Top Stories — Wednesday, April 8, 2026
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- South Korea stocks lead gains in Asia as U.S.-Iran agree to a ceasefire — CNBC
- Trump-backed Republican pads GOP's fragile House majority by winning showdown for MTG's former seat — Fox News
- Oil prices plunge below $100 after Iran agrees to safe passage through Strait of Hormuz during ceasefire — CNBC
South Korea stocks lead gains in Asia as U.S.-Iran agree to a ceasefire
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/8/2026, 6:06:44 AM
Asia-Pacific markets rallied on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had agreed to suspend planned attacks on Iranian infrastructure for two weeks.
The move was "subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote on Truth Social.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a post on X on behalf of the country's Supreme National Security Council said Tehran's armed forces will "cease their defensive operations."
Trump noted the 2-week ceasefire was subject to Iran agreeing to a complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Araghchi said that safe passage via Hormuz Strait will be possible via coordination with Iran's armed forces for the next two weeks.
U.S. crude oil prices plunged on the news. The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery fell more than 16% to $94.23 per barrel by 7:15 p.m. ET.
Asia markets rallied with South Korea's Kospi surging 5.3%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was up 3.4%. Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix jumped 7.25% and 9.2%, respectively.
Japan's Nikkei 225 widened gains to 4.5%, while the Topix rose 3.2%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.7%.
Hong Kong markets were also set to jump as they resume trading following holiday. The Hang Seng Index futures were at 25,233 compared to its last close at 25,116.53.
"For longer, energy prices were destined to be fairly inflationary around the world. And if there's now a bit of a belief or some visibility that energy prices can come back down, that's better for inflation, better for the outlook of central bank cuts and so on," said Josh Rubin, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investments.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 inched up 0.08% and closed at 6,616.85, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.10% to settle at 22,017.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 85.42 points, or 0.18%, closing at 46,584.46.
—CNBC's Sean Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.
Trump-backed Republican pads GOP's fragile House majority by winning showdown for MTG's former seat
Source: Fox News • Published: 4/8/2026, 5:56:13 AM
RINGGOLD, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller just gave House Speaker Mike Johnson a little bit of breathing room as the GOP clings to a razor-thin majority in Congress.
Fuller, who was backed by President Donald Trump, on Tuesday defeated Democrat Shawn Harris in a special election to fill the empty U.S. House seat in Georgia's solidly red 14th Congressional District, the Associated Press reports.
The seat was left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with Trump.
The special election came as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP was under the gun to make sure the Democrats didn't pull off an upset in the special election, in a district in northwest Georgia that Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.
Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller, left, speaks next to President Donald Trump, during a visit to the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia, Feb. 19, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
"It's extremely crucial, and we need the reinforcements," Fuller told Fox News Digital on the eve of the runoff election.
Fuller, a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who's served in the Air Force since 2009, added, "I think the voters in Georgia 14 understand that, and they're looking forward to sending a MAGA America first fighter up on Capitol Hill to support that agenda."
Asked if he was concerned that MAGA supporters would sit out what was expected to be a low turnout election since the president is not on the ballot, Fuller said Trump voters "would crawl through glass to make sure they have a representative up there that fight for them and fight for President Trump."
Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, needed the support of crossover Republicans in order to pull off an upset.
"I am a Democrat, but I'm not tied to the party," Harris highlighted as he spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday. And Harris argued, "My opponent, Clay, cannot say that. He actually sold his soul to President Trump."
Harris narrowly edged Fuller amid a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the first round of voting in early March. Since no candidate topped 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to Tuesday's runoff.
The congressional seat — which stretches from Atlanta's outer suburbs to the state's northwest borders with Alabama and Tennessee — was left vacant when Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks during a news conference with 10 of the alleged victims of disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein outside the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
While Greene remains popular among Republicans in the district, Fuller said the voters he talked with on the campaign trail were "focused on the fights of the future, not anything that had happened in the past."
Asked if he spoke with Greene, Fuller said he "reached out to Rep. Greene, had conversations with her and got advice on the district, and I'll keep those conversations confidential."
Harris, who as a first-time candidate lost to Greene by nearly 29 points in her 2024 re-election, emphasized that he wasn't "running against Marjorie Taylor Greene anymore," and that his name "carries more weight than any other name in this district."
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Read the full story at Fox News.
Oil prices plunge below $100 after Iran agrees to safe passage through Strait of Hormuz during ceasefire
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/8/2026, 5:46:36 AM
Oil prices plunged Tuesday evening, after President Donald Trump agreed to suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks in exchange for Tehran allowing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery fell more than 16% to $94.47 per barrel by 8:03 p.m. ET. International benchmark Brent for June delivery lost more than 15% to $92.21 per barrel.
Trump said the two-week ceasefire was subject to Iran agreeing to a complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran that is a workable basis for negotiations, he said.
"Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated," Trump said in a social media post.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran will allow safe passage through the Strait during the ceasefire via "coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration to technical limitations."
"If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations," Araghchi said in a social media post.
The apparent ceasefire came less than two hours before Trump's 8 p.m. ET deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait. The president had threatened to bomb every bridge and power plant in Iran if its leaders did not meet that deadline.
Trump's rhetoric had taken an ominous turn Tuesday morning when he threatened to destroy Iran's entire civilization.
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," Trump said in a social media post earlier on Tuesday. "I don't want that to happen, but it probably will."
The president said he agreed to the ceasefire after discussions with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The prime minister had asked Trump to delay his deadline to allow negotiations to continue. Sharif also asked Iran to reopen the Strait during that period as a goodwill measure.
Oil exports through the Strait have plunged due to attacks by Iran on commercial ships, triggering the largest disruption of crude supplies in history.
About 20% of global oil supplies passed through the Strait before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The narrow sea route connects producers in the Persian Gulf to global markets.
The price of crude oil, jet fuel, diesel and gasoline prices have surged during the war. Oil CEOs and analysts have warned that fuel shortages will ripple around the world if the Strait does not fully reopen.
For complete details, visit the original sources linked above.
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