Reuters World News - US renews Iran strikes, Fed, Telegram and cyclosporiasis

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

The US renews strikes on Iran after attacks on American troops and a drone strike on a US-owned floating storage tanker at an Egyptian port. The Fed leaves rates on hold despite dissent. Russia charges Telegram's founder with aiding terrorism. And US diners are avoiding restaurants and fresh produce over cyclosporiasis fears. Watch the latest episode of On Assignment ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Peter Devon in London. It's Thursday, July 30th. Today, the US renew strikes on Iran as more countries become embroiled in the conflict. The Fed leaves rates unchanged, but three policy makers dissent in favour of a hike. And how US diners are avoiding restaurants, a cyclosporias fears trim lettuce seals. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10. 10 minutes, 7 days a week. The US has carried out fresh strikes in Iran, with Washington casting the strikes as a powerful response to Iranian missiles, launched towards US forces in the Middle East.

The latest strikes also come after a drone hit a US-owned gas storage tanker at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta, threatening to draw more countries into the conflict, after the Iran-land Houthis in Yemen last week declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. Stay tuned for Reuters exclusive later in the pod and how officials are worried cell phone videos shared online are helping around target American bases and may confiscate troops' phones. The Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady, with inflation worries still in focus. Three of the 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee dissented, pushing for a quarter percentage point hike to address sticky inflation.

It's Kevin Warsh's second meeting as Trump's pick to helm the Fed, and as our Fed reporter and Sophia explains the dissent provides insights into future moves. It was Dallas Fed President Lori Logan who had said just about a week ago that she actually thought rates should be higher. The two others who also dissented, they were Cleveland Fed's president Beth Hammock and Minneapolis Fed President Neil Kashkari both also felt that there should be a rate hike. What are you waiting for, in other words? And Kevin Warsh, the chairman of the Fed at his press conference today, gave some of an explanation of that. He said that they want to look at the big picture, make sure that they're asking the right questions. We understand that the five plus years of inflation above target cannot be cured in nine weeks or by a single month of modest price decreases.

It's only his second meeting and already policymaking. who feel that a rate hike needs to happen, we're not really willing to sort of step aside and give way to the chairman, but really make their feelings known out loud and clear. It takes on a little bit more importance now because Kevin Warsh does not like to talk about where he thinks rates should go,

or even very much about how he thinks the Fed should react to particular events in the economy. For more analysis, here's Mike Dolan from our sister podcast Morning Bates. So the Fed held a line, but three policymakers voted for an interest rate rise, and that's the biggest dissent against an incoming Fed chair since 1970. And it explains why the market was so uncertain going into this meeting, and it remains uncertain about the outcome for the next one in September. But the most interesting market reaction has been a steep rise in the long-term Treasury borrowing cost,

with the 30-year yield hitting its highest level in 19 years, amid some concern that the Fed is hesitant to raise interest rates and may tolerate above-target inflation for a longer. Thanks, Mike. You can get morning-bates wherever you get your podcasts. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Dr. Anthony Fauci on Capitol Hill yesterday, The top US infectious disease expert during the COVID-19 pandemic,

Fauci declined to answer questions from longtime critic, Senator Rand Paul. And you haven't deviated from that. You've never admitted that it could have been a mistake funding this research in China. Paul has for years accused Fauci of lying to Congress about the origins of the disease and called for his imprisonment. Fauci accused Paul of a, quote, unhinged obsession. The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee

is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote. Russia has bombarded Ukraine with attacks extending as far as the western city of Leviv, forcing neighboring Poland, a member of the European Union and NATO, to scramble fighter jets to secure its airspace. Polish police in the Lublin region close to Ukraine's border

say they received a report of a loud bang and discovered a crater and scattered debris from an unidentified object in a field. The attacks come as Ukraine's president Vladimir Zelensky returns from the United States, where he says President Donald Trump agreed to give Ukraine licenses for Patriot missiles. The top U.S. commander in the Middle East is warning troops

that cell phone videos posted online are helping Iran target American bases. A letter sent by Admiral Brad Cooper calls on troops to focus on operational security, saying Iran is using social media posts and news reports to assess the success of its strikes in near real time. Sources have told Reuters that some deployed personnel

could soon be ordered to surrender their phones altogether. Our Pencegon reporter Phil Stewart explains. It's unlike anything we've really seen before. During the wars on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, the adversaries didn't have the kind of sophistication that we're seeing with Iran and its missile and drone salvos. This issue is really a result of Iran's very precise targeting that's using GPS to fire missiles and drones at U.S. bases. And sometimes they're benefiting from the videos from these cell phones, from soldiers

to actually hone their strikes, increase the accuracy and lethality of their targeting. It's a concern for the military. It's also a concern for journalists who rely on accounts like this to get some transparency about what's going on in the battlefield because so little information is coming out. A US Central Command spokesperson said the message is a reminder to service members on the importance of maintaining operational security. Now to global backlash against the messaging app, Telegram. Australia's internet regulator says it's begun legal action against the platform over alleged feelings to tackle pro-terror posts. Telegram says it rejects the allegations. It comes a day after Russia said it's charging Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, with facilitating

terrorist activity. And that is hugely popular messaging app is being used by Ukrainian spies to organize attacks inside Russia. The app has been described as a virtual battlefield in the war between Russia and Ukraine, used by officials, soldiers and influential bloggers on both sides. Telegram responded to the charge by posting a photo on E. X of Derov at Dubai residents holding up a middle finger. Now to Sudan, the United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked by Reuters to US military contractors' business network, transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for

Sudan's rapid support forces. The planes were operated by companies tied to a former US Army Special Forces soldier. Our investigative reported Reid Levinson explains how Reuters uncovered the story. In May 2025, a Boeing 737 was destroyed at an airport in Darfur in Sudan. On board were 51 fighters from the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a paramilitary group the UN has said committed genocide. And the crew? Employees of a company owned by Stephen Shaulis, an American Army veteran turned government contractor, whose companies have earned more than $400 million from American taxpayers. That led us to more planes, in total to three old Boeing aircraft, flying to key logistics hubs for the RSF, in Somalia, in Libya, and in Darfur.

Shaulist has worked as a U.S. contractor for more than 20 years, and he leads a company that has built infrastructure for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and around the world. He declined to answer our questions, but his business partner told us that the company has never had any connection to the RSF and that our findings were, to the best of their knowledge, false. As health authorities in the US struggle to get a handle in the cyclosporiasis outbreak across the US, it's creating uncertainty among consumers about what's safe to eat. And that means Americans are curbing restaurant visits and skipping the greens at grocery stores. Our food and agricultural reporter Tom Palancek explains. the knock-on effect on restaurants. Because it's not clear exactly what is causing cases of cyclosporiasis, there are many consumers

who are taking a better safe than sorry approach, and they're cutting back on fresh produce in general. We've seen data showing that lettuce sales at grocery stores are down almost 20% over the last two weeks and data on foot traffic at several major restaurant chains also shows a decline. This is in particular happening at restaurants that rely heavily on produce. You know, Taco Bell, which was linked to the outbreak, outbreak initially, has seen a decline, along with restaurants such as Chipotle, Panera, and the salad chain, Chapped.

Taco Bell has said it removed affected Taylor Farms' lettuce from its restaurants as of July 17th. For more on any of the stories from today, check out roiders.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just as for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.