Major League Baseball has announced that a minor league veteran umpire will become the first female umpire ever to work a regular-season Major League game.
Why it matters: When Jen Pawol walks on the field during this weekend's Marlins-Braves series in Atlanta, she'll be breaking another barrier in a league that helped break the color line with Jackie Robinson nearly 80 years ago.
President Trump does not oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to launch a new military operation to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
Why it matters: The Israeli Security Cabinet is expected to approve on Thursday a highly controversial plan to expand the war. According to the sources, Trump has decided not to intervene and to let the Israeli government make its own decisions.
President Trump imposed penalties over Russia's invasion of Ukraine for the first time on Wednesday, while also striking an optimistic note about the potential for progress.
Split screen: Shortly after White House envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday, President Trump signed an order doubling tariffs on India to 50% over its purchases of Russian oil and paving the way for similar penalties for other countries.
But hours later he posted that there had been "great progress" made in the Putin-Witkoff meeting, and that further work toward ending the war would take place "in the days and weeks to come."
Wednesday marks the 80th anniversary of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan — an event that helped end World War II but also brought the world into the nuclear age and the Cold War.
Japan uses the anniversary to commemorate the lives of the Hibakusha, survivors of the bombing, and asks the world to heed the dangers of nuclear war.
The big picture: Here are some images from this crucial moment in world history.
Why it matters: The landmark defense pact — designed to arm Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. with nuclear-powered submarines and cutting-edge tech, including hypersonic weapons and electronic jammers — is today navigating choppy waters.
The U.S. travel industry is warning that a new $250 visa fee could deter millions of international visitors just as the country gears up to host the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics.
Why it matters: The fee comes at a crucial moment for U.S. tourism, with America's 250th birthday next year.
The Titan submersible implosion that killed five people occurred in large part because operator OceanGate had failed to follow "established engineering protocols for safety, testing, and maintenance" of the vessel, a U.S. Coast Guard report finds.
The big picture: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush may have faced criminal charges if he hadn't been killed during the "preventable tragedy" that occurred during a June 2023 diving trip to the wreck of the Titanic, according to the damning report that was published Tuesday.
Chikungunya virus outbreaks have prompted the CDC to issue travel alerts warning U.S. travelers of an "elevated risk" of exposure to the mosquito-borne illness in China and several other countries.
The big picture: Some 240,000 chikungunya cases have been reported in parts of Central and South America, Africa, the Indian Ocean region and Asia this year, including 90 deaths. Officials in Guangdong province, South China, have confirmed at least 7,000 illnesses since June.
The Trump administration promises to spell out its vision for America's agriculture, but in the meantime, the president indicated on Tuesday that land should be owned by some Americans and farmed by migrant workers.
Why it matters: The debate over who can farm America's land has been historically linked to racism, xenophobia and, oftentimes, exploitation of farmers of color.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump discussed plans for the U.S. to significantly increase its role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza in a meeting Monday evening at the White House, according to two U.S. officials and an Israeli official with knowledge of the issue.
Why it matters:Negotiations for a ceasefire are stuck, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving towards significantly expanding the war. U.S. officials are concerned about more bloodshed but have yet to firmly object. The new food aid plan Trump promised last week is also not yet finalized.
President Trump spoke on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discussed the ceasefire ultimatum Trump set for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Ukrainian officials.
Why it matters: Trump's deadline to Putin will expire on Friday. If the Russian president doesn't agree to a ceasefire by then, the U.S. will impose new sanctions on Russia for the first time since Trump returned to office.
Arrests by U.S. immigration agents dropped by nearly 20% in July, amid the backlash to President Trump's push to dramatically boost the number of detentions, according to new data that the Trump administration disputes.
Why it matters: The decline followed protests over the waves of raids by masked immigration agents in June — particularly in Southern California — that led to court orders that have hindered some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, at least for now.
An Illinois Holocaust museum that uses AI technology to create "interactives" with Holocaust survivors is expanding its offering and including a project with a Tutsi survivor of the Rwandan genocide.
Why it matters: It's the first-ever non-Holocaust interactive interview for the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie, Ill., and signals that Holocaust museums are using the technology to bring attention to more recent genocides.
The Trump administration appears to have changed a policy that previously stated that states and cities that boycott Israeli companies could be ineligible for disaster relief funds, it emerged on Monday.
The big picture: An April Department of Homeland Security notice stated that recipients were prohibited from "limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies" in order to qualify for assistance, but this wording was not included in a later August version outlining the terms and conditions for FEMA applicants.
