Friday morning news: July 31, 2026

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Iran latest » Iran fired back at two American allies Thursday. An airstrike hit a building in Kuwait, killing a worker. Jordan shot down five missiles.

The Iranian strikes come after U.S. forces carried out a two-hour assault on Iran Wednesday night, which was in response to an earlier Iranian attack.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker:

WHITAKER: President Trump continues to hold all the cards, would love a diplomatic solution to this, but we are going to always be coming from a position of strength, and any attempt to attack the United States is gonna be met with overwhelming force

Central Command says the U.S. hit dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets, including the coastal radars and missile batteries Iran uses to control the Strait of Hormuz.

Hormuz normally carries a fifth of the world's oil. Traffic there has slowed dramatically since Iran resumed its attacks on commercial ships.

Drones also set fire to a gas ship at an Egyptian port, and the fire spread to a second vessel. Nobody has claimed responsibility. Egypt is a U.S. ally.

Blanche confirmation delayed » The Acting Attorney General will have to wait for Senate confirmation a little longer as President Trump considers punting till after the first of the year.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more from the nation’s capital.

HARRISON WATTERS: Todd Blanche is hoping to have the ‘acting’ label removed from his title. But the Senate Judiciary committee postponed Thursday’s scheduled meeting to vote on his nomination.

Two Republicans on the panel, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, continue to withhold support. They’re demanding that the Justice Department confirm in writing that it will not revive a proposed $1.8 billion dollar compensation fund for alleged victims of Biden-era political targeting.

The president on Thursday said he might withdraw Blanche’s nomination until after Tillis and Cornyn are out of office.

Cornyn was defeated in his GOP primary by a Trump-backed rival. And Tillis chose not to run for reelection after Trump threatened to back an opponent. Their replacements will take their seats in January.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters in Washington.

Father of teen shooter sentenced » A Georgia judge handed down his sentence Thursday to a man who gave his son the gun he later used in a deadly high school shooting.

Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm told 55-year-old Colin Gray:

PRIMM: The loss here is profound. But I still have to distinguish your acts from the malignant heart and the acts that Colt Gray committed upon the Apalachee school

The judge sentenced his son, 16-year-old Colt Gray, to life without parole two days earlier.

Primm sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years behind bars, though prosecutors had requested 80 years. He explained:

PRIMM: It matters that you didn't intentionally commit a crime. It matters that you didn't plan an attack. It matters that you didn't seek to harm anyone. It matters that you didn't pull a trigger

Colt Gray used the gun his father gave him as a Christmas gift to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in 2024.

Economy numbers » The U.S. economy grew at a sluggish pace in the second quarter, with inflation still stubbornly elevated. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more.

BENJAMIN EICHER: The Commerce Department reports that economic growth cooled in the second quarter of this year. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.5 percent from April through June. That was lower than expected — dropping from 2.1 percent in the first quarter.

But it’s not because Americans weren’t spending. Consumer spending accelerated to 3.2 percent growth, up from 0.5 percent in Q1. Some economists point to a surge in imports—particularly AI-related technology.

Economists will be watching whether this second-quarter cooldown points to a broader trend.

Meantime, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly by 9,000 while layoffs remain historically low.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher

Spain » Spain has called in its military to help police its border with Morocco. Thousands of Moroccans crossed illegally Thursday into Ceuta, a small Spanish city on the North African coast. They walked and swam around a breakwater where the border fence meets the water. At least 18 people reportedly drowned.

The city's government estimates 2-to-3 thousand people made it into Spain, though, Madrid won't confirm a number.

Ceuta's leaders blame a Supreme Court ruling this month. Officers can immediately turn back some fence climbers, but not people caught in the water.

Spain also closed its border crossing at Melilla after another mass-entry attempt.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up, John Stonestreet is standing by for culture Friday. Plus, your Listener Feedback for the month of July.

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