International News Bulletin — August 2, 2026

Politics

• Trump cancels planned strike on Iran, citing deal outline – US President Donald Trump said late Saturday on Truth Social that he had called off a planned attack on Iran, saying the “perimeters of a deal” had been agreed and conditioning the cancellation on a rapid conclusion. He said an agreement would bring the complete reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly urged him by phone to return to negotiations. Tehran issued no immediate response, though Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier warned that any US or Israeli attack would draw a “proportionate response”.
• Petro urges dialogue in Havana to avert US action on Cuba – Colombian President Gustavo Petro used a visit to Havana to call for international solidarity with Cuba and to propose talks with Washington, saying he came so that “there is no invasion here, nor a missile launch”. The US administration has tightened sanctions on Cuban state entities since May, and its rhetoric has fed speculation in US media about possible military action against the island.
• Israeli finance minister calls for new settlements near Gaza – Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the construction of three new settlements close to the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported Sunday. Separately, Hamas said it would hand over its weapons for storage only once Israel halts military operations and withdraws its forces.

Economy

• Amazon surges and Apple slides after diverging quarterly results – Amazon shares jumped in Friday trading after the company reported second-quarter revenue of $200.6 billion, up 20 percent year on year, with cloud unit AWS growing 36.7 percent to $42.2 billion, its fastest pace in 18 quarters. Apple fell sharply after warning that chip shortages had raised costs and curbed production in the June quarter despite solid iPhone and Mac sales. Chief executive Andy Jassy said Amazon expects capital spending to reach $220 billion this year as it builds out AI infrastructure.
• Oil stays elevated as Hormuz disruption weighs on outlook – Oil prices and bond yields rose in Friday’s session as hostilities between the United States and Iran continued to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The World Bank projects global growth slowing to 2.5 percent in 2026 on the back of the conflict-driven energy shock, with emerging and developing economies facing their weakest per capita income growth since the pandemic.
• Houthis deny plan to charge Red Sea transit fees – Yemen’s Houthi authorities said Saturday that passage through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait remains free of charge, rejecting a Reuters report that the group was weighing transit fees for commercial vessels, with Chinese-flagged ships exempt. The Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center said its transit service is voluntary and that anyone demanding payment does not represent it.

World News

• Hungary shuts its only nuclear plant as Danube hits record low – Prime Minister Peter Magyar said the Paks nuclear plant, which supplies nearly half of Hungary’s electricity, would go fully offline on Sunday for the first time in its 44-year history because the record-low Danube can no longer provide enough cooling water. The river is forecast to fall to minus 144 centimetres, below both the minus 134-centimetre shutdown threshold and the previous record of minus 98 centimetres set in 2018. Output had already fallen from a normal 2,000 megawatts to 965 megawatts by Friday, and the plant may stay offline for weeks as drought grips Central Europe.
• Three killed in bombing at Moscow restaurant – A bomb concealed in a gift box exploded on Saturday evening at the Balzi Rossi restaurant in central Moscow, killing the woman carrying it, a security guard who moved to search her and a nearby customer, Russian authorities said. Investigators have not identified the woman or established a motive, and the newspaper Kommersant reported that the device may have been detonated remotely without her knowledge.
• Sudan aid response funded at just 16 percent – The UN humanitarian office OCHA said the $2.9 billion 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Sudan, designed to reach more than 20 million people, has received only $465 million, about 16 percent of what is required. The shortfall persists as fighting and displacement continue across the country.
• Virunga park screens for Ebola to protect gorillas and staff – Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has introduced health measures, including temperature checks, to keep Ebola from reaching its staff, visitors and critically endangered mountain gorillas, Al Jazeera reported. Mountain gorillas are susceptible to human-transmitted diseases, and the park lies in a region that has seen repeated Ebola outbreaks.

Bulletin automatically generated on August 2, 2026.