President Donald Trump declined to commit to permanently scrapping a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund on Wednesday, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he still considered the controversial initiative “a beautiful thing” The comments inject fresh uncertainty into the Senate’s effort to pass $70 billion in new immigration enforcement funding. But Senate GOP leaders are powering ahead with plans to pass that funding — despite the remaining sharp disagreements in the party over how to handle the controversial settlement fund. Success is not yet guaranteed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his team are still working to quell internal GOP tensions over Trump’s push for the fund, which was created to compensate people who claim they were victimized by the government. The administration has sought to convince Congress that the fund is dead, with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche telling lawmakers on Tuesday that it’s “not moving forward with the fund, period.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/anti-weaponization-fund-trump
As the World Cup grips North America this summer, China will again watch from the sidelines. But an unlikely story is bubbling up in the nation as Chinese fans cheer on unlikely amateur soccer players – from delivery drivers to villagers – now playing in packed stadiums back home in a rare sign, some believe, that the Beautiful Game may finally be taking root in the nation. For years, qualifying for soccer’s most prestigious competition has been a national goal for the world’s second-largest economy. It’s one of the “three wishes” President Xi Jinping once famously set out for the sport, alongside hosting and ultimately winning the tournament.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/sport/china-world-cup-dream-unraveled-future
Russia’s air attacks have grown in sheer volume in recent months, hammering Ukraine with more drones and high-speed missiles than ever before, as Moscow’s forces struggle to make meaningful progress on the ground. The massive strikes are designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, with huge waves of cheap drones, then fast-moving ballistic missiles, then cruise missiles, coming in carefully planned succession to inflict maximum damage. Experts say that “overwhelm” approach allows more missiles to make it through. The latest assault on Tuesday also included eight high-speed “Zircon” missiles – almost impossible to shoot down and powerful enough to take out aircraft carriers – the most ever used in a single attack, according to Ukrainian authorities. None of those eight hypersonic missiles were intercepted.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/europe/russia-air-attacks-ukraine-missile-defense-intl
Kim Jong Un inspected a new plant that makes weapons-grade nuclear material on Wednesday and said Pyongyang plans to “beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate,” according to a report from state-run media. The North Korean leader said that his country has more than doubled its capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear material in the past five years and that the new plant will help strengthen its nuclear war deterrent, according to the report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim instituted the push for more nuclear weapons under a five-year plan that was implemented after denuclearization talks with the United States, including three meetings with US President Donald Trump during his first term, ended in failure.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/asia/north-korea-nuclear-plant-kim-intl-hnk-ml
President Donald Trump announced at a private dinner at the White House Wednesday night he will nominate Todd Blanche to be attorney general. Trump adviser Dan Scavino posted a video on X of Trump announcing the decision at the dinner in the Rose Garden. “Tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which is gonna go I think very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said in the video.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/trump-expected-nominate-todd-blanche-attorney-general