U.S. Strikes Iran Again As Strait Tensions Deepen

KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s dismissal of popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has set off rare wartime protests and an open fight inside Ukraine’s military leadership. Zelenskyy said the ministry and top brass had failed to find unity, while Fedorov accused army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi of blocking reform. Hundreds rallied in Kyiv and other cities. Zelenskyy has named a replacement, but the anger is not fading fast.

CANADA - Overnight temperatures are climbing across the country, and fires that once slowed after dark are now burning around the clock. Fire crews are getting stretched thin as they try to keep up with blazes that no longer really sleep. The old rhythm of wildfire response is gone. So is the margin for error.

BANGKOK - A bar fire that killed at least 33 people has revived a grim pattern Thailand knows too well. The blaze at Rong Beer Na Ladprao trapped revellers behind a narrow exit and filled the room with toxic smoke, echoing deadly fires in Sattahip and Bangkok in 2009. After each one, officials promised lessons. The next fire still came.

WASHINGTON - President Trump is set to use a primetime White House address Thursday to accuse China of meddling in U.S. elections and to push his election security agenda. The speech may include new claims about Chinese access to voter data, plus sensitive intelligence the White House is weighing whether to release. U.S. intelligence has said China did not interfere with the 2020 vote. The fight is already underway.

WASHINGTON - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spent Thursday under bipartisan fire as senators pressed him on the Epstein files and whether he can stay independent from President Trump. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he will not back Blanche unless he meets with survivors before the Judiciary Committee votes. Blanche did meet with accusers at Justice Department headquarters, but one survivor said afterward she was even less inclined to support him.

WASHINGTON - Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing turned into a public reckoning over the Epstein files, with survivors in the room and Virginia Giuffre's family watching closely. Senators also pressed him on crime policy and a disputed IRS settlement. Blanche defended the Justice Department's handling of the files and said he would work to restore trust. The hearing had the usual Washington polish. The subject did not.

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has tightened green card rules for immigrants who use public assistance, a change that could deter hundreds of thousands of people from signing up for help with food, housing, and other basics. The move marks a sharper line on the so-called public charge test, which immigration officials use to decide who can stay and who can come in. The message is simple enough: use the safety net, and it may count against you.

WASHINGTON - Trump Media said Thursday it will launch a Truth API feed that gives paying customers real-time access to posts from Truth Social’s highest-ranking accounts, including President Trump’s. The company says the feed will arrive Aug. 1 and deliver posts in milliseconds, a pitch aimed squarely at Wall Street firms that trade on market-moving news before the rest of the room catches up. Kevin McGurn, the company’s interim chief executive, called it a new revenue stream. The timing is the point.

TOKYO - Honda is ending sales of its last electric vehicle in the U.S., the Prologue, after dealers were told production will stop later this year. The Japanese automaker will keep leaning on hybrids and gas-powered models instead. Honda said the Prologue had some success, but not enough to keep the EV push on track. Its U.S. sales rose 2.4% in the first half.

ATLANTA - Lionel Messi set up both goals as Argentina beat England 2-1 on Wednesday and reached the World Cup final again.

England led through Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute goal and looked set for its first final since 1966. Then Messi found Enzo Fernandez in the 85th minute, and in stoppage time he crossed for Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner. Argentina will play Spain on Sunday. The comeback was, once again, the whole point.

NEW YORK - The Mets came out of the All-Star break with ESPN giving them 0.0 percent playoff odds, which is about as cheerful as it sounds. They are 40-57, 12 games out of the wild card, and coming off a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox in 10 innings that summed up the first half neatly. With the Aug. 3 deadline near, the question is less whether they buy than who they move.

LAS VEGAS - UFC 329, headlined by Conor McGregor’s return against Max Holloway, averaged 6.5 million viewers across the U.S. and Latin America on Paramount+.

The broadcast peaked at about 8.3 million concurrent streams, a Paramount+ record for an exclusive live event. It also reached 15.9 million total viewers, with 14.3 million in the U.S. That was enough to top UFC Freedom 250 on peak audience, though not on total or average viewership. The fight itself lasted 69 seconds. Holloway won by TKO, and McGregor said he wants it overturned.

CANNES - Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is drawing near-universal praise, with critics calling it a vast, thrilling epic and, in some cases, his best work yet. The $250 million Imax film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland and Lupita Nyong’o in the cast. Epic Games is even adding Odysseus and Agamemnon skins to Fortnite. The gods are getting a marketing push, too.

NEW YORK - Police arrested a man Thursday morning after he broke onto the set of NBC’s Today show at Rockefeller Center and shouted a racial slur at co-anchor Craig Melvin.

The man got past security shortly after 9 a.m. and was taken into custody near Studio 1A, according to people familiar with the matter and the NYPD. No injuries were reported, and officers said a preliminary search found no weapons. The investigation is continuing. Melvin was back on air minutes later, which is about as normal as live television gets after a morning like that.

LOS ANGELES - Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is playing in true Imax 70mm at only 25 U.S. theaters, and the format is running on borrowed time.

Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said the company has not made new film projectors in about 50 years, so existing ones are retrofitted and rebuilt. He added that demand is strong enough that some theaters are sold out into the fifth week. The appeal is obvious. The machinery is not getting any younger.