Global Political and Business Shiftsactive

The Brandenburg Gate, illuminated in rainbow colors, after a car plowed into a crowd on the outskirts of the Christopher Day Parade pride event in Berlin on July 26, 2026. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa via Getty Images On Saturday night, a man drove a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride Festival, before getting out and stabbing several people, leaving one woman dead and dozens injured. The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German national and reported supporter of the Islamic State group, was shot dead by police on Sunday following a daylong manhunt. “We do not want this deed to be used for political ends,” said the organizers of the festival, also known as Christopher Street Day, in a statement on Sunday before the attacker had even been located. “We don’t want any groups to be placed under suspicion for this. People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others. We will not allow this.” Amid the shock and grief, the organizers saw the immediate need to stop malign political forces using the horrific attack and the queer community’s suffering to fuel Germany’s already fervent anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-immigrant sentiment. The far-right Alternative for Germany Party, or AfD, moved to weaponize the Berlin attack within hours. They had reason for concern. The far-right Alternative for Germany Party, or AfD — which decries trans people as a “cult,” opposes marriage equality and gay adoption, defines a family as only “father, mother and children,” and condemns so-called “gender ideology” — had moved to weaponize the attack within hours. “The AfD has been warning for years: Islamism is and remains the greatest security threat to our country,” said AfD member of parliament Martin Hess in a statement. He remarked that “we also urgently need a genuine shift in migration policy” — despite the fact that Saturday’s suspect was born and raised in Germany. The AfD, which is currently the most popular German party according to recent polls, boasts numerous state-level branches classified as extremist organizations by Germany’s intelligence agencies. Alliance for Bigotry The party is using a familiar playbook. In 2016, the day after the deadly Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a total ban on immigration from Muslim countries. His two presidencies have since been dedicated to destroying both trans lives and Muslim lives with vigor. Trump has sought to leverage attacks abroad, including in Germany, to his galvanize anti-Muslim base. The president was quick to condemn the 2016 massacre at a Berlin Christmas market to double down, once again, on his Muslim ban plan. Related Germany Turns to U. S. Playbook: Deportations Target Gaza War Protesters So far, Trump hasn’t said anything about the Berlin Pride attack — perhaps his demonization of Muslims has been so thorough that he no longer needs to feign concern about queer lives to gin up Islamophobia — but the alliances that inform these bigotries nonetheless remain a powerful political force. Trump and his allies have long boosted the very German politics that is cynically leveraging the Berlin attack for political gains. Last year, anti-trans zealot Elon Musk threw his support and his social media platform behind the far-right party. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he wrote on X. The Right’s Own Attacks Day in and day out, meanwhile, it is the likes of the AfD and other conservative German parties, and the Republicans at home, who are assaulting the LGBTQ+ rights. A spike in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in Germany in recent years has been directly linked to a rise in far-right extremism, including more than two dozen attacks at Pride events. The attacks themselves, however, are only part of the story. “Politicians are now shamelessly exploiting the suffering of the queer community for their own agenda, while cutting funding for queer organizations, aid projects, and cultural initiatives,” wrote Mohamed Amjahid, a columnist for German newspaper, Taz. It’s true. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Party, in its role in the coalition leading Berlin’s municipal government, has cut funding for queer community programs in the city and banned drag story hour readings in public libraries. Of the perpetrators of Saturday’s brutality, Merz said: “They want to take away the most important things we have: our openness, our freedom.” This purported shared “openness” and “freedom” had not been on display when Merz opposed plans to fly a rainbow flag atop the Reichstag Building to honor Pride last year. “The Bundestag is not a circus tent,” the conservative chancellor said. Just hours before Ballout rammed a truck into Pride attendees, Berlin riot police had focused their energies on making arrests and aggressing attendees at the explicitly anti-colonial, anti-capitalist Internationalist Queer Pride march elsewhere in Berlin. Part-Time Solidarity As Berlin-based journalist James Jackson noted, Merz’s statement on the attack, along with statements by three other senior conservative politicians, wholly failed to explicitly mention gay or queer people. The statements defended “tolerance” and “freedom,” but when queer and trans people are attacked and killed, it is not “freedom” that is threatened in the abstract, it is specific forms of life — the very ways of being in the world that have been under assault by far-right politics and centrist complicity, across Europe and the United States. On Sunday, thousands gathered for a vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which was lit up in rainbow colors by night. “Last year they refused to let us fly the rainbow flag in front of the Bundestag, because it’s not a circus tent, after all,” said one vigil speaker who identified as Muslim and gay. “Today the flags are flying at half-mast. But solidarity shouldn’t be a knee-jerk reaction after a tragedy.” It’s a lesson that self-identifying allies in the U. S., above all Democrats who continue to fail trans people, would do well to learn, too. The post The Right Seeks to Capitalize on Berlin Pride Attack — Even as It Poses Its Own Existential Threat to Queer Lives appeared first on The Intercept.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – AMD CEO Lisa Su headed up disclosures at the company’s Advancing AI developer conference that included competitive new CPU and GPU chips and racks, a partnership with Cerebras for

According to The New York Times, the DNC is $2 million dollars in debt, while President Trump controls a $400 million super PAC and the Republican National Committee has nearly $130 million in cash on hand.

A real Congress would have challenged the president on the War Powers Act.

Negotiators from Iran and Oman are trying to reach an agreement to restart shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to people familiar with the matter.

Safe Superintelligence will use Vera Rubin chips to rapidly expand computing capacity for its secretive research

Iranian authorities have denied that they have requested negotiations with the United States, emphasizing that there are no ongoing contacts and that the Central Asian country is currently focused on its defense at a time when Washington and Tehran have halted the spiral of attacks after thirteen consecutive nights. "The claims that Iran has requested direct negotiations are false," stated Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqaei, at a press conference reported by IRNA, in which he called this claim an "invention" by the United States, after both President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Tehran is "begging" to negotiate the end of the war. Thus, the Iranian spokesperson emphasized that Tehran's current focus is on defense and not on maintaining negotiations, after rejecting any contacts with Washington and recalling that "the only ongoing talks" are bilateral negotiations with Oman regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz. After the cessation of attacks, following thirteen days of exchange of bombings, Baqaei avoided speaking of a truce and attributed this scenario to the "prudence" of the Iranian Armed Forces, warning that "any action by the United States will receive an immediate and forceful response." Baqaei emphasized during the press conference the violations...

LONDON — Andy Burnham pledged a “close partnership” between the U. K. and Ukraine Monday after Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the first world leader to meet Britain’s new prime minister. In a show of support, the pair toured a military base in Portsmouth, where 200 Ukrainian soldiers are currently completing maritime exercises. Burnham said his meeting with the Ukrainian leader was “warm” and that he intends to visit the country soon. “We will build this and we will work through the different issues that President Zelenskyy has, many of which we’ve gone into today,” Burnham said. The meeting came as Britain announced it would share intellectual property to help Kyiv’s war effort. The new prime minister announced that the U. K. will share its “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system —devices attached to drones to help them evade detection — helping Ukraine to produce the technology on a mass scale. Burnham has focused on domestic matters after taking over from Keir Starmer, who was criticized by some in his party for spending too much time overseas, and focusing on foreign affairs. However, Burnham has sought to demonstrate there will be continuity in Britain’s Ukraine policy. In one of his first calls after becoming prime minister last week, Burnham invited Zelenskyy to visit the U. K. “at the earliest opportunity.” Starmer spent his final full day as prime minister in Kyiv, where he announced £255 million of funding for Ukraine. Zelenskyy told Sky on Monday that his phone call with Burnham had been “very good.” He said Starmer previously offered assurances that “the new government will continue their policy of supporting Ukraine during the war.”

ROME.- Already in election campaign mode - ahead of next year's national elections, even without a date - Giorgia Meloni flew this Monday to the Valle di Susa and Chiomonte, a town in northwest Italy near Turin, the epicenter of violent clashes last Saturday between police and the so-called "black block" of the "No-TAV," extremist groups that have been fighting for years against a high-speed train (TAV) between Turin and Lyon. Alongside Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Meloni toured what appeared to be a war zone. The clashes left more than 120 officers injured and caused devastation not only to police vehicles but also damages of over 1 million euros to the offices-containers and machinery destroyed by Telt, the Italian-French public company managing the construction of the world's longest railway tunnel. Molotov cocktails and other explosive devices were also found at the site. "The scene right behind me is not a war zone, it is the site of a supposed protest. But this is not dissent: it is organized and premeditated violence, and it must be treated as such," Meloni said in a video posted on her social media from the scene, in which she stated that "the State is here and will not back down" and that she will do everything to identify those responsible for "this disgrace." Chiomonte: the State is here and does not retreat. pic.…

Downing Street says it is not considering replacing the levy and stamp duty with a new property tax

According to Maria Zakharova, Moscow has long been accustomed to the EU arbitrarily changing any rules of the game regarding the Russian fuel and energy complex and other sectors

The Republican stalwart’s burial comes as polls show Israel’s standing is declining among both Democrats and Republicans.

Analyst Nate Silver said Sunday that Americans may be “moving on” from President Trump amid rocky political territory for the president and his party. “It’s kind of striking how, apart from Iran, most of the Trump-related stories this summer have been boring and dumb (reflection pool, White House Correspondents’ Dinner) or kind of funny (FIFA),…

While large AI companies are being besieged by a more conscious and critical perception of the risks and impact of their technologies, more and more corporations such as Meta, Google, Anthropic and Open AI are investing in what is being termed “Girlbossification of AI.” If the recent booing of tech CEOs during their speeches at graduations wasn’t evidence enough that not everyone wants or needs AI in their lives – a recent New York Times poll found that 47% of 18-to-29-year-olds consider AI to be a very bad thing – coupled with the rise of anti-data center legislative proposals and the growth of anti-AI movements around the world, the female user is now being schmoozed. Seguir leyendo

A mediation group headed by Qatar and Pakistan is working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to the previously agreed ceasefire

With the assistance of specialists, this Monday the issue of "techno-addiction" in children and adolescents was discussed at the morning conference of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. In the Treasury Hall of the National Palace, the head of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), Mario Delgado, indicated that it is very important to analyze the issue of networks and their impact on students, "beyond schools." By acknowledging that the use of mobile devices is permitted both in schools and at home outside of classrooms, Delgado pointed out that each country will have its own definition and that in Mexico the challenge is being addressed: "the goal is to support this generation." Read also Calderón and "El Chapo" agreed on Ruffo; they pointed out links with the Arellano Félix. The SEP head explained that in complex relationships, devices intervene in habits, capture attention, modify routines, behaviors "and begin to occupy spaces that we allocated to other activities," while in children and adolescents, the brain is developing. "That technology also enters a decisive stage of its development, which is why it is essential for this conversation to progress accompanied by scientific evidence (...). Algorithms obey the market, they are designed that way, and there are interests that auction our attention in real time, which is why inflated controversies thrive, they are rewarded and..."

Following a series of drone incursions into its airspace, including Shahed drones, Romania has decided to recall its ambassador to Moscow for consultations and expel a Russian diplomat from Bucharest.

The holidays are more than four months away, but the White House is already putting out a Christmastime call for volunteers. Melania Trump kicked off the opening of the volunteer and performer application submission period for this year’s holiday season at the White House on Monday. “Americans from every U. S. state and territory are invited to apply for the…

Video appears to show a person kicking the federally protected animal in San Diego, California Federal wildlife authorities are investigating after a video appeared to show a person kicking a protected sea lion at a beach in California. A spokesperson for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed an investigation into the case but declined to provide additional details Sunday. Continue reading...

Both men scheduled to meet Trump at a time when US policy towards wars in Iran and Ukraine is in flux Benjamin Netanyahu and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to arrive in Washington simultaneously with the goal of gaining Donald Trump's attention at pivotal moments in wars affecting their respective countries. Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, will attend Tuesday’s funeral of Lindsey Graham, the former Republican senator for South Carolina, who died suddenly on 11 July and was a close ally of both leaders. Continue reading...

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., gives thumbs up in an elevator while departing a Senate vote at the Capitol in Washington, D. C., on June 15, 2026. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images Sen. John Fetterman may switch parties, and the reason is simple: The Democrat from Pennsylvania loves nothing like he loves media coverage. Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s former chief of staff who now heads the centrist Searchlight Institute think tank, said as much this week. “I think, if he is the majority-maker, he will flip, because it would give him a massive amount of attention,” Jentleson said. It’s not hard to see why someone as addicted to attention as Fetterman would make a big deal out of leaving his party, nor why he has doubled and tripled down on it in the past week. After all, this is the same man who has made a spectacle of his appearance, walking around the Senate halls in a hoodie and shorts rather than conform to the business dress code of his peers. Since October 2023, his relationship with the progressive wing of his party has been strained, primarily because of a divide over support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Fetterman is now willing to use his leverage as key player for control of the chamber to help Israel — the main reason he’s said he could change sides. If Democrats continue to oppose Israel, he said, specifically if they do so in their party platform, Fetterman says he’s likely to split. “If our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” Fetterman said at a convention in Washington last week. A majority of Pennsylvania Democrats want him to leave the party. Swiping at his own party aren’t out of character, and are part of what has led to a rift with the Democratic base. Fetterman’s closeness to right-wing media and penchant for punching left, as well as his loyalty to Israel, make him both a target of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and one of the least popular incumbents in the country. Related Fetterman Is Sole Democrat to Vote Against Blocking Caribbean Drug Boat Attacks Predictably, a bare majority of Pennsylvania Democrats want him to leave the party, almost assuring he won’t make it out of a primary. But switching to the GOP wouldn’t lead to a cakewalk reelection either. By his own admission, Fetterman would be dogged by his own very socially liberal voting record in a Republican primary where he’s also certain to face defeat. That leaves running as an independent who caucuses with Republicans, a move guaranteed to play spoiler for one party’s hopes to control the Senate in 2028, though it’s unclear who he’d hurt more. Presidential Run? Antipathy to the left now defines much of his politics. Earlier this year, in June and July, Fetterman was receiving lots of attention for his criticisms of former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, repeatedly claiming that there were intimate images of the upstart Democrat online and referring to him as his Reddit moniker, “P-Hustle.” On June 10, the day after Platner won his primary, NOTUS reporter Igor Bobic posted on X that Fetterman was haranguing him about the Maine Democrat — “You wanna talk about P-Hustle? You wanna talk about P-Hustle?” — as soon as Bobic entered the Senate building. Fetterman continued with a line that must have been rehearsed: “Have we become the pro-dick party?” He ignored that due to pressure from the Democratic Party that Platner dropped out of the general election race earlier this month. This level of embarrassing, childish behavior calls to mind Elon Musk, whose awkward hamming it up to fulfill his need for attention culminated in a number of humiliating appearances on the campaign trail alongside Donald Trump in 2024. Fetterman doesn’t appear to be quite ready to go onstage and leap around with a MAGA hat on, but testing the waters for a party switch is certainly a step forward into whatever comes next. There are signs the next move could be Fetterman’s own run for president. Related Fetterman Staff Quit Amid Frustration Over “Just Working on Israel All the Time” According to reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer in May, Fetterman lost interest in the day-to-day of the Senate and has his sights set on the White House. One aide described the senator as “disengaged” and said “he doesn’t read memos, he’s taking very few meetings … the job is just a platform for him to run for president, that’s all he cares about.” A run for president would be welcome news to friend Bill Maher, the acerbic right-wing comedian, who has been pushing for a Fetterman 2028 run since last year. Maher isn’t the only conservative giving Fetterman a platform. Fox News hosted him more than 50 times in 2026 alone, according to the Washington Examiner, giving the senator the incentive to continue to make news by attacking fellow Democrats. He’s taken to the role with gusto, recently attacking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for protecting Haitian migrants from the federal courts and scolding Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for endorsing Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed. Anything for attention — and Fox is smart enough to take advantage of that. Don’t Negotiate One might try to explain away this behavior by pointing to Fetterman’s well-publicized health struggles. Last May, New York Magazine reported his behavior has become increasingly erratic since a stroke in 2022, shortly before he was elected to the Senate. The article lists several serious claims, including that Fetterman reads news articles on his phone while driving at high speeds, got into a car accident that injured his wife, and bought a gun. Putting this all on the stroke and subsequent health issues, however, is too easy. Fetterman’s affinity for Israel was enough of a selling point for Democratic Majority for Israel that the group celebrated his willingness to “lean into” the relationship in an April 2022 press release. Related Harlan Crow Maxed Out Campaign Donations to John Fetterman And for all the progressive political rhetoric he relied on to make his pitch to voters, Fetterman has always prioritized the stingy approval of his hard-right Republican father, who now calls the senator to congratulate him whenever he appears on Fox News. Whatever the case, the attention-seeking, left-punching Fetterman is who we have now. The best way to handle a child who is acting out is to ignore them and not reward their behavior. As Jentleson put it, they “should not debase themselves by trying to negotiate with him.” That’s the approach Democrats should take: Leave Fetterman to serve out the rest of his term as a marginal member of a bare majority, should it come to that. The post Fetterman Might Leave Democratic Party Because the Only Thing He Loves More Than Israel Is Attention appeared first on The Intercept.

Despite their strikingly different approaches to developing and deploying artificial intelligence, one aspect is common across China and the United States: data and computing centres are proliferating in both countries, especially in remote locations. While the US is seeing residents and localities fight back against plans for data centres in their backyards, regional officials in China are embracing them. In fact, in China there is a nationwide scramble for such facilities – considered the...

A new bridge will connect Michigan with Ontario, but Canada withdrew the invitation to the American dignitaries to the inauguration ceremony.

Tatiana Navka, a former Olympic ice-skating champion, was put on a sanctions list by the EU in June 2022 that targeted people over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

According to him, Ukraine’s terrorist attacks against Russian civilians will end only after the conflict is over, with Russia victorious

New figures suggest where you live plays a major role in how optimistic you feel about Finland's economy.

On July 19, the grand final of the North America 2026 World Cup took place. On that occasion, Spain ended up celebrating after defeating Argentina 1-0 in New Jersey. And this Monday, eight days after that, Gianni Infantino shared a letter in which he responds to the criticisms the competition received, defending the organization of the event. "They were so consumed by hatred and criticism that they missed all of this. To those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens, spreading hatred and false rumors, I want to tell you that while you stay on the sidelines, we at FIFA are on the front line organizing, working hard, and offering the greatest spectacle in the world. We have had no violent acts, no incidents, 100% security, only joy and happiness," said the football boss at the outset. Among the criticisms received by the competition held in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, were the restrictions on U.S. visas that ended up affecting not only fans but also players, referees, and members of the technical staff of the delegations. The letter also reports FIFA's analysis of President Donald Trump's intervention to suspend the sanction against American Folarin Balogun after he was sent off against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although Infantino did not give concrete examples, …

The U. S. pulled back on its daily strikes on Iran over the weekend to both give more time for negotiations and conserve munitions. President Trump is “giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, United Nations ambassador, said Sunday. Reports also bubbled up over the weekend that the U. S. campaign in the Strait of Hormuz…

Spain declared a state of national emergency and France holds a crisis cabinet to assess the situation.

The president added that Russia will act cautiously, but persistently and consistently

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is "fomenting hate" after the mayor accused the prime minister of being a war criminal. "Look at what he's doing. He's fomenting hate. He's supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers, Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone," Netanyahu told Fox News's Maria…

The Russian president thanked lower house of the parliament for the effective joint work

The resignation of India's education minister amounts to a stunning victory for the youth-led "Cockroach" protest movement. The bigger question is if this political momentum turns into a lasting platform for more reform.

A Hong Kong academic has used environmental DNA technology to detect the critically endangered Chinese bahaba – commonly known as the “Tai O fish” – in local waters for the first time in more than a decade. Jack Ip Chi-ho, an assistant professor at Lingnan University’s division of science, co-led the study with Wang Junjie, a professor at South China Normal University in mainland China. Together, they developed a genetic identification method capable of detecting traces of Chinese bahaba DNA...

South Asia is undergoing a gradual but important shift. Smaller states now command a widening array of options, and India’s primacy is quietly giving way. The lesson is clear. Regional leadership can no longer rest on geography and must be sustained through credible and mutually beneficial engagements that compare favourably with the alternatives. China’s challenge begins at India’s border. Both countries fought in 1962, continue to dispute a frontier of roughly 3,500km and had their deadliest...

Rescue workers in France and Spain continued to fight wildfires and forest fires on Monday, with some of the blazes out-of-control.

Scientists say decision is blow to UK astronomy as deep space observatory is home to world-leading facilities Jodrell Bank Observatory, which runs a world-leading network of radio telescopes, is facing closure after the government’s major funder cut support for the facility. The deep space observatory, which hosts the Grade I-listed Lovell telescope, is prized by astronomers who study galaxies, black holes, star formation, planets beyond the solar system and the afterglow of the big bang. Continue reading...

Point Blank | 21st East Asia Summit, with 19 participating countries, emerged as a key moment in clarifying how major powers now view the Indo-Pacific theatre.

US criticism of Malaysia’s entry ban on Israeli nationals is unlikely to force a major shift in the country’s foreign policy, analysts have said, after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rejected accusations that the move was antisemitic. The remarks escalated a dispute that has drawn in members of the US Congress, Malaysia’s long-standing refusal to recognise Israel and the widening international debate over where criticism of Israel ends and hostility towards Jewish people begins. “We are not...

A French off-duty policeman on Monday detained a man after he allegedly attacked and wounded three women with two kitchen knives in Paris, a minister and police said. Three women aged 19, 24 and 36 were taken to hospital after the assault at around 11.30am in the Porte de Clichy area in the north of the capital, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Paris police said. Two were gravely wounded, but their lives were not in danger, Nunez said. One was hit in the lower back, the other in the...

Refugee family reunions in limbo, despite Foreign Office saying it is ready get people out of war-torn territory The Home Office is blocking the evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza, despite the Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of the war-torn region. Last September, the Home Office announced it was suspending refugee family reunion applications and that new, more restrictive rules would be announced in the spring. So far there has been no announcement and the process remains suspended. Continue reading...

In a strongly worded open statement, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has hit out at those he says were too "consumed by hate and criticism" to enjoy the tournament. Infantino brushed off a number of corruption concerns.

Xbox Live connectivity issues plague users, significantly affecting access to downloaded games. Here's who is the CEO of the gaming company

Alleged scam-network mastermind Chen Zhi could face the death penalty, with Chinese prosecutors adding intentional injury to the list of charges against him. Chen, 38, was extradited from Cambodia to China six months ago and formally arrested on July 6, according to Chinese business magazine Caixin. He founded the Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, which authorities say was linked to a sprawling online scam network. Caixin reported on Monday that prosecutors dropped a previous count of...

When Behnam, an unemployed musician from Tehran, calls his family or friends to see how they are, he never starts by talking about the war. "The first question we ask ourselves is 'Have you eaten?'", he tells The New York Times. At 38 years old, he sums up the extent of Iran's deterioration in one phrase: "Honestly, we have reached a point where we only think about surviving." A terribly familiar war rhythm has returned for Iranians: bombed roads, the value of their currency—the Iranian rial—plummeting, threatening messages from Donald Trump on social media, and the punitive rhetoric of the country's religious leaders. Against this backdrop, daily life has been reduced to mere subsistence. Like all the Iranians interviewed, Behnam asks that his last name not be published, for fear of reprisals from the ayatollahs' government. His testimony, along with that of other citizens, was originally collected by The New York Times, which gained access to a country where planning for the future "seems an absurd luxury." The Iranians, impoverished by constant crisis, buy rice by the cup. They replace fruits and vegetables with cheaper vitamin supplements, while the United States and Iran exchange attacks on military installations, ports, and desalination plants across the region. For over a year, Iranians have been caught in a constant cycle of airstrikes, internal repression, and devastation…

It was in early August 2025 when the Central Bank's council agreed to initiate a reserve accumulation program, arguing the need to change the composition of the bank's sources of international liquidity, increasing the proportion of its own reserves. The program includes daily purchases of up to US$25 million for a period of 3 years, equivalent to US$3,125 million per semester. With this, the Central Bank expects to accumulate around US$18,500 million. Unlike what was done in 2021 and 2023, the daily purchases will be executed before the market opens and will be settled at the observed exchange rate, reported at the end of the day and published in the Official Gazette the next business day. To avoid effects on peso liquidity, the operations are sterilized through the issuance of Central Bank Discount Notes (PDBC), in line with monetary policy guidance. Since the start of the program, the Central Bank has purchased US$5,358 million under the program. Although during 2025 the exchange rate depreciated by $93.35, reaching $899.15, at the close of Friday it rose by $3 to $948, accumulating an increase of $48.85 so far this year. Additionally, this level is the highest since the $950.4 recorded on October 22 of the previous year. Andrés Pérez, chief economist at Itaú Chile, indicates that, “beyond the current level of the exchange rate, the design of the program…

The US says attacks on Iran have been halted to give "talks some space", raising hopes of a resolution to the conflict.

NPR's Leila Fadel asks longtime Democratic strategist Paul Begala how he believes voters are sizing up the midterms.

Tehran's third warning towards Bulgaria came soon after US President Donald Trump publicly thanked Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev for US air base support.

All key dairy categories showed positive growth trends in early 2026

The death toll from the Russian strike on a weapons exhibition in the Kyiv region on July 24 has risen to 11, after another victim died in hospital.

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work! Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has condemned opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki’s “shocking decision” not to sign into law the government’s planned windfall tax on excess profits by fuel companies amid a sharp surge in fuel prices caused by the war in Iran. While Nawrocki did not veto the bill, he exercised his right to refuse to sign it and instead send it to the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) for assessment, a process that can take years. The president argued that the retroactive nature of the tax “raises serious constitutional concerns”. Nowy podatek nie obniża cen paliwa. Ma przede wszystkim dostarczyć pieniędzy do budżetu. Nie mogę zaakceptować sytuacji, w której próbę łatania finansów państwa przedstawia się obywatelom jako ochronę ich interesów, podczas gdy skutkiem będzie kolejna fala podwyżek – Prezydent… pic.twitter.com/LqI7Cojdrr — Kancelaria Prezydenta RP (@prezydentpl) July 24, 2026 In mid-June, the government approved a 60% tax on excess profits from liquid fuel sales, calculated as the amount that would have been generated using a company’s average 2025 fuel sales margin, increased by 20%. The measure was expected to raise around 4 billion zloty (€927 million). When announcing the plans, the finance ministry said the levy was justified by this year’s “exceptional economic and geopolitical conditions that have led to above-average financial results in a specific segment of the fuel sector, not resulting from improved operational efficiency…but from a supply shock”. The tax was intended to offset the roughly 4.7 billion zloty the government spent on keeping fuel prices lower for consumers amid the crisis in the Middle East by, among others, cutting VAT and introducing a maximum daily price. The bill was approved by parliament on 3 July. It received support from Tusk’s ruling coalition, which ranges from left to centre right, but was opposed by the right-wing and far-right opposition. According to a regulatory impact assessment, state energy giant Orlen is expected to account for about 60% of the tax base for the windfall tax, with the remaining 40% generated by other market participants. Poland’s government has approved a windfall tax on fuel companies' excess profits after the surge in energy prices due to the war in Iran. It expects the measure, which still requires parliamentary and presidential approval, to raise 4bn zloty (€940m) https://t.co/DpXa8VJDjf — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 17, 2026 The legislation then passed to Nawrocki, who has vetoed a record number of bills since becoming president last year. However, this time he instead exercised his right to refer the bill to the TK without either signing or vetoing it. In a speech announcing his decision on Friday, Nawrocki said that the proposed measures “raise serious constitutional concerns”. In particular, he criticised the fact that tax would be retroactive: it would go into force in August but would apply to revenue earned from the beginning of March. “In a democratic state governed by the rule of law, citizens and businesses must know what regulations apply at the time decisions are made,” said Nawrocki. “The state cannot change the rules a few months later and send a bill for actions taken in accordance with applicable law.” Click here to help us continue providing news free from paywalls and ads The president also argued that, ultimately, the costs of the tax would be passed on to consumers, who have already been paying much higher fuel costs since the government’s protective measures expired at the end of June. “Unfortunately, it appears that the government first lowered fuel prices for propaganda purposes, and now has decided to impose a hefty bill on Poles,” declared Nawrocki. Once a bill is sent to the TK for assessment, there is generally no time limit on how long the tribunal can take to consider it. In practice, this means that some cases can can remain unresolved for years. If the TK does find a bill to be constitutional, the president must sign it into law. Currently, a majority of judges on the TK, including its chief justice, were appointed by and are regarded as aligned with the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party that ruled Poland until 2023 and which supported Nawrocki’s presidential candidacy last year. The chief justice of the constitutional court has refused to accept four new judges appointed by parliament but whom the opposition-aligned president has refused to swear in. The decision deepens an unprecedented standoff over Poland's top court https://t.co/B02DKA3uBL — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 9, 2026 Nawrocki’s decision not to approve the windfall tax was condemned by government figures, including finance minister Andrzej Domański, who accused the president of “once again striking against Poland’s public finances”. In December, Nawrocki vetoed an increased tax on alcoholic and sweet drinks. “Instead of standing on the side of Poles, he sided with fuel corporations reaping huge profits from the current situation on the fuel market,” wrote Domański on social media. Tusk, meanwhile, wrote that the president had “blocked a bill that would have allowed taxing the gigantic profits of fuel conglomerates, making it possible to fund cheaper fuel at our stations”. He told consumers to “remember this [when you are] at the fuel pumps”. In response, the head of Nawrocki’s cabinet, Paweł Szefernaker, called Tusk an “economic dilettante” for thinking that imposing a tax would somehow lower costs rather than cause prices to rise. He instead called on the government to again lower VAT and excise duty on fuels. Od dawna wiadomo, że obecny premier jest gospodarczym dyletantem. Teraz próbuje przekonać Polaków, że nałożenie nowego podatku na paliwa sprawi, iż ceny na stacjach spadną. Zamiast nakładać kolejne podatki, proszę obniżyć VAT i akcyzę, tak jak robił to rząd Prawa i… https://t.co/3xvav6Dieu — Paweł Szefernaker 🇵🇱 (@szefernaker) July 25, 2026 The dispute over the tax comes as Poland faces an increasingly difficult fiscal situation. It had the second-largest budget deficit in the European Union last year, at 7.3% of GDP. That was far higher than the 5.5% the Polish government had pledged in 2024 when it was placed under the EU’s excessive deficit procedure. Data released last week by Eurostat showed that, in the first quarter of 2026, Poland had the EU’s third-largest annual increase in debt-to-GDP ratio, at 4.5 percentage points. In March, credit rating agency Fitch, which last year switched Poland’s credit outlook to negative, warned that the “political gridlock” between the president and the government will continue to hinder policymaking, including tackling “large fiscal deficits and rapidly rising debt”. Poland’s public debt has passed 60% of GDP for the first time, thereby exceeding the limit enshrined in EU law. The country is already under the EU's excessive deficit procedure, requiring it to take steps to bring public finances under greater control https://t.co/LNJ0YrP2Ge — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 12, 2026 Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support. Main image credit: Grzegorz Jakubowski/KPRP

In a July 19 interview with a leading Democratic Senate candidate in the swing state of Michigan, CNN host Jake Tapper homed in on the U. S.–Israeli war on Iran — but he didn’t ask the candidate’s thoughts on the hundreds of Iranian and Lebanese civilians killed, nor the possibility of U. S. war crimes, and not even 18 dead U. S. soldiers. Instead, Tapper posed: “Why were you worried about offending people who support the ayatollah?” Tapper was pressing Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who could become the first Muslim U. S. senator, on a right-wing outlet’s story exposing that he had expressed a desire to tread carefully because of potential differences of opinion among his would-be constituents. On a leaked campaign call, El-Sayed had said after Ali Khamenei’s February assassination that “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today,” referring to the southeast Michigan city that is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the country. Given the ayatollah’s brutality, Tapper’s question implied, how dare El-Sayed consider that possibility? As Michigan’s August 4 Senate primary between El-Sayed and Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens draws near, he has faced a barrage of Islamophobic attacks ranging from thinly veiled policy critiques to outright racist caricatures. The two Senate hopefuls seem to embody the forked path facing the Democratic Party ahead of the 2028 presidential cycle, with 43-year-old Stevens representing the old guard thanks to her backing by the party establishment and the pro-Israel lobby, and 41-year-old El-Sayed representing an insurgent movement skeptical of long-standing U. S. foreign policy interests and corporate capture of American politics. With the latter vision comes a form of fearmongering that’s been endemic to American politics for decades. Nancy Khalil, an anthropologist who researches Muslims in America at the University of Michigan, called Tapper’s interview “sloppy and offensive” and pointed out that the anchor’s questions implied an assumption that because El-Sayed is Muslim and Arab, “he needs to have an opinion on this, and the opinion needs to align with whatever the media wants it to be.” That assumption is “completely racist,” Khalil said. It was only one example in a deluge of attacks El-Sayed has faced in recent weeks that peddle in Islamophobic tropes. The pro-Israel doxxing account StopAntisemitism shared a post in June claiming that a hijabi woman arrested by the Trump administration for allegedly making pro-Palestine graffiti was a former staffer of El-Sayed’s, prompting right-wing agitator Laura Loomer to reply: “BAN Muslims from holding office in the United States.” Replies to El-Sayed’s campaign account often call him a “terrorist,” “radical,” or “jihadist,” and deploy racist memes, including one, likely AI-generated, showing El-Sayed and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wearing vests strapped with explosives and green headbands to signify Hamas. The Michigan GOP has called El-Sayed “a terrorist sympathizer,” emphasizing his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. The attacks aren’t limited to right-wing reactionaries and obsessives on the internet. Many are issued by one of the leading groups backing El-Sayed’s Democratic opponent, Stevens: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has poured nearly $30 million into the race via its super PAC, the United Democracy Project. One UDP commercial alleges baselessly that El-Sayed “expressed sympathy for a terrorist,” and a mailer shared with The Intercept parrots the same. Others mention his decision to stump with political commentator and streamer Hasan Piker. Scholars of Islamophobia and Muslim American communities told The Intercept that both parties and their allies were resorting to Islamophobic and anti-Arab tropes in a race where Israel and Palestine has remained an animating force. El-Sayed has committed to ending military aid to Israel, drawing a stark contrast to Stevens, who famously said: “Israel comes to me in my dreams.” The attacks against El-Sayed reminded Hatem Bazian, a leading scholar of Islamophobia at the University of California, Berkeley, of a critical moment in 2008, when Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was accused of leaking a photo showing Barack Obama wearing garb of a Somalian elder during a visit to Kenya, fueling conspiracies that Obama — who is Christian — was hiding his Islamic faith. Whenever an actual Muslim candidate is involved, especially if they oppose the Israeli government’s policies, Bazian said, their opponents try to associate them with terrorism. “In the election in Michigan, we’re seeing the same type of playbook being played out,” Bazian said. “And what you’re also seeing is that much of the Islamophobia gets to be expressed in the corners of the web.” Yet some prejudice has also been expressed in real life. At a meet-and-greet in Detroit with Stevens and Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S. C., a school board member said she supports Stevens because she “represents all of us, not just one race.” When pressed by local reporter Sam Robinson, who recorded the viral remarks, the Farmington school board member elaborated: “The other candidate [El-Sayed] doesn’t work a room. … Don’t come out speaking only Arabic, don’t come out with your Arabic music on.” The Stevens campaign has tried to distance itself from the most egregious attacks. When asked about the Smith remarks, a spokesperson for the campaign referred to a statement given to The Detroit News in which Stevens said she did not share Smith’s views and called her campaign “a diverse and multicultural best of Michigan coalition” She further claimed to have “repeatedly stood up for and defended our vibrant Muslim American community.” Yet Stevens’s campaign has also capitalized on bigoted rhetoric used by Mike Rogers, the Republican likely to face whichever Democrat wins next month. The campaign drew from a private call between Rogers and supporters during which he said of El-Sayed, “I don’t think he likes America, candidly.” The Stevens campaign sent out a parody of a news release designed to look like it was from El-Sayed campaign, claiming that Rogers had endorsed El-Sayed and reproducing the Republican’s quote: “I think he’s so radical. I think he’s going to lose big parts of the west part of the state. We think we can do well in part of the southeast part of the state. I think we’ll do well if he in fact is the nominee.” In a statement to The Intercept, a spokesperson for CNN defended Tapper’s question on El-Sayed and Khamenei’s killing, which Tapper asked regardless of “background or ideology.” “In this case, he asked Dr. El-Sayed about his comments regarding Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei’s death because he believed they warranted explanation as part of the public debate,” the spokesperson wrote. “Providing interview subjects the opportunity to address and clarify their views is a fundamental part of responsible journalism, and we reject the implication that there was any malicious intent or bias behind the question.” The El-Sayed campaign declined to comment on this story, but told The Intercept in April: “I am not running to be ‘the Muslim’ anything.” “I am not running to be ‘the Muslim’ anything.” “I’m running to be able to serve people in my role as a U. S. senator,” El-Sayed said at the time. “I want people to have healthcare. I want them to be able to work a dignified job that pays a living wage. I want them to have childcare and senior care. I want them to be able to know that the things that they need in their lives are affordable. So, at the end of the day it’s not about me. It’s not about my faith.” Race and religion aren’t the only identity-related fault lines at play in the Michigan Senate race. El-Sayed has “a long history of disrespecting women,” asserts another AIPAC-backed ad launched in early July. According to the Detroit Free Press, a mainstream local paper that fact-checked each of the ad’s claims, the TV spot misrepresented El-Sayed’s comments on figures like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom he ran against in 2018, by framing his critiques of Whitmer’s ties to the healthcare giant Blue Cross Blue Shield as inherently misogynistic. Whitmer, who is serving her second governor term, endorsed Stevens’s Senate run on Friday with a little more than a week from the election. Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, a Stevens supporter known for going after critics of Israel online, called El-Sayed’s criticisms of Stevens and former opponent state Sen. Mallory McMorrow “sexist” with little evidence beyond their respective genders — a comment that has since appeared in another UDP ad. (Watts has said she didn’t give the super PAC permission to quote her public social media comments.) Related Who’s Spending in Your Congressional Election? We Tracked the Front Groups Fueling the 2026 Midterms. The new ad began its run within days of Graham Platner suspending his U. S. Senate campaign in Maine after he was accused of sexual assault. Centrist and pro-Stevens operatives have also tried to link El-Sayed with the Platner campaign, implying a guilt-by-association with left politics. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich. recently told Semafor that “Abdul has a problematic record with women” without providing any evidence, then repeated the claim on Tapper’s show on Wednesday, parroting the Whitmer example from the AIPAC-funded commercial and saying his rhetoric carries “a uniquely sexist bent.” Scholten also claimed that El-Sayed and Platner campaigned and fundraised together, though the two never held a joint event and sent a total of two split-raise fundraising emails. Khalil, the University of Michigan anthropologist, situated the ads as part of a long history of prejudiced tropes that paint Arab and Muslim men as controlling of women, and likewise stereotype Arab and Muslim women as subservient and docile. “We’re seeing it come from within his own party,” she said, “reproducing tropes that have just been around for centuries.” Earlier this month, El-Sayed called on his supporters to stop making “fun of my opponent for things that have nothing to do with her policies or politics,” likely a reference to superficial mockeries of Stevens’s voice, calling the comments “unkind and unhelpful.” Some journalists and advocates for Palestine observing the race wondered why El-Sayed made the request when Stevens had not done the same amid the wave of Islamophobia. “Muslims are always labeled as terrorists, we’re always stereotyped, and our patriotism is always called into account,” said Adam Hamawy, a former Army surgeon who volunteered in Gaza and recently won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. Speaking to The Intercept, he recalled an episode while treating patients from the World Trade Center attacks on September 11 when one of his colleagues at the hospital blamed Hamawy for the attacks. When Hamawy ran for Congress this year, one of his Democratic opponents called him a “radical extremist” because he gave a brief testimony at the 1995 trial of Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted of planning terror attacks. A series of articles in mainstream and conservative outlets also played up the connection. Because El-Sayed, like Hamawy, is Muslim, his opponents are pushing the notion “that he’s radical — they’re questioning his loyalty, they are not talking about issues,” Hamawy told The Intercept. “And that was the same thing here as well: They didn’t attack me on issues, they attacked me for who I was.” “They didn’t attack me on issues, they attacked me for who I was.” In addition to their criticisms of the Israeli state, El-Sayed and Hamawy have b…

As of 12:32 p.m. Moscow time, the Brent price was down by 9.18% at $87.9 a barrel

China’s major chip manufacturers saw their profits skyrocket a staggering 2,579.5 per cent in the first half of 2026, fuelled by unprecedented demand for artificial intelligence and computing power, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The state agency attributed the surge to accelerated integration of AI across various fields, which in turn generated massive demand for computing power, according to Yu Weining, chief statistician of the NBS department...

Top stories from the Russian press on Monday, July 27th

A Singapore fitness instructor linked to former acting minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Faishal Ibrahim’s resignation has denied rumours that she was the woman with whom he had inappropriate interactions. Rasidah Caudal told This Week in Asia on Monday that she had filed a complaint with Singapore’s Online Safety Commission, which helps people deal with online harms such as doxxing and harassment, and intended to lodge a police report. Faishal, 58, resigned last Monday from the cabinet, as...

Spanish authorities said they planned to start to allow some people evacuated from wildfires near Madrid to return on Monday, in a sign of progress in fighting some of the worst forest fires in the country's history. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid.

The FBI chief Kash Patel is heading to Moscow, according to a well-sourced but unconfirmed report, where he is to be hosted by the Russian security service, the FSB. Nothing wrong with that in principle: under the previous administration the then CIA chief Bill Burns regularly acted as message-carrier to the Kremlin. But news of the visit comes as allies’ trust in American spookdom is hitting new lows. One reason is the FBI chief himself. His notoriously thin-skinned, self-important and bombastic behavior includes a resolute refusal to admit that Russia interferes in the US political system. This is troubling, given that the FBI is not just a law-enforcement agency: it is also responsible for catching spies and foiling foreign governments’ influence operations inside the US. The former director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, took a similarly bizarre position, at least in public. Her temporary replacement by the spectacularly ill-qualified Bill Pulte did nothing to soothe allies’ nerves. (A far more solid nominee, Jay Clayton, is expected to be confirmed soon). President Donald Trump himself sets the tone in this pattern of capricious, Kremlin-friendly leadership. His careless handling of classified information features storing it insecurely in his Mar-a-Lago bedroom or just blurting out secrets to visitors, including Russians. This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com…

Hong Kong exports rose 53.4 per cent year on year in June, their sharpest increase in 42 years, to a record HK$641.1 billion on strong overseas demand for AI-related products. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed that the total value of exports climbed to HK$641.1 billion (US$81.7 billion) last month, after a 40.8 per cent surge in May. The last time exports rose more than 50 per cent in a month was in March 1987. A government spokesman said the...

Russia’s Federal Security Service reported that New Zealand sought to obtain from the detainee the data on Russia's military-technical cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries

The president says Operation Southern Spear has virtually ended drug trafficking by sea. Pentagon and DEA analysts have concluded otherwise.

Beijing has stepped up its global messaging campaign over East China Sea islets that Tokyo also claims by rolling out a five-part documentary to tell its version of history, as the countries’ relationship continues to be fraught. The state broadcaster’s English-language channel, China Global Television Network (CGTN), released the first part of Diaoyu Dao: Small Islands, Big Stakes on Monday to “examine the history, legal debates and contemporary realities” surrounding the group of small,...

Their positions are under review by the investigators.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday it had summoned the French ambassador to Tehran to protest "interference in Iran's internal affairs under misleading labels" by two diplomats who were briefly detained earlier this month.

The FSB claimed that New Zealand “recruited” the man to gather intelligence on Russia’s defense cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Esmaeil Baghaei called on "those behind Zelensky to try to better control him"

Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority (URA) received seven tender submissions for a major waterfront residential redevelopment project in Hung Hom, drawing bids from some of the city’s largest developers despite a subdued land market. The authority said on Monday that seven developers submitted tenders for the project before the noon deadline. A tender review panel under the URA board will assess the bids before making recommendations, with the board to decide on the successful...

Tehran: 'The US is not involved in the talks with Oman on Hormuz'

The decision stems from Russia’s dominant position in the global sable market, which has left European manufacturers with virtually no alternative suppliers

Malaysia has won a small victory in Washington’s tariff wars, securing a 10 per cent rate that leaves it better placed than four of its Southeast Asian neighbours in the scramble for US orders. Economists warn the narrow advantage may prove fleeting, however, as it hinges on Kuala Lumpur fulfilling its promised trade reforms. The new duties, which fall under Section 301 of the US Trade Act and took effect on Friday, keep Malaysia in the lower tier of a new American tariff regime alongside...

One week after taking office, Andy Burnham vowed to overhaul the UK's social care system, which is largely privatised, to ease pressure on the National Health Service, which struggles to discharge patients with no social care in place.

In March of this year, a 24-year-old Japan Ground Self-Defense Force officer who was arrested for entering the Chinese Embassy in Minato Ward, Tokyo, with a knife, was indicted on the 27th for trespassing and also for threatening embassy staff.

Defence secretary Wes Streeting says the country will see a prime minister that ‘runs towards big and difficult issues’ Good morning. Yesterday Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, told Sky News that, while Andy Burnham spent his first week as PM focusing on cost of living issues, this week the public would see “a prime minister that runs towards big and difficult issues rather than runs away from [them]”. Those challenges include reforming social care and, as Peter Walker reports, Burnham has pledged to use “whatever political capital I have” to finally fix the crumbling social care system in England, saying that without rapid action the NHS could effectively collapse. Burnham was speaking in a 30-minute interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg going out on Panorama tonight. The BBC put the full interview on iPlayer at 6am this morning, and there is a write-up on the BBC’s website here. But we will only support a solution that abides by two core principles. First, any solution to the issues around social care must also be fair to those who have made provisions and saved up over the course of their lives. Continue reading...

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music Sky News Andy Burnham came into office promising the biggest change in Britain for 40 years. But one week into his premiership, is Britain seeing transformation—or just a different style of politics? As Burnham unveils plans on social care, devolution and welfare, Sam and Anne ask just how big the policies announced by Burnham actually are. Is this just a continuation of Starmer with a new face? They also discuss Burnham’s foreign policy as he prepares to welcome Volodymyr Zelenskyy later today at a British naval base.

Modern terrorist attacks no longer end when the shooting stops. Increasingly, a second battle begins immediately afterward: the struggle over who receives credit. In an era of encrypted communications, instant messaging and digital propaganda, attaching an organization’s name to an attack can be almost as valuable as the hit itself. The assassination of District and […] The post After Pakistan judge killing, a fight over who claims it appeared first on Asia Times.

Officials are considering the possibility of approving sanctions individually or in small thematic batches, the newspaper reported.

Many of China’s private firms continue to face tough operating conditions, including intense market competition, persistent payment delays and weak domestic demand, though technology firms have shown stronger momentum, according to fresh survey results. The recent survey of 79 entrepreneurs from medium- and large-sized private firms found that more than 70 per cent of respondents described their current business conditions as difficult or very difficult, according to the Beijing-based Dacheng...

According to the source, the alliance’s goal is to gather intelligence worldwide, and its activities are driven by the common geopolitical objectives of member states

Their positions are under review by the investigators.

Israel will allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for the enclave, an Israeli official said on Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Sunday approved ‌the legal framework that would allow the force’s entry to Gaza, the official said. Netanyahu was scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and was expected to meet Trump on Tuesday. The official said that the mission, called the International...

At least 10 people have been injured after a minibus collided with a water tanker in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong district. Police said on Monday that they received a report of a traffic accident at 12.21pm, near the Yue Man Square Public Transport Terminal, involving a minibus and a truck. The force said two male and eight female passengers in the minibus were injured. The Fire Services Department said three of the injured were classified as “Yellow” under its tagging system for multiple casualties,...

A shooting at a Seattle food festival left at least three people dead and five others wounded. The police took the suspect into custody.

As Israel heads into a fiercely contested general election on October 27, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the principal challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot’s rise comes at a pivotal moment in Israeli politics, with the election widely viewed as a referendum on the long-serving premier’s leadership in the violent aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. A recent Channel 12 poll put Eisenkot’s new party, Yashar (Hebrew for “Straight” or...

The Philippines came into the 2026 ASEAN chairmanship with the strongest possible hand on the South China Sea. It held the pen on the communique. It had built new domestic legal infrastructure and secured bilateral partner commitments. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) fell in the week of the arbitral ruling’s 10th anniversary. Yet the […] The post The South China Sea consensus no ASEAN chair can move appeared first on Asia Times.

The New York Times reported that the Pentagon began publishing casualty statistics on a dedicated webpage on July 7

According to Israel's Channel 13, Benjamin Netanyahu stated his "intention to resist" the demand of the American administration

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's science ministry and the U. S. chip gian...

After decades of fighting desertification with straw, plants and plastic, Chinese researchers have turned to bamboo – one of the most resilient and sustainable materials on the planet. The fastest-growing plant on Earth has the potential to help overcome challenges with current sand-fixing methods including short lifespan, ecological risks and health issues. Beijing on July 22 released a five-year conservation plan for the country’s forests and grasslands, which includes projects to be...

Hong Kong property developers are expected to report stronger first-half earnings in the coming weeks, buoyed by a rebound in home sales and improving development margins, as investors look for clues on whether the sector’s recovery is sustainable. Bank of America Global Research expected Hong Kong developers and conglomerates to post average core net profit growth of 8 per cent year on year, excluding New World Development, according to a report published on July 15. “We expect the Hong Kong...

Days before Víctor Rodríguez Padilla resigned as General Director of Pemex, the state-owned productive company decided to classify as "confidential" for three years the findings of internal audits from the previous year. In the document CT-PM-560-2026, which EL UNIVERSAL has a copy of, it is detailed that Pemex's Transparency Committee agreed on April 23 to confirm the confidentiality of the findings in internal audits of subsidiary companies, as well as information and communication technologies, and liaison with Pemex review bodies. It is argued that the information contained in these findings is sensitive due to its economic and commercial nature, so its eventual disclosure would imply revealing strategic information regarding business activity. It is justified that revealing incomplete information could generate external pressures, distort technical analyses, and weaken the independence necessary for the adoption of final criteria. After confirming this confidentiality, dozens of pages of these audit findings appear completely blacked out, preventing their content from being known. On May 14, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced the departure of Víctor Rodríguez Padilla from Pemex's General Directorate, who, it was said, sought to return to academia. On July 7, after the release of a video in which he is seen hitting...

China’s expanding zero-tariff access for 63 lower-income countries — 53 of them African — is far more than a developmental courtesy or a technical adjustment of customs schedules. It is a deliberate geostrategic lever in Beijing’s long-term competition with the United States and Europe for influence over the Global South. It also reflects a growing […] The post China’s zero-tariff play aims to lock in African loyalty appeared first on Asia Times.