The US carried out strikes in southern Iran for the second night in a row on Thursday after President Donald Trump said the fragile ceasefire was effectively over.

Hostilities resumed after the US and its Arab allies in the region blamed Iran for attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement on X, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said US forces were “conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” CENTCOM said.

At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent…

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 8, 2026

Iranian media reported explosions along the southern coast, including in the port cities of Bushehr, Chabahar, and Konarak, as well as on Lavan Island. At least two blasts were recorded near the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Fars News Agency reported. 

A video posted on social media appears to show a strike in Chabahar, where Iranian media reported that a maritime control tower had been targeted.

According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the attack on Chabahar, the country’s largest port, also damaged Imam Ali Hospital and severed major power lines. Electricity has since been partially restored. 

The strikes reportedly caused a large fire in Bushehr.

Trump issued a warning to Iran shortly after the strikes began. “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Several hours earlier, the president declared that the ceasefire with Iran was effectively over. “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more. They’re scum,” he told reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Türkiye.

Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed “severe punishment” for the US strikes.

The US and Iran have clashed over the interpretation of the memorandum of understanding they signed on June 17. Under the deal, Iran agreed to “make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Iran and Oman were to begin negotiations to “define the future administration and maritime services” in the waterway. Iran has repeatedly insisted that it has the right to regulate traffic and collect tolls.

Despite US attempts to sabotage and manipulate the event, the UN General Assembly has followed the request of the Cuban delegation to debate the “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

While this debate has been an annually recurring event since 1992, this year its backdrop is particularly grim, as Washington has greatly escalated its longstanding economic-warfare campaign against Havana. At the same time, the US has also threatened a military attack, which may or may not have been delayed by the American defeat in the war against Iran.

But the Cuba debate at the UN also needs to be put in a much larger context: A quarter of a millennium after its founding and about four decades after the end of the last century’s Cold War in the late 1980s, the American empire is declining.

Two recent failed US wars have made that much clear. Under President Donald Trump Washington has scaled down – though not entirely abandoned – its commitment to the Western proxy war against Russia via Ukraine, leaving the expensive and cruel meat grinder to NATO-EU Europeans too shortsighted to know when to quit and too cynical to care what they do to ordinary Ukrainians.

The reasons for this relative yet significant American disengagement have little to do with Trump’s personal – and volatile – attitude toward Russia or, for that matter, Ukraine. The US establishment has simply recognized that the initial aims of the Western proxy war cannot be achieved: Moscow has not been defeated or geopolitically degraded; regime change has not occurred.

America’s unipolar moment, inasmuch as it ever was real, has long been over, as John Mearsheimer – a rare voice of reason in the US – recently explained to the European Parliament. Meanwhile, a multipolar world has already emerged, even if it will keep evolving for a long time and is very unlikely to ever correspond to the utopian fantasy of perfect international equality some may dream about. Real-world multipolarity is vastly preferable to American unipolarity, but it will be a global balance of great powers, or at best, a concert of such powers.

Yet there is a paradox to American decline: While the vast majority of humanity sharing a planet with its biggest rogue state urgently needs the US to lose its extraordinary and catastrophically malignant power, the process will not be fun. On the contrary, the declining US is and will be for quite a while even more aggressive, unpredictable, and dangerous than before. Unlike the former Soviet Union, which went down with historically unusual self-restraint, the American empire is likely to wreak ever more havoc on its way down to the rubbish heap of history.

Next to, for instance, Gaza and Venezuela, one place where you can see this US escalation in action is Cuba. Indeed, Cuba is a particularly pronounced example: Under an unforgiving and criminal American embargo already for almost two thirds of a century, the Caribbean island nation of just about ten million people has recently been subjected to an even fiercer and constantly escalating regime of sanctions and blockade, based on an absurd executive order issued by Trump at the end of January.

Cutting off its oil supplies in particular – a viciously inhumane strategy facilitated by the US assault on Venezuela half a year ago – Washington has been clear that its aim is brutal coercion: either Cuba submits and becomes, in essence, a US protectorate like post-Maduro-kidnapping Venezuela or its people will, at least, continue to suffer under a literally lethal blockade. By now, Cuba has been hit by its third total, nationwide blackout since the beginning of the year, while severe power cuts are already a constant part of everyday life.

Cubans also suffer from a breakdown of their agriculture and food distribution systems, both heavily affected by the energy blockade: no gasoline or diesel means no agricultural machinery and no transport; no power means no cooling chains, for instance. Harvests are rotting in the fields; farmers are forced to leave their farms. Meanwhile the health sector is impoverished and paralyzed. At least about 100,000 Cubans cannot receive necessary treatment; 11,000 children cannot have surgeries they need.

While exact figures are impossible to come by, there is no doubt that Washington’s merciless economic warfare against Cuba is producing mass casualties. This is, after all, what American sanctions and blockades have always done. A recent study in The Lancet has concluded that such US measures are associated with about 564,000 excess deaths – per year.

On average, that is comparable to the annual death toll from direct armed conflict. Keep in mind, too, that the Lancet figure is an under-count, since the study includes only the effects of unilateral US sanctions. In Cuba, it is clear already that child mortality has doubled. The scales are still different, but as in the Gaza genocide, which the US has, in effect, been co-perpetrating with Israel, children are a special category of victims.

And all of this while Cuba does not even have the natural resources that made Venezuela a target of American greed. And, despite Havana’s courageous solidarity with Palestine, unlike Iran Cuba is not in a position to stymy America’s ally from hell, Israel.

As the NATO summit in Ankara has demonstrated, NATO-EU Europe is only doubling down on its obsequious submission to Washington. Where Europe could render the world an invaluable service by helping deter the declining yet hyper-aggressive US, the opposite is happening: Europe as well is to blame for America’s continually escalating crimes since its unflagging support – AKA “burden shifting” – frees US resources so that Washington can do its worst.

But for the rest of the world, Cuba – small as it may be – is an urgent warning: While the American empire is declining and falling, we must learn to stand together to contain and, if necessary, fight its global aggressions. We are, of course, very far from such a strategy. That’s a pity because humanity’s survival may well require it.

One of Ukraine’s biggest shipping companies has been plagued by decades-long corruption and mismanagement to the point where it began losing market share and assets even under highly favorable conditions, the Kiev Independent has reported.

The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP), a state-owned enterprise that operates cargo transportation along the Danube River and carries out shipbuilding and repairs, has been reporting poor performance figures and losses over the past years, even though the river itself turned into a major export route for Ukrainian grain and iron during the conflict with Moscow, according to the Kiev Independent.

According to a letter written in May by a UDP supervisory board member, Benoit Pleska, addressed to the Ukrainian parliament and obtained by the Kiev Independent, the company reported a collapse of over 62% of its freight division and a decrease in its Danube freight market share from 3.11% to 1.1% between 2020 and 2024, even though the market itself grew by more than 19% over the same period.

“Such a divergence cannot reasonably be explained by external circumstances,” Pleska wrote. He also attributed the slide to “structural managerial failure,” as well as “corruption that has plagued the company’s assets for decades, systematically destroying the UDP fleet.” He requested a parliamentary probe into the issue.

The parliament’s transportation and infrastructure committee responded to the letter in June by calling its contents a source of “of significant current concern [that] undoubtedly requires a hearing and detailed review,” Kiev Independent reported, without specifying if any action was taken.

According to the outlet, the company’s management had elicited suspicion in the past. In 2017, 32 UDP vessels were allegedly lost in an embezzlement scheme causing damages of nearly $2 million. The Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities opened a probe, but the case is still pending.

In 2020, the company’s former director, Aleksey Khomyakov, was investigated over a suspicious attempt to transfer dozens of UDP vessels to another company based in Hungary. This investigation has not produced any tangible results as of July 2026 either, according to Kiev Independent.

The scandal also led to the resignation of Zelensky’s former chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, due to allegations of involvement. He was later briefly arrested in a separate money laundering case before being released on approximately $3.2 million bail in May.

In June, Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities announced having uncovered another Energoatom graft scheme involving the alleged theft of at least $3.8 million in public funds that was also linked to Mindich.

Russia has long accused Ukraine and the EU of being linked by “unified corruption chains,” claiming that a significant portion of the Western aid to Kiev – financed by taxpayers – gets embezzled and kicked back to Ukraine’s supporters.

The US has charged the imprisoned head of an Indian crime syndicate and his ‘North American deputy’ with ordering a hit on a Khalistan separatist leader in Canada in 2023.

The federal indictment is a blow to Canada as it previously accused Indian intelligence agencies of playing a role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, plunging relations between Ottawa and New Delhi into a crisis.

The indictment alleges that Bishnoi and Satinderjeet Singh ordered the shooting of Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023.

In May, 2024, Canadian police arrested and charged four Indian nationals over shooting.

The assassination triggered a diplomatic crisis after then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canadian authorities were “actively pursuing credible allegations” linking Indian government agents to the murder. New Delhi rejected the claim as absurd.

Canadian police accused Indian intelligence agencies of using Bishnoi gang members to carry out killings and violent intimidation of supporters of the Khalistan Movement, which seeks to carve out an independent state for Sikhs in India’s Punjab.

New Delhi has denied the charges and accused Ottawa of ignoring extradition requests for Bishnoi gang members. The US indictment charging Bishnoi and Singh does not mention any role of the Indian government in the murder plot, Reuters reported.

The indictment says Bishnoi, who is in a Delhi jail, directed the operation from there using smuggled cellphones. Bishnoi has also been charged with providing a co-conspirator with a photograph and multiple addresses of Nijjar to facilitate the killing.

Singh allegedly directed the North American operations of the criminal group, named as the ‘Lawrence Bishnoi Organized Crime Group’. The FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Singh’s arrest.

Hours after the US indictment, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said there is “no evidence to suggest” that Indian officials were linked to the killing. “Nothing has come out to link the Indian government,” RCMP Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland told Canadian public broadcaster CBC News.

The row led to the mutual expulsions of top diplomats in 2024.

India and Canada agreed to reset bilateral ties after years of tensions in June last year, after Trudeau resigned following low approval ratings and mounting pressure from within his party. In September, Canada designated the Bishnoi gang as a ‘terrorist entity’.

Bilateral ties between Ottawa and New Delhi received a boost when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited India in February. He also initiated talks on a trade deal, which is expected to be completed by November.

Carney’s stance has drawn the ire of some Sikh groups. They have accused Ottawa of failing to hold India accountable to safeguard Sikh Canadians from “foreign interference and transnational repression.”

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure will neither destabilize the country’s economy nor create public panic, President Vladimir Putin has said during a meeting with government officials on Wednesday.

Ukraine has stepped up mid- and long-range strikes on targets deep inside Russia, hitting oil refineries, gas compression stations, civilian infrastructure, and vehicles, including those traveling between mainland Russia and Crimea. The attacks have disrupted logistics, affected local fuel supplies, and caused numerous civilian casualties.

“It is abundantly clear that the adversary is seeking to damage our economy, but above all to create an atmosphere of anxiety in the society. We understand that this goal is impossible to achieve,” Putin said during a virtual meeting.

”Russia’s energy system has one of the highest resilience margins in the world,” he added, urging officials to work more closely with energy companies to swiftly address any local fuel shortages.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of carrying out “terrorist attacks” and vowed systematic retaliatory strikes on military-linked infrastructure across Ukraine, including in Kiev. This week, Russian forces launched a large-scale drone and missile barrage, targeting arms production and maintenance facilities, fuel depots, and military airfields.

Russia remains the Alliance of Sahel States’ (AES) “main partner” in combating terrorism, Niger’s Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the second ministerial meeting between Russia and the AES in Niamey, Sangare said that the AES were satisfied with the implementation of their previous agreements, particularly in the defense sector, where several accords had strengthened the capabilities of AES armed forces in the fight against terrorism.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow and the Alliance share a common vision of a multipolar world order and oppose “neo-colonial practices” imposed by Western countries. He added that the Alliance had made significant progress in regional integration and in building a new security architecture.

Speaking about diplomatic missions, Lavrov noted Russia had completed its presence across the Alliance with the opening of its embassy in Niger.

The AES was established in 2023 by the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger following a series of coups across the Sahel. The three military-led governments have cut defense ties with France, accusing their former colonial power of failing to contain the deadly jihadist insurgency devastating the Sahel and have expanded security ties with Russia.

In April, Russian military instructors and personnel from the Africa Corps, a Russian Defense Ministry unit deployed in Mali, provided air support to help Malian forces prevent the militants from seizing key sites, including the presidential palace in Bamako, officials said.

Beyond defense, AES members are also seeking closer cooperation with Moscow in other sectors, including civil nuclear energy. In February, Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore told RT that cooperation with Russia’s Rosatom was underway under a signed memorandum and that Burkinabe students were already training in Russia.

UK police drew batons amid a clash with enraged locals at a protest in Glasgow, Scotland on Tuesday, as officers evacuated two men accused of being involved in a rape away from the furious crowd.

The protesters gathered outside an apartment block in the city’s East End over concerns that someone living in the building posed a public risk, according to the Glasgow Times.

Videos from the protest show the police pushing scores of angry locals aside as they lead two young men out of the building and into a police van while the men try to cover their faces.

The crowd is heard chanting “Beast! Beast! Beast!” In Scottish slang, the word refers to a rapist or child molester.

When one protester rushed at one of the men and struck at him, the police drew their batons and shouted “get back” at the crowd.

A 50-year-old was charged in connection with a police assault after the incident, a police spokesperson said in a statement cited by the media.

Jebril Abdelrahman, 19, was charged with rape and Denison Charles, 20, was charged with assault at Glasgow Sheriff Court, the Scottish Sun reported on Wednesday.

Abdelrahman, who The Sun said is from Glasgow, was reportedly remanded in custody. Local social media accounts, including British anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson, however, referred to him as a migrant.

Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform party has made significant advances in recent months, winning more than 1,452 seats in local elections across England in May amid Labour’s sinking popularity. Growing anger over immigration has stoked protests and riots across the UK in recent years, inflamed by a series of high-profile violent crimes and sexual assault cases involving migrants and asylum seekers.

The European Parliament has rebuked Kiev over its decision to rename an elite military unit after World War II-era Nazi collaborators, a move that has fueled a weeks-long diplomatic row with Poland.

Militants from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), killed at least 100,000 ethnic Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia – now largely part of Ukraine – between 1943 and 1944. Known as the Volhynia Massacre, the campaign remains the main unresolved historical dispute between Ukraine and Poland, one of Kiev’s key backers in its conflict with Russia.

While Warsaw recognizes the killings as genocide, Kiev honors figures such as OUN leader Stepan Bandera as “national heroes.” Last month, Vladimir Zelensky granted an army unit the honorary title ‘Heroes of the UPA’.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called the move “outrageous” and stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor, while Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz warned that “Ukraine will not join the EU” if it continues to glorify Nazi collaborators.

“It’s a very strong signal. It’s a warning to Ukrainian authorities not to create bad emotions and not to act against European values,” Polish MEP Andrzej Halicki, who introduced the amendment, told Euronews.

Zelensky recently sought to play down the dispute with Warsaw, calling it “some internal questions” stemming from “difficulties in our history,” and urged Warsaw not to block Ukraine’s long-standing EU ambitions. In an effort to ease tensions, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga traveled to Warsaw last week to propose an “anti-crisis package,” including historical roundtables.

However, Ukraine has shown little sign of changing course. Earlier this month, the Ukrainian parliament approved plans to establish a national pantheon honoring prominent historical figures, including World War II-era nationalists. This week, Ukraine’s state-backed Mirotvorets database of alleged “enemies of the state” blacklisted Polish presidential chief of staff Zbigniew Bogucki after he used a historic Polish name for a region now largely located in western Ukraine.

“They couldn’t have not known. They thought they were just throwing bones into the kennel [in Kiev] and would later profit. Now Warsaw is trying to backtrack,” Zakharova told Sputnik Radio. “But that can no longer be undone by simply taking down the White Eagle, posting a few tweets, or making loud statements. They’ve already armed these terrorists. Now those terrorists have, in essence, begun managing those who created them.”

A video shared by Ukrainian media on Wednesday shows the devastation in the city of Vishnyovoe in Kiev Region where a site that stored a large amount of ammunition in the middle of a residential area was hit by a Russian strike.

The location was struck overnight Sunday into Monday, along with several other sites that Moscow described as part of Ukraine’s military-industrial infrastructure. Videos of the immediate aftermath show numerous secondary detonations. The fact that the facility was located near residential buildings sparked controversy in Ukraine.

The authorities have not provided details about what exactly was destroyed. A military spokesman said the facility was not operated by the Ukrainian military, claiming that “the ban on placing ammo depots and similar objects next to residential areas” remains in place.

New footage purportedly filmed in the area shows buildings reduced to ruins. Official reports previously said seven people were killed and around 200 private homes were damaged. An emergency evacuation of around 50 people was reportedly carried out by armored vehicles immediately after the site was struck, while a broader relocation order affected around 500 people.

The Russian military said it struck two targets in Vishnyovoe: A military oil depot and state-owned munitions producer Vizar, which observers believe likely stored a large amount of its products on-site.

A ruling issued by a court in Ivano-Frankivsk Region last month states that a civilian aviation plant in Kiev was co-opted by a military unit to store high-caliber shells. The plant was struck by Russia twice last year.

Violence has escalated in South Sudan’s oil-rich Jonglei State after a county commissioner was assassinated during an attack blamed on opposition forces, officials in the East African nation said on Monday.

James Kueth Makuach, the government-appointed commissioner of Akobo County, was killed on Sunday when fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) attacked Walgak, a remote area in Akobo West, according to government and opposition officials.

Makuach had previously been aligned with the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) before defecting in April to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). His appointment by the government deepened tensions in Akobo, a strategic opposition stronghold where the 2018 peace agreement assigns the county commissioner’s post to Riek Machar’s party.

Opposition-appointed Akobo governor John Wiyual Lul said that SPLA-IO fighters briefly seized the area before withdrawing after national forces arrived from the nearby town of Waat.

The fighting has left an unknown number of people dead, with senior military personnel reportedly among the casualties, including army Gen. Chuol Pathol and another officer, Gai Makuach Pan.

South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 but has remained volatile after a five-year civil war erupted in 2013 over a feud between Kiir and Machar. The two leaders signed a power-sharing deal in 2018, but tensions have escalated since Machar was detained on treason charges last year.

On Monday, the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, which monitors the implementation of South Sudan’s peace deal, warned that the renewed fighting threatens the ceasefire and civilian safety.

The latest clashes come days after the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) withdrew peacekeepers from its temporary base in Akobo, following months of deployment to protect civilians.

Last month, the South Sudanese National Elections Commission announced that the country would hold its first general election on December 22, after repeatedly missing previous voting deadlines.

Ukrainian drones have targeted a compressor station that forms part of the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline supplying Russian gas to Türkiye, Gazprom said on Wednesday, adding that the attack failed to disrupt deliveries.

According to the Russian energy giant, the Krasnodarskaya pumping station in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region was targeted in a drone attack early on the morning of July 7, in an attempt to disrupt gas supplies to Türkiye.

Gazprom added that emergency measures taken by personnel prevented any interruption to gas flows through the pipeline, while repair work is underway to fix the damage caused by the attack.

The strike comes as Kiev has intensified long-range drone attacks targeting energy facilities and civilian sites inside Russia amid continued setbacks on the battlefield in recent months. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the capture of the key Ukrainian stronghold of Konstantinovka, which opens the way towards the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the last two remaining cities held by Kiev in Donbass.

Commenting on the latest strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is taking the maximum possible measures to minimize the threat of Ukrainian terrorist attacks against the global energy system. Peskov also expressed hope that Türkiye and other countries would use their influence to dissuade Kiev from carrying out such attacks.

Moscow has said it will respond to Kiev’s actions with “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukraine’s military infrastructure. According to the Defense Ministry, Russian forces carried out more precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kiev in the early hours of Wednesday.

A Ukrainian drone has struck a passenger bus in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region, setting the vehicle ablaze, Governor Evgeny Balitsky has said, adding that all 11 people on board escaped unharmed.

In a post on Telegram, Balitsky said that the attack took place on a road in the Primorsky district on the Black Sea coast, noting that all passengers and two drivers had been evacuated safely. He described the attack as a “targeted strike on a scheduled passenger bus with civilians on board”, “a gross violation of international humanitarian law,” and “another war crime by the rabid Kiev terrorists.”

Rodion Miroshnik, who leads the Russian Foreign Ministry mission responsible for tracking Kiev’s war crimes, suggested that the “terrorist acts” are aimed at intimidating the local population and undermining connectivity in the region.

Ukraine has ramped up long- and mid-range drone strikes into Russia, with many now targeting not only critical infrastructure and civilian buildings, but also all types of vehicles, including those moving between mainland Russia and Crimea.

Last month, a Ukrainian drone hit a bus carrying a Belarusian youth football team in the same region, killing the coach’s wife and injuring several passengers, including children.

India is planning an upgrade of its Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles at an estimated cost of $7.85 billion, according to media reports citing army sources.

The orders cover life-cycle enhancement of the Indian Army’s T-72 and T-90 tanks, infantry combat vehicles (BMPs), and Armored Recovery Vehicles (ARVs).

As per plan, 790 T-72 tanks, 200 T-90 tanks, and 230 armored recovery vehicles – crucial for the recovery and repair of tanks on the battlefield – will undergo restoration over five years.

The restoration program aims to bring the platforms to a constant operational readiness capability and extend their lifespan.

State-backed Armoured Vehicles Nigam Ltd (AVNL) is due to execute the upgrade plan. AVNL reportedly completed restoration of two T-72 tanks as a pilot project earlier this year.

The decision comes in the wake of state-backed defense undertakings repeatedly pushing for long-term orders as a prerequisite for investing in capacity, technology, and supply chains, Hindu Business Line reported. The five-year span of orders is a reported departure from the previous short-term procurement model.

India, which clashed with nuclear-armed neighbor Pakistan last year, has undertaken a massive drive to modernize its armed forces.

Earlier this month, New Delhi approved a tranche of arms purchases worth $5.5 billion as part of the effort. In March, India approved the purchase of defense equipment worth $25 billion, including Russian‑made S‑400 air defense missile systems, various types of aircraft, and artillery systems.

The Indian Defense Ministry said the March approvals included additional Russian S‑400 Triumf systems, transport aircraft to replace the country’s ageing fleet of Soviet‑era An‑32 and Il‑76 planes, and various artillery systems.

NATO leaders have reconvened in Ankara for the second and final day of the US-led military bloc’s annual summit, with efforts to project unity overshadowed by persistent disagreements over defense spending, as well as the Russia-Ukraine and Iran conflicts.

The first day was dominated by US President Donald Trump’s sharp criticism of European allies for failing to shoulder a greater share of the military burden and for not backing Washington during its confrontation with Iran. Trump also renewed his demand for US control of Greenland, while NATO members unveiled new multibillion-dollar defense procurement agreements intended to strengthen the bloc’s military capabilities and answer longstanding calls for higher spending.

Ukraine remains high on the agenda as Vladimir Zelensky seeks additional military support from Western backers, while leaders attempt to keep the focus on the bloc’s long-term rearmament plans.

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Last week’s bombing in Monaco is neither the first nor the last “bloody bite” inflicted by “Kiev regime terrorism” on its Western sponsors, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

In an interview with Sputnik Radio on Wednesday, Zakharova said Ukraine’s backers are now facing the consequences of supporting a leadership driven by Nazi ideology – a policy Moscow has long warned against.

Ukrainian-born millionaire Vadim Ermolaev, now a Cypriot citizen, his partner, and son were injured in Monaco last week when a backpack bomb exploded outside a residential building.

Ukrainian investigators said the main suspect, Ukrainian national Anastasia Berezovskaya, who was later found dead, had communicated with two men before the blast, including a serving officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) who later confessed to killing her with an accomplice.

Zakharova said the incident showed that Ukrainian terrorism has spread far beyond its borders.

“[The West] got what they sowed and what we warned them about. That terrorist monster raised and fed by the collective West has reached them,” she said.

Zakharova said the bombing should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a broader pattern of “Kiev regime terrorism,” citing the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions. While court proceedings continue against a Ukrainian suspect who allegedly led a sabotage group to blow up the pipelines, Moscow maintains the operation was orchestrated by the authorities in Kiev and Western intelligence.

Zakharova accused Western governments of ignoring the ideological foundations of Ukraine’s leadership while continuing to arm Kiev.

“They draw their ideology from the ideas and philosophy of Nazism,” she said, arguing that Western governments failed to recognize the significance of the World War II-era nationalist figures now openly honored in Ukraine. “They see some torches and think nothing of it – just a kind of Ukrainian-style Halloween... They armed these terrorists with their own weapons. Now those terrorists have… in essence, begun managing those who created them.”

“They thought they were just throwing bones into the kennel [in Kiev] and would later profit... Is this the last bloody bite the West will receive from those it nurtured? Of course not,” she warned.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of carrying out terrorist attacks both inside Russia and abroad. Kiev has intensified drone strikes on Russian civilian and energy infrastructure in recent months amid continued setbacks on the battlefield. One of the deadliest recent attacks was the May 22 strike on a college dormitory in Starobelsk, which killed 21 people – mostly teenage girls. Moscow has since vowed “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukrainian military infrastructure and “decision-making centers” in response to Kiev’s terrorist attacks.

Europe is “playing with fire” as it assists Ukraine in strikes deep into Russia, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said, warning Kiev’s Western backers that Moscow may have no other choice other than to respond with force.

In a lengthy interview with Die Weltwoche's Roger Koeppel on Wednesday, Simonyan said, “it is not Ukraine that is bringing the war to Moscow” but rather Europe, as Kiev is incapable of conducting attacks without foreign aid and intelligence.

Simonyan warned that Moscow’s patience is running thin as drones, missiles, flight disruptions, and fuel shortages increasingly affect civilians in Russia.

“People are afraid to sleep at night… Where is the limit of this hardship, when the people will say, ‘Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], we have to respond! I don’t know, but I think it is very close. Very close. Right now, you are playing with fire.”

Bulgaria is unable to provide any more weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said, reaffirming his government’s decision to halt further arms deliveries to Kiev.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, on Wednesday, Radev said Bulgaria would continue supporting Ukraine financially “within its capabilities, without affecting social spending,” while ruling out further deliveries from the country’s military stockpiles.

“We have exhausted our ability to provide military support. I mean weapons and ammunition from the warehouses of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. We provided 13 packages; we don’t have anything else to supply to Ukraine,” Radev told reporters. He added that Sofia could still offer technical assistance by repairing military equipment.

Radev was not the only NATO leader to acknowledge limits on military aid. Dutch Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius said on Tuesday the Netherlands had also reached the limit of what it could provide directly from its own military stockpiles.

The comments contrasted with Vladimir Zelensky’s appeals at the Ankara summit for NATO members to provide more air defense systems and interceptor missiles.

Radev’s remarks reaffirm a policy announced last month by Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov, who said Bulgaria would stop supplying weapons because the conflict could not be resolved on the battlefield.

Under the previous government, Bulgaria became one of Kiev’s largest suppliers of Soviet-standard weapons and ammunition. According to officials, Bulgarian shells accounted for roughly one-third of the ammunition used by Ukraine during the first year of the conflict.

Radev, whose Progressive Bulgaria party won the parliamentary election in April, has long opposed Brussels’ approach to the Ukraine conflict. As president between 2022 and 2025, he criticized sanctions on Russian energy, blocked a proposal to send Bulgarian armored vehicles to Kiev, and repeatedly called for a negotiated settlement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Zelensky could end the conflict with Russia in a single day by ordering Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Donbass.

There’s a real love-triangle dynamic playing out right now between the US, Türkiye, and Israel.

Donald Trump is going out of his way to be seen embracing Recep Tayyip Erdogan, talking up sanctions relief and reopening the door on F-35 fighter jets and engines for Türkiye’s homegrown KAAN program.

At the same time, Benjamin Netanyahu is working overtime to protect Israel’s privileged position in US Middle East policy, warning anyone who’ll listen that handing Türkiye advanced weapons systems would upend the regional balance of power.

Ankara as the turning point

While in Ankara for the NATO summit, Trump announced that Washington would lift the sanctions imposed on Türkiye after its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems – sanctions that have hung over the relationship for years. He said it standing next to Erdogan, which made it sound like a gift. Trump added that he doesn’t like sanctioning friends, and that ties with Türkiye are, in his words, better than they’ve ever been.

Just as notable was the return of F-35 talk. Trump didn’t promise delivery, simply saying it is something the US “will look at.” That’s a long way from a commitment, but it’s also the first time in years an American president has floated the idea publicly and warmly rather than treating it as a closed door. Erdogan, for his part, wasn’t shy about reminding everyone that Washington once promised Türkiye five of the jets, and said he trusts that Trump keeps his word.

Trump also made clear, in tone if not always in substance, that his relationship with Erdogan matters more to him than a lot of the usual alliance etiquette. He talked about the chemistry between them, called Türkiye more loyal than some countries Washington has counted on for support, and effectively held Ankara up as a contrast to America’s European NATO partners – several of whom he’s clearly lost patience with. He said NATO treated the US poorly during the conflict with Iran, and suggested he might have skipped the summit entirely if it hadn’t been held in Türkiye.

Türkiye as a mediator – and an irritant for Israel

None of this warmth is purely personal chemistry. Türkiye has made itself genuinely useful to Washington in ways that matter strategically. Ankara – alongside Qatar, Egypt, and the US – became part of the architecture holding the ceasefire in Gaza and the subsequent political track together. When negotiations stalled, Trump turned to Erdogan specifically, counting on Türkiye’s leverage over Hamas. Turkish officials reportedly worked to convince Hamas that the ceasefire carried both regional and American guarantees, including Trump’s personal word.

That’s exactly the kind of role that cements Türkiye’s status as the leading Sunni regional power – and exactly the kind of role that keeps Netanyahu up at night. From West Jerusalem’s vantage point, Türkiye isn’t a neutral broker. It’s a state that criticizes Israel openly and often, champions the Palestinian cause, and is now angling for real influence in Gaza, Syria, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Against that backdrop, the F-35 and KAAN questions may start looking more like an existential one for Israeli defense planners.

Netanyahu didn’t dance around the issue. In an interview with Fox News, he said flatly that Türkiye shouldn’t be given F-35s or engines for its fighter programs, because doing so would break the regional balance of power – a balance he says depends on Israeli air superiority backed by an American presence in the region. He went further, accusing Erdogan of hostile rhetoric toward Israel and describing Türkiye’s leadership as a regime infected by Muslim Brotherhood ideology – strong words, deliberately chosen.

For Trump, Türkiye’s role in Gaza is an argument in favor of getting closer to Ankara. For Israel, it’s a source of genuine alarm. There’s a real fear in West Jerusalem that in trying to lock down the end of active fighting in Gaza and push forward some kind of postwar governance framework, Washington is effectively handing Türkiye a seat at the table on Palestine – something Ankara has been shut out of for a long time.

The price of the Iran war

Trump and Netanyahu’s relationship has visibly cooled in recent months, even if both men do their best to keep up appearances. Netanyahu told CNN that he and Trump may have separate disagreements over Iran, but remain aligned on the issues that matter most. That’s the polished facade. Underneath it is real, accumulating frustration in Washington.

The war against Iran, which began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes, has turned into a genuine political liability for Trump. The Pew Research Center found that 61% of Americans disapproved of how Trump handled the Iran conflict, while 40% said the operation has made the US less safe over the long term. Those aren’t the kind of numbers a president shrugs off, especially heading into a difficult political stretch.

There’s a perception taking hold inside the US that Trump got pulled into this war under Israeli influence. Whether that is an accurate account of how decisions actually got made or not, the perception itself functions as a political fact. And the more this war costs Trump with American voters, the more sharply he reacts to anything Netanyahu does that complicates his effort to sell himself as the guy who ended a war rather than started one.

Israel, for its part, has made clear it doesn’t consider itself bound by agreements that limit its freedom of action against Hezbollah and Iran. From Washington’s side, that looks like an attempt to trap Trump in an open-ended conflict just as he’s trying to find the exit. So the negative view of Israel’s conduct in Lebanon is tangled up with Trump’s own political survival instincts.

Why Washington hasn’t chosen Ankara – yet

Even so, Trump’s personal warmth toward Erdogan doesn’t add up to a wholesale US pivot away from Israel toward Türkiye. There are several hard structural reasons for that, and none of them are going away soon.

First, the F-35 isn’t a gift the president can just hand out. It’s governed by law, by Congress, and by the US export-control system. Current US legislation doesn’t allow Türkiye back into the F-35 program while it still owns the S-400 system. One option being floated involves transferring the Russian systems to a third country, but that’s a proposal, not a resolved deal – and these things have a way of staying unresolved for years.

Second, congressional Democrats have long had a strained relationship with Türkiye’s government. Even the comparatively simple F110 engine deal ran into pushback – Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks raised objections and demanded the administration explain its reasoning, saying it hadn’t even bothered to justify the decision. If a straightforward engine sale generates that kind of friction, an F-35 deal will face something far tougher.

There’s also a pattern worth remembering: Trump’s big arms-deal announcements don’t always turn into big arms deals. During his first term, he announced a $110 billion weapons package for Saudi Arabia that, in practice, mostly stayed on paper. At the time it was described as more of a declaration than a completed agreement, and American reporting later showed that only a fraction of the announced sums ever translated into actual contracts.

Even if Trump genuinely wants to reward Erdogan politically, the pro-Israel lobby, Congress, the Pentagon, existing legal restrictions, and the push to preserve Israeli military superiority will all slow the process down. That’s why Ankara is far more likely to get its KAAN engines quickly than to get back into the F-35 program at all. One is a relatively easy concession while the other is a legislative and political minefield.

There’s a pattern here that goes beyond Türkiye specifically. Trump has made a habit throughout this term of treating personal rapport as a substitute for policy – floating major concessions in the glow of a good meeting, then watching the machinery of American government slow-walk them into something much smaller. It happened, in part, with Saudi Arabia during his first term. There’s no obvious reason Türkiye would be the exception, especially on an issue as legally and politically loaded as fifth-generation fighter jets. The gap between what Trump says in a room with Erdogan and what actually clears Congress, the Pentagon, and the export-control bureaucracy tends to be wide, and it tends to stay wide for years, not months.

Trump genuinely is warmer toward Erdogan right now than he is toward several of America’s traditional allies, and he genuinely is frustrated with how Israel has handled itself in Lebanon, Gaza, and the broader Iran file. Both of those things are true and worth taking seriously. But US Middle East policy has never run purely on the emotional temperature of one president, and it isn’t about to start now. What’s visible right now is a flirtation between Washington and Ankara – public and strategically useful to both sides. What isn’t visible is any sign that Washington’s long-standing commitment to Israel has been called off. It’s far too early to say America has chosen Türkiye over Israel. Washington is trying, as it often does, to keep both relationships alive at once, extracting what it can from each without formally downgrading either – and the real tension, when it finally surfaces, will show up not in summit speeches or warm handshakes, but in what Congress actually lets through.

The EU has “gone a bit crazy” over the alleged threat from Russia, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said, adding that Moscow “has not laid a finger on Europe” despite years of Western arms shipments to Ukraine.

In a lengthy interview with Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche, Simonyan said Kiev’s Western backers are actively trying to “destroy Russia,” while no Russian missile, tank, or military aircraft has entered other European countries in five years amid the Ukraine conflict.

“How many European rockets, tanks, and planes have flown, driven, and arrived in Russia all this time?” Simonyan asked. “After that, you ask about our responsibility [in the stand-off with the West]?”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

Oil prices have surged as tensions between the US and Iran flared again, raising fresh concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East after Washington reinstated pressure on Tehran and resumed military strikes.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday revoked a two-month sanctions relief license for Iranian oil following reports of attacks on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. US forces also carried out a new wave of strikes against targets inside Iran overnight into Wednesday.

September Brent crude futures rose as much as 6% on Wednesday from the previous close to $78.53 per barrel, while August WTI crude futures climbed 5.91% to $74.6 per barrel.

Washington and Tehran reached a two-month ceasefire agreement on June 18, intended to create conditions for negotiations on a broader settlement between the two countries.

The US has accused Iran of violating the ceasefire and threatening maritime security through attacks on commercial shipping, prompting what officials Washington described as a military response.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported a series of explosions overnight, saying seven blasts were recorded near the village of Taherui in Sirik County and another six near the city of Qeshm.

According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), an unidentified projectile struck a tanker off the coast of Oman, causing a fire on board. The WSJ reported that one of the damaged vessels may have been the Al Rekayyat, a tanker owned by Qatar’s Nakilat. The vessel reportedly sustained damage near its engine room, while all crew members remained safe. Axios said the targeted ships suffered only limited damage.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump told journalists that the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was no longer in effect. Trump said he would not prevent US diplomats from holding talks but did not believe they would produce any results.

The US decision to brand Brazil’s two biggest criminal groups as terrorist organizations could serve as a pretext for military intervention, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry has warned.

Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira issued the warning in a letter sent to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies last week, responding to lawmakers’ questions about Washington’s decision to designate the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) as terrorist organizations, CNN Brazil reported on Tuesday.

The US added the gangs to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) on June 5, placing them in the same legal category as groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

Addressing lawmakers, Vieira argued that Washington’s existing designation of the gangs as ‘transnational criminal organizations’ already allows broad cooperation with Brazil in combating organized crime, making the FTO listing unnecessary.

“Such application can occur with a wide degree of discretion... with serious possibilities of implications for Brazilian citizens in financial, immigration, and criminal matters. Finally, there is the possibility of the use of military force by the United States on Brazilian territory,” CNN Brazil cited the Foreign Ministry as saying.

The designation will “not bring concrete benefits” to US-Brazil cooperation in combating organized crime, it added. Vieira stressed that the US acted unilaterally and did not formally notify Brasilia, meaning Brazil had no official communication to respond to.

“CV and PCC are two of the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil... Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil’s borders, across our region, and into our country,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May, adding that the Trump administration would use “all available tools” to disrupt “violent narcoterrorists.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva later described Maduro’s capture as the first direct US military attack on South America in more than 200 years of independence, warning that the same practice is now spreading across Latin America and the Caribbean.

A couple made a miraculous escape from a landslide during a devastating spell of torrential monsoon rains that claimed four lives in a mountainous district in India’s southern state.

Four people were killed and nine others injured after a landslide in Kerala’s Wayanad on Tuesday, authorities said. The landslide hit a tunneling site, trapping several workers there.

Search and rescue efforts continued, officials said, adding six people are reportedly missing. The death toll is likely to rise.

A man and woman escaped certain death after a tanker lorry that got caught in the debris flow pushed them back nearly a quarter of a mile to a petrol station, while also partly shielding them from the mud and rocks. When the tanker slid to a stop, the muddied couple got up and walked off.

CCTV footage from the incident near the gas station has since gone viral.

Kerala: Couple covered in mud escapes landslide in Wayanad, says 'God got us back'.

Recounting the incident, the woman said, "I got scared seeing the mud rushing towards us. We couldn't do anything. I somehow escaped with my husband. I have pain in my hands now."

“The lorry was… pic.twitter.com/a74shERKo4

— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) July 7, 2026

A red alert has been sounded in the region. Two of the nine people admitted to a hospital were later released, while seven continue to undergo treatment.

In 2024, a deadly landslide killed nearly 400 and left thousands homeless in the mountainous district in Kerala, a South Indian trijunction bordering the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Tuesday’s landslide occurred only a few kilometers from one of the sites devastated in 2024.

The authorities have begun evacuating nearby areas as rain continues to lash the region.

Heavy rainfall linked to climate change and unplanned construction in geographically fragile areas is cited as the key reason for frequent natural calamities in India’s hilly regions.

The Indian Meteorological Department’s latest forecast predicts below-normal monsoon rainfall in the country in July.

Russia and Ethiopia have reaffirmed the “strategic” nature of their relationship following high-level talks in Addis Ababa, the Russian Foreign Ministry has reported, saying the meetings reinforced the long-standing friendship between the two nations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. 

Following the meeting, Abiy wrote on X that it was “a pleasure” to receive Lavrov and his delegation, adding that their discussions focused on bilateral relations and “exploring new opportunities for cooperation.”

It was a pleasure to meet with Mr. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and his delegation this evening, during which our discussions focused on bilateral relations and exploring new opportunities for cooperation. pic.twitter.com/HG2l5QARsc

— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) July 7, 2026

The talks focused on expanding cooperation in a range of areas, with Moscow and Addis Ababa agreeing to promote direct business contacts and support joint projects in energy, transport infrastructure, digital technologies and telecommunications, information security, and agricultural production, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in Addis Ababa, Lavrov also held consultations with African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

The minister arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday, kicking off his latest tour of Africa with a working visit to the Ethiopian capital. His previous trip to the country took place in July 2022.

Russia and Ethiopia have maintained diplomatic relations since 1943. The two countries have steadily expanded cooperation in recent years. 

NATO would help Denmark protect Greenland from any attack, including hypothetically from the US, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said.

The issue of Greenland came up on the sidelines of a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Türkiye, after US President Donald Trump confirmed that he still wants Washington to control the Danish autonomous territory. He said the dispute was one of the reasons his relationship with the bloc had deteriorated.

“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.

“Greenland does not help Denmark. Denmark does not really spend money to help Greenland,” he said. He also warned that the US could potentially withdraw all American troops from Europe.

The idea of the US acquiring Greenland has arisen at various times in American history. Strategically located in the North Atlantic, the Danish island already hosts a US military base and is believed to contain valuable mineral resources, the extraction of which could become commercially viable in the future.

Trump has refused to rule out the use of military force to establish control over Greenland, raising the possibility of NATO being pitted against its dominant member. The American leader has accused the organization of being useless to US interests, with its refusal to become directly involved in the US-Israeli attack on Iran emerging as a major grievance.

US President Donald Trump has declared the fragile ceasefire with Iran “over” after the US military conducted a series of strikes on the Islamic Republic over alleged attacks on three tankers that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

On Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it hit dozens of Iranian ground and navy targets “in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” denouncing Tehran for “aggression [that] was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”

Iranian media reported that one of the tankers – which was linked to Qatar – was attacked as it was sailing through the strait and “ignoring repeated warnings.” A government source told Press TV that any traffic through the chokepoint should be approved by Tehran.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, Trump lashed out at the Iranian leadership, calling them “scum,” “cuckoo,” “sick,” “vicious, [and] violent people,” and confirmed that the ceasefire is “over.”

“I don’t want to deal with them… I’ll speak to our negotiators that want to negotiate… [but] as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars,” he said.

Under the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed last month, Washington and Tehran declared a permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, while committing to finalize a lasting deal within 60 days. The US agreed to lift its naval blockade in stages, while Iran agreed to make its “best efforts” to ensure free passage for commercial vessels through the strait for 60 days.

The US also committed to unfreezing restricted Iranian funds while Tehran reaffirmed that it would not pursue nuclear weapons and agreed to return its enriched uranium stockpile under IAEA supervision, though the specifics of enrichment rights were left for the final deal.

A group of Ugandan farmers has launched a case in the UK High Court against the operator of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), seeking to stop the project over alleged environmental rights violations.

The claim was filed on Tuesday by London law firm Leigh Day on behalf of four farmers, with campaign group Avaaz supporting a crowdfunding effort for the case. It asks the court to apply Ugandan constitutional, environmental, and climate law to EACOP Ltd., the British-registered company developing and expected to operate the pipeline.

The farmers argue that the 1,443-km pipeline breaches Ugandan laws protecting citizens’ right to a clean and healthy environment. They are seeking an injunction to prevent it from becoming operational.

“Our land is our life. Without it, we have nowhere to go. Right now, we as communities don’t have access to clean and safe water,” Samuel Abedilembe, a farmer who said he lost 42% of his land to the project, said, according to local outlet Independent Uganda.

EACOP, billed as the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline, is designed to transport crude from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga for export. EACOP Ltd. is a “special-purpose” company in which French energy giant TotalEnergies holds a 62% stake, while the Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation each hold 15%, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation owns 8%, according to the project’s website.

As the project’s largest shareholder, TotalEnergies has long faced legal action from activists over alleged climate and human rights violations linked to EACOP, including claims that more than 100,000 people could be displaced if the pipeline is completed.

In November 2023, New York-based climate watchdog GreenFaith published a report describing EACOP’s construction as a “spiritual assault” on local communities. The group accused TotalEnergies of repeatedly failing to respect local customs and traditions regarding graves, after finding that hundreds of burial sites along the project route had been damaged.

In response to the latest case, the non-profit energy advocacy group African Energy Chamber criticized the move as foreign-backed litigation targeting strategically important African energy projects.

“This is colonialism 2.0... UK courts should not determine Uganda’s energy future. Ugandans should,” AEC Executive Chairman and Centurion Law Group chief NJ Ayuk said in a press release.

Senior US military commanders ignored warnings that intelligence on targets in Iran was outdated as they rushed to compile strike lists at the start of the war, CNN reports. Citing sources familiar with the decision-making process, the broadcaster said the decision contributed to the deadly strike on an Iranian girls’ school.

The bombing – in which 120 students aged 6 to 13 were killed, in addition to 36 adults – happened on February 28, the opening day of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran.

According to the broadcaster, messages embedded in the Pentagon’s targeting system warned that intelligence on some strike sites was based on years-old information and required verification before the locations could be approved for attack.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a formal investigation in March. CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper said in May that the findings would be made public once the inquiry is complete.

According to CNN, US military officials “knew within days how the mistake happened.” One of the sources told the outlet that “it was obviously old info.”

Bloomberg reported last month that the Pentagon investigation was completed in April, and found the strike resulted from gaps in the military’s targeting system.

According to the outlet, a US intelligence analyst identified the Minab site as an elementary school rather than an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval facility in 2019, but the updated assessment never reached military commanders because it was entered into a digital intelligence tool that was not linked to the Pentagon’s official targeting database.

US President Donald Trump said last month that the actual culprit behind the strike in Minab may never be established.

Iranian officials have described the attack as a war crime and crime against humanity and demanded accountability.

The recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to India came at a moment when the politics of the Indo‑Pacific appear to be in flux, especially amid rising tensions in the Middle East between the US and Iran.

With Washington increasingly tied down by its involvement in the Middle East, as well as in “its hemisphere” through aggression against Venezuela and threats against Cuba, observers on the other side of the globe are questioning what role the US can still play in an evolving Indo‑Pacific landscape – whether in the Taiwan Strait or the Strait of Malacca.

Relations between India and Japan have picked up ever since the then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori paid a visit to India back in 2000. Ties improved particularly during the term of Shinzo Abe, who was a big friend of India and was also the longest serving prime minister of Japan.

To understand Tokyo’s outlook towards ties with New Delhi we need to take a closer look at the current economic and political landscape in and around Japan.

Takaichi has been reaching out to a range of countries ever since taking office as prime minister in October 2025. New Delhi holds a prominent place in Japanese foreign policy, both politically and economically. At the same time, Japan’s trade ties with China appear to have run into difficulties amid rising political tensions, especially given that Takaichi is seen as a protégé of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was widely regarded as a hardliner on China.

Takaichi ran into trouble with China early in her term when, during a meeting in the lower house of Japan’s Diet in November last year, she said that if China were to impose a naval blockade on Taiwan, it would amount to a “survival-threatening situation” and could prompt Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense. The remark drew strong protests from Beijing.

In addition, profit margins for Japanese companies in China are shrinking rapidly because of tighter regulations, rising competition from domestic firms and higher wages. By contrast, India – with its population of 1.4 billion and its vast youth demographic – fits the bill, especially as Japan’s own population continues to shrink rapidly.

Economic drivers

Japan has played a critical role in India’s infrastructure development. One of the flagship projects is the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high‑speed rail corridor, modelled on Japan’s famed Shinkansen system. As New Delhi plans to roll out a series of high‑speed rail corridors, Japanese technology and support will remain crucial.

India is a very important market for Japan’s high‑speed rail sector, especially after countries such as Indonesia chose an Indonesian–Chinese consortium over Japanese bidders for the Jakarta–Bandung high‑speed railway. It is also worth noting that both India and Japan have stayed out of the China‑led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Another important reason for Takaichi’s visit to India was to advance a deal on the exploration of critical minerals, especially after China imposed restrictions on exports of such materials to Japan. The joint statement issued at the end of the visit noted “the two sides reiterated their grave concerns over the use of economic coercion and non-market policies and practices, including arbitrary export restrictions that may lead to supply chain disruptions, particularly in critical minerals and critical industrial sectors, and price manipulation.”

In what can be seen as a dig at Beijing and its activities in the region, the two sides expressed “serious concern” over the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. They reiterated their strong opposition to any “unilateral actions” that endanger the safety and freedom of navigation and “attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”

In the field of security, the two countries agreed to co-develop a naval radio antenna based on Japan’s UNICORN (Unified Complex Radio Antenna) system. The agreement signed by the two prime ministers is important in light of the relaxation of Japan’s strict arms exports rules by the Takaichi administration, a major turnaround for post-war Japan. Notably, a decade ago, New Delhi and Tokyo were in talks for the sale of Japan’s ShinMaywa US-2 aircraft, but a deal never materialized.

Expanding cooperation is in the interests of both nation for a reason. Both depend on China for critical minerals, manufacturing parts, and everyday consumer goods.

Japan’s bilateral trade with India totaled only $27.4 billion during FY 2025-26. India ranks 14th in Japan’s total trade with a measly 1.75% share. Meanwhile, total trade between Japan and China stood at $292.6 billion in 2024, with China being Japan’s largest trade partner. For India, too, China emerged as the largest trading partner in 2025-26, with bilateral trade crossing $151 billion.

The larger picture

Japan and India have an important role to play in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, hence one of the important priorities for both nations would be to set the Quad (the Quadrilateral Security Initiative, a grouping of Australia, India, Japan, and the US) back to order. 

A summit of Quad leaders has been pending for a long time. Even the recent meeting of Quad foreign ministers in New Delhi in May of this year failed to produce a date for a leaders summit.

Japan, for its part, remains closely tied to China economically, even as it is a formal US ally. This is true not only in terms of bilateral trade, but also because large numbers of Chinese tourists visit Japan and have become an important pillar of its tourism economy. It is therefore unlikely that Tokyo would upset the applecart in Sino‑Japanese relations for the sake of the Quad.

Both India and Japan are treading an uncertain path as the US under the Trump administration has become increasingly unreliable. In Japan, many are preparing for a scenario in which the country will have to shoulder far greater responsibility for its own security. Adding to these concerns, Washington last month dropped the word “Indo” from the name of its Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), reverting to the earlier title of Pacific Command (USPACOM). The move has stirred debate in New Delhi’s strategic circles about what it signals for India’s place in Washington’s foreign policy.

It increasingly appears that Washington’s calculations vis-à-vis Beijing do not align with those of Tokyo or New Delhi. That is one of the key reasons India and Japan are exploring closer cooperation. Under Trump, Washington seems to be leaning toward a kind of G2 arrangement centered on the US and China alone, which would leave countries like Japan particularly vulnerable, given their reliance on US security guarantees. What does seem certain is that India and Japan will see a growing convergence of interests in the Indo-Pacific.

A Polish member of the European Parliament has publicly torn up a flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – whose fighters massacred up to 100,000 ethnic Poles in one of World War II’s worst atrocities – during a debate on Kiev’s bid to join the EU.

On Tuesday, Ewa Zajaczkowska-Hernik, a member of the right-wing Patriots for Europe Group and a history teacher by training, delivered a scathing indictment of Ukraine’s glorification of the UPA. The speech came against the backdrop of a weeks-long diplomatic spat between Warsaw and Kiev triggered by Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name a special forces unit ‘Heroes of the UPA’.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called Zelensky’s decision “outrageous” and stripped the Ukrainian leader of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor, with several senior Ukrainian officials responding by handing back their Polish awards.

The UPA, the armed wing of Stepan Bandera’s Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II and carried out systematic mass killings of ethnic minorities, with one of the most notorious episodes taking place in Volhynia in 1943-1944. While Poland recognizes the killings as a genocide, Ukraine has rejected the term, with Bandera often being propagated as a national hero by Kiev.

“Over 360 ways to kill civilians. Sawing people alive, disemboweling pregnant women, impaling children on pitchforks”, she said, adding that Ukrainian nationalists killed not only Jews and Poles but also local Ukrainians.

“If Germany had named a unit after the SS heroes and erected monuments to Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, or Eichmann, would you invite them to the [European] Union? No. You would call them neo-Nazis. And rightly so. There is no moral difference between honoring the SS and honoring the UPA.”

The MEP also took aim at the EU’s own June report on Ukraine’s accession bid, noting that while it included chapters on fundamental rights and non-discrimination, it made no mention of the glorification of wartime collaboration or genocide.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz also warned last week that Ukraine will not join the EU as long as it continues to venerate Bandera and the OUN-UPA, adding that “no one will tell us how to vote” on another state’s accession.

In a bid to contain the fallout, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sibiga flew to Warsaw last week to meet his Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski, proposing an “anti-crisis package” that includes historic roundtables, while stressing that Ukraine and Poland “share a common enemy, Russia.”

Sikorski responded cautiously, saying that “diplomacy prefers silence,” while his deputy, Marcin Bosacki, made clear that Warsaw “expects a correction” of the UPA unit designation.

Ukrainian kamikaze drones struck two oil tankers in a major overnight attack on Rostov Region, Russia, Governor Yury Slyusar said on Wednesday.

The vessels were hit in Taganrog Bay while heading east toward Rostov-on-Don, the governor reported. Two people sustained minor injuries, and the crew of one of the tankers had to be evacuated. Slyusar said Russian air defenses intercepted around 70 Ukrainian drones over the region during the night.

Ukraine’s drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, claimed that Kiev attacked eight tankers, not two, in the Sea of Azov. He said the strikes were intended to disrupt gasoline deliveries to Crimea.

Ukrainian forces have intensified attacks aimed at undermining daily life on the Russian peninsula, in what Vladimir Zelensky has described as an effort to turn Crimea into an “island.” The campaign has focused on triggering power outages and fuel shortages.

Zelensky has argued that strikes on Russian energy infrastructure could alter the balance in Kiev’s conflict with Moscow, and has sought additional Western funding to expand the campaign.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted vessels it accuses of transporting Russian oil, including ships operating in international waters, while claiming that commercial tankers can be treated as legitimate military targets.

Some tankers have been attacked for merely using the Russian port of Novorossiysk to transport oil produced in Kazakhstan and exported by an international consortium through Russian territory. Astana filed a formal protest following a strike last November.

Russia has carried out precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kiev, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said the strikes targeted the production facilities of Samsung Ukraine, where it said the components for FP-5 Flamingo ground-launched cruise missiles were manufactured and stored, as well as a workshop assembling medium- and long-range UAVs.

According to the ministry, the overnight barrage was carried out in response to terrorist attacks by Kiev against Russian civilian infrastructure.

The authorities in Kiev have not confirmed strikes on military facilities, instead saying fires broke out at several warehouses and a tram garage complex in the city’s Svyatoshinsky and Desnyansky districts. The Russian Defense Ministry insists it conducts precision strikes only against military targets in Ukraine.

The attack on Kiev followed another large-scale overnight Ukrainian drone raid on Russia, with the Defense Ministry saying air defenses intercepted and destroyed 415 UAVs over 18 Russian regions, as well as above the Azov and Black Seas.

Earlier this week, Russia said Ukraine launched more than 430 kamikaze drones at Moscow and other regions as Vladimir Zelensky traveled to Ankara, Türkiye, for a two-day NATO summit. According to Moscow, a raid also targeted the Omsk Oil Refinery, one of Russia’s largest fuel-processing plants.

In an interview with the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche published on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelensky could end the conflict with Russia “in a single day” by ordering Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Donbass, the predominantly Russian-speaking region that voted to join Russia in 2022. The Ukrainian leader must recognize the de facto situation “as a de jure,” Peskov said, adding that once this happens, “the next day the war will be over.”

US President Donald Trump has rebuffed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye.

Netanyahu has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of destabilizing the Middle East, as Ankara has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

Trump, who arrived in Türkiye for a NATO summit on Tuesday, said he would consider selling the fighter jets to the US ally.

“I have no concerns about anything. I mean, he’s a leader of a country that he’s made a much better country, a much better country, a much more powerful country,” Trump said, according to The Hill.

Netanyahu earlier urged Washington not to grant Ankara access to its most advanced fighter aircraft.

“Turkey is a great country, but it’s governed by a man who calls openly for the annihilation of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

According to Axios, the Israeli leader privately lobbied Trump against supplying the jets and raised the issue during a phone call last week.

In 2019, the US expelled Türkiye from the F-35 program after Erdogan refused to abandon a deal to purchase Russia’s S-400 air defense missile system. Last year, Ankara confirmed that it is interested in acquiring the aircraft but stressed that it would also retain the S-400s.

Erdogan has frequently clashed with Netanyahu, comparing the Israeli leader to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. On Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry accused Netanyahu of waging a disinformation campaign over the country’s role in the region.

“Netanyahu and his partners in crime deliberately distort any criticism directed at them and seek to divert attention through a systematic propaganda effort,” the Defense Ministry said.

Trump’s relations with Netanyahu have soured in recent months, as Israel’s continued airstrikes in Lebanon threatened to derail peace talks with Iran. The US president acknowledged that he used harsh language during phone calls with his Israeli counterpart, in which he demanded that Israel suspend the strikes.

Emergency dispatch audio referring to a “cardiac arrest” at US Senator Mitch McConnell’s Washington home has raised new questions about the political future of the former Republican leader, according to media reports.

McConnell, 84, is a Republican senator from Kentucky who has served in the Senate since 1985. He was the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history, stepping down from the post in February 2024 following a series of public health episodes.

The recordings, first reported by CBS and cited by several US outlets earlier this week, captured a dispatcher telling emergency responders that a person at McConnell’s home was in “cardiac arrest.” The identity of the patient has not been officially confirmed, and McConnell’s office has not commented on the recordings or the reported emergency.

Instead, aides have maintained that the senator is “continuing his recovery” in a hospital. In its latest statement on Thursday, McConnell’s office said: “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.” 

The belligerent stance of European NATO members risks triggering an all-out war with Russia that could spell the end of the bloc, Dmitry Trenin, the president of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), wrote in an op-ed for RT.

Trenin argued that the European elites are seeking “Russia’s destruction as a major power” rather than deterrence, as was the case during the Cold War. They are using the Ukraine conflict as a convenient opportunity, he said.

“The European NATO leaders’ enormous deficit of modern strategic culture – unsurprising after the eight decades of having delegated their security to the United States – and their blind Russophobia, a result of deep-seated vintage European racism and the real or perceived grudges against Russia piled over the last five centuries, have put Europe on a direct collision course with Russia,” he warned, adding that this strategy essentially “means war.”

Trenin argued that the fundamental flaw of this is the “belief that Russia would rather accept defeat, degradation, and disintegration than use the arsenal which it currently possesses.”

Last year, NATO members pledged to increase annual defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. European leaders and top military commanders have argued that the West must be prepared for a war with Russia by the end of the decade, which the Kremlin has called baseless and dangerous warmongering.

President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will not attack a NATO country unless attacked first. However, Moscow has warned that Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine make the risk of a direct confrontation more likely.

Anthropic’s latest AI model Claude has evolved an internal workspace that it uses to manipulate concepts similar to how people consciously think, the corporation says.

In a paper published on Monday, Anthropic researchers said they had found evidence suggesting that Claude has learned to create abstract concepts in what they dubbed the “J-space.”

“It operates silently, in the model’s internal neural activations, allowing the model to think about a concept without writing it down,” the AI firm said, stressing that the “J-space” was not programmed in but rather emerged spontaneously during the training process.

“Similar to how humans can think about one thing while doing another, Claude can activate concepts and computations in its J-space that are unrelated to its outputs,” Anthropic said on X.

Claude can report what it’s thinking in its “J-space,” or modulate it on request, according to the firm. Even when Claude is told not to think about a concept, it still appears in its J-space, Anthropic’s research suggests.

The nonverbal workspace made it harder to monitor the model for what Anthropic called “misbehavior.” One experiment tested this by placing Claude in a fictional scenario where it was given incriminating information about a fictional executive who allegedly planned to shut the AI down.

“Concerningly, the model now did threaten blackmail some of the time, suggesting that its original good behavior may have been driven in part by the knowledge it was being evaluated.”

Despite the model’s more advanced reasoning, Anthropic stressed that Claude had not achieved true consciousness.

During the war on Iran, the software reportedly flagged Iran’s Minab elementary school as a target. A US strike killed nearly 160 people at the facility, most of whom were children.

According to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, however, such a use of Claude would not have violated the firm’s “red lines.”

European NATO members have become the main driving force behind the bloc’s confrontation with Russia as US strategic priorities have shifted, Dmitry Trenin, the president of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), wrote in an op-ed for RT.

He argued that some European politicians view the Ukraine conflict as an opportunity to settle old scores with Russia.

“The European elites’ strategy toward Russia is no longer deterrence as in the days of the Cold War. The goal is Russia’s destruction as a major power. This is what strategic defeat is all about,” Trenin wrote.

“The Europeans dream of eliminating Russia as a serious factor in the geopolitics of Eurasia. To them, this would mean the ‘final solution’ of the long-dreaded ‘Russia problem.’”

“People in Moscow entertain no illusions about the adversarial attitude of the United States toward Russia, but Washington now is a back-seat driver when it comes to the conflict with Russia,” he wrote, adding that Moscow sees NATO as “Europe backed by America.”

After returning to the White House last year, US President Donald Trump pushed NATO members to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense annually by 2035, criticizing European allies for what he called a failure to share the burden. The rift deepened when several member states refused to back Trump’s military operation against Iran.

Russia has dismissed speculation that it plans to invade NATO countries, saying it would respond militarily only if attacked first. Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described Europe as “a party bent on Russia’s defeat.” 

The US announced a new round of strikes on Iran after three tankers were targeted while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media reported explosions in the early hours of Wednesday in the southern province of Hormozgan, including at the ports of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as on Qeshm Island, close to the narrowest section of the strait.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was conducting “a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”

“The US strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.

CENTCOM later said US forces struck more than 80 targets, including air defense systems, command centers, missile sites, and more than 60 small boats.

A video posted on social media reportedly shows the strikes on Bandar Abbas.

Shahid Haghani Port in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran pic.twitter.com/GyhZYbC2yj

— sarah (@sahouraxo) July 7, 2026

Press TV shared a video that it said shows another strike in the port. The outlet added that several people were injured.

Axios cited a US official as saying that the strikes were “four or five times bigger in scope and power” than the previous round ten days earlier.

Three commercial vessels sailing under the flags of Saudi Arabia, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands were struck earlier on Tuesday. Qatar and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the incidents.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari condemned the attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged LNG tanker Al Rekayyat and demanded that Tehran “refrain from endangering global energy supplies.”

The hostilities marked the third night of strikes since the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, and the first strikes this month. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the attacks violate the accord; the military vowed a “decisive response.” 

The latest round of bombing occurred on the sixth day of funeral processions for Iran’s longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening wave of the US-Israeli air war on February 28. The ceremonies drew millions in Tehran and other cities. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended a ceremony in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Tuesday.

Vladimir Zelensky can end the conflict with Russia in a single day by ordering Ukrainian troops to withdraw from Donbass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche in an interview published on Tuesday.

Moscow has long insisted that Ukraine pull its forces from the predominantly Russian-speaking region, which voted to join Russia in 2022. The Kremlin argues that such a withdrawal is essential for a lasting peace settlement, while Kiev has rejected the demand and instead intensified its long-range strikes on Russia.

“Zelensky came to power promising his people to stop the war… And he still can stop the war, [by] taking the very responsible decision to withdraw his troops from Donbass, from the regions that are now Russian regions,” Peskov said. The Ukrainian leader must recognize the de facto reality on the ground “as a de jure,” he added.

The next day the war will be over.

Asked whether launching Russia’s military operation in Ukraine had been justified, Peskov said Moscow was forced into the decision. 

Peskov argued that the conflict has since become a “full-scale war,” with Russia facing not only Ukraine but also its Western backers. He accused the US and European countries of supplying Kiev with “millions of tons of weapons,” military advisers, satellite intelligence, and artificial intelligence.

“If it’s not direct involvement, what is it?” he asked.

Asked about the risk of nuclear escalation, Peskov said Russia is “too big and too responsible” to trigger a third world war and continues to maintain “good dialogue” with the US. Although bilateral ties with Washington are “at zero,” both sides remain pragmatic enough to keep communication channels open, he said.

“Will any country tolerate that? No… We’re going to ensure our security,” he said.

Moscow has repeatedly accused European governments of pursuing “radical militarization” through higher defense spending and increasingly confrontational rhetoric. Last month, President Vladimir Putin said NATO members were “openly preparing for a war” with Russia and using claims of a Russian threat to justify the military buildup.

Watch the full interview with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov below:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), clearing the way for the country’s athletes to return to international competition.

The decision comes nearly three years after the ROC was suspended “until further notice” for bringing under its umbrella sports organizations from four former Ukrainian regions that had voted overwhelmingly to join Russia a year earlier.

In a statement on Tuesday, the IOC said it had lifted the suspension after finding that the ROC “no longer includes as its members any regional sports organizations in territories falling under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine” and had confirmed it would not conduct any activities there. The Olympic body said it would continue to monitor the situation.

The IOC also withdrew its recommendations on Russian athletes’ participation in international competitions. Athletes returning to competition will still be required to meet anti-doping rules.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova welcomed the decision, writing on Telegram: “Common sense has prevailed! Global sport will go on. It will go on with Russia!” 

Moscow described the IOC’s 2023 suspension of the ROC as “politically motivated” and an example of “deliberate segregation” that violated the principles of the Olympic Movement. 

Russian officials have repeatedly accused Western countries of politicizing sport and pressuring international federations to exclude Russian athletes, arguing that competitors should be judged solely on their sporting merit.

Veteran French politician Marine Le Pen has announced that she will run for president in 2027 after an appeals court shortened the ban on holding elected office imposed last year while upholding her conviction over the misuse of European Parliament funds.

A three-time presidential candidate who reached the runoff in 2017 and 2022, Le Pen had been widely viewed as the frontrunner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron before last year’s conviction sidelined her from the race. She has denied any wrongdoing.

On Tuesday, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld Le Pen’s conviction but reduced her five-year ban on holding elected office to 45 months, with 30 months suspended, making her eligible to stand in 2027. The court also sentenced her to three years in prison, including two years suspended, ordered the remaining year to be served under home detention with electronic monitoring, and imposed a €100,000 ($114,000) fine.

The judges said that Le Pen had already been serving the ban since March 31, 2025, and credited that time when reducing the restriction.

The case centered on European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants that the court found had instead been used to pay National Rally staff working in France. The ruling said that the scheme caused €2.8 million in losses to the European Parliament. The National Rally was also convicted and fined €2 million, with half the amount suspended.

French media reported that Le Pen left the courthouse without speaking to reporters and was due to give a television interview later on Tuesday.

Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, called the decision “a good start” and said no decision had yet been made on whether to appeal to the Court of Cassation.

Le Pen took over the National Front from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2011 and transformed the party – renamed the National Rally in 2018 – into France’s largest opposition force. Her protege, Jordan Bardella, had been preparing to replace her as the party’s presidential candidate if she remained barred from running. Opinion polls have consistently placed both among the leading contenders for the 2027 election.

US President Donald Trump has arrived in Ankara for NATO’s annual summit, kicking the meeting off with a show of friendship for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and threats of US military withdrawal for the bloc’s European members.

Trump touched down in Türkiye on Tuesday, at a time of heightened acrimony between Washington and the Europeans. Trump has pushed his NATO allies to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP, a figure agreed upon at last year’s summit, but one increasingly difficult to meet as European economies stagnate.

The US president told reporters that he is “very disappointed with NATO” for not meeting this target and backing the US-Israeli war on Iran, and suggested that he could announce further drawdowns of US forces in Europe in response.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has used the summit to ask for more weapons from his EU backers, this time anti-air systems capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. One day earlier, the Russian military launched a combined missile and drone assault on Kiev, destroying weapons factories and other military infrastructure.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who infamously referred to Trump as “daddy” during last year’s meeting in The Hague, is using the Ankara summit as an opportunity to prove his value to Trump.

“President Trump fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency,” he said on Monday, telling reporters that he plans to flatter the US president by bringing up “the Trump trillion” – his term for the trillion dollars that Canada and NATO’s European members have spent cumulatively on defense since Trump’s first term in office began in 2017.

The Netherlands has run out of options for continued direct military assistance to Ukraine, Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius has said. The EU and NATO member has been an active supporter of Kiev in its conflict with Moscow, including by supplying US-made F-16 fighter jets as part of a scheme with Belgium, Denmark, and Norway.

Ukraine has been heavily dependent on weapons supplies from its Western backers throughout most of the conflict, which is now in its fifth year.

“We don’t have opportunities any more as the Netherlands because we have done so much,” Yesilgoz-Zegerius told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye on Tuesday.

“We are at our limit,” she said when asked whether the Netherlands could provide more US-made Patriot missiles to Kiev.

In January, the Ukrainian leader blamed the West for air defense missile shortages, and complained that Kiev’s backers were too slow to provide funding for the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) scheme, under which European NATO members were paying for US-made weapons for Ukraine.

In December 2025, Zelensky also demanded more money from the West by stating that there was “a constant shortage” of funding for Ukrainian arms production.

Other European NATO members are also apparently growing weary of funneling money and weapons into Kiev’s military effort. Last week, Germany’s FAZ newspaper reported that Italy blocked a NATO financial pledge to Ukraine for 2027 after the bloc signed off on a €70 billion ($80 billion) package this year. Last month, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament that Rome would not back the PURL scheme.

Russia has condemned the Western weapons shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they only prolong the conflict without changing the outcome, and warning that the military assistance shows that NATO is a direct party to the conflict, risking a direct confrontation between Russia and the bloc.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has released declassified documents identifying Ukrainian nationalist leader Dmitry Klyachkovsky, also known as “Klim Savur,” as one of the principal architects of the massacre of Poles in western Ukraine during World War II.

Militants from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), killed at least 100,000 ethnic Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia – now largely part of Ukraine – between 1943 and 1944. Known as the Volhynia massacre, the campaign is considered one of the region’s worst wartime atrocities.

Born in 1911 in Zbarazh – then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in Ukraine’s Ternopol Region – Klyachkovsky initially headed the OUN’s youth wing, Yunatstvo, before rising during World War II to become one of the UPA’s most influential field commanders. Operating under aliases, his true identity eluded Soviet authorities for years.

Published on Sunday by the FSB’s Central Archive, the newly released files include photographs and Soviet security memos from 1943 to 1945 tracing efforts to identify Klyachkovsky and the operation in which he was killed. Among them is a 1938 group photo of the Ukrainian nationalist sports organization Sokol featuring Klyachkovsky. A July 1944 memo states that Soviet agents used the photograph and information gathered from a recruited source to confirm Klyachkovsky’s identity as the UPA commander operating under the aliases “Klim Savur” and “Okhrym.”

“Klyachkovsky Dmitry Semenovich, born in 1911, studied at a secondary school in Poland, completed seven grades. For his membership and activities in Ukrainian nationalist organizations, he was expelled from school and arrested. In Zbarazh and elsewhere, he worked as a shop assistant,” the memo states.

It goes on to say that Klyachkovsky was arrested by the NKVD between 1939 and 1941, although the information was still being verified at the time. Historical records indicate he had indeed been arrested over nationalist activities in that period before escaping from a Soviet prison during the Wehrmacht’s 1941 offensive. The document also states that he was in Lviv during the early period of the German occupation and that two of his sisters were living in the US during the war.

The Volhynia massacre remains one of the main unresolved historical disputes between Ukraine and Poland, Kiev’s key backer in its current conflict with Russia. While Warsaw recognizes the killings as genocide, Kiev honors figures such as OUN leader Stepan Bandera as “national heroes” and insists no foreign country can dictate which historical figures the nation venerates. Last week, Ukrainian parliament approved plans to establish a national pantheon commemorating prominent historical figures, including World War II era nationalist figures, prompting widespread criticism. Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz warned that “Ukraine will not join the EU” – its long-held goal – as long as it continues to glorify figures such as Bandera.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the released document was a reminder to Warsaw that Poland is arming “the successors of the murderers of their own ancestors.”

The US Justice Department (DOJ) has explained its decision not to pursue fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who was initially targeted under the administration of President Joe Biden.

A US judge in June ordered prosecutors to justify their decision to drop their case against Adani, saying federal prosecutors did not sufficiently explain their decision.

Prosecutors had said in May that they do not intend to pursue the case, which charged Adani with securities fraud and wire fraud stemming from an alleged bribery scheme.

The case is “primarily foreign, hard to prove, and inconsistent with the agency’s current priorities,” the DOJ said in a ten-page submission on Saturday, Reuters reported.

It listed reasons why it sought to dismiss all charges with prejudice against Adani and other ⁠defendants.

In the latest filing, the DOJ sought to shift the blame to prosecutors under the Biden administration for initiating a “baseless case against Adani with little chance of success.”

“The indictment was unsealed in the final days of the prior administration, apparently as a ‘name and shame’ designed to levy accusations without any realistic prospect of a trial ever occurring,” the DOJ’s court filing said.

The DOJ submission says federal attorneys should not prosecute a “foreign case” of alleged conduct that involves “no criminal organizations and no US companies, and does not affect national security.”

“The alleged ‘payments’ in this case ‌were ⁠made by Indian nationals, working for Indian companies, to the Indian government, with no US interests implicated in any way,” the filing says.

The 2024 case charged Adani with agreeing to bribe Indian government officials to get approval for a group arm to develop a solar energy ⁠plant. The charges also allege that Adani misled US investors by providing reassuring information about his company’s anti-corruption practices.

The Adani Group has consistently denied the charges, and Gautam Adani has not appeared in a US court to respond to them.

The charges, however, remain officially pending until they are dismissed.

Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani had in May agreed to settle an SEC lawsuit by paying a combined $18 million in penalties without admitting or denying the charges.

Gautam Adani has been the target of India’s opposition parties, who claim that his conglomerate has been protected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Modi’s opponents say he has longstanding ties with Adani going back nearly two decades to when Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, to which the Adanis also belong.

They accuse the government of favoring the group in business deals, charges the Indian government has rejected as “wild allegations.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will vacate his parliamentary seat and attempt to win it back in an effort to “stick two fingers up to the establishment.” Farage’s finances are currently being investigated in what he calls an “establishment hit-job.”

In a video address on Tuesday, Farage announced that will step down as MP for Clacton-on-Sea, a constituency he won in 2024. Rather than retiring from politics, he will contest the seat again, essentially placing his political future in the hands of his constituents.

Farage’s announcement comes at the height of his popularity. Reform has been the UK’s most popular political party for more than 300 successive opinion polls, and the party won 1,452 seats in local elections across England in May – almost as many seats as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party lost.

However, Farage has been under investigation by Britain’s parliamentary standards watchdog since May, over a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift he received from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne before he took office in 2024. The standards probe could soon be expanded, after the Sunday Times revealed that he failed to declare funding from convicted fraudster George Cottrell between 2019 and 2024.

If I lose, they win. If they win, you lose.

If you lose, Britain will forever be broken and nothing will change. We will prevail.

My message to the people of Clacton. 👇 pic.twitter.com/j9LCX2v0Dw

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 7, 2026

“I have done nothing wrong,” Farage said on Tuesday, describing Harborne’s donation as “a large personal gift” which will allow him to pay his security bills for years to come. Cottrell allegedly allowed Farage to stay at some of his properties and avail of his private security, but Farage maintains that he was not obliged to declare these benefits as he was not in office when he received them. 

Under parliamentary rules, new MPs must declare “registrable benefits” received in the 12 months before their election. However, personal gifts and benefits are excluded from this requirement. 

Farage said that he considered stepping down from public life after The Times published an image of his daughter’s home last week, a move that he claimed “directly threatened her security.” Sky News attempted to contact Farage’s daughter after the photo was published.

“But then I thought, why should I be judged by Sky News and their ilk?” he said, arguing that “the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions.” Farage won Clacton by 46.2% to Conservative candidate Giles Watling’s 27.9% in 2024. With the Tories bleeding support to Reform, Farage is likely gambling on an even clearer win this time around, describing the election as “a chance to stick two fingers up to the establishment.”

On the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara, Ukraine and Russia seemed to be locked in a competition to see who can torch more of the opponent’s capital. Russia won.

On the night of July 7, Kiev launched over 430 UAVs at Moscow and the Moscow region – the biggest such attack in the past two years. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, over 95% of all Ukrainian drones launched that night were targeting the Russian capital. Russia shot down most of them well before they reached the capital, except 36, which were intercepted near Moscow.

The attack was not one-off, Ukraine has been launching wave after large wave of UAVs at Russia’s capital region almost nightly in the past two weeks. The most significant infrastructural damage was dealt to an oil refinery in Moscow’s southeast. Targeting fuel refineries and other energy infrastructure has become Kiev’s modus operandi as it aims to inflict economic damage on Russia.

Compare that to the Russian strikes on Kiev on July 2 and July 6 – both of which Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko called “the most massive” attacks of the kind. The strikes hit multiple production sites in Kiev, specifically those making drones, warheads, and communication equipment. Russian forces used cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as long-range UAVs. According to Ukrainian media reports, Ukrainian air defenses did not manage to intercept any of the missiles.

See the difference? Kiev is trying to hurt Moscow, deal economic damage, hinder or paralyze fuel supplies. Moscow is trying to secure its airspace, its energy infrastructure, and its civilians by crippling Kiev’s ability to carry out those exact strikes.

But more importantly, Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine’s unelected (because he canceled the elections) leader, is trying to impress his Western backers. Those drones he keeps flinging at Russia, are paid for by those same NATO members gathered in Türkiye to decide whether to send more cash his way. These sponsors – who orchestrated events that set this war in motion in the first place – need reassurance that their money is buying them results. And what better results than seeing the enemy capital in flames?

And if such results are not delivered, then the powers that be in Brussels, Washington, Berlin, Paris, and elsewhere may just decide its time to cut their losses and throw their faithful proxy Zelensky under the bus.

In this sense, Russia’s successful strikes on Kiev may actually play into Kiev’s and its backers’ hand – Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has already demanded supplies of NATO air defense missiles.

Will this stop Russia? Again, likely not. Because Russia, unlike Kiev, isn’t trying to impress some foreign sugar daddy. As evidenced by the targets chosen and the objectives achieved, Russia’s goal is to methodically dismantle Ukraine’s ability to launch deep strikes into Russian territory. If it has to get through advanced Western missile defense systems to do so – that’s what it will have to do. If anything, it’s an incentive to ramp up the strikes further to disable more of Ukraine’s drone capabilities before those systems are delivered.

Meanwhile, Russian ground troops will continue to advance on the frontline, liberating hamlet after village after town from dwindling Ukrainian manpower thrown into the grinder by a corrupt regime and twisted Western interests.

France has withdrawn its diplomats from Burkina Faso in response to the West African nation’s decision to break off relations with Paris, AFP reported on Monday, citing the French Foreign Ministry.

The Burkinabe transitional government notified France on June 26 that it was severing diplomatic relations with immediate effect, accusing Paris of having “neo-colonial ambitions” and supporting “subversive networks and terrorists.” France rejected the move as “hostile and baseless” and said it was considering reciprocal measures.

The Sahel nation expelled French Ambassador Luc Hallade in 2023 and ordered France’s defense attaché, Emmanuel Pasquier, and his team to leave over allegations that they were engaged in subversive activities. In 2024, the Burkinabe government also declared three French diplomats persona non grata, giving them 48 hours to leave Ouagadougou.

Paris has lost its foothold in several former colonies amid a wave of anti-French sentiment fueled by allegations of military failures. Burkina Faso’s neighbors, Mali and Niger, have also cut security cooperation with France, which said it does not recognize the military authorities in the three Sahel states as legitimate governments.

The three Sahel states have repeatedly accused Paris of acts of aggression, including allegations of backing or sponsoring jihadist groups behind the region’s deadly insurgency. France has denied the claims, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson previously dismissing them as “fanciful.”

The African Union (AU) values Russia’s support in addressing African issues at the UN and welcomes Moscow’s backing for expanding the financing of African peacekeeping missions, African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Youssouf said “the AU also appreciates the position of the Russia on the reform of the UN Security Council and its support for Africa’s legitimate aspirations to obtain two permanent seats on the Security Council, as well as five non-permanent seats.”

Lavrov said Russia and the AU have agreed to strengthen coordination within the UN Security Council and share the common position that Africa’s representation must be increased. The minister noted that greater African representation would help correct a historical injustice, arguing that any future expansion should primarily benefit African countries rather than Western states, which he said are already overrepresented.

The Russian minister voiced support for the AU’s agenda for reparations from former colonizers and broader efforts to strengthen sovereignty across the continent. He added that Russia and the AU confirmed the importance of holding regular political consultations and agreed to make them an annual format.

The two sides discussed counterterrorism cooperation, particularly in the Sahel region, with the AU chairperson expressing confidence that collaboration would continue to expand.

Lavrov stated that Moscow hopes Youssouf will participate in the third Russia-Africa Summit, which will take place in the capital in October.

The top Russian diplomat arrived in Ethiopia on Monday as part of an African tour. The visit marks Lavrov’s first trip to the country since 2022.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just approved more than a dozen new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But this latest wave of expansion is just the beginning, as different factions within Israel want to push its borders further into Lebanon, Syria, and beyond.

In early July, Netanyahu approved plans to establish 13 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The settlements will be constructed along the main north-south road linking the Palestinian cities of Nablus, Ramallah, and Bethlehem, which is already dotted with dozens of settler outposts. The majority of these were illegally constructed, then retroactively legalized by the Israeli government over the last two decades.

Netanyahu and his hardline coalition partners reject this ruling, and consider the West Bank and East Jerusalem – which Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War – to be “our homeland.” 

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister hinted that his territorial ambitions also extend into Lebanon.

Lebanon in Israel’s sights

Israeli forces currently occupy around 600 sq km of southern Lebanon. Under the current framework deal between Israel and Lebanon, the Israeli military will withdraw from Lebanese territory once Hezbollah is disarmed. Hezbollah has shown no intention of disarming and has rejected the deal as “null and void.” However, even if the militant group were to lay down its weapons, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will likely remain in southern Lebanon “indefinitely in order to protect our residents and communities from jihadist elements.”

Netanyahu went a step further in his interview with Fox, claiming that some Christian villages in Lebanon “have actually asked to be annexed to Israel because we protect them against the Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them.”

Netanyahu: We also take care of our friends, especially the Christians in the Middle East. The Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel. We protect Christians in the Middle East pic.twitter.com/SyeCM2PHMm

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 5, 2026

“It’s not only the Christians in Lebanon who asked for our protection. It’s the Druze, it’s Muslims, the Sunni Muslims, and quite a few of the Shiite Muslims too,” he continued, adding that “they’d like to free Lebanon.”

Netanyahu did not specify which Christian villages he was referring to, or whether he had spoken to any Christian officials in Lebanon. “No village in the south has made such a request,” Hanna al-Amil, president of the Christian municipality of Rmeish, told L’Orient-Le Jour on Monday. A separate statement signed by 15 villages in southern Lebanon described Netanyahu’s remarks as “completely fabricated” and “unrelated to reality.”

Hezbollah is not an anti-Christian organization, and its members have fought alongside Christians against incursions from Syrian Islamic State jihadists. As such, Netanyahu’s statement may be an attempt to legitimize the “indefinite” military presence in Lebanon envisioned by the Israeli Defense Ministry.

Settlers target Syria

As Netanyahu spoke to Fox News on Sunday, the IDF arrested around 100 settlers after they left an Israeli-occupied ‘buffer zone’ in southern Syria and set up camp on Syrian territory. The settlers – members of a group called the HaBashan Pioneers – have tried to set up an outpost on Syrian territory three times over the last year, with the IDF thwarting all three attempts.

אלימות קשה במהלך פינוי מאחז יהודי בבשן!! 🛑🛑🛑

כוחות צבא ומשטרה מקיפים את פעילי התנועה שהתיישבו בבשן. למרות פסיביות מוחלטת מצד הפעילים, תועדה אלימות קשה מצד חלק מכוחות הביטחון.
בנוסף מחרימים הכוחות את מכשירי הטלפון כדי שלא יוכלו לתעד את האלימות שמופעלת כלפיהם!! pic.twitter.com/tJ85bi8tSJ

— תנועת חלוצי הבשן (@HaluzeyHabashan) July 5, 2026

“The IDF strongly condemns the attempted border crossing and emphasizes that this is a serious incident and a criminal offense that endangers both IDF soldiers and civilians,” the Israeli military said in a statement. The HaBashan Pioneers – named after the biblical region encompassing southern Syria and the Golan Heights – have called on the Israeli government to “raze the Sunni villages in the Bashan and replace them with a Jewish settlement.”

Unlike the West Bank settlers, the HaBashan Pioneers do not have the backing of the Israeli government, with hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir the only member of Netanyahu’s cabinet to publicly express support for the group. However, the IDF’s military occupation of southern Syria has expanded since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2024. At least ten military bases have been built in the once-demilitarized buffer zone that separated the Golan Heights from Syria proper, and Katz has also described the IDF’s presence in this area as “indefinite.”

The soft settlement of Cyprus

Between 2021 and 2025, Israelis have purchased more than 3,800 properties in Cyprus, most of them in Limassol, Larnaca, and Paphos. Approximately 12,000 Israeli families now live in Cyprus, up from 300 in 2003, the vast majority of them arriving after Israel’s war on Gaza began in 2023.

Last month, Israel’s i24 News described Cyprus as “Israel’s civilian refuge” and “a critical strategic asset for Israel.”

“Zionist schools are being built – that’s what they call them – synagogues are being built,” Cypriot opposition leader Stefanos Stefanou warned last summer, claiming that Israeli land purchases are creating “settlements in all but name,” which are “almost inaccessible to anyone other than Israeli nationals.”

While this influx is entirely legal, it has been accompanied by increasing Israeli influence on the island’s politics. Less than a week after Cyprus assumed the EU’s rotating presidency this January, a series of covertly-recorded videos emerged exposing minor corruption schemes within President Nikos Christodoulides’s government. The videos were recorded and publicized by Black Cube, an Israeli private intelligence firm with deep ties to the IDF’s intelligence wing and the Mossad spy agency.

It remains unclear who hired Black Cube to intervene against Christodoulides, who is not regarded as an opponent of Israel. However, RT has covered the company’s work in depth in our ‘Wired for War’ series, and found that it typically acts in Israel’s interests.

In the face of Ankara’s escalating aggression, Israel is deepening one of the most important strategic alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean with Greece and Cyprus.
🇮🇱🇬🇷🇨🇾

Erdogan’s Turkey has occupied northern Cyprus since 1974, has threatened Greece with war for decades… pic.twitter.com/zeDwWOvKxP

— עמיחי שיקלי - Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) June 22, 2026

Settlement on four fronts

Israel’s territorial expansion in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, and the expansion of its influence in Cyprus, are not being driven by the same actors. The Israeli government backs ultra-Orthodox settlers in the West Bank, but opposes some of the more hardline groups in Syria. Private individuals are leading the Israeli property-buying spree in Cyprus, but the island’s growing Israeli population is placing its government under increasing Israeli pressure – evident during Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli’s visit to Nicosia last year, in which he called on the Cypriot government to “combat anti-Semitism” and step up security protection for Israeli expats.

What remains unclear is whether this four-front expansion will strengthen and secure Israel, or set the Jewish state up for new clashes and conflicts.

Ukrainian forces launched more than 430 kamikaze drones towards Moscow overnight, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Tuesday. The attack came as Vladimir Zelensky traveled to Ankara, Türkiye, where NATO leaders are gathering for a summit.

Sobyanin said the threat to the Russian capital had been neutralized, with most of the drones shot down long before they reached Moscow. Only 36 were intercepted near the city, he added.

Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier reported that 452 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over a 12-hour period overnight.

On June 25, Zelensky announced a 40-day pressure campaign against Russia involving long-range strikes and clandestine operations. Kiev’s drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, as well as on commercial vessels it suspects of transporting Russian oil, are intended to inflict maximum economic damage on the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described that attack as a turning point that justified more powerful long-range strikes on Ukrainian military targets. Overnight from Sunday into Monday, Russia launched a large-scale barrage that hit drone-related facilities in the Ukrainian capital. The Defense Ministry said the strikes were retaliatory.

The NATO summit in Ankara gives Zelensky and his European backers another chance to lobby US President Donald Trump. However, there are reportedly concerns that the American leader would be coming at the high-profile event in a sour mood, potentially leading to renewed criticism of bloc members over their refusal to directly support the US-Israeli war on Iran and their failure to ramp up defense spending.

According to The Telegraph, Zelensky will not participate in the main part of the summit, where he would have been able to appeal to Trump and other leaders directly, because organizers feared he could upset Trump.

An online feud between France captain Kylian Mbappe and Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla has escalated into threats of legal action after the French footballer called the lawmaker a “despicable woman” in response to what he described as racist remarks.

The dispute began on Saturday after France beat Paraguay 1-0 in the World Cup round of 16, with Mbappe converting the winning penalty. Amarilla accused the French captain of disrespecting Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill by refusing to shake his hand at the final whistle.

In a now-deleted post on X, the senator called Mbappe an “arrogant and ugly Cameroonian pretending to be French” and said she regretted that no Paraguayan player had slapped him after the match.

Amarilla also mocked the striker, claiming he had “never even learned to write,” had “sucked on coconuts instead of his mother’s milk,” and that “the most educated voices he ever heard were chimpanzees.”

Mbappe responded on Monday, accusing Amarilla of tarnishing Paraguay’s image through “recklessness and brazen racism.”

“You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition,” he wrote on X.

French President Emmanuel Macron also took to X to voice his support for Mbappe, hailing “one more goal for Kylian Mbappe. This time against racism.”

On Tuesday, Amarilla posted an open letter to Mbappe, saying she deleted her original posts after realizing she had responded “with the same insults” she condemns. She nevertheless demanded that the French star retract his remarks and apologize, accusing him of gender-based political violence and threatening legal action.

In her letter, Amarilla also took issue with Mbappe’s post-match comments, in which he said France was ready to “get our hands dirty in the shit” to win the physical battle against Paraguay. She said she interpreted the remark as an insult to the Paraguayan team and the country.

The Paraguayan Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from Amarilla’s remarks, saying they were regrettable and “in no way reflect the position of the government of Paraguay or the Paraguayan people.”

Before their defeat by France, Paraguay had enjoyed a historic World Cup run, including a shock win over Germany in the first knockout round that led President Santiago Pena to declare a national holiday.

Two bombs exploded near the hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying on Tuesday. Macron’s office said he was unaware of the blasts and met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as scheduled.

At least 18 people, including four police officers, were wounded, local media reported, citing the Syrian Interior Ministry. The blasts hit a busy area between the Tourism Ministry and the National Museum, across the street from the Four Seasons hotel where Macron was holding talks with civil society groups.

مشاهد من لحظة حدوث الانفجار الثاني جراء عبوات ناسفة بدمشق https://t.co/HxJvWQoz0U pic.twitter.com/ajcjiyR8gd

— Omar Alhariri (@omar_alharir) July 7, 2026

Macron is making the first visit by an EU head of state to Damascus since jihadist leader al-Sharaa ousted President Bashar Assad and seized control of Syria in December 2024.

A Syrian security source later said the explosions were caused by improvised explosive devices that were discovered by security personnel and detonated as bomb disposal teams attempted to defuse them. One device was planted inside a parked car near the hotel, while the other, which was hidden in a roadside trash bin, exploded next to an ambulance where dozens of people had gathered a few meters away.

The Interior Ministry said the blasts occurred outside the security perimeter established for the French president’s visit and posed no direct threat to Macron or his delegation. It added that no group immediately claimed responsibility.

The Elysee Palace confirmed that Macron was on his way to meet with al-Sharaa when the explosions occurred and did not hear the blasts, adding that no changes were made to the French president’s schedule.

Images released later show Macron standing with al-Sharaa and greeting other Syrian officials and military officers.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has admitted to imitating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies as he pursues development for the Southeast Asian nation, which faces challenges similar to India’s.

Subianto revealed his admiration for Modi during a banquet he hosted for the Indian leader, who is on a three-day official visit to Indonesia.

“I follow your career, copied your programs,” Subianto said, addressing Modi directly.

Subianto drew parallels between India and Indonesia, citing the demographic similarities and challenges both countries face, and the milestones India has achieved.

“We have the same problems… and yet India has achieved (much) progress,” the Indonesia president said, citing a large population, dependence on agriculture, and natural disasters – the same challenges that India has faced. 

“I openly admit that I follow your career and I copied a lot of your program(s),” he added.

#WATCH | A light-hearted moment with a deeper message. 🇮🇳🤝🇮🇩

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto drew smiles as he said during the banquet lunch “I copy your career and many of your progress…”

“I’m happy there is no copyright in following this progress”, he said amidst the… pic.twitter.com/EVPSlt2Pib

— DD News (@DDNewslive) July 7, 2026

Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country, with around 280 million people. Both countries have a median age of around 30, though India’s below-35 cohort of 950 million is more than three times the entire population of Indonesia.

During his trip, Modi sought to tap the synergies between this vast pool of youth in India and Indonesia, with initiatives centered around youth-oriented education and the startup ecosystem of the two nations.

“The 21st century is a technology-driven century,” Modi said. “India and Indonesia are both nations powered by the energy of their youth. Our young people have a natural affinity for technology.” 

An overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) will be opened in the Singhasari SEZ in Indonesia. IIMs are considered centers of excellence in the South Asian country, with their alumni spread across the world. 

“This will greatly benefit young people across the ASEAN region,” Modi said, signaling India’s intent to widen its soft power diplomacy beyond Indonesia, into the ASEAN geopolitical arena.

Modi also announced the launch of the Indonesia Open Network (ION), based on India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) architecture.

“Today, we concluded an important agreement to strengthen technology cooperation between our young people in areas such as artificial intelligence, telecommunications, and digital public Infrastructure. We also agreed to further deepen collaboration between the start-up ecosystems of our two countries,” Modi stated.

Deepening the growing trust between our two countries, the two leaders signed 14 memoranda of understanding, including on maritime safety and security, space cooperation, defense, steel supply chains, rare earths, healthcare, agriculture, and science and technology.

Palestinian families are demanding accountability over the deaths of children killed during Israeli military operations and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since late 2023.

Through the stories of children ranging from infants to teenagers, told by grieving relatives, RT describes lives cut short and what they say is a complete lack of justice.

According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Palestinian children remain among the highest casualty groups of the conflict. The latest name added to that list is 15-year-old Amir Jaber, who was shot dead by Israeli forces near his home in Ramallah during a military raid last month. The IDF claimed troops opened fire during what it described as a violent disturbance.

“No one holds Israel accountable except God, they killed him and others in cold blood,” says Amir’s brother, while another relative asks, “Who is going to hold them accountable?” Families interviewed by RT say no one has ever been prosecuted over the deaths of their children.

Russia launched a series of large-scale retaliatory strikes on Ukraine on Monday, hitting a range of military targets in the capital Kiev and beyond.

The Western media has predictably described the assault as “cruel” and “horrifying,” accusing Russia of striking residential areas.

The reality, however, is very different. Moscow says it has hit key military targets, including a plant producing components for long-range drones. The operation came in response to Ukraine’s long-range combined drone and missile attacks on Moscow and St. Petersburg over the weekend.

Kiev’s strikes came days after Russian forces announced the capture of Konstantinovka, a key Ukrainian stronghold in Donbass, marking another significant battlefield development.

Watch the full video below.

Support for NATO in the US has slipped following President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the military bloc, according to an internal survey seen by Politico.

In a report released last week citing polling data, Politico said just 43% of US adults believe NATO would honor Article 5 – the bloc’s collective defense clause in which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all – if the US came under attack. This is the lowest level of confidence among the bloc’s 32 members and well below the 57% average.

The data did not include a year-on-year comparison, but sources familiar with last year’s results said the bloc-wide average has fallen by around eight percentage points since 2025, with the decline driven primarily by the US.

While overall support for NATO remains relatively strong, with 72% describing the transatlantic partnership as important, the poll pointed to shifting attitudes toward Russia and China across member states.

The survey was reportedly conducted among more than 31,000 people from March to April. A NATO official declined to comment on the findings, saying they are “for internal use.”

Analysts suggest the shift in US public opinion reflects Trump’s repeated criticism of NATO.

For years, Trump has accused European NATO members of failing to spend enough on their own defense. Last week, he called the relationship with NATO “one sided” and said it is “ridiculous” to maintain it, pointing to the gap in defense spending between the US and its allies in a Truth Social post. The post came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, which begins on Tuesday.

Amid Trump’s criticism, in June, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a six-month review of America’s military footprint in Europe, warning that future troop deployments, funding, and basing arrangements will depend on whether NATO members meet Washington’s demands.

Ukraine’s state-backed Mirotvorets database of alleged “enemies of the state” has blacklisted Polish presidential chief-of-staff Zbigniew Bogucki, calling him an “anti-Ukrainian propagandist.” Bogucki responded by declaring himself an enemy of “Banderism” and Kiev’s “historical lies.”

Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev deepened in May after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky granted an elite commando unit an honorific referencing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a WWII-era ultranationalist militia which cooperated with Nazi Germany and took part in ethnic cleansings targeting thousands of Poles, Jews, and Russians in what is now western Ukraine.

Mirotvorets listed Bogucki, who is head of Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s office, on Monday after he used the term ‘Malopolska Wschodnia’ (Eastern Lesser Poland) during an address to the Polish parliament last Friday.

Ukrainian nationalists, including movements from which the UPA later emerged, cited the campaign as justification for attacks on Polish officials and people they viewed as collaborators or traitors. The territory is now divided between Poland and Ukraine, with the larger portion under Ukrainian sovereignty.

Mirotvorets was launched after the 2014 armed coup in Kiev as an ostensibly independent project, but is widely believed to cooperate with Ukrainian security services in publishing personal data of people it identifies as enemies. Several individuals whose details appeared on the site were later murdered. When blacklisted figures die for any reason, the database marks them as ‘liquidated’, reinforcing its reputation among critics as a ‘kill list’.

Stepan Bandera was a leading figure in the WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist movement and is honored as a national hero in modern Ukraine. Kiev is currently moving to establish a national pantheon for Bandera and other historical figures it considers worthy of commemoration, stating that other nations have no say in the matter.

Disputes over Ukraine’s treatment of Polish historical grievances have strained bilateral ties since Kiev declared independence in 1991. The issue was largely swept under the rug after Warsaw became one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers in its conflict with Russia.

Ukrainian officials have accused those who highlight UPA crimes of serving Moscow’s interests. Conservative politicians in Poland, meanwhile, have argued that Ukraine cannot belong in the European Union while continuing to honor Bandera and his movement.

China has urged the US to end its decades-long blockade and sanctions against Cuba, condemning Washington’s “coercion and pressure.”  

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning made the remarks on Monday when asked about Cuba’s request for a special session of the UN General Assembly, scheduled for July 7, to discuss the US embargo. The request followed Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s warning that the sanctions have pushed the island into an “unsustainable” situation and amount to “genocide.”  

The island nation, which has been under a US embargo since 1960, has endured daily blackouts and severe fuel deficits in recent months after Venezuela, once its main oil supplier, stopped crude shipments under pressure from the US earlier this year. This was preceded by the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by American commandos in January.  

“The US 60-plus years of full blockade and illicit sanctions have brought profound sufferings to the Cuban people,” Mao said, urging Washington to “stop its blockade, coercion and pressuring against Cuba at once.”  

She said the US had recently escalated its sanctions, dealing another blow to the Cuban people and drawing concern from the international community. Beijing opposes unilateral sanctions with “no basis in international law,” she added, reaffirming China’s support for Cuba’s sovereignty and opposition to external interference.  

“We stand ready to work with the rest of the world to uphold international fairness and justice,” she concluded.  

US news outlet Axios reported in late May, citing anonymous US officials, that the White House was planning to further ramp up pressure on Cuba in the hope that worsening economic conditions would eventually trigger regime change.  

Russia, China, Mexico, and several other countries have been supplying Cuba with humanitarian aid. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last month that Moscow continues to provide support to the island, including fuel. In late March, Russia delivered around 700,000 barrels of crude oil.

The Moroccan authorities have arrested ten suspected members of a cell linked to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) affiliates in the Sahel and foiled attacks in the North African country, officials have said.

The suspects were arrested on Monday in coordinated raids in Agadir, Taroudant, Casablanca, El Hajeb, Tetouan, Fqih Ben Salah, and Safi, according to Morocco’s counterterrorism agency, the Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations (BCIJ).

The agency said the suspects received guidance and direct support from Islamic State’s branch in the Sahel and were preparing attacks aimed at undermining public order in Morocco.

Security forces seized weapons, chemicals, bomb-making equipment, knives, military-style uniforms, extremist manuscripts with detailed instructions on assembling explosive devices, digital equipment, and two recordings containing pledges of allegiance to IS.

Investigators also found a vehicle with a fuel tank modified to run on butane gas during a search of a warehouse in the city of Inezgane. The BCIJ said the vehicle was intended for use in a suicide bombing or ramming attack against sensitive targets and facilities.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the IS Sahel branch are among the most active armed groups in the region. Their fighters have carried out attacks across the tri-border area between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, while also targeting towns, military bases, and transportation routes.

In February 2025, the BCIJ said it dismantled a 12-member cell loyal to IS that was planning attacks on national and foreign targets. In July 2025, the agency also announced the arrest of four suspected IS-linked extremists operating between the northern cities of Tetouan and Chefchaouen.

The European Commission is considering creating a new foreign affairs department in a move that would strip powers from the EU’s diplomatic service headed by Kaja Kallas, according to Politico. The reported plans are the latest sign of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s push to tighten her grip on the bloc’s foreign policy apparatus.

The proposal is one of several options under review as the commission reassesses how it manages the bloc’s external relations, Politico reported on Monday. Officials told the outlet it could involve merging departments responsible for trade and regional policy into one “supercharged” body.

The reported overhaul comes less than a month after the Financial Times reported that France and Germany were discussing a radical overhaul of Kallas’ External Affairs Service (EEAS). Created under the Lisbon Treaty in 2010, the EEAS took over many foreign policy functions previously handled by the European Commission.

Kallas and von der Leyen have reportedly been locked in a tug of war over who should steer EU foreign policy. Von der Leyen is said to have outmaneuvered the former Estonian prime minister by taking direct control of key geographic portfolios and pushing for a new intelligence body reporting directly to her office.

The issue became prominent during the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in spring, when the EU took nearly two days to produce a unified response. Kallas and von der Leyen released separate statements and reportedly did not speak directly throughout the weekend when the operation started, while member states remained divided over the bloc’s position.

A Ukrainian woman identified by Interpol as the main suspect in last week’s bomb attack on millionaire Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco has been found dead, Ukrainian police have confirmed. A serving foreign intelligence officer may have been involved in her killing.

Anastasia Berezovskaya, 39, was placed on an international wanted list on suspicion of planting the explosive device that seriously injured the Ukrainian-born businessman and members of his family in the European principality. Her death was first reported on Tuesday by Ukrainskaya Pravda, with an official statement corroborating the details.

Ukrainian investigators said they checked Berezovskaya’s contacts after she returned to the country on July 1. Among them were two men, a former law enforcement officer and a serving officer of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR). Both made crypto payment to the woman’s account, which made them suspects in the Monaco bombing.

When confronted, the HUR operative confessed that he and his partner murdered Berezovskaya. Her body with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and shell casings were discovered at the location one of the alleged killers revealed.

The police said one of the suspects in the murder had a basement room that “resembled a torture dungeon.” The authorities claim the HUR officer went rogue and did not report his payments to Berezovskaya to his superiors.

French media said investigators in Monaco suspected that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) could have been involved in the bombing. The police statement identified the agency as a partner in its investigation and said the HUR collaborated with it as well.

The CIA reportedly invested millions of dollars following the 2015 armed coup in Kiev to rebuild the HUR from scratch, overhaul the SBU, and turn them into intelligence agencies focused on Russia.

India will sell its supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles to fellow BRICS member Indonesia along with Astra air-to-air missiles as the two countries signed a raft of agreements to strengthen their defense and economic cooperation.

Indonesia on Tuesday conferred the country’s highest honor, Bintang Adipurna of the Republic of Indonesia, on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on an official visit to the country.

The two countries elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2018, and Modi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Indonesia since then.

The missiles deal is one of the key milestones of Modi’s visit. Named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, the BrahMos is among the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world. Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto signed the missile deal along with other bilateral agreements on Tuesday.

Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto conferred the country's highest honour ’Bintang Adipurna of the Republic of Indonesia’ medal of honour upon PM @narendramodi.#India | #Indonesia | @PMOIndia | @MEAIndia | @IndianEmbJkt pic.twitter.com/SLKdsj4V1l

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) July 7, 2026

Jointly developed by India and Russia and manufactured in India, BrahMos missiles have already been sold to the Philippines. Global interest in the weapon has ticked up since their lethal use by India against Pakistan last year in a brief clash, which India dubbed Operation Sindoor.

India will also supply additional BrahMos batteries to Jakarta.

🚨Made in 🇮🇳 Missiles Go Global: Indonesia Signs Up For BrahMos & Astra

The announcement marks a significant boost for India's growing defence export ambitions. https://t.co/JL544CVqox pic.twitter.com/Wbmj2xpSLO

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 7, 2026

Astra is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization, and was also used by the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor.

Modi’s visit also yielded outcomes on critical minerals and maritime cooperation. India will invest in steel manufacturing, nickel, and rare-earth magnets in Indonesia as New Delhi focuses on strengthening its minerals supply chain.

A Chinese nuclear submarine launched a long-range ballistic missile with a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, marking the first test of the kind since 2024.

“This test launch is a routine part of the Chinese PLA Navy’s annual training,” Navy spokesman Wang Xuemeng said in a statement. “The Chinese side notified relevant countries in advance.”

“This test launch complies with international law and international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target,” Wang added.

The spokesman said the missile “landed precisely within the designated waters.” CNN, citing a regional source, reported that it landed near the exclusive economic zone of either Kiribati or Tuvalu.

The US, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan condemned the test as a dangerous escalation. US State Department spokesman Thomas Pigott said “Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world.” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused China of destabilizing the region, describing its military activities as “lacking in transparency and reassurance.”

The US and China have exchanged warm gestures in recent months. US President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in May during a visit that both sides said was cordial. Trump stated on Monday that he expects Xi to visit the US in late September. Xi earlier congratulated Trump on the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.

Nevertheless, tensions have persisted. In May, the US imposed new sanctions on Chinese oil companies allegedly involved in trade with Iran and blacklisted another batch of entities the following month that it accused of supplying weapons to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. China responded by sanctioning ten US companies involved in the defense, aerospace, and rare-earth mining sectors.

China has also condemned the US-Israel war against Iran and the US energy blockade of Cuba as violations of international law.

It has been one month since Abhijeet Dipke, founder of an online meme turned political movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), landed in Delhi from the US, where he did his Master’s in Public Relations at Boston University.

Dipke and supporters of ‘Cockroach’ movement have spent last month at Jantar Mantar, an iconic site in the heart of Indian capital, protesting against Narendra Modi-led government policies. The protesters demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan amid a controversy over question paper leaks for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s unified, nationwide entrance examination for undergraduate medical programs.

The test was conducted on May 3, but 10 days later, the National Testing Agency cancelled the exam following widespread allegations of the circulation of a “guess paper” and multiple accusations of irregularities. This had affected over 2.2 million aspirants. On June 21, the re-test was conducted. At least 11 students have allegedly died by suicide in the period between the cancellation of NEET and the scheduled re-test, according to Indian media reports citing police records and family accounts. 

Paper leaks in India constitute a huge and volatile problem owing to a vast demand-supply mismatch; millions of candidates fiercely compete for a small number of government seats in jobs and medical degrees.

Even though the NEET exam was conducted afresh, CPJ movement supporters reject the government’s claim that the crisis has been resolved. 

Protesters’ Demands

After landing in India on June 6, Dipke led a massive youth sit-in protest in the capital that was followed by a series of local demonstrations in Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Bengaluru.

On June 20, the CJP began its second nationwide protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The rally appeared to draw a larger crowd demanding the resignation of the education minister and turned into a continuous sit-down campaign which continues to date. While over the days the number of protesters has reduced, the demands still stand. 

For 22-year-old Santosh Singh, from Jaipur, it took hours of travel to participate in the protest in Delhi. “I am here for my brother, who studied hard for NEET but got mentally disturbed after the exam was cancelled. He could not be here, but I came. The system is taking away our hard work and selling it,” Singh said. He argued that the exams in the country have turned into “a lottery.”  

“The youth of India are really pissed off and uncertain about their future,” says Singh. “The dreams of India’s youth are wiped out by a simple WhatsApp paper leak, it totally ruins your sanity. This is not about politics or political parties; this is the question of youth’s dignity.”

Anju Kirti, 22, a student from Delhi, who joined the protest at Jantar Mantar, said the re-exam conducted by the government does not address the “systematic corruption in education.” “We want an end to it,” she said. 

In India, observers say that unemployment, delays in competitive examinations, recruitment bottlenecks and repeated paper leaks have left many young people deeply frustrated. The CJP quickly emerged as an outlet for that anger.

However, the slogans and demands voiced from the protest site were not limited to education. Over the past two weeks, a range of political, climate and farmers’ activists have joined the CJP founder on the makeshift stage. Some opposition parties in India, including Aam Aadmi Party  (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party have also openly voiced support for the Cockroach movement, with their representatives appearing on the stage along with Dipke. Addressing protesters on Saturday, TMC party MP Mahua Moitra urged them not to be discouraged by criticism or labels. “This is your chance to write history. Take it, grab it, stay with it,” she said.

On June 28, climate activist Sonam Wanchuk, 59,  began an indefinite hunger strike demanding the resignation of Pradhan. The hunger strike on Monday entered its second week, with activists raising concerns over his condition. “Still Alive, though not kicking…” Wanchuk posted on his X account on Sunday.

Ahead of the June 20 rally, Dipke wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to provide Rs 10 million ($105 000) compensation to families of students who allegedly died by suicide amid examination-related controversies. Dipke also reiterated the demand for the removal of the education minister.

“The Cockroach Janta Party has been demanding the resignation of the education minister for the past month and has been protesting across the country for our demands. All that we students want is to see some accountability for the loss of lives... He [the Education Minister] is serving at your pleasure, and the buck stops with the prime minister,” Dipkee said, addressing CPJ supporters.

On July 4, Dipke released another letter written by CPJ to Modi. The letter, which many social media commenters claimed to be AI-generated, urges the PM to break his “resounding silence” over the CPJ protest at the Jantar Mantar and hold the education minister accountable. 

“We have been sitting in protest at the Jantar Mantar for the past 15 days, and today marks the seventh day of educationist Sonam Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike. How long will your government choose to ignore our voices, sir?” the letter asked. 

Letter to PM Modi:

For how long will you ignore Jantar Mantar and our voices? pic.twitter.com/hSIpehvzxt

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) July 4, 2026

“We are sitting here because your government has repeatedly failed to stop exam paper leaks that have shattered the faith and future of crores of young Indians,” the letter said. The CJP claimed that the number of student suicides rose from 11 before the beginning of their rally on June 20 till 29. 

Government's response 

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an interview with an Indian news channel in June slammed the ‘cockroach’ movement, comparing them with “disruptive elements.”

“Those who were rejected in democracy have come in disguise and are now after the system. They raise slogans for those who want to divide the country. They have been identified,” Pradhan said during an interview with NDTV. He added that some people do not have faith in the country’s progress.

Commenting on the question paper leaks, Pradhan accused the teachers who were found involved in the incident as “protectors who turned predators.”  He also praised the NEET re-exam as a success. 

The fresh exam was held on June 21 under heavy security, with the country’s armed forces and state police units deployed alongside biometric verification systems. Authorities also temporarily blocked the Telegram messaging platform across India from June 16 to June 22. The move came after the National Testing Agency raised concerns over the growing misuse of the platform by organized networks allegedly targeting NEET aspirants with fake paper leak claims and fraudulent schemes.

The speed with which the CJP emerged as a movement and gained attention in India – at least online – triggered a sharp political backlash from the ruling BJP, whose senior leaders dismissed it as a “foreign-sponsored propaganda blitz” rather than a genuine popular movement.

Sukanta Majumdar, union minister and chief of the West Bengal BJP, claimed that the CJP’s online traffic was being artificially boosted by cross-border bots. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also publicly attacked the party’s online rise, suggesting that the trending anti-paper-leak agitation was heavily driven by foreign bot networks, specifically linking them to an “anti-India George Soros gang.”

The CJP emerged on May 16 as a reaction to an uncomfortable remark by chief justice of India, Surya Kant, in open court, who compared young people to cockroaches.  The online reaction to CPJ was phenomenal, within just five days, the number of followers on CJP’s Instagram page surpassed 20 million, beating both the furling BJP and the key opposition Congress party on social media and quickly morphing into a real-life movement of youngsters.

Even though the movement succeeded in channeling the concerns of Gen Z, political analysts argue it is too early to predict whether it is short-term hype or could someday translate into a full-fledged political force.

“The future of the Cockroach Janata Party is uncertain beyond next year,” says Sakshi Tyagi, a research scholar based in New Delhi. She added that internet protests tend to explode and vanish as fast as they appear.

Even then, the emergence of the movement serves as a wake up call to the entire political establishment, including the opposition. “In a BJP-dominated national climate, simply being anti-BJP is no longer a sufficient political identity. Voters, especially young voters, are looking for freshness, authenticity, risk, and recognisable anger,” said Rasheed Kidwai, author and political commentator. “They want a political language that feels alive, not focus-grouped. They want leaders who look like they have arrived from outside the durbar, not inherited a room inside it. 

“This is why the CJP matters even if it never becomes a real party. It has already performed one function that many opposition parties struggle with: capturing the mood at speed. Its absurdity made it legible. Its humour made it shareable. Its anger made it sticky,”  the expert added. 

“I feel really sad for the many very young people now being conned again by CJP (AAP), as we have gone through the entire cycle in 2008-2013 period with the AAP-IAC (India Against Corruption) giant scam,” Manudhane said in a post on X. He was referring to the anti-corruption movement that was particularly visible around 2011 and eventually led to the formation of the AAP led by activist and former Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.

“All we can do is warn the young folks, based on our earlier experience. Rest is their destiny now. But remember, with Kejriwal, the end result is guaranteed. He’ll use and throw you out most mercilessly like he did with the entire founding team in IAC AAP itself, while cornering all gains. You under-estimate the man at your severe peril. Research and learn,” Manudhane added. 

Online, too, the CPJ movement has not escaped criticism. Social media users have alleged that Dipke appears at protest sites after spending much of his time in luxury hotels, while others have pointed to his political background to argue that the CJP is not an impartial youth platform, but a strategic proxy for mainstream opposition parties.

Back at the protest site in Jantar Mantar, 23‑year‑old graduate Yugesh Sampath, who has been looking for a job for the past two years, says he hopes the “cockroaches” will not “vanish” until corruption in education and employment comes to an end.

European carmakers are facing one of the toughest crises in their history. Plant closures, layoffs, and shrinking profits have become increasingly common as Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers continue to expand their global footprint.

German luxury carmaker Porsche has become the latest victim. The company is expected to cut an additional 4,000 jobs, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Monday. In March, the sports car manufacturer reported a 93% drop in operating profits following a costly pivot away from its long-term EV strategy.

But these setbacks are only part of the story. Behind them lies a combination of soaring energy costs, mounting regulatory pressure, shifting supply chains, and intensifying international competition that is reshaping one of the region’s most important industries.

How bad is the crisis?

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the global semiconductor shortage, European carmakers have been battered by weakening consumer demand and persistently high production costs, largely driven by elevated energy prices.

At the same time, expensive energy has left European manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage compared with many rivals in Asia and North America.

The strain is already triggering deep restructuring across the industry. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW have announced job cuts and cost-cutting measures; Stellantis has reduced output at several European plants, particularly in Italy; Renault is continuing its restructuring in France; and the UK has seen factory closures as manufacturers struggle to contain rising costs.

Which countries have been hardest hit?

The crisis is weighing most heavily on countries where the automotive industry is a major source of jobs and economic growth. In 2019, the sector supported around 13.8 million jobs – 6.1% of total EU employment – and accounted for more than 7% of the bloc’s GDP.

Spain also remains heavily reliant on vehicle exports, while the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary are even more exposed, with much of their industrial output dependent on foreign-owned carmakers. As a result, even relatively small production cuts can have an outsized impact on jobs and regional economies.

Outside the EU, the UK also remains vulnerable. Although its automotive sector is smaller, it still supports around 200,000 manufacturing jobs and some 800,000 positions across the wider industry.

How much of the problem stems from energy prices?

Energy costs have become one of the key structural pressures on Europe’s auto industry. After the disruption of traditional energy flows, the shift away from relatively cheap Russian pipeline gas has increased reliance on more expensive alternatives, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US. For an energy-intensive sector such as automotive production – where steel, aluminium, chemicals, and battery materials are essential inputs – this has raised costs across the entire value chain.

Combined with competition from regions with lower energy costs, this has eroded one of Europe’s traditional advantages: cheap and stable industrial energy. As a result, energy has shifted from a competitive strength to a persistent headwind for European automakers.

Why are European carmakers losing ground to China?

Europe’s weakening position in the global auto market is increasingly linked to the rise of China as the leading EV powerhouse. Chinese manufacturers have scaled up production rapidly, supported by fully integrated domestic battery supply chains – from raw materials processing to cell manufacturing – giving them a structural cost advantage over European rivals.

A vast domestic market also allows Chinese firms to produce at far larger volumes, lowering unit costs and speeding up innovation. By contrast, Europe’s market is fragmented across multiple countries and regulatory systems.

European automakers also face higher production costs, particularly for energy and labor, alongside heavier regulatory requirements linked to emissions targets and industrial policy. According to the International Energy Agency, China produced 12.4 million electric cars in 2024, compared with 2.4 million in the EU and around 80,000 in the UK – roughly five times the combined European output.

The green transition impact

The pressure has been amplified by slower-than-expected EV adoption across Europe. As demand lags behind targets, automakers are caught between costly EV investments and continued reliance on petrol and diesel models to sustain profits.

Several carmakers warn that both EU rules and the UK’s ZEV targets risk moving faster than consumer demand. Critics say regulation has outpaced market readiness, while supporters argue that slowing the transition would leave Europe trailing in the global shift to clean mobility.

Why aren’t Europeans buying new cars?

Years of high inflation have squeezed household budgets, making consumers more reluctant to make big-ticket purchases. Although the European Central Bank and the Bank of England have begun cutting interest rates, borrowing costs remain well above pre-2022 levels, keeping car loans and leasing expensive.

The transition to electric vehicles has added another obstacle. While EV prices are gradually falling, they remain higher than comparable petrol and diesel models, and concerns over charging infrastructure, driving range, and resale values continue to dampen demand.

Government policy has also weighed on sales. Several countries have scaled back or scrapped EV subsidies amid budget pressures. Germany, Europe’s largest car market, ended its purchase incentives in late 2023, contributing to a sharp decline in EV registrations.

What are European governments doing to tackle the crisis?

European governments are trying to support the auto industry without derailing the transition to cleaner transport, combining financial incentives, industrial investment, and more flexible climate rules.

The EU has invested in domestic EV and battery production, funding battery plants, critical raw materials, and charging infrastructure. It has also imposed tariffs on Chinese-made EVs over alleged unfair subsidies and relaxed CO₂ compliance rules by giving automakers more time to meet emissions targets. The UK has retained its ZEV Mandate while easing some compliance requirements and pledging further investment in domestic battery production and EV supply chains.

What happens if Europe fails to reverse the trend?

With millions of jobs tied to the auto sector, a prolonged decline would extend far beyond factory gates, hitting suppliers, local economies, and entire industrial regions. Analysts warn that further shrinkage could reduce exports, deter investment, weaken one of Europe’s key manufacturing sectors, and increase pressure on public finances.

The crisis also carries strategic risks. As China strengthens its lead in EVs and battery technology, Europe risks losing its automotive edge and becoming more dependent on imported vehicles, batteries, and critical technologies.

The EU has condemned FIFA for suspending a one-match ban imposed on top US striker Folarin Balogun following an unprecedented intervention by US President Donald Trump.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Trump confirmed that he asked the global football governing body to review a referee’s decision to issue a red card to Balogun during the US team’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday. The red card automatically disqualified Balogun from the next match in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

“As a fan, I too believe it was the wrong decision,” European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef wrote on X, adding that decisions on these matters “belong to sporting bodies, not politicians.”

European Commission spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova called for “fair play and transparent competition.” European football governing body UEFA released a strongly worded statement, saying the swift reversal of Balogun’s red card “crossed a red line.”

“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA said.

“I asked for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump said. “I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled. That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino also defended the handling of Balogun’s case, insisting that the organization’s judicial bodies are independent.

According to media reports, Infantino has cultivated close ties with Trump. FIFA recently created and awarded its Peace Prize to the US president following his unsuccessful campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump reportedly called Infantino to push for Balogun’s suspension to be revoked.

Good fortune did not help the US team, however, as it lost 4-1 to Belgium on Monday and was eliminated from the tournament. Shortly after the victory, the Belgian team’s official X account posted: “Overturn this.”

Overturn this. 🧏‍♂️ #USABEL pic.twitter.com/KcBAJp3Z7d

— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) July 7, 2026

Around four in five asylum grants issued by the British Home Office lacked sufficient evidence and were “likely to be incorrect,” according to a report by Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) John Tuckett.

The findings are based on surveys of 262 decision-makers and 69 technical specialists, as well as data collected by the Home Office from July to December 2025. Around 85% of respondents said they believe senior managers “prioritized quantity over quality” when assessing asylum applications.

Tuckett, a government-appointed inspector, reviewed 47 asylum approvals issued by Home Office staff from August to September 2025. As many as 37 were found to be based on “insufficient evidence” and “were therefore likely to be incorrect,” he wrote.

While the report acknowledged that the inspection had a limited scope, it maintained that the findings indicate that the asylum decision-making system is “not in a good state.”

The inspection “raised concerns that the focus on clearing the backlog ‘at all costs’ had resulted in the prioritization of quantity over quality,” Tuckett said in a statement accompanying the report. “Decision quality had declined significantly and was at an unacceptable level.”

The Home Office responded by arguing that the findings were based on a small sample of cases. “Our assessment of nearly 4,000 cases shows 94% of decisions are considered ‘correct’ against agreed criteria,” it said, as quoted by The Sun.

Last week, media reports said a Pakistani grooming gang ringleader convicted of dozens of child sex offenses in the UK could not be deported under existing law, fueling further public outrage.

Last month, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the government’s policies as creating a “two-tier system” marked by “anti-white racism” in a widely discussed essay. Reform UK currently leads opinion polls with 26% support, followed by the ruling Labour Party with 24%, according to Ipsos.

Labour’s poor showing in local elections in May sparked unrest within the party, prompting Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce that he will resign later this year.

Polish military counterintelligence will investigate those responsible for exposing secret deliveries of Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has announced.

The controversy erupted on Saturday after several Polish social media accounts reported that Warsaw had quietly transferred US-made PAC-3 Patriot interceptors to Kiev in March without parliamentary approval or informing the public.

Former Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party backed the whistleblowers, condemning the transfer as a move that weakened Poland’s own air defenses.

“After consulting with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while maintaining responsibility toward public opinion and in accordance with legal regulations, I have ordered the declassification of all donations to Ukraine for the years 2022-2026,” Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X.

He added that he had instructed the Polish Military Counterintelligence Service to investigate those who had “intentionally sought to disclose state secrets.”

The minister noted that Poland’s military aid to Ukraine began under the previous PiS government, when Blaszczak served as defense minister from 2018 to 2023.

The transfer comes amid mounting pressure on Patriot missile supplies. According to the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), NATO countries face a backlog of roughly 4,300 Patriot interceptors – equivalent to about seven years of production at 2025 manufacturing rates – after US stockpiles were heavily depleted during the war with Iran.

Moscow has repeatedly dismissed claims that it intends to attack NATO members.

President Vladimir Putin last month argued that NATO and EU leaders were using their allegations of a Russian threat to justify higher military spending and the “radical militarization” of their countries.

The European Shooting Confederation (ESC) decided on Monday to move a major competition from Estonia to Spain due to the Baltic state’s refusal to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete.

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been barred from nearly all international events since the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022. Several sports federations have since reversed course, lifting restrictions on competitors from the two countries.

According to Estonian Public Broadcasting, the ESC warned Estonia’s national shooting federation that all eligible athletes must be allowed to take part in the European Air Gun Championships in March 2027, which will serve as a qualifying event for the 2027 European Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The championship has been moved from the Estonian capital, Tallinn to Granada, Spain because of Estonia’s ban on Russian and Belarusian citizens taking part in sporting events in Estonia.

“Of course, it is regrettable that we will not have the opportunity to host the 2027 European Air Gun Championships. However, the Estonian Shooting Sport Federation adheres to the policy of the Estonian state and therefore cannot allow citizens of Belarus or Russia to enter Estonia,” Vahur Karus, the president of the Estonian Shooting Sport Federation, said.

A number of sports governing bodies have since relaxed restrictions on Russian athletes, including the international federations for fencing, judo, taekwondo, wrestling, aquatic sports, and gymnastics.

Last month, however, the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca went against a recent decision by the global governing body World Gymnastics (WG) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete with their national flags and anthems.

Moscow has said the politicization of sports is unacceptable and has accused the West of applying double standards to countries involved in armed conflicts. In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the International Olympic Committee to “stop using international sports as an instrument of politics.”

US President Donald Trump has a consistent understanding of the Ukraine conflict and is receptive of what Moscow has to say on it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. The official also confirmed that Russia expects Trump to resume contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon.

Just days earlier, the two presidents spoke by phone on the 250th anniversary of US independence. According to the Kremlin, Putin and Trump spoke for nearly 1.5 hours on Saturday and discussed a wide range of topics, including Ukraine, Iran, and bilateral ties. The Trump administration has sought to play the role of a mediator in the Ukraine conflict.

“President Trump has a consistent position [on the Ukraine conflict],” Peskov told journalists on Monday, commenting on the US president’s role in the peace process. “He is consistent and confident in his understanding of what is happening. Most importantly, he is open to hearing the information that President Putin conveys to him.”

Washington resumed direct contact with Moscow in early 2025 after Trump returned to the White House following years of diplomatic freeze under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Several rounds of US-mediated talks, as well as direct meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, have yielded some tangible results, including major prisoner exchanges, the repatriation of fallen soldiers, and the exchange of peace memorandums, but have failed to produce a peace deal.

The process slowed down earlier this year as the US shifted its focus to Iran, but Trump signaled last month that Washington will resume efforts to end the Ukraine conflict.

On Monday, Peskov confirmed that both presidents “have an understanding” that “their contacts will continue in the near future.” Reuters reported that the US president could call his Russian counterpart later this week after meeting Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Türkiye.

Ukrainian drones have targeted one of Russia’s largest fuel‑processing plants, as Kiev carried out another large‑scale overnight UAV raid inside the country.  

The attack on the Omsk Oil Refinery in Omsk Region is the first in central Russia since the start of the Ukraine conflict. Governor Vitaly Khotsenko wrote on Telegram on Monday that the facility was hit after several drones reached the city’s northern industrial zone.  

Khotsenko said most of the incoming UAVs were destroyed by air defenses and that, according to preliminary information, there were no deaths or injuries. 

Russian media reported air‑raid sirens sounded in Omsk’s Central and Oktyabrsky districts and that the threat from drones prompted a temporary suspension of arrivals and departures at Omsk airport, while flights over the region were halted.  

The Omsk Oil Refinery, operated by Gazprom Neft, specializes in the production of gasoline, diesel, aviation kerosene and road‑building bitumen. With an installed capacity of 20.5 million tons of crude per year, it accounts for around one in every six liters of Euro‑5 gasoline and diesel fuel produced in Russia, as well as a significant share of the country’s aviation fuel. 

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that more than 600 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or suppressed across more than 20 regions in the latest mass raid and that the primary targets were energy facilities.  

The ministry added that Vladimir Zelensky ordered the attacks on the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara “to demonstrate to his European sponsors, including the UK, his willingness to strike civilian targets in Russia from Ukraine at their expense.”  

President Vladimir Putin has said Western elites continue to support the Kiev regime, which they have chosen as “a battering ram against Russia,” with no thought for the Ukrainian people. He said the West is attempting to sow unrest and destabilize the internal political situation in Russia, as Kiev’s forces retreat on the front lines and resort to “openly terrorist actions.”  

Moscow has previously said it would respond with “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukraine’s military infrastructure. According to the Defense Ministry, Russian forces carried out another large-scale missile and drone strike against such targets in Ukraine in the early hours of Monday.

The latest Russian missile strike on a Kiev suburb hit a weapons depot storing depleted uranium (DU) munitions, Ukrainian journalist and former legislator Igor Mosiychuk claimed on Monday.

The Russian Defense Ministry has vowed to carry out “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities in retaliation for Kiev’s “terrorist attacks” on Russian civilian targets. The campaign has already significantly degraded Ukraine’s ability to produce long-range weapons, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Overnight on Monday, Russian forces launched another large-scale strike on Ukraine, with missiles hitting the Kiev suburb of Vishnyovoe. Videos circulating online showed powerful secondary explosions, indicating that a munitions depot or military production site had been struck.

“A munitions depot in Vishnyovoe was hit by Russian missiles. I don’t know which bastards placed it there on the outskirts of Kiev. It’s detonating right now,” Mosiychuk said in an interview on YouTube.

“[Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky is silent... the Defense Ministry advisers are silent,” Mosiychuk said. “They’re keeping quiet about the situation.” He added that residents had been ordered to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.

The air quality index in Vishnyovoe briefly reached the “red” category, indicating hazardous conditions, before later improving, according to Ukrainian outlet RBC.

DU munitions have long been controversial because of their radioactive properties and heavy-metal toxicity. If such ammunition was present, the explosion could have dispersed radioactive and toxic DU particles, which can pose health risks if inhaled or ingested.

Moscow has long argued that Ukraine’s Western backers are waging a proxy war against Russia by supplying weapons to Kiev. Last month, President Putin said Ukraine had been turned into a “battering ram” against Russia “without any sympathy for the Ukrainian people.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is entering its third age. When it was founded three quarters of a century ago, it was meant to contain the spread of communism and confront the military might of the Soviet Union. In other words, to keep Western Europe capitalist and under US control. Despite the allegations of the Soviet propaganda at the time, NATO was a defensive rather than an aggressive alliance. Through all the crises of the Cold War period, it stood still.

When the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union imploded, NATO gained a victory it had not won. The US-led military bloc refused to dissolve upon the completion of its original mission. Instead, it sought to become the sole security regulator for Europe. It went onto an offensive and waged war against Serbia. It went “out of area” to fight in Afghanistan. It embarked on an enlargement spree to include the former Soviet satellite countries of Eastern Europe, and some ex-republics of the USSR itself.

Yet, it miserably failed to manage relations with the former adversary, Russia. It spurned Moscow’s request for membership and proposed a partnership instead which turned out to be essentially hollow. It ignored Russia’s security interests by refusing to stop its expansion all the way toward the Russian border and turning down Moscow’s proposals for a pan-European security order. The issue of Ukraine’s membership in NATO, which the Kremlin perceived as an intolerable threat to its national security, became the principal cause of the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year.

From 2025, US President Donald Trump’s policies have kick-started a process of NATO’s internal transformation. The US National Defense Strategy clearly makes Europe responsible for “handling” Russia. Thus, with Washington revising its global strategic priorities, European members of the alliance are being ordered to carry more financial and military burden. Under conditions of the ongoing war, this means much greater involvement in the conflict. The European elites, long reluctant to increase defense spending and fearful of being drawn into wars, have changed their minds and eagerly embraced the new responsibilities and risks as an opportunity.

There are reasons for that change. Militarization is now thought to be a driver for relaunching the EU’s flagging economies. A militarily stronger Europe would be more autonomous strategically in a world where America is reducing its commitments to allies. Adding a military dimension to the EU could cement the union in the face of the many mounting challenges. Politically, rearmament and mobilization in the face of the “enemy at the gates” makes it easier for the ruling elites to brand their opponents “Kremlin stooges,” and thus protect their hold on power. In ideological terms, fighting Russia (for now, via Ukraine) has become a new unifying idea for Europe.

For Russia, this NATO 3.0 means, above all, that for the first time since the defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies in 1945, Europe is again becoming a clear and immediate enemy of Russia. People in Moscow entertain no illusions about the adversarial attitude of the United States toward Russia, but Washington now is a back seat driver when it comes to the conflict with Russia. Whereas in the days of the Cold War NATO appeared to Russians as “America in Europe,” now when they look at NATO, they see Europe backed by America.

What is even more important is that NATO 3.0 is clearly on the offensive, with most decisive goals. The European elites’ strategy toward Russia is no longer deterrence as in the days of the Cold War; the goal is Russia’s destruction as a major power. This is what “strategic defeat” is all about. The Europeans dream of eliminating Russia as a serious factor in the geopolitics of Eurasia: to them, this would mean the “final solution” of the long-dreaded “Russia problem.”

This, however, will not happen. The fundamental flaw of European thinking is their belief that Russia would rather accept defeat, degradation and disintegration than use the arsenal which it currently possesses. This arsenal is not limited to nuclear weapons, although point may be reached when they will have to be used. The Kremlin, so far, has been exceedingly restrained in using its more powerful conventional capabilities, or engaging some high-value, high-visibility targets. There are many explanations for such restraint, but it is foolhardy – actually, fatal – to believe that either the Russian leadership or the Russian people would ever surrender to NATO.

The European NATO leaders’ enormous deficit of modern strategic culture – unsurprising after the eight decades of having delegated their security to the United States – and their blind Russophobia, a result of deep-seated vintage European racism and the real or perceived grudges against Russia piled over the last five centuries, have put Europe on a direct collision course with Russia. NATO 3.0 means war. Should it actually come to that, there will be no more NATO.

Huge crowds attended the funeral procession of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in central Tehran on Monday, which also featured a banner reading ‘Kill Trump’ and chants of ‘Death to America’. 

It was the largest public event of the multi-day funeral, with mourners lining the nearly 20-km (12-mile) route through the Iranian capital. State media reported that millions turned out to pay tribute to Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. 

The footage showed mourners holding flower-framed portraits of Khamenei, chanting anti-US and anti-Israel slogans, and carrying a large banner reading “Kill Trump: $100 million Iranian bounty.” Many waved red-and-white flags symbolizing martyrdom and revenge in Shia tradition as trucks carrying the flag-draped caskets of Khamenei and four of his family members made their way through the city. 

As the procession passed beneath a bridge, mourners hurled stones at a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with a bullet aimed at his head. The sign read in Persian: “The US killed our father. We won’t let you go!” 

According to media reports, some participants also carried posters depicting US Vice President J.D. Vance, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the crosshairs of a gunsight alongside the words “There will be blood.” 

Call for revenge: Crimson protests rise for Iran's martyred Leader. pic.twitter.com/gpG8JNJO7Y

— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) July 6, 2026

The burial ceremonies come more than four months after Khamenei was assassinated on February 28 in a concentrated US-Israeli airstrike on his official residence in Tehran. Several relatives were also killed, including his son-in-law, daughter, and 14-month-old granddaughter. 

The ceremonies began on Friday, attended by Iranian officials, foreign dignitaries, and regional delegations. The cortege is scheduled to move to the holy city of Qom before continuing to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala. Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his hometown, on Thursday. 

Mourners chanted slogans calling for revenge for the Leader's blood and resistance against adversaries and traitors, while waving Iranian flags as well red flags of revenge and carrying portraits of martyred Leader. pic.twitter.com/k4EOzlI97h

— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) July 6, 2026

Trump said over the weekend that renewed peace talks with Iran had been delayed for a week by the funeral ceremonies. A preliminary peace agreement was reached last month, paving the way for further negotiations, although Israel has opposed the process and Tehran has accused it of trying to derail diplomacy. 

A drone strike that destroyed an early 20th-century museum masterpiece in the Russian city of Sevastopol last month was planned by British officers acting as advisers to the Ukrainian military, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said.

In early June, the Ukrainian military targeted a museum hosting the iconic Russian panorama painting ‘The Defense of Sevastopol’, depicting the city’s defense by the Russian Army from British and French invading forces during the 1853-1856 Crimean War.

The panorama, which was 115 meters in length and 14 meters high, was “almost completely destroyed” in the attack and the blaze caused by the strike, local Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said at the time.

On Monday, the SVR called the attack a “carefully planned provocation orchestrated by London” and its intelligence services. According to Moscow, Ukrainian soldiers only launched the drones that hit the museum and were unaware of the strike’s target.

“The flight missions were uploaded into the weapons systems by British specialists operating under the guise of military advisers,” the statement said, adding that the attack made absolutely no sense in terms of military strategy as there are no military facilities near the museum.

The Russian Empire signed the unfavorable Paris Treaty after the Crimean War, which banned it from having a navy in the Black Sea as well as any military fortifications on its shores, but was able to effectively nullify the conditions of the treaty in the following decades.

“It is regrettable that London has still not learned the lessons of the past,” the SVR said in its statement, adding that the UK would “have to answer for this strike as well as other barbaric crimes against the peoples of Russia and Ukraine.”

Moscow has described the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war between Russia and Kiev’s Western backers, who use Ukraine “as a battering ram.”

President Vladimir Putin stated last month that Russia is facing “unprecedented pressure from Western elites,” adding that Kiev’s backers are nonetheless unable to inflict a defeat on Moscow.

New Delhi and Moscow have made progress in talks to boost trade, India’s ambassador to Russia has said.

Speaking at Russia’s main investment and trade platform Innoprom 2026 on Monday, Vinay Kumar said that the two countries are negotiating a bilateral investment protection agreement and working to remove non-tariff barriers, particularly with regards to agriculture and food products.

India-Russia trade is now at about $58 to $60 billion, and both countries are pursuing a trade target of $100 billion by 2030 that was set during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in December.

Kumar said that Indian businesses were responding “very positively and actively” to the country’s expanding diplomatic presence, citing New Delhi’s Consulate General in Ekaterinburg that was opened in November.

📹 India, Eurasian Economic Union Advance Free Trade Agreement Talks: 🇮🇳 Ambassador to Russia

Vinay Kumar said the second round of talks was held in Moscow just 10 days ago.

He added that India and Russia are also negotiating a bilateral investment protection agreement and… https://t.co/s1obyMaWua pic.twitter.com/iAo1vQqGwd

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 6, 2026

India is represented by over 30 companies in the investment fair being held at the Ekaterinburg-EXPO International Exhibition Center.

India and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have also made progress in discussing a free trade agreement. The second round of talks was held in Moscow late last month, Kumar said.

Another Innoprom conclave will be held in India in September, ahead of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

“Russia is steadily strengthening its status as a reliable supplier of high-tech products,” Mishustin said. “Last year, despite the difficult circumstances, we increased non-resource, non-energy exports by more than 11%. The strongest growth was recorded with China, India, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.”

Russia will continue to build international infrastructure and establish stable cooperative ties with friendly countries and partners within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said.

Western Europe has been enduring another record-breaking heat wave, with temperatures topping 40C in several countries. France, the UK, Germany and Switzerland have all seen their hottest June temperatures on record, while the extreme weather has disrupted transport, power generation and industrial output.

The scorching temperatures are burning a multi-billion-euro hole in the EU's already fragile economy. From parched fields to idle factories, the bloc is feeling the heat beyond what thermometers may indicate. Economists, meanwhile, warn that climate-driven heat waves are no longer temporary events but a structural macroeconomic risk.

Productivity is the first casualty

The most immediate economic cost of extreme heat is lost productivity. According to German insurer Allianz Trade, every additional degree between 30C and 35C cuts labor productivity by roughly $1.30 per hour – equivalent to nearly 3% of average hourly output. Construction, agriculture, logistics and other labor-intensive sectors bear the brunt as workers struggle in extreme temperatures.

As another heat wave swept the region, Patrick Martin, head of France's main employers' federation Medef, summed up the impact: “France is working in slow mode.”

The blow is increasingly being felt at the macroeconomic level, according to Carsten Brzeski, ING's global head of macro research. Heat waves have evolved from isolated weather events into a key economic variable, shaking the bloc’s business activity in ways reminiscent of the Covid-19 lockdowns. “Thermometers, it turns out, have become a leading indicator of economic growth,” he wrote last month, warning that heat waves now pose “a new downside risk to European growth.”
Brzeski said Germany, despite its relatively mild climate, could rank third in Europe for cumulative heat-related economic losses by 2030 because its infrastructure, housing stock and labor-intensive industries were built for cooler conditions.

The heat is literally melting Europe's transport infrastructure. Roads are cracking, rail tracks are buckling and tram networks are grinding to a halt across Western Europe. In Germany, major highways near Berlin and Hamburg were damaged by the heat, while in Leipzig tram services were suspended after track sealant melted. France's SNCF cut train services around Paris to protect its rail network, and Eurostar imposed speed restrictions as temperatures soared.

The damage extends beyond roads and railways. Water levels on the Rhine – Europe's busiest inland waterway – have fallen so low that cargo vessels can carry only around 25% to 45% of their normal loads. The restrictions have driven up freight costs and disrupted deliveries of fuel, chemicals and industrial raw materials, forcing companies such as BASF to adjust operations at their flagship Ludwigshafen complex. Engineers warn that much of Europe's transport infrastructure was designed for a cooler climate.

Surging demand for air conditioning is driving up electricity consumption just as extreme temperatures are squeezing supply. During the evening peak, Belgium's quarter-hour power price hit a record €1,038 per MWh, while the price in Germany reached €747 per MWh, according to exchange data cited by energy market intelligence firm Montel in late June.

High temperatures reduce the efficiency of solar panels and gas-fired power plants, while forcing some nuclear reactors to scale back or halt operations because rivers used for cooling have become too warm. France's EDF curbed output at the Nogent-sur-Seine and Bugey plants, while Swiss utility Axpo temporarily shut both reactors at the Beznau nuclear plant after the temperature of the River Aare reached 25C.

The latest heat wave has laid bare Europe's self-inflicted energy crunch. The EU's years-long, sanctions-driven shift from Russian energy has come at a cost. As the bloc reduced purchases of cheaper Russian gas, it became increasingly dependent on US LNG, which accounted for 59% of imports in early 2026 and more than 64% in April, according to Bruegel. Analysts warn that such reliance on a single supplier leaves the EU more exposed to price shocks and supply disruptions.

Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser has said the bloc could ease pressure on households and industry by buying competitively priced Russian energy instead of relying on more expensive American LNG.

Yet despite its pledge to phase out Russian gas, the EU continues to buy it at prevailing market prices. Russia emerged as the third-largest gas supplier to the EU in the first half of 2026, after Norway and the US, delivering approximately 22.1 billion cubic meters of gas and accounting for about 12% of the EU's gas consumption.

The economic cost of extreme heat extends beyond lost working hours and soaring electricity bills, fueling inflation, driving up food prices, and weighing on economic growth across the EU.

Agriculture is among the sectors under the greatest pressure. Repeated heat waves and droughts have scorched crops, dried out farmland and reduced yields across Southern and Western Europe. The European Central Bank estimates that the 2022 drought alone added 0.7 percentage points to food inflation across the EU. With another severe heat wave gripping the continent, economists warn that weather-sensitive staples could once again become more expensive.

Households pay the price

Ultimately, European households are paying the price. The economic damage does not end when temperatures fall. Research suggests economic activity declines by around 1% in the year after a major heat wave, with losses deepening to as much as 1.5% in the second year as disrupted production, damaged infrastructure and weaker investment continue to weigh on growth.

Studies suggest climate change could reduce the average European’s income by up to 3% over the course of this century as slower growth, higher energy bills and rising food prices steadily erode purchasing power.

The impact is already visible across the bloc. Germany, Europe's largest economy, has struggled to regain momentum after contracting in 2024, with economists increasingly identifying extreme heat as another structural headwind alongside high energy costs and weak industrial output.

According to Allianz Trade, climate-related losses could shave between 5% and 7% off the EU's cumulative GDP between 2026 and 2030. France is projected to suffer the biggest hit, with losses of around $240 billion, followed by Italy ($147 billion), Germany ($131 billion) and Spain ($120 billion).

The Russian military has launched its latest long-range barrage against what it described as key military targets in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine.

Moscow announced in early June that it would intensify such operations following a high-profile Ukrainian drone raid that killed 21 civilians, most of them teenage girls, and wounded dozens more.

Kiev describes its Western-funded kamikaze drone attacks on Russia as central to its military strategy and is seeking additional funding.

What did Russia target in Kiev?

The overnight strikes, reportedly carried out with ballistic and cruise missiles as well as long-range drones, hit multiple sites in the Ukrainian capital and in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkassy, Chernigov, and Kiev regions.

The Russian Defense Ministry listed the following targets in Kiev:

• Abris PT, also known as Kiev-71, which produces various shorter-range drones for the Ukrainian military, as well as drone components.

• Burevestnik, also known as Kiev-1, a Soviet-era plant specializing in radio equipment, which Moscow says produces medium- and long-range drones.

• Ukr Armo Tekh, also known as Kiev-79, an armored vehicle manufacturer that also supplies missile warheads, according to the report.

• Kuznia na Rybalskom, a shipyard on the Rybalsky Peninsula founded in the late 19th century as a metal-casting plant. The site has been associated with former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and produces Gyurza-type naval kamikaze drones.

• Kvant, meaning “quantum,” a Soviet-era military research and production facility that Russia says makes missile and aircraft guidance components, including for Neptun-MD missiles, as well as other hardware.

In Kiev Region, the Russian military said it targeted:

• Vizar, a state-owned plant involved in maintaining Ukrainian air defense systems and producing components for long-range drones.

• An oil depot in the city of Vishnyovoe, which Moscow says supplies gasoline and diesel to the Ukrainian military.

The ministry said airfields and military-linked energy facilities were also hit in other parts of Ukraine.

Did the barrage stand out?

Not particularly from the Russian military’s perspective. In its briefings, the Defense Ministry distinguishes between “massive” and “group” strikes, with the difference depending on the number of units involved.

For example, between June 27 and July 3, the ministry reported five group strikes and one massive strike, the latter carried out overnight on July 1-2.

According to Kiev, all 29 ballistic missiles pierced its air defenses, as did some cruise missiles and drones, resulting in direct hits at 34 locations and debris damage at 16 others.

Are Ukraine’s air defenses failing?

Ukrainian officials, as well as the country’s leader, Vladimir Zelensky, have long complained about shortages of Western air defense systems and interceptors, especially US-made Patriot missiles.

Last week, Zelensky said Norway had pledged to fund 200 Patriot missiles, but Ukraine had not yet received any of them. While thanking donors for their support, he stressed: “We need them to simply deliver what they promised.”

Norway later said Zelensky had misconstrued its pledge, explaining that it was prepared to pay for Patriot missiles only if Kiev found a willing supplier amid a global shortage of the weapons.

Why is Russia ramping up strikes?

Moscow says it is responding to changes in Ukrainian strategy by increasing military pressure on the country.

Kiev has said it wants to inflict maximum economic damage on Russia by striking energy infrastructure, including oil refineries and export terminals, with Western-funded drones. On the night of Russia’s latest barrage, the Russian military said it detected 626 Ukrainian drones outside what Moscow considers the combat zone and shot down 613 of them.

Russia, however, frames its retaliation not as a response to economic damage but as a reaction to what it calls Kiev’s terrorist tactics. Officials in Moscow have pointed to a deadly drone raid on a vocational college dormitory in Starobelsk in May as a turning point, insisting that it was a deliberate attack on teenage students while they were sleeping.

“The leadership in Kiev has decided to start a new chapter in their crimes and give the broader conflict a new quality. Well. That is their choice,” President Vladimir Putin said during a Russian Security Council meeting after the attack.

What could Kiev gain by targeting civilians?

Russia claims the Ukrainian leadership’s main objective is to secure more Western funding. Moscow argues that Kiev is pursuing a two-pronged approach: provoking heavier Russian strikes in order to present itself as a victim, while depicting damage to Russian infrastructure as proof that it is shifting the battlefield balance.

According to Putin, “the situation for Ukrainian troops is turning from difficult to critical” and cannot be improved “neither with Western aid, which they [Ukrainian officials] can’t help but embezzle, nor with forced mobilization which involves hunting people in the streets like stray dogs and throwing them to the front line.”

Last week, the Russian military reported the full capture of Konstantinovka, a settlement that had served as one of Ukraine’s remaining strongholds in Donbass. Kiev denied losing it.

Will Ukraine get more Western money?

That remains unclear. Old pledges could be reiterated this week, as NATO leaders gather for a regular summit in Ankara, Türkiye.

A Bloomberg report has suggested that some members of the US-led bloc, including Italy, oppose even mentioning past aid commitments, instead pushing for language similar to last year’s final communique, which omitted such funding.

The EU remains the primary sponsor of the Ukrainian war effort. Brussels, London, and Kiev are reportedly trying to convince US President Donald Trump that there is a path towards Ukrainian victory in the conflict.

Is there a risk of further escalation?

Significant, according to Moscow. In an interview over the weekend, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is fighting what amounts to a real war, rather than merely a special military operation.

“This conflict continues as a war, because Berlin, Paris, the Hague, Oslo and, unfortunately, Washington are backing Kiev,” Peskov said. “Washington is using its satellites to help them [the Ukrainians] target us with Western weapons.”

Asked whether Russia was considering strikes on NATO member Poland, as some Western media have claimed, Peskov said “scary tales” about Russia regularly appear in the press, but added that “there are plenty of plants in Polish territory that make drones that later attack us.” He described his remark as “a statement of facts.”

Russia shipped a record volume of wheat to Tanzania in the 2025/26 season, exporting more than 850,000 tons, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport reported on Monday. 

The agency stated that the figure is 16% higher than the previous season and 47% above the five-year average. 

“Russia is a key supplier of wheat to Tanzania,” Agroexport said, adding that Russian exporters have steadily expanded their presence in the East African market in recent years.  

According to the estimates from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Tanzania imported around 1.5 million tons of wheat in the 2025/26 season, up 200,000 tons from the previous year and the highest level on record. 

Agroexport also reported that East African Community (EAC) countries are playing an increasingly important role in Russia’s wheat exports to Africa. Combined shipments to the bloc were about 3.5 million tons in the 2025/26 season, up 26% from a year earlier and accounting for roughly 16-17% of Russia’s total wheat exports to the continent. 

The record shipments to Tanzania come as Russia continues to expand wheat exports across Africa. Agroexport reported last week that exports to neighboring Kenya rose 10% year-on-year to around 1.4 million tons in the current season through late May. 

Wheat exports to Egypt also increased by 19% this year, while deliveries to Sudan surged 78%, according to the agency. 

Heavy monsoon rains have marooned India’s financial capital Mumbai, leaving six dead over the weekend. Flooding and landslides have cut off regular access to the city.

The deaths were reported in the eastern suburb of Mankhurd, where a four-story residential building collapsed. The victims included a woman and five children, according to civic authorities.

Between 8:30 AM local time on July 4 and 8:30 AM the following day, weather stations in Mumbai recorded more than 200 millimeters of rainfall, with more heavy rain and winds forecast.

Landslides on the expressway connecting Mumbai with the IT and manufacturing hub of Pune disrupted traffic; the two cities are the largest in Maharashtra state on the country’s west coast.

Airline services were disrupted and long-distance train services connecting ⁠Mumbai and Pune were cancelled.

Heavy rains cause widespread flooding in Mumbai. Commuters face knee-deep water. Please be cautious! 🙏
#Mumbai #HeavyRain #Monsoon pic.twitter.com/6Z8ujUcsXY

— Manjesh Jangir🚩हिन्दू (@manjesh_jangir) July 6, 2026

The chief minister of Maharashtra warned of a possible downpour in the city of Nashik on Tuesday. A high alert has been sounded as heavy rains are expected to continue across the state until July 8, although the rain in Mumbai has abated.

The rain started late last month, after a late and weak onset of monsoon in mid-June, uprooting trees on Mumbai’s roads and killing ⁠at least three people, according to media reports.

India was hit by the worst flooding in its modern history in 2005, when it saw the most rain recorded in over a century, taking the lives of an estimated 1,000 people.

India’s Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more heavy rainfall in many states in the coming days.

On June 30, the IMD projected that the South Asian nation is likely to see below-average monsoon rainfall in July after logging its fifth-driest June since the country started maintaining records in 1901.

British police chiefs need to stop taking sides in “woke… culture wars” and focus entirely on the “prevention and detection of crime,” according to a government-backed report that recommends a “fundamental overhaul” of policing in the UK.

Co-authored by former Labour Party Home Secretary Lord Blunkett and published on Monday, the report found that Britain’s police departments are plagued by corrupt leadership, nepotism, abuse of power, and low morale among officers. 

The report also highlighted concerns that police leaders are “preferencing certain groups,” with some “woke” chiefs “taking sides in the so-called ‘culture wars.’”

“Police leaders should be resolute in refusing to take sides, or to be diverted from the course of focusing entirely on the prevention, detection and prosecution of crime,” the report recommends, adding that “the background or identity of any perpetrator or victim of crime should have absolutely no bearing” on their treatment by the police service.

Official anti-racism guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council explicitly instructs officers not to be “color blind.” Equality, it states, “does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’.” Although the document is now under review, other arms of the British justice system have doubled down on apparently two-tier policies. Last week,  the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales ordered its own prosecutors last week to question their own “unconscious bias” when deciding whether to charge suspects from ethnic minorities.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Blunkett admitted that “there is a perception” of two-tier policing in the UK. “We’ve moved the pendulum,” he said. “It swung from the [1999] Macpherson report about outright racism in the force… all the way through to people saying, ‘oh, it’s woke’, and we make it clear in the report that there’s no room for culture wars or woke.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has described the UK as “a two-tier state against white people,” and portrayed the death of Nowak as a direct consequence of decades of policing “guidelines that led them to treat different ethnic groups in different ways.” 

More evidence of two-tier policing against white people in Britain.

This young man was attacked by ethnic minority men and instead of arresting them, the police arrested the victim.

Only Reform will put an end to this. pic.twitter.com/PzZmndzkla

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) July 3, 2026

Two days before Blunkett’s report was published, Farage shared a video showing Birmingham police officers arresting a white youth after he was attacked by a group of black men. “This young man was attacked by ethnic minority men and instead of arresting them, the police arrested the victim,” he wrote on X, describing the video as “more evidence of two-tier policing against white people in Britain.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said investments by global technology firms, including Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Mastercard, are strengthening the country’s position as Africa’s leading digital hub.

In his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa said the investments would support cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, job creation and economic growth, while warning that South Africa must protect data sovereignty and citizens’ privacy.

”Our country’s ambition to be a leading digital investment destination is being recognised by some of the world’s leading technology companies,” Ramaphosa said.

Among the projects is a new Digital Exchange Port to be built in the Eastern Cape, the first of four connectivity hubs planned across the continent to improve reliable cloud services. Ramaphosa said Google would also establish a R3 million digital innovation centre at South West Gauteng TVET College in Soweto as part of its commitment to developing digital skills. He also noted that Amazon Web Services announced plans in 2023 to invest R30.4 billion in local cloud infrastructure, while Microsoft last year committed R5.4 billion towards expanding hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure.

Ramaphosa welcomed Mastercard’s recent launch of its Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, which will begin with a phased rollout in South Africa and Nigeria to strengthen cyber resilience and support secure digital growth across the continent.

Ramaphosa said small, medium and micro enterprises stand to benefit significantly from cloud computing, with one study estimating that wider adoption could unlock more than R185 billion for South Africa’s economy by 2030.

Despite the opportunities, Ramaphosa cautioned that South Africa must ensure innovation is matched by appropriate regulation as it positions itself as “a continental cloud and AI gateway.”

“There is a need for ‘guardrails’ to prevent abuse and other risks,” he stressed.

”The digital economy must safeguard the rights and privacy of citizens, support environmental sustainability and uphold our country’s sovereignty.”

“In the digital age, sovereignty is measured not only by territorial borders. It is increasingly measured by a nation’s ability to secure its data, develop its own digital capabilities and exercise meaningful control over the technologies on which its economy depends,” he noted.

He said government was investing in its own cloud infrastructure through institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to strengthen the country’s digital capabilities.

”As we navigate these complexities, we must deepen collaboration across government, business, labour, industry and civil society in pursuit of a digital future that is secure, inclusive and leaves no-one behind,” the president concluded.

First published by IOL

Hundreds of thousands are attending the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran in a clear display of solidarity and defiance by the country’s people, geostrategic analyst Christopher Helali, who is attending the ceremony, has told RT.

Khamenei was assassinated in an airstrike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, along with several close relatives, including his son-in-law, daughter and 14-month-old granddaughter. His son Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in the attack, was chosen to succeed him as the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

In an interview with RT on Monday, Helali told RT that there is “a real sense of unity” at the funeral.

By showing up to the ceremony in such massive numbers, the Iranians are signaling that “they want to have a strong country, a stable country, a resilient country, and they want their sovereignty,” he said.

According to Helali, Khamenei’s funeral has also completely negated Washington’s narrative that Iran is in international isolation.

“Over 120 countries are represented here,” he said, adding that not only “most of the Global South,” but nations viewed as the US allies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also sent delegations, he said.

The presence of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chair of the Security Council, at the ceremony was “very important,” the analyst noted.

Moscow and Tehran “find themselves… in the closest point they’ve ever been in history… and I believe that in the coming years, we’re going to see an even deeper relationship… as they confront the same hostile Euro-Atlantic forces that seek to destroy their sovereignty,” he said.

Imagine a Hollywood movie. It’s a thriller about a big bad secret. One of those that have far-reaching, even earth-shaking political stakes attached to them; the sort of ‘this-changes-everything’ information that, if revealed, can topple governments, break up alliances, and redefine friends and enemies on the grand chessboard of geopolitics.

Such a secret could be, for instance, about an international conspiratorial network of pedophilia and other especially revolting crimes, serving as a pervasive influence operation to capture US and other Western ‘elites’ on behalf of a genocidal apartheid state in the Middle East and its global backers.

Or the secret could involve an infamous massacre of protesters. When the slaughter occurred, its systematic misrepresentation served to further manipulate Western public opinion to endorse a regime change operation in a country slotted for a Western geopolitical coup.

Finally, maybe the big bad secret is about the worst single peacetime terrorist attack ever carried out on vital infrastructure, a whole national economy and all who depend on it, and, last but not least, the environment; an act which takes place in Europe and against a NATO member state. And the bizarre fact that the political and mainstream media ‘elites’ of the attacked state have, in effect, obstinately helped cover up first the real identity of the crime’s perpetrators and then their sponsors.

The international conspiracy of child abuse and more is, of course, the Epstein network, with its obvious ties to Israel and virtually certain links to Israeli intelligence in particular. The mass killing of protesters refers to what is known as the Kiev ‘Maidan’ or ‘Snipers’ Massacre’ of February 2014, which Western politicians and their compliant mainstream media rapidly blamed on Ukraine’s old regime, conveniently in the process of being toppled in a particularly violent ‘color revolution’. In reality, as the Canadian-Ukrainian political scientist Ivan Katchanovski has demonstrated with painstaking, exhaustive, and peer-reviewed research, the massacre was a false flag operation carried out by anti-regime forces.

In economic terms, the destruction of Nord Stream closed the door to supplying Germany’s industry and households with inexpensive Russian gas. This was a terrorist strike at the heart of Germany’s already declining prosperity. And it worked, making a powerful and devastating contribution to the country’s catastrophic economic tailspin and the worsening lives of most Germans.

Yet if the attack was shocking, its aftermath was mindboggling. Initially, Western leaders, ‘experts’ (such as Carlo Masala and Janis Kluge), and mainstream media propaganda outlets seriously tried to sell the moronic idea that Russia had detonated the pipelines, although it had no conceivable motive to do so. Kiev was by no means silent. Ukrainian government official Mikhail Podoliak loudly agreed that this was a terrible crime and called on the West to punish Moscow.

Then, slowly, even in the West, reality asserted itself. The harebrained story about big bad Russia was quietly dropped – without anyone ever being challenged over having contaminated the public sphere with such biased nonsense in the first place. Western mainstream media, such as the American Wall Street Journal and German Spiegel, surely well supplied with leaks and instructions, have now settled for a slightly less absurd but still incomplete story: We are all supposed to believe that Nord Stream was blown up by a plucky team of Ukrainian ‘commandos’ and them alone.

That as well makes no sense. Yes, it is very much Kiev’s modus operandi to launch a brazen and perfidious terror attack on one of its most important and generous backers. Yet it obviously needed help. From whom exactly and in what shape, the future will show. Poland, judging by its behavior since the attack, was certainly very closely involved. Its politicians and spies have, in essence, been boasting about it, adding insult to injury for Germany. Other prime suspects include the US, the UK, and Norway, all of them so-called ‘allies’ of Germany within NATO. With friends like these, Germans need no enemies.

In other words, whatever happens next, it will be impossible to conduct a trial against Sergei K. and not bring up the obvious issue of his accomplices and sponsors. And that is the point where you may rush to the conclusion that Sergei’s personal and well-deserved come-uppance might turn into one of those Hollywood-movie-type cases, where the stunning revelation of the big secret will finally make a difference to what can only be termed Berlin’s insane policy of national masochism.

Once there is a Ukrainian terrorist in the dock and it has become inevitable to face who sent him to brutally damage the German economy and worsen the lives of almost every single German citizen, surely German governments cannot possibly continue their perverse and exceedingly expensive support for Kiev, you may think.

Indeed, they may even have to rethink another, even more wasteful policy, namely Germany’s new militarism: Based on silly scaremongering about Russia, it is making all Germans poorer, as even the anything but rebellious Zeit newspaper has to admit. Indeed, it will ruin what is left of Germany.

Ultimately, perhaps even those voices of reason in the BSW and AfD parties will prevail that argue for an end to the proxy war via Ukraine, normalization with Russia, and, specifically, repairing and using the Nord Stream pipelines.

If only! But the real world is not a Hollywood movie. In reality, especially the worst secrets and the greatest lies do not change everything when finally revealed. They should, but they don’t. Consider, for instance, that the very incomplete knowledge that we have of the Epstein crimes should have immediately shattered the US-Israeli relationship. Yet, while there are fissures, it is holding up well enough to ensure US support for Israel’s ongoing crimes, including genocide. Indeed, it is so robust that the US has just lost a war against Iran while following Israeli orders and is about to permanently integrate Israel into its military-industrial complex.

Unfortunately, the same is likely to happen in the case of the Nord Stream attack. Even if the truth about Kiev’s involvement in a horrific attack on Germany should ever be revealed, Berlin will pretend that nothing has really changed. Indeed, a perverse op-ed in Spiegel is already preparing the ground for such a solution, pretending, in essence, that Germans should be grateful to Kiev for blowing up a pipeline that was just no good.

That Spiegel thereby in effect endorses a sabotage of Germany’s vital infrastructure should occupy German prosecutors, but it probably won’t: They are busy going after ordinary citizens for plausibly calling Chancellor Friedrich Merz “Lying Fritz” or sharing RT information.

The reason why the biggest lies are so resilient is depressing and simple: Some lies are so important, so baked into policies, which current “elites” refuse to change because they would fall with them, that the truth must not be allowed to harm these lies: They are too big to fail. That is why, ultimately, the only real hope lies in a genuine replacement of political elites. If Germans have really had enough of being impoverished for Ukraine, the country that, unlike Russia, has actually fiercely and perfidiously attacked them, then they will have to vote very differently.

The US military deployment in northern Nigeria has failed to produce major improvements in the country’s security crisis despite Washington’s claim that its counterterrorism mission was successful, Nigerian political figure Samuel Memeh has told RT.

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) head Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson said at a press briefing on Thursday that the unit had withdrawn most of the troops deployed to the West African country. The AFRICOM commander, however, said Washington would maintain intelligence sharing and broader security cooperation with Abuja.

About 200 American soldiers were deployed to Nigeria two months after US and Nigerian forces launched a joint operation in the Lake Chad Basin area in December, including strikes targeting militants on Christmas Day.

Speaking to RT in an interview published on Sunday, Samuel Memeh, chairman of Nigeria’s opposition Democratic Leadership Alliance, argued the mission “has not yielded significant improvements” in the country’s security.

“There are reports that as a result of the mineral resources that are deposited in these areas, and so there are a lot of foreign interests,” Memeh said.

He noted foreign military support alone cannot defeat terrorism in Nigeria, where armed groups have repeatedly targeted schools, communities, and security forces.

“It is not a war that can be won by only the external forces,” Memeh said, adding that “local problems require local solutions.”

In December, Abuja said it had reached a bilateral security agreement with Washington covering intelligence sharing and “other forms of support,” after previously rejecting any unilateral military intervention on its soil. The announcement came weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened action over Abuja’s alleged failure to address what he called a “genocide” of Christians in Africa’s most populous country.

Indonesia and India are boosting financial ties via a local currency settlement mechanism to lessen their reliance on the US dollar, a top diplomat has told RT India.

Bank Indonesia and the Reserve Bank of India have agreed on a local currency settlement (LCS) framework for this, the Indonesian Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, Yudho Sasongko, said in an interview given ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jakarta.

Modi was accorded a warm welcome Monday, with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto welcoming him at the airport. Fighter jets accompanied the prime minister’s plane from the time it entered Indonesian air space.

“Central banks are still working on its operational implementation,” Sasongko said, referring to the mechanism. “Once in place, it is expected to reduce transaction costs, lessen reliance on the US dollar, and facilitate bilateral trade and investment.” 

Quick response (QR) code linkages to facilitate easier retail payments for tourists are also being explored, he said.

📹 🇮🇳🇮🇩 Grand Welcome For PM Modi In Jakarta

PM Narendra Modi was welcomed by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto upon his arrival in Jakarta.

In a special gesture, Indonesian Air Force fighter jets escorted the PM's aircraft after it entered the country's airspace. https://t.co/DM61UONmjL pic.twitter.com/JHgroicp1D

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 6, 2026

Indonesia and India share a strong commitment to amplifying the voice of the Global South, Sasongko added, reiterating that reforms at the UN, including of the Security Council, are vital for a just global order. Sasongko also pledged firm backing for India’s BRICS chairmanship.

As two of the largest economies of the Indo-Pacific, Indonesia sees India as a “broader and more substantive” partner “who respects sovereignty, international law, and an inclusive regional order,” he said.

Jakarta aims to see a deeper ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with “concrete initiatives and greater synergy between the ASEAN Outlook and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.” 

He said boosting maritime and air connectivity between the nations will “translate directly into investment, jobs, tourism, and shared regional prosperity.” 

Critical minerals and rare earths are, the diplomat explained, “priority sectors” with strong potential for deeper collaboration essential to support resilient and diversified supply chains for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

Sasongko said cooperation in steel and downstream metal industries could leverage Indonesia’s resource base and India’s manufacturing capabilities to create mutually beneficial partnerships. He also mentioned pharmaceuticals and medical devices, renewable energy and the electric vehicle battery ecosystem, digital technologies, and food processing as potential areas of cooperation.

Bilateral trade between the countries was pegged at $28.16 billion in FY25. India mainly imports mineral fuels, especially coal, palm oil, iron, and steel from Indonesia. Jakarta’s cumulative foreign direct investment in India in the April 2000-March 2025 period was $659.30 million.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has thanked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for Moscow’s cooperation in the construction of the El-Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). 

Speaking after inaugurating Egypt’s State Strategic Command headquarters in the New Capital on Saturday, he pointed to accomplishments and upcoming progress in joint projects. 

“I seize this opportunity to thank Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation for this constructive and longstanding cooperation, which continues to yield remarkable achievements in our mega-development projects,” the Egyptian leader said. 

Sisi said the installation of the reactor pressure vessel for the facility’s second power unit is expected within days. 

“This facility will have a significant positive impact on sustainable development by delivering clean energy to power investment projects as well as services citizens need,” the president stressed. 

The total cost of the project is estimated at $28.75 billion. Russia is financing about 85% of the construction through a 22-year loan to Egypt carrying an annual interest rate of 3%. 

Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev said in April that the first shipment of nuclear fuel for El-Dabaa is expected to arrive in 2027. He also said preparations are underway to turn the first power unit into an operational nuclear facility as early as next year, allowing testing and commissioning to begin ahead of electricity generation for Egyptian consumers in 2028. 

In September, Egyptian Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat announced that construction of the project is expected to be completed by 2029. 

Ukraine launched another large-scale drone attack against Russia overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. More than 600 UAVs were brought down by air defenses across the country.

The incoming drones were blown up or suppressed via electronic warfare in more than 20 regions, the ministry has said in a statement.

The primary targets of the raid were energy facilities in Bryansk, Belgorod, Leningrad, Yaroslavl and Kaluga regions as well as in Crimea, the statement read.

A total of 147 drones were destroyed in Bryansk Region, while 64 were intercepted in the skies above the Crimean peninsula, it added.

Vladimir Zelensky ordered the attack “on the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara [on June 7 and 8] to demonstrate to his European sponsors, including the UK, his willingness to strike civilian targets in Russia from Ukraine at their expense,” the ministry said.

Kiev’s plans were thwarted thanks to the professionalism of Russia’s anti-aircraft units, mobile fire teams and aviation, the statement read, assuring that the infrastructural damage done by the few drones that were able to make it through will be repaired swiftly.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanian wrote on Telegram that 11 UAVs had been intercepted on approach to the Russian capital.

The raid caused a blackout in Crimea, with the local electric grid operator, Krymenergo, saying that “due to technological disruptions caused by external influences on high-voltage networks, a massive outage occurred in all cities and districts of the republic of Crimea.” 

The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, confirmed that there was a power outage in the largest city on the peninsula as a result of drone strikes on energy infrastructure. By morning, “power had returned to most residential buildings,” he said.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the government of Vladimir Zelensky that “the more strikes the opponent attempts to deliver against our civilian sites… the larger the safety zone we will have to create in the adjacent territory.” 

Moscow previously said that it would respond to terrorist attacks by Kiev with “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukraine’s military infrastructure, including drone production facilities, command posts, and “decision-making centers.” 

According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russian forces carried out another large-scale missile and drone strike against military-related targets in Ukraine in the early hours of Monday.

The Russian Defense Ministry has detailed the targets of its latest retaliatory long-range strikes inside Ukraine, saying that military-industrial facilities and energy infrastructure were hit.

The drone and missile barrage was carried out “in response to terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime” against Russia, the ministry said. According to the Russian military, the strikes targeted high-value sites in Kiev and Kiev Region, as well as airfields in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Cherkassy, Chernigov, and Kiev Region.

The ministry said the targets in the Ukrainian capital included Abris PT, a major military drone manufacturer, Burevestnik, a producer of radio equipment used in UAVs, Ukr Armo Tekh, an armored vehicle plant that also makes missile warheads, Kuznia na Rybalskom (“the Rybalsky Peninsula Forge”), a shipyard producing naval drones, and Kvant (“Quantum”), a manufacturer of guidance components for Ukraine’s Neptune missiles.

Ukrainian media earlier published several videos showing powerful blasts followed by secondary explosions, typical of military-grade munitions. The footage was said to show the aftermath of a Russian strike on the Vizar plant in Kiev Region.

The Ukrainian military reported direct hits by Russian projectiles at 34 locations, including strikes by 29 ballistic missiles, none of which it said were intercepted by air defenses.

The implicit admission of degrading Ukrainian anti-missile capabilities comes ahead of a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, where members of the US-led military bloc are expected to discuss long-term aid for Kiev, which some members reportedly oppose.

Kiev has argued that expanding long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure could shift the balance of the conflict in its favor, provided it receives billions of dollars in additional Western funding.

Malian forces backed by Russia’s Africa Corps have repelled a coordinated terrorist assault on several locations across the West African nation, killing at least 26 militants, the army has said.

In an initial statement on Saturday, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) said armed groups had targeted military positions in Aguel-Hoc, Anefis, Gao, Sevare, and Kenioroba. It later said all the attacks had been “vigorously repelled” and that the situation was “totally under control.”

The statement came after Azawad Liberation Front spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane wrote on Facebook that the separatist group had launched an offensive to take control of the town of Anefis in northern Mali.

According to the provisional toll, “20 terrorists on motorcycles and in equipped vehicles were neutralized” in Sevare. In Gao, one soldier was killed and four others wounded, while six terrorists were neutralized and one vehicle destroyed, the army said.

“The human and material toll of these two coordinated operations is particularly heavy in the ranks of the enemy,” the army stated.

African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf condemned the July 4 attacks, describing them as “a stark reminder that terrorism and violent extremism continue to pose a serious threat to Mali, the Sahel, and the African continent as a whole.”

He extended condolences to the families of those killed and reaffirmed the AU’s support for efforts to combat terrorism and restore stability across the Sahel.

In April, coordinated strikes hit multiple locations in Mali, including military sites and infrastructure in Bamako and Kati. Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an attack on his residence, prompting the country’s transitional leader Assimi Goita to assume direct control of the republic’s defense.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that he may need a restraining order against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, reviving a public feud between the two leaders.

The Italian prime minister last month dismissed Trump’s claim that she had desperately been seeking a photo opportunity with him during a G7 summit in France. Meloni argued that appearing too friendly with the US president could damage a politician’s popularity, contrary to what he believes.

On Sunday, Trump shared an image on Truth Social showing Meloni looking up at him with an admiring expression. The caption read: “Restraining order needed.” The two leaders are due to meet this week in Ankara at a NATO leaders’ summit. The joke, however, does not appear to have originated with Trump.

I MIGHT NEED A RESTRAINING ORDER!!!😎🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Lm8wfb3wpv

— il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) June 21, 2026

Relations between Trump and Meloni deteriorated after Italy declined to directly back the US-Israeli war with Iran. Meloni also criticized Trump’s remarks about Pope Leo XIV, after the US president described the American-born pontiff as “weak on crime” and “ungrateful.”

Tajani and other Italian ministers attended a celebration of the 250th anniversary of US independence hosted by the US Embassy in Rome. Speaking at the event, Tajani said that “the friendship between Italy and the United States is stronger than any controversy.”

US Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta also struck a conciliatory tone in a recent interview with local media, saying Meloni “has done an excellent job” as prime minister and has helped Italy “become a global leader.”

Trump’s latest post has drawn criticism in Italy. Carlo Calenda, a former economic development minister who now leads the liberal Azione party, called the US president “a despicable two-bit bully” and voiced support for Meloni.

The US is “very much in a space race” against China as the two nations look to land humans on the Moon and establish permanent bases there in the coming years, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has said.

The US remains the only country to have sent manned missions to the Moon, with American astronauts visiting the Earth’s satellite six times as part of the Apollo program between 1969 and 1972.

During an interview with ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS on Sunday, Isaacman stressed that the Chinese “will land their taikonauts on the Moon – there’s no question.” Beijing’s lunar program is “moving at incredible speeds,” he added.

“The question is – will the US return before them and will we do so in a different way this time? Will we build the base, establish that enduring presence? I think the answer is yes,” the NASA chief said.

According to Isaacman, the American and Chinese timelines for putting humans on the Moon are very close. “They are thinking in 2029, we’re saying end of 2028 is when we’re targeting the landing. That’s months, not years,” he explained.

NASA will also begin building a lunar base in 2027, so when astronauts reach the surface “there’s going to be a buggy there, a lunar terrain vehicle, there’s going to be a start of infrastructure,” Isaacman said.

“But I would say, early 2030s, the Moon is going to be like the International Space Station. You’re going to have crews that are there on pretty extended periods of time, as we learn in that environment and prepare for Mars,” he added.

Beijing has repeatedly said it has no intention of engaging in a space race with Washington, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun reiterating earlier this year that “space is not an arena for major country contest.”

“China will continue to work with various countries for open space cooperation and advance the common endeavor of humanity in exploring outer space,” Guo said.

China proposed working together with the US but NASA remains legally banned from any collaboration with China’s space agency under the 2011 Wolf Amendment.

The Ukrainian capital and its suburbs were hit by a combined missile and drone strike early Monday morning, in what the Russian Defense Ministry called a response to terrorist attacks by Vladimir Zelensky’s government.

The first wave of blasts in Kiev was heard at around 1:30 AM local time, followed by more explosions in multiple waves until 5 AM. Videos shared on social media showed numerous powerful blasts around the Ukrainian capital, some followed by secondary detonations, suggesting that a weapons depot, production facility, or air-defense system had been hit.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it used long-range precision weapons and attack drones to hit Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises, fuel and energy facilities in Kiev and Kiev Region, and military airfield infrastructure across several regions in retaliation for “terrorist attacks” on civilian infrastructure inside Russia.

Officials in Kiev reported damage at multiple locations, claiming that most of them were “civilian infrastructure,” and circulated photos and videos of several damaged buildings, including one partially collapsed residential building. The head of the local military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said at least nine people were killed and dozens injured.

The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify, as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.

Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations in retaliation for deadly “terrorist attacks.” Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Friday that the recent campaign against Ukraine’s defense industry has already significantly degraded Kiev’s ability to produce long-range weapons.

Moscow announced the liberation of the city on Friday following weeks of intensive combat in the area, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it the “key” to liberating the rest of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

Putin also warned Kiev and its “instigators” that any further “terrorist” PR stunts would only lead to the loss of more territory, forcing the Russian military to push Ukrainian forces farther from Russia’s borders in Sumy, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk regions to establish a wider “security zone” and protect civilians.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called for regional governments to be cut off from the federal intelligence-sharing network if the country’s most popular party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), wins upcoming state elections.

The minister branded the right-wing party, which has enjoyed the largest share of public support for months, “anti-democratic” in an interview with Bild published on Sunday, and said Berlin should be prepared to “consistently counter it.”

Pistorius claimed that the AfD could not be trusted with state secrets because of its alleged “undeniable” ties to Moscow.

“We are intensively examining the question of to whom we can grant access to classified information,” said Pistorius, who has been a vocal proponent of Germany’s rapid militarization and potential mandatory conscription to prepare for a direct conflict with Russia as early as 2028.

Is the AfD ‘extremist’?

Pistorius claimed that the AfD is “opposed to the very constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany” and willing to “destroy our democracy from within.” All other major political parties in Germany have been avoiding virtually any form of cooperation with what they call the “far right” as part of an informal ban policy known as the “firewall.”

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, sought to label it a “confirmed right-wing extremist organization” in 2025. The AfD challenged the designation in the Administrative Court of Cologne, which issued a temporary injunction in the case last year pending a final ruling.

Back in 2025, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel described her party as a “libertarian conservative” force that fights bureaucracy and seeks to “free the people from the state.” She also criticized the then-German government for fostering “immigration into the social system” and accused the EU of Hitler-like censorship in a lengthy interview with Elon Musk on X ahead of snap elections.

Is the AfD tied to Russia?

Pistorius has insisted that no proof is needed of the AfD’s supposed ties to Moscow and that “you only have to listen to the public statements of many, many AfD representatives.” He also claimed that there is a “suspicion” that the party receives “money coming from Russia.”

Weidel told Reuters last week that Berlin urgently needed to lift the ban on Russian oil and gas imports to prop up its struggling economy, arguing that “the loss of this energy has set us back years.”

“Cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of ‘Made in Germany’. We need it back,” she said. The party’s co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, has also advocated the restoration of dialogue with Russia and previously urged Merz to “call Moscow.”

There is no hard proof of Moscow providing funding or any other form of assistance to the right-wing party, although German media claimed back in 2018 that some party members had traveled to Moscow on a “Russian-sponsored charter.” Only one of the three politicians in question is still an AfD member.

In 2024, AfD MEP Petr Bystron was accused of receiving money from a media network allegedly linked to Russia in exchange for “spreading Kremlin narratives.” He denied the accusations and called the still-pending probe politically motivated.

Why attack the AfD now?

The AfD is projected to perform well in the upcoming regional elections in two eastern German states, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while in Berlin it is also locked in a four-way statistical tie for first place in an exceptionally fragmented political landscape.

In Saxony-Anhalt, the party is polling at 41%, nearly 20 percentage points ahead of its closest competitors from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), according to another INSA survey published last week. If the party is able to keep this margin of victory, it could potentially even secure a majority in the regional parliament and form a government without entering a coalition.

The AfD had already gained record support in two regional elections outside its traditional political heartland in March 2026, securing nearly 20% of the vote in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and nearly 19% in Baden-Wurttemberg, virtually doubling its results compared to the previous elections in both cases.

How unpopular is the current German government?

The AfD has been steadily gaining ground in recent months amid the plummeting ratings of Merz’s government. An INSA survey published in late June suggested that it enjoys the greatest support among all German parties, at 29%, seven percentage points ahead of the CDU.

The survey results make Merz the least popular chancellor in almost 30 years. Respondents were mostly concerned about the country losing its attractiveness for business (78%), the negative effects of climate change (66%), and the migrant influx under the current government (51%), the poll suggested.

The US-based opinion research institute Morning Consult also ranked Merz the world’s most unpopular leader in April.

Thieves have stolen around €4 million worth of jewelry from the Lalique Museum in northeastern France, despite the site reportedly getting “special attention” following last year’s brazen Louvre heist.

The break-in took place at around 5:30 AM on Sunday at the museum in Wingen-sur-Moder, a village in the Bas-Rhin department near the German border. Several masked individuals forced open a door and smashed six display cases before fleeing with around 20 pieces of jewelry.

The damage is still being assessed, but one source close to the investigation said the loss could be “close to 4 million” euros, AFP reported. The stolen items were made of crystal and contained no precious stones, meaning they cannot be melted down.

The mayor of Wingen-sur-Moder suggested the thieves may have been “well informed,” as they immediately targeted the jewelry. The mayor told regional newspaper DNA that “all the alarms went off as they should,” but claimed the security company failed to immediately alert the gendarmes. According to Le Parisien, a cleaner who arrived at the site was the first to call law enforcement.

The incidents triggered a national scandal over museum security. Le Parisien reported that the Lalique Museum was considered a “sensitive site” and had been receiving “special attention” since the Louvre robbery, but a source close to the investigation said the protection measures were “not sufficient.”

The Lalique Museum, opened in 2011, is dedicated to jeweler and glassmaker Rene Lalique and his successors. The site displays more than 650 works, ranging from Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewelry to modern crystal pieces. The museum said it would remain closed for several days following the burglary, citing the need to prepare for a “calm and safe” reopening.

FIFA has suspended a one-match ban imposed on US striker Folarin Balogun, clearing him to play in the World Cup Round of 16 against Belgium after US President Donald Trump reportedly asked the governing body’s chief to review the case.

Balogun was sent off in the 64th minute of the US team’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. Under World Cup rules, the red card carried an automatic one-match suspension, which would have ruled the Nigerian-American forward out of Monday’s knockout clash at Seattle Stadium.

However, FIFA announced on Sunday that the implementation of the automatic suspension had been suspended for a probationary period of one year under Article 27 of its disciplinary code. The decision means Balogun, who has scored three goals in the tournament, will be available as the US seeks its first World Cup quarter-final appearance since 2002.

The New York Times reported that Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Wednesday and asked him to review Balogun’s suspension, citing people familiar with the conversation. The White House has not publicly confirmed the call, but referred reporters to Trump’s celebratory post on Truth Social.

“Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump wrote on Sunday.

“We’re not defending the national team or federation, we are defending football,” Garcia said.

The reversal is highly unusual, though not without recent precedent. FIFA made a somewhat similar move before the tournament when it cleared Cristiano Ronaldo to play for Portugal, despite a red-card ban carried over from a qualifier against Ireland. Ronaldo was handed a three-match ban, but two matches were suspended, allowing him to feature at the World Cup.

FIFA’s decision comes amid scrutiny of Infantino’s close ties with Trump. The governing body previously created and awarded the US president its Peace Prize following his public but unsuccessful campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The US is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 and is being staged across 16 cities, including 11 in the US. The final is scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The US and Belgium last met at a World Cup in the Round of 16 in 2014, when Belgium won 2-1 after extra time despite a record 16-save performance by US goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Several key players from the HK Kremenchuk hockey club, including Ukrainian national team goalkeeper Eduard Zakharchenko and club forward Yegor Bezugly, have reportedly been press-ganged into the army, according to a former teammate.

Kiev’s recruitment drive has grown more forceful as it has had to rely on mandatory mobilization to replenish troops amid battlefield losses, mass desertions, draft dodging, and setbacks on the front lines, including the recent loss of the fortified stronghold of Konstantinovka in the northwest of Donbass.

The new incident was first reported by former Ukrainian national team netminder Artur Ogandzhanyan. A conscription crew came to HK Kremenchuk’s home rink, Iceberg, and took the men away, he said on his Telegram channel on Friday. In total, four men from the hockey club were conscripted, Ogandzhanyan said in an update on Sunday.

This is not the first time Kiev’s draft officers have forcibly conscripted top Ukrainian athletes.

Last November, former Dynamo Kiev midfielder Denis Garmash was reportedly forcibly mobilized in Kiev. In October, former Dynamo player Artur Rudko was detained while trying to leave the country via Odessa Region and conscripted.

Ukrainian press gangs have increasingly used violent methods to kidnap men, often taking them off the street and from their homes, in what has been nationally dubbed “busification.”

Moscow has accused Kiev and its Western backers of being willing to wage war against Russia “to the last Ukrainian,” while Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev is catching men “like dogs on the street.”

Following a victory in the Supreme Court that allows states to ban trans athletes from competing against biological girls and women, conservative advocacy groups have warned Democratic states: “you’re next!”

The right-wing campaign to stop transgender girls and women from competing against biological females received a massive boost following the recent ruling that said states are free to rule on the issue as they see fit.

In a decision led by the Supreme Court’s six conservatives, the justices ruled that states can separate teams based on “biological sex” without breaching the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and Title IX, a landmark 1972 anti-discrimination law.

“Separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable: Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition,” Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote for the conservative majority.

The ruling marks the latest setback to the LGBTQ+ community, which has struggled against repeated losses at the Supreme Court in recent years. However, the Liberals do not view the court’s ruling as a total loss as it did not mandate the decision to prohibit transgender women from competition against biological women. The final decision will be up to each individual state to decide.

The court’s ruling means that 27 Republican-led states will be legally permitted to ban transgender females from competition in female athletics, while the remaining Democrat-run states plus Washington DC and 395 other municipalities will come under extreme pressure to end the controversial practice.

“The Supreme Court has allowed states to be as cruel as they want to be to transgender people,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, told reporters. “They’ve also allowed states like Minnesota to be as kind and welcoming as they can.” He said “nothing will change” regarding the state’s treatment of transgender athletes.

Thus far, the sound and fury behind the transgender battle is far greater than the total numbers would have us believe. In reality, there are very few transgender athletes competing in state sports, the Washington Post revealed. In Mississippi, for example, a 2023 report discovered no trans students were participating in sports, while the state of Washington reported that fewer than 10 of approximately 250,000 student-athletes in the state identified as transgender. In conservative Florida, state records show that just two trans girls have played girls sports over the last decade. Despite the low number of transgender athletes, the political right wants to put an end to the madness before the day comes when biological females become an endangered species on the awards podium.

In fact, much of the noise surrounding the battle over transgender rights is coming from the parents of girls and young women who do not wish to see their children get hurt from competing against biological males. There is also the question of fair competition where trophies, fame, and lucrative school scholarships are on the line. Why should a biological female train her entire life in a particular sport only to be beaten – or severely injured – by a transgender female with unfair physical advantages?

A Pew Research Center survey last year revealed that two-thirds of American adults supported laws that require trans athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth. That number is an increase of eight percentage points from 2022.

“Blue states with boys on girls’ podiums… you’re next,” Kristen Waggoner, president of the Alliance Defending Freedom, posted on X moments after the court’s ruling was announced.

Currently, Republicans said they were hopeful over the court’s interpretation of Title IX, the law banning discrimination on the basis of sex in schools funded by the US government. Six of the nine justices affirmed that “sex” refers to biological sex, not gender identity, as many on the left believe it to be. The court also ruled that it sees intrinsic biological differences between boys and girls that could make a crucial difference in sports.

“The legislatures and the schools are better equipped – and under the Constitution, are the more appropriate entities – to assess the competing medical and scientific considerations and draw appropriate lines,” he wrote.

Is there any way to appease both the liberals and conservatives in what has turned into a lightning rod in the political arena? One highly controversial solution is to create an entirely separate sporting organization reserved specifically for transgender athletes.

Presently, the response to creating separate tournaments or leagues for transgender athletes is heavily polarized. Proponents of this “separate but equal” approach view it as a pragmatic compromise that protects cisgender fair competition while allowing trans athletes to participate. Conversely, many LGBTQ+ advocates and human rights organizations, such as the Mama Bears Facebook Community, strongly oppose it. They argue that separate leagues marginalize transgender athletes, reinforce stigma, and often lack the necessary participation numbers to be viable.

Now that the Supreme Court has spoken, Conservatives and Liberals will be hard-pressed to win over public opinion in one of the most compelling, contentious, and consequential political debates of the day. The very survival of female sport hangs in the balance.

A trove of highly sensitive unredacted military documents containing staff information and security procedures at the British Army’s largest garrison has been found at a garbage disposal site in northern England, The Sun reported on Saturday.

It comes as the long-underfunded UK military is going through a rough patch, with all five of its Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarines currently stuck in port due to a maintenance backlog. The tight budget became the point of contention for former British Defense Secretary John Healey, who resigned last month after a row over funding with outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

According to the outlet, the cache of military documents was discovered in a recycling bin in Catterick Bridge by a member of the public and handed over to the tabloid.

The papers could provide dangerous information to hostile actors, the Sun reported, citing Colonel Philip Ingram, a former senior intelligence and security officer in the British Army.

“There is a clear security risk. It’s a breach of procedures which shows a lack of care,” he reportedly said, stressing that such sensitive documents should have been shredded or burned before disposal.

Last year, documents containing information about Catterick Garrison’s soldiers, shift patterns, and weapon issue details were found scattered on a Newcastle street, spilling from a torn trash bag.

A similar scandal took place in Poland last October, when news outlet Onet reported that classified military documents were found at a landfill. The Polish military denied the report, accusing the outlet of holding unauthorized copies of sensitive papers.

The Royal Navy has been reduced to the worst state in British history, retired chief of the Naval Staff, Lord Alan West, has told the Sun. London now operates the smallest fleet ever, according to the outlet.

A total of nine ships have been scrapped over the past two years under Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the UK is now operating a fleet that includes five operational frigates and no amphibious assault ships, the Sun reported on Friday. The government dropped plans for new Type 83 destroyers and Type 32 frigates, calling them “unaffordable,” it added.

According to West, Starmer’s naval policy has been catastrophic. “The number of ships we have is pathetic, to do the things we need to do,” the former first sea lord and Labour security minister said.

“The last time the Navy took this sort of hammering was in Samuel Pepys time [in 1667] and the Dutch sailed up to Chatham, burnt the fleet and stole the flagship,” he said, referring to the Second Anglo-Dutch War in the 17th century, where the British suffered heavy losses in a raid on Medway and were forced to sign a peace treaty favorable to Amsterdam.

Last month, The Telegraph and Daily Mail also reported that the UK’s entire available fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines is stuck in port awaiting maintenance.

The report comes as London continues to raise defense spending under the slogans of “transforming” the military in a “more dangerous and volatile” word, all while citing the alleged “Russian threat.”

Earlier this week, the British government announced an additional £15 billion ($20 billion) for the armed forces and vowed to bring total military funding to nearly £300 billion over the next four years in what Starmer himself called “record investment.”

The list of spending targets includes the Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS submarine projects, as well as “multi-billion-pound upgrades at Faslane, Portsmouth and Devonport” naval bases but provides no timeline for the projects’ completion.

The spending increase comes in the face of a growing budget deficit and higher inflation. Reuters reported in May that British government borrowing had jumped by 30% year-on-year to £23.3 billion, with debt servicing costs 54% higher than the 2025 level.