Thursday morning news: August 6, 2026

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Iran latest » No breakthrough Wednesday on a temporary peace deal with Iran. President Trump had said an agreement could come as early as yesterday or today.

The Trump administration has been encouraged by progress at the bargaining table to potentially fully reopen the Strait or Hormuz and open talks about Iran’s nuclear program. And President Trump told backers in Las Vegas:

TRUMP:  I'd rather make a deal because I don't wanna kill people.

He has maintained that a massive US strike originally planned for this past weekend is on hold. But he says it could still happen if the talks falter again.

The president also talked up the US economy and highlighted tax cuts in Nevada.

TRUMP: The stock market has set 74 all-time highs just since our short time since we’ve been back.

He touted the no tax on tips provision he signed into law last year, as well as new foreign investments in the US.

Ukraine latest » Meanwhile in Ukraine:

SOUND: Firefighters in Kyiv

Firefighters in Kyiv battled blazes on Wednesday after Russian forces launched a massive air attack. WORLD’s Travis Kircher reports:

SOUND: Body removal

TRAVIS KIRCHER: Officials say at least 17 people were killed. Crews could be seen moving eight bodies near a railway platform.

And Ukraine reportedly failed to shoot down any of the incoming missiles. That strengthened Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's calls for more U.S. manufactured Patriot missile interceptors.

The topic came up later on Wednesday as Zelenskyy hosted British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting in Kyiv.

ZELENSKYY: Welcome

STREETING: So nice to see you!

ZELENSKYY: Nice to see you too, sir!

Zelenskyy telling the defense secretary the need for more interceptors is only growing as Russia doubles down on its attacks.

ZELENSKYY: They don't want to stop. And I think that they want to continue and increase escalation using the ballistic missiles

Streeting said he planned to meet with officials in Kyiv about offering more British help.

For WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

Al-Sayed wins MI » The Democratic party has taken a hard left turn in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed has defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens in a Senate primary race.

The state largely finished counting votes on Wednesday with El-Sayed squeaking out a win by roughly 1 percentage point.

He now faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman.

EL-SAYED:  Mike Rogers is a guy who, believe it or not, went back to Florida so he could lick every single boot Donald Trump owns to beg for his endorsement

Democrats aligned with the party's far left won two Michigan House primaries too. Rogers is calling it a takeover by the Democratic Socialists of America—or DSA.

ROGERS: And the DSA candidates in the state, uh, in two different congressional races look like they're pulling it off as well. The Democrat Party is lost to this hardcore socialist attitude

El-Sayed says he's not a socialist, but he does have the backing of the socialist wing of his party, and many of his policies are aligned.

Spokane update » Firefighters have started boxing in three wildfires near Spokane, Washington, but seven hundred buildings are already gone.

All three were at zero containment for four days. Calm weather helped crews get two of the blazes to 13 percent Wednesday.

And investigators believe someone started at least one of the fires on purpose.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels:

NOWELS: We took 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci, a convicted felon, into custody on a single charge of arson in the first degree.

He served about ten years in Arizona for manslaughter.

Court documents say Farinacci denies starting the fire and denies being near it.

But three people in a car said they saw the suspect near where the fire started Saturday. A deputy stopped him more than a mile away, then let him go.

AUDIO: All three of us positively identified that as the individual we saw standing in the area the fire started approximately ten minutes, you know, five to ten minutes before the fire was noticed.

Farinacci had been questioned in connection with two previous fires but never charged.

Vance anti-fraud » Vice President JD Vance and members of the White House task force on fraud met with lawmakers on Wednesday with some requests.

Vance pressured for new rules calling for states to share benefits data with the federal government.

VANCE: We need to know where your tax dollars are going. And if the state of California or the state of New York isn't going to tell us, we need Congress to force them to tell us…

He also asked the dozen or so Republicans in the room for tougher penalties for convicted fraudsters.

Back in June, the House passed a dozen anti-fraud measures, including one authorizing deportations for illegal immigrants that defraud Medicaid. It’s now up to the Senate to move the ball forward. But Republicans lack the votes to pass them without Democrat support.

Democrats in Congress have largely written off Republicans’ war on fraud as justification to cut spending.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up, border tightening in Europe after a mass migrant crossing into Spanish territory. Plus, going back to the beginning of the show as we celebrate 15 years on the air.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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