Iran War Depletes U.S. Missiles as Ukraine Defenses Falter

Weight-Loss Drugs Power Eli Lilly Revenue Surge

Armed Man Arrested Before Trump Golf Club Visit

Wayward SpaceX Rocket Stage Strikes Moon

Iran Threatens Gulf Energy Sites if U.S. Attacks Resume

Iran War Depletes U.S. Missiles as Ukraine Defenses Falter

The United States has used virtually all of its available Army Tactical Missile Systems and Precision Strike Missiles, roughly half its Tomahawk cruise missiles, nearly four-fifths of its THAAD interceptors and about half its Patriot interceptors in the war with Iran, according to news reports. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the military has what it needs, but senior commanders have privately warned that supplies are dangerously low as the Pentagon seeks more funding and manufacturers expand production. The Center for Strategic and International Studies projects that most missile categories will not return to prewar levels until 2029 or 2030. Russia, meanwhile, fired 24 ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and 115 drones at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight into Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding 44, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine intercepted none of the ballistic missiles, and Zelenskyy attributed the casualties and damage to a shortage of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot system amid slowed deliveries from Washington. The two developments show how Western missile-production limits are affecting both U.S. readiness and Ukraine’s ability to defend civilians from Russian attacks.

CBS News / CNN / Army Recognition / Al Jazeera / NPR / ABC News

Weight-Loss Drugs Power Eli Lilly Revenue Surge

Eli Lilly reported second-quarter revenue of $23 billion Wednesday, up 48% from a year earlier, as demand surged for its Mounjaro and Zepbound treatments. The medicines are part of a fast-growing class of drugs that help regulate blood sugar and appetite and have reshaped care for diabetes and obesity. Adjusted earnings rose 33% to $8.38 per share, and Lilly raised its projected 2026 revenue to between $85 billion and $87 billion from an earlier range of $82 billion to $85 billion. Foundayo, the daily obesity pill approved in April, generated $98 million in its first full quarter, below analysts’ expectations, though Lilly said prescriptions doubled over the past month and the pill accounted for nearly one in four new patient starts. Lilly also completed its U.S. application to expand the pill’s use to type 2 diabetes after a direct study found it outperformed a Novo Nordisk rival in blood-sugar control and weight loss. The results reinforce the weight-loss drug boom as a major force in health care, with Lilly’s ability to meet demand and navigate pricing pressures carrying consequences for millions of people with obesity or diabetes.

CNBC / Eli Lilly / Fierce Pharma

Armed Man Arrested Before Trump Golf Club Visit

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested Jeanine John Taele, 38, at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes on Sunday, two days before President Donald Trump attended a Republican National Committee fundraiser there. Authorities said Taele had walked the course July 31 wearing an earpiece and recording security preparations, and deputies found a loaded pistol magazine in Taele’s pocket and a loaded handgun in Taele’s car during the arrest. A search of Taele’s home the next day found an AR-style rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines and a notebook, while investigators also learned Taele was wanted in connection with a robbery case in El Segundo. The Sheriff’s Department said there was no continuing credible threat, no motive has been disclosed and the fundraiser proceeded as planned. The arrest received heightened attention after the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the interception of a separate armed man at his West Palm Beach golf course later that year.

CNN / NBC News / Forbes / Deseret News

Wayward SpaceX Rocket Stage Strikes Moon

A derelict SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the moon early Wednesday at about 2:35 a.m. Eastern time, hitting sunlit terrain near Einstein crater at more than 5,400 mph. The stage launched Jan. 15, 2025, carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2 and ispace’s Hakuto-R lander toward the moon before drifting for about a year and a half as lunar gravity and solar radiation pressure altered its path. Scientists could not photograph the impact flash directly, but the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope detected a plume of sodium and lithium that extended tens of kilometers into space for five to 10 minutes. Researchers estimate the collision created a crater about 60 feet wide and up to 16 feet deep, which NASA plans to image with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA organized an observation campaign to study crater formation and the lunar subsurface, while the impact also highlights the lack of rules for disposing of spent rocket stages as commercial lunar traffic grows.

NBC News / CBS News / NASA

Iran Threatens Gulf Energy Sites if U.S. Attacks Resume

Iran has warned Gulf governments that another U.S. attack on Iranian territory would prompt retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, Reuters reported Wednesday. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi delivered the warning in calls with his Saudi, Turkish and Qatari counterparts and Pakistan’s army chief after President Donald Trump threatened July 28 to strike Iran’s energy network. Officials briefed on the calls said Araqchi also emphasized that diplomacy was the best way to avoid wider escalation and destruction. Trump said he called off a U.S. attack that had been planned for Sunday after Gulf leaders urged him to hold back, citing their concerns and reported progress in negotiations. The warning puts pressure on U.S. allies that host American military bases and rely heavily on energy exports as negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz reportedly make progress. Any new exchange of strikes could therefore disrupt regional oil and gas production, increasing risks for global energy markets and consumers.

Reuters / AP

AUGUST 6, 1945: AMERICAN BOMBER DROPS ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA

Eighty years on, Hiroshima stands as the moment when industrialized, territorial world war collided with the ultimate weapon, helping to end World War II while freezing hard-won borders behind a nuclear shield. The attack accelerated Japan’s surrender and reshaped postwar geopolitics, but it also opened an era in which every major conflict has been shadowed by the threat of instant, civilization-ending escalation. Hiroshima’s legacy is thus dual: a brutal capstone to global total war, and the lasting warning that human survival itself is now tied to controlling the weapons first used there.

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Sources

1. CBS News / CNN: Missile Interceptors / CNN: Weapons Stockpiles / Army Recognition / Al Jazeera / NPR / CNN: Kyiv Attack / ABC News
2. CNBC / Eli Lilly / Fierce Pharma
3. CNN / NBC News / Forbes / Deseret News
4. NBC News / CBS News / NASA
5. Reuters via U.S. News & World Report / The Japan Times / Business Recorder / Associated Press