Sunday, August 3rd, 2025 

U.S. president Donald Trump signs an executive order restoring the Presidential Fitness Test in all public schools nationwide. (USA Today) 

Following Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius decision on Monday, Luftwaffe begins air dropping of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. (German Federal Foreign Office) 

A massive fire is reported at an oil refinery in Sochi, Russia, following a Ukrainian drone attack on the facility. Smoke from the fire prompts Russian authorities to close Sochi International Airport. (BBC News) 

Sixty-eight people are killed, 74 others are reported missing and 12 are injured when a boat carrying 154 Ethiopian migrants capsizes off Abyan Governorate, Yemen. (AP) 

Krasheninnikov, a volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, erupts for the first time since the 15th century and the first in historical records. The eruption takes place four days after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit the same region on July 30, which may have contributed to the eruption. (CNN) 

Four workers are killed while inspecting sewage pipes after falling into a manhole filled with hydrogen sulfide in Gyōda, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. (DW) 

Two people are killed and three others are injured in a mass stabbing attack at a primary school in Caizichi, Leiyang, Hunan, China. (Sina News) 

Israeli forces kill at least 33 Palestinians seeking food while six more die of hunger. (AP) (Reuters) 

Saturday, August 2nd, 2025 

Hamas releases a sign-of-life propaganda video showing an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, in an underground tunnel.  (Jerusalem Post) 

Seven people die from malnutrition in the past 24 hours due to the Israeli blockade, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. (BBC News) 

Ukrainian forces launch drone attacks on Penza Oblast, Samara Oblast, and Rostov Oblast in Russia, killing at least three people, according to Russian officials. (AP) 

The Ukrainian military targets the Ryazan Refinery in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, with drones and causes a fire at the facility. (Reuters) 

M23 rebels briefly capture Kamakombe, Kabare Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo from Wazalendo militia Decisive Movement for the Liberation of Congo. (Radio Okapi) 

M23 and Wazalendo militias clash in the Muzinzi subgroup, Walungu Territory. (Radio Okapi) 

Five children are killed and twelve others are critically injured in a mortar shell explosion in Lakki Marwat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Kuwait News Agency) 

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupts for a second consecutive day, sending a column of volcanic materials and ash up to 18 km (11 mi) into the sky. Today’s eruption is one of Indonesia’s largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi erupted. No casualties are reported. (AP) 

A Tatmadaw court sentences twelve people, including five Chinese nationals to life in prison for their involvement in trafficking Burmese women to forced marriages in China. (AP) 

Four-term National Assembly lawmaker Jung Chung-rae is elected as the leader of the Democratic Party in South Korea during the national party convention at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, defeating his rival Park Chan-dae with 61.74% of the votes. (Yonhap News Agency) 

In association football, the Brazil women’s team wins a record-extending ninth Copa América title after defeating Colombia 5–4 on penalties following a 4–4 draw after extra time in the final held at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado in Quito, Ecuador. Brazilian forward Marta is named the most valuable player of the tournament. (BBC Sport) 

Israeli forces kill at least 57 people in the Gaza Strip, including 35 aid seekers. (Al Jazeera) 

Friday,  August 1st, 2025 

U.S. president Donald Trump orders the deployment of two United States Navy nuclear submarines near Russia for potential military action against Russian forces in response to statements made by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and current deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation regarding Trump’s previously-stated deadline for ending the war in Ukraine. (Reuters) 

M23 rebels clash with Wazalendo militia Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland in Bwito Chiefdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Radio Okapi) 

U.S. tariffs on more than 90 countries enter force following a 90-day pause to allow the countries to prepare, including a 35% tariff on some Canadian goods and a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods. (BBC News) 

France temporarily suspends its programme for receiving Palestinian refugees fleeing the Gaza Strip following the deportation of a Palestinian student accused of making antisemitic social media posts. (Le Monde) 

The Seoul Central District Court issues an arrest warrant to former interior minister Lee Sang-min for charges allegedly conspiring with former president Yoon Suk Yeol in his failed martial law attempt on December 3, 2024, becoming the second Yoon cabinet minister to be arrested after Kim Yong-hyun. (Yonhap News Agency) 

At least four people are killed in a mass shooting at a bar in Anaconda, Montana, United States. A 45-year-old suspect fled the scene and remains at large.  (NBC Montana) 

One teenager is killed and five other people are wounded, including two seriously, in a mass shooting at a nightclub in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. (ABC News) 

Former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe is sentenced to twelve years of house arrest and fined US$840,000 for witness tampering and bribery. (France 24) 

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto pardons former trade minister Thomas Lembong and Secretary-General of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Hasto Kristiyanto, two prominent opposition figures sentenced under controversial corruption charges. (Jakarta Globe) 

South African police arrest nearly 1,000 undocumented miners at a gold mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga. (DW) 

Thursday, July 31st, 2025 

Pope Leo XIV declares Saint John Henry Newman, a 19th-century Anglican convert who became a prominent English Catholic theologian, as a Doctor of the Church. (Vatican News) 

Islamic terrorist Osama Krayem is found guilty at Stockholm District Court, Sweden, of involvement in a war crime in which Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh was burned alive inside a cage in Raqqa by the Islamic State on January 3, 2015. (BBC News) 

South Korea and the United States reach a trade agreement that places a 15% tariff on U.S. imports from South Korea. South Korea also promises to invest US$350 billion into American biotech, semiconductors, and shipbuilding over an unspecified time. (CBS News) 

U.S. president Donald Trump announces revised tariff rates set to start on August 1, including a new 35% tariff on Canada. (Reuters) 

The Slovenian government announces a complete ban on the import, export, and transit of arms and military equipment to and from Israel. (Arab News) 

A court in Faisalabad, Pakistan, sentences opposition leader Omar Ayub and over 200 supporters of ousted prime minister Imran Khan to over ten years in prison each for their participation in the 2023 protests. (AP) 

Conor McGregor loses his appeal against a civil court in the Republic of Ireland, finding that he raped Nikita Hand. (RTÉ) 

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador abolishes presidential term limits, increased presidential terms from 5 to 6 years, and moves the date of the next presidential election from 2029 to 2027. (BBC News) 

Italy and Vatican City agree to transform a 430-hectare (1,100-acre) field in Rome to a solar farm that will power the Vatican, with the goal of turning it into the first carbon-neutral state. (AP) (Bluefield Daily Telegraph) 

The End

The Longest Day

Book of the Week

Empire of AI

The Black Swan

On Deck

Castle Keep; Play Dirty; Len Deighton; Attack and Retreat; Tobruk; Ambush Bay;

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The Faulklands War

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Johnny Rico’s Movie of the Week. This one is superb. One of the best World War II movies ever made that nobody has heard of. An action masterpiece from John Frankenheimer. Burt Lancaster as a French resistance specialist. He knows everything about trains. Nazis. The most valuable paintings in the world. And trains. So good.