Blanche fund scrapped, yen intervention and Democrats debate Israel | Reuters World News

Hi, I'm Kim Van Alen in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, August 3rd. Today, Japan and Washington take joint action on the yen to try and stop its slide to 40-year lows. How the US's decades-old support for Israel is impacting the Democrats. And on Russia's holiday coast, Reuters finds fuel shortages, falling visitors and growing anxiety. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. But first, we have some breaking news. For more, here's my colleague Tara Oaks. Thanks, Kim. Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche has officially terminated President Donald Trump's so-called anti-weaponisation fund. It paves the way for Blanche's confirmation, ahead of a key Senate committee vote on Tuesday, after Republican senators stalled his nomination over concerns about the fund. A spokesperson for one of those senators, John Cornyn, has confirmed the agreement. You can read more about this developing story on Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Now back to Kim for more of the latest news. Japan's finance minister, Setsuki Katayama, confirming Tokyo and the US have carried out a coordinated yen-buying intervention. It's a rare move to try and stop the yen slide to fresh 40-year lows, and stop that from causing global spillover. So what does it all mean? Here's Mike Dolan from our sister podcast, Morning Bed. Yeah, it's an extraordinary move by US and Japanese authorities to intervene jointly to prop up the ailing yen. It was at 40-year lows last week, which if you're a tourist going to Japan, that makes it a very attractive destination and has done for many people. But for Japanese people, it's very unpopular. It's inflationary, particularly at a time when oil prices are rising, and the Japanese themselves have been trying to stabilise the yen for some time on their own. So why has the US joined them? Well, the rising dollar is not good for US trade with Japan, and there is a concern that it gets and destabilises world financial markets generally. So I think the US has joined and has spent at least some money, not as much as the Japanese have done, but it is a signalling mechanism to show the market that this isn't a one-way ticket, that there is a risk to going short of the yen at this particular juncture. Does it matter? Is there spillover effects? There is a risk that Japan sells dollars and in doing so, liquidates some of its US Treasury bonds, and it is the US Treasury's biggest overseas creditor, but there is a mechanism that the US has agreed with Japan that they can recycle some of those dollars without doing so. So we'll see how that pans out, but in a historic moment. Thanks, Mike. You can catch Morningbid wherever you get your podcasts. US President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran will restart this afternoon. Speaking on board Air Force One, Trump says he was asked to hold off on renewed attacks, which he said would have been the biggest since World War II. I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, by Qatar and by Iran. We were all set to go, just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. It's unclear what form the renewed negotiations will take, and Trump has declined to set a deadline for an agreement. And the reason they asked is I think there's a deal. There's a deal on Hormuz and then there will be a deal on the nuclear, or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. Iran's official news agency reported on Sunday that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages. In Teuta, Spanish police, some holding batons and riot shields, chase a group of migrants in an apparent effort to disperse them. The group, who were carrying an injured man, drop him so they can run. The man, lying shaking uncontrollably on a blanket, is eventually attended to by police. It's been a few days since more than 50,000 people surged into the Spanish enclave of Teuta from Morocco, some by jumping fences, others by swimming. Dozens were killed, all bar a few thousand have since returned, citing hunger, exhaustion and hostility from locals. Spanish far-right party Vox has seized on the incident, with leader Santiago Abascal visiting Teuta. Telling media Spain is facing an invasion. Madrid has adopted a more open stance on migrants compared to the rest of the EU, introducing a program to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people. The EU is set to hold an emergency meeting of national ministers on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Europe, wildfires are pushing firefighters to the brink. In Greece, two firefighting helicopters collided while helping to control a huge blaze that's destroyed more than 100 homes northwest of Athens, killing two people. The US is also facing devastating wildfires. In Washington state, hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed. Some 60,000 people have been told to evacuate as wildfires threaten the city of Spokane. There are three separate blazes in the Spokane area, which burned more than 5,000 acres by Sunday. None of the fires are currently contained. Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza for a second straight day Sunday, killing at least 18 Palestinians, according to medics. That's despite President Donald Trump's announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year's ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile in the US, a growing divide over Israel is in the spotlight, playing out in the Democratic Senate primary in Michigan. Younger Democrats are pushing for a tougher stance on Israel since the war in Gaza. And that's challenging both progressive candidate Abdel El-Sayed and moderate congresswoman Hayley Stephens, who are running to replace retiring senator Gary Peters. Here's congressional reporter Richard Cowen. Arguably this will be the most interesting and biggest test of the strength of progressives who have really latched on to the, in a really emotional and substantive way, have latched on to the issue of Israel. And how they're making it an important part of their campaigns. There is a large Arab American population in Michigan. It's mostly clustered around the Detroit metropolitan area. There's also a very active, you know, in those same neighborhoods and same parts of Michigan, an active, dedicated Jewish community. What we have in this Democratic primary are two candidates coming from very different directions. Experts that we've talked to are saying this is not just some sort of passing thing that there's a sort of a cute slogan that people run on and it goes away. This goes deeper. They're saying no matter what, it looks like the Democratic Party is going to pivot. In the fifth summer of the Ukraine war, Russians are having to contend with widespread gasoline shortages and the risk of drone attacks as they plan their annual break in the sun. The uncertainty is taking its toll on the travel and leisure sector. Nika Kutsieva visited the Black Sea coast to find out more. We drove 200 kilometers along the Black Sea coast and spent five days finding out how the conflict is taking a toll on the country's tourists, their holidays, and the travel industry. What we discovered was a sense of unease, showing how something Russians have long tried to ignore is now almost impossible to escape. About one million bookings in Russia next year were canceled at the end of June, worth about $320 million, according to industry data. And tourism-related business owners are feeling the squeeze. One place where the tourism industry is feeling the pinch is the major resort city of Anapa in the Krasnodar region. Anton Sidorov owns a restaurant there and decided not to open at all this year, as the visitor numbers just aren't what they hoped for. Nika says that's a trend across many hotels and restaurants there. We spoke with dozens of tourists and local business owners and the main and maybe most striking idea that emerged from those conversations is there are so much difficulties. There is a huge fatigue. There is a huge desire for stability. But at the same time, the life goes on. The summer is in a full swing. The holiday season will soon be over. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.