Political Guyentist

1us

Blanche scraps a $1.8 billion political-targeting claims fund and wins two GOP confirmation votes

The still-unopened fund came from Trump's IRS settlement and would have let a DOJ commission pay people alleging political targeting.

Todd Blanche rescinded DOJ's proposed $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund after John Cornyn (Sen-R Texas) and Thom Tillis (Sen-R North Carolina) refused to advance his attorney general nomination without a written order ending it. Both senators then backed him. The program had no commissioners, rules or applicants. If it had opened, an attorney-general-appointed commission could have issued apologies or payments to people who said federal officials targeted them for political, personal or ideological reasons.

ContextDOJ [created it in May](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-anti-weaponization-fund) as part of a settlement in *Trump v. IRS*. Donald Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization agreed to dismiss a lawsuit over the leak of their tax returns, and withdraw administrative claims tied to the Mar-a-Lago search and the Russia investigation, in exchange for a formal apology and the fund's creation. Trump and the other plaintiffs received no direct monetary damages under the settlement. A five-member commission appointed by the attorney general would have decided who qualified for an apology or payment. The money was to come from the Treasury's Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation used to pay settlements, rather than a new $1.776 billion line item voted on by Congress. That made the dispute larger than a nomination fight: it tested whether an executive-branch settlement could create a broad compensation system for politically charged claims without a fresh appropriation. DOJ cited the $760 million Keepseagle farm-discrimination settlement as precedent; this proposed fund was more than twice as large.

AP30 sources

2worldGaza and Hamas2d · #1

Israel raises ‘serious security concerns’ over Hamas disarmament deal

The roadmap would move a stalled October ceasefire into its disarmament-and-withdrawal phase.

Trump's Board of Peace, a multinational body established to oversee Gaza's ceasefire and postwar transition, said it negotiated the roadmap with Hamas. The October ceasefire ended major combat and secured the hostages' return, but its next phase stalled as Israeli strikes continued and the sides disputed whether disarmament or further withdrawal should come first. The new roadmap gives a board-created verification committee responsibility for certifying each step. Hamas accepted the announced terms; Israel was not a signatory and has not accepted them. Netanyahu's office warned that withdrawing before Hamas is fully disarmed could let the group rebuild its military infrastructure.

ContextThe roadmap's 14-day clock for drafting an implementation timetable begins only after all parties approve it, and Israel has not accepted the terms. The verification committee may also extend that deadline. Disarmament would not mean transferring Hamas weapons to Israel. Police weapons would pass to Gaza's new technocratic administration, while heavy weapons, production sites, depots and tunnels would be gradually decommissioned or stored under its authority alongside phased Israeli withdrawals. An international force would monitor the ceasefire and support the transition but would not police Palestinians.

NBC NEWS3 sources

3worldThe Iran war7d · #1

Iran denies Trump’s claim that new U.S. talks would start Monday

Trump said negotiations would begin Monday afternoon after he held off on threatened strikes; Iran’s Foreign Ministry said no talks or delegation were scheduled.

President Donald Trump said negotiations to wind down the five-month-old war would begin Monday afternoon after he held off on another wave of strikes. Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday morning that Tehran was not negotiating with the United States and did not plan to receive or send a delegation in the coming days. No meeting had been independently confirmed by early Monday afternoon.

ContextTrump has threatened major escalation and then held back at least three times during the war. In April, Washington and Tehran announced a ceasefire shortly before his deadline for attacks on infrastructure; in May, he suspended a planned strike while citing 'serious negotiations'; and in June, he canceled threatened attacks on Iran's energy base after claiming peace talks had progressed. The latest pause also followed warnings from Gulf allies about economic repercussions, while recent AP-NORC polling found about two-thirds of U.S. adults said the war had not been worthwhile.

AP2 sources

4world

Zelensky says Russia launched nearly 1,900 drones at Ukraine in one week

President Volodymyr Zelensky said 16 regions were attacked and more than 1,500 sites were damaged during the week.

Zelensky said Russia launched roughly 1,900 attack drones, nearly 1,600 guided aerial bombs and 144 missiles during the week. One week earlier, he reported nearly 1,700 drones, more than 1,630 guided bombs and 95 missiles. The two attributed tallies put drones about 12% higher and missiles about 52% higher week over week, while the bomb count was roughly flat. POLI did not find an independent weekly tally in the cited sources.

ContextThe increase in missiles coincides with pressure on Ukraine's ballistic-missile defenses. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces intercepted only one of 27 ballistic missiles during an Aug. 1 attack on Kyiv because of an interceptor shortage; that attack killed nine people and injured more than 30. The Kyiv Independent reports that Patriot interceptors remain Ukraine's only effective defense against Russia's high-speed Zircon and Iskander missiles.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY4 sources

5world

Spain updates Ceuta death toll as it installs sea barrier

Spanish authorities raised the count from 67 deaths Saturday to 72 deaths Sunday as searches continued.

Out of roughly 60,000 arrivals from Morocco on July 30 and 31, Spanish authorities had confirmed 72 deaths by Sunday, including people who drowned or were killed in a stampede. The earlier AP report's 67-death count preceded that update. Spain also installed a 500-meter floating barrier, equivalent to about one-third of a mile, along Ceuta's sea border to reinforce the route around the breakwaters.

ContextThe pneumatic barrier is designed to rise 30 to 70 centimeters above the water and extend as much as one meter below it. A channel between it and anchored naval buoys will let Civil Guard vessels patrol the route. Madrid says people who entered Ceuta irregularly cannot continue to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the Schengen zone; travelers leaving the enclave by air or sea undergo identity checks. [France 24/Reuters](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260801-spain-installs-floating-barrier-in-ceuta-after-migration-influx)

AP3 sources

6us

California Democrats endorse a one-time tax equal to 5% of billionaire wealth

Proposition 40 could raise tens of billions for health care, but the hardest questions are how California would value private fortunes and what happens after the one-time money is gone.

The California Democratic Party's executive board narrowly endorsed Proposition 40, breaking with Gov. Gavin Newsom and other prominent state Democrats. The November measure would tax people who were California residents on Jan. 1, 2026 and whose worldwide net worth on Dec. 31 is at least $1 billion. It generally charges 5% of total net worth, not merely the amount above $1 billion; the rate phases in between $1 billion and $1.1 billion.

ContextThe [initiative text](https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/initiatives/pdfs/25-0024A1%20%28Billionaire%20Tax%20%29.pdf) reaches worldwide assets held by a taxpayer and spouse. Public stock is valued at its Dec. 31 market price. Private businesses, partnership interests, trusts, art, collectibles, intellectual property, private financial instruments, receivables and personal property can count too. Directly held real estate and most retirement assets are generally excluded, and the catch-all category gets a combined $5 million exclusion. Private businesses are initially valued using book value plus 7.5 times average book profit, although the taxpayer or Franchise Tax Board can seek a certified appraisal when that formula substantially misses fair market value. Taxpayers can pay over five years with a 7.5% annual charge on the unpaid balance. A separate deferral account can attach the state's 5% claim to illiquid assets until sale or death.

NEW YORK TIMES4 sources

7not newsusTariffs and trade4d · #3

Tariffs raised prices for imported and U.S.-made goods—with the biggest policy exposure in metals and autos

An NBER working paper estimates 26% pass-through to consumer-goods prices and says indirect increases took nine to 12 months to arrive.

Mary Amiti, Sebastian Heise and David Weinstein estimate that a uniform 10% tariff would raise consumer-goods prices about 2.6%: roughly 1.7 percentage points from costlier imported finished goods, 0.77 points from imported inputs used by U.S. producers and 0.17 points from domestic firms raising markups as foreign competition became more expensive.

ContextThe authors map tariffs and producer prices into 67 non-oil CPI goods categories, covering about 75% of consumer-goods spending and 20% of the full CPI basket. The 2025 tariff package was broad, but the paper says policy exposure was especially concentrated in steel and aluminum and motor vehicles and parts. Other product-specific tariffs covered copper, lumber and timber, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and, later, semiconductors. Tariffs on those inputs can also raise prices for domestically made products that use them. The border-price effect appeared almost immediately, while higher input costs and domestic markups took nine to 12 months to work through supply chains. The authors estimate tariffs contributed about 2.2 percentage points to goods inflation in their sample by February 2026, but call that counterfactual illustrative rather than a forecast of total CPI. The July 2026 paper is a working paper and has not been peer reviewed.

NBER1 source

8not newsworld

China is now viewed more favorably than the U.S. in 25 of 36 countries

Pew found a recent reversal driven by improving views of China and worsening views of the United States across much of the world.

Pew surveyed 42,151 adults across 36 countries from Feb. 8 to May 13, 2026. China led the United States on favorability in 25 countries; the U.S. led in six.

ContextThe favorability reversal does not extend to every measure. Across the 36-country survey, more people still said the U.S. government respects personal freedoms than said the same of China, although that advantage narrowed as assessments of the U.S. fell in nearly every country surveyed since 2021. Confidence in both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was generally low, even though Xi led Trump in more countries.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER3 sources

9not newsworld

U.S. and Japan intervene to strengthen the yen after a 40-year low

The coordinated move pulled the dollar below ¥156 after it traded above ¥163.

Japan’s Finance Ministry bought yen in coordination with the U.S. Treasury after the dollar climbed above ¥163, its strongest level against the yen in 40 years. The dollar fell to about ¥155.20 after the intervention was announced.

ContextBecause Japan imports much of what it consumes, a weaker yen raises domestic prices; high oil prices have intensified that burden. A weaker dollar, meanwhile, makes U.S.-made goods less expensive in yen and could support American exports to Japan. The underlying pressure has not disappeared. The Bank of Japan’s benchmark rate is 1%, compared with the Federal Reserve’s 3.5%–3.75% range, encouraging investors to favor higher-yielding dollar assets.

AP1 source