William Brangham:
Also today, Gazans mourned the lives lost in the latest round of Israeli airstrikes. Health authorities say at least 54 people were killed across the territory, including more than a dozen children. Israel says it targets only Hamas fighters and blames them for operating in residential areas.
Meantime, in Israel, a second vital partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is quitting the government, leaving him with a minority in Parliament.
The ultraorthodox Shas party said today it’s against a proposed law that would require its supporters to serve in the military. They have long been exempt from military service. Shas says it would not push to dissolve Netanyahu’s government, but it’s the second ultraorthodox party to quit this week over the same issue of military service.
Ukrainian officials say at least 15 people were injured after Russia launched attacks overnight on four cities. That included Vinnytsia in Western Ukraine, where firefighters were still battling blazes by morning. Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia launched 400 drones and a ballistic missile as it ramps up an aerial campaign ahead of a new September deadline set by President Trump to reach a cease-fire.
The U.S. has pledged to send more weapons to Ukraine and threaten sanctions if the Kremlin can’t reach a peace deal.
Here at home, President Trump lashed out at his own supporters today over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Appearing alongside the crown prince of Bahrain, Trump blamed — quote — “some stupid Republicans” for siding with Democrats over what he called a big hoax.
Earlier on social media, he wrote: “Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats’ work, because I don’t want their support anymore.”
Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI said that no more files would be made public about the deceased sex offender, which enraged a portion of the president’s base.
The Department of Homeland Security confirms that it sent five immigrants it says were convicted of serious crimes to the African nation of Eswatini. Officials say they are from Vietnam, Cuba, Yemen, Jamaica, and Laos, and were convicted of various crimes, including murder, burglary, and raping a minor.
The move comes after the Supreme Court last month lifted restrictions on such third-country deportations. The Eswatini government said the men are being held in isolated units and that they will ultimately be sent back to their home countries.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher after President Trump denied reports that he’s moving closer to firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 200 points, or about half-a-percent. The Nasdaq rose about 50 points on the day. The S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.
And the largest piece of Mars ever found here on Earth has sold at auction for more than $5 million when counting fees. The 54-pound chunk was discovered in Niger in the Sahara Desert in 2023. It had been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveled some 140 million miles to Earth. The sale was part of an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York, which also saw a juvenile dinosaur skeleton sell for more than $30 million.