing Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s orders on managing the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, the spokesperson for parliament’s national security committee said on Sunday.
Explaining Tehran’s opposition to a southern Omani corridor through the strait, Hassan Ghashghavi said tankers using the route could carry fuel for US and Israeli aircraft, while commercial vessels could be used to transport military equipment and weapons to US bases in the region.
He said Iran would have no ability to monitor or control such traffic, making the proposed corridor incompatible with its national security.
Russia: 635 Ukrainian drones downed overnight
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced early on Sunday that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 635 drones during the past night in one of the largest Ukrainian drone raids in recent times.
According to the ministry, the drones were downed over multiple regions in western and southwestern Russia, as well as the waters of the Azov and Black seas.
The attack on the Saratov region resulted in two deaths and damage to infrastructure. Reports of an oil refinery being struck are still unverified.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Russia:-635-Ukrainian-drones-downed-overnight/66830939
Wildfires trigger statewide emergency in Washington
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency as massive wildfires engulfed the Evergreen State.
"Our record-setting drought and high winds are creating dangerous conditions across the state," Ferguson said in a statement. Several large fires broke out near Spokane in eastern Washington and have since spread to other areas. The Washington National Guard has mobilized to assist with the situation.
The authorities expanded the evacuation order in Northwest Spokane, urging residents to leave immediately.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Wildfires-trigger-statewide-emergency-in-Washington/66830921
Russia says it strikes Ukraine's fuel tanks in Odessa port
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday that the country's Armed Forces struck several vessels in Ukrainian ports and in the Black Sea, including multiple fuel tanks in Odessa's port that stored fuel allegedly intended for the use of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to the ministry's report, the Russian military destroyed fuel tanks in Odessa's port, a sea tugboat used for unmanned boats in Nikolaev's port, and a dry cargo ship with military equipment in the Black Sea, eight kilometers from Ukraine's village of Zatoka. The attacks were conducted with "high-precision" air-launched weapons and attack drones.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Russia-strikes-Ukraine's-fuel-tanks-in-Odessa-port/66831066
'NJ Offers Taxpayer-Funded Legal Services To Noncitizens Improperly Registered To Vote'
This week, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill revealed that more than 6,600 noncitizens ended up on its voter rolls, with nearly 400 of them casting ballots between June 2023 and June 2024.
Despite saying the situation is unacceptable and claiming that she is being proactive to fix it, her administration has also begun steering the same noncitizens toward taxpayer-funded legal help.
Sherrill promptly blamed the software vendor, IDEMIA, for the problem.
"Let me be clear: this entire situation is unacceptable," Sherrill said Tuesday. "It's unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error, it's unacceptable that the MVC took a year to get this issue fixed and it's unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability or took action when it happened years ago."
However, they dispute her characterization and have offered a different characterization of who was responsible.
"IDEMIA works with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and has for more than 40 years, to support the process through which eligible individuals may indicate their interest in registering to vote when applying for or renewing a driver's license or state-issued identification card," the company said in a statement. According to IDEMIA, New Jersey's own Division of Elections, the body charged with validating and adjudicating every registration IDEMIA passed along, is ultimately responsible.
MVC is even switching to a new vendor. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security reported that roughly 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote across four states - California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. New Jersey accounted for 35,152 of those registrations, more than five times the 6,600 figure Sherrill's administration has acknowledged. The gap suggests the state has disclosed only a portion of the problem, and it raises the question of how the smaller number became the official one. Note that DHS has not publicly detailed its methodology for the higher figure, and fact-checkers have treated the larger claims with caution.
New Jersey's website now tells noncitizens who were improperly registered to vote to contact the Division of Elections or their county's Commissioner of Registration to have their names removed.
"A recently discovered error in a vendor's software revealed that approximately 6,600 people were improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024 after completing a transaction at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission," the page states. "These individuals indicated they were not United States citizens, and they did not attest to being eligible to vote during this transaction. But the software erroneously transmitted these individuals for voter registration processing regardless."
The same page points them, along with other affected residents, to legal resources through the Office of New Americans. Among those resources is pro bono legal representation through New Jersey's Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, a state-funded program that provides defense against deportation proceedings.
That means New Jersey taxpayers are funding legal defense, through a deportation-focused program, for noncitizens who were registered to vote and, in hundreds of cases, actually voted. Federal law prohibits all noncitizens - whether unauthorized or lawfully present (such as green-card holders or temporary visa holders) - from voting in federal elections. The available public information confirms these individuals indicated they were noncitizens; it does not break down how many of the 6,600 (or of those who voted) lacked legal authorization to reside in the United States.
The Sherrill administration also indicated this week that it will not turn over the names of the noncitizens who were registered to vote to the Trump administration, citing privacy concerns.
Sherrill's account leaves the state with a tidy narrative: a defective vendor, a fix already underway, and a governor who inherited the mess. The DHS figures complicate that narrative considerably, and the state's own disclosures have not yet accounted for the difference between 6,600 and 35,152. Until they do, the full scope of noncitizen registration in New Jersey remains an open question.
Gunman Targets Tesla Supercharger And In-N-Out In Twin Falls, Killing Two
Two people are dead and five more are injured after a gunman opened fire at a Tesla charging station and an In-N-Out Burger in Idaho.
Fox News reports;
Multiple people are dead after a shooting at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho. Police say the suspected gunman is also dead following what authorities described as a "very chaotic" active shooter scene. Authorities are still working to identify the victims and notify their families before releasing the total number of fatalities. Several others were taken to the hospital with injuries. Investigators have not identified the suspect or released a possible motive.
Footage shows a civilian used his Second Amendment right to repel the shooter.
Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks said the "threat to the community is over" during a press conference at 5:45 p.m. local time. He said the gunman was also killed.
*Developing...
'Investigation reports Swedish crime network Foxtrot's ties to Iran'
The Foxtrot Network a Swedish criminal organization has been used to carry out attacks linked to Iran, while recruiting teenagers through social media to conduct murders and other operations across Europe, according to a BBC News investigation published Saturday.
The report said Foxtrot has been linked to about 35 killings since 2022, as well as attacks targeting Israeli interests in Europe, including incidents involving explosives and hand grenades. Europol officials told the investigation that the network recruits young people through a "gamified" system that mimics computer games.
The report cited Swedish investigative journalist Diamant Salihu as saying Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid relocated to Tehran in 2023 and reached an arrangement with Iranian authorities that allowed him to remain in Iran in exchange for cooperation with the network.
Swedish police believe some Foxtrot operations were carried out on behalf of Iran, including a hand grenade attack targeting the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, the report said. The network has also been linked to attacks against Iranian dissidents and journalists opposed to Tehran.
The UK sanctioned Majid and the Foxtrot Network in 2025. Swedish authorities are seeking the extradition from Iraq of Ali Shehad Ahmed, whom Swedish police accuse of being a key Foxtrot operative involved in coordinating attacks.
US canceled Iran attack after deal framework reached, Trump says
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he agreed to cancel a planned attack on Iran after Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries requested a pause, saying the sides had agreed on the “perimeters” of a deal that would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending Iran’s nuclear threat.
“The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL. The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE,” he added.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 2, 2026
'Capital One says it closed Trump Organization's accounts after anti-money laundering probe'
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) said it closed more than 300 Trump Organization-affiliated accounts after a months-long review by its anti-money laundering team, according to a court filing reported by Reuters.
The filing represents the first time a bank has formally linked anti-money laundering concerns to its decision to end services for President Donald Trump's family business.
Capital One did not accuse the Trump Organization of illegal money laundering. The bank said the closures followed internal policies and regulatory guidance after specialists examined activity associated with the accounts.
According to the filing, transaction patterns identified during the review were among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance.
The lender notified the Trump Organization in March 2021 that it planned to close the accounts.
The Trump Organization and Eric Trump filed a lawsuit in a Florida federal court in March 2025. They alleged that Capital One terminated the relationship for political reasons following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
A federal court in Miami has dismissed two earlier versions of the complaint but allowed the plaintiffs to submit amended filings.
Capital One asked the court to dismiss the latest complaint, filed in July, saying it contained the same fundamental flaws as the earlier versions. It described allegations of political motivation as misguided and based on selective quotations taken out of context.
The dispute comes amid growing political scrutiny of bank account closures. Trump signed an executive order in August 2025 prohibiting financial institutions from denying services to customers on political or religious grounds.
In January, the president filed a separate lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), also alleging discriminatory debanking.
Trump previously sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank AG NA O.N. (NYSE:DB) in 2019 in an attempt to prevent them from providing financial records to Congress during an investigation led by Democratic lawmakers.
The Trump Organization and Capital One did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/capital-one-says-trump-organization-011610638.html
Sunday talkies: Whitaker, Moreno, Turner, Jordan, RFK Jr, Kennedy
Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures”: U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday”: Panel: Franco Ordoñez, John Tamny and Jessica Taylor.
ABC’s “This Week”: Panel: Donna Brazile, Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Michelle Cottle and Doug Heye.
CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio).
CNN’s “State of the Union”: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (Okla.).
Election auditor says over 200,000 votes cast in NYC mayoral election are suspicious
Evidence suggesting that there were tens of thousands of fraudulent votes cast in the New York City mayoral election has been brought forward by an election integrity activist, whose report claims that the margin of victory that socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani won by is below the number of votes that the report brings into question.
Marly Hornik, founder of RealAmerica.Vote as well as NY Citizens Audit released a report claiming that there were a large number of nonexistent or unqualified voters in the New York mayoral election. In an interview with "Sid & Friends in the Morning" program on New York radio station WABC, Hornik said, “I actually don’t know whether Mamdani won the mayoral race, and I’m not here to say that he didn’t."
“The problem we uncovered is that the New York City and the New York State Boards of Elections have no idea if Mamdani won the mayoral election either. And that’s where the rubber meets the road here," she added.
After looking at around 1 million votes cast in the election, the organization found that 7 percent (68,441) were from nonexistent records, 6 percent (59,104) fell into the 773-999 range of Social Security numbers which they claim are not possible, 10 percent do not live in the Big Apple (91,504), and 1 percent (9,340) have no SSN.
“So out of 2.2 million voters, we studied about a million of them, and we found more votes that are apparently illegal than his margin of victory,” she added.
The report claimed that there were about 228,000 votes that were cast that can be brought into question, and broke them down into four categories, voters that do not exist, voters with Social Security numbers in the range of 773-999, voters that are not in New York City, and voters without a Social Security number. The total vote tally the New York election was just over 1.1 million votes going to Mamdani with the runner up Andrew Cuomo getting 906,614 votes, per Ballotpedia.
Mamdani's margin of victory in the New York mayoral race was 207,570, which would be less than the 228,000 votes in question from Hornik.
Source: Real America Vote
It is notable that according to the Social Security Administration, it is possible to have a Social Security number between 773 and 899 after 2011, because "previously unassigned area numbers were introduced for assignment excluding area numbers 000, 666 and 900-999" in 2011. Those who would be able to vote with those numbers would have to be immigrants that became citizens and not natural born Americans, as those born after 2011 would not have been old enough to vote.
Only up to 2011, were there exclusions in the 773-899 range.
Hornik's organization used LexisNexis in order to determine the number of voters that they claim fell into the "do not exist" category, but it is unclear how the other data was obtained. The report states that Real America Vote "performed the research in a commercial law enforcement database designed to screen for false identities and precise location."
Disease Caused By Cyclospora Parasite Now In 45 States: CDC
A disease caused by a parasite called Cyclospora has been recorded in 45 states this summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update.
Delaware, Oregon, South Dakota, and Vermont have now logged cases of cyclosporiasis, the disease, the CDC said on July 28.
The CDC in its previous update had said 41 states had reported cases.
The number of confirmed cases across the 45 states since May 1 is up to 6,707, according to the CDC.
More than 11,500 other cases have been reported but are pending laboratory confirmation or “further investigation and analysis, such as ruling out international travel,” the CDC said.
The agency is not counting cases involving international travel or probable cases.
Patients have ranged in age from 1 to 98, with a median age of 44.
“We estimate a 6-week reporting lag between illness onset and case reporting to CDC, so we anticipate that case counts will continue to rise as data are received,” the CDC said.
As Zachary Steieber reports for The Epoch Times, cyclosporiasis typically appears in the summer, but the number of cases this year is much higher than normal. The main symptom of the disease is diarrhea.
Cyclospora is present in produce contaminated with feces.
Federal officials have said that the cases in nine states are linked to contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms that was served at Taco Bell, while officials in North Carolina suspect parsley and cilantro as causes in addition to lettuce.
More than 400 of the people whose cases have been confirmed have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
A sign at a Taylor Farms facility in Salinas, Calif., on July 17, 2026. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images
The Oregon Health Authority said in a statement that two Oregon residents recently developed cyclosporiasis cases after traveling to other states “involved in the recent nationwide recall of pre-shredded iceberg lettuce associated with the outbreak.” So far, authorities there said, the number of cases in the state is up to 23 this year, which is lower than the numbers reported in 2025 and 2024.
Officials in Delaware, South Dakota, and Vermont have not provided information on the cases in those states.
Diners Avoid Restaurants
Traffic is down at Taco Bell and other restaurants in recent weeks.
Foot traffic at Taco Bell dropped by 20.8 percent on Thursday, July 23, from the Thursday average between January 1 and July 6, according to data from Placer.ai.
Foot traffic was also down by 12.2 percent at salad chain Chopt; 1.4 percent at Chipotle Mexican Grill; and 3.1 percent at Panera Bread on July 23, compared to the prior six-month average for Thursdays, the analytics company said.
A Taco Bell fast food restaurant in Taylor, Mich., on July 14, 2026, Paul Sancya/AP Photo
Chipotle declined to comment on the decline, while Taco Bell, Chopt, and Panera Bread did not respond to requests for comment. Taco Bell has said it removed lettuce from Taylor Farms, which recalled the lettuce under direction from the Food and Drug Administration, from its restaurants as of July 17.
Paul Sellew, CEO and founder of Little Leaf Farms, which grows lettuce in the eastern United States, said worries about infections have driven down sales by double digits.
“The entire fresh produce category at retail is down,” Sellew said. “The consumer has been motivated by fear.”
According to market research firm NielsenIQ’s data, U.S. unit sales for fresh lettuce in the week ending July 18 were down 9 percent from a week earlier and 19 percent from two weeks before.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/disease-caused-cyclospora-parasite-now-45-states-cdc
'MbS opposes Trump's Iran plan: Axios'
Saudi Arabia's Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman urged President Trump during a phone call to de-escalate and cancel upcoming military strikes against Iran, according to Axios.
Riyadh cautioned Washington that massive new attacks risk triggering an unprecedented regional escalation that could severely impact energy and infrastructure facilities across the Gulf. Other countries, including Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan, are working to calm tensions and reopen the blocked shipping lanes.
Even though the United States and Saudi Arabia recently targeted regional militias together, Saudi leaders claimed diplomacy is better than war.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/MbS-opposes-Trump's-Iran-plan/66830807
Bond vigilantes are doing the Fed's dirty work
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Bond investors tightened the screws anyway.
The 30-year Treasury yield climbed another 6 basis points Friday to 5.27%, its highest since 2007. Two days earlier, Warsh had sounded almost pleased that markets were doing some of the work.
"At some level, we haven't done much in 42 days," he said on Wednesday. "The markets have done quite a bit."
Warsh is betting markets can do part of the Fed's job. The central bank controls the overnight interest rate — the shortest end of the yield curve. Investors set longer-term Treasury yields, which help determine the rates households pay for mortgages and companies pay to borrow.
The Fed has held its overnight rate target at 3.5% to 3.75% throughout 2026. But since Warsh's first meeting in June, the 30-year yield has risen about 34 basis points — or 0.34 percentage points. The 10-year has gained about 24 basis points, while the 2-year is up about 10.
In other words, rates have risen across most of the market, with the biggest increases at the longer end — where Treasury yields influence mortgages and other major borrowing costs.
What comforts the Fed can hurt borrowers.
Markets "have tightened financial conditions in this intermeeting period," Warsh said, adding that the move had provided policymakers "some comfort" that they could bring inflation back to target.
Warsh is not merely tolerating that market pressure. He wants markets to play a bigger role.
His approach echoes that of former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, who favored less public hand-holding and more room for investors to form their own views. Warsh has pulled back from forward guidance — the Fed's practice of signaling what it may do next — because he wants an "unfiltered message" from buyers and sellers rather than market prices that simply echo the Fed's latest forecast.
That leaves more of the tightening in the hands of bond vigilantes, investors who push government borrowing costs higher by demanding better returns.
Alfonso Peccatiello, founder of the Macro Compass, argues that markets can keep applying pressure until (1) borrowing costs are high enough to slow the economy and inflation, (2) betting against bonds becomes too expensive, or (3) weaker data persuades investors that no further tightening is needed.
None of those off-ramps is painless.
The first means households and businesses absorb higher borrowing costs. The second requires bond investors to take losses or abandon the trade. The third may arrive only after the economy has already weakened.
Warsh acknowledged in June that housing was already among the areas feeling the most pain from high rates. Since then, long-term yields have pushed higher still.
That is the risk in letting markets finish the job.
As Peccatiello put it, "If you let the market do the tightening for you, it will not be kind."