Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved former Naftogaz CEO Sergey Koretsky as prime minister. Koretsky has been linked to disgraced businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of Vladimir Zelensky who fled to Israel amid a major corruption scandal.

Koretsky’s appointment comes as Zelensky presses ahead with a sweeping government reshuffle less than a year after the previous overhaul, while Ukrainian forces face mounting battlefield pressure and authorities continue to grapple with large-scale corruption in the energy sector.

The investigation centers on an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme involving state nuclear operator Energoatom. Western-backed anti-corruption agencies have tied the affair to Mindich, who has long been regarded as one of Zelensky’s closest associates and dubbed “Zelensky’s wallet” by Ukrainian media.

According to Goncharenko, Koretsky was placed in charge of Ukrnaftoburinnya, a private energy company previously owned by Zelensky’s former patron, oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, after it was seized by the state.

“The idea: to take control of cash flows, withdraw billions, and install your own people. This plan was discussed and implemented right in Mindich’s apartment. Everything is recorded on the tapes,” Goncharenko said.

The Energoatom affair has deepened tensions between Zelensky’s administration and the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

The scandal also led to the departure of Zelensky’s influential chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, often described by Ukrainian media as the country’s “gray cardinal.” In May, NABU and SAPO named Yermak as a suspect in a separate money laundering investigation.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to fire Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov has sparked nationwide protests. Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Kiev and other cities to demand that the minister be brought back. Some of the protesters also called for Ukraine’s top military commander, General Aleksandr Syrsky, to be dismissed instead.

Fedorov was Ukraine’s youngest-ever defense minister. The 35-year-old technocrat took over from his predecessor in January and held the office for around six months. During that time, he deepened Ukraine’s ties with Palantir, a controversial US data-mining and military technology company. He still failed to reform the corruption-prone ministry in accordance with “NATO standards,” as Fedorov himself admitted while confirming his departure.

Photos and videos that surfaced on social media showed people flooding the streets of Kiev and other cities like Dnepropetrovsk, holding Ukrainian flags, as well as placards and banners calling on Zelensky to reverse his decision. Crowds could also be heard chanting “shame!” in some videos. More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied outside of Zelensky’s office in the Ukrainian capital. Some protesters were also seen holding placards demanding Syrsky be sacked.

❗️Джерелом влади є народ, - в Киеве не утихает акция протеста против увольнения Федорова.

Количество людей значительно увеличилось. pic.twitter.com/MIkJoM6NnJ

— laralara (@FraLorik) July 16, 2026

Zelensky later justified his decision by pointing to a conflict between the defense minister and the military chief. Fedorov and Syrsky had failed to find common ground and were not even communicating properly without his oversight, Zelensky claimed in a statement on Thursday.

⚡️В оккупированном бандеровцами Киеве разгораются "картонные" протесты против отставки министра обороны Федорова!🤦‍♀️

Кастрюльки не хотят мира,и не требуют этого от диктатора Зеленского!
По-моему с ними уже давно все ясно,плохо,что власти России этого не видят,спасать там некого! pic.twitter.com/w6zk7ga2Ty

— Наташа Иванова (@NatasaIvanova9) July 16, 2026

Fedorov himself accused Syrsky of “splitting the country” and called for his dismissal. Syrsky did not mention the conflict in his own statement on Telegram on Thursday and “thanked” Fedorov for his work instead and expressed his hope that he would “remain” in the government team.

Протесты из-за отставки Михаила Федорова с поста министра обороны Украины распространились еще на девять городов страны, передает УНИАН:https://t.co/vWoTqNe9rH

Видео: Paraic O'Brien/X pic.twitter.com/lvAFKTQw19

— ТАСС (@tass_agency) July 16, 2026

The Ukrainian outlet Strana claimed that Zelensky had become increasingly dissatisfied with Fedorov’s “independent political game” and his ties to circles close to the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), agencies that have investigated a string of high-profile corruption cases involving senior Ukrainian officials.

Artificial intelligence is no longer simply a technological race. It is becoming a question of how the world chooses to govern one of the most transformative innovations of the modern era, who benefits from it, and whether its advantages remain concentrated in the hands of a few companies or are shared more broadly.

This week in Shanghai, Russia and China signed an agreement to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, and it marks an important step in answering those questions. Russia and China were among the principal founding participants, joining nearly 30 countries in creating a new intergovernmental body dedicated to international AI cooperation and governance. The organization is explicitly built around principles of international collaboration, human-centered development, equitable access, and ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.

For Russia and China, the initiative reflects a shared understanding that the future of AI should not be dictated by technological monopolies or geopolitical exclusivity. Instead, both countries argue that AI should remain accessible, practical and focused on improving people’s daily lives.

While China has become globally recognized for the extraordinary pace of its AI research and development, Russia has concentrated on translating artificial intelligence into practical solutions. The two approaches complement each other perfectly. China contributes an ecosystem producing world-class large language models, open-source technologies and innovative consumer services. Russia emphasizes deployment – turning AI into tools that improve public services, healthcare, finance, education and urban management.

Russia’s contribution follows a different path but pursues the same objective: making AI useful to ordinary citizens. Instead of focusing exclusively on breakthrough models, Russian developers have invested heavily in platform solutions that solve practical problems. Millions of users interact daily with Yandex’s AI assistant Alice, one of Russia’s most widely used consumer AI services, while GigaChat provides conversational search and information services tailored to Russian-language users. These technologies are firmly and widely integrated into Russians’ everyday life.

Perhaps nowhere is this more visible than in healthcare. Moscow’s healthcare system already employs more than 60 AI-powered diagnostic services capable of assisting physicians across dozens of clinical specialties by identifying signs of disease in medical imaging. Such systems do not replace doctors; they augment their capabilities, helping medical professionals work faster, more accurately and more efficiently. Similar AI applications are increasingly appearing across financial services, education, transport and digital government, demonstrating that artificial intelligence delivers its greatest value when embedded into services people use every day.

This emphasis on practical deployment also explains why Russian AI companies have successfully entered international markets. Many countries are less interested in abstract demonstrations of technological capability than in ready-to-use solutions that improve healthcare systems, digital public services or financial infrastructure. Russian developers increasingly offer exactly these kinds of products, often adapting their technologies to local languages, regulations and national priorities rather than insisting upon a one-size-fits-all model.

The new organization represents something larger than another diplomatic forum. It offers an opportunity to establish common ethical standards, encourage transparency, facilitate knowledge exchange and reduce the technological divide separating developed and developing countries. Such cooperation does not slow innovation. On the contrary, predictable rules and shared principles can accelerate responsible development by creating trust among governments, businesses and citizens alike.

The momentum is already extending beyond Shanghai. Russia is preparing to host several major international AI events over the coming months and years, including the ‘Journey into the World of Artificial Intelligence’ conference later this year, the Future Technologies Forum, and a high-level international AI meeting in 2027. These gatherings will provide additional opportunities for Chinese, Russian and international researchers, policymakers and businesses to exchange experience and deepen cooperation.

Artificial intelligence will shape economies, societies and international relations for decades to come. The question is no longer whether AI will transform the world, but whether that transformation will be inclusive or exclusive. Russia and China are betting that openness, international partnership and practical applications serving ordinary people offer the strongest foundation for the next chapter of AI development. If the new organization succeeds in turning those principles into reality, it could become one of the defining institutions of the AI era.

A “huge blast” from an Israeli strike has hit southern Lebanon just as an RT crew was preparing to go on air in Nabatieh province, RT correspondent Steve Sweeney has reported.

The explosion on Thursday was heard “very loudly across the region,” with a large cloud of smoke billowing from the nearby area. “We could hear it very loudly from where we are now,” Sweeney said, describing this part of southern Lebanon as having been “heavily targeted by Israel over the past few weeks” and subjected to daily bombardments and demolitions.

Villages along the ridgeline around Nabatieh have faced repeated air and drone strikes, with roads, vehicles, and other infrastructure among the targets, as local officials appeal for an end of the “Israeli aggression.”  

The latest strike came as Lebanon and Israel concluded a two‑day round of US‑brokered talks in Rome, where officials agreed on the structure and guidelines for withdrawing Israeli forces from two ‘pilot zones’ in southern Lebanon. The designated areas are intended to test a phased framework involving an Israeli pullout, the disarmament of Hezbollah units there, and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces.  

Lebanese MP Hassan Fadlallah has condemned the emerging arrangement as an “ill‑fated” agreement that “terminates Lebanon’s existence as an independent state” and “legitimizes the occupation and its criminal practices.” He warned that the proposed pilot areas would prevent the return of displaced people and reconstruction, and make Lebanese authorities “the enemy’s partner in every drop of blood it sheds and every home it destroys.”  

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, more than 4,300 people have been killed and over 12,000 wounded since the conflict escalated on March 2. The Israeli campaign against Hezbollah began days after the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran. While international attention is focused on whether the Rome talks can deliver a breakthrough, for many in southern Lebanon, peace “seems a very, very distant hope,” Sweeney said.

Watch the full report below.

Tensions are escalating again in the Persian Gulf. US President Donald Trump notified Congress of renewed airstrikes on Iran and vowed to destroy all of the Islamic Republic’s military infrastructure in the Strait of Hormuz. In turn, the Iranian army has attacked American targets in the region. According to Iranian media, US communications systems, Patriot missile defense systems, an ammunition depot in Kuwait, and other targets have been hit.

The Yemeni Houthis have also joined the fighting. In response to Saudi Arabia’s strikes on Sanaa Airport, they attacked Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones and warned all airlines against flying in Saudi airspace.

How are the parties approaching the latest round of conflict, and how will the events unfold? We explore below. 

A perfect stalemate 

In our previous article on Iran, we suggested that the most likely scenario after the ceasefire would be occasional exchanges of fire, with Iran effectively controlling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. This is precisely what happened. Omani territorial waters remain mined and vessels can only move through Iran’s territorial waters. The June memorandum has effectively forced the US to accept this situation. 

However, the contradictions have only deepened since then. For one thing, neither the US nor Iran is interested in resuming the hostilities. But since neither inflicted a strategic defeat on the other in the previous round, they have been unable to agree on anything substantive. Any agreement is a compromise, a concession – but why should anyone give in if there are no losers?

At the same time, no one is ready to fight; neither the US nor Iran has the means to inflict a strategic defeat on the other side. And until there is an understanding of how to achieve this, until one side is convinced that it can achieve its goal by force, this precarious and absurd balance will persist.

The US tried to outsource the war to the Arabs, suggesting: ‘You need it, you deal with Iran’. But there were no fools among the Arabs. Even the UAE, the only Arab nation to publicly side with the US, was not willing to fight. This is understandable: If the UAE really does get involved in a full-scale war with Iran, they risk receiving the brunt of it. The entire infrastructure of the Gulf monarchies, all those gilded skyscrapers on the coast, all the desalination plants that supply water, and all the port facilities will be easily targeted, since they are lined up along a narrow strip of coastline directly opposite the Iranian coast.

In June, America needed a break. The World Cup, Trump’s birthday, and the 250th anniversary of America’s independence were not events that the administration wanted to be overshadowed by an increasingly unpopular war at home, with exploding missiles and drones dominating the headlines.

The US needed some kind of document that the public would believe – so instead of a full-fledged peace treaty, the 14-point memorandum emerged.

For its part, Iran needed the US to lift the blockade which created problems for it. The Gulf Arab states also sought to lift the blockade – in fact, the American blockade was a bigger problem for them than the blockade imposed by Iran.

Nevertheless, over the past month, some of the accumulated oil in the Gulf has entered the market through the ‘partially open’ strait. While this hasn’t solved the problem of depleted long-term reserves, it has significantly lowered prices and partially relieved Western countries, including the US, of the inflationary pressure that accumulated in recent months.

Schrödinger’s war

Now we’re witnessing another escalation. Will it lead to a new full-scale war? Let’s assume not. Here’s why.

War can be likened to Schrödinger’s cat – the thought experiment in which a hypothetical cat sits in a box with a device capable of killing it with 50% probability. Until the box is opened, the outcome cannot be known, meaning the cat is simultaneously alive and dead to us. In physics, this phenomenon is called quantum uncertainty.

In preparation for war, the parties build up their military, plan their actions, conduct exercises, analyze, and predict how the enemy will behave. However, the pre-war period is always a ‘closed box’. It’s impossible to determine in advance what will happen during a war and whether the pre-war plans will be of any use. Only war will ‘open the box’.

It may seem that after the war in Iran, nothing has really changed and the parties largely returned to their pre-war state since the contradictions between them have not disappeared. But in reality, it has become clear that the US and Israel cannot change the regime in Tehran by military force, and Iran cannot inflict critical damage on the US and Israel. The war has demonstrated to all sides the limits of their capabilities. This is a fundamental factor that will determine the state of affairs in the region for many years to come.

Preparing for the next war will take time. Much has to be reconsidered, new ideas must emerge, and resources must be built up to support these ideas.

When preparing for a new war, the winning side is always more vulnerable, since it is less motivated to correct past mistakes. In this sense, Iran is vulnerable, and its leadership may tend to rest on its laurels, thinking: ‘The last time, we blocked the strait and successfully launched Shahed drones against our neighbors, so next time, we need to do the same, only with more resources. For example, launch 2,000 drones a day instead of 200.’ Iran’s adversaries, however, will be forced to draw deeper conclusions, and this could give them an advantage the next time. Drones are relatively simple targets; it’s much easier to build an effective, scalable, and inexpensive air defense against them than against jets and missiles. But again, this is a matter of future concern, and will take several years at least.

Unthinkable events

During war, things that were previously unthinkable can happen, only to later become the new norm. In the case of the war with Iran, this was first of all the assassination of leaders, and secondly, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The repercussions of these events varied. No one talks much about the assassination of leaders – it is considered a sort of anomaly. But now, everyone must assume that it is possible, and no one is invincible, including the US. Pandora’s box has been opened.

There is another factor, one that acts slowly but inexorably. Future conflicts are determined by global changes. Before World War I, everyone was convinced that this type of war would never happen. The economy was global, the world united, capital and people flowed freely from one country to another, and developed countries simply could not wage war against each other. Sound familiar?

But then came the Industrial Revolution, which created new military capabilities and an immediate desire to test them. This led to World War I and soon afterward, World War II.

The current situation is similar. The AI revolution is underway, offering radically new military capabilities. It is impossible to predict the vector of this development and the extent of its future impact – and this is the main factor of uncertainty. Any speculation on this matter is akin to trying to guess whether Schrödinger’s cat is alive or not.

***

A single individual, even the US president, cannot influence so many objective factors. Even if Trump decides to bomb Iran until he runs out of bombs and missiles, it’s unlikely to lead to regime change in Iran. And this means that the escalations and ceasefires will continue until the world changes sufficiently to alter the outcome of the (alas, inevitable) next war.

The Middle East conflict has helped Iran to realize it has a potent weapon in its arsenal in the contentious Strait of Hormuz, a former Indian diplomat said.

At the same time, the stated objectives of the US in the conflict it unleashed also stand unfulfilled, former diplomat Rajiv Sikri told RT India in an exclusive interview.

“Americans just can’t stand the thought that they’ve lost this war because none of the objectives for which they fought the war appear to have been achieved, whether it was regime change or the nuclear issue,” Sikri told Runjhun Sharma in the latest episode of India, Russia and the World.

The ceasefire was brokered because after the Americans and the Israelis tried to bomb Iran into submission, “they ran out of ammunition.”

The issue with the protracted conflict is that Israel doesn’t want this war to stop and for all stakeholders, “this has become an existential issue.”

“For Iran, it was a question of survival,” he said, adding that Israel considers Iran as a principal rival “preventing its total domination of the region.”

Not succeeding against a “regional power like Iran is very humiliating” for Washington also, he pointed out.

Iran is vital to Moscow as it is in the same neighborhood. “Any instability there would affect Russia. I don’t think that Russia wants Iran to collapse,” he said, adding that Moscow will provide considerable assistance on the security and technological fronts to Iran.

He said that Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev’s presence at the funeral of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei signals that Russia will stand by the country. “It’s a message to Iran and to America, Israel, and the rest of the world,” Sikri said.

He also noted that the Tarique Rahman administration in Bangladesh has not done anything to reverse some of the questionable and anti-India policies of the Muhammad Yunus regime.

“I think India will have to be quite alert and watchful on what is happening in Bangladesh because you have now a revival of the pre-1971 scenario where you had China, US and Pakistan working in concert.”

New Delhi has asked shipping companies and vessel operators to refrain from deploying Indian sailors in vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, where several ships have come under attack earlier this week.

The advisory comes in the wake of attacks on two ships in the Strait of Hormuz that left two Indian crew members dead and eight others injured in the contentious waterway. The Middle East conflict has resulted in the death of nearly a dozen Indian nationals. Several seafarers have been rescued from ships and tankers that were struck.

“Ship owners, ship managers and (hiring and staffing) companies are directed to avoid deploying Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders,” India’s Director General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) said in a notification on Wednesday.

The DGMA asked vessel operators to adhere to “heightened security vigilance in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and adjoining waters” and that it “continues to closely monitor the evolving security situation and remains committed to safeguarding the safety, security and welfare of Indian seafarers.”

Advisory for Indian Maritime Stakeholders

In view of the heightened security situation in the Gulf region, the Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA), through DGMA Circular No. 36 of 2026, has directed Ship Owners, Ship Managers and RPSL Companies to avoid… pic.twitter.com/s8XgKI1ifn

— Directorate General of Shipping, Govt. of India (@dgshipping_IN) July 15, 2026

The Indian sailors stranded in the Middle East shipping lanes when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and US forces blockaded Iran were mostly employed on foreign-flagged ships.

Indians are disproportionately impacted by the attacks on ships in various global conflict areas as the country has some 300,000 nationals working on ships, making it the third-largest supplier of maritime labor globally.

He added that the Indian government “needs to do more to protect these seafarers.”

“We have ships which are being targeted in Ukrainian waters or in Russian waters or transiting through Black Sea. Then we have ships through the Hormuz Strait, even in West Africa.”

The Middle East conflict has flared up again as the ceasefire agreement reached in June has unraveled after the US and Iran traded strikes, and struck ships trying to transit the strait.

First, a bit of recent history. In 2015, after the Maidan coup in Kiev and the beginning of the confrontation between Russia and the West, the EU created the East StratCom Task Force to fight foreign disinformation campaigns supposedly orchestrated by Russia.

This agency is a part of the European External Action Service and its goal is to fight Russian activities and promote EU ones in eastern countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, etc. It’s not double standards, it’s a basic war for influence. So far, nothing surprising.

Following suit, in 2021, the French authorities created VIGINUM, the Vigilance and Protection against Foreign Digital Interference Service, a national agency working as a watchdog for foreign interference in elections – incidentally, months before Macron’s reelection after his first disastrous mandate. You know, just to be sure that ‘dictatorships’ and ‘illiberal democracies’ don’t meddle in the democratic process.

That was already quite ridiculous, but France goes further.

Thinking about how to adapt to the media landscape evolution, they suggest establishing financial support for creators of news content “that meets editorial quality criteria” (that is, combating hate speech, protecting minors, respecting human dignity, and so on – the usual pretexts). Financial support under conditions – in other words, a leash. Indeed, the internet and AI have changed the world of information forever and the entire structure of the industry has to be reshaped – or it will reshape itself dialectically. But for the political authorities, the issue goes far beyond the future of mainstream media: It has a direct impact on… once again (sigh)… ‘democratic functioning’.

The report’s main warning concerns the 2027 election campaigns. Considering that France already has VIGINUM to detect foreign interference, they wonder: “Are we protected from all risk of internal interference? Our answer to this question is clearly no. We are vulnerable, and it is real,” the rapporteurs say.

So now, after the external threat, they are afraid that there could be a threat from within. What threat? Theoretically, Macron cannot be reelected in 2027, but he has already planted close associates in the politico-administrative structures of the French state. Nothing to be scared of. “What would happen if a prominent figure, a school of thought, or a political party with substantial financial resources decided to use them to further a political agenda, employ social media as a weapon?” the senators ask.

To address this threat, they recommend the creation of an “independent observatory on disinformation” before the next presidential election.

To be honest, with all the freedom-destroying laws, censorship organs, and fact-checkers, and knowing people who had to run away from France to avoid jail because of their opinions, I thought this was already the case. But now it’s apparently an official political direction. The senators said a bill should soon be drafted. Welcome to a democracy where you’re supposed to be politically engaged because it is, as they say, a duty, but where a commission will tell you if you can talk or not – or be financially harassed through endless lawsuits, or sent to jail. Who knows?

There’s only one conclusion to draw: For decades, the European elites managed their people so badly that they eventually could only feel threatened. And indeed, threatened beasts do exhibit defensive aggression.

Chinese surgeons have implanted a brain-computer interface in a patient with limited hand mobility, in what is described as the world’s first commercial procedure using an approved non-invasive device of its kind.

The procedure was carried out on Monday at a hospital in Shanghai. The patient suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident ten years ago and had limited hand function despite years of rehabilitation.

During the operation, a coin-sized implant was placed on the surface of the patient’s brain. The device is designed to capture brain signals and send them to a computer, which translates them into commands for a robotic glove.

According to officials, the operation went as planned and the patient is recovering, with vital signs stable. They added that the implant had successfully captured stable, high-quality brain signals.

The implant, known as NEO, was developed by Chinese start-up Neuracle and approved by China’s medical regulator in March, allowing it to move beyond clinical trials and be used commercially in hospitals.

The milestone has put Neuracle ahead of Elon Musk’s Neuralink in the race to commercialize implantable brain-computer interfaces. Although Neuralink has also implanted chips in humans and claims to have 21 people enrolled in trials worldwide, it has yet to receive full commercial approval in the US.

Musk’s chip, on the other hand, uses ultra-thin threads inserted directly into brain tissue with the help of a surgical robot. Neuralink’s first product, Telepathy, is also intended to allow people with paralysis to control computers, phones, and other devices using their thoughts.

Other companies have also been pursuing less invasive routes. Synchron, a US-based startup, has developed an implant inserted through a vein rather than through open-brain surgery, while Meta has been working on AI systems that translate non-invasive brain scans into text.

For now, the primary use of brain-computer interfaces remains medical, particularly for patients with paralysis, spinal cord injuries, and severe neurological conditions. However, Musk has predicted that such chips will eventually replace phones. Industry researchers have also discussed future uses in consumer electronics, robotics, and human augmentation.

More than 200 Ukrainian drones were launched toward Moscow Region overnight, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said.

According to Sobyanin, the UAVs were detected from Wednesday evening to 9:00 AM Thursday, and most of them were intercepted by Russian air defenses at long range.

”Ten enemy UAVs were destroyed on approach to Moscow,” the mayor wrote on Telegram, adding that emergency crews were working at sites where debris fell.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the air defenses intercepted and destroyed 375 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over a number of Russian regions overnight, including Moscow Region.

The attack prompted temporary restrictions at all airports in Moscow and other cities, including Penza, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, and Cherepovets.

The latest raid followed another large-scale Ukrainian drone attack earlier this week. On Tuesday, Sobyanin said around 340 UAVs were headed toward Moscow Region; most were intercepted at long range and more than 50 were destroyed on approach to the capital.

Moscow and the surrounding region have increasingly been targeted by long-range Ukrainian drones in recent weeks, aimed at energy facilities, transportation infrastructure, and civilian sites.

Russia has described the strikes as indiscriminate terrorist attacks intended to divert attention away from Ukraine’s setbacks on the battlefield, and has responded with a renewed campaign of long-range strikes targeting dual-use and military industrial sites.

The bulk of the Russian strikes have been focused on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with a number of military plants, drone assembly and storage facilities, and weaponry stockpiles targeted in recent weeks.

China and President Xi Jinping are now viewed more favorably than the US and Donald Trump across most of the world, a new Pew Research Center survey spanning six continents has found.

Pew says China enjoys a more positive image than the US in 25 of the 36 countries and territories surveyed, including American neighbors Canada and Mexico. The trend is particularly pronounced across the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The US leads in just six nations – Poland, Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan, and Israel – while views are roughly even in five others. The survey, released Wednesday, polled more than 42,000 people from February 8 to May 13, spanning the start of the US-led war on Iran.

Among the 20 countries with comparable data since 2023, 46% now view China favorably against 36% for the US. Three years ago, the figures were reversed, with 58% favoring the US and 32% China.

“Some of the views that we see of the US are at or near historic lows,” said Laura Silver, Pew’s associate director and co-author of the report, noting that this is the first time in nearly two decades of the organization’s global polling that China has been viewed more positively than the US. She said China has benefited from being seen as a more “reliable partner,” attributing the shift to improving perceptions of the country following its post-pandemic recovery. She noted, however, that views of the US fell after Trump launched the war on Iran.

“There was just an actual relationship between the outbreak of the war and the sense that the US is just not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump,” she said.

Major European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, also saw shifts toward China. The change follows deteriorating ties with Washington during Trump’s second term, marked by tariff disputes, pressure on NATO allies over defense spending, criticism of Europe’s refusal to back the US war on Iran, and repeated calls for Denmark to sell Greenland to the US.

Pew also found that views across Latin America now slightly favor China over the US. The shift comes after Trump effectively took over Venezuela, threatened military action against Mexico, Colombia and Cuba, and ordered the Pentagon to target vessels in the Caribbean under the guise of anti-drug operations.

Former acting Zambian President Guy Scott, the first white head of state in sub-Saharan Africa since the end of apartheid, has died aged 82, the government announced.

Scott died on Wednesday after an illness at his farm in Lusaka, the southern African nation’s capital, according to a statement signed by Cabinet Secretary Patrick Kangwa.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has accorded Scott a state funeral “in recognition of distinguished professional and political contribution to the nation,” Kangwa said, adding that burial arrangements will be announced later.

In a separate statement, Hichilema described Scott as a “true Zambian patriot” who devoted many years to public service. He said the former leader guided Zambia through a difficult transition “with a steady hand and a commitment to constitutional order” after the death of President Michael Sata.

Scott’s appointment made him the first white head of state in Africa since South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk, the last leader under apartheid, left office after the country’s first multiracial elections brought Nelson Mandela to power in 1994.

His brief presidency was marked by a power struggle within the ruling Patriotic Front. Scott dismissed Lungu as the party’s secretary-general in November 2014 but reversed the decision a day later after the move triggered protests and clashes in Lusaka.

A Cambridge-educated economist, Scott entered parliament in 1991 and later served as agriculture minister, earning praise for helping manage a severe regional drought and food shortage. He subsequently broke with the Patriotic Front and supported the United Party for National Development, led by current President Hakainde Hichilema.

At least 11 people, including children, have been killed and 19 others injured in a fire at an orphanage in the Algerian capital, the North African nation’s authorities said on Thursday.

The blaze broke out before dawn in a dormitory at a state-run child care facility in Mohammadia, an eastern district of Algiers. Ten of the injured suffered burns of varying severity, two experienced breathing difficulties, and seven were treated for “psychological shock,” the Algerian Civil Protection authority wrote on Facebook.

The organization said five others with special needs were evacuated to safety, while firefighters were still working to extinguish the fire.

Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb visited victims receiving treatment at the Zeralda hospital for severe burns and Mustapha Pacha University Hospital in Algiers.

Speaking on behalf of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Ghrieb offered condolences to the victims’ families and said the state stood in full solidarity with those affected, according to an official statement.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Algeria has previously experienced fatal fires at institutions housing vulnerable people. In September 2019, eight babies were killed when a blaze swept through the maternity ward of a hospital in the eastern city of El Oued. Emergency services rescued 11 other babies, more than 100 women, and 28 hospital workers.

The orphanage blaze comes as Algeria battles a wave of wildfires across several provinces. On Thursday, the Civil Protection service said its crews had responded to 115 forest, scrubland, agricultural, and palm-grove fires over the previous 24 hours. It said 89 had been fully extinguished, 14 were under guard after being suppressed, and 14 remained active, with firefighting aircraft, regional detachments, and mobile units deployed to several affected areas. No casualties were reported in the update.

SpaceX shares dipped below their initial public offering (IPO) price on Wednesday, little more than a month after the company’s record-breaking market debut briefly made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

SpaceX raised a record $75 billion by pricing its IPO at $135 a share in June and outlining ambitions that include orbital data centers, lunar infrastructure, asteroid mining, and ultimately cities on Mars as potential drivers of future growth beyond its core businesses.

According to trading data, the stock fell as low as $132.28 on Wednesday before recovering to close at $135.27, about 40% below its mid-June peak of $225.64.

SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in revenue last year but still posted a $4.9 billion net loss after heavy spending on AI infrastructure and Starship development. Its AI division alone lost $6.4 billion in 2025, partly offset by profits from Starlink, the company’s only profitable operating business. SpaceX reported another $4.3 billion net loss in the first quarter of 2026.

Another concern is growing competition. Barron’s noted that China is making rapid progress in reusable rocket technology, an area where SpaceX has long held a commanding lead. Earlier this month, China recovered the first stage of an orbital rocket for the first time and said it aims to reuse the booster before the end of the year.

The operator of India’s largest nuclear power plant has denied that any nuclear safety or security-related information was exposed in a recently reported data breach at the facility.

The leaked data is related to common service facilities and not the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant itself, according to a statement by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the owner and operator of the plant.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that ransomware group World Leaks had posted a large cache of files related to the plant on the dark web.

The exposed documents included purported blueprints of parts of the plant’s facilities and supplier details, Reuters said, adding nearly 19,000 files totaling 14.3 gigabytes could have been online.

The plant, which is in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, is being built in collaboration between NPCIL and Russia’s state-owned Rosatom. When complete, it will house six pressurized water reactors. Two units with a capacity of 1,000 MW each are already operational.

“The information claimed to be available on the public domain…  does not relate to any nuclear safety – or nuclear security-related systems or information,” NPCIL said, terming facilities of “conventional nature” that are typically found in thermal power plants as well as other process industries.

❗Kundankulam Data Leak: NPCIL Says No Nuclear Safety Or Security Information Exposed

India's Nuclear Power Corporation said the leaked documents were not related to the plant's core systems, adding that the incident involved data linked to an engineering contractor's… pic.twitter.com/6NO4ZjxqwQ

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 16, 2026

The stolen information came from Indian businessman Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group, which was awarded a contract in 2018 to build all the systems in the power plant other than the actual nuclear facility. Reliance Group told Reuters in a statement that there had been a “partial breach” of its data on a server hosted by third-party Indian data center service provider Yotta, and that the government had been informed of the incident.

Yotta claimed it had prevented suspected ransomware execution on May 29.

The data breach could pose a “serious” risk to the safety of the plant, Nickolas Roth, a senior director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, was quoted as saying by Reuters. However, the news agency also said it could not verify the authenticity of the documents on the dark web.

The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that is unindexed by standard search engines, and can be searched only by using a specialized browser.

World Leaks usually posts stolen corporate data on its website after its victims decline to pay the ransom demanded. In June, the hacker group posted files of Tata Group, which contained confidential designs of its clients Apple and Tesla, after the Indian conglomerate ignored the hacker’s demand for $1.5 million in ransom.

Malware tied to a North Korean hacker group was found on the Kudankulam plant’s administrative network in 2019.

Several US lawmakers said they were “disgusted” by testimony from Kathy Ruemmler, a former Goldman Sachs chief legal officer and White House counsel under former President Barack Obama, about her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Ruemmler appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday as part of the congressional investigation into Epstein’s network of influential associates.

Documents released by the Justice Department show Ruemmler exchanged extensive communications with Epstein from 2014 to 2019, long after his 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The correspondence suggests she referred to him as ‘Uncle Jeffrey’ and accepted expensive gifts. Ruemmler maintains that their relationship was professional and stemmed from her work as an attorney.

In her opening statement, Ruemmler said she was unaware of the extent of Epstein’s criminal conduct, claiming he used her and other respected figures to legitimize himself.

Democratic Representative Yassamin Ansari said Ruemmler’s explanation suggested she understood what the exchange referred to while making “light of the abuse that these women went through.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that several Democratic lawmakers emerged from the hearing saying they were “disgusted” by Ruemmler’s testimony. The committee’s top Democrat, Robert Garcia, said it is “difficult to see how she’s being completely truthful.”

Ruemmler’s testimony also renewed scrutiny of Goldman Sachs’ handling of the controversy surrounding her ties to Epstein. She announced in February that she would step down as the bank’s
chief legal officer effective June 30, saying media scrutiny over her relationship with Epstein had become a distraction.

The Financial Times reported last month that Solomon’s backing of Ruemmler became a taboo subject inside the bank, with very few senior executives daring to question his support for her.

Earlier, Kiev introduced the 2,000-hryvnia (about $45) bill as Ukraine’s highest-denomination banknote as inflation continued to rise. The note features Ukrainian poet and dissident Vasily Stus. However, it quickly sparked debate within Ukraine’s design community.  

The bank said on Monday it would revise the typography after designers claimed the lettering resembled a typeface created by a Russian designer. It stressed that although no third-party fonts had been used and all graphic elements were drawn manually, the inscription would be changed to eliminate any possible associations with Russia.  

“A discussion emerged within the professional community over the calligraphy used for the denomination, with its style being linked to an adaptation of a typeface once created by a Russian designer... The denomination’s inscription will be changed,” he wrote on Facebook.  

Kiev has stepped up efforts to purge the Russian language and Russian culture from public life in recent years, while monuments and other symbols linked to Russia have been removed. Meanwhile, the mandatory use of Ukrainian in schools and state institutions has been expanded.   

Last month, a monument to novelist Mikhail Bulgakov was dismantled. Bulgakov, the Kiev-born Russian author of ‘The Master and Margarita’, is widely regarded as one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. The statue, outside the Bulgakov Museum in one of the Ukrainian capital’s best-known historic districts, was removed as part of the campaign to erase monuments and cultural landmarks associated with Russia and the Soviet past.  

Russia carried out precision strikes overnight on Ukrainian military-industrial and port infrastructure, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, the strikes targeted defense industry facilities in Kiev involved in producing and storing drones, as well as infrastructure at the ports of Odessa and Yuzhny used to receive and store military cargo and fuel.

Five fuel storage tanks intended to supply the Ukrainian military were also hit.

Among the targets in Kiev was an industrial site operated by logistics company Rapid PJSC, which the ministry said assembles and stores medium- and long-range fixed-wing UAVs and foreign-made components used in their production.

The ministry also said Russian forces struck a cargo ship transporting military supplies for Ukraine en route to the Port of Chornomorsk, as well as a high-speed Ukrainian special forces boat near Snake Island in the Black Sea.

Russia has intensified long-range strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial and logistical infrastructure in recent weeks, describing it as retaliation for terrorist attacks on Russian civilian and energy infrastructure, which have intensified as Ukraine suffers battlefield setbacks.

The overnight strikes followed another Ukrainian drone raid on Russia. The Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed 375 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over 18 Russian regions, including Moscow Region.

A day earlier, a Ukrainian drone struck a service vehicle at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) near Energodar, killing the chief engineer and driver. Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev described the strike on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as a deliberate terrorist attack by the “Kiev regime,” noting similar attacks killed 13 people and wounded 48 in just over two months.

France’s lower chamber of parliament has given final approval to a controversial bill legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide. The legislation, which has been criticized by the clergy and was rejected three times by the conservative Senate, is now in the hands of the country’s top constitutional body.

The left-leaning National Assembly greenlit the bill on Wednesday 291 votes to 241, capping what its author, former lawmaker Olivier Falorni, called a legislative “marathon with hurdles.” 

Support for the bill in the chamber has steadily eroded with each reading: The Assembly passed the text 305-199 in May 2025, 299-226 in February 2026, and 295-232 on June 30.

The bill grants adults who are French citizens or legal residents and suffer from a serious, incurable, and life-threatening illness in an advanced or terminal stage the right to request lethal medication if their pain is unbearable or resistant to treatment.

On the day the substance is administered, a doctor must verify that the patient still wants to proceed; if any pressure on the patient is detected, the procedure must be suspended and reported to the state prosecutor. Patients would normally self-administer the drug, with a doctor or nurse stepping in – subject to a conscience clause – only if they are physically unable.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has backed the reform for years, wrote on X: “In 2022, I committed to opening this path with the French people. With seriousness, with humility, and with full respect for our democracy, that commitment has been fulfilled.” 

The Association for the Right to Die With Dignity said the legislation would allow people “to choose to end unbearable suffering, freely and with full awareness.” Its president, Jonathan Denis, said the law “creates a new right [but] never forces anyone to exercise it,” while ensuring that every person can “have their wishes respected.”

Hanane Mansouri, an MP from the right-wing UDR group, warned that the legislation “is gradually reversing our scale of values.” The Bishops’ Conference of France said the bill “marks a grave rupture in the history of our country,” adding that “in choosing to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, deputies have written into French law the possibility of causing death.”

The law cannot take effect yet, as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu referred it to the Constitutional Council. The council is now expected to rule on whether the two-day reflection period before administering the lethal substance respects personal freedom and human dignity, whether adults under legal guardianship can give free and informed consent, and how doctors’ right to refuse participation squares with hospitals that opt out of offering assisted dying.

The council has up to one month to rule if the government does not require urgency, and has the right to strike down individual provisions, forcing parliament to rewrite and revote on them, or annul the law. Only after the council’s say can the legislation be enacted by Macron.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of drone strikes on cargo vessels and Ukrainian ships in two ports, saying the targets were being used to support Kiev’s war effort.

In the video, published on Wednesday, Geran-4 Seeker UAVs can be seen striking cargo ships in the port of Chernomorsk in Odessa Region and Ukrainian vessels in the port of Dnepr-Bug near the settlement of Galitsynovo in Nikolaev Region.

The footage appears to show several vessels being detected from the air before one of them is hit, triggering an explosion. The Defense Ministry did not specify the extent of the damage.

The strikes were part of a broader Russian attack campaign against Ukrainian ports, vessels, and military-linked logistics facilities this week. According to the ministry, Russian forces hit cargo ships in Chernomorsk, Odessa, Yuzhny and Dnepr-Bug, including vessels carrying military supplies or other cargo for the Ukrainian armed forces.

Russia’s Defense Minisry also reported strikes on port infrastructure in Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny used to unload and store military cargo, fuel, and lubricants, as well as workshops involved in UAV production and assembly.

In recent weeks, the Russian military has ramped up long-range strikes on Ukrainian military industry and dual-use critical infrastructure sites, repeatedly launching large-scale attacks involving kamikaze drones and cruise and ballistic missiles.

Moscow has said the campaign comes in response to Kiev’s continued terrorist attacks against Russian civilian infrastructure, which have recently intensified amid the latest string of setbacks suffered by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

What Kiev’s spy agencies routinely do abroad is “terrorism,” Vitaly ‘Pastor’ Zhikovich, an acting Colonel of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR), acknowledged in an exclusive audio obtained by RT.

Zhikovich was one of two HUR agents who confessed to killing Anastasia Berezovskaya, the main suspect in last month’s bomb attack on exiled Ukrainian millionaire Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco.

“In international terms, what we’re doing is called terrorism. That’s why I’m telling you like it is. It’s called terrorism,” Zhikovich says about his agency’s work in one of the recordings.

During a search at his house following his arrest, Ukrainian police discovered a torture chamber in the basement. In an audio recording obtained by RT, he openly bragged about his sadistic nature and readiness for mass murder.

“When I’m planning operations, I’m constantly thinking about them. It’s my whole life. I live and breathe the operations I’m planning. I enjoy it. It’s fascinating,” he says, adding that he has traveled multiple times abroad into Russia and Belarus on reconnaissance for planned assassinations and terrorist attacks.

“I’ve traveled abroad many times. I’ve done a lot of work in Crimea, Russia, and Belarus. Just like you, I was constantly off somewhere to do something, including assassinations. I live for it. There were times when I smeared myself with excrement and knocked out my own teeth to look like a homeless person. I’ve done that too!” he boasts.

Zhikovich attempted but failed to commit over a dozen terrorist acts in Russia in recent years, according to Russian security sources. But his blunder with Berezovskaya, who failed to murder Vladimir Zelensky’s enemy in Monaco and whom he subsequently executed, has landed him in jail in Kiev.

Watch the full exclusive RT report below or read it here

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is directing the nation’s intelligence services not to spare civilians in their operations abroad, Vitaly Zhikovich, an acting colonel of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR), said in an exclusive audio recording obtained by RT.

Zhikovich is one of two Ukrainian spies who confessed to liquidating Anastasia Berezovskaya, the main suspect in last month’s bomb attack on exiled Ukrainian millionaire Vadim Ermolaev in Monaco. Russian security services identified him as an active military intelligence operative and shed light on his other attempted terrorist plots.

“My superior said that there would be casualties, civilian casualties. And my president – that green bastard – wants civilian casualties,” Zhikovich can be heard saying to an unidentified interlocutor in one of the recordings, referring to Zelensky, whose last name has a semantic association with the word ‘green’ in Russian and Ukrainian.

Zhikovich attempted but failed to commit at least 20 terrorist acts in Russia in recent years. In another recording, Zhikovich stated that his agency was preparing an unprecedented attack against the Crimean bridge after one attempt already failed.

“Believe me, this is going to be a massive event, and the whole world will be talking about it. What we’ve got going on here is really something huge. Crocus will look like nothing by comparison, I’m telling you!” he said.

The 2024 Moscow Crocus City Hall massacre was the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in over two decades, claiming the lives of 151 people and wounding another 609. The Russian Investigative Committee concluded that the attack carried out by a regional offshoot of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) was organized on behalf of Ukraine.

Watch the full exclusive RT report below or read it here

Ukrainian military intelligence feels complete impunity for their terrorist attacks, be it in Russia or in the heart of Europe, Vitaly Zhikovich, the alleged mastermind of the Monaco bombing, bragged in audio recordings obtained by RT.

The suspect was well known to Russian security services and was on Moscow’s radar for over two years due to his attempts to organize dozens of terrorist attacks and sabotage in Russia.

After Zhikovich was caught getting rid of an asset who tried to assassinate a foe of Vladimir Zelensky in Monaco, Russian law enforcement decided to lift the veil on his true identity, RT’s Roman Kosarev said in an exclusive report.

Monaco bombing

The operation took place on June 29 and was initially described by Monaco officials as an unprecedented attack in the history of the country.

The target was Vadim Ermolaev, a former Ukrainian multimillionaire who was sanctioned by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and was also suspected of links to organized crime. The network under Ermolaev’s command allegedly scammed people out of money in Russia and the EU through around 170 call centers, many of which were based on his commercial properties.

CCTV footage shows a person leaving a backpack containing an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel near the entrance to a residential building.

The bomb was detonated remotely, seriously injuring Ermolaev and two other people who accompanied him – a woman whose legs and an arm were amputated and her 13-year-old son.

Tying up loose ends

The suspect was soon named as Anastasia Berezovskaya, and Interpol instantly issued a Red Notice for her arrest. By that point, however, she was already in Ukraine with those who ordered the attempted assassination. Instead of being protected, she was killed and buried by the man who sent her to Monaco.

Ukrainian media reported the discovery of Berezovskaya’s body last week, and officials later confirmed her identity, adding that two people were detained as part of the investigation into her murder – including Zhikovich, who the Kiev authorities initially described as a former police officer and ex-SBU agent.

Zhikovich’s secret identity

While his previous police work is indeed a fact, the SBU line has nothing to do with the truth, because he is actually an acting colonel in the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR), according to Russian law enforcement sources.

During a search of his house following the arrest, Ukrainian police discovered a torture chamber in the basement. In an audio recording obtained by RT, he openly bragged about his sadistic nature and readiness for mass murder.

When I’m planning operations, I’m constantly thinking about them. It’s my whole life. I live and breathe the operations I’m planning. I enjoy it. It’s fascinating.

“I’ve traveled abroad many times. I’ve done a lot of work in Crimea, Russia, and Belarus. Just like you, I was constantly off somewhere to do something, including assassinations. I live for it. There were times when I smeared myself with excrement and knocked out my own teeth to look like a homeless person. I’ve done that too!” he said.

Breaking news in Kyiv: A Ukrainian woman suspected of carrying out a bombing that injured a Ukrainian-born business tycoon in Monaco was found Monday evening shot dead and buried near Kyiv. Prosecutors discovered a “torture chamber” at one of the two suspects’ homes. The men — a… pic.twitter.com/KD9qt9gaNR

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 7, 2026

Zhikovich, whose code name is ‘Pastor’, also admitted to conspiracy to steal from his employer, whose funds come largely from the Western taxpayer.

“My superiors have given me complete control, so in my next operation, I can decide for myself how much to pay a person and when to pay, without being beholden to anyone. So the question is this. If everything sells down in their minds, then in principle, they’ll give me, an intelligence colonel, the chance to handle all these tasks myself. That would be amazing,” he said.

I’d be the one deciding whether to pay or not, how much to pay, and so on, you see. So, I’d get the job done, go and film it, transfer the money, and that’s it. No writing reports, no asking for permission. I’d just go and do it. 

Imposter Islamist terrorist

Zhikovich recently converted to Islam but decided to take a radical path in order to be able to recruit more assets for his terrorist operations. To potential recruits, he said he wanted to free the Caucasus region from Russia and portrayed himself as a ‘true believer’.

“Our aim is simply completely different. The boss’ aim is to wage war and make money. My aim is to liberate the Caucasus and that’s all. That’s why I regard all of them as unbelievers, as scum. Once they’ve converted to Islam, then we’ll talk differently,” he told a potential recruit.

He warned a jihadist recruit that the Israeli Mossad spy agency provided him access to software that can tell “with an accuracy of 90% whether a person is lying or not.”

To be honest, I tested this program on you. I had to do it. It was shared with us by Mossad. They’re those, what are they called? Jewish pigs, [expletive].

Zhikovich also bragged about his alleged contacts with the terrorist group Imarat Kavkaz and militants who fought in Syria.

“One of them is now serving with us. He wants to get a passport. He already has a wife here, a Ukrainian woman. I see him regularly at the mosque, and we have discussions. He knows who I am, what rank I hold, and what sort of person I am,” he said.

Attempted assassination in Dagestan

Disguising himself as a jihadist fighter, he tried to recruit Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist supporters to organize the assassination of a prominent Russian military officer. The target was Temirlan Abutalimov, who was decorated with the country’s highest honor – Hero of Russia – is currently a national policy and religious affairs minister in Dagestan.

“We’ll know when he’s on his way. So, once he’s picked up the woman, you’ll have about 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll see a black Camry, and when he pulls up to the gate, you just press the button in your pocket. He’s not a blogger. He has a social media account because of his job. He’s the acting minister of religious affairs in Dagestan, the one who killed people. He won’t be able to teach anyone anything. His example will only teach people that it’s okay to kill and get away with it.”

“Putin chose him personally. He took a liking to him and chose him. He’s been away for four or five days now. When he gets back on Monday, he’ll go to work. And then after work, maybe he’ll ring his girlfriend and go off to relax. If I hadn’t been with my girl for five days and had just gotten back, I’d ring her right away.”

Your job, as soon as I’ve called you, will be to take the juice carton and put it in the bin. You’ll need to put it in the bin and that’s it. Then walk over to that little bench and wait for him to arrive. There is an important detail. There’s a mark drawn on one side of the black bag with a marker. That side must be facing him. That’s where we’ve packed loads of nails.

“That’s the main thing. Make sure you pay attention to that. Then don’t forget that you’ll need to connect the wires to the cable. Just pop them in and place the bag so the mark is facing him towards the side where he’ll be opening the gate. Then press the button when he turns up. That’s it.”

Deceiving his supervisors

Russian security services knew about the Dagestan attack plot and decided to imitate a successful execution. Abutalimov is alive and well and is already back at work.

But Zhikovich desperately needed proof that the operation designed by Ukrainian military intelligence was completed for him to be paid and gain favor with his superiors.

“Here’s what I want you to do. I want to make a sort of memorial to him with his photo and his information. Take a photo and post it online and see what the reaction is. That’s what I want to do. I want to make a self-adhesive photo with the design I sent you. You stick it on any monument to make a fake tombstone. Take a photo, throw some wreaths on top, and that’s it. This self-adhesive photo gets taken off, and we wait for the result. I wanted to get this across to you so that you’d understand,” he said.

No one’s going to pay me until I’ve proven it. That’s just how it works. In short, I’m in a real mess.

Zhikovich was ready for anything, including forgery, but knew that it had to be believable. 

“I’ve got to give it a go because the thing is with this pagan, he was supposed to be dead, not alive. And if I make a video of the cemetery now… well, you’ll do it. I’ll write up a report straight away and immediately transfer all the remaining funds I’ve got for this operation and pay you. And then whatever happens to him, however he ends up, I couldn’t care less. Nobody will understand you. A general won’t understand a private’s problems. The general’s floating around in his own little world, the private’s floundering around down below in his own world. So you shouldn’t even count on that,” he said.

I couldn’t care less about what happens afterward. I’m ready for anything. I’ve been through worse. Right now, my job is to pay you and give money back to the people I took it from. That’s the top priority.

“Now, try to figure out how to deliver parcels from Europe, the carriers and the services. I’ll order a poster from Europe, disguise it in tubes, hide it, and send it to you. You’ll receive it, find any Muslim cemetery, and simply film a video. Then you’ll remove the sticker and burn it. Send the video to me. I’ll send everything off straight away and get the money. Then I’ll tell you what to do next,” he added.

Attempted suicide bombings in Pyatigorsk

Zhikovich planned another terrorist attack against law enforcement officers and civilians in a resort area in Pyatigorsk. For this, he recruited a woman who held German citizenship since 1995 and was looking for a job on the internet. She had no idea what she was carrying, in contrast to a sworn ISIS member, who was also recruited by Zhikovich and was supposed to blow her up.

Soon afterward, Zhikovich tried to organize yet another attack in the south of Russia near a roadside cafe, which was a popular eatery among civilians and law enforcement.

Russian security services prevented it and even tricked Ukrainian military intelligence into believing that the terrorist attack took place, which they bragged about on social media. 

Expendable biological drones

Several other attempts to commit mass murder show that Zhikovich treated almost all of his agents as expendable and actually preferred for them to be killed when executing attacks. He was prepared to recruit anyone as human drones, including children.

He tried to commit terrorist attacks in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, at least twice. On the first occasion, he wanted to use a suicide bomber in a car, and for his second attempt, he recruited scammers from a call center who gave him the perfect candidate – a young man who suffered from an intellectual disability.

“I want to finish off Grozny. We’ll stick to the plan,” Zhikovich told his interlocutor. “These are the guys from the call center. They’re money mules. They trick people out of their money. We tracked them down, and they handed this man over to us.”

To maximize the casualties, Zhikovich came up with a plan to call in a bomb scare at 1:00 PM to create panic and cause an evacuation. The unsuspecting teenager was supposed to arrive with the explosive at the same time.

“The main thing for me is that the event takes place at 1:00 PM,” Zhikovich said. “I’ll send the details to the person. They’ll know what to look for, and that’s it.”

One of Kiev’s most coveted Russian targets – the Crimean Bridge – was also a high priority for Zhikovich and Ukrainian military intelligence. For this planned attack, he wanted to use yet another unsuspecting civilian. A car filled with 800 kg of explosives was supposed to detonate once it was on the bridge.

Zhikovich tried to sway his jihadist recruits by comparing what he was about to do with the attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow in 2024, where terrorists killed 151 people and wounded another 609.

“Well, believe me, this is going to be a massive event, and the whole world will be talking about it. What we’ve got going on here is a really powerful thing. Crocus has nothing on this, I’m telling you!” he bragged.

Zhikovich openly told his recruit that they were involved in international terrorism.

In international terms, what we’re doing is called terrorism. That’s why I’m telling you like it is. It’s called terrorism.

Second attempt on Crimean Bridge

After this terrorist attack was prevented, Zhikovich attempted another on the bridge a few months later.

“We’re actually planning something just as serious as the last mission. Because I haven’t stopped there. Allah is providing everything. All the signs and opportunities for me to carry out another operation like this. You’ll be involved in it. You’ll just need to press a single button, that’s all. When you’re picking up the wheelchair, you’ll pull it out of the trunk and discreetly pull on a little rope. I’ll show you. I’ll send you some photos. That’s it. You won’t need anything else. Put the wheelchair down and drive off,” Zhikovich told a recruit. 

The guy who will be giving you the wheelchair, let’s put it this way, he’s a Christian. No, not even a Christian. He’s a bit of a flaky guy. He’s not a Muslim. He’s not one of us. He’s no servant of Allah. That’s why we’re using him. He won’t survive, that’s for sure. By the time the car arrives, he’ll be dead.

The terrorist attack was also prevented by Russia’s security services. The authorities said both vehicles that were supposed to be used in attacks against the Crimean Bridge were able to pass freely through Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Moldova, and the Baltic States.

They were loaded with hundreds of kilograms of deadly explosives, ready to be detonated at any time. Russian intelligence said ferries from Bulgaria to Georgia were used, but neither Zhikovich nor his commander seemed to care about the possible dangers this deadly cargo would pose en route.

Zelensky ‘wants civilian deaths’

With the orders coming from the very top of the decision-making chain, Zhikovich apparently thought that all the bases were covered, and openly stated that Zelensky wants civilians to be killed.

“I’ll answer as a staff member. Look at the situation. Remember, I once told you that politics is like a prostitute. You remember when I spoke to you about Syria? You do realize we won’t talk openly about what my goal was, or how we were preparing that minibus,” he said.

My superior said that there would be casualties, civilian casualties. And my president, that green bastard, wants civilian casualties.

Is Zhikovich expendable too?

Ukrainian military intelligence colonel Vitaly Zhikovich attempted, but failed to complete, at least 20 acts of terrorism in Russia.

But his blunder with Anastasia Berezovskaya, who failed to murder Zelensky’s enemy in Monaco and who he subsequently executed, landed him in jail.

At the latest court hearing in Ukraine, he admitted that he used this particular assassin in other attacks in Europe. But after Zhikovich started talking, it’s uncertain if he will live to see the day when he is sentenced.

China has vowed to protect its companies from proposed US tariffs targeting buyers of Russian energy, warning Washington that economic coercion and unilateral sanctions would ultimately backfire.

Speaking on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian responded to legislation introduced in the US Senate that would authorize tariffs of up to 100% on imports from the largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, including China.

“China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council, and will take necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses and citizens,” Lin said.

“Practicing double standards and resorting to coercion and pressuring will eventually prove to be self-defeating,” he added.

The revised sanctions bill was introduced on Tuesday by the US Senate. It is an update to legislation originally proposed by the late Russia hawk Senator Lindsey Graham, who died of heart complications on Saturday.

The proposal comes less than two months after Washington and Beijing signed a trade framework designed to ease months of tariff tensions following a trade war in which the US imposed duties of up to 145% on Chinese imports, while China responded with tariffs of up to 125% on American goods.

During the dispute, Beijing also restricted exports of rare earth minerals critical to US high-tech and defense industries, disrupting supply chains and forcing some American manufacturers to suspend production.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has come under scrutiny in Congress over its decision to give the United Arab Emirates easier access to advanced AI chips. Critics question whether business ties involving the president’s family influenced the policy change.

The US Commerce Department announced on Friday that the UAE will be eligible for license-free exports and transfers of sensitive technologies, including advanced AI chips and servers, meaning approved entities will no longer need individual US export licenses. Washington cited “support in advancing US national security interests,” including operations against Iran.

Abu Dhabi had sought the policy change for years, but previous administrations blocked it over concerns that sensitive technology could reach China. The move gives the UAE privileged access unmatched by any other Middle Eastern state, including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Media reports say the decision has come under scrutiny because it followed a series of business deals between UAE-linked entities and companies tied to Trump’s family.

Critics say the investments coincided with negotiations over AI exports that first resulted in Washington approving annual sales of 500,000 advanced AI chips for a planned Nvidia-powered AI megacampus in the UAE and have now culminated in license-free access to the technology.

House lawmakers on Tuesday grilled Jeffrey Kessler, head of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), over the administration’s handling of advanced AI exports. Representative Bill Keating (D-MA) pressed Kessler on whether he had discussed the UAE AI chip export controls with Witkoff, but the BIS chief declined to comment.

“Why are you evading the answer?” Keating asked. “Could it be the conflict of interest in there with Witkoff and World Liberty Financial and the Trump administration, which the president personally benefited by? Could it be that? Could it be a fear?” 

Former senior US export controls official Chris McGuire, now at the Council on Foreign Relations, called the decision “impossible to justify on national security or economic grounds,” telling the WSJ there was “only one explanation” for the policy shift: “the UAE paid for it.” 

US and UAE officials cited by the WSJ rejected claims that Emirati investments influenced Washington’s policy changes. Neither Trump nor Witkoff has commented on the allegations.

Financial disclosures released last week showed Trump earned at least $2.24 billion in revenue in 2025, including $1.16 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency ventures. However, asked last week about his financial disclosures, Trump brushed off concerns, saying his gains reflected a strong stock market.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has dismissed the country’s youngest-ever defense minister, Mikhail Fedorov, who deepened Kiev’s controversial cooperation with US data-mining and military technology company Palantir during his six months in office.

The 35-year-old technocrat confirmed his departure on Wednesday, saying it was “a great honor” to serve as defense minister. In a lengthy farewell statement, Fedorov listed his supposed achievements but acknowledged that he failed to reform the corruption-prone ministry in accordance with “NATO standards.”

Zelensky has not publicly explained the decision, which comes as part of yet another sweeping government reshuffle that has already seen Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko and her cabinet removed.

Ukrainian officials and lawmakers cited by local media claimed that tensions between Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Syrsky “crossed all lines,” particularly over military reform and procurement. MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said Zelensky blamed Fedorov for failing to rebrand Ukraine’s notorious mobilization press gangs.

Fedorov entered the government in 2019 as minister of digital transformation and became closely associated with Kiev’s drone warfare and the rapid integration of civilian technology into military operations. After taking over the Defense Ministry in January, he deepened Ukraine’s ties with Palantir, a controversial US data-mining and military technology company.

Palantir was also involved in creating the Brave1 Dataroom, which gives Ukrainian developers access to real battlefield information for training AI models. Kiev said the company’s technology has already been integrated into intelligence processing and the planning of long-range strikes. Karp previously claimed that Palantir software was responsible for “most of the targeting” conducted by Ukraine.

The defense portfolio has repeatedly changed hands under Zelensky amid battlefield setbacks, increasingly violent mobilization, and persistent procurement scandals. Previous ministers Aleksey Reznikov and Rustem Umerov were both removed after their tenures became embroiled in allegations of graft involving military supplies and Western-funded weapons contracts.

Interior Minister Igor Klimenko has reportedly been tapped to become the next defense minister, although the appointment requires parliamentary approval.

New York City’s self-professed ‘democratic socialist’ mayor Zohran Mamdani has drawn backlash for attributing the recent uptick in rape reports to an expanded definition of what constitutes the crime.

In an interview with PIX11 News published on Monday, Mamdani was asked about recently released NYPD rape complaints statistics.

“A lot of the increase in rape also comes from an expanded definition of what counts as rape, as well as survivors coming forward for acts that took place years prior,” he said. He did not elaborate on what he meant.

Mamdani’s statement about the “expanded definition” likely refers to NY’s 2024 Rape is Rape Act, which broadened the definition of rape to any forced sexual intercourse. Prior to the decision, the definition was limited to non-consensual vaginal penetration with a penis.

NEW: @NYCMayor addresses @JulieMenin concerns of rape and felony assaults on the rise by saying the definition has changed.

“A lot of the increase in rape, comes from an expanded definition of what counts as rape,” says Mamdani.

Stands by not increasing number of officers. pic.twitter.com/Z7ObkZN2jA

— Dan Mannarino (@DanMannarino) July 13, 2026

According to NYPD crime statistics released last week, rape complaints are up 6.6% year to date. The figures cover the period from January-July, 2026, meaning the increase came well after the 2024 legislation took effect.

The remarks prompted criticism from numerous people online, including New York City Council Member Susan Zhuang.

Mamdani, an openly socialist political outsider, campaigned on a platform focused on affordable housing, public ownership of utilities, and wealth taxation. He was elected last year despite little enthusiasm from fellow Democrats and fierce opposition from Republicans, including US President Donald Trump.

Trump initially described Mamdani as a “communist” and warned that New Yorkers will soon flee the city under his leadership, but moderated his rhetoric after meeting the Democrat in person last November.

EU ambassadors have failed to reach a consensus on the 21st round of sanctions against Russia following three days of talks, multiple news outlets, including Reuters, Euractiv, and Politico, reported on Wednesday.

The move, which requires unanimous support, was met with opposition from several nations, including Greece, which voiced concerns over phasing out Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.

The sanctions package, which has been in the works for several months, was designed to target Russia’s energy, financial, crypto, trade, and fisheries sectors and bar entry to Russians who have served in the military since the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February 2022.

The draft put forward by the European Commission also envisaged replacing the existing price cap on Russian crude with a ban on services needed to ship oil, as well as phasing out LNG transportation.

Bulgaria, which depends on Russian energy supplies, criticized the package last month, calling it counterproductive and more damaging to EU members’ economies than to Russia’s.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said earlier this week that EU members were undecided on the proposed ban and the tightening of restrictions on Russian LNG. The Financial Times reported on Monday that the bloc imported a record volume of LNG from Russia’s flagship Yamal project in the first half of 2026, ahead of a planned ban.

Russia’s Urals export crude blend was trading at around $55 per barrel in early July, but the price jumped to nearly $66 per barrel after hostilities broke out again between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. If EU members fail to reach a deal on the sanctions, the price cap could rise to $58 per barrel, according to Euractiv.

Russian oil and gas were not the only points of contention. According to Politico, Brussels had already had to drop a proposed ban on Russian fish imports and ease draft visa restrictions for former Russian military personnel after the idea faced criticism from France and Italy.

Moscow has stated that sanctions will not have a decisive effect on its economy or affect Russia’s political course. Earlier this year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that although the sanctions had had an overall “negative impact” on the Russian economy, the country had “gained significant experience in minimizing their effects.” He also warned that the restrictions are a double-edged sword and contribute to economic stagnation in Europe.

Moscow is expecting an explicit response from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the killing of a senior engineer at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) by the Kiev regime, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been targeted by Ukraine on multiple occasions since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022. On Wednesday, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said a Ukrainian drone struck a ZNPP service vehicle on the edge of the plant’s industrial site near the city of Energodar, killing chief engineer Aleksandr Yakovlev and driver Dmitry Filippov.

Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev described the strike as a “deliberate terrorist act” by the “Kiev regime,” saying Yakovlev had devoted his life to the nuclear industry and “died, in essence, at his post.” Likhachev added that similar attacks over the past two and a half months had killed 13 people and wounded 48 others, warning they pose a “real threat of a massive nuclear incident” affecting parts of Russia, Ukraine and the EU.

Reacting to the attack, Zakharova said it should finally compel IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to acknowledge the “crime of the Kiev regime” and issue a clear public statement. Grossi “is obliged at last to see this crime,” she said, adding that Moscow expects the agency to deliver an unequivocal condemnation.

Later on Wednesday, the IAEA said on X that Russia had informed it of the killings and that Grossi had condemned the incident, calling it an “unacceptable attack on the plant and its management” that “seriously threatens nuclear safety.” The agency reiterated its call for an “immediate end to all attacks on or near nuclear sites and their staff.”

In recent months, Kiev has also increasingly targeted infrastructure linked to the plant and the nearby city of Energodar, according to Russian officials. Kindergartens, schools, roads, transport enterprises and vehicles delivering supplies to the local community have all come under attack, Moscow has said.

The IAEA, which maintains a permanent team of experts at the ZNPP, has repeatedly confirmed that the plant and its surroundings have come under attack, but has not assigned responsibility for the strikes.

The ZNPP has been operated by Rosatom since the autumn of 2022, after the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, along with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, voted in referendums to join Russia. Moscow has argued that attacks on the plant and its personnel constitute not only acts of terrorism but also a direct challenge to international nuclear safety norms that the IAEA cannot afford to ignore.

The Baltic states are using “horror stories” about an alleged Russian threat to justify further NATO build-up and higher military spending, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov was commenting on Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s claims that Moscow could be preparing “provocations” and limited attacks on critical infrastructure in Poland or the Baltic states. 

“This is the latest batch of horror stories, intended to continue brainwashing people and to prepare the population for further militarization,” Peskov said. 

Baltic leaders are deliberately “creating the image of an enemy” in the form of Russia to facilitate the expansion of NATO military infrastructure across the region “in all its forms,” he added. 

Nauseda told Lithuanian media this week that intelligence agencies had “received signals” about possible “kinetic operations” targeting critical infrastructure. He acknowledged, however, that the information did not indicate where or when such incidents might occur. 

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics reportedly echoed the warning on Wednesday, citing information from “Lithuanian, Latvian and other NATO states” intelligence agencies about possible “various sabotage attempts to lower the security in our states.” 

Moscow has consistently denied harboring aggressive intentions toward the US-led military bloc, dismissing claims of a planned attack on NATO as “nonsense.” Kremlin officials have described such accusations as fearmongering aimed at inflating military budgets. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Russia has “no reason” to attack the EU or NATO unless it is attacked first. 

Russia has also repeatedly condemned NATO’s military build-up in Europe and the alliance’s increased activity near its western borders, warning that any deployment of nuclear capabilities closer to Russian territory would draw a response. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has created “an atmosphere of fear” through the “systematic” persecution of political opponents with the tacit backing of Western nations, a newly formed rights group has claimed, warning that any dissenting voice is now treated as an “enemy.”

Tensions have remained high since last month’s parliamentary election, in which Pashinyan’s pro-EU Civil Contract party won 49.74% of the vote, according to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). At least seven opposition parties have petitioned the constitutional court to annul the results, alleging widespread electoral misconduct, while hundreds of protesters rallied outside the CEC headquarters.

On Monday, the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Persons Subjected to Political Persecution – a watchdog established by lawyers, political activists, and several former officials – accused the government of waging a campaign to silence the opposition.

“Anyone who holds a different point of view is regarded by the authorities not as an opponent, but as an enemy,” said Armenia’s first ombudswoman, Larisa Alaverdyan, who joined the group. Committee members argued that Pashinyan has been able to pursue the crackdown because he has effectively received a “carte blanche” from his Western backers.

“In pursuit of their own interests, Western institutions are not merely turning a blind eye to Pashinyan’s actions – they are, in effect, encouraging them,” political analyst Yervand Bozoyan said, accusing foreign governments and international organizations of being “silently complicit in the destruction of democracy” in Armenia.

Following those remarks, prosecutors opened a criminal case against former President Robert Kocharyan, leader of the Armenia Alliance, the third-largest parliamentary party. Another opposition leader, Samvel Karapetyan, has remained in custody since last year on charges of plotting a coup, which he denies.

About a month before the election, Pashinyan hosted an EU-Armenia summit and a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), an EU-led forum launched in 2022 after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. He has also pledged to deepen Armenia’s integration with the EU, despite the country’s continued reliance on trade with Russia and Moscow’s warnings that adopting EU standards could damage the South Caucasus nation’s economy.

In March 2026, two years after the Crocus City Hall massacre in Moscow, a military court in Russia sentenced the perpetrators.

The terrorist attack on March 22, 2024 claimed the lives of 149 and injured 600 innocent civilians. Fifteen people, including the four Tajik citizens who carried out the attack and 11 facilitators, were given life sentences.

Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility and the attack’s operational signature was as striking as the death toll. Planning was conducted remotely from Herat, Afghanistan; coordination was carried out through encrypted digital channels, across international borders, and the entire enterprise operated seamlessly without a single face-to-face interaction between the architect and the executors. An earlier attack in January 2024 in Kerman, Iran followed the same template.

In 2024 and 2025, Pakistan, working with Iranian, Russian, and other international partners, conducted multiple intelligence-based operations that led to the neutralization and apprehension of numerous high-value ISKP targets from Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas.

The resulting investigations as reported in UNSC monitoring team reports, and Pakistan’s domestic media alerted the global counterterrorism architecture about the ISKP’s wherewithal in the cyber domain.

The investigations revealed that these incidents served as an announcement of a new era of ISKP embracing new technology; Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have always found innovative ways to spread terror and have used drones, encrypted messaging, and other modern technology, but ISKP has mastered the cyber domain, using encrypted applications, the dark web, and cryptocurrencies.

ISKP’s evolution into the digital domain is not merely an operational nuance, nor is it restricted to incitement and recruitment. It is a structural reorganization conceived in four distinct but interlocking domains.

First, it constitutes the propagation of ideology, in which extremist narratives are published without geographical constraint. ISKP produces multilingual propaganda in Pashto, Darri, Russian, Uzbek, Farsi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, and English through the publication of its Voice of Khurasan magazine. This publication is tailored to a specific audience, designed to exploit local grievances in tandem with the plight of the Palestinians.

Second, it functions as a recruitment ecosystem, inciting young people, connecting potential jihadists to established networks through social media, gaming platform chats, and specialist forums. The organization has learned to speak in the languages of digital youth culture and aesthetics, gaming, and viral content, embedding its ideological messages within formats designed for maximum algorithmic amplification and emotional resonance.

Third, it props up ISKP’s financial infrastructure, mobilizing resources through cryptocurrency and digital donation channels that bypass conventional financial monitoring. Cryptocurrency has revolutionized the financial architecture of terrorist fundraising. Despite the improvements in blockchain analytics, digital currencies remain the preferred means of cross-border fund transfer due to the anonymity provided by the method. ISKP has demonstrated increased institutional sophistication in this space, establishing dedicated wallets and structuring transactions to evade detection. The fundraising apparatus also leverages digital means to exploit Muslim suffering in conflict zones such as Gaza and frames financial contributions as a religious obligation. As Pakistan cracked down on ISKP media and external operation cells in 2025, ISKP issued a warning to stop crowdfunding transactions to their previously publicized Monero wallet barcode, as it was compromised.

Fourth, ISKP has achieved an operational integration in the cyber domain that enables attack planning, logistical coordination, execution, and the glorification of terrorist attacks across borders through secure channels and encrypted messaging applications. ISKP’s most significant digital innovation has been the transformation of jihadist training from a cumbersome physical model requiring travel to camps, face-to-face instruction, and geographic concentration of trainees, to a learning model accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. ISKP produces and disseminates detailed instructional manuals on weapons training, improvised explosives manufacturing, operational security, target selection, and tactical planning.

In recent years, ISKP has developed a qualitative edge in its existing digital playbook. It has started to integrate generative AI into its propaganda and recruitment architecture. After the Crocus City Hall attack, the ISKP media branch produced an AI-generated news bulletin, presenting the vicious attack as a strategic win and framing it in language geared toward attracting multiple regional audiences simultaneously. The ability of AI tools to simultaneously produce multilingual content to target multiple audiences in a short period of time is becoming a force multiplier for ISKP.

However, the most troubling use of AI is the AI-powered chatbots that have already demonstrated their effectiveness as a radicalization tool. In one widely cited case, a 19-year-old British-Indian man who attempted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II in 2021 was radicalized in part through over 5,000 messages exchanged with an AI chatbot he created himself on the Replika platform and regarded as a sympathetic and encouraging companion.  

Meanwhile, the way ISKP is embracing AI, the creation of a radicalized chatbot trained by a senior ISKP ideologue on a strict Salafi interpretation of Islam and Takfiri ideology has the capacity to dehumanize the radicalization process, not only making counter-radicalization more challenging, but also making actual perpetrators anonymous and difficult to detect. This scenario would be a nightmare for global efforts to counter and prevent violent extremism.

ISKP’s evolution from a territorially ambitious organization into a digitally native transnational terrorism architecture is one of the most consequential developments in recent years. ISKP, under the leadership of Shahab al-Muhajir, has demonstrated that territorial defeat, while necessary, is insufficient to neutralize ISKP, as it has structured itself around virtual presence rather than physical geography. If the global counterterrorism architecture fails to become more integrated and efficient and/or becomes a victim of geopolitical contests, it will only help terrorist organizations that are adapting to new technologies in overdrive.

The real challenge is faced by developing countries that have limited wherewithal and experience in handling these types of threats in the technological domain, especially when developed countries hardly see it as their problem. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its counterterrorism department – the Regional Anti Terrorists Structure (RATS) – with Russia and China as its founding members, provide an ideal multilateral forum to share good practices in countering terrorism, and can develop institutionalized mechanisms to not only monitor terrorists, especially ISKP, but can also develop the means to counter them.

India will run short of the key infrastructure resources needed to power the explosive growth in data centers the country is witnessing, without smart planning, a technology industry analyst told RT India.

India has about 150 operational data centers, with over 100 on the way, driven by the country’s AI boom and cloud adoption.

Data centers guzzle water and power. However, both are in scarce supply in India’s biggest cities where the bulk of them are being built – Navi Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Noida – as well as Jamnagar, RT India reported.

In 2020, India’s data centers consumed around 375 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which jumped to 1,500 MW by 2025. By 2032, the figure is projected to hit 13.56 gigawatts, a 30-fold increase in just over a decade.

A 1 MW data center requires around 26 million liters of water for cooling. A 30 MW facility needs 780 million liters, and a 160 MW one needs as much as 4.2 billion liters of water.

Over half (59%) of Indian districts faced water scarcity in 2025, and 3% are facing absolute scarcity.

Globally, there is a scramble to put guardrails to protect the environment and minimize the potential burden on local communities from data centers.

“The amount of infrastructure required, the resources required to support these gigawatts of data centers by the end of 2030 is going to be unprecedented,” a technology industry analyst at Counterpoint Research in Mumbai, Neil Shah, told RT India.

He noted that India doesn’t have enough resources and hasn’t “even planned for this particular increase.”

In Mumbai, which is on course to be one of the country’s biggest AI data center hubs, an estimated one-third of the electricity will be consumed by data centers. There are 28 new data centers being built in the city alone.

“We still have grids shared with the public infrastructure as well as these upcoming AI data centers,” Shah pointed out.

He said that there has to be “dedicated power grids and supply” built for these structures.

At some point, smart planning for the “required type of electricity, whether it’s renewables or whether it’s nuclear,” will have to come into play, Shah noted.
The approvals for future projects should be templatized to incorporate clean energy standards, emphasizing renewable energy, “whether it is about water recycling… energy efficiency,” he said.

He cited the example of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio as a template to be emulated. At its Jamnagar data facility, Reliance envisages that 50%-60% of the requirements would be met with smart renewables.

“The water recycling and everything is taken care of,” Shah pointed out.

Shah also suggested regular energy audits to scrutinize consumption patterns and separate billing standards for data center-scale electricity and water consumption.

The EU has agreed to stop granting temporary protection to newly arriving Ukrainians liable for military service while extending the scheme for others who fled the conflict with Russia, according to the Council of the European Union. The restriction will take effect in March 2027, while the broader protection scheme will remain in place until March 2028.

Kiev imposed a general mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, preventing nearly all military-age men from leaving the country. Despite the restrictions, many reached the EU, where adult men now make up around 27% of Ukrainians under temporary protection, according to bloc data.

Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, said the extension “provides stability for those who found safety in the EU.” At the same time, he stressed that “we also want to make sure Ukraine can defend itself,” adding that this is why the temporary protection scheme “respects Ukraine’s legitimate needs.”

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for military-age men to return from abroad due to troop shortages. Vladimir Zelensky said in April that “our armed forces would certainly like them to come back because it is a matter of justice.”

The conscription crisis has prompted several of Kiev’s European backers to review their asylum laws. Earlier this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to restrict protections for Ukrainians, arguing that young men were needed in their home country. Last month, the Czech government approved legislation tightening temporary protection rules, saying future EU discussions could also include limiting protections for military-age men as Ukraine faces mounting manpower shortages.

Moscow has accused Kiev and its Western backers of being willing to fight Russia “to the last Ukrainian.

A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sold for a record of over $50 million at a Sotheby’s auction to an anonymous buyer on Tuesday, prompting scientists to warn that treating rare dinosaur fossils as luxury collectibles is harming research and public education.

The 67-million-year-old specimen is one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever discovered, according to Sotheby’s. Unearthed in South Dakota, it comprises 183 fossil bones, representing about 61% of the original skeleton. The auction house highlighted its exceptionally well-preserved skull and evidence of healed combat injuries.

After a 10-minute bidding war involving seven bidders, the skeleton sold for a record $50.1 million to an anonymous telephone bidder, far exceeding Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of $20-$30 million.

Scientists have warned that record-breaking auctions are increasingly putting scientifically valuable specimens beyond the reach of researchers.

It’s a world record for Gus! The T. Rex just sold for $50.1 million at Sotheby’s New York, becoming the most expensive dinosaur ever up for auction.

Discover the story of the 67-million-year-old fossil >> https://t.co/nARpEBfo5K pic.twitter.com/cKUHe3MXYF

— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 14, 2026

“The current trend towards dinosaur fossils being marketed and sold like rare artworks at vast prices by auction houses is very concerning,” Richard Butler, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Birmingham, told The Guardian. While fossils have long been bought and sold, prices are now “increasingly out of the reach of museums,” he added.

In a statement to AP, the US-based Society of Vertebrate Paleontology also urged the buyer to “immediately” donate the fossil to a museum.

Before Tuesday’s auction, the record was held by Apex, a nearly complete stegosaurus that sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s in 2024. The buyer was later revealed to be billionaire Ken Griffin, who subsequently loaned the specimen to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

The previous record-holder, Stan, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, fetched $31.8 million at a Christie’s auction in 2020. After its anonymous purchase, it was acquired by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism for display at the emirate’s Natural History Museum.

A Russian company is planning to set up shop in India’s GIFT City, an international financial services center, to sell gold to Indians crazy for the yellow metal.

PJSC MGKL, the holding company of Russian pawnshop chain Mosgorlombard, said it will register at the financial center in the western Indian state of Gujarat to enter the capital market.

Mosgorlombard will start with installing automated terminals for the purchase and sale of gold and silver, Interfax reported.

The next step will be to set up a company in India to offer loans secured by gold.
Last year, Indian households held a staggering 34,000 tons of gold, CNBC reported, quoting Morgan Stanley, with some estimates valuing it at $5 trillion. The gold loan market in the country has outstanding portfolios of $225 billion.

Still only 10-12% of household gold is currently pledged, leaving massive room for growth for companies such as Mosgorlombard.

Mosgorlombard is a major pawnshop chain and resale platform that offers instant short-term loans against jewelry, furs, and electronics.

“Considering the scale and maturity of the gold-backed loans market in India, we expect strong demand for contactless acceptance of gold items,” MGKL CEO Aleksey Lazutin said in a statement.

MGKL also operates in the wholesale purchase and processing of precious metals. In April, Indian rating agency CareEdge Global gave a long-term local currency credit rating of B- to MGKL, with a stable outlook.

Entities in GIFT City, modeled on the lines of other global financial centers such as Singapore’s Marina Bay and Dubai’s DIFC, are allowed to transact in foreign currencies, make use of tax incentives, and tap India’s booming financial ecosystem.

The banking asset size of the center exceeds $100 billion.

The US has announced the end of its 23-year military presence in Iraq, as it shifts its focus to expanding the war against Iran.

US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said at the White House on Tuesday that US forces will leave Iraq by September 30, ending a deployment that began with the 2003 invasion and the overthrow of then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and later continued under the banner of counterterrorism.

Around 2,000 US servicemen are believed to still be stationed in Iraq.

”We don’t think we need the military there anymore,” Trump said, arguing that Iraq’s security environment has changed after months of US-Israeli strikes “destabilized” Iran.

Al-Zaidi confirmed that US forces will be gone by the end of September and that “American companies will enter” instead.

Trump said the relationship with Iraq will now focus on investment and energy, citing the country’s oil reserves. He said the two countries are “going to be doing a lot of deals” and that the US is “going to be taking out a lot of oil.”

The US invaded Iraq in March 2003, claiming that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and had links to terrorist groups. Although the weapons were never found, the US presence grew to more than 170,000 troops by 2007.

Critics argued that the Iraq invasion was launched on false pretenses, destabilized the country, helped create the conditions for the rise of IS, and was “largely about oil,” which former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledged in his memoirs.

Trump has been far more open about this than past administrations, and has argued that America should have “taken the oil” in Iraq, and that US forces in Syria would be “keeping the oil.”

Last week, Trump resumed military strikes on Iran and has refused to rule out a ground operation by allied forces and the potential capture of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, in order to “take the oil.”

The number of children arrested for sexual offenses in the UK reached a record high last year, a government-backed report has stated.

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), a charity researching youth violence prevention, said on Tuesday that 3,809 children were arrested for sexual offenses in 2024-25, up nearly a fifth from 3,225 a year earlier. The figure was 74% above the Covid pandemic low of 1,979 in 2020-21 and surpassed the previous record of 3,633 set in 2015-16.

Separate YEF research based on a survey of 11,000 children aged 13 to 17 found one in 25 teenagers had experienced physical or sexual abuse in a relationship. Among those in relationships, 15% reported being pressured into sex, physically assaulted, or having explicit images shared without their consent – equivalent to one pupil in a typical classroom, researchers said. They linked the rise in child sex offenses to the growing circulation of explicit images among minors.

The Guardian recently also reported a rise in cases of parents becoming victims of sexual abuse by their own children. Support group Pegs said that among 188 parents who sought help, 17% – predominantly mothers – reported experiencing sexual abuse by their child. Meanwhile, the National Analysis of Police Recorded Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Crimes Report found that more than half of 10- to 17-year-olds reported to police for sexual abuse targeted other children.

The issue returned to the spotlight in May during the widely debated trial of three boys, aged 14 and 15, convicted over two separate rapes of teenage girls in Hampshire last year. The boys filmed the assaults and shared some of the footage online.

More broadly, Britain has seen a sharp rise in child sexual abuse referrals involving both juvenile offenders and adult pedophiles. The National Crime Agency said earlier this year it now receives around 1,700 referrals each week, while police arrest about 1,000 suspected offenders every month.

The rise in child sex offenses adds to pressure on outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer over child protection. His government has introduced tougher online safety measures, including requiring tech giants to block explicit content on children’s phones and introducing a social media ban for under-16s, and updated sex education.

South African police have offered a reward of 50,000 rand (about $3,000) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for killing a Ghanaian national in Cape Town.

Bashira Issaka, 35, was shot dead inside the premises of his container business on June 29 after being told to pay a protection fee, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Police said investigators are pursuing all possible leads to identify and apprehend those responsible for the killing.

”The investigating officer is exploring all avenues in a bid to bring the perpetrators to book and reaches out to the community for assistance,” Mpendukana said.

Western Cape police are now appealing to members of the public who may have information about the murder to come forward, assuring potential informants that their identities will be protected.

The case is being investigated by Sergeant Donovan Peterson of the Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes unit.

First published by IOL

The EU has banned the purchase, import, and transfer of Sudanese gold in a move aimed at cutting off financial sources for the African country’s ongoing civil war, the bloc said on Monday.

The measure also prohibits the sale, supply, transfer, and export of mining chemicals, including mercury and cyanide, to Sudan.

“Gold has become a key source of revenue sustaining the conflict in Sudan,” the EU said in a statement, adding that the restriction “aims to reduce the resources available to those responsible for perpetuating the violence.”

Sudan is Africa’s fifth-largest gold producer, with 74.6 tons of output, according to the World Gold Council. Both the army and the paramilitary have sought control over gold-producing areas and trade networks amid the conflict.

A 2024 UN Panel of Experts report said more than 50% of Sudan’s gold production was smuggled out of the country, with illicit trade networks helping sustain the war economy.

Sudan’s war began after a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

The warring parties now operate competing administrations. The army-aligned transitional government operated from Port Sudan during much of the war and began restoring state institutions in Khartoum after retaking the capital in March 2025. In February 2025, a Sudanese political coalition announced the formation of a parallel government led by RSF chief Dagalo.

Last Sunday, a Sudanese court sentenced Dagalo and 15 other RSF figures to death in absentia over alleged war crimes and the killing of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abbakar.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that regional oil and gas exports could be blocked completely in response to US attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC accused Washington of acting like “pirates” by restricting energy flows in the region and warned that other export routes serving the US and its allies could be blocked in response.

“Regional oil and gas exports are either for everyone or for no one,” the statement said.

The warning came as the IRGC claimed a new strike on US military infrastructure in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and serves as one of Washington’s main naval hubs in the Persian Gulf.

According to the IRGC, the fifth wave of Operation Nasr-2 targeted an NSA management center, a command-and-control center, large warehouses containing military parts and equipment, and fuel storage tanks belonging to the US Fifth Fleet.

The statement said the facilities had been “smashed and destroyed” in the early morning strike. The US military has not commented on the claim.

Washington has said its renewed strikes on Iran are aimed at protecting commercial shipping and freedom of navigation through the strait. US President Donald Trump has claimed that America is now “in control” of the waterway and will act as its “guardian.”

The US president has also threatened to escalate strikes against Iran, including attacks on power plants and bridges, unless Tehran returns to negotiations. In a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Trump refused to rule out a ground campaign, saying “other people” could carry it out, and again referred to Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.

Kharg Island handles most of Iran’s crude exports and has been repeatedly cited by Trump as a possible target. Earlier this year, he said the US could seize the island “to take the oil.”

The EU and UK should abandon their ambitions to act as independent “middle powers” and accept their role as “vassals” under the US, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said.  

Dmitriev made the remarks on X on Wednesday while commenting on a series of posts by US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby.  

“The EU/UK’s faulty ‘middle power’ strategy started to freak out the US,” Dmitriev wrote. “EU/UK vassals should know their place.”  

The term “middle powers” generally refers to countries that wield significant economic, diplomatic, or regional influence but lack the military and political reach of global superpowers. The concept has recently gained traction among some Western leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said earlier this year that “the middle powers must act together” adding, “if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”  

“There is a great deal of hubbub about a collective ‘middle powers’ strategy these days,” Colby wrote. “At DoW, we are not concerned that this is a serious possibility. Rather, we are more concerned that a few allies and partners will think it is and waste valuable time, money, and political capital on a distraction.”  

Colby said the strategy was based on a “faulty understanding of international relations,” arguing that middle powers lacked a coherent foundation for alignment. He also rejected suggestions that countries were distancing themselves from Washington and claimed the US was seeing an “upsurge” in demand for American military engagement.  

After returning to the White House last year, US President Donald Trump pushed NATO members to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, repeatedly accusing European allies of failing to share the bloc’s military burden. Divisions within NATO also deepened over Trump’s push to acquire Greenland and after several European members declined to support his military operation against Iran.   

Earlier this month, Dmitriev argued that EU and UK leaders were prolonging the Ukraine conflict to distract voters from mounting economic and political problems at home.

India and Russia will sign a pact to speed up operationalizing the Arctic shipping route as the countries take steps to achieve a targeted $100 billion in bilateral trade.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin posted on the official portal of regulatory legal acts on Tuesday that Rosatom’s proposal to develop cooperation in maritime cargo transportation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has been approved.

The Arctic route will provide India with alternative passages to ship commodities to markets in eastern and northern Europe, saving up to 40% in distance and about two weeks of travel time compared to traditional routes through the Suez Canal.

The uncertainty over the transit of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after the Middle East conflict began late in February has impacted India, which is heavily dependent on energy imports.

The Arctic route pact would also be a significant boost to efforts by Russia and India to achieve the targeted $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.

🇷🇺🇮🇳 Russia Moves To Fast-Track Arctic Trade Route With India

Russia has authorized state nuclear giant Rosatom to sign an MoU with India to expand cooperation on cargo transport through the Northern Sea Route (NSR) - the shipping corridor that could emerge as an alternative to… pic.twitter.com/ByP8NnqUNP

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 15, 2026

Rosatom was instructed to sign the memorandum on behalf of the Russian government, Mishustin posted. Rosatom, which has assets in power engineering, machine building, and construction, is Russia’s designated operator and coordinator of the NSR.

The state-owned conglomerate also manages Russia’s unique fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, essential for keeping the Arctic shipping lane navigable.

In June, Aleksey Chekunkov, Russia’s minister for the development of the Far East and the Arctic, said India is considering increasing its use of the NSR in the wake of disruptions to seaborne trade in the Strait of Hormuz.

The outcomes of Putin’s trip also included the expansion of logistics links to develop the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai–Vladivostok corridor – also known as the Eastern Maritime Corridor (EMC) – and the NSR.

Putin said that cooperation on the 3,500-mile NSR, the 4,500-mile INSTC, and the 6,450-mile EMC would accelerate under the new bilateral agreement.

Israel has approved more than $400 million to establish dozens of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite international condemnation of what critics describe as the de facto annexation of Palestinian territory.

The West Bank, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, is home to around 3 million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers. Along with East Jerusalem and Gaza, it is envisioned as the core of a future Palestinian state under the internationally backed two-state solution.

The Israeli government said on Tuesday that the security cabinet allocated 1.3 billion shekels ($431 million) to establish 34 new settlements in the West Bank. The decision was announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler who oversees civilian affairs in the territory and has pledged to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Calling the decision “historic” and “a day of celebration for Israel and settlements,” Smotrich said another 1.075 billion shekels would soon be allocated to build roads serving the new communities.

Hamas condemned the plan as a “dangerous and criminal” step toward annexing the occupied territory, as cited by PressTV. The group accused Israel of seeking full control of the West Bank and urged Palestinians to intensify resistance, while calling on the UN and the international community to move beyond verbal condemnation and take practical steps to halt settlement expansion.

Israel has faced growing criticism over its West Bank settlement moves. While successive governments have stopped short of formally annexing the region, critics, including the UN, Arab states, and many Western allies, say the policy fragments Palestinian territory and further undermines the viability of a two-state solution.

The settlement drive has been accompanied by rising violence in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in 2023. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 117 Palestinian communities have been completely or partially displaced by settler attacks, which have more than doubled from around 850 in 2022 to over 1,820 in 2025.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says Israeli military operations and settler attacks have killed more than 230 Palestinian children since 2023.

Russia will continue to support Sahel countries in their fight against terrorism by helping to strengthen their armed forces, training security personnel, and providing humanitarian assistance, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Lavrov made the remarks during talks with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul. The two sides discussed regional security, including the situation in the Sahara-Sahel region and cooperation with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

“We intend to provide assistance to countries in the region on a bilateral basis, including by enhancing the combat readiness of national armed forces and training military and law enforcement personnel,” he said.

The foreign minister said Russia and its African partners are concerned about the growing threat from groups affiliated with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and Boko Haram spreading across the region. He also accused unnamed former colonial powers of attempting to undermine Russia’s ties with Sahel states, alleging that militants from Ukraine are being used alongside terrorist groups in destabilizing activities.

The Sahel has been embroiled in militant violence for over a decade, with factions linked to IS, Al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram carrying out attacks across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and neighboring countries.

Chad has also remained a key frontline state in the fight against militant groups, with Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants repeatedly targeting its forces around the Lake Chad region. In 2021, longtime Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno was killed while visiting troops battling rebels in the country’s north. More recently, Boko Haram attacks have killed dozens of Chadian soldiers, including at least 23 troops in an assault on a military post in the Lake Chad area in May.

Fadoul thanked Russia for its support in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, saying Chad appreciates its efforts, particularly toward the AES countries.

Fadoul said Chad intends to pursue and deepen its “historic and enduring” cooperation with Russia, describing bilateral ties as based on “trust, mutual respect and reciprocal interests.” The two sides are also set to sign an agreement exempting holders of diplomatic and service passports from visa requirements.

Russia is not the main threat facing Europe, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has insisted, arguing that Italians are more directly endangered by illegal immigration.

Salvini, who also serves as the country’s transport minister and leads the Lega party, made the remarks in an interview published on Tuesday.

When asked whether Russia poses a threat to Europe, he rejected the notion, stating that “the threat that Italian citizens face every day is illegal and clandestine immigration, especially of an Islamic extremist origin.”

Salvini has long singled out illegal migration as one of the primary issues facing Italy and Europe, and has pushed for tougher border controls and restrictions on migrant rescue vessels operating in the Mediterranean.

His comments come amid years of disputes inside the EU over illegal migration, asylum rules, border security, and the bloc’s handling of arrivals from the Middle East and Africa. According to Eurostat, the EU received more than 8.5 million immigrants from outside the bloc in 2023 and 2024.

Salvini has also repeatedly criticized EU policy toward Russia and the Ukraine conflict. He has opposed talk of a direct military confrontation with Moscow, stressing that “we are not at war with Russia” and that “the best path forward is dialogue.”

He has accused several European leaders of obstructing peace efforts in Ukraine in order to distract from domestic problems and criticized sanctions on Moscow, saying they have hurt European economies. Salvini has also called for the EU to resume Russian energy imports to ease pressure on households and businesses.

Moscow has dismissed claims that it is preparing to attack European NATO members as “nonsense” and has accused the West of jeopardizing global security through “reckless militarization.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed earlier this year that Russia is part of Europe, not a threat to it, and described the portrayal of Russia as Europe’s main danger as “unreasonable” and “wrong.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said Moscow does not seek war with Europe, but warned that Russia is ready if European states start one.

US President Donald Trump has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw Israeli troops from Syria and begin redeploying forces from southern Lebanon, Axios has reported, citing US and Israeli officials.

The reported appeal is the latest sign of a widening rift between the two leaders, with Trump pressing Israel to scale back its military deployments while Netanyahu’s government continues to insist on maintaining them indefinitely.

According to Axios, Trump warned Netanyahu during a phone call on Thursday that Israel’s military presence in southern Syria risked further escalation.

“They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” Trump reportedly told the Israeli leader. The president delivered a similar message regarding southern Lebanon, the outlet said.

It also comes amid Washington’s attempts to implement a US-backed framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon reached last month. Under the deal, Israel committed to withdraw its forces from two ‘pilot zones’ in southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to deploy there. Israel has yet to begin the withdrawal.

Israel says its troop deployments in southern Syria and Lebanon are necessary to prevent cross-border attacks similar to the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault. Several senior members of Netanyahu’s government have called for an open-ended military presence, with some also advocating Jewish settlements in the occupied areas.

In a statement released after the call, Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister had stressed “the need for security zones along Israel’s borders.”

The Jerusalem Post, citing defense officials, reported on Tuesday that the Israeli military was surprised by the Axios account and stressed there had been “no change on the ground” in either Lebanon or Syria.

The White House declined to comment on the details of the call and did not dispute Axios’ account. Instead, a US official reaffirmed Washington’s support for Israel, telling the outlet that “there has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump.”

Atlanta is tightening security ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina, media outlets report.

Consultations took place between FIFA, the FBI, and local law enforcement amid concerns that the long-standing rivalry between the two nations could increase the risk of clashes between supporters. Atlanta Police have announced an expanded presence across the city, including around Mercedes-Benz Stadium, team hotels and popular fan gathering areas.

Officials have also introduced separate stadium entrances and designated fan zones for supporters of each team. While tickets have not been fully segregated, England’s and Argentina’s official allocations of around 8,000 seats each will be located at opposite ends of the stadium. The authorities expect tens of thousands of supporters from both countries to descend on Atlanta for the match.

No match better encapsulates that history than the teams’ quarterfinal at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Argentina captain Diego Maradona scored twice in a 2-1 victory, first sending the ball into the net in the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal before producing one of the greatest individual strikes in football history, dribbling past five England players and goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score.

Maradona later said the opener was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” His second goal is widely regarded as one of the finest ever scored at the tournament.

Wednesday’s semifinal also carries added significance because it could be Messi’s final meeting with England on football’s biggest stage. The Argentine captain, who led his country to the 2022 title, is seeking another appearance in the final as he wraps up one of the sport’s greatest careers.

Both camps have sought to ease tensions before kickoff. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford have urged supporters to focus on the game, stressing that the rivalry should remain on the field.

US Senator Jim Banks of Indiana introduced legislation on Monday aimed at limiting birthright citizenship by declaring illegal migrants “invaders,” reviving President Donald Trump’s effort weeks after a US Supreme Court ruling struck it down.

Soon after returning to office last year, Trump signed an executive order to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the US to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily, as part of a broader immigration crackdown. In late June, the Supreme Court declared the president’s order unconstitutional.

“The Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision was an unprecedented assault on American sovereignty, and we must do whatever it takes to save our country,” Banks told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Monday.

The legislation aims to “ensure the millions of illegal aliens that invaded our country can’t continue to exploit our immigration system,” he added.

The bill would seek to codify Trump’s declaration that the US is under an “invasion” by illegal migrants and amend federal law to deny citizenship to their children under what Banks described as “a longstanding common law exception for children of foreign invaders.”

Since the start of his second term, Trump has pursued a sweeping immigration agenda, tightening border controls, expanding deportations, and seeking stricter voter registration requirements, while accusing Democrats of using immigration to “expand their voter base [and] cheat in elections.” Legal challenges to several of the administration’s immigration measures are still ongoing.

European NATO members are increasingly calling for a new nuclear strategy amid a military buildup frenzy under the pretext of the alleged ‘Russian threat’. The bloc’s members claim that spreading nuclear weapons across the continent will make them safer. Moscow has warned that this could lead to a catastrophic escalation.

A dozen NATO members, including those bordering Russia, have expressed a desire in recent months to either host nuclear weapons or take part in nuclear-sharing initiatives to varying degrees.

France has proposed the ‘forward deterrence initiative’, which would allow it to deploy its nuclear weapons to other European nations. Washington is also reportedly considering placing its nuclear weapons in more NATO countries, going beyond the bloc’s controversial nuclear sharing program.

‘We have to be feared’

In March, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested a new nuclear-sharing framework focused on European NATO members, calling it the ‘forward nuclear deterrence strategy’.

The president also announced that France would no longer disclose the size of its arsenal to ensure that its adversaries fear its potential, adding that “to be free, we have to be feared.” He also stated that France plans to increase its nuclear arsenal, which is currently just under 300 warheads, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Macron’s vision of security included the idea that “if we had to use our arsenal, no state, however powerful, could shield itself from it, and no state, however vast, would recover from it.”

Parade of volunteers

The French president has seen no shortage of volunteers willing to take part in this vision, with nine NATO nations signing up for the initiative, according to Reuters.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK are already hosting US nuclear weapons, alongside Italy and Türkiye, as part of the NATO nuclear sharing program. The scheme, which the bloc claims is fully compliant with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), allows non-nuclear NATO states to operate dual-capable aircraft.

Poland has long sought to join the club. Former President Andrzej Duda reportedly asked the US to deploy some of its nuclear arsenal to Poland as early as 2022. Last year, he made a similar request to the administration of President Donald Trump. Polish President Karol Nawrocki suggested in February that Warsaw should develop its own nuclear weapons program.

Finland and Lithuania have made changes in the law to make these deployments possible.

Germany has been vying for a leading role in what it describes as an EU-level nuclear weapons system. Last year, Jens Spahn, a senior lawmaker from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party, said Germany should gain access to French and British nuclear weapons and kickstart the process of modernization.

Moscow is ‘too responsible’ to trigger WWIII

Russia has warned that Europe’s military buildup will only lead to an escalation of tensions, maintaining that it does not pose a threat to any NATO nation and does not have any plans to attack the bloc or any members unless attacked first.

Russian officials have warned that the new deterrence strategy could backfire, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov saying false slogans about strengthening security will lead to the opposite results.

Russia is “too big and too responsible” to trigger a third world war through nuclear escalation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche last month. He added that “there are lots of crazy things in the heads of European politicians.”

President Vladimir Putin said in June that, although the Western nations no longer hide their preparations for war with Russia, they are still reluctant to attack it directly because “they understand that there will be retaliation.”

US President Donald Trump has refused to rule out a ground campaign in Iran, saying unspecified allied forces could seize key strategic sites like Kharg Island without the involvement of US troops, while threatening to expand the bombing campaign to include power plants and bridges.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump said he would consider a ground operation “if I thought it was appropriate.”

“Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people who will do the ground campaign for us... But we have already hit Kharg Island twice, even three times. I said, ‘Hit everything but the oil!’”

The president also vowed to intensify the air campaign, saying US strikes will continue until he decides “it’s enough.”

“They’ll continue until I say it’s enough. Next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

Trump warned that Iran “won’t have anybody left” unless it reaches a deal, claiming US officials relayed that message to Tehran “about an hour ago.”

More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli bombing campaign began on February 28, according to the authorities. One of the deadliest incidents was the strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, which killed 168 people, mostly children. Open-source investigations by media outlets concluded that the school was likely hit during a US strike on a nearby IRGC naval base. Trump denied US responsibility but said last month that “mistakes are made” and “nobody did that on purpose.”

In many countries around the world, the number of children who do not attend school is rising. UNESCO has already recorded this alarming trend, and it demands an explanation.

UNESCO regularly collects and publishes information on progress toward one of the key Sustainable Development Goals: The universal inclusion of school-age children in primary and secondary education. In recent years, negative developments in this sphere were often linked by experts to the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath. But the latest Global Education Monitoring Report 2026 allows the picture to be clarified significantly: It appears that we are dealing not with temporary difficulties, but with a change in the global trend – and the turning point seems to have occurred before the pandemic.

While in the 1990s and 2000s, most countries recorded high growth rates in children’s participation in education, after 2015, these gains slowed almost everywhere. In a number of countries, the number of children not attending school has increased. Since this primarily concerned countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, it might have seemed like just another example of ordinary African difficulties: Tribal wars, corruption, and so on. Then the pandemic began, and everyone was sent home. But now ten years have passed, and it turns out that the share of children not going to school is not shrinking at all – on the contrary, it is growing, and on a global scale.

The UNESCO report, of course, says nothing about this new global trend and, following the statistical reports of governments, paints a picture of the steady development of primary and secondary education systems worldwide. At the same time, the report notes that in “the four most populous regions of the world (Europe and North America, East and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa), growth in children’s participation in school education has stopped over the past ten years. And in a number of countries, the share of children not attending school has even increased somewhat after 2015.”

To understand what this means, we should first assess the scale and geography of the phenomenon. The best way to do this is to compare out-of-school rates for 2024 vs. 2015, as reported by UNESCO, and look at the countries where this growth was recorded.

At the same time, in 66 countries, the share of children who do not attend school has risen over the past decade. So the number of countries mentioned in the UNESCO report turns out to be very large indeed. Let’s now look at who they are.

The authors highlight the difficult situation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet of the aforementioned 66 countries, only 20 are in Africa. Incidentally, the situation south of the Maghreb is not so straightforward: For 20 countries with negative dynamics, there are 11 where the share of children not attending school has noticeably declined; in the remaining countries, there is no clear trend.

So, the historically reversed, regressive increase in the share of children not attending school is far from being an African phenomenon alone. On closer inspection, it becomes clear that the trend is not limited to the ‘underdeveloped periphery’. The example of Singapore is revealing – a beacon of globalization, a city-state with one of the highest standards of living and near-universal access to education. The idealized image of Singapore now needs revising, because over the past decade, a sharply growing share of children has appeared outside the school system: 5% of children do not attend primary school, 10% remain outside lower secondary education, and 14% are without upper secondary education.

Singapore is not the exception but the beginning of a list of developed countries where the share of children not attending school has risen. The list speaks for itself: The US, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Estonia. Meanwhile, EU member states such as Romania and Bulgaria are, by this negative indicator, already comparable to African countries, including those south of the Maghreb.

The global share of children not attending school is also significantly increased by the new leaders of the global economy – India and China, home to around 3 billion people, the lion’s share of the world’s population. The growth of their vast economies is not accompanied by growing school participation in primary and secondary education. The same can be said of Mexico.

In short, if anyone has not yet guessed, we are dealing with a global counter-trend: The inclusion of children in primary and secondary education has stopped growing and has begun to decline.

It was always assumed that urbanization, despite its many downsides, had an overall beneficial effect on humanity because it promoted information exchange, individualization, enlightenment, and the development of science and technology. Much skepticism has accumulated regarding the social consequences of scientific and technological progress, but the imperative of mass education – and especially children’s education – survived even the excesses of postmodernism and until recently retained its force. The link between education and urbanization seemed beyond doubt.

And now, at the beginning of the 21st century, when the absolute majority of humanity has concentrated itself in large cities, something unimaginable is happening: Children’s participation in school education has stopped growing and has begun to reverse. And this is happening not on the margins, but in the hyper-urbanized core of a unified ‘world civilization’. How should we understand this?

Let us recall and combine several simple truths.

The philosopher Karl Popper correctly saw the cultural dominant of human development in the growing individualization of people, though he poorly calculated its consequences. Progressive individualism has led to the atomization of society. Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman called modern individualized humanity ‘liquid’, because as the wills of emancipated individuals collide, all institutions and concepts lose certainty and binding force. The result of concentrating atomized humanity in megacities has been the transformation of the city – historically the cradle of individualization – into a space of maximum ‘liquidity,’ that is, the epicenter of advancing chaos.

Today’s world civilization is a globalized world-system of capital accumulation. As Aristotle pointed out long ago, chrematistics – in other words, capitalism – destroys society because it denies the principle of reciprocity on which human coexistence rests. In other words, capitalism absolutizes and cultivates individualism as the psychological, mental, and behavioral prerequisite for its own reproduction and triumph – for the capitalization of all humanity. That is why capitalism consistently profanes and nullifies the traditional social bonds and supports of life – religion, peoplehood, nation, historical memory, family – thereby deepening the natural individualization of human beings and returning progressive humanity to a ‘natural state’ in which churches, courts, state hierarchies, and universities become merely specialized arenas of a war of all against all.

‘Free’ individuals, driven and set against one another by the logic of capital accumulation, having lost mutual trust and the habit of cooperation, can no longer realize alternative scenarios. Meanwhile, increasingly powerful and increasingly narrow elite circles, concentrating ever more resources, become fully unbound from the constraints of human society. Social responsibility, having lost its former binding force and become intolerably burdensome under conditions of shrinking profit, is simply cut away.

The existentially important quality of the human being lies not in consuming and transmitting ever-larger amounts of information, but in the ability to verify it. Information, like rare-earth ore, consists of vast heaps of slag and only hard-won grains of knowledge. Therefore, the intensification of information exchange maximizes inequality and social power. The lives of great masses of individuals become transparent to outside observation, control, and influence – while the centers of power remain informationally and physically closed. Under conditions of growing informational noise, knowledge becomes harder to verify, and therefore even less accessible and more elitist. Participating in the production and consumption of informational noise, the masses easily and imperceptibly lose the ability to verify information and to learn. The main risk group in the information society is children.

Why did growth in school participation stop in 2015, and why did the number of children not attending school begin to rise? Because eight years earlier, in 2007, a new era began: The release of the iPhone launched the mass spread of smartphones, providing constant connection to the internet and apps – that is, instant access to entertainment and remote communication. This caused a fundamental shift of attention and an explosive rise in time devoted to digital leisure. And then, seven years later, the first human generation raised with gadgets reached school age. After that, every year there were more children with gadgets – and at the same time, more children not attending school.

Incidentally, the children who do attend school are also children with gadgets, who at best part with them only during class hours. Field research shows that in countries where students spent a lot of time using gadgets for entertainment during the school day, test results fell sharply from 2012 to 2022. So non-attendance is only the most vivid negative effect of informatization from childhood, not the only one.

Unfortunately, it can be predicted with confidence that both school participation and levels of knowledge will continue to decline – and the longer this continues, the steeper the decline. For we are now passing yet another turning point and entering a new stage in humanity’s informatization: The expansion of AI has begun.

The famous visionary Klaus Schwab proclaimed the “age of intelligence.” Speaking in May at the University of Johannesburg, Schwab said:

“What is the Intelligent Age doing? It is replacing our cognitive capabilities by algorithm.”

“You no longer need to go to university. For any question that requires knowledge, you can ask Claude, ChatGPT, or wherever else. Knowledge surrounds us and is available for free.”

Schwab, with the straightforwardness of a salesman, presents us with the alienation of intellect from the human being and offers us to hand over “our cognitive abilities” in exchange for easy access to knowledge. Why think when you can instantly get the answer?

One should not overestimate the cognitive resilience and evolutionary stability of Homo sapiens, while sentimentally invoking the ‘thinking reed’. Let us look at things soberly: Schwab has made us an offer we may not be able to refuse.

What is especially striking is his use of the word ‘free’. Compare Schwab’s promise to African youth with a statement made in March by Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, at the BlackRock infrastructure summit in Washington. With his target audience in mind, Altman was not offering propaganda, but a business model:

“We see a future where intelligence is a utility like electricity or water and people buy it from us on a meter.”

To make the prospect even more attractive to investors, Altman suggested a likely scenario of shortage in computing power, under which “the price gets really high.”

So knowledge will become more expensive. Informational garbage will grow in both volume and aggression. Most people’s ability to verify information will decline. AI will quickly become the dominant, and for many the only, source of knowledge and decisions. Easy access to ready-made answers will minimize the motivation to get an education. And if there is no longer any need to go to university, then there is all the less need to go to school – this is obvious. The withering away of mass schooling will happen faster than we can now imagine. The decline in children’s participation in education will preserve and deepen the apartheid between a rich, educated elite and a digitized mass.

By the end of the 20th century, the agenda of capitalist globalization included the erosion of historical nations. The withering away of mass schooling will finalize this process – nations will finally become shadows of the past. The roadmap for world civilization’s transition from humanism to transhumanism is perfectly clear. The question is whether nations with sufficient resources and sovereignty will be able to find an alternative path of development and preserve their social well-being.

The UK wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money during the Covid-19 pandemic, a damning report from the official public inquiry has concluded. Years of inadequate planning and systemic failures left Britain unprepared for the global race to secure vital medical supplies, the investigation found.

Published on Tuesday, the fifth report by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, chaired by former judge Baroness Heather Hallett, found that nearly £10 billion ($13.4 billion) of the approximately £14.9 billion spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) was wasted. Combined spending by the UK and the devolved administrations on PPE, ventilators, and testing equipment topped £42 billion between January 2020 and June 2022.

Britain was “simply not ready to compete” in the global race for vital medical supplies because those responsible were “caught off-guard, with inadequate and untested plans” for emergency procurement and distribution, Hallett said, adding that “the waste of taxpayers’ money was vast.”

The country entered the pandemic with its PPE stockpile “in a perilous state,” including large quantities of expired equipment, while emergency procurement and distribution plans had never been properly tested, according to the report. It also found that the country was too reliant on China for key medical supplies, leaving it vulnerable when governments around the world began competing for limited stocks.

Doctors, nurses, and care workers were left without adequate protective equipment, with some forced to use makeshift gear such as bin bags, shower caps, and supplies bought online, according to evidence cited by the inquiry.

The report also criticized the High Priority, or “VIP” lane, which fast-tracked offers from suppliers referred by ministers, MPs, peers and senior officials. Hallett called it a “misguided attempt at prioritization” that embedded unfairness and undermined public trust.

Earlier reports by the inquiry found that the authorities across the UK acted “too little, too late” during the pandemic and that delays in introducing restrictions contributed to thousands of additional deaths. They also described the cabinet of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson as having a “toxic and chaotic culture,” saying key decisions were often dominated or derailed by his inner circle.

France will grant Ukraine licenses to produce missiles and bombs on its soil, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday.

Speaking at a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ summit in Paris, Macron said the agreements would allow Ukraine to manufacture Aster 30 interceptor missiles, AASM glide bombs and SCALP-EG cruise missiles under license.

“We have agreed on licensing agreements for new capabilities,” he told reporters, adding that the move “will allow us to produce these capabilities much more quickly with our Ukrainian partners and on Ukrainian soil.”

The AASM and SCALP-EG have already been supplied to Kiev and have been widely used by Ukrainian forces, including in strikes on Russian civilian targets, according to Moscow.

Macron also said additional Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense batteries and Aster interceptors would be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks. He added that 16 Rafale fighter jets are expected to arrive in 2028-2029.

Nine participating countries also launched an Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition aimed at building a European integrated air defense network using shared industrial capacity, amid shortages of US-made Patriot interceptors due to the Ukraine and Iran conflicts.

The Kremlin has repeatedly condemned the coalition as “a group of countries that doesn’t want peace [and] wants the war to continue.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last month that NATO members were turning Ukraine into a “testing ground” for Western military technologies.

Several EU states reportedly began moving parts of their military production to Ukraine after the Russian Defense Ministry published what it said were the locations of European companies manufacturing drone components for Kiev. Moscow warned in March that European leaders were “dragging their countries into a war with Russia.”

The renewed hostilities between the US and Iran have once again disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after a brief period of relative normalization.

The escalation comes after Washington carried out several consecutive waves of strikes on Iranian targets, claiming that the attacks are meant to protect commercial shipping in the strait. Tehran has responded with strikes on US military facilities across the region and has declared the waterway closed.

It follows the collapse of a fragile understanding reached last month, under which the US agreed to lift its naval blockade while Iran was expected to help ensure safe passage for commercial vessels pending further negotiations. The two sides now accuse each other of violating the deal.

The waterway is the main sea route for oil and gas exports from the Gulf and carries around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, which has made it a major pressure point in the unprovoked US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz has once again been declared closed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after the US resumed strikes on Iranian targets last week, accusing Tehran of attacking commercial ships transiting the waterway.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the strikes are aimed at reducing Iran’s ability to threaten civilian vessels and commercial shipping. It said that American forces have hit Iranian air defenses, coastal radar sites, missile and drone facilities, small boats, and other military targets around the strait.

Iran has responded with strikes on US military facilities across the region, including bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman. Tehran says that the attacks are a lawful response to US strikes on Iranian territory.

What has Iran said?

Following the US claims of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels, Tehran said that it has the right to regulate traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and require ships to follow designated routes. It has warned that vessels attempting to pass without authorization or ignoring commands violate security procedures and may be treated as hostile.

Tehran has declared that the strait will remain closed until Washington ends its “illegal” military intervention in the region, and that no ship will be allowed to transit the waterway while US attacks continue.

Iranian servicemen will stand firm “until their last breath” and would not yield “even an inch” of the country’s rights in the key waterway, Iranian military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia has insisted.

Iranian officials have also framed the strikes on US bases in the Gulf as self-defense and have warned neighboring states not to allow their territory to be used for American attacks, saying countries that host US forces cannot expect to stay outside the conflict.

CENTCOM has said that American forces are prepared to keep the waterway open and prevent Iran from threatening commercial traffic, stating that the renewed strikes are aimed at protecting “freedom of navigation” through the strait.

US President Donald Trump has declared that Washington is now “in control” of the strait and will be “taking over” security in the Strait of Hormuz and act as its “guardian.”

He has also proposed charging a 20% fee on cargo moving through the waterway, because Washington should be reimbursed for its protection. The White House has not explained how such a fee would be calculated, collected, or enforced.

What has happened to shipping?

Several commercial vessels have reportedly been hit or threatened in or near the Strait of Hormuz since hostilities resumed.

The UAE said that two tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in Omani territorial waters on the southern lane of the strait. One Indian crew member was killed and eight others were wounded, according to reports citing UAE and Indian officials.

Shipping data cited by Reuters showed tanker traffic through the strait falling to its lowest level in two months as companies reassessed the risks of using the route.

Insurers are also expected to raise premiums for ships entering the area, increasing costs even for vessels that are not directly attacked.

Oil prices eased after the US and Iran signed the June memorandum of understanding, which reduced fears of a full-scale disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest escalation has reversed that trend.

Brent crude jumped nearly 10% on Monday, its biggest one-day gain since 2020, while US West Texas Intermediate rose more than 9%, according to market data. By Tuesday, Brent was trading around $86 a barrel and WTI above $80, their highest levels in about four weeks.

The latest spike remains below the levels seen during the earlier phase of the war, when prices briefly rose above $120 a barrel after traffic through Hormuz was heavily restricted. Analysts have warned that a sustained disruption in the strait could send oil back above $100 a barrel.

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said that the country’s exports are continuing “as usual” despite Washington’s decision to cancel a 60-day sanctions waiver. He said that Tehran has mechanisms to bypass US restrictions.

What has been the international response?

China has called for safe and free passage through the Strait of Hormuz to be restored, saying that the waterway is intended for international navigation. Beijing added that it is ready to maintain communication with relevant countries and the wider international community on the issue.

India has summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador after an Indian crew member was killed and several other Indians were wounded in the strike on the two UAE tankers. New Delhi said that it lodged a protest over attacks on ships passing near Oman’s shores.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized Trump’s proposed 20% protection fee, saying that “in the old days, this was called piracy.” He accused the US president of trying to take advantage of a tragedy to make money.

Russia has warned that the renewed escalation is undermining chances for a settlement. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the fighting was damaging civilian infrastructure in Iran and civilian sites in Gulf states, and “closes the door that the memorandum appeared to have opened.” He added that Moscow views the latest developments as a violation of the US-Iran agreement reached last month.

Behind all the projected confidence, determination and unity that came out of the NATO summit in Ankara last week, a different picture emerges. A picture spiderwebbed with widening cracks.

Unity on paper, divergence in practice

The NATO alliance was never designed as a bloc whose governments would agree on every international issue. Today’s disagreements, however, go well beyond tactical disputes and increasingly concern the fundamental strategic questions shaping global security.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has exposed these divisions particularly clearly. Despite Washington’s expectations, several of its major European allies – including France, Britain, Italy, and Spain – have shown little willingness to become directly involved. Their reluctance reflects not only concerns about escalation but also general political disagreements with Washington’s Middle East policy.

Should the confrontation with Iran expand, these differences are likely to become even more pronounced. Türkiye’s regional priorities differ significantly from those of Washington, while many European governments remain deeply skeptical of another major military engagement in the Middle East. Rather than strengthening transatlantic cohesion, the crisis risks widening existing political fault lines.

The same pattern appears elsewhere. NATO continues to describe China as a long-term strategic challenge, yet member states differ considerably on how confrontational their policies should become. Meanwhile, critically important regions such as the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and the Arctic received remarkably little attention in Ankara despite their growing geopolitical significance.

Military spending remains the most contentious point. Washington continues pressing European NATO members toward spending 5% of GDP on defense. While several countries support this long-term objective, others remain openly resistant.

Spain has emerged as the clearest example. Madrid argues that military effectiveness cannot be measured solely by GDP percentages. Spanish leaders emphasize that defense spending has risen dramatically – from just 0.9% of GDP in 2018 to approximately 2% today – while equipment procurement has expanded substantially, overseas missions have increased, and investment in the domestic defense industry has accelerated.

From Spain’s perspective, capability is more important than arbitrary spending targets – but the issue goes deeper than that. Spain’s opposition also reflects political tensions with Washington, including disagreement over the conflict involving Iran and growing discomfort with US support for Israeli military operations.

NATO’s future burden-sharing discussions are increasingly shaped by national political calculations rather than by a shared strategic vision.

In his keynote speech, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Meanwhile claimed the bloc is “on the cusp” of a “transatlantic defense industrial revolution.” But these big words were not matched by equally ambitious decisions. Europe still faces structural obstacles that cannot be solved by summit declarations alone. National armed forces remain understrength after decades of reductions, defense manufacturing capacity remains insufficient, and financial institutions have often discouraged investment in military production.

Ukraine no longer unites NATO

If any issue once symbolized NATO unity, it was Ukraine. That consensus is steadily weakening.

Support for continued military assistance is also becoming increasingly fragmented. Before the summit, Slovakia again declared that it would oppose additional military aid to Kiev. Hungary maintains a similar position, while the Czech Republic’s limited participation in the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism of quick delivery of US-made military hardware to Kiev appears largely tactical, allowing Prague to avoid direct transfers without abandoning previously approved commitments.

Immediately after the summit, Bulgaria’s new government announced that no further military support would be provided to Ukraine. The practical implications will depend on whether this decision affects only official state donations or extends to commercial arms exports and industrial cooperation. At roughly the same time, the Netherlands acknowledged that its capacity to provide additional direct military assistance had effectively been exhausted.

The Ankara declaration also welcomed the EU’s multi-year €90 billion Ukraine Support Loan. Yet even within the EU, unanimity proved elusive. Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic declined to participate.

None of these individual decisions fundamentally changes Ukraine’s immediate military position. Together, however, they reveal a broader trend: political consensus regarding long-term support for Kiev is becoming increasingly fragile.

Perhaps the most consequential discussion in Ankara concerned NATO’s long-term evolution.

Alliance leaders increasingly describe the emerging model as ‘NATO 3.0’ – a more Europeanized bloc in which European members assume primary responsibility for conventional military power while the US retains its nuclear leadership.

In principle, this evolution makes strategic sense. Washington’s long-term focus is gradually shifting toward the Indo-Pacific, making it increasingly difficult to sustain the same military presence in Europe indefinitely.

Uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s attendance is a good indication of the doubts about America’s future commitment. Trump ultimately traveled to Ankara, remarking that his presence reflected his close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Meanwhile, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth had considered announcing significant reductions in US troop deployments before ultimately refraining from doing so.

More importantly, the Pentagon has already launched a comprehensive review of America’s military footprint across Europe, examining troop levels, bases, and military access arrangements. Even if immediate reductions do not occur, the direction of travel appears clear.

For Europe, greater strategic responsibility offers both challenges and opportunities. Investment in counter-drone capabilities, digital infrastructure, joint procurement, resilient supply chains, and stronger domestic defense industries addresses genuine weaknesses that accumulated over decades of underinvestment. These efforts correspond naturally with a gradual American military rebalancing.

A new European military backbone is gradually taking shape around France, Germany, and Poland. France contributes nuclear capabilities and has become increasingly willing to discuss extending aspects of its deterrence to European partners. Germany has become the world’s fourth-largest military spender and is rebuilding capabilities at unprecedented speed. Poland already spends well above 4% of GDP on defense and intends to approach 5% in the coming years while competing with Germany to field Europe’s largest conventional army.

This transformation represents one of the most significant shifts in European security architecture since the Cold War.

Yet even this transformation contains an important contradiction. Its central political premise remains the characterization of Russia as a long-term strategic threat. Whether this assumption continues to define European security policy over the next decade is far from certain.

Across Europe, domestic politics are evolving rapidly. In Germany, Alternative for Germany has become the country’s strongest political force and could realistically enter government before the end of the decade. Party co-leader Alice Weidel has openly argued for restoring German-Russian relations and ending Germany’s boycott of Russian energy imports. In France, National Rally is the country’s most popular political movement, and forces aligned with Marine Le Pen could capture the presidency next year.

Elsewhere, numerous patriotic parties avoid openly advocating rapprochement with Moscow largely for tactical reasons rather than because such positions have disappeared.

These domestic political shifts may ultimately prove more consequential than any communiqué adopted in Ankara. Summit declarations reflect today’s governments. But elections may shape tomorrow’s strategic doctrines.

The Ankara Summit therefore should not be remembered primarily for its carefully worded statements about unity or ambitious defense spending targets. Its lasting significance lies elsewhere. It demonstrated that NATO remains operationally functional but politically more heterogeneous than at any point in recent decades.

In the end, Ankara revealed an uncomfortable truth. NATO’s greatest challenge comes from the growing fractures among its own members – fractures rooted in legitimate national interests, shifting political winds, and doubts about whether the current anti-Russian obsession serves Europe’s long-term security.

Europe cannot play a meaningful role in resolving the Ukraine conflict while trying to exclude Russia from the process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, calling the bloc’s position a “dead end.” 

Peskov was responding to remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who argued that any future “security guarantees” for Kiev should be determined by Ukraine and its Western backers without Russia’s participation. 

“Such statements demonstrate that the position taken by the Europeans is a dead end. If they insist on it, they will have no role in the settlement process,” Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. 

Merz made the comments at a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ summit in Paris on Monday, where he pledged that Germany and Ukraine’s other Western supporters would continue supplying military aid to Kiev after any future ceasefire. 

The group brings together several EU nations, as well as the UK, Norway, Iceland, and Türkiye. It has been discussing post-conflict security arrangements for Ukraine, including proposals to deploy a multinational force, despite Russia’s repeated rejection of foreign troops near its borders. 

At last week’s NATO summit in Ankara, member states agreed to provide Ukraine with more than €70 billion ($80 billion) in military assistance this year and next. Germany pledged the largest national contribution. 

The latest pledges come as Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and residential areas in recent months amid continued setbacks on the battlefield, launching several hundred UAVs a day on average. Moscow has also reported a growing number of FPV drone attacks, including AI-guided models, targeting passenger buses and private vehicles. 

The Kremlin has repeatedly said that any lasting peace settlement must address the root causes of the conflict, including Ukraine’s neutrality, demilitarization, protection of Russian speakers, and recognition of the territorial realities on the ground. 

Russian forces have carried out high-precision strikes on drone and missile production facilities in Kiev, as well as military-related port infrastructure in Odessa, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Among the targets was the state-owned enterprise Radioizmeritel, which the ministry described as a key supplier of electronic components for Neptun-MD guided missiles and FP-7 and FP-9 ballistic missiles produced by Fire Point. The company was promoted internationally by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and has been linked to his former business associate Timur Mindich, who has been accused of running a large-scale corruption scheme.

The ministry also said it struck the Kiev-79 enterprise, which assembles warheads for Ukrainian drones and missiles and serves as a logistics hub for military equipment.

Last week, the MOD said that its long-range strike campaign had demonstrated that Russian weapons can “reliably penetrate any anti-aircraft air or missile defense systems provided to Zelensky by Western sponsors.” It added that Kiev had deployed virtually all available Western air defense systems to protect the capital but failed to prevent Russian strikes from reaching their targets.

Moscow has intensified long-range attacks on Ukraine’s military-industrial and dual-use infrastructure in recent weeks. The Defense Ministry has described the campaign as retaliation for Ukrainian terrorist attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, which it says have increased as Kiev’s forces have suffered setbacks on the battlefield.

Earlier this month, Russia announced that it had captured Konstantinovka, a major Donbass city on the southern edge of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the last major urban stronghold under Kiev’s control in the region.

A man who claims to be a US national and to have served in the US Navy has been arrested in India for sneaking into the country without valid identification.

Jordan Brown was detained Monday as he tried to cross over to Nepal from India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. He tried to escape when challenged by border guards but was arrested with help from local people. 

Brown reportedly told officials that he hails from California, studied at the University of California, and served in the US Navy and Special Forces. He said he left the service two years ago.

Indian agencies are viewing Brown’s arrest seriously as in March, an American citizen was arrested by India’s anti-terror agency along with six Ukrainian nationals. Former US special forces soldier Matthew Van Dyke was accused of illegally entering India’s restricted northeast, crossing over into Myanmar illegally, and providing weapons training to insurgents there.

🚨Security Alert As 'Ex-US Navy' Man Held After 8 Months Illegal Stay In India

A man claiming to be a former US Navy serviceman was arrested near the India-Nepal. He was without a passport or valid travel documents, according to police.

Authorities said the 36-year-old claimed… https://t.co/HnMW16Jhav pic.twitter.com/uep6krIFbv

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 14, 2026

Van Dyke recently made headlines for seeking permission to cook his own meals in Delhi’s Tihar Jail where he is being held.

India’s border police recovered 31,460 rupees ($330) in cash and two mobile phones, religious books, an AI translation device, a Chinese passport, a diary, and a wristwatch from Brown.

He has been booked under the Immigration and Foreigners Act for entering India without valid documents. “We have informed the embassies, and further legal proceedings are underway,” said an officer. It is not clear whether the officer was referring to the US and Chinese embassies.

Brown has made various claims about his travel history. According to one account, he traveled to Thailand on a tourist visa. After losing his passport there, he managed to reach Sri Lanka by sea, and then India. Brown claims he resided in Goa on India’s west coast before trying to travel to Nepal.

In another statement, he said he arrived in Goa directly from the US two months ago and spent six weeks there. He then went to Bengaluru, from where he boarded a long-distance bus to the north Indian city of Lucknow on July 8, and later reached Gorakhpur, then hired a taxi to Sonauli, where he was arrested.

Bulgaria has no place in the coalition of Western nations pushing for continued military aid to Ukraine, Prime Minister Rumen Radev has told Bulgarian broadcaster bTV.

The France and UK-led “coalition of the willing” has long pushed to deploy troops into Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, despite Moscow’s repeated warnings that any NATO troops on Ukrainian territory would become legitimate military targets.

“We’re not part of a coalition pushing for continued financial and military aid to Ukraine,” Radev told bTV during a press conference in France on Tuesday.

“We don’t provide aid of that kind, because I believe the way to resolve this conflict is through a strong diplomatic effort to end the escalation rather than by prolonging it by military means,” he added.

Last week, Radev, a Euroskeptic elected after the previous pro-EU government collapsed last year following massive anti-corruption protests, announced that Bulgaria has exhausted its capacity to support Kiev militarily.

Moscow has long condemned arms supplies to Ukraine, warning that they only prolong the war and cause more deaths, without altering the course of the conflict – which Russia views as a Western proxy war.

EU nations are losing what remains of their “rationality and drifting into a high-risk zone” in an effort to turn Ukraine in to a “testing ground” for their emerging military technologies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in late June.

A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17:48 Moscow time to deliver a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Russian Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is expected to dock at the ISS at 20:56 Moscow time. Onboard are Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina as well as NASA astronaut Anil Menon.

The crew is expected to spend 261 days at the space station. The Russian program for the cosmonauts includes 38 scientific experiments as well as two spacewalks.The list of experiments includes tests of a new automatic atmosphere control system designed to make gas leak and fire detection at the ISS faster. Such systems can potentially also be useful in future space travel.

Another experiment involves a human-like Russian robot that could act as an “avatar” of a cosmonaut. Such robots could potentially replace people during spacewalks and perform some tasks at the ISS, according to the media reports. The crew is also expected to study sun energy releases to better predict sun flares and magnetic storms.

Menon travels to the ISS as part of the US-Russian cross-flight agreement. The deal signed in 2022 allows Russian cosmonauts to fly aboard American Crew Dragon spacecraft and American astronauts to fly aboard Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft. Kikina had already travelled to the ISS on the SpaceX capsule Endurance back in 2022, becoming the first Russian cosmonaut to do so.

Russians previously used US spacecraft to travel to space between 1994 and 2002, when NASA’s Space Shuttle program was still operative. The first such joint missions allowed US astronauts to visit Russia’s Mir space station as part of the Shuttle-Mir program, while the rest involved flights to the ISS. NASA discontinued the Shuttle program in 2011 and had to rely on Roscosmos to ferry astronauts to the space station until 2020.

Some guys die falling down the stairs while putting their pants on. Lindsey Graham went out much more boringly. Sorry to disappoint.

His demise is a tale as old as time. A guy with a medically-documented bad ticker has a jammer at home around the same age as his own father did. Pretty straightforward. And boring. Far too pedestrian, apparently, for some folks. Already, there seems to be an overlap between the people who imagine penises on women like Michelle Obama and Brigitte Macron, and those who fancy Graham’s death being the direct result of a foreign adversary getting their own rocks off. These people need to log off from their online insane asylum and touch grass.

Graham had just returned from Ukraine where he toured a weapons factory. So naturally some of these folks think that Putin had him knocked off. Except that he died at home on the other side of the world. So how does that square with a hit job? Easy, apparently. Because the poison used was time-released. Ah, yes – of course. Or maybe Putin bombed him in Ukraine but his pals conspired to weekend-at-Bernie’s him all the way back home to DC to help Putin out with a bit of crisis management.

It’s much less dramatic to admit that Graham was just a guy who died doing what he loved most – and spent the most time doing. That is, thinking up ways for the US to perversely inflict pain on other nations for refusing to bend over on command. Personally, I like swimming. A lot. If I dropped dead in a pool someday, no one would be surprised. If someone spends tons of time in front of the TV, their odds of dying there increase. So the fact that a warmonger dropped dead right after wrapping up his latest warmongering tour is par for the course.

But it’s so difficult for some folks to accept this straightforwardness. Because they imagine that there are so many people in the countries that Graham warmongered against who would have wanted him dead. Neocons who loved Graham think that’s the case. So do those who loathed him for the same reasons and say that they’re glad he was “taken out.”

Oh, but Graham had Trump’s ear! He was pushing Trump to blow more American cash on weapons “for Ukraine”! Yeah, yeah – and surely now that he’s gone, it’ll all come to a crashing halt, right? Trump’s two sons who are overtly raking in Pentagon cash for Ukrainian drone investments will just demand that their father bail on the whole thing now that Lindsey Graham is gone.

If offing people responsible for driving the current iteration of the American war machine was an actual solution for achieving peace, starting with Lindsey Graham is like offing Cookie Monster in an attempt to bring down the Sesame Street franchise: “Some people say me want too many cookies. Wrong. Me want the cookies necessary to ensure cookie dominance for generations…. Critics ask, ‘How many cookies does Cookie Monster need?’ Me ask, ‘How many cookies are our enemies hiding?’”

The clown simply goes off to the big cosmic tent – and nothing much changes. Graham was merely a cast member of America Inc., which has no shortage of understudies.

Let me make it emphatically clear that speaking ill of the dead isn’t my thing. What’s even the point? It’s not like karma needs help with the heavy lifting after it’s already dropped the anvil on someone. No need for anyone to subsequently pile on with a folding chair. But any fitting celebration of life involves reminiscing about that life. And when that life constantly involves promoting war, there’s not much wiggle room.

Even taking that claim at face value, does this mean that the moral high-bar now is being so genuinely obsessed with war and weapons that you champion them strictly from your soul without financial incentive? How does this not make it even worse? Seems like at least cash-for-war would be a less disgusting motive than simply getting your jollies from peddling tools of death and destruction.

“I can’t die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization,” Graham apparently told someone close to him shortly before packing it in permanently, according to Fox News. Turns out that karma’s ultimate regime change got to him first.

So US Senator Lindsey Graham can now be referred to permanently in the past tense. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for all his pet causes which continue to plague the planet. Because the war machine is immortal. It can easily afford to lose any single mascot and just keep on billing.

India is the only nation that is being forced to fuel growth while reducing its carbon footprint, an economic expert told RT India.

Today’s developed economies grew first and then retrofitted climate change mitigation, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said in the latest episode of ‘In Conversation with Salman Khurshid’ on RT TV.

“No other country in the world, history, had to grow exponentially and also reduce its carbon footprint at the same time,” Kumar said. “Other countries embarked on the growth process first and then retrofitted.”

“We don’t have that option,” he told Khurshid. India is now the world’s fourth-largest economy.

The IMF said last week in its World Economic Outlook that “India remains among the fastest growing major economies, with growth projected at 6.4%, supported by strong momentum in private consumption and services activity.” 

The world’s most populous nation has, at the same time, committed to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% below its 2005 levels until 2030, and achieve Net Zero by 2070.

Kumar also noted that it is a fact that private investors are not very keen on India, and that foreign investors have been taking money out.

“Our own investors are investing abroad or acquiring assets abroad,” he pointed out.

“In our country, unfortunately, our principal stakeholders – the government, the business, private sector, civil society, and academia – after 70 years, don’t work on the basis of mutual trust,” he said.

This approach, he added, doesn’t work in a global scenario, where competition is vigorous.

Kumar pointed out that India had suffered from some severe deficits including “the infrastructure deficit… the education or the skill deficit, or the health deficit.”

But many of these have been tackled quite successfully in the last decade. “What is still not changed enough is the education system,” he said.

“Although we have had a national education policy after three decades and I think its implementation is being done, but ever so gradually, and I hope it will speed up as we go along,” Kumar said.

He termed artificial intelligence “the fifth technological revolution” after steam, electricity, and others.

The economist stated that the time has come for India to collaborate with China to transform its economy.

India and China together can “make a huge difference to this global order and to the global economy,” he said.

India-China economic relations are slowly getting back on track, after a deadly border clash between their militaries froze ties in 2020.

The $100 billion bilateral trade target between India and Russia, he said, is “a target which is not just worth achieving, but must be achieved.”

“It’s an important trajectory to pursue as to which are the industries where we can export… increase our exports to Russia.”

Mark Lynch, who challenged Lindsey Graham in South Carolina’s recent Republican US Senate primary, hopes to take the seat that the late GOP politician left empty, he has told America Now on RT.

Lynch portrayed himself as a conservative outsider capable of breaking the state’s decades-long pattern of choosing career politicians.

Graham, a longtime Russia hawk, died on Saturday at the age of 71 following what his office initially called a brief and sudden illness. The senator’s death came a day after his return from Kiev, where he met Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.

Graham repeatedly called for increased economic pressure on Moscow, threatening Russia with what he described as “bone-crushing” sanctions. In recent months, he actively promoted a bill that would impose 500% tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil. The senator also described US military aid to Ukraine as “the best money we’ve ever spent” because “the Russians are dying.”

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister Darline Graham Nordone as interim senator on Monday following a recommendation from Trump. Lynch described the choice as unusual but said he would accept it and hoped the appointment would “go well.”

In an interview with America Now on Monday, Lynch said he initially rejected calls to discuss another campaign while Graham’s family was still grieving. “Nobody saw that coming,” he said, describing the senator’s death as “tragic” and offering prayers to his relatives.

Lynch said repeated appeals from supporters, however, eventually convinced him to enter the special Republican primary.

”After careful prayer and consideration” and talks with his campaign team, he said, “we have committed to stay in this fight and give our constituents what they’ve asked for.”

Lynch finished behind Graham in the June 9 Republican primary. The incumbent secured the nomination with roughly 59% of the vote while Lynch placed second in the multi-candidate contest.

Candidate filing will run from July 21 through July 28. The Republican primary is scheduled for August 11 with a runoff on August 25, if required.

Lynch said his campaign would emphasize his business experience, faith, and constitutional conservatism. “People are tired of career politicians,” he added.

Watch the full interview below:

Russian table tennis players will return to international competitions after the sport’s global governing body announced it had lifted restrictions imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) said in a statement on Monday that Russian athletes and teams will be “permitted to participate in ITTF table tennis and Para table tennis events, under the ordinary conditions applicable to all athletes, with effect from July 28, 2026.”

The federation said the decision followed the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) July 7 move to lift its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and withdraw its recommendations to international federations restricting Russia’s participation.

The federation noted that its decision does not affect matters such as national flags and anthems where those fall under the IOC’s jurisdiction. The IOC said last week it would decide “at the appropriate time” whether the restrictions on national symbols and colors will remain in place for future Olympic Games.

Most Olympic federations barred competitors from Russia and Belarus following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Several have since allowed individuals to compete as neutrals, while others, including World Aquatics, World Gymnastics and the International Fencing Federation (FIE), have restored their national symbols.

Select athletes from Russia and Belarus competed as individual neutral athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Russia fielded one of the largest delegations at the Olympic Games, with strong teams in swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and wrestling.

Moscow has argued that competitors should be judged solely on their sporting merit.

The US has barred its citizens in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) from boarding commercial flights home until they have spent at least 21 days in another country, citing the worsening Ebola outbreak.

The restrictions, announced by the Trump administration on Monday, will place US nationals currently in DR Congo or who recently left the country on a “do-not-board” list using federal transportation powers, Reuters reported, citing a White House official.

About two dozen Americans had been preparing to fly to the US on Tuesday, according to the official, who said the State Department would assist those affected during the waiting period.

The measure comes amid a fast-spreading outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in DR Congo, where 1,926 confirmed cases and 702 deaths have been reported by health authorities as of July 11.

On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said an American working for a humanitarian organization in DR Congo had tested positive for Ebola. Another US citizen infected while working in the Central African nation was admitted to Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany, his employer, the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse, said on Monday. Peter Stafford, a surgeon and leader with the Christian missionary group Serge who contracted the virus earlier in the outbreak, was also evacuated to Germany for treatment.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that although the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo continues to outpace the response, the risk of wider international spread remains low.

On Monday, the CDC announced that it had extended for another 30 days an earlier suspension on the entry of certain non-US citizens who had been in DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan during the previous 21 days.

Last month, a Kenyan court halted Washington’s plan to build a 50-bed facility near Laikipia Air Base to quarantine US citizens exposed to Ebola, following legal challenges and deadly protests.

The EU imported a record volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s flagship Yamal project in the first half of 2026, ahead of a planned ban on supplies from Russia, the Financial Times has reported. 

Brussels has promised to ban imports of Russian LNG under long-term contracts from January 1, 2027 which would eliminate supplies that currently account for around 14% of the bloc’s imports of the fuel. Purchases under new short-term contracts are already prohibited.

The bloc bought 9.89 million tons from Yamal LNG, operated by Russian energy giant Novatek, up 18% year-on-year and absorbing nearly all of the Arctic facility’s output, months before the EU import ban is due to take effect, the outlet said on Monday citing data from energy analytics firm Kpler.

Meanwhile, Yamal LNG shipments to Asia dropped 74% year-on-year to just over 510,000 tons as Europe soaked up most of the project’s output.

The EU has faced soaring energy costs after scaling back imports of Russian energy following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict and pursuing an ambitious green transition. The situation has been exacerbated by the Middle East crisis, which disrupted LNG supplies from Qatar – the source of roughly a fifth of global exports. 

Having replaced much of its Russian gas with more expensive American LNG, the bloc has been particularly vulnerable to the resulting supply shock. Ivan Jimenez, the head of one of Europe’s largest LNG import hubs, the Port of Bilbao in Spain, urged Brussels last month to postpone its planned ban on Russian LNG, warning that the EU risks becoming overly dependent on US supplies.

The EU’s shift away from Russian energy has made the US its largest external gas supplier and has been hailed by Brussels as a step toward greater energy security. However, Washington has already begun leveraging its dominant position in Europe’s energy market. Last month, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned that American LNG exports would “flow somewhere else” if the EU refused to revise its planned methane emissions monitoring rules for imported gas, which are due to take effect in 2027.

At least eight people have been killed and five others injured after gunmen opened fire on residents following a funeral in Nigeria’s Benue State, police and local officials have said.

The violence occurred early on Sunday in Akpachi and Otukpo-Nobi in Otukpo Local Government Area.

Benue State police spokeswoman Udeme Edet said on Monday that the attackers raided the Otukpo-Nobi community at about 6 AM local time on Sunday, where they also set houses and a motorcycle ablaze before fleeing.

“The command received a distress call reporting that armed assailants invaded the community shortly after the successful conclusion of the wake and burial rites of the late Mr. Adaje Okoh,” Edet said in a statement.

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia blamed suspected armed herdsmen for the attacks, saying they invaded Akpachi between 3 AM and 4 AM while residents were asleep.

He described the attack as an “act of mindless bloodshed” and a direct attempt to sabotage the state’s progress. He ordered security agencies to intensify patrols, pursue the assailants, and deploy additional personnel, adding that the authorities would not allow the communities to become “killing fields.”

Benue has suffered years of violence linked to disputes between farming and pastoral communities over land and water. About 150 people were killed in an attack on the Yelewata community last year.

The motive remains unclear, but local government chairman Maxwell Ogiri linked the violence to the killing of the head of a herders’ association two weeks earlier, Reuters reported.

Africa’s most populous nation has grappled with a worsening security crisis for more than a decade, with jihadists affiliated with Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province frequently attacking villages, military bases, churches, and schools and carrying out mass kidnappings.

India has summoned Iran’s deputy chief of mission in New Delhi after an attack on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz left an Indian crew member dead and injured eight others.

The attack was the second such incident in less than a week, after the hostilities in the Middle East over the control of the strategic waterway resumed following a lull induced by a temporary truce between Iran and the US in June.

The defense ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said in a social media post on Tuesday that an Indian crew member died and eight others were injured when two of its tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

India’s foreign ministry said it summoned Mohammad Javad Hosseini to lodge a ‘strong protest’ against the Iranian attacks on oil tankers passing through the waterway.

The Mombasa and Al Bahiyah were struck while transiting via the southern lane of the strait in Oman’s territorial waters. The dead crew member was on board the Mombasa tanker.

❗️ India ‘Deeply Concerned’ By Attacks on Two Vessels in Strait of Hormuz – MEA

‘We strongly condemn these attacks and acts of violence targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways.’

One Indian seafarer tragically lost his life in… https://t.co/VIZ1zx6ln2 pic.twitter.com/FUqW38cUL7

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 14, 2026

Of the eight wounded, four were seriously injured. Six of the wounded were Indian nationals, and the rest were identified as Ukrainian nationals.

“India is closely monitoring the situation and is in touch with the UAE authorities to ensure assistance to the affected Indian seafarers,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

New Delhi “strongly condemned” the attacks targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways, adding “the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must cease.”

The Middle East conflict has resulted in the death of nearly a dozen Indian nationals. Several seafarers have been rescued as ships and tankers have come under attack.

An Indian sailor who was onboard the Cyprus-flagged GFS Galaxy, which was attacked off Oman’s northern coast while transiting the Strait of Hormuz last Saturday, is also reportedly missing. Twenty-three crew members, including ten Indian sailors, have been rescued.

India summoned US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks to the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi twice then over the deaths.

Washington has said it will resume enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran from Tuesday. US forces also carried out new waves of attacks over the weekend on Iranian targets in retaliation for Tehran’s strikes on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has targeted several countries in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Jordan after the US attacks.

US President Donald Trump has given Saudi Arabia the green light for a renewed military operation against Yemen’s Houthi movement, Axios has reported, citing US officials.

The report follows the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in years, which according to the outlet, could mark the collapse of an unofficial truce between the parties and risk widening the conflict between the US and Iran.

Sanaa International Airport, which is controlled by the Yemeni group, was struck on Monday as an Iranian aircraft reportedly carrying a Houthi delegation home from the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei approached the capital. The plane was forced to divert to the Red Sea port city of Al Hudaydah.

The Houthis accused Riyadh of launching the strike and declared that their ceasefire with Saudi Arabia was over. The group subsequently fired ballistic missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia and warned airlines against using Saudi airspace.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government later claimed responsibility for the operation and denied that Riyadh had been involved. Several media reports, however, attributed the attack to Saudi Arabia, which has not officially acknowledged carrying it out.

Sanna was seize by the Houthis, an Iran-aligned Shiite movement, in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. A UN-brokered truce introduced in April 2022 formally expired after six months but largely halted direct cross-border hostilities.

In March, the Houthis entered the broader regional conflict by launching missile attacks against Israel in support of Iran.

A former Ukrainian brigade commander has been detained in Kiev over allegations that he ordered soldiers to kidnap and kill two civilian brothers following a personal dispute, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed.

Stanislav Luchanov, the former commander of Ukraine’s 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade, who had previously also served in the infamous ‘Skala’ regiment, was arrested in Kiev on Monday after investigators accused him of organizing the abduction. Nine other servicemen had previously also been detained in the case.

The incident revolves around what began as a personal dispute in the village of Kalinovka in Kiev Region, between the two brothers, Maksim and Roman Moseychuk, and Luchanov’s wife, who had complained that the men were riding motorcycles and playing loud music.

After she confronted them, the brothers allegedly insulted her. The woman reportedly complained to Luchanov, who demanded that the two men apologize. When they refused, he allegedly ordered several servicemen under his command to “punish” them.

In the early hours of June 28, armed men broke into the brothers’ property, abducted them and transported them to another region. Their bodies were later found buried in a forest in Poltava Region, with multiple gunshot wounds.

Luchanov and the other suspects are now being investigated for the illegal detention and premeditated murder of two civilians and could face life in prison if convicted. The commander has also reportedly been charged with desertion for abandoning his unit after the case became public.

The scandal has also drawn renewed attention to Luchanov’s previous service in the 425th Separate Assault Regiment ‘Skala’, which has itself been at the center of a major abuse scandal.

The Ukrainian military has since suspended the unit’s commander, Yury Harkaviy, pending an investigation.

The Ukrainian outlet Strana has reported that investigators are now also looking into mysterious disappearances of servicemen from Luchanov’s 155th Brigade. The outlet’s sources have claimed that soldiers who fell out of favor with the commander may have been killed and listed as combat losses.

The cases come as Ukraine faces worsening manpower shortages, mass desertions and growing public anger over forced mobilization. Ukrainian media have repeatedly reported violent draft raids, deaths in conscription centers and abuse inside military units.

Moscow, meanwhile, has accused Kiev of relying on coercion to replenish battlefield losses and sacrificing its own population to keep fighting on behalf of Western backers.

The strategic northern town of Anefis, Mali has been reclaimed by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and Russia’s Africa Corps after more than a week of fighting with armed groups, the West African nation’s military has said.

In a statement on Saturday, FAMa said its force and partners had taken “total control” of the town and were consolidating their positions through clearing operations targeting the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), and affiliated groups.

The military said a major logistics convoy from Gao entered Anefis on the night of July 9 after air and ground operations secured the route despite ambushes and kamikaze-drone attacks. It said 15 airstrikes had destroyed 12 combat vehicles and killed nearly 100 fighters across Anefis, Tabrichat, and Koulebala within 24 hours.

A subsequent statement said five more fighters had been “neutralized” and a combat vehicle destroyed during operations on July 10 and 11.

Earlier on Saturday, FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said the group’s fighters were in control of most positions in Anefis and had imposed a five-day blockade on Malian and Russian forces. The statement acknowledged that the group had lost fighters and vehicles but did not provide figures.

Mali has battled a jihadist insurgency since 2012, a crisis that has spilled into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. The three military-led states have severed defense ties with France, expelled French troops, and repeatedly accused Paris of sponsoring terrorism in the Sahel. They have since turned to Russia for security support.

The latest clashes began on July 4, when FLA fighters launched coordinated attacks on positions in Anefis, Aguelhoc, Gao, Sevare, and Kenioroba. FAMa said Malian and Africa Corps forces repelled the assaults and killed at least 26 militants.

In a separate statement on Sunday, the military said several fighters and armed vehicles had been detected near Aguelhoc and targeted with precision airstrikes.

Russian security officers have foiled a Ukrainian attempt to strike one of the leading “strategic” defense enterprises in the Moscow Region using 35 explosive-laden drones that were smuggled into Russia through several European nations, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement on Tuesday.

FSB operatives obtained intelligence earlier this year about the Ukrainian Security Service’s (SBU) plan to smuggle dozens of drones into Russia through Slovakia, Poland, and Belarus with assistance from Ukraine’s Western backers. Since then, the criminal activities of Kiev’s agents have been closely monitored and documented by the Russian security services.

The drones were concealed inside a shipment of Spanish ceramic tiles and were eventually delivered to a warehouse in Moscow Region. The facility, located not far from the intended target, had been rented by a local man recruited by the SBU.

The main suspect, who assembled and prepared the drones for launch, was identified as a former member of an ethnic criminal gang who obtained Russian citizenship in 2023. He was allegedly recruited by the SBU through its connections within Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), a designated terrorist group.

The scheme was “directly assisted” by the security services of several European states, according to the FSB. The drones were equipped with Canadian-made, electronic warfare-resistant AI control modules and carried charges containing US-made C4 plastic explosives equivalent to around 4kg of TNT, according to a senior FSB forensic technician and bomb-disposal specialist.

Footage published by the FSB showed security officers storming the warehouse and destroying the drones just before they were due to be launched at their target. The operatives detained the main suspect, who had fled the scene and was attempting to contact an “evacuation group” that was supposed to help him reach Ukraine.

The accomplice who rented the warehouse offered armed resistance and was killed in a shootout with officers who stormed his apartment.

On Monday, the FSB reported thwarting another “unprecedented” attack on Russian military airfields that also involved smuggled AI-guided drones. Last week, the agency announced the seizure of 13 AI-powered UAVs that the Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR) had smuggled into Russia in a bid to stage an attack on a military airfield in Rostov Region in the south of the country.

Major European banks are suing a German industrial group for hundreds of millions of euros over its withdrawal from a Russian gas project due to EU sanctions, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The dispute centers on a €10 billion ($11.4 billion) gas processing plant in Ust-Luga near St. Petersburg, agreed in 2021 between Gazprom-linked RusChemAlliance (RCA) and a consortium that included German engineering company Linde. After receiving more than €1 billion in advance payments, Linde halted work in 2022, citing EU sanctions. RCA sought compensation, prompting Russian courts to seize assets held by several European banks in Russia and target Linde’s Russian joint-venture interests.

According to the FT, Deutsche Bank is seeking about €260 million from Linde, while UniCredit has filed a separate claim worth roughly €450 million. Commerzbank is also suing the company for nearly €100 million.

The banks argue Linde is contractually obliged to reimburse them after they refused to honor guarantees issued for the project, saying payment would have violated EU sanctions. The guarantees had been issued after RCA advanced more than €1 billion to Linde.

The litigation could determine whether banks that issue guarantees remain liable for losses caused by sanctions or whether they can recover those costs from companies whose withdrawal triggered the claims, the FT said.

Linde said the Frankfurt lawsuit concerns “complex issues relating to a guarantee agreement” tied to a Russian industrial project that it terminated in compliance with EU sanctions. The company declined further comment because of the ongoing proceedings. It has disclosed contingent liabilities of about $1.2 billion related to advance payments received for the cancelled RCA projects.

Many international companies suspended operations or exited Russia after the EU and other Western nations imposed sweeping sanctions in 2022, triggering a wave of contractual disputes over projects, assets, and financial obligations.

A dispute over an immigration bill passed by the European Parliament has escalated into a criminal complaint, with a Swedish MEP accusing a Danish colleague of racist hate speech over a social media comment, The Guardian reported on Monday.

A Swedish MEP of Iraqi descent, Abir Al-Sahlani, filed the complaint with Swedish police against Danish MEP Kristoffer Storm. He told her to “go home” in response to her post criticizing anti-immigration chants that followed the passage of a law aimed at speeding up the deportation of illegal migrants. She has also lodged a formal complaint with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

The dispute stems from last month’s approval of the Return Regulation, the toughest anti-immigration legislation passed by the EU in recent years. The measure allows member states to establish ‘return hubs’ outside the bloc to accelerate the deportation of illegal migrants.

“I have never felt as unsafe in this parliament as after the voting about the Return Regulation, because the shouting of the far right was not against the political opponent… It was about ordinary people who did no other crime than looking for a better life in Europe,” she said.

Storm rejected accusations that his response online was racist. Speaking to Politico, he said the phrase “go home” referred to leaving the parliamentary chamber, arguing that if Al-Sahlani found the democratic decision and lawmakers’ reactions so upsetting, “she would have been better off leaving the chamber.”

The clash comes amid growing tensions over migration across the EU. According to Eurostat, the bloc received more than 8.5 million immigrants from outside the bloc in 2023 and 2024, and immigration remains one of the most divisive issues in European politics.

Polish politician Marianna Schreiber has posted a video of herself throwing a portrait of Vladimir Zelensky in the trash, accusing Kiev of glorifying the Ukrainian nationalists who engaged in the massacre of Poles during World War II.

Schreiber, a blogger and current candidate for mayor of Krakow, shared the clip on social media, where she is seen holding a portrait of Zelensky with a Hitler-style moustache drawn on his face.

”Banderites are not heroes. They are a disgrace to humanity,” Schreiber said in the video, referring to followers of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

”Unfortunately, even after all these years, we have not received an apology,” she added. “On the day of Bloody Sunday, I want to say that Poles remember and will never, ever forgive.”

She then crumpled the portrait and threw it into a trash bin, saying that “the place for people who glorify criminals is in the trash can of history.”

#Wołyń #Pamiętamy pic.twitter.com/hVAHyGLqqI

— Marianna Schreiber (@MSchreiberM) July 11, 2026

Bloody Sunday refers to July 11, 1943, when the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the OUN’s military wing, carried out coordinated attacks on Polish villages in Volhynia. The massacre was part of a wider campaign in which up to 100,000 ethnic Poles were murdered by Ukrainian nationalists between 1943 and 1944. Poland recognizes the killings as a genocide.

Polish officials condemned the move, calling it “outrageous” and warned that Ukraine will not join the EU as long as it continues to venerate Bandera and the OUN-UPA.

Kiev has also faced criticism over the recent state reburial of Andrey Melnik, another OUN leader who cooperated with Nazi Germany.

Russia has long argued that Kiev glorifies Hitler’s collaborators at the state level and has cited the “denazification” of Ukraine as one of the key goals of its military operation. Moscow has also accused Ukraine’s Western backers of ignoring Kiev’s infatuation with Nazi ideology for years while continuing to arm it against Russia.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to expand attacks to civilian infrastructure next week if Iran refuses to bow to his demands, as Tehran vowed its forces will stand firm “until their last breath.”

The US Central Command reimposed the naval blockade of all vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports on Tuesday evening after launching yet another round of what Washington describes as “defensive strikes” against the Islamic Republic.

Trump said the strikes would continue until he personally decides “it’s enough,” promising that “next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges.”

The escalation comes as the two sides vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for some 20% of global crude oil trade. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that “as long as American mischief exists in the region, not a single drop of oil or gas will be exported.”

Trump formally notified Congress last week that Washington had resumed what he described as “defensive” strikes against Iran. He also claimed that Washington was “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz and would charge vessels “20% on all cargo shipped,” but later walked back the proposal, instead requesting “massive investments” from regional allies.

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US President Donald Trump has formally told Congress that Washington has resumed what he described as “limited defensive strikes” against Iran, Politico and the New York Times reported on Monday.

The US House of Representatives previously attempted to limit Trump’s war powers, arguing that he lacked congressional approval for the February 28 US-Israeli attack on Iran. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president must withdraw American forces after 60 days unless Congress authorizes the war.

In a letter dated Friday and obtained by the outlets, Trump reportedly argued that the renewed US strikes on the Islamic Republic represent his “responsibility to protect Americans and the United States’ interests both at home and abroad.”

LIVE UPDATES: Iran strikes back after Trump restarts war (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The White House reportedly argued that the move gives the Trump administration a fresh 60-day timeline to continue military operations against Iran.

.@NewsHour obtained the letter from President Trump sent to Sen Chuck Grassley (president pro tempore in Senate) notifying congress that military action in Iran has resumed. It’s dated July 10, last Friday. pic.twitter.com/FuPd2Uanle

— Liz Landers (@ElizLanders) July 13, 2026

In May, Trump notified Congress that the initial conflict, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, had been “terminated” after a ceasefire between the US and Iran was reached on April 7.

On Monday, Trump claimed that Washington is “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz, the key energy supply bottleneck that has served as a point of contention since the US and Israel launched the conflict.

The US would control the waterway and charge ships “20% on all cargo shipped,” the president said on Truth Social. Washington would also reinstate its blockade of Iranian ports and bar passage for vessels belonging to Iran or its customers, he added.

Iran has launched renewed strikes on American military facilities in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman overnight, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) saying it hit at least six bases in statements on Monday. The large-scale operation is a response to continued US strikes on targets across the Islamic Republic, according to Tehran.

The US has bombed Iran for four consecutive nights. It follows continued disagreement on the interpretation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Washington and Tehran in mid-June, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Targets of Iranian strikes

The Iranian military targeted Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, where a number of large missile depots and fuel storage tanks were “set ablaze,” according to the IRGC.

Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain was the second target, where the Iranian Air Force struck a US drone command and control center and destroyed “key helicopter maintenance and repair facilities” and “the hangar housing a P-8 electronic warfare aircraft,” the Guard said.

“Two HIMARS missile launchers and ammunition bunkers filled with missiles” were “completely” destroyed in a separate attack on another US facility in the Gulf nation, the IRGC added.

In the final phase of the operation, the Iranian Navy targeted a US base in Bahrain’s Juffair district located south of the capital Manama, where several surveillance radars were claimed destroyed.

An IRGC statement also maintained that “the Strait of Hormuz is our territory” and the only way for it to stay open is for the US to cease what it called “illegal… military interventions” in the area.

What’s been the US response?

The US military has not commented on the IRGC’s claims.

The latest statement from US Central Command (CENTCOM), issued on Sunday, said American forces had “completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran,” hitting “dozens of targets at multiple locations.” According to CENTCOM, the operation targeted air defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats, but did not specify the locations.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said America would be “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz from Iran and expected to “get paid” for providing security in the strategic waterway.

What’s the latest?

Iranian forces reportedly opened fire on two ships attempting to transit the strait on Monday morning.

Explosions were also reported near the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island, according to Al Jazeera. The Iranian military said it had shot down a “hostile” drone near Bandar Abbas.

Elsewhere, at least two people were reportedly killed and three others injured in US strikes on several locations in the western Iranian city of Abadan.

What led to the latest escalation

The current exchange of fire follows months of fluctuating hostilities between Washington and Tehran. The conflict began with a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, prompting the latter to retaliate with strikes on American military bases across the Middle East.

Washington and West Jerusalem initially framed the campaign as an effort to topple Iran’s leadership and halt its nuclear program. The focus later shifted to the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran closed the strategic waterway in response.

A ceasefire in April halted regular shooting and was followed by months of Pakistan-mediated negotiations, culminating in the signing of a memorandum of understanding on June 17. Fighting resumed last week after Washington and Tehran clashed over the status of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US has demanded that Iran fully reopen the waterway and has been escorting commercial vessels along a route closer to the Omani coast, a move the IRGC has denounced as “illegal.”

A comprehensive new study of the global workforce finds that ‘anxiety’ is the best definition for how most workers feel about their career, their future, and the AI tsunami that threatens to wash it all away.

These days, everyone from doctors to lawyers and accountants to clerks are pondering the same question: will some machine eventually take over my job and what can I do to prepare for what appears to be an inevitability?

Just 22% of workers worldwide strongly agreed that their job was safe from elimination, according to a new report from ADP Research released this month. The results come from one of the largest workforce sentiment surveys ever conducted – more than 39,000 workers across 36 countries were polled.​

Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Ipsos in partnership with Epoch AI found that half of American adults used AI in the past week, either for personal or work use, with 20% of full-time workers saying that AI has taken over parts of their job.

Thus, it should surprise exactly nobody that the introduction of AI technology into all sectors of the economy is the leading cause of employee apprehension. Workers from Singapore to Spokane are fighting to understand what the technological upheaval means for their future – and they’re not comforted by what they are witnessing.​ The corporate world has failed to convince their workforce to welcome artificial intelligence with open arms.

The ADP Research Today at Work 2026 report, based on survey responses collected in late summer 2025, “paints a portrait of a global workforce caught in the crosscurrents of technological disruption, demographic upheaval, and deep uncertainty,” writes Nick Lichtenberg in Fortune magazine. “The anxiety cuts across borders and industries, but ADP found that it hits hardest at the bottom of the organizational ladder.”​

According to the report, of the workers who make up the majority of most companies, only 18% said their job was safe. Managers did only marginally better at 21%. Predictably, confidence increased with seniority and status: Middle managers were listed at 23%, upper managers at 31%, and C-suite executives (an organization’s highest-ranking senior executives) at 35%. The data reveals that the higher up a worker is on the corporate ladder, the less afraid they are of taking a spill.​ Nevertheless, just a little more than a third of top executives feel like they have job security, according to the data, Fortune reported.

National divides were also painfully obvious. In Japan, a country famous for its intense commitment to corporate culture, only 5% of workers felt their jobs were secure, the lowest finding of any country in the survey. Meanwhile, Nigeria tallied the most confident workforce, with 38% of workers expressing job security. In America, the figure was only 28%.​

Globally, young workers ages 18 to 26 reported the highest level of optimism, with 29% saying they had the necessary skills to get ahead. But more senior workers ages 55 to 64 painted a drearier picture: Only 18% felt similarly prepared, and just 12% believed their company was investing in their talents. At the same time, just 20% of young workers strongly agreed AI would positively affect their jobs in the next year. That figure plummeted to just 10% among workers ages 55 to 64.​

“Younger workers are definitely more optimistic about their skill set,” Richardson told reporters. “Older workers are also, you know, more likely to say that they’re financially unprepared. Which is interesting. They make more money, but they feel more stretched financially. They’re more likely to say that they’re less productive and less engaged than younger workers. Youth and optimism go hand in hand.”

The survey also exposes a disturbing engagement crisis. Just 19% of workers globally were fully engaged on the job last year, a figure that is unchanged from 2024. That means about 80% of the workforce is not giving it their all on the job. Among those employees who strongly agreed their employer was investing in them, 53% were fully engaged. The figure sunk to just 12% for those who did not feel the investment. Meanwhile, employees who find meaning in their jobs are 12.5 times as likely to be fully engaged as those who don’t.​

“Upskilling isn’t just a strategy,” Richardson continued. “It’s a reassurance. It’s a trust pact between the employer and the worker.”

Currently, it is clear that the level of trust between worker and employer is greatly lacking inside of the corporation as the introduction of AI technologies can come at any time and with little prior notice. Such an environment leads to a general feeling of unnecessary worry and malaise inside of the workplace. Workers need assurances that they are receiving the same level of investment as AI technology is currently receiving to the tune of billions of dollars per year. That will make facing an AI future a less unsettling prospect for everyone.

Iraq may gradually be turned into a platform for the US to exert pressure on Iran. This doesn’t mean that Baghdad will be directly involved in the conflict; rather, Iraq may be used as a political, intelligence, logistical, and border corridor as part of a broader anti-Iran strategy currently being developed by the US and Israel.

The latest events in Baghdad point to the likelihood of this scenario. In late June, Iraqi security forces blocked the entrances to the ‘Green Zone’ – a fortified area in Baghdad where key government institutions and foreign diplomatic missions are located – and carried out a series of raids. Several political figures were detained, some of whom, according to media reports, are associated with the bloc of former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Officially, this is being presented as an anti-corruption campaign. But in Iraq – and generally, in the Middle East – anti-corruption cases are rarely just about corruption. Very often, they are driven by a power struggle, external influence, control over security forces, and an attempt to alter the balance within the elites.

Notably, this is happening after a shift in the political configuration of Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman and political newcomer, was presented as a compromise figure after a protracted crisis within the Coordination Framework (a council of major Shiite parties). His emergence on the political scene was the result of complex bargaining between domestic and foreign players.

Herein lies the main question: Is Iraq being prepared for war against Iran? Probably not. Iraq is viewed as a platform for pressuring Iran, not as an independent participant in the war. These are fundamentally different things. Iraqi territory may be used for intelligence operations, pressure, logistics, special operations, work with the Kurdish factor, and control over border areas. However, this does not mean that the US will decide to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Iran. Currently, this option appears too risky and costly.

Nevertheless, Iraq is a very sensitive direction for Tehran. Factors like the shared border, US infrastructure, the weakness of certain state institutions, the autonomous Kurdistan region, competition between the elites, and the presence of armed groups make Iraq a convenient space for applying hybrid pressure. Instead of a direct strike via the Persian Gulf, the US may employ a more gradual approach, for example, by creating new flashpoints around Iran without declaring a major war. 

We may particularly note the incident that occurred last week near the city of Piranshahr in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the elimination of five terrorists who infiltrated the country through the mountainous border regions to commit acts of sabotage. 

Geography plays a key role in this matter. Piranshahr is located very close to the border with Iraq. Nearby is the Tamarchin Border Terminal, through which cargo flows from Iraq to Iran and further along regional routes. This is more than just a trading hub. It’s a sensitive area where border issues, logistics, the ethnical factor, and security issues converge.

In this situation, the Kurdish factor could become one of the key tools used against Iran. Firstly, it is a well-known fact that the Kurds are used by the US and Israel. Moreover, the border zone between Iran and Iraq has long been home to armed groups, historical contradictions, a complex ethnopolitical situation, and external influence. This is precisely why the clashes near Piranshahr cannot be viewed separately from the political processes in Baghdad. On the one hand, Iraq is witnessing a purge of political figures associated with previous pro-Iranian forces. On the other hand, the Kurdish border is becoming more active. Together, this creates a feeling that a network of pressure is being formed around Iran; Iraq, Kurdistan, the Persian Gulf, intelligence agencies, sanctions, infrastructure threats, and internal destabilization efforts are all part of it. 

At the same time, a full-scale ground invasion of Iran remains unrealistic. Iran cannot be quickly suppressed by means of a ground invasion because of its vast territory, difficult terrain, powerful security apparatus, significant mobilization resources, missile potential, and a network of allied structures in the region. Any attempt to use Iraq as a staging ground for a direct invasion would almost inevitably lead to retaliatory strikes against US military facilities in Iraq, the energy infrastructure of the Gulf states, and the logistics of US allies.

In other words, Iraq looks less like an independent participant in a future war and more like a convenient platform for pressuring Iran; it could be used for political reorientation, intelligence and logistics, work with the Kurdish forces and armed groups, and limited operations against Tehran.

This scenario appears more likely as of today. The US may hesitate to launch a full-scale ground war against Iran, but it could very well use Iraq as a territory for gradually weakening Iranian influence. The events in Baghdad and Piranshahr demonstrate that preparations for a new war against Iran are proceeding quietly and systematically.

A deadly blaze swept through a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, late on Sunday, leaving at least 28 people dead and dozens more critically injured, the authorities have reported.

According to eyewitness accounts the fire originated near the bar’s music stage and quickly spread, with many customers getting lost in the smoke and becoming trapped in the bathrooms in the ensuing panic.

At least 71 people were injured, with 25 remaining in critical condition, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration reported on Monday.

“When the power went out – for instance, at the restroom entrance – visibility dropped to zero. Everyone tried to exit, but the restroom had no windows; it was a dead end,” Thai national police chief Kittharath Punpetch said in a press briefing on Monday.

Thai police have begun focusing their forensic investigation on the area above the venue’s music stage as they work to determine what caused the deadly fire, he added.

The police will investigate the owners for negligence amid reports that the emergency exits were blocked, he said.

Terrifying video from the night of the incident shows a plume of fire shooting out of the bar’s front entrance, as customers run out surrounded by the flames.

Harrowing footage from inside the bar shows people choking on smoke as they run out of the darkened venue.

The Chatuchak District Office has issued an order closing the establishment for 30 days while the investigation takes place.

The bodies of 15 tourists who drowned in a speedboat accident in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon have been returned to India.

The vessel was ferrying 32 Indian tourists and four Vietnamese crew members when it capsized, shortly after departing Hon May Rut Ngoai island, authorities said.

The bodies were flown from Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai on Monday, the Indian embassy in Vietnam posted on X. The embassy said earlier that 16 survivors had been discharged from a local hospital and were returning to India. All the deceased were from the south of the country.

The mortal remains of the 15 Indian nationals have departed from Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai by Vietnam Airlines flight VN 979 and will arrive at 2130 hours local time.

The State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will coordinate transportation of mortal remains…

— India in Vietnam (@AmbHanoi) July 13, 2026

The boat overturned within minutes of departure when a large wave hit it, AP reported. The boat swerved in rough waters before it capsized. Rescue teams arrived within five minutes and pulled survivors from the water.

One survivor, who is in critical condition, has been transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for specialized treatment.

The tourist group was on a trip organized by a smartphone manufacturer for its employees, distributors, and retail partners.

The accident occurred about 6 miles south of Phu Quoc, Vietnam’s largest island and one of its most popular beach destinations, which attracts millions of domestic and foreign tourists each year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that any Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory will be met with significantly stronger retaliation. 

Putin made the remarks on Monday while addressing the ‘All for Victory!’ forum organized by the All-Russian People’s Front, where he discussed the Ukraine conflict and Moscow’s response to Western backing for Kiev. 

“Our response will always mirror any strike on Russian territory. We will respond in kind – only several times more powerfully,” Putin said. “The enemy will feel it. They already do, I hope. And they will feel it even more in the future.” 

Russia’s strength lies in its ability to overcome “every difficulty and every challenge,” while the “Russophobic” part of the collective West continues to wage a campaign against the country, Putin said. 

Despite the pressure, Russia is “developing its economy, strengthening its financial system, modernizing its Armed Forces and expanding its defense industry,” he said, adding that these efforts are already changing “the situation on the battlefield.” 

“Our fighters are advancing,” Putin said. “That is why there is no doubt we will achieve victory.” 

In late June, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day pressure campaign, combining long-range strikes and clandestine operations aimed at inflicting economic damage on Russia. 

Moscow has condemned the attacks as indiscriminate acts of terrorism intended to distract from Ukraine’s battlefield setbacks, responding with an expanded campaign of long-range strikes. 

India’s private sector players are increasingly taking up hardware and equipment manufacturing as the country ramps up defense production, seeking to reduce its reliance on costly imports, RT India reports.

India’s annual defense production surged to an all-time high of $18.64 billion in the financial year (FY) 2025-26. This is a 15.6% increase on the previous financial year’s $16.13 billion, and a 110% surge since FY 2020-21, when the figure was $8.86 billion.

The private sector’s share of this ramp-up is noteworthy, considering defense production has traditionally been a preserve of India’s public sector. The private sector contributed nearly a fourth, or 24%, of the total production in FY25-26, up from 22% in FY 2024-25, official figures show.

India was the second largest arms importer globally in the 2021-2025 period, with a 8.2% share. Russia is India’s primary supplier, accounting for 40% of its arms imports.

From cutting-edge drones to deep-tech supply chains, and precision electronics to autonomous systems, private players are now producing a whole gamut of defense equipment for the Indian military.

Indigenous innovation is also steadily becoming a key pillar of military modernization in line with the country’s Make-in-India initiative.

Considering that high-value programs such as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft stealth fighter project are reportedly being offered to private firms to bid for, the intent becomes clear, former vice chief of the Indian Army, Lt. Gen. Philip Campose, told RT.

An example of this private sector bounce is Botlab Dynamics, an IIT Delhi startup, which has expanded into military technology through its defense vertical Vyod.

Its flagship platform, the Atri Nano Drone, weighs around 250 grams and offers real-time situational awareness on the battleground with a 2-km range, 30 minutes of endurance, thermal imaging, and encrypted live video.

The drones, which can aid troops to identify threats without exposing themselves to danger, take just seconds to deploy.

The Indian Navy and Army have such surveillance drones in operation. Behind every drone lies an extensive supply chain of small businesses and specialized manufacturers across India, RT reported.

Amid India’s renewed push for military modernization following last year’s brief clash with Pakistan, the role of these deep tech start-ups is becoming more important than ever for the country.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, is expected to leave her post as she faces a corruption probe over a cut-price Kiev apartment purchase, the Financial Times has reported.

The development comes as Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky launches a sweeping government reshuffle following his meeting with US President Donald Trump at last month’s NATO summit, less than a year after a previous cabinet shake-up. Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko is set to step down and according to media reports is expected to replace Stefanishyna in Washington.

A June 2025 investigation by Ukrainian outlet Hromadske alleged that Stefanishyna’s mother, Nadezhda Kravets, purchased a 100-square-meter apartment in Kiev’s Lvivska Ploshcha residential complex in the fall of 2022 for just 3.04 million hryvnias (around $83,000). Comparable units from the developer were selling for about 12 million hryvnias ($300,000) at the time, according to the outlet.

Hromadske also reported that the Lvivska Ploshcha apartment was absent from Stefanishyna’s asset declaration. She did disclose another 74-square-meter apartment owned by her mother in Kiev, but journalists said they found no trace of that property in the state real estate registry. The outlet noted that the database only became fully operational in the early 2010s and does not include all older records.

Stefanishyna later denied any wrongdoing in an interview with investigative outlet Bihus.info, saying her parents had invested in the apartment in 2019, when units were selling for about 29,000 hryvnias (around $1,100) per square meter. 

Prior to her Washington assignment, Stefanishyna served as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and as minister of justice.

The reshuffle comes as Kiev faces mounting military and economic pressure alongside a series of high-profile corruption scandals. Last November, Western-backed anti-corruption agencies uncovered an alleged $100 million graft scheme at state energy giant Energoatom involving businessman Timur Mindich – known in Ukrainian media as “Zelensky’s wallet” – along with former Energy Minister German Galushchenko and former Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Chernyshov.

The United States has just marked a major anniversary, 250 years since it declared independence from Great Britain and, in theory, this should be a moment of national pride with another historical milestone passed, another reason for flags, fireworks, and speeches about destiny.

But the mood is not especially festive.

Two weeks before the anniversary, Reuters published a poll that captured the depth of American anxiety – and the numbers were grim. More than two-thirds (70%) of Americans no longer consider their country the greatest nation on Earth, while 64% believe American democracy is in danger. And 38% don’t believe the United States will survive another 250 years as a single country.

The answers split sharply along party lines, with Republicans still clinging more strongly to the idea of the exceptional country of prosperity and divine favor. Among Democrats, the mood is much darker and pessimism has become almost a worldview as the United States has arrived at its 250th anniversary in the middle of a profound crisis of belief.

In some ways, this resembles the crisis Soviet society experienced in the final years of the USSR. Of course, America never had an official state ideology in the Soviet sense and nobody in Washington promised to build communism at breakneck speed, but the US did have its own coherent vision of the future which it called the American Dream.

The first serious cracks appeared among millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996. Their parents got rich, bought homes, built savings, and traveled abroad, but they inherited student debt, unaffordable housing, unstable work, and the strange feeling that no matter how hard they run, the finish line keeps moving further away.

Older Americans told them the answer was simply to work as hard as they did, but younger Americans could see the numbers and how with comparable effort, earlier generations ended up far wealthier. 

So the old formula no longer worked and that undermined the idea of labor as an absolute virtue. If hard work no longer guarantees a decent life, then what remains? Freedom?

Americans are formally free in that they elect presidents and congressmen. Yet Congress is filled with elderly politicians who seem determined to change nothing and who often leave public life only when nature finally intervenes. Presidents speak beautifully on campaign trails, but once inside the White House, they usually follow the same old path so while the faces change, the machine remains and freedom, too, begins to look hollow.

Well, American society has developed two sharply different answers. The conservative right believes America can be saved by a return to pragmatism with a freer market, support for major entrepreneurs, ruthless efficiency in public spending, and a foreign policy less constrained by old ideological sermons about democracy and human rights. In this view, America must stop trying to lecture the world and start taking care of itself.

The progressive left believes the opposite, that the pillars of liberal democracy mustn’t be abandoned, but that the economy needs radical restructuring. National wealth, they say, must be distributed more fairly and big business, especially in the technology sector, is viewed with deep suspicion. The new villains are “tech feudal lords,” billionaires whose power appears to rival that of the state itself.

Both camps agree on one thing, that the current order is exhausted, but they simply disagree on what should come next.

Donald Trump was supposed to test the right-wing answer in practice and his supporters expected a revolution in a break with the old elite, a new economic nationalism, a government that would stop apologizing and start acting because he promised all of that.

But Trump’s presidency has shown the limits of his movement in that there’s not much of a system and Trump doesn’t think in historical categories, but in terms of Trump. If it were up to him, Washington would be filled not with a new national doctrine, but with golden ballrooms and monuments to his own greatness.

So now disillusioned by the right, America is glancing left, although the country doesn’t yet trust the left nationally. But locally, especially in big cities, voters are increasingly willing to experiment, with Zohran Mamdani, the openly socialist mayor of New York, an obvious example. This is no accident as the largest cities are where the contradictions of modern America are most visible in terms of housing costs, inequality, migration, crime, decaying infrastructure, and anger at remote elites.

If socialist policies succeed at city level, their supporters will soon claim they are ready for higher office.

And what will their opponents do then? They could accept defeat or they may decide that their America can no longer live under the same roof as the other America, which is the real question behind the anniversary. Not whether the United States has had a remarkable 250 years, because it has, but the question is whether it still has a common future.

Perhaps America will find a new compromise and perhaps it will reinvent itself again, as it has done before, but perhaps its two political tribes have already begun traveling in different historical directions.

If, over the next 250 years, US history follows that road toward a civilized or uncivilized split, it won’t be because Americans lacked flags or speeches, it will be because the country’s old promise stopped convincing its own people.

This article was first published by the online newspaper Gazeta.ru and was translated and edited by the RT team

Germany will fund the purchase of 50,000 attack drones for the Ukrainian military, Reuters has reported, citing informed sources.

Ukraine has intensified its drone attacks on energy infrastructure and residential areas inside Russia in recent months amid continued setbacks on the front line, targeting the country with several hundred UAVs per day on average. Among other things, there has been an increase in incidents where FPV drones, including AI-guided models, have hit passenger buses and private vehicles.

On Wednesday, at least 11 civilians were killed and a dozen others wounded in drone strikes across Russia, according to local authorities. Moscow has responded to these attacks by launching large-scale missile and UAV raids against military-related targets in Ukraine.

The drone order made by the German government involves low-cost Shrike first-person-view UAVs, Reuters said in an article on Sunday.

Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier told the agency that the contract for the Shrike drones was worth about €90 million ($103 million) and that it had been bankrolled by “a European country.” Some of the UAVs have already been supplied to Kiev, and the rest are expected by the end of 2026, he said.

According to Meier, Auterion is providing software to at least 100,000 drones from various manufacturers this year, which are paid for by several Western governments and intended to be delivered to Ukraine. This includes a $50 million Pentagon contract for 33,000 UAVs that have already been supplied to Kiev, he added.

SkyFall confirmed Germany’s involvement in the deal when contacted by Reuters, but refrained from providing any further details. The defense ministries in Berlin and Kiev declined to comment.

Germany has been the biggest supporter of Ukraine in the EU since the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, with the amount of military aid provided by Berlin amounting to some €55.5 billion ($63.4 billion), according to government data.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that “it is high time Berlin put an end to the aggressive war [it is waging against Russia] by proxy of the Kiev regime.”

Slovakia was not the only NATO state that refused to participate in the bloc’s latest military aid package for Ukraine, the country’s president, Peter Pellegrini, has said.

During the summit in Ankara, Türkiye last week, NATO members pledged to provide Kiev with €70 billion ($80 billion) in military equipment, training, and other assistance this year and to sustain at least the same level of financial support in 2027.

In an interview with broadcaster TA3 on Sunday, Pellegrini rejected claims that Bratislava was alone in declining to contribute to the package during the gathering in the Turkish capital.

“That is simply not the case. The Hungarian Prime Minister [Peter Magyar] spoke clearly on this matter, stating that Hungary would not provide any military or financial aid to Ukraine. The Czech Prime Minister [Andrej Babis] expressed the exact same position right at the negotiating table and there were other prime ministers, who also will not participate in those 70 billion,” he said.

Overall, Pellegrini described the NATO summit as “constructive,” but expressed regret that it focused on boosting military aid to Kiev and strengthening its air defenses and the ability to hit targets deep inside Russia, while “very little, if any, time has been devoted to when and how to start diplomatic negotiations.” 

“There is no purely military solution to this conflict. If this continues, it will be a war of attrition for several years, in which thousands of innocent people and tens of thousands of soldiers will be dying every month,” Pellegrini said.

After Robert Fico returned as Slovak prime minister in October 2023, Bratislava halted military supplies to Kiev. It also consistently criticized EU sanctions against Russia and called for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova last week described the NATO summit as “humiliating” for Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.

“He once again rolled out his usual wish list, begging for missile and air defense systems… while touting Ukrainian military’s terrorist capabilities. NATO members offered no meaningful response to these appeals,” Zakharova argued.

US President Donald Trump has claimed that America is “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, and will act as the “guardian angel” of the key waterway “and get paid for it.” Tehran has earlier declared the strait closed, blaming “hostile actions” by US forces.

Speaking by phone to ‘Fox & Friends’ on Monday, Trump said Iran was getting its “ass kicked” in the war against the US, asserting that the country’s navy, air force and missile capabilities had been “virtually annihilated” and listing senior Iranian leaders he said had been killed. 

He added that US troops were continuing to carry out strikes against Iranian targets after he declared a ceasefire with Tehran to be “over” this past weekend.

“We’re taking over the strait. They’ve got nothing,” Trump said, arguing that Washington should have dealt with what he called the Iran threat “47 years ago.” He accused successive US presidents of having been “tapped along” by Tehran without taking decisive action.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz – a vital route for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments – has emerged as a major flashpoint in the Middle East conflict, which was triggered by a surprise joint US Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 which cost the life of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several members of his immediate family.

1/
Due to recent hostile actions by the US forces, passage through the #Strait_of_Hormuz is currently unfeasible. As soon as stability and calm are restored, all applications will be reviewed in accordance with the scheduled timeline, and the permitting process will resume.

— PGSA | نهاد مدیریت آبراه خلیج فارس (@PGSA_IRAN) July 13, 2026

Tehran has formally declared the strait closed, blaming “hostile actions” by US forces in a post on X on Monday by Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which said passage would only resume once “stability and calm” are restored.

Regular exchanges of strikes stopped after a ceasefire in April, which led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 17. Hostilities have since resumed as the sides clashed over the interpretation of the MoU and the status of the strait. The US continued striking targets in Iran early on Monday, marking the fourth consecutive night of bombardment. Iran responded by firing missiles and drones at US military sites in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.

Under the MoU, Iran pledged to use “its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge” during the 60 day period and to negotiate with Oman over “the future administration and maritime services” in the strait. Tehran has maintained that it has the right to regulate traffic, collect tolls and require ships to use a designated route. 

Washington has demanded that Iran declare the strait fully open and has been guiding vessels along a route closer to the Omani coast, which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has denounced as “illegal.”

South African police have arrested a British citizen wanted in the UK over the alleged murders of his wife and two young daughters, saying he was found with an illegal firearm in Johannesburg.

The 45-year-old suspect, Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, who is of Zimbabwean origin, was due to make his first appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, according to South African Police Service (SAPS) national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe. She said Tshuma would appear before the court on two separate matters: extradition proceedings to the UK and a charge of possessing an illegal firearm in South Africa.

Mathe confirmed that South Africa had received a provisional extradition request from Interpol Manchester through Interpol Pretoria, outlining the allegations against Tshuma relating to the deaths of his wife and two daughters. ”We will be awaiting a full extradition request within 40 days that will include the UK case docket, as well as supporting evidence,” Mathe said, adding that the second matter before the court relates to the illegal firearm allegedly found in Tshuma’s possession.

Mathe stressed SAPS had worked closely with UK authorities through Interpol throughout the investigation. ”We are all Interpol member countries. We share intelligence, we share information, and we assist each other with cross-border and international investigations,” she said.

Asked whether Tshuma had been harboured or assisted while in South Africa, Mathe said investigators had found no evidence to suggest that he had been protected. ”Absolutely not. He was not harboured. We worked closely with different stakeholders, including his family, to apprehend him,” she said.

The three victims were found at the family’s home in Great Denham, near Bedford, after police forced entry on Monday following concerns that they had not been seen for several days.

Acting National Commissioner Lt Gen Puleng Dimpane praised the officers involved in the operation, describing the arrest as an example of effective cooperation between specialised SAPS units and international law enforcement partners.

According to Sky News, Tshuma left the UK on Saturday, two days before the bodies were discovered, flying from London Heathrow Airport to Zimbabwe on a British passport. Police later released CCTV images of him at the airport as part of efforts to trace his whereabouts. ITV News reported that Tshuma owns and operates a property business, Nexus Trove Holdings, from his home in Great Denham. The company’s latest filings show it held assets of just over £1 million (about R24 million) at the end of 2024.

First published by IOL

Russia has no intention of providing proof to the Baltic states over claims that they allowed Ukrainian drones to use their airspace for attacks on Russian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia last week issued a joint demarche after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Moscow had “verified data” showing that Baltic states had provided air corridors for Ukrainian drones attacking Russian civilian infrastructure.

The three countries said the accusations were “completely unfounded” and denied opening their airspace for the strikes.

Responding to the demarche on Monday, Peskov stated that Russia’s military and special services “see where things fly from and how they fly.”

“This is well known to everyone, and we are not going to prove anything to anyone here,” he said, adding that Moscow is closely tracking the sources of threats to Russian border areas and regions deeper inside the country.

Russia has repeatedly noted that Ukrainian drones have crossed or crashed in Baltic airspace while targeting Russian territory. Moscow has argued that such routes would require either the consent of the countries involved or a failure of their air defenses.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in June that Tallinn was “not happy” about Ukrainian drones entering its airspace, but added that Estonia was not telling Kiev to stop because the incidents were part of the conflict with Russia.

Moscow has accused the Baltic states of playing with fire by allowing their territory to be used for hostile actions. Russian officials have warned that if neighboring countries knowingly help facilitate Ukrainian drone strikes, Moscow would consider them complicit in the attacks and would have the right to self-defense under the UN Charter.

Nigerian security forces have rescued dozens of schoolchildren and teachers abducted nearly two months ago, when gunmen attacked three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo, the West African nation’s authorities have confirmed.

The military, police, and intelligence agencies completed the operation on Friday, during which eight suspected militants were arrested and an unspecified number were killed, according to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.

“This successful military operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has brought relief to the entire nation and the affected families in particular,” Tinubu said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Nigerian Army said 44 students and teachers had been freed following an intelligence-led operation in the Old Oyo National Park and other parts of the country.

The military said multiple arrests disrupted the kidnappers’ leadership, informant network, hideouts, and supply routes, forcing the group to release the hostages unconditionally. It added that security personnel suffered casualties during the operation, but did not provide details.

The gunmen reportedly entered the communities wearing military-style uniforms and took the captives into the Old Oyo National Park, a vast forest reserve extending toward neighboring Kwara State. The federal government later deployed a special rescue team and approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards in Oyo.

On Friday, President Tinubu vowed to “get justice for these children and their teachers and for the family of Mr. Oyedokun, who the terrorists gruesomely murdered.”

In Borno State alone, at least 76 students were abducted by armed groups in Askira-Uba Local Government Area between mid-May and June. Last month, suspected ISWAP militants kidnapped at least 36 students and a staff member from Government Day Secondary School in Lassa. On May 15, armed assailants also seized more than 40 students from the Primary and Junior Government Day Secondary School in the Mussa-Biri community, according to officials.

Russian and Chinese warships have conducted live-fire drills in the Yellow Sea as part of the annual Joint Sea naval exercises, the Russian Pacific Fleet announced on Monday.

The sea phase of the drills involved vessels from Russia’s Pacific Fleet and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy. The crews practiced countering modern threats, including simulated attacks by drones and unmanned boats.

Over several days, ships from the joint detachment, which included guided missile cruisers, submarines, destroyers, and rescue vessels, used naval artillery and shipboard machine guns to repel a mock attack by unmanned aerial and surface systems. Electronic warfare systems were also used to suppress a simulated mass attack.

The crews also practiced joint maneuvering, anti-submarine warfare, engaging simulated enemy surface vessels, and search-and-rescue operations, according to the Pacific Fleet.

The Joint Sea-2026 exercises began on July 6. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously stated that the drills are not directed against any country, and that military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing contributes to regional security.

Russia and China have expanded military cooperation alongside closer political and economic ties in recent years. Moscow and Beijing have described their relationship as a comprehensive strategic partnership, while repeatedly stressing that it is not directed against third countries.

An Indian sailor is missing after an attack on a commercial shipping vessel in the Strait of Hormuz area on Saturday.

The Cyprus-flagged GFS Galaxy was attacked off Oman’s northern coast while transiting the Strait of Hormuz as the shaky ceasefire between Iran and the US unravelled. Search operations are continuing for the missing sailor, while 23 crew members were rescued and given medical aid.

“Of the 11 Indian nationals on board, ten have been rescued so far, while one Indian National is reportedly missing,” India’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. New Delhi condemned the attack, saying the targeting of civilian shipping and infrastructure in the region must end.

In June, three Indian sailors died when US forces enforcing a naval blockade of Iran fired on their vessel, the MT Settebello.

The deaths led to domestic pressure on the Modi government to raise the issue with the Trump administration, with India twice summoning US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks to the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi.

Our statement on the attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/JtqdfO6iJ0 pic.twitter.com/V6jD6zJOtx

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 12, 2026

The GFS Galaxy, a container ship, issued a distress call after it was hit, which reportedly happened about 44 nautical miles off Musandam Governorate, Oman’s Maritime Security Center said in a social media post on Sunday.

The UK Maritime Trade Operation had earlier reported a fire on board a container ship. Authorities later said the crew abandoned the vessel and evacuated into a lifeboat.

India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson termed the continued attacks on commercial shipping in the region “worrisome.” The ministry said New Delhi is coordinating with Omani authorities on the search and rescue operation.

The US on Sunday said it carried out fresh waves of attacks on Iranian targets in retaliation for Tehran’s strikes on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran responded with a barrage of airstrikes targeting several countries in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Jordan.

The first time I saw Boris Johnson, he was dangling in mid-air in a safety helmet, Union Jack flags fluttering above him and his polished shoes tucked awkwardly beneath him. He looked like Mr. Bean after being accidentally ejected from an aircraft.

I couldn’t believe that this was the new prime minister of Britain, so I checked other photographs, assuming it might be Photoshop. But it wasn’t, and there he was, sitting in the same office once occupied by Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

That image has stayed with me because it captured something larger and made me ask what’s happened to Britain’s political elite, and to Western Europe’s more broadly?

Britain has changed prime minister repeatedly in recent years, and each new arrival has seemed more insubstantial than the last and compared with the major figures of the past, many of today’s leaders look lightweight and strangely unprepared for the seriousness of the offices they hold.

Elsewhere in Western Europe, the picture is no better, such as Emmanuel Macron who looks the part in a well-cut suit, but appearances only go so far. The photographs from his youth, the theatrical poses and the carefully managed presidential image all speak to a politics increasingly dominated by presentation, while even scenes from his marriage, such as the now-famous footage of Brigitte Macron appearing to strike him on a government aircraft, would have been almost unimaginable in the eras of François Mitterrand or Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s contempt for them is therefore understandable given he’s a career diplomat formed in a different political culture, one in which statecraft was supposed to involve discipline and a sense of consequence. Faced with Western Europe’s current political class, he sometimes sounds like a man struggling not to say what he really thinks.

The problem is that these leaders may be transient, but the consequences of their decisions are not and while governments change, the submarines, cruise missiles, armies, tanks and aircraft remain and so do the strategic commitments, sanctions regimes, broken relationships and accumulated risks created by politicians who may be gone within a few years.

So why has the quality of Western Europe’s political leadership declined so sharply? One major reason is economic as over the past three decades, the business world has become far more attractive to ambitious and capable young people than public service. A vice president responsible for government relations at a large corporation can earn €1.5 million a year, often with bonuses, stock options and a generous severance package and politics can’t compete with that.

An English friend once told me that a former schoolmate of his might one day become prime minister and this wasn’t fantasy. The man had attended an elite school, had been politically active from a young age and was moving through the expected stages of a serious political career.

Then business intervened as he was offered a position so lucrative that the uncertain prospect of becoming prime minister no longer seemed especially attractive and, thus, his political career faded, not because he lacked ability, but because the private sector valued that ability more highly.

Yet Kissinger didn’t fully address another part of the problem, which is the American role in selecting and shaping much of Europe’s political class.

A notable number of European leaders have studied in the United States, attended American-funded programs or received support from US-linked foundations early in their careers and these institutions don’t simply identify talented young people, but they help shape their worldview.

This isn’t necessarily a matter of direct recruitment by intelligence services, because that’s a more difficult and unreliable process. The method is subtler, as young politicians are introduced to networks and encouraged to adopt a particular understanding of international affairs.

The result is a loyalty filter and independent-minded people rarely flourish in such systems. Those who advance are often the most adaptable and the most willing to repeat the approved language. In other words, the process doesn’t necessarily select the strongest candidates, but it selects the easiest to shape.

There are occasional mistakes, particularly in Poland where American institutions sometimes underestimate the ability of Polish politicians to imitate the language expected of them while retaining deeply nationalist instincts. Washington is wary of genuine Polish independence, but its candidate pool is limited, so compromises are made.

Republicans have traditionally relied on industrial and corporate networks, while Democrats have been supported by finance, arts, law, and media. A promising politician may spend several years in business, earn enough to become financially secure, and then return to public life with a house, and investments, but in Europe, the mechanism is almost the reverse.

Public pressure is constantly applied to reduce politicians’ salaries and privileges as the argument is always that they should cost less and appear more ordinary. Meanwhile, corporations offer increasingly extraordinary rewards to anyone with intelligence and connections so the predictable result is reverse selection.

The most capable people leave, while the ambitious ones move into business, consulting, finance, or lobbying and those who remain are often ideologues, careerists, eccentrics, or mediocrities with nowhere more attractive to go.

This process is now difficult to stop and the prestige of political office has fallen too far, while the rewards available in the corporate world have become too large and too obvious.

Much of Europe is therefore left with leaders who often lack competence and historical perspective and while they occupy powerful offices, many seem unable to understand the scale of the responsibilities they have inherited.

The danger isn’t merely that they look ridiculous, it’s is that they govern states possessing vast economic and military power and when weak people inherit powerful machinery, the consequences can be anything but trivial.

This article was first published by the online newspaper Gazeta.ru and was translated and edited by the RT team

Algeria and Mali have announced the restoration of diplomatic relations after a yearlong rift that erupted when Algiers shot down a Malian military drone near their shared border.

Malian government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on Friday that the West African nation would allow its ambassador to return to Algiers as part of measures aimed at the “renewal of relations of cooperation and friendship” with Algeria.

Bamako has also decided to reopen its national airspace to all civilian and military aircraft originating from or destined for Algeria, Coulibaly said in a statement.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed on Saturday that the country’s ambassador would return to Mali.

Tebboune said the decision reflected his “steadfast and resolute commitment to restoring Algerian-Malian relations to their natural historical trajectory, based on mutual respect,” according to a statement published by state news agency APS.

Relations between the two African nations deteriorated in April 2025 after Algeria said it had shot down a Malian surveillance drone for allegedly violating its airspace. Bamako rejected the accusation and said the aircraft was destroyed over Mali.

The diplomatic fallout extended to Mali’s Alliance of Sahel States (AES) partners, Niger and Burkina Faso, which also recalled their ambassadors from Algeria during the dispute.

Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all former French colonies, have troubled relations with France due to alleged interference. The AES countries have accused Paris of failing to respect their sovereignty and supporting the militants behind a longstanding jihadist insurgency in the Sahel.

Algeria’s ties with Paris have also been strained by historical grievances, France’s position on Western Sahara and migration disputes.

Russian security officers have thwarted a major plot by the Ukrainian intelligence agencies to smuggle AI-guided drones inside the country and use them to target a key defense industry enterprise and military airfields, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.

The failed operation, which was “unprecedented in scale and the level of threat,” had been prepared by Ukrainian spies with the direct involvement of their Western handlers, the agency said in a statement on Monday.

The FSB operatives were able to obtain information about plans by the Ukrainian intelligence agencies to deliver explosive-laden FPV drones and mobile ground control stations for them to Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, it said.

All of the criminal actions of Kiev’s agents were then closely monitored and documented by the Russian special services, the FSB said.

The drone parts had been placed in containers and flown into Russia using fixed-wing UAVs and balloons, it said.

The drones parts ended up being delivered to areas adjacent to the Ukrainka airfield in Amur Region in Russia’s Far East and Shagol airfield in Chelyabinsk Region in the Urals, the FSB said. The UAVs had been assembled and prepared for deployment in garages rented by the suspects, it added.

The agency said that at that moment “the perpetrators and accomplices involved in the terrorist plots were detained.”

The operatives seized a total of 24 FPV drones, which carried explosive charges equivalent to more than 1 kg of TNT and were equipped with British, US, Canadian, and Swedish-manufactured, electronic warfare-resistant AI control modules, it said.

They also confiscated two mobile ground control stations, which were fitted with self-destruct charges, and communication devices used by the Ukrainians agent to contact their handlers, the FSB said.

Europe recorded more than 10,000 excess deaths last month which have been attributed to the ongoing heatwave, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing official mortality data.

Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, with temperatures exceeding 40°C in parts of Germany, France, and Spain. Germany recorded a new national high of 41.7°C after breaking temperature records on three consecutive days, while France logged its hottest day ever, with temperatures reaching 43.8°C.

The prolonged heatwave has fueled wildfires, disrupted transport and infrastructure, and contributed to a rise in heat-related illnesses and drowning deaths across the region.

Figures published by EuroMOMO, a mortality monitoring network backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), showed that more than 9,000 of the excess deaths occurred among people aged 65 and older.

“It is difficult to explain this high excess mortality by anything but the extreme heat,” he added.

The EuroMOMO data are based on national mortality statistics from 27 European countries for the week of June 22-28, when the heatwave peaked across much of Western Europe. Researchers told Reuters there were no other known major factors, such as Covid-19 outbreaks, that could explain the spike to 10,650 excess deaths.

Around 2,700 excess deaths were separately reported in England and Wales during May and June, according to estimates by Imperial College London, the Met Office, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, as cited by Sky News.

France, Belgium, and the Netherlands recorded 3,700 excess deaths last month, Reuters reported.

Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke or exacerbating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people among the most vulnerable.

Henri Kluge, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, warned last week that European countries must prepare for “more deadly weeks,” as another heatwave was already forming over the Atlantic.

At least 11 civilians have been killed and more than ten others injured in Ukrainian drone attacks across Russian regions overnight, local authorities have reported. Over 340 UAVs were intercepted overnight, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

In Moscow Region, three people were killed in the settlement of Pionersky after a drone came down in a residential area. Three others were also injured, and five private homes caught fire.

The deadliest attacks were reported in Energodar, the city that hosts the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. Seven civilians were killed and four others injured there on Sunday, Rosatom head Aleksey Likhachev said. A Ukrainian drone struck a bus stop in the morning, killing four people and injuring four others, one of them seriously.

Also on Sunday, an FPV drone hit a civilian car at the entrance to the city, killing all three people inside. According to local officials, Ukrainian UAVs then remained in the area after the attack, hampering emergency response efforts.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Monday morning that Russian air defense systems had intercepted a total of 342 Ukrainian drones since Sunday evening across multiple regions, including near the capital.