Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment at Senate Hearing; Paul Threatens Contempt

This is the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing, for Thursday, the thirtieth of July, twenty twenty-six. Here is what matters now.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former top U S infectious-disease adviser, invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions while appearing under oath before a Senate committee chaired by Senator Rand Paul. The hearing revisited the disputed origins of the coronavirus and the U S pandemic response, coming after Paul released a trove of Fauci’s pandemic-era diary entries. Paul has accused Fauci of funding research that triggered the COVID-nineteen pandemic and of lying to Congress about it, charges Fauci denies. Paul said afterward that he would move to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. Fauci’s refusal to testify underscored the continuing partisan battle over the pandemic’s origins and the public-health decisions made during the crisis.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has entered the widening U.S.-Iran conflict by joining American forces in airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq. The Saudi defense ministry said the strikes were retaliation for attacks on Saudi oil facilities earlier in the week. The U S military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and then worked with Saudi forces to strike sites used by Tehran-backed militias, killing at least twenty members of a former paramilitary alliance. Jordan separately said its military intercepted five missiles launched from Iran. Washington warned Tehran to halt attacks carried out directly or through regional proxies against U S assets in the Gulf and Saudi energy infrastructure or face further military response.

In a related development, the United States launched a heavy wave of strikes against Iran after an Iranian attack on a U S base in Jordan, the U S military said. The operation hit dozens of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, ending several days of relative calm and reviving fears of a return to all-out war. Jordan said it foiled an Iranian missile attack, intercepting five missiles targeting the kingdom. The flare-up also rattled Gulf shipping, with at least one QatarEnergy-controlled liquefied natural gas tanker visible leaving the Strait of Hormuz overnight.

In U S legal news, a federal jury convicted Hadi Matar of terrorism charges in the twenty twenty-two stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. Matar, twenty-eight, was found guilty of all counts, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism and attempting to help Hezbollah by attacking the British-Indian writer, who has faced a death threat over his novel The Satanic Verses since the 1980s. Matar is already serving a twenty-five-year New York state prison sentence for the assault. The federal conviction adds a separate terrorism judgment to a case that drew international attention because of the decades-old death threat against Rushdie.

Also in the United States, President Donald Trump has asked the U S Supreme Court to overturn an eighty-three point three million dollars defamation judgment that writer E Jean Carroll won against him. The appeal, filed electronically, argues that Trump cannot be sued for comments he made while he was president. It is the second time Trump has asked the justices to nullify damages awarded to Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault. He has already paid more than five million dollars from a separate twenty twenty-three lawsuit but is contesting the larger twenty twenty-four jury award for defaming her.

In Britain, more than half of England is now officially in drought, the Environment Agency announced, after a “flash drought” driven by record-low rainfall and unusually high temperatures. Seven regions have been named as affected, with rivers running low, farmers harvesting crops early, wildfire risk rising and millions of people living under water-use restrictions. July is on course to be the driest on record, a sharp reversal after winter floods. The agency described the situation as “exceptionally serious” as it urged conservation and warned of escalating environmental stress across much of the country.

Elsewhere in the region, Israeli protesters marched in Tel Aviv against settler violence in the occupied West Bank, where attacks on Palestinians and army checkpoints have surged. Police blocked the demonstrators’ route and confronted them.

In sport, F I F A has opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina’s football association and players over their conduct during the World Cup, including a banner proclaiming “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” displayed after the semi-final victory over England and a brawl following the final defeat to Spain. Players Leandro Paredes and Nahuel Molina are under investigation over the post-final altercation.

In a U S courtroom, the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy is focusing on a nine hundred and eleven call in which her estranged husband screamed, “She killed the kids,” after the deaths of their three young children. Prosecutors allege Clancy made a calculated decision to kill them, while the defense argues she was overmedicated and suffering from extreme postpartum psychosis.

In British politics, London’s Metropolitan Police said they will take no further action against Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader for England and Wales, over a social-media post showing a man wearing a T-shirt with a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel,” a reference to Reform U K leader Nigel Farage. Officers concluded the case did not meet the threshold for criminal action. Polanski said he made an “inadvertent mistake” in sharing the image but has refused to apologise to Farage.

Also in Britain, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would not rule out tax rises to fund social care reform in England, while insisting that current inefficiencies in the system would be tackled first. He held cross-party talks as he accelerated a review due to deliver final recommendations by summer twenty twenty-seven.

That was the morning edition of the One News Page Global Briefing. Read the complete briefing and explore its supporting coverage at One News Page.