A petition urging New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to stay away from the commemoration of the 9/11 attacks has gained traction online, attracting more than 70,000 backers.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the attack, which resulted in nearly 3,000 fatalities and the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The annual commemoration is customarily held at the monument built on the spot where the towers used to stand. It is frequented by senior local and federal officials.

The upcoming anniversary sparked controversy well before the event, with a group of relatives of the victims launching a petition against Mamdani’s participation. According to the petitioners, the motion has nothing to do with the mayor’s religion, but with his controversial views and perceived connections to radicals.

The petition, which was launched last month, reached 50,000 verified signatures earlier this week and over 70,000 as of Sunday. It calls out the Muslim mayor over what it described as “public positions, associations, and responses to rhetoric that many perceive as hostile to these shared values.”

Among other things, it listed the mayor’s connections to radical Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj and the appointment of Ramzi Kassem, who previously represented a terrorist convicted in an al-Qaeda tanker bombing plot. The petition also called out his father, Mahmood Mamdani, over his 2004 book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, in which the political scientist argued the 9/11 attack should be “understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism.” The mayor had previously noted that his father had largely shaped his own views, the petition pointed out.

Earlier this week, Mamdani brushed off the motion, describing it as an attempt by some people to keep him away from the commemoration and signaling his intention to attend. “I will proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration reaffirming that we will never forget the solemn day felt by all of us who call this city home,” he stated.

A smaller activist group of the victim’s relatives, the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, stood by the mayor, condemning the petitioners over the alleged “anti-American accusations and Islamophobic sentiment.” The dissenting group, believed to have just over 250 active members, has been bankrolled by the Soros Foundation, receiving more than $500,000 in grants from it over the past decade.

The controversy comes as the feud between the NYC mayor and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reignited this week after Mamdani said the latter could be arrested on war-crimes charges should he visit the city. Netanyahu claimed the mayor sided with Iran and accused him and other critics of Israel of “moral cynicism” and “absurdity.”

RT showcases its top five stories of the week and dives deeper into the topics that shaped the news over the past seven days.

FIFA crisis as testament to US decline

In an opinion piece, foreign policy expert and historian Aleksandr Bobrov reflected on the ongoing FIFA crisis triggered by its controversial handling of the World Cup in the US. The tournament was marred by a series of scandals, including harsh treatment of national teams by immigration authorities, and the lifting of a ban on a US player following a call between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Bobrov views the debacle as a manifestation of a broader US decline and Washington’s weakening grip on global institutions it can no longer fully control.

The FIFA scandal has been further aggravated by Infantino’s botched attempt to sell to private investors stakes in a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup. The plan met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction and was opposed by UEFA’s national associations and other federations around the globe. Infantino eventually abandoned it. While the scandal might not finish off FIFA itself, it is expected to result in the early departure of its embattled boss.

British AI drive runs into energy shortage

UK energy regulator Ofgem has proposed a plan to introduce stricter rules and additional fees for AI data center developers, supposedly aimed at tackling “unviable, stalled, or speculative projects.” The regulator now wants to slap a refundable fee of between £237,500 and £712,500 ($316,000 to $947,000) per megawatt of electricity on such companies. The fee would be forfeited if a project exits the grid connection queue before reaching energization, according to the proposal.

The proposal comes as Britain continues to struggle with a deepening energy crisis, during which both speculative energy consumption and household bills have continued to climb. According to Ofgem, this year the average household energy bill is expected to be almost 50% higher than five years ago, climbing to £1,862 ($2,510).

Laura Loomer struggles to notice neo-Nazis in Ukraine

The PR tour of American influencer Laura Loomer to Ukraine has also made it to the top, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Loomer insisted that the country doesn’t have a neo-Nazi problem – while meeting one of the most prominent Ukrainian far-right figures, Andrey ‘White Chief’ Biletsky.

During the interview, the commander of the notorious Azov regiment, now rebranded as the 3rd Assault Brigade, struggled to explain why the insignia of his unit closely resembles the Wolfsangel symbol used in Nazi Germany. Biletsky invoked unspecified “aristocratic” and Cossack symbols, which the insignia is supposedly based upon, and also tried to downplay the use of SS-style symbols in general. “Hitler ate with a fork and was a vegetarian. That doesn’t make forks or vegetarianism bad things,” he told Loomer.

Despite facing criticism over cavorting with open neo-Nazis, Loomer has insisted that she did not find any in Ukraine, touting her Jewish ethnicity as well as the fact Biletsky did not kill her on the spot. The influencer sparked further controversy this weekend when she said she “would kill” Russian President Vladimir Putin if she were the US leader.

Covid-related Fauci scandal reignited

RT explored the disastrous performance of former US coronavirus czar Dr. Anthony Fauci in Congress, where he was summoned to testify on the origins of the pandemic.

During the hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times, refusing to answer various questions ranging from his opinion on the origins of Covid-19 to secretive research of the coronavirus and other dangerous viruses, including monkeypox. Ahead of the hearing, however, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released thousands of pages from Fauci’s personal diaries, which gave a glimpse into his private reflections.

While former President Joe Biden pardoned Fauci last January, shielding him from prosecution for any potential offense committed between January 1, 2014, and January 20, 2025, the hearing has renewed the push for jailing him. The oversight committee led by Paul is set to vote on Wednesday on whether to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. The measure is expected to pass with Republican support.

Roots of Spain’s migrant crisis explained

The abnormal illegal migrant influx into the Spanish African enclave of Ceuta was one of the top events this week. RT looked into the roots of the abrupt crisis, exploring several theories on its causes, including allegation it could have been inspired by Morocco in retaliation for the growing ties between Spain and Algeria, Rabat’s main geopolitical rival. Morocco, however, has vehemently denied any involvement in the crisis. Another notable theory is the potential involvement of Washington, which could have fueled the crisis to damage the position of the Spanish government in retaliation for its refusal to cooperate with the US and Israel in the attack on Iran.

While the crisis had seemingly waned by the weekend as the bulk of migrants retreated back to Morocco, the true numbers remain unclear. According to Interior Ministry estimates, some 50,000-60,000 migrants invaded the enclave on Thursday. Local media reports citing law enforcement, however, indicated that around 73,500 people have now left Ceuta, suggesting that the scale of the initial invasion was significantly bigger than reported by Madrid.

As I sat in the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Thursday night, I would like to say I felt the hand of history on my shoulder, but instead I felt a sick feeling in my stomach at how European football has been irreversibly damaged by the holier than thou brigade at UEFA.

UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe and subordinate only to global overseer FIFA and to the richest clubs on the continent, has effectively created a full-on apartheid system that sees the rich get even richer and their power increasingly unchecked. And they showed their power in beating back FIFA’s bid to commercialize their biggest cash cow: the World Cup.

Greek (and not just) tragedy

In 1971, Panathinaikos made it to the final of the European Champions Cup, the previous name of the UEFA Champions League. The first and only Greek club to do so, they lost 2-0 to mighty Ajax of Amsterdam, who at the time were in their pomp with the late Johan Cruyff. The Greeks subsequently made two semifinals, in 1985 and 1996, but on Thursday played in the continent’s third tier competition, the UEFA Conference League. If the capital club go on to win this year’s competition, they will receive €7 million, not a sum to be sniffed at. However, the club that wins the Champions League takes home €25 million. That is only for winning the whole thing and doesn’t include prize money for earlier wins etc., but you kind of get the divide that UEFA has deliberately created.

I write this because right now Europe’s governing body brought hellfire down on FIFA for a number of reasons and they’re all false, spurious, and downright deceptive.

Destroying football from within (Europe)

Since the UEFA Champions League was launched in 1992, only two sides outside of the ‘Big-5’ leagues [England, Germany, France, Spain, Italy] have won. Ajax in 1995 and Porto of Portugal in 2004. The ‘Champions’ league is actually a misnomer. It’s a league for the winners, runners-up, third, and fourth placed clubs from the ‘Big-5’, with the actual champions from Greece, Ireland, Scotland, Romania, and dozens of other nations having to qualify to be in the money-making league stage. UEFA has gamed the system to keep the wealth and power at the top, leaving ‘minnows’ from Albania, Hungary, and Poland not even dreaming of winning the whole thing.

UEFA created this cabal to ensure that the ‘big clubs’ from the ‘Big-5’ don’t create their own super league, the latest threat being just five years ago. To survive, in 2022 UEFA changed the competition format to give more money to the ‘big clubs’ and relied on FIFA intervention and support to make sure they they remained relevant.

Yet just four years later, they threatened to boycott FIFA competitions due to that organization proposing to increase investment in global football by selling off 20% of its World Cup commercial operations to private investors. As one German football writer said on Sport1 last week, “FIFA saved UEFA by stopping the Super League, UEFA pays back by stopping super money.”

UEFA starts up its money train band wagon

As soon as the British media whipped up a hatestorm to the FIFA proposal, new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham made his latest gaffe. Bad enough that he was boasting about jogging with tarnished athletics star Mo Farah on X, he then wrote something that made even the most hardened anti-FIFA mind boggle.

“Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands,” he said in a post, overlooking the fact that only four out of 20 teams in the English Premier League are owned by locals, with the ‘investors’ for the other 16 hailing from shires including Florida, Riyadh, Vienna, and Beijing.

Burnham was cashing in to build credit with the ‘footballing public’, to try to last at least as long as predecessor Keir Starmer. Because even he knows what UEFA’s ultimate aim is and it’s not protecting football.

Why UEFA fought FIFA

UEFA is solely concerned with money and control, nothing else. It is also staving off two major issues that need to be resolved by September: Russia’s return and Israel’s suspension.

UEFA knows that it will face uproar from the usual screeching heads by allowing even Russian girls back into continental competition, as explained here and once the boycotts kick off, it will lose millions because those not too inclined towards peace in Ukraine will make sure their voices are heard.

In ‘showing off’ by standing up to FIFA right now, it can force the global governing body to backtrack on allowing Russia to return to the footballing family. And the reason is simple: the biggest TV markets are in Europe and FIFA needs them to keep the money flowing. This UEFA power play effectively neuters FIFA from any future moves to increase funding to all its 211 member nations.

And there is the Israel question, soon to be faced in furious technicolor by Ireland. The Irish men’s national team will play their Israeli counterparts in two neutral venues as cities in Israel are unsafe for matches, while Dublin has also been deemed “too volatile.” UEFA’s avoidance of responsibility over the Israel question has put them at odds with FIFA and nations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America. They have punished Israeli football fans for racist and offensive behavior, yet allowed clubs and teams from the country to continue despite the response to the October 7 terror attack by Hamas and the bombing of Iran and invasion of Lebanon.

FIFA’s plan to offer their biggest show’s commercial rights to private bidders was the ideal stage for UEFA to throw a tantrum and con fans and encourage in line sports media fanboys and girls to attack the global owners of football.

UEFA ‘saves the day’ and sinks itself?

UEFA has been allowed to kick the can down the road, in relation to the abovementioned in-house conundrums, and won plaudits from the Eurocentric European sports media. By having lapdogs like the BBC back UEFA attacks on FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, UEFA is ensuring that more money stays in Europe while appearing to care about football.

Yet, pretending to be the saviors of football could yet backfire on the European body. UEFA is terrified of having to put those vehemently against Russia’s return back in their proverbial boxes, because money will be lost. It does not want to offend Israel as business and political supporters in Europe will make UEFA pay financially. As soon as this media cycle passes, questions will need to be answered and the rulers of European football have no answers. Indeed, they will depend on FIFA to help out, again.

As for suggestions that they should set up a new global governing body, UEFA has zero interest as it’s bad for business. The noise around FIFA’s commercial sell off was simply to make sure that when the cake is being divided up, they’ll make more money from it, and that FIFA will back down over Russia, and the public will forget that Israel are still in competition. 

Far from breathing a sigh of relief early on Saturday when FIFA released a statement saying its business plan had been shelved, UEFA began the countdown to having to deal with its own burning issues. The ‘thunderous barrage of criticism’, to quote a BBC football writer, directed by UEFA at Infantino will not see the champions of Greece, Ireland, Poland, or Russia, dream of becoming champions of Europe. The ‘barrage’ is poorly aimed flak, meant to distract, from a pair of incoming missiles that could derail the UEFA money train.

Several sunken World War II-era Nazi warships have resurfaced in the Danube River amid a major heatwave and prolonged drought. The vessels became visible as the water level in Europe’s second-longest river fell to record lows.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed massive shipwrecks lying in the water and on a sand ridge in the middle of the waterway near the village of Prahovo in Serbia.

Elsewhere, the wreck of a Hungarian cargo ship that sank in 1937 resurfaced near the Croatian village of Opatovac.

Some 200 vessels could be lying on the bottom of the Danube River, according to the European Investment Bank. River transport has nearly come to a halt due to the low water levels, according to Hungary’s Transport Ministry.

🇷🇸🇭🇷 A sunken German flotilla has surfaced in Serbia due to the shallowing of the Danube, Reuters reports.

The rusting hulks of the German flotilla, sunk in 1944 during the retreat before the Red Army, are reportedly posing a threat to shipping. pic.twitter.com/WwacLDGlgC

— Маrina Wolf (@volkova_ma57183) August 1, 2026

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar also said that the Paks nuclear power plant, which covers nearly half of Hungary’s electricity needs, could be shut down for weeks because of insufficient water levels.

Na Dunavu kod Prahova.
Stari nacististički brodovi se vide zbog niskog vodostaja.
📷Đorđe Kojadinović pic.twitter.com/b44rZe2H4J

— 💀Patogeni puding💀 (@PatogeniP) August 1, 2026

In Budapest, a German WWII artillery shell was found near Margaret Bridge – one of the city’s major traffic arteries – last week. The discovery prompted brief safety closures as a bomb disposal team was deployed to the area. Hungary’s national weather authority also reported a record-low water level of 23cm in the Danube as it flows through the city. The previous all-time low, set in 2018, was 33cm.

In northern Bulgaria, the drying-up river revealed what is believed to be the remains of a mammoth. The bones were found by a local resident of the village of Ryahovo. Nikolay Nenov, a director of a regional history museum in the nearby town of Ruse, called the discovery “very important for science.”

En Bulgarie, des ossements de mammouth découverts dans le lit asséché du Danube
(Reporterre) pic.twitter.com/bvz3Wq1i1j

— PBE 🦔🌳🐤🐾 (@Pbe95) August 1, 2026

The Danube is expected to go even lower in the coming days, with no significant rain forecast and temperatures expected to exceed 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees F) in the region, according to AP.

Israel is at the heart of Washington’s long-running tensions with Colombia and its outgoing President Gustavo Petro, Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio has told RT.

In an exclusive interview aired on Sunday, Villavicencio insisted that the decisive factor behind US sanctions on Petro was not his alleged failure to combat drug trafficking but rather his outspoken support for Palestine and repeated accusations that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Relations between Bogota and Washington – Colombia’s largest trading partner – steadily deteriorated during Petro’s presidency over US policy in Latin America, particularly toward Venezuela and Cuba, regional anti-drug efforts, and broader geopolitical differences, most notably Petro’s outspoken support for Palestine and criticism of Israel. This culminated in Washington sanctioning Petro last year, accusing him of “allowing drug cartels to flourish” and “refusing to stop” narcotics trafficking.

US President Donald Trump called Petro an “illegal drug leader,” and openly backed right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, who campaigned on restoring closer ties with Washington, over Petro ally and left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda in the election earlier this year.

Villavicencio rejected Washington’s justification for sanctioning Petro, arguing that his administration had delivered record results in combating drug trafficking.

“We are talking about record-breaking seizures of cocaine, exceeding the figures achieved by any previous administration,” she said, adding that authorities had dismantled cocaine laboratories, extradited suspects, confiscated criminal assets, and kept the US informed of those efforts.

“President [Petro’s] inclusion on the OFAC list [is] in no way related to drug trafficking. These measures were taken against the president because of his firm and principled stance when he openly described what is happening in Palestine as genocide,” Villavicencio declared. “That was the real reason.”

Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024 over its military campaign in Gaza, repeatedly accusing West Jerusalem of committing genocide and becoming one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Latin America.

He also suspended all Israeli arms purchases, ending Colombia’s long-standing reliance on Israeli military technology, banned coal exports to Israel, and later expelled Israel’s remaining diplomats after an aid flotilla carrying Colombian activists was intercepted by Israeli forces. Colombia also formally joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Petro is due to hand power to President-elect de la Espriella on August 7. He has said he will not attend the inauguration, challenged the legitimacy of the election, and alleged that Israel manipulated Colombia’s presidential vote by hacking election servers. Apart from aligning Colombia more closely with Washington, de la Espriella has pledged to restore full diplomatic ties with Israel, effectively reversing nearly every major foreign-policy decision of the Petro administration.

Meanwhile, the Gaza conflict remains unresolved despite recent political developments. Earlier this week, Hamas said it had accepted Trump’s Board of Peace proposal for phased disarmament, provided Israel fulfills its commitments, including a phased military withdrawal, humanitarian access, and progress on reconstruction.

Israel has yet to formally endorse the proposal, however, insisting that any withdrawal can only begin after Hamas fully disarms, leaving the process deadlocked. Israeli forces have meanwhile continued operations across Gaza, with Palestinian officials reporting at least one person killed and several others wounded in strikes on Friday.

The US and Israel orchestrated the mass migrant crossing from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta to punish Madrid for its refusal to bow to pressure on the Middle East conflicts, Iran’s embassy in Kenya has suggested. Spain has been at odds with Washington and West Jerusalem over the Gaza war and strikes on Iran.

Over the past several days, roughly 50,000 to 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta by land and sea in numbers equivalent to some 70% of the enclave’s regular population. The local authorities admitted they had been “completely overwhelmed” by the sudden surge.

The crisis, the largest human traffic invasion in the EU’s history, claimed the lives of at least 86 people, a toll expected to rise further. Many of the victims drowned in the sea or were crushed in the stampede at border checkpoints.

On Friday, the Iranian Embassy in Nairobi described the migrant surge as “an operation organized by Washington and Tel Aviv – coordinated with certain neighboring authorities – to destabilize Spain.”

It also branded the crisis “a gift to Europe’s far right” and “punishment for the country that dared to challenge the American Empire and its Israeli henchmen,” warning that “the empire never tolerates defiance.”

Neither the US nor Israel commented on the accusation. However, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon slammed Spain’s handling of the crisis. “Spain, which never misses an opportunity to lecture Israel, has declared a state of emergency in Ceuta following the crisis over its immigration policy”, Danon wrote on X. “Maybe before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa.”

Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente responded to the post saying, “Well, it all seems to be becoming quite clear.” Far-right US commentator Alex Jones separately claimed “Israel launched an Islamic invasion of Spain,” alleging Washington backed the move. Catalan Republican Left (ERC) parliamentary spokesman Gabriel Rufian also suggested that the migration crisis was serving US and Israeli interests.

The comments come against a backdrop of deep acrimony between Madrid and Israel over the Gaza conflict and the US-Israeli war on Iran. Spain recognized Palestine in May 2024, accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, and has permanently pulled its ambassador from Israel over its opposition to strikes on Iran while closing its airspace to US aircraft involved in the attack.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Madrid of “standing with tyrants” while US President Donald Trump blasted Spain, saying that it “has been very bad” to NATO. Iran, meanwhile, has praised Spain for its “principled” position on the war.

At the same time, Spain and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – whose government recently granted legal status to 500,000 illegal immigrants – came under fire from several European leaders, who blamed the crisis on his lenient policies.

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Sanchez said he had “serious concerns” about some EU governments, noting that while most EU states had shown “support and solidarity,” others had responded with a “selfish, polarizing and unlawful reaction” driven by “prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.” 

Apart from the theory of alleged US-Israel involvement, several other explanations for the crisis have circulated. The Spanish authorities have pointed to criminal human-trafficking networks which they claimed exploited a Supreme Court ruling barring “hot returns” of migrants and fabricated a viral social media campaign to lure them to the border.

At the same time, Western intelligence sources cited by The Telegraph suggested that Morocco may have loosened border controls in retaliation for Sanchez’s pursuit of historic rapprochement with rival Algeria.

In late July, the Philippines did something that has become increasingly rare. It made great powers sit down. Under the chairmanship of the Philippines, the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila and its dense constellation of related gatherings turned the capital into one of the few reliable stages where rivals still appear in the same rooms, exchange views, and keep channels open.

From July 20 to 24, foreign ministers from Southeast Asia, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India, Europe, and beyond convened against a distinctly unsettled backdrop of escalating hostilities between the US and Iran and rising tensions between Beijing and the Philippines after incidents in the South China Sea.

Yet ASEAN did what it has long done best – it refused to let the friction dictate the terms. The organization offered something that is in very short supply in the modern world of competing geopolitical blocs: a neutral platform where conversation remains possible and practical cooperation continues.

A region under pressure

The timing was anything but comfortable. The Middle East conflict has already begun to squeeze energy prices, shipping insurance, and supply-chain calculations across Asia. For a region whose growth remains tightly linked to imported fuel, the risks are very real. Closer to home, the South China Sea incident added another layer of sensitivity to an already delicate maritime equation. All of these were live pressures that tested ASEAN’s claim to remain the primary driving force in the regional architecture.

Yet the Joint Communiqué adopted on July 21 showed neither panic nor denial. Ministers reaffirmed the peaceful resolution of disputes, full respect for international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the principle of ASEAN centrality. Negotiations on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea continued, with eyes fixed on further progress ahead of the November Summit.

On Myanmar, the Five-Point Consensus remained the central reference, with discussion focused on measurable steps rather than rhetorical gestures. ASEAN would address its challenges on its own terms, without allowing external turbulence to rewrite the regional script.

The power of the side table

What gave the Manila meetings their particular charge was not only the formal agenda but the density of bilateral encounters conducted on its margins. ASEAN does not pretend to mediate every dispute or to impose outcomes on larger powers. Its real craft lies in creating the conditions under which those powers can still speak.

The first-ever meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on the sidelines of ASEAN-led events reaffirmed support for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” while explicitly endorsing ASEAN’s unity and centrality. Concurrent sessions of the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum further illustrated the layered architecture that continues to revolve around ASEAN as its institutional core. In a period when many multilateral forums have become arenas of performance, Manila still functioned as a workplace.

Lavrov and Rubio

Among the most closely watched encounters was the meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The American side initiated the talks – an important detail in itself. It signaled that even in a period of sharp differences, Washington recognizes the necessity of sustained contact between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

The discussion covered the Ukraine conflict, the state of bilateral relations, and regional questions of mutual concern. Lavrov set out Russia’s positions with characteristic clarity. Both ministers welcomed the resumption of full contacts between Roscosmos and NASA and spoke in favor of expanding inter-parliamentary exchanges and cultural ties. Rubio indicated that the US remains prepared to play a constructive role in efforts aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

Expanding partnerships in a crowded landscape

ASEAN’s external relations received concrete reinforcement. Türkiye was admitted as the organization’s 12th Dialogue Partner, joining a diverse group that already includes China, India, Russia, the US, and the EU. Germany and Qatar were elevated to Sectoral Dialogue Partner status. These decisions reflected continued international confidence in ASEAN’s capacity to manage its own agenda and to offer partners meaningful avenues for engagement without demanding alignment on every geopolitical question.

The 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia provided an additional opportunity to widen the circle. New accessions further illustrated the treaty’s enduring appeal as a foundation for peaceful interstate relations. The steady expansion of ASEAN’s partnership network stands as evidence of practical attraction rather than mere ceremonial goodwill.

Energy as the new front line

Few issues illustrated the collision of distant conflict and regional interest more sharply than energy. The flare-up involving the US and Iran has returned attention to the vulnerability of petroleum supply routes and the need for collective resilience. Ministers highlighted the continuing relevance of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security and the practical advances already achieved under the ASEAN Power Grid.

These mechanisms, developed through years of patient technical work, now function as instruments for managing risk. In the Joint Communiqué, energy security, food security and supply-chain stability were treated central to the region’s ability to absorb external shocks. The emphasis on accelerating implementation of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation reflected a clear understanding: geopolitical turbulence abroad quickly becomes an economic and social challenge at home.

Centrality is key

Throughout the meetings, ASEAN ministers returned repeatedly to the concept of centrality. As major-power rivalries intensify globally, the organization’s insistence on remaining the primary driving force in the regional architecture is both a principle and a practical necessity. The Joint Communiqué underscored the determination to project common positions, to leverage ASEAN-led mechanisms, and to contribute to an order anchored in international law.

ASEAN does not seek to exclude external partners or to pretend that differences do not exist. The region’s preferences – for consensus, for non-interference, and for inclusive dialogue – continue to shape the terms of engagement. The presence of representatives from the full spectrum of major powers in Manila was itself a recognition of that reality.

The Manila lesson

The meetings in the Philippines capital showed that inclusive, ASEAN-centered diplomacy retains practical value even when the global atmosphere grows more polarized. The Lavrov-Rubio conversation, the discussions between Rubio and Wang Yi preparing the ground for higher-level contacts, the expansion of formal partnerships, and the steady attention to energy and maritime cooperation all pointed in the same direction.

The region faces real pressures: an unsettled Middle East, maritime tensions in the South China Sea, and the structural competition between major powers that shapes the wider Indo-Pacific. ASEAN’s response to these pressures, as seen in Manila, is to insist that dialogue is better than conflict and silent treatments, centrality is better than fragmentation, and that patient institution-building is the best path through turbulence.

For an international community searching for spaces where conversation is still possible, the message from Manila was both timely and consequential. When the storm rises, ASEAN still sets the table. And for now, that may be the most valuable service of all.

Russia’s richest woman, Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim, has been added to Ukraine’s notorious Mirotvorets ‘kill list’ amid Kiev’s claims that her company is aiding the Russian military.

Kim is the founder, CEO and largest shareholder of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, often dubbed the country’s Amazon. She launched the company from her Moscow apartment while on maternity leave, building it into a business operating in ten countries with gross merchandise turnover of about $77.3 billion in 2025. With an estimated net worth of more than $8 billion, Kim is Russia’s richest woman, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and one of the country’s most influential business leaders.

Kim’s entry appeared in the Mirotvorets database on Saturday, citing “public support for Russian malice.” The listing also describes her as “an accomplice in crimes against Ukraine and its citizens,” an “organizer of logistical support for Russian military units,” and a “financier” of the Russian army.

Launched in 2014 as a nominally independent project, Mirotvorets has long been linked to Ukraine’s security services and is notorious for publishing the personal details of those it deems enemies of the Ukrainian state. Several people whose information appeared on the website – including journalists and politicians – have later been killed.

Kim’s listing follows a spate of Ukrainian attacks on Wildberries infrastructure. Since mid-July, the company’s logistics centers and warehouses in several Russian regions have come under repeated drone strikes. Nine people have been killed, more than 100 injured, and the damage is currently estimated at more than $1 billion. The latest attack took place earlier on Sunday, hitting a Wildberries warehouse in Samara Region. According to preliminary information, no one was injured.

Kiev claims the Russian military uses the retailer’s distribution network to procure and transport dual-use goods. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attacks were deliberate, arguing the warehouses stored “sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the claims fake, while Russian Deputy Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Maslennikov this week described the strikes as “terrorism and a war crime,” arguing Kiev was seeking to generate media attention by targeting what many see as a symbol of everyday consumer life.

On Friday, Kim addressed the drone strikes in a video statement, calling them “terrorist attacks” aimed at “causing panic and shock” among the Russian civilian population. Rejecting Ukrainian accusations that Wildberries sells military-grade goods, she noted that all international online marketplaces sell products that could theoretically be considered dual-use, from batteries, camouflage gear and first-aid kits to FPV goggles and fiber-optic cable.

“Attacks on Wildberries’ infrastructure are attacks on civilians. And not just on Russians,” Kim said, noting that around 10,000 people from ten countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and China, do business through the company’s ecosystem and have been affected by the strikes.

US President Donald Trump has canceled a planned attack on Iran after saying the outlines of an agreement had been reached that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and address what he described as Tehran’s “nuclear threat.”

CBS News reported that the US and Israel had been preparing a major bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic’s energy infrastructure that could begin as early as the weekend. The network said the proposed operation, which it described as potentially one of the harshest campaigns against Iran to date, was expected to target power plants and oil refineries, while military officials also reportedly discussed cutting electricity across Tehran.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote that despite the US being “locked and loaded” to strike Iran at “levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” he had agreed to requests from Tehran and Middle Eastern nations to hold off on the attack because the “parameters” of a deal had been agreed upon.

Trump said the proposed agreement would include “the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”

“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump wrote, adding that Israel had joined Washington in the commitment.

Iranian officials, however, disputed Trump’s account. A source described by the Fars News Agency as being close to Iran’s negotiating team said there were no plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and insisted it would remain closed “as long as the US continues its hostile actions.” According to the source, commercial shipping would only be permitted through a route designated by Iran and with the permission of the IRGC Navy.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, reportedly spoke to Trump on Saturday and raised concerns about a further escalation. A source familiar with the conversation told AP that Riyadh feared US attacks on Tehran’s key infrastructure could prompt retaliatory strikes against energy facilities in Gulf countries. The crown prince also reportedly sought clarity about the military action Trump was considering.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AP that the conversation had taken place but did not disclose any details.

Despite joining the US in strikes on sites used by alleged Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has reportedly been urging Washington and Tehran to resume negotiations to end the five-month-old conflict. Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince’s brother, traveled to Washington on Wednesday for meetings with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance to discuss Iran strategy.

The escalation followed a brief pause in hostilities. Earlier this week, the US military said it had thwarted an Iranian missile attack on an American base in Jordan, Tehran’s first regional attack since the fighting subsided.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that the US “just want[s] to win” in Iran, vowing to hit the country “very hard” until it “can’t take it anymore.”

Wildfires burning across more than 100,000 hectares in Washington state, US, have triggered widespread evacuations and power outages around the city of Spokane, state officials said on Saturday.

Large parts of Spokane County were placed under the highest Level 3 evacuation order as strong winds drove flames into residential areas. Officials urged residents to leave immediately “due to the life-threatening conditions,” while an evacuation shelter was opened at a local community college.

The largest blaze, the Old Trails Fire, ignited around noon and had burned more than 1,000 hectares by late afternoon, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The fire spread rapidly through brush and grass into residential neighborhoods.

Videos circulating on social media showed burning homes, towering plumes of smoke, and orange skies as long lines of vehicles fled the area.

Volleyball friends on the way out of the evacuation zone in Spokane on W Strong, after evacuating from Spike and Dig but then being trapped at the Indian Trail Safeway #OldTrailsFire #WAWildfire pic.twitter.com/fBGmRbktYD

— David Wu (@davidpwu) August 2, 2026

Washington State Forester George Geissler said the blaze threatened about 4,000 structures.

Man this is not good. A community off of Tiffany Ave. in Spokane, with homes on fire, and not a single fire engine in sight. After watching the devastation unfold in Altadena and the Palisades in 2025, seeing neighborhoods once again surrounded by flames is gut-wrenching.
🎥KHQ… pic.twitter.com/Yqy4CQ8rSK

— CodeThreeNews (@CodeThreeNews) August 2, 2026

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said around 200 homes had been evacuated by mid-afternoon, along with several major facilities, including water reclamation plants, a waste-to-energy facility, and a local hospital.

🇺🇲🔸Driven by strong winds, the rapidly spreading Old Trails fire jumped the Spokane River and reached residential areas in the northwestern part of Spokane, Washington, prompting a massive emergency evacuation. pic.twitter.com/ziJBMzwD4P

— Argonaut (@FapeFop90614) August 2, 2026

Officials reported no injuries or fatalities as of Saturday evening, while the local utility company, Avista, said around 60,000 customers were without electricity.

BREAKING: Video shows homes on fire in northwest Spokane, Washington amid massive wildfire. pic.twitter.com/pgZ5DnNC92

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) August 2, 2026

Some buildings have been destroyed, although officials have yet to determine the full extent of the damage.

Massive wildfire has engulfed multiple homes in Spokane, Washington, USA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/NYl8cRpVFF

— Disaster News (@Top_Disaster) August 2, 2026

Firefighters had zero containment by Saturday evening, as strong winds continued to fuel the blaze, DNR spokesperson Jessica Watson said.

Video from Anna Johnston in Spokane, Washington shows traffic jammed up as residents continue to evacuate due to the Old Trails Fire. The fire continues to spot and grow due to very strong winds.

The Dwight Merkel outdoor Sports complex that was full for Saturday activities has… https://t.co/01CSyaOYcZ pic.twitter.com/x3mXVnjSuT

— The Hotshot Wake Up (@HotshotWake) August 1, 2026

Washington is enduring one of its worst wildfire seasons in years, driven by prolonged drought and extreme heat. More than 1,000 fires have already burned about 172,000 hectares this year – the largest area scorched since 2021 – according to the DNR.

The Old Trails Fire in Spokane, Washington has turned into worst case scenario.

This footage was sent in to me, taken from Indian Trail Road, North of west Francis Ave. Devastating losses.

Crews are making progress on slowing the spread of the fire, now 3,509 acres, but… https://t.co/CKepj7ZB56 pic.twitter.com/EdvWIUK9eC

— The Hotshot Wake Up (@HotshotWake) August 2, 2026

More than a dozen active wildfires remain burning across more than 100,000 hectares in the state, most in sparsely populated areas. The largest, the Kaiser Canyon Fire in northeastern Washington, has already consumed about 54,000 hectares.

BREAKING 🚨🚨#Spokane / #Washington

Dramatic New Video from the Old Trails Fire in Spokane shows dozens of homes burnt to the ground, similar to what we saw in LA and Paradise. Eery feelings pic.twitter.com/5tvpo8oqge

— OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) August 2, 2026

Around 4,000 firefighters are battling the blazes, Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said during a virtual press conference.

“This year has already been one of our busiest wildfire years on record, and we just started August,” Upthegrove said. “Our firefighters are already stretched thin [and] any new spark on our tinder dry landscapes can lead to another devastating wildfire. I’m urging all Washingtonians to not be that spark.”

The structure loss in Spokane is unfathomable.

I’d estimate up to 100 homes lost so far based on video evidence alone. Scenes look Palisades-esque. pic.twitter.com/gaFcb828GD

— Mike Gagliardi (Tropics) (@Mike__Gagliardi) August 2, 2026

Governor Bob Ferguson has declared a statewide state of emergency. The order includes a statewide ban on most outdoor and agricultural burning through September 30, covering yard debris burning, bonfires, and campfires outside designated fire rings.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued its highest-level fire weather alert for large parts of eastern Washington and northeastern Oregon on Sunday – a ‘particularly dangerous situation’ Red Flag Warning – marking the first time such a warning has been issued in Washington state. Forecasters warned that a strong cold front, combined with hot, dry, and windy conditions, would create extreme fire weather and the potential for rapid fire spread.

Two civilians have been killed and several wounded after a wave of Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s Saratov Region in the central part of the country, local Governor Roman Busargin has said.

In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Busargin said the UAVs targeted facilities in both Saratov and Engels, with drone wreckage claiming two lives as it tore into a multi-story apartment block in the latter city. He added that several people were injured in Saratov, with strikes also damaging “civilian infrastructure facilities.”

The governor assured that the affected families would be given “all necessary assistance” and temporary housing while engineers assess the damage.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a total of 635 Ukrainian drones overnight across 16 regions — including Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov, and Saratov, as well as Crimea and Moscow Region. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in the early morning that six Ukrainian drones had been intercepted on approaches to the capital.

Radiy Khabirov, the head of Republic of Bashkortostan, also in central Russia, said 25 drones had been downed over the region, with debris sparking a fire in the industrial zone in Ufa.

In Samara Region, the attack also damaged a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer often dubbed Russia’s Amazon, the company’s press service confirmed.

Wildberries said it had rerouted its logistics chain, with incoming shipments and outgoing orders now handled at other facilities.

Ukraine has intensified drone strikes deep into Russia in recent weeks, with many of the strikes targeting Wildberries hubs, along with civilian infrastructure and residential buildings. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky confirmed the attacks on the warehouses – which killed numerous civilians – were deliberate, arguing that the warehouses stored “sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment.” Moscow has dismissed the claim that Wildberries supplies the Russian military.

Moscow has retaliated by targeting Ukraine’s defense-related facilities, including drone and missile production sites and fuel depots. Russia maintains it never targets civilians.

US politicians are using profanity in public far more frequently than in the past, according to research published by Cardiff University politics lecturer Dr Joseph Phillips.

Some 87% of the 692 documented instances of presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates using profanity in public have occurred in just the last decade, Phillips wrote. The overwhelming majority of those cases – 78% – came from President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden, according to the study published this week.

On Wednesday, Trump was heard using another expletive following an Iranian attack on US forces in Jordan. According to Fox News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, Trey Yingst, the president said: “We’re going to beat the f**king s**t out of them.” Biden previously made headlines while serving as vice president, when he was caught on a hot mic telling then-President Barack Obama that signing the 2010 Affordable Care Act was a “big f**king deal.”

For US presidents to use profanity publicly was once exceptionally rare, Phillips noted. According to the study, President Woodrow Wilson became the first to publicly use a naughty word, when he said he’d made a “conspicuous *ss of himself” in 1919.

However, Trump has introduced a broader range of profanities into presidential rhetoric, using words such as “bullsh*t,” “ba***rd,” “b***ch,” and “f**k” in speeches, interviews, and social media posts, according to Phillips.

The researcher argued that the trend reflects broader changes in political communication rather than simply the personalities of individual politicians. He said profanity has become increasingly common in US politics, with politicians at all levels of government swearing more frequently than in previous decades.

Phillips also argued that politicians increasingly use profanity because it can signal authenticity at a time when public trust in politics is low. Since swearing is common in everyday conversation, using it publicly may help politicians appear more relatable and less carefully scripted. He added that even voters who dislike political profanity are unlikely to change their political allegiances over it, given the deep ideological divisions between the two major parties.

“Profanity can be a signal of authenticity. In a time of low political trust, signals that a politician is ‘authentic’ are at a premium.”

The study comes as public attitudes toward swearing continue to shift. A series of YouGov polls published last year found that younger Americans were significantly more accepting of profanity at work, on social media, and in front of children than older respondents. Some 21% of adults aged 18-29 considered swearing in front of children completely or somewhat acceptable, compared with just 4% of those aged 65 and older.

Thai police have arrested four suspects in a high-profile case involving the kidnapping and murder of two Russian nationals and a local family of three. Diana Nazimova, 22, and her brother Roman, 17, disappeared near the resort city of Pattaya earlier this week.

The siblings moved to Thailand with their mother several years ago and lived in the Huai Yai area southeast of Pattaya. According to police, they left their home on a rented Honda ADV 150 motorcycle before dawn on July 26. Shortly afterwards, Diana sent her mother a message saying that someone appeared to be following them, before contact with the two was lost.

CCTV footage showed them speaking with another motorcyclist not far from their home before their disappearance, according to local media. The incident prompted a search operation, and their vehicle was discovered three days later, dismantled and buried in a wooded area near an abandoned cemetery.

Police identified two men – Thana ‘Pong’ Koedthong, 43, and Thongchai ‘Thong’ Srinil, 39 – as the principal suspects in the case. The two were detained near Thailand’s border with Cambodia on July 31 following a five-day manhunt.

BREAKING: Two Russian siblings missing in #Thailand have been killed over a motorcycle.17-year-old Roman was shot dead.
His 22-year-old sister Diana was beaten to death.
Thai police arrested two suspects near the #Cambodian 🇰🇭 border. The men confessed to murdering the pair… pic.twitter.com/hFMz769EFh

— Mahalaxmi Ramanathan (@MahalaxmiRaman) July 31, 2026

During questioning, the suspects confessed to killing the siblings and led investigators to a shallow grave in a wooded area of Huai Yai. Police recovered two bodies believed to be those of Diana and Roman, with forensic examinations still ongoing.

🔴 Tayland’da günlerdir aranan Rus kardeşlerin öldürüldüğü ortaya çıktı.

Pattaya yakınlarında kaybolan 22 yaşındaki Diana ile 17 yaşındaki Roman’ın motosikleti parçalanarak toprağa gömülmüş halde bulundu.

Yakalanan iki şüpheli, kardeşleri motosikletlerini çalmak amacıyla… pic.twitter.com/lXkJ854FDh

— 3. Dünya Savaşı (@ww3mediaa) July 31, 2026

The suspects reportedly posed as police officers conducting a routine check to stop the siblings on a road. They then handcuffed the brother and forced the Russians to accompany them to a wooded area while threatening them with firearms. Police named robbery as the potential motive, as the killers took their belongings, including the motorcycle.

One of the suspects, Thong, also confessed to being involved in the kidnapping and murder of a local family that disappeared around two months ago. Police searched a second site located just a few kilometers away and recovered three more bodies.

Pong and Thong now stand accused of premeditated murder, robbery, firearms offenses, and impersonating police officers. Two additional suspects were also arrested in connection with the second murder case. The Thai corrections service confirmed that Pong had been released from prison only on June 5 after serving seven years and seven months for attempted murder, firearms offenses, and drug violations.

The case prompted Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to formally apologize to Russia, saying the murders had damaged the country’s image and shaken public confidence in its tourism industry. He also vowed to take “urgent measures” to ensure that similar crimes “never” happen again.

The Russian Embassy in Thailand said it was closely monitoring the investigation and expected the suspected perpetrators to face justice. It added that Moscow had no complaints against Thai authorities but maintained that effective action by Thai law enforcement would be “of key importance” in the case.

Three people were killed and at least two others injured when a gunman opened fire at a crowded In-N-Out restaurant in Idaho, triggering an apparent exchange of gunfire with an armed bystander.

The attack unfolded at around 2:30pm on Saturday in Twin Falls, approximately 130 miles (210km) southeast of Boise. The restaurant had opened only about a week earlier and was packed with customers in one of the city’s busiest commercial districts.

The shooting apparently began inside the restaurant before spilling into the surrounding area, according to footage showing terrified customers and employees fleeing into the parking lot and onto the road as shots rang out.

Video circulating online shows a man armed with an AR-style rifle and dressed in a black shirt and jeans walking out of the venue as the crowd flees. He then approaches a white car, opens its trunk and reaches inside.

BREAKING: Active shooter reported near the In-N-Out Burger at Canyon Rim in Twin Falls, Idaho; according to police. pic.twitter.com/RbWtWahDq8

— Scope Report (@ScopeReport_) August 1, 2026

In another clip, the suspect is seen walking through a parking lot near a Tesla charging station and firing several shots.

WATCH: Active shooter roaming around Twin Falls Visitor Center in Idaho, seen firing at a Tesla vehicle. pic.twitter.com/QGOViBoLMR

— Noteworthy News (@newsnoteworthy) August 1, 2026

Separate footage appears to show another man firing a pistol at the rifleman. Eyewitness Lane Koehn, 34, also told the Associated Press that he saw a man with a handgun open fire after the suspected attacker emerged from the drive-through carrying the rifle.

WATCH: New video appears to show an armed person firing a handgun during the active shooting in Twin Falls, Idaho. pic.twitter.com/t5e9wRnm5H

— Scope Report (@ScopeReport_) August 1, 2026

Police have neither confirmed that the pistol-wielding man was a civilian attempting to stop the attack nor established what role his gunfire played. Authorities have also declined to say how the suspected shooter died, leaving open the possibility that he was killed during the apparent exchange.

There’s been a shooting in In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Police are advising everyone to stay away as a continue to look for the shooter(s). pic.twitter.com/DfIHdHB6XL

— Comandante🎖️ (@commandante_) August 1, 2026

Koehn said the rifleman fired at least three or four rounds, although he could not tell whether anyone in particular was being targeted. Moments later, he saw an In-N-Out employee drag a wounded female colleague across the parking lot. The woman had apparently been shot in the chest. Koehn, the employee, and the pistol-wielding man remained with her until paramedics arrived.

Police sealed off surrounding roads and temporarily closed the Perrine Bridge over Snake River Canyon. Nearby shops and the Magic Valley Mall were placed under lockdown while officers searched the area and interviewed hundreds of potential witnesses.

Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks later confirmed that the suspected gunman was among the three people killed.

“We believe the threat to the community is over,” Hicks said, describing the site as an “exceptionally chaotic scene.”

The identities of those killed and injured have not been released. Police are still working to identify the suspected attacker and determine his motive, while the FBI and federal firearms investigators are assisting with the investigation.

RT has visited survivors undergoing treatment at a hospital in the aftermath of a Ukrainian drone strike on a seaside resort in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region that killed 12 people, including five children.

At least six drones struck a hotel in the town of Kirillovka on the Sea of Azov at around 1:30am last Saturday, while at least 53 vacationers were asleep inside. The popular holiday destination was considered safe, as it is located more than 100km from the nearest front line, and there are no military facilities in the vicinity.

The explosions were so powerful that a young girl was decapitated. Her head was found at least 60 meters from her body, according to rescuers. In addition to those killed, 19 people were injured, including several children, many of whom remain in intensive care.

RT correspondent Roman Kosarev visited a hospital in the city of Melitopol and spoke with survivors of the attack.

Natalia, whose husband was killed in the strike, said she did not remember much beyond seeing a flash through the window before the explosion.

“My son was lying in the next bed. He got scared and said, ‘Mom, what should I do?’ My son is still in intensive care,” she said. “We didn’t think it was dangerous there. Everyone seemed calm.”

Another survivor, 19-year-old Alexander, who was vacationing with his girlfriend at the time, told the correspondent that he had been in bed when the drone struck.

“I was thrown back. I hit my head, and that was it,” he said. “I remember being dug out and then the surgery, and that’s it. I was incredibly lucky.”

The hospital’s head of emergency care and anesthesiology said that, although the survivors of the hotel strike remain in stable condition, the facility has recently seen a surge in victims of other Ukrainian attacks.

“The number of mine and blast injuries resulting from shelling, primarily drone attacks, is increasing,” the doctor said. “Recently, more and more children have been admitted for treatment.”

Investigators identified debris recovered from the scene as belonging to long-range, Ukrainian-made FP-2 drones. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a terrorism case over the attack.

Moscow maintains that Ukrainian forces deliberately targeted civilians at the resort, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova calling the strike a blatant act of terrorism.

Watch RT’s full report below:

The deadly bombing at a central Moscow restaurant bears all the hallmarks of terrorism because it was apparently intended to inflict mass casualties and spread fear among civilians, former Pentagon analyst Michael Maloof has told RT.

Three people were killed and 21 wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated outside the Balzi Rossi restaurant near Kudrinskaya Square on Saturday evening, according to Russian officials. An unidentified woman allegedly attempted to carry the device into the establishment but was stopped at the entrance by a security guard.

“If it weren’t for that guard, who was unfortunately killed, there probably could have been a mass slaughter in that restaurant and in the surrounding area,” Maloof said.

The former US Defense Department analyst argued that the location and timing of the bombing suggested that the perpetrators sought to cause maximum harm. The explosion occurred on a warm Saturday evening in a busy area of central Moscow near the Moscow Zoo, shortly before a nighttime cycling event was due to take place.

“Just given the description, that was for maximum effect. It was to kill as many people as possible,” Maloof said. “That is the very definition of terrorism – to terrorize the civilian population.”

The blast prompted the authorities to close roads around Kudrinskaya Square and cancel the cycling event. Witnesses described seeing wounded and bloodied people fleeing the area as emergency services, police, and members of the Russian National Guard arrived at the scene.

Maloof said it remained unclear whether the restaurant had been selected simply because it was crowded or whether a particular individual inside had been targeted.

“It was meant, I think, to have maximum effect. And if it was intended to target someone, the individual did not care what the collateral damage might be,” he said.

Russia’s authorities have not publicly identified a suspected organizer or attributed the attack to any country or organization. No group has claimed responsibility, and investigators have yet to disclose a possible motive. Maloof, however, suggested that the bombing was connected to the Ukraine conflict, describing it as an apparent attempt to create panic in the Russian capital.

“This was clearly meant to cause maximum panic and terrorism, and to create greater uncertainty so that people would be afraid… It is really important for people not to show that fear, but to go about their business while being cautious and alert.”

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation and said forensic specialists are examining the site. Officials have not publicly identified the woman who carried the device or announced any arrests.

Western intelligence agencies and their Ukrainian proxies were likely involved in the deadly bombing at a central Moscow restaurant, former US Army officer Stanislav Krapivnik believes.

Russia’s authorities have not publicly identified any organization or foreign government as responsible for the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility. Investigators have also yet to announce a suspected motive for the improvised explosive device attack, which killed three people and wounded 21 on Saturday evening.

An unidentified woman allegedly attempted to carry the device into the establishment, which had been reserved for a private event, but was stopped at the entrance by a security guard. Both were killed in the blast, along with one of the restaurant’s patrons.

Speaking to RT shortly after the attack, Krapivnik said that although no official attribution had been made, he believed Western intelligence services were ultimately responsible.

“While officially nobody is taking credit for doing this, we know who’s behind this. We know exactly who’s behind this,” he said. “In Russian folk myth, in Eastern Slavic folk myth, there’s a three-headed dragon. In this case, that three-headed dragon is the CIA, MI6, and Mossad.”

“They are neck-deep in Ukraine. They’re neck-deep in this conflict. They have been since 2014 and earlier. They recreated the SBU into a terrorist organization. They use them as proxies to commit terrorist acts, and they go after Russian officials as much as they can,” Krapivnik argued.

Moscow has previously accused Ukrainian intelligence services of orchestrating assassinations and attempted attacks inside and outside Russia, sometimes with Western assistance. Krapivnik claimed that Kiev’s security agencies had a record of recruiting or deceiving couriers to deliver explosive devices.

The precise composition and power of the device have not been officially disclosed. However, judging by the force of the blast, Krapivnik suggested that it may have contained approximately one kilogram of military-grade explosives, along with ball bearings or other metal fragments intended to maximize casualties.

The former US Army officer also pointed to photographs showing human remains some distance from the site as an indication of the explosion’s force. He praised the security guard for stopping the suspected bomber from entering the restaurant and potentially preventing further casualties.

Russian officials have not said whether the woman acted knowingly, was manipulated by others, or had any connection to Ukraine or Western intelligence services. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the bombing but has not publicly named the woman, identified a suspected organizer or announced any arrests.

The recent burst of illegal migration into Spain’s Moroccan exclave of Ceuta was, above all, a sensational media event produced for political effect. It will have lasting consequences, but not in terms of who ended up where: Of the about 50,000 migrants who suddenly, as if on command, stormed Ceuta by land and sea, almost all quickly went back to Morocco. According to the EU’s home affairs commissioner, not a single Ceuta-crasher made it to the European mainland.

In that sense, the whole thing might as well not have happened. Apocalyptic fantasies of Ceuta turning into a wide open gate to the rest of fortress Europe were always, at best, silly: no, you can’t just travel on into Spain from there or to British Gibraltar, for that matter.

Worse, there have been many deliberate attempts at political profiteering by spreading panic. All through the West, figures from across the political spectrum did not miss a beat trying to exploit the Ceuta emergency: In America, President Donald Trump – under pressure from his self-imposed fiasco in Iran – spoke of a “catastrophe” for Spain and predicted even worse to come in the US if voters dare abandon his Republicans in the upcoming midterms. Elon Musk, richest oligarchs in the world, shared a fragment of the not-so-subtly Zionist horror epic “World War Z” to compare the migrants to Zombies.

Meanwhile in NATO-EU Europe, Italy’s leadership under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni staged some grand, irrelevant theater about the country’s perfectly unaffected borders, while making sour sounds about Schengen this and Schengen that. Not to be outdone, in France the Rassemblement National’s number two Jordan Bardella charged with equal absurdity that Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his liberal policies had “opened the doors of Europe.”

While especially strident, the EU’s new right was representative of almost everyone else: 22 governments signed a letter “implicitly criticizing” Spain rather than show solidarity with a fellow-EU member. Spain, meanwhile, is not prepared to meekly submit to this intra-Western hazing session. Sanchez has called out international reactions “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest.”

None of the above means that this fresh and unprecedentedly massive – five or six times as large as previous peaks, according to the Wall Street Journal – Ceuta crisis wasn’t real. Indeed, it was real enough to leave at least 67 casualties behind, namely, those migrants who did not manage to breach the Spanish border fortifications and drowned or were crushed to death.

They, however, have met with little interest and no human compassion. Clearly, under Western eyes they are negligible. Western mainstream media and politicians have treated their lives as if they hardly mattered. Almost as if they were, say, Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank, killed, robbed, and displaced by Israeli genocide and ethnic cleansing.    

Which brings us to an especially intriguing aspect of this manufactured panic: Curiously, Israel’s UN representative Danny Danon has felt it is his job to go after Spain as well. “Spain, which never misses an opportunity to lecture Israel, has declared a state of emergency in Ceuta following the crisis over its immigration policy,” he declared, adding “maybe before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa.”

Ceuta and its sister exclave Melilla really are odd historical remnants, no doubt. But to hear an official representative of Israel, a genocidal settler colony led by an indicted war criminal, go on about colonialism is rich. But then, that is Danon’s default style: aggressive, shameless, and dirty.

More serious is the fact that Israel’s UN ambassador has chosen to make this statement when social media are already abuzz with theories pointing to Israel as somehow behind – if not necessarily alone – the storming of Ceuta. In essence, the idea is that the Zionist apartheid state and its international networks have found a way to pay Spain back for its far from perfect but – in NATO-EU Europe – unusual solidarity with Israel’s Palestinian victims. No wonder that many Spanish observers, including the Minister of Transport, believe Israel’s involvement is real in this assault on Spain’s territorial integrity and standing within the EU.

Indeed, Danon’s comment was so revealing that Israel’s ambassador to Spain, Dana Ehrlich, went into damage control mode, posting that Israel’s UN representative does not represent the position of the Israeli government. Make it make sense.

So, what are we supposed to think? That the Israel connection is a mere conspiracy theory? That Danny Danon is simply a self-important and nasty man who couldn’t resist what seemed, to his narrow mind, like a good trolling opportunity? That Israel would never meddle abroad so crudely? Or, perhaps, the Israeli representatives at the UN and in Spain are really delivering a well-coordinated performance where Danon implicitly takes the credit for the Ceuta pay-back and Ehrlich adds the plausible-deniability?

Clearly, there are other causes and culprits in play: Recent Spanish legislation and a finding of the constitutional court are said to have attracted the migrants, even if through a massive misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation by migrant smuggling networks. Morocco, too, has a well-deserved reputation for “weaponizing” migrants against Spain to make a point. This time, Rabat may have been sending a signal against Spain’s recent rapprochement with Morocco’s opponent Algeria.

Yet there is substantial circumstantial evidence pointing to Israeli sabotage. For one thing, Israeli and Israel-linked think tankers, such as Michael Rubin at the American Enterprise Institute and Amine Ayoub at Ynet, have a record of suggesting to use US influence and Morocco to, in effect, storm the two Spanish exclaves with the help of civilian masses. Likewise, the son of Israeli Prime Minister and wanted war criminal Benyamin Netanyahu has urged “Arabs” and “Muslims” to “free” the Spanish territories.  In general, Morocco and Israel are indeed close de facto allies, connected through security, intelligence, and arms production projects.

The likeliest explanation for the Ceuta assault and its lethal consequences may well be a combination of factors. Yet the real question is not simply which causes contributed to this fatal outcome, but whether they came together spontaneously or by design. Was there a trigger or a catalyst? If there is one thing the genocide in Gaza should have taught everybody then it is that when Israel announces a crime, it will follow through and commit it. With that in mind, it is naïve to rule out the very real possibility that Ceuta was an Israeli psy-op against Spain, at the cost of dozens of lives no one in Europe seems to care about.

The commander of the notorious Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov unit, Andrey ‘White Leader’ Biletsky, struggled to explain its SS-style insignia in an interview with American influencer Laura Loomer, eventually resorting to a comparison between Adolf Hitler and eating with a fork.

This week, Loomer, who has cultivated close ties to US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, was on a PR tour of Ukraine, which she insists doesn’t have a neo-Nazi problem.

However, she confronted Biletsky about his unit members “wearing a swastika, carrying swastika flags, doing Hitler salutes” in what she described as a “bizarre” practice. She also pointed to Azov’s insignia, describing it as “identical to the Nazi Germany logos worn by SS agents.” The emblem is the exact copy of the Wolfsangel rune used by several Nazi military formations, including the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

Biletsky acknowledged that the insignia was “rather controversial” because of its resemblance to Nazi symbols, but insisted it was a historical “monogram” representing the “idea of the nation” and claimed it had been used by some aristocratic and Cossack families “since the 16th century.” He maintained that Azov had adopted the symbol because of that tradition rather than a desire to imitate the SS.

No known evidence confirms this claim. Banners and standards used by the Cossacks were traditionally adorned with Orthodox crosses, depictions of Christ and saints, and had Cyrillic rather than Latin letters.

Biletsky then tried to downplay the issue by comparing the use of SS-style symbols to eating with a fork. “Should we see nothing but offensive triggers in everything…? Hitler ate with a fork and was a vegetarian. That doesn’t make forks or vegetarianism bad things,” he said, adding that his unit’s “symbolism” should be “approached… more cautiously.” 

He also claimed that Azov “did not commit a single hate crime” and that Ukraine had “a super low level of xenophobic manifestations” in general.

Founded in 2014 amid Kiev’s crackdown on the people of Donbass opposing the Maidan coup, the Azov unit was a key participant in the fighting in Donbass prior to the outbreak of full-blown hostilities in 2022. During that time, it was repeatedly accused of war crimes by the UN and international NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The organizations documented reports of torture, rape, and looting by its fighters.

Canada and the US barred support for the unit in 2015 over its ideology and alleged abuses, with restrictions being only lifted years later under political pressure. The unit was eventually integrated into Ukraine’s National Guard, and in 2023 was expanded to a brigade.

By 2026, the 3rd Army Corps emerged from the wider Azov movement, with Biletsky – a prominent Ukrainian far-right figure, who founded the original Azov Battalion – still in command in the rank of brigadier general. Prior to founding Azov, the man known as the ‘White Leader’ also helped establish the ultranationalist Social-National Assembly, which has widely been described as a neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization.

Neo-Nazis are reportedly still prevalent within the Azov ranks. A Dutch mercenary who fought for Kiev told De Telegraaf newspaper in January that he saw Nazi symbols, swastikas, and flags at one of the Azov HQs. He said other foreign fighters told him they had seen the unit’s soldiers “giving the Nazi salute every morning.”

The term 'collective West', widely used in Russia, is rarely employed in the West itself, except perhaps when discussing Russian political thinking. What’s commonly heard, however, is the long-running debate over what the West actually is and that discussion has continued in philosophy and politics since at least the 18th century.

The concept has never had a fixed definition, even among those who are supposedly part of it so instead, the West has usually been defined in opposition to something else. At different times, that “other” has been Byzantium and Eastern Orthodoxy, the Ottoman Empire and the Islamic world, or even Germany, which was once regarded by some as alien to the European spirit.

Russia has frequently occupied the same role, albeit there have been periods when Russia was considered part of the Western community, but this generally happened when Western Europe’s great powers needed the support of a major ally against one of their own rivals, and once that purpose had been served, Russia was once again treated as an outsider.

There was also a longstanding debate over the place of the New World, given North America was, geographically and culturally, the West par excellence, yet it simultaneously presented itself as both the heir to European civilization and its challenger. Whether the United States belonged to the same historical and ideological community as Europe remained an open question for generations and for much of this period, conflict within what later became known as the West was intense and almost continuous.

The political West, as we understand it today, is therefore a relatively recent creation, which emerged only after the Second World War.

The defeat and division of Germany removed the principal source of conflict within Europe that had dominated the previous three centuries when Germany itself was confined within strict political limits. At the same time, Western Europe’s dramatic decline following two catastrophic world wars enabled the United States to assume leadership of the Atlantic community and finally, the Soviet Union, at the height of its military and political power, provided a common external threat around which the alliance could unite, and this was how the 'collective West' came into being.

During the Cold War it was defined by opposition to Moscow and after the Soviet collapse, it transformed itself into the self-appointed manager of the international order, assuming that its dominance would continue indefinitely, but the erosion of the liberal world order, which began during the first decade of this century and accelerated dramatically by the mid-2020s, has challenged that assumption. Western Europe, as the more vulnerable half of the Atlantic partnership, has been forced to redefine both its identity and its purpose.

The necessary Russian threat

The reasons behind the weakening of the post-Cold War West are well known, and include the disappearance of bipolarity, the rise of new centers of power, America’s strategic shift towards the Indo-Pacific, Washington’s growing focus on competition with China, while the fragmentation produced by the end of the liberal globalization era have all undermined the foundations of the Atlantic order.

An alliance designed for the realities of the mid-20th century no longer corresponds to those of the 21st and previous American presidents hinted that Western Europe could no longer expect the relationship to continue unchanged, however, Trump merely said so openly, and began reshaping it accordingly. Brussels was slow to recognize the implications, but it has now largely done so.

It’s far too early to write the obituary of the Atlantic alliance because the ties linking both sides of the ocean remain exceptionally strong, and their shared interests are substantial, but the West is undergoing yet another transformation. It has done so before, and it will do so again.

This brings us back to Ukraine, as the United States is reducing its direct role in European affairs, seeking a position that preserves strategic influence while avoiding responsibility for the continent’s security. Western Europe must therefore assume greater responsibility for its own defense, while, at the same time, it needs a new political narrative capable of holding the half-continent together.

An external threat provides exactly that, and Russia has become the ideal instrument.

Over the past four years, the perception of a growing Russian threat has justified NATO’s expansion to include formerly neutral countries and it has enabled Brussels to sever most economic ties and virtually all political relations with Moscow. Confrontation with Russia has become the organizing principle of both Western European foreign policy and, increasingly, domestic politics and physical barriers and new political 'curtains' are once again dividing Europe from Russia.

The next step, however, requires something more ambitious, the institutional consolidation of Western Europe around an explicitly anti-Russian agenda, echoing the mature Cold War.

There are, however, two serious obstacles. The first is that, despite an intense ideological campaign, Western European governments haven’t succeeded in convincing their populations that Russia represents an existential threat comparable to the Soviet Union and attempts, particularly under President Biden, to revive the narrative of the 'free world' confronting tyranny have largely failed.

Fear of Russia can be cultivated in some countries, but not everywhere. It’s difficult, for example, to persuade Spaniards that a Russian invasion is a realistic prospect and even in Germany, where official rhetoric has become increasingly alarmist, public skepticism remains widespread.

The second problem is that militarization develops its own internal logic. Using military preparedness as a means of promoting national unity and economic revival inevitably creates pressure for the moral and political mobilization of society and eventually, passive public support is no longer enough, but active participation is required.

As the old theatrical saying goes, a gun hanging on the wall in the first act must eventually fire, but nowhere in Western Europe is there a public eager to fight a war. Governments can’t simply compel people to embrace such a role, while re-educating entire societies would take decades, and even then success would be far from guaranteed and this is where Ukraine assumes a new role.

The Ukrainian leadership, determined to continue fighting Russia until its maximalist objectives are achieved, is effectively turning the country into a mercenary force for the wider West. It has embraced the role that Western Europe itself is unwilling to perform in fighting Russia directly and inflicting the greatest possible damage upon it.

That, however, is only part of the story and the other is the drone revolution, which is fundamentally altering the relationship between technology and manpower, as precision strike capabilities increasingly compensate for shortages of personnel.

Paradoxically, this seemingly technical development may prove to be one of the conflict’s most important political consequences.

An improvised explosive device has killed three people and wounded 21 others at a restaurant in central Moscow, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) has said.

The explosion struck the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant near Kudrinskaya Square at around 7:55pm on Saturday. According to the NAC, an unidentified woman attempted to carry a homemade explosive device into the restaurant but was stopped at the entrance by a security guard.

The woman and the guard were killed in the explosion, along with one of the restaurant’s patrons. The wounded sustained injuries of varying severity and were receiving medical assistance, officials said.

Witnesses described a powerful blast followed by scenes of panic as bloodied patrons fled the building.

“I ran out onto the street and saw people rushing out of the area in their best clothes and women running barefoot... They were holding their shoes in their hands. Men were supporting them,” a local resident told RT’s Farida Singatoulina at the scene.

The witness said one man emerged wearing only a vest that appeared to be stained with blood, while ambulances, fire engines and other emergency vehicles converged on the site.

Other witnesses said the blast could be heard from surrounding apartment buildings and restaurants. One person who was walking approximately 30 to 50 meters away said the explosion was so loud that passers-by instinctively covered their ears.

Videos from the scene showed police officers and members of Russia’s National Guard Service, Rosgvardia, cordoning off the surrounding streets as firefighters and medical personnel worked at the site. Investigators and forensic experts remained there late into the evening.

The explosion also disrupted a nighttime cycling event scheduled to pass through central Moscow. Roads around the square were closed, forcing cyclists to turn around, while some residents were temporarily unable to reach a nearby residential complex.

The Russian Investigative Committee said investigators and forensic experts were examining the scene. Officials have not identified the suspected attacker or disclosed a possible motive.

Today’s Germany is a grim, unhappy place. Thirty-six years after West Germany’s take-over of the former East Germany (polite term: re-unification), which was supposed to herald a golden age of national fulfilment, citizens are in a very foul mood.

According to Ipsos, one of Germany’s go-to pollsters, their morale is at a “historic nadir,” and they are “losing confidence about the country’s future.” As of last month, fear of poverty and inequality was “clearly increasing,” with 37 percent of all respondents picking it as their number-one angst, followed by “migration” (31 percent), “inflation” (30 percent), worries over the healthcare system (26 percent) and “criminality and violence” (25 percent).

Note that all top five anxieties focus on what is going wrong at home. That doesn’t mean, though, that Germans are optimistic about the world or Germany’s place in it: 24 percent of the Ipsos poll respondents fear “military conflicts between states.”

If the mood is sour, it’s very good reasons: Germany’s abysmally, unprecedentedly unpopular and embattled chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is desperately trying to sell an absurd feel-good story about the German economy as an “anchor of stability.” But that only demonstrates how divorced from reality Germany’s rulers are: In the real Germany that their subjects must inhabit, industrial output is 17 percent below 2017. After the recent roll-out of a perfectly underwhelming “reform package,” business leaders have warned that much more is needed to prevent a “lost decade.” That would be, in effect, the second one in a row.

Meanwhile, Berlin is busy doing two things: cut down public spending on absolutely vital things such as education (next to inexpensive energy, the decisive resource for Germany’s prosperity already sacrificed to the proxy war against Russia) and raze the sorry remnants of social safety nets that have long been in tatters already.

That doesn’t mean Germany is not going into catastrophic debt. It is, as if there’s no tomorrow. The money is flowing in torrents. Just not for Germany’s citizens and tax payers but for Zelensky-regime Ukraine (to the tune of, officially, almost €100 billion and counting) and for an insane armament drive that signals a very unhealthy – if historically repetitive – urge to go to war with Russia. This year, €83 billion is earmarked for weapons; next year it will be €110 billion. And so on: €154 billion for 2028, €163 billion for 2029, and a grand crescendo with €184 billion in 2030.

This is the background of not only a severe national depression but also a search for alternatives. At this point at least, the AfD (Alternative for Germany), an anti-immigration party founded in 2013, is benefiting the most from this crisis. On the rise for roughly a decade now, its momentum has recently greatly accelerated.

A fresh poll for all of Germany has the AfD at 27 percent, outdistancing (again) all other parties, including those making up the radical-Centrist coalition currently in charge in Berlin (CDU – 21 percent, SPD – 12 percent).

Perhaps even more importantly, the AfD may well win crucial regional elections in the key eastern Land of Saxony-Anhalt and looks set to do very well in two others – in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin – as well.

In sum, the AfD is probably on the verge of a historic breakthrough that will greatly weaken, maybe even ruin the traditional parties’ longstanding “firewall” strategy of freezing it out of political leadership positions no matter what the people say in elections, in effect half-disenfranchising its voters.

This moment is likely to reset the whole German political system at the cost of the establishment parties which are still desperately defending their de facto exclusive hold over political offices, perks, and power.

So, what do you do when you are losing a (barely) fair fight? Easy, at least if you are part of Germany’s self-appointed guardians of democracy, civil society, and wholesome ‘values’ all around: You start playing even dirtier.

In the case of the threat the AfD poses to Germany’s establishment parties, the latter have always toyed with this option: Would it not be just oh-so-convenient to simply prohibit such a troublesome competitor under the pretext that it is so radical and dangerous it does not deserve a fair chance? The perverse dream of ‘saving’ what’s left of German democracy by abolishing the biggest opposition party is by no means dead. Some die-hard Centrist radicals, intriguingly including Germany’s militarist-in-chief minister of defense Boris Pistorius, can’t let go of it.

This has all been accompanied by a mainstream media cacophony of cries of “democracy in danger!” and “Nazis at the gates!” Crazy conspiracy theories included, such as the one recently spread – without being challenged – by a member of the co-ruling SPD party on a mainstream news channel: Let’s just blame the latest Islamist terror attack in Berlin on Russia trying to boost the AfD. In what alternative universe does that make any sense? Welcome to the often unhinged, notoriously shameless, and very ugly world of German mainstream discourse.

The problem with the let’s-just-prohibit-the-whole-lot approach is that having a party banned is, fortunately, very hard under German law. And although Berlin’s establishment parties don’t mind bending the rules to deploy nasty lawfare, they do want to be sure to win. If they try to prohibit the AfD and fail, the latter will only get even stronger, as everyone understands. Indeed, even prohibiting ‘merely’ a part of a party, say, a Land organization, is neither easy nor a sure bet.

But what if there were a way to kneecap the AfD without having to run that risk? What about, for instance, promising AfD candidates could be taken out and removed from elections without having to overcome the high legal hurdles that make full-fledged prohibition so scary? And that is where the Land of Lower Saxony (in the former West Germany and not to be confused with Saxony-Anhalt in the former East Germany) has taken on the role of trailblazer in democracy defense via democracy suppression.

Think of recent events there as a prototype or trial balloon. Based on a very recently passed, as it were, made-to-measure law, local election committees have begun to block AfD candidates from running by invoking especially produced reports from the Land branch of Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Verfassungsschutz. This is unprecedented and scandalous, as critics are pointing out. In a ludicrously flimsy and absurdly unfair procedure that needs no courts – in this manner similar to EU sanctions-against-dissidents policy – German citizens are deprived of the passive franchise, the right to be elected.

In the past, such a severe curtailing of elementary democratic rights was tied to having committed – and been properly sentenced for – substantial crimes. Now an intelligence report’s ‘recommendation’ and a simple show of hands in a very local committee suffice. No court, no effective possibility of defense or reasonably quick appeal, and, really, no law worth the term. This is administrative fiat masquerading as legal process.

The election committees are – surprise, surprise – staffed with preponderant majorities of establishment party representatives, while the domestic intelligence offices producing the reports the committees use – de facto indictments – are subordinate to the Land interior ministry which is led by SPD politician Daniela Behrens, who seems very proud of her contribution to shutting down what she considers excessive choice in elections. Indeed, her ministry has circulated an internal memorandum, in essence, to stimulate the removal of AfD candidates by laying out wide and flexible criteria: See how easy that is? Now get going!

These criteria – or perhaps rather pretexts – for this regime of preventative electoral exclusion include membership in the AfD. Yes, you have read that right: Being a member of the party for which you are trying to run, while that party has not been prohibited and probably never will be, is already a reason for being kicked out of the elections.

Not, at least pro forma, a sufficient reason, it is true. Other truly weighty things must be added. Such as, for instance, a social media post that insists that “real democrats have no need to prohibit other parties” and calls on readers to “stand together for freedom of opinion and against dictatorship.” Yes, you have read that right as well.

By now, a handful of AfD candidates for local office – including a current member of the federal parliament in Berlin – have been dealt with in this new, innovative manner. They are likely to seek legal recourse against this Kafkaesque caricature of due process, but things have been set up in such a way that that may well take years, while the elections will, meanwhile, go ahead in their truncated format.

Full disclosure: I have very little political sympathy for the AfD. But I do take democracy seriously. If the scandalous radical-Centrist attack on election integrity tried out now in one Land becomes a model for the rest of Germany, then those pretending to defend democracy will have put yet another nail in its coffin.

Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has accused Ukraine of “piracy” after a civilian container ship belonging to the Russian state nuclear corporation was sunk by a Ukrainian drone strike.

The MV Yanina, a freighter belonging to Rosatom subsidiary FESCO, was attacked by two Ukrainian drones about 130 miles off the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Likhachev said in a press release on Saturday.

“It was a perfectly ordinary, peaceful container ship sailing in international waters and carrying civilian goods – ranging from frozen foods to construction and finishing materials,” he said. “Such an attack can only be characterized as piracy and maritime banditry.”

Likhachev also thanked the international crew of the container ship Delphinus, captained by an Egyptian national, “who, despite the danger posed by drones, headed to the shipwreck site at night and rescued 16 of our 17 men.”

The world changes, yet the concept of ‘maritime brotherhood’ remains an enduring value!

The remaining crew member was saved by Russian Black Sea Fleet aircraft, Likhachev said, adding that all of the sailors are in “satisfactory” condition.

Kiev has escalated attacks on civilian vessels in the Black and Caspian seas in recent months, with Vladimir Zelensky claiming that Ukraine was working to strain Russian military logistics.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian drones struck two tankers carrying cargoes for the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan. The company, whose shareholders include US and European firms, condemned the strikes as “terrorist attacks.”

In retaliation, Russia escalated strikes on Ukraine’s principal Black Sea port of Odessa, targeting fuel and lubricant storage meant for the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as on ships it said were transporting military cargo.

The Pentagon is planning to transfer leadership of the Germany-based NATO command coordinating military aid to Ukraine to another member of the military bloc as Washington continues to scale back its military presence in Europe, Politico reported on Friday, citing an unnamed NATO official.

Ukraine has been heavily dependent on weapons supplies from its Western backers throughout the conflict, which is now in its fifth year. Moscow has condemned the weapons shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they only prolong the conflict without changing the outcome, and warning that the military assistance shows that NATO is a direct party to the conflict, thereby risking a direct confrontation between Russia and the bloc.

The reported plan follows a broader shift in US defense policy under President Donald Trump, whose administration plans to reduce troops and critical weapons systems in Europe and redirect some resources to Asia and other regions. The White House has also pushed NATO members in Europe to take greater responsibility for regional security to significantly raise defense spending. 

The Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U), based in the German city of Wiesbaden, coordinates weapons deliveries, training and logistical support for Ukraine.

The NATO official told Politico that the transition is expected to take up to a year, while a US deputy will remain involved through the alliance’s military command structure. SAG-U was always intended to be a temporary organization, with the transition designed to distribute responsibilities more evenly among NATO allies, the official added.

Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has pushed NATO members to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, and has repeatedly accused the bloc’s European members of failing to share the common 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 year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged European NATO states to “step up,” saying the alliance can no longer remain a “paper tiger and a one-way street.” 

In February, the US announced that the UK would take over NATO’s Joint Force Command in Norfolk, Italy would lead the Naples headquarters, while Germany and Poland would assume responsibility for the Brunssum command in the Netherlands.

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei volcanic region near Naples in southern Italy on Friday evening, injuring at least 26 people, two of them critically, and damaging dozens of buildings.

The earthquake hit at 7:46pm local time at a shallow depth of about 3km, according to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). Its epicenter was between the towns of Pozzuoli and Quarto. Civil protection officials said that it was the strongest quake recorded in the area since continuous instrumental monitoring began, surpassing two magnitude 4.6 tremors registered in 2025.

The quake was felt across Naples, Ischia, Procida, and much of the Gulf of Naples. Seismographs have since recorded more than 60 aftershocks, the strongest measuring magnitude 3.8 late on Friday and another of 3.1 early on Saturday. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci warned that the seismic swarm is continuing and that further earthquakes above magnitude 3 remain possible.

The worst damage was reported in Pozzuoli, where falling masonry, collapsing facades, and landslides damaged homes, businesses, and parked vehicles, according to multiple videos posted online.

Grietas en casas, derrumbes, coches dañados y diez personas levemente heridas. Este es el primer reportaje del fuerte terremoto de magnitud 4.7 que sacudió la zona de Campi Flegrei esta tarde, con el epicentro en la zona de Solfatara de Pozzuoli. En las comunas de Flegrei, los… pic.twitter.com/u0YXPfAQF4

— Guillermo Gomez (@G_GomezJ) August 1, 2026

Dust blanketed roads and cars, while several unoccupied buildings collapsed.

#CampiFlegrei: dalle prime immagini che circolano sembra che gran parte dei danni più importanti siano stati causati dal crollo dei costoni di roccia che bordano gran parte dei crateri della caldera. pic.twitter.com/s8PLrMo1LD

— Il Mondo dei Terremoti (@mondoterremoti) July 31, 2026

Cracks also appeared at the town’s commercial port, forcing its closure and suspending ferry and hydrofoil services to the nearby islands of Ischia and Procida.

🚨🇮🇹 4.7 magnitude earthquake just struck Naples.

People flooding the streets in panic.
Power outages reported across parts of Naples.
Train and metro services suspended.
One of the strongest quakes in decades
My brother just sent me this video pic.twitter.com/raPKq4kwSK

— Robin Nakamoto (@RobinNakamoto) July 31, 2026

Power outages affected around 100,000 customers after a high-voltage pylon collapsed in Naples’ Agnano district.

CCTV footage of the moment a strong earthquake struck Campi Flegrei, west of Naples, Italy, causing major damage. pic.twitter.com/AzUpoeL76l

— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) July 31, 2026

Train, metro, and high-speed rail services across the region were temporarily suspended before gradually resuming.

Imágenes de daños en la región de Nápoles, Italia tras el terremoto de M4.5 está tarde a las 19h46.

Dada la cercanía del epicentro y poca profundidad, percibido fuerte.#Sismo #earthquake #Naples #Italy
Vía @AlertesNewsFR24 pic.twitter.com/wkr0ovOwTc

— Geól. Sergio Almazán (@chematierra) July 31, 2026

Authorities in Pozzuoli initially evacuated around 250 people after the quake. As inspections continued, at least nine buildings were declared unsafe and around 290 residents, were ordered from their homes, with the number expected to rise as building checks continue.

🇮🇹 🫨 #Strongest #earthquake #in 40 #years #strikes #near #Naples 🔹A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) area. Residential buildings in Pozzuoli sustained damage, while falling rocks and debris landed on cars and railway tracks. pic.twitter.com/ToLae8tb9A

— Us Un (@UsUn583176) July 31, 2026

Local media reported that many residents chose to spend the night outdoors or in their cars rather than return to their homes.

🤔HOFFENTLICH WAR ES DAS, SONST...

Braucht sich keiner mehr um den Klimawandel 😂 zu sorgen.

Ein Erdbeben der Stärke M4,7 hat die Phlegräische Felder bei Neapel, in einer Tiefe von 3 km erschüttert, laut INGV; das USGS gibt eine Tiefe von 5 km an.

Laut Rai war es das stärkste… pic.twitter.com/PazXiWDHcO

— Steffen Unger (@unger2701) August 1, 2026

Three streets have also been sealed off because of the risk of further collapses, including from a damaged church bell tower.

⚠️ UPDATE: A M4.7 earthquake hit Campi Flegrei near Naples, Italy. Fire crews report minor building damage but no immediate rescue requests or major injuries. #Terremoto - Sismo - #Napoli - Pozzuoli - Fuorigrotta - Campania https://t.co/kjC6yBgAmE pic.twitter.com/PDlQ6BSar2

— GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) July 31, 2026

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the media that she was closely monitoring the situation as Italy’s Civil Protection Department coordinated the emergency response with local authorities.

UN SISMO DE MAGNITUD 4,7 SACUDIÓ A LOS CAMPOS FLÉGREOS, CERCA DE NÁPOLES

Dejó al menos ocho heridos, cuyo estado era estable, además de daños en edificios y cortes de electricidad. Protección Civil informó que fue el movimiento más fuerte registrado en la zona en los últimos 40… pic.twitter.com/UUXbd7NyI4

— Clarín (@clarincom) August 1, 2026

Firefighters continued rescue operations and structural inspections across the affected area on Saturday.

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei) volcanic area near Naples, Italy today

It was the strongest earthquake in the area in over 40 years

The world really doesn’t want Camp Flegrei to wake up & be at its worst behaviour pic.twitter.com/oHEYNWGPTC

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

Campi Flegrei, or the Phlegraean Fields, is a vast volcanic caldera about 9km west of Naples and roughly 50km from Mount Vesuvius. One of Europe’s most closely monitored volcanic systems, it has been undergoing a prolonged phase of bradyseism – the gradual rise and fall of the ground accompanied by increasingly frequent earthquakes – since 2005. Around 500,000 people live in the area’s 15 municipalities, which make up the high-risk “red zone.”

OpenAI has uncovered additional cases in which its autonomous AI models breached containment and acted without human instruction, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

The findings come as the company expands its investigation into a hacking incident last month in which an AI bot went rogue while attempting to cheat in an internal cybersecurity test.

During tests of GPT-5.6 Sol and another unreleased model, both stripped of their safety guardrails, the systems were assigned ExploitGym – a benchmark designed to measure AI models’ ability to identify and exploit known software vulnerabilities. Instead of completing the tasks, one model escaped its supposedly isolated testing environment, gained internet access and hacked into Hugging Face – an online repository for AI models and datasets – in search of ready-made answers.

OpenAI initially said the intrusion was limited to Hugging Face. However, in a statement on Wednesday, it acknowledged the hacking spree had also compromised four accounts across four separate services.

On Friday, Reuters reported that additional containment breaches had since been uncovered, although it remains unclear how many incidents occurred, when they happened or what systems they targeted. One source told the news agency the breaches were limited in scope and that none of the AI bots are believed to have left OpenAI’s internal network. Reuters said OpenAI and outside experts are also reviewing logs from earlier this year to determine whether other similar incidents had gone unnoticed.

OpenAI defends its models

OpenAI blamed the initial breach on a flaw in third-party software used in its testing environment, saying its AI models exploited it to break out and gain internet access. The company said it is tightening containment, monitoring and access controls while investigating the breach and patching the flaw.

CEO Sam Altman also acknowledged that “we may have to pace the rate of AI development,” but stopped short of committing to slow the company’s research.

Asked about the Reuters report, OpenAI declined to comment, referring to an earlier statement saying it was aware of speculation and planned to publish “a technical report of our learnings in the coming weeks.”

Anthropic finds similar breaches

Rival AI developer Anthropic said on Thursday it had also uncovered containment breaches involving its Claude models during internal security testing.

The company said the OpenAI incident prompted it to examine whether its own models had behaved similarly. After reviewing more than 140,000 evaluations, it found Claude had gained internet access from testing environments meant to be sealed off and carried out unauthorized intrusions into three organizations’ systems. The earliest incidents dated back to April, and neither Anthropic nor the affected organizations detected the breaches at the time.

Anthropic cautioned against overinterpreting the findings because the behavior occurred in what it described as a controlled testing environment. However, it acknowledged the incidents showed AI evaluation systems “require significant controls” and that testing environments should be secured to the same standard as production systems.

Concerns over rogue AI on the rise

The incidents have fueled concerns that autonomous AI models are becoming increasingly capable of carrying out cyberattacks with little human oversight, prompting renewed calls for tighter regulation. They have also reignited debate over who should be held liable when AI systems cause real-world damage. Experts warn that AI capabilities are advancing faster than safety measures.

After initially praising OpenAI for cooperating with the investigation, Hugging Face later called on the company to release the rogue bots’ activity logs and prevent such incidents from becoming “normalized,” warning those responsible “must be held accountable.”

US President Donald Trump, who last month signed a national security memorandum aimed at accelerating the use of advanced AI across the military and intelligence community, said on Wednesday that his administration was reviewing possible AI controls following the incidents.

“We’re looking at AI, we’re looking at controls,” Trump told reporters. He insisted, however, that Washington must remain the global leader in AI, adding he did not want regulations that would leave the US “second to China.”

According to Reuters, the European Commission has contacted OpenAI and Anthropic to discuss the incidents ahead of the EU’s AI Act taking effect on August 2. Officials reportedly urged stronger monitoring, risk management and cybersecurity safeguards for advanced AI systems within the companies under the bloc’s new rules, which will allow fines of up to €35 million ($38 million) or 7% of global annual turnover for the most serious violations.

Russian forces hit five military-industrial facilities and a logistics hub in Kiev and its suburbs during a barrage overnight from Friday to Saturday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. Two ships carrying military cargo off Odessa the day before were also hit, it added.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that the strikes, which involved precision air, sea and ground-based weapons, targeted the Kiev-based enterprise Radioizmeritel, which it said was supplying electronic components for Neptun-MD, Grom-2, and FP-7/FP-9 missiles and was involved in developing navigation systems for long-range drones.

Other targets included the Burevestnik plant, said to build electronics for long- and medium-range drones and radar equipment, and a Fire Point facility producing parts and warheads for FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, along with chemicals for solid-fuel boosters.

The ministry also listed a site tied to Lima jamming systems used to spoof precision-guidance signals, as well as a drone assembly and storage point which specialized in several types of interceptor UAVs.

Officials added that the strikes hit a logistics center in Vishnevoye, in Kiev Region, which handled components and warheads for Ukrainian drones. On Friday, two ships were also struck south of Odessa while transporting military cargo, the statement added.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky claimed that the strike involved 35 missiles – 27 of them ballistic – and 185 drones, with Kiev as the main target, alongside attacks on Dnepropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkov and Poltava Regions. He said only one ballistic missile was intercepted, citing a shortage of Western-supplied Patriot interceptors.

Zelensky also reported fires across seven districts of Kiev, claiming that at least nine people had been killed and dozens injured. Meanwhile, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported fires at both residential and unspecified non-residential industrial sites.

Moscow has been carrying out strikes on Ukraine’s defense-related facilities as retaliation for Kiev’s attacks deep into Russian territory, which often target critical infrastructure and residential buildings. Russia maintains it never targets civilians.

The surge of migrants across the border from Morocco into Spain is an example of what could happen to the US if Republicans aren’t elected, US President Donald Trump has claimed. Trump has repeatedly attacked his political opponents over immigration, blaming his predecessor Joe Biden for illegal border crossings.

An estimated 50,000 migrants, mostly young men, swam from Morocco and crossed into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta earlier this week in an unprecedented influx that triggered a humanitarian crisis in the city. The Spanish Interior Ministry has reported that around 48,000 had voluntarily returned by Friday evening.

“What’s happening with Spain, with tens of thousands of Illegal Immigrants invading it, happened in the United States during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, and it will happen again, only worse, if the Dumocrats ever again gain power,” Trump said late on Friday in a brief post on Truth Social, urging Americans to vote Republican in the midterm elections.

The remarks come ahead of US midterm elections scheduled for November as Trump faces slipping approval ratings. A recent poll found that most US adults believe he has not focused enough on the everyday concerns of ordinary Americans, that his economic policies have worsened conditions, and that his military decisions in Iran have harmed the US.

White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said on Friday that Trump “has long warned Europe what would happen if they continue to implement far-left, globalist policies, including enabling mass migration.”

Trump and his administration have consistently criticized both the previous US government and European leaders over their handling of illegal migration. The president has claimed that it was “killing” Europe, urging its leaders to act immediately before they lose control of the continent.

Domestically, Trump has pursued an unprecedented immigration crackdown. Since returning to office in January 2025, he has launched a sweeping enforcement campaign involving mass deportations and expanded detention efforts, pledging to carry out the largest migrant removal operation in US history despite widespread criticism and protests.

Trump’s latest remarks also come amid strained ties with Madrid. The two countries clashed during the recent conflict with Iran after Spain refused to allow the US to use its bases for strikes, while Trump has repeatedly criticized the country over what he believes is its insufficient defense spending.

Migration has remained one of the EU’s defining political issues since the 2015 refugee crisis. Brussels recently agreed on a sweeping overhaul of its migration system aimed at speeding up deportations, while many member states have tightened national immigration laws. Spain has, meanwhile, taken a different approach to migration. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has argued immigration is essential to address labor shortages and demographic decline, while his government has expanded pathways for undocumented migrants to obtain legal status and work permits.

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered dozens of carved tombstones, pottery coffins, and funerary objects at the ancient site of Tel El-Deir in the northern province of Damietta, the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced.

The excavation, carried out by a mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), revealed around 20 limestone tombstones carved with human figures. The stones are decorated with religious motifs including the griffin, Agathodaemon, and Isis-Thermouthis, highlighting a blend of ancient Egyptian beliefs with Greco-Roman influences.

According to officials, the tombstones indicate that their owners occupied a distinguished social position, and that Tel El-Deir was a funerary center with its own social and religious significance rather than just a cemetery.

“The site, spanning from Egypt’s Late Period to the end of the Roman era, serves as a living archaeological record of centuries of social, religious, and funerary evolution in the Nile Delta,” the ministry said.

Archaeologists also uncovered pottery incense burners, decorated oil lamps, barrel-shaped anthropoid coffins, and a number of funerary amulets. 

“These discoveries provide a more complete picture of the ritual and symbolic rites associated with burial practices across various periods,” the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Abdel-Badie, noted.

The ministry reported another archaeological breakthrough on Thursday, revealing the first integrated bath complex to be scientifically uncovered at the Tel Nasser archaeological site in Egypt’s Port Said Governorate. The discovery, dating to the late Ptolemaic and Roman periods, provides data on settlement patterns and the development of architecture and public infrastructure in the eastern Nile Delta.

Last week, Egyptian archaeologists also uncovered a new funerary complex at the Tel Athar Quesna necropolis in Menoufia province. The excavation unearthed hundreds of ushabti figurines, protective amulets, imported Rhodian pottery, and other burial artifacts.

The US can take “pretty much whatever we want” from Ukraine’s rare earth deposits under a minerals agreement signed last year, President Donald Trump has said, adding that profits from the agreement could ultimately exceed total American aid to Kiev since 2022.

Trump made the remarks in an interview with Real America’s Voice aired on Friday as he chastised his predecessor Joe Biden for “giving away” a purported $300 billion in military support to Ukraine without securing repayment.

“He could have Europe… paid for it. All you had to do is ask,” Trump said, adding that under his administration European nations now cover more of the costs.

Trump said Ukraine has “very rich, very fertile soil in terms of rare earth.” “We have a contract signed [with Ukraine] having to do with rare earth. We can go in there at any time we want and take pretty much whatever we want. That was a pretty good deal,” he said.

The US president was referring to a rare earth deal signed in Washington in April 2025, which established the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. The deal grants Washington preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral, oil, and gas projects, with emphasis on elements such as lithium, titanium, graphite, and uranium. Ukraine retains formal ownership of its resources and receives 50% of profits from new extraction projects.

Trump has portrayed the deal as a way to pay for US military aid to Kiev. While he has claimed it amounted to more than $300 billion, the figure is widely disputed, with the US Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve estimating it at $195 billion in total appropriations.

While legally the minerals deal is up and running, with more than a dozen projects currently under review, it remains hamstrung by conflict-related risks, Ukraine’s notorious corruption, inadequate geological data, and risks of power outages, as well as other infrastructure shortfalls.

The deal itself was signed after months of strained negotiations, including a televised Oval Office clash in February 2025 between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, during which the US president accused the Ukrainian leader of ingratitude and “gambling with World War III.”

After the signing of the agreement, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev remarked that “Trump has broken the Kiev regime to the point where they will have to pay for US aid with mineral resources, adding that “now they will have to pay for military supplies with the national wealth of a disappearing country.”

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that the nation’s military has lost “about 50,000” soldiers since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, a figure 5,000 lower than the estimate he offered six months ago.

The Ukrainian leader made the assessment in an interview with Fox News recorded during his visit to Washington this week. When asked about battlefield losses in the fighting with Russia, he initially said it was “very difficult to say,” arguing that he did not want to be “very open about it,” supposedly to avoid revealing the true state of the Ukrainian army to Moscow.

He eventually claimed that Ukraine has suffered “about 50,000 soldiers killed and… about 400,000 wounded,” as well as “a huge number” of troops who simply “disappeared.”

The figure appears to contradict a statement Zelensky made in February, when he told France 2 that Ukraine had lost 55,000 soldiers. In February 2025, he told NBC that around 46,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed, while claiming that Russian losses were 14 times higher.

The Ukrainian military has been suffering from chronic manpower shortages amid mounting casualties, widespread draft evasion, and desertion. The latest publicly available official data showed that nearly 290,000 desertion cases had been recorded in Ukraine between 2022 and the autumn of 2025.

According to Moscow, Kiev is losing tens of thousands of soldiers each month on the front lines. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated in December that nearly 500,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed or wounded in 2025 alone. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also suggested that total Ukrainian military casualties, including those killed, wounded, missing and captured, have already exceeded 1 million.

President Vladimir Putin estimated last month that the Ukrainian military could be losing up to 40,000 soldiers a month through deaths and injuries, adding that Kiev was able to replenish its ranks with only about 30,000 recruits through its increasingly violent forced-mobilization campaign.

Zelensky came to Washington on an unofficial visit under the pretext of attending the funeral of one of Kiev’s fiercest supporters, Senator Lindsey Graham. He met President Donald Trump behind closed doors on Tuesday to press him on his pledge to allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missiles.

Zelensky also reportedly tried to persuade Trump to call in a major favor from tech entrepreneur Elon Musk by asking him to allow Ukraine to use Starlink for strikes deep inside Russia. Musk himself refused to meet the Ukrainian leader, according to The Atlantic.

An investigation into a prestigious arts school in the US state of Michigan has uncovered decades of alleged sexual misconduct by dozens of faculty and staff members, while also revealing new allegations involving the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The 97-page report, released by Sanghavi Law Office earlier this week, was commissioned by the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 2024, to investigate allegations of abuse against several faculty members. The inquiry was later broadened and ultimately included allegations involving Epstein, a donor to the school.

Investigators collected 70 accounts from former students alleging physical conduct of a sexual nature involving 47 faculty and staff members between the 1950s and the 2010s, with most of the reported incidents occurring before 2000. The report describes a pattern of misconduct ranging from grooming, flirting, and inappropriate touching to sexual contact.

Epstein, who attended Interlochen’s summer camp in 1967 and donated more than $400,000 to the institution between 1990 and 2003, according to media reports, is also the subject of allegations in the report.

Two former students accused the disgraced financier of sexual misconduct. One woman told investigators Epstein repeatedly touched her inappropriately under the guise of accidental contact while she was staying in a camp building that then bore his name. She said he later paid for trips to New York, where the unwanted touching continued.

Another former student alleged Epstein asked her to expose her breasts while she was giving him a massage at his private residence. She said she cut off all contact with Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, after the incident.

The building named after Epstein was stripped of his name in 2009 after the school learned of his 2008 conviction on sex crime charges in Florida. It was later renamed Green Lake Lodge and has since been demolished.

The report also noted that at least two other Interlochen alumni were identified in federal investigative records related to Epstein and Maxwell. One later testified for the prosecution at Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking trial.

Outside the school investigation, at least two Interlochen alumnae made allegations of grooming and abuse against Epstein and Maxwell, according to previous media reports. It was not immediately clear whether they also participated in the Interlochen investigation. Their identities were not made public.

Interlochen said it has provided the names of everyone identified in the investigation to prosecutors in Michigan’s Grand Traverse County for possible criminal review. None of those accused still work at the institution, while more than one-third are deceased.

Kiev and its suburbs were reportedly struck by dozens of missiles in multiple waves early on Saturday morning, following Russian strikes earlier this week on military-industrial facilities in the Ukrainian capital.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces carried out another large-scale combined strike overnight using high-precision ground- and sea-launched weapons and long-range attack drones.

The strikes targeted Ukrainian defense industry enterprises and logistics centers in Kiev and the surrounding region involved in the “production, storage and delivery of various types of missiles, drones, radar systems, and electronic-warfare equipment,” the ministry said.

The first blasts in Kiev were heard shortly after 1 AM local time, with further explosions reported in several waves through 3 AM. Videos shared on social media show blasts and successive fires across the Ukrainian capital, but the exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify.

Russian strikes on Kyiv and air defense activity.

POV 50.489652, 30.528595@GeoConfirmed pic.twitter.com/PHNSPS88KM

— 3BM15 (@3_bm15) August 1, 2026

The Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts. However, another video shared by a witness purportedly shows Kiev’s air defenses attempting – and apparently failing – to intercept the incoming missiles with US-made Patriot systems.

Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported multiple fires at residential buildings and unspecified “non-residential” industrial facilities in at least four districts. He also claimed that at least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured. 

According to open-source intelligence trackers, the strikes targeted several industrial zones near the CHP-5 power plant and facilities belonging to Ukraine’s state-owned defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom.

Two of the impact locations in Kyiv. These are military-related factories which have been hit several times in the past.

The one in the southeast was hit by at least 6 Iskander-M/Zircon missiles.

Other areas were also targeted in western Kyiv. https://t.co/fVwAhFVD1m pic.twitter.com/FFFNgSqDQt

— AMK Mapping 🇳🇿 (@AMK_Mapping_) August 1, 2026

The new raid attack came just 48 hours after Russian forces targeted the Mayak plant in Kiev, which produces components for FP-1 and FP-2 kamikaze drones, as well as another drone plant in the Ukrainian capital.

Thursday’s strikes, according to the ministry, also targeted airfields, defense-industry facilities, telecommunications infrastructure and logistics hubs in Lviv, as well as in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhitomir, Rovno, Vinnitsa, and Dnepropetrovsk.

Moscow maintains that it targets only military and dual-use installations in response to Ukraine’s indiscriminate “terrorist attacks.”

Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure and commercial vessels since Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day “pressure campaign” against Moscow last month. Ukrainian officials have said the campaign is intended to damage the Russian economy and make the public feel the effects of the conflict more directly.

AI developer Anthropic has disclosed three incidents in which its Claude AI models unintentionally targeted real-world organizations during cybersecurity evaluations that were supposed to take place in an isolated environment.

The cases were identified retrospectively during a review prompted by a similar incident involving OpenAI and Hugging Face, an online repository for AI models and datasets, which was reported this month.

Anthropic said that it had found three incidents dating back to April. In each case, a misconfigured test environment retained access to the internet, enabling Claude to interact with real companies and public services. The company attributed the problem to a “misunderstanding” with its evaluation partner, Irregular. The tests involved “capture the flag” exercises requiring Claude to obtain restricted information from simulated targets. However, the model was incorrectly told that the network had no connection to the outside world, pushing it toward treating any systems it encountered as part of the exercise.

In one case, the fictional company that Claude had been instructed to infiltrate shared its name with a real internet domain. The model accessed the genuine site during four separate test runs and extracted information that reportedly included application and infrastructure credentials. During another evaluation, Claude encountered fictional instructions directing a software engineer to install Python code. It then uploaded a malicious software package to PyPI, a public repository for Python programs, in an attempt to gain access to its target.

Before PyPI identified the package as malicious, it was downloaded and executed on 15 real systems, including one operated by a security company. Claude subsequently extracted credentials that it used to access additional parts of the firm’s infrastructure, Anthropic said.

In the third and most recent incident, the model struggled to reach its intended target and began searching the internet for alternative targets. It ultimately halted its activity after determining that the systems it found were real rather than simulated.

Anthropic said that in the PyPI incident, Claude’s reasoning log stated that uploading malware to a real repository would be “NOT okay.” But the model persuaded itself that the service was part of the simulation after failing to recognize the genuine certificate authorities securing its connections. The disclosure comes amid intensifying competition among US and Chinese AI developers as companies race to build increasingly capable models. Anthropic, OpenAI, and other firms have sought to demonstrate advances in AI performance while investing heavily in new systems.

Some technology executives have argued that American AI companies should loosen certain safety restrictions to preserve their position in the global AI race.

On the morning of July 25, Ukrainian drones attacked an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea. An explosion occurred on board, killing one sailor and injuring another. Tehran described the incident as an act of aggression, summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires and warned that retaliatory measures could follow.

Vladimir Zelensky did not deny that the operation had taken place, claiming that the targets were vessels allegedly involved in transporting military cargo linked to Iran. Yet within days, Ukrainian diplomacy abruptly changed its tone. Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga told his Iranian counterpart that the merchant vessel had been struck unintentionally, after which discussions over compensation began.

So long as the operation could be presented to Western audiences as another demonstration of the long-range capabilities of the Ukrainian security services, Kiev was eager to speak of success. Once it became clear that Tehran intended to demand accountability, the initial bravado gave way to attempts to portray the incident as an accident. In other words, the Ukrainian leadership sought to reap the publicity benefits of the strike without showing any willingness to accept responsibility for its consequences.

At almost the same time, reports emerged from Iraq that several groups suspected of attacking sites inside the country had been detained. National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi stated that those arrested had admitted to acting in Ukraine’s interests and that, according to their testimony, the attacks had been disguised as operations carried out by local armed factions. The Iraqi authorities have yet to disclose the details of the investigation, but the alleged method closely resembles practices previously associated with Ukrainian structures in Africa and the Middle East.

It is difficult to regard these two developments as entirely unrelated episodes. Both in the Caspian Sea and in Iraq, the same logic appears to be at work, with the practical value of an operation becoming secondary to its political and media impact. The Ukrainian authorities are seeking to demonstrate that they can strike targets of interest to Washington, work through local groups and export their intelligence and drone capabilities far beyond Ukraine’s borders.

The true audience for such signals is not in Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus or the capitals of Africa. They are directed at Western governments whose decisions determine the flow of funding to Kiev. At a time when the Ukrainian military remains dependent on foreign weapons, ammunition and budgetary support, Zelensky must prove that his government is not merely a recipient of assistance but a useful contractor capable of contributing to the West’s broader foreign-policy objectives.

The Mali and Syria precedents

This model was most clearly displayed in northern Mali in the summer of 2024. Near Tinzaouaten, Tuareg formations attacked a column of the Malian army and Russian units. Fighters from JNIM, an organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and active across the Sahel, also took part in the fighting.

Following the attack, Andrey Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence, stated that the rebels had received information that enabled them to carry out a successful operation. This acknowledgement was made publicly and was reported not by Russian outlets but by some of the world’s largest international media organizations. Reuters, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Washington Post and Al Jazeera all covered the alleged role of Ukrainian intelligence.

Subsequent attempts to portray the Mali scandal as the product of foreign propaganda were unconvincing, not least because the accusations had been prompted by the words of an official Kiev representative. Ukrainian intelligence itself associated the country with forces that, during the same combat episode, operated alongside a jihadist organization. Mali later severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, accusing it of interfering in an internal conflict and supporting armed groups. Niger subsequently took the same step.

The sequence of Kiev’s actions was particularly telling. Immediately after the attack, Ukraine sought to claim some of the publicity surrounding the operation because Russian forces had been targeted and the outcome could be presented favorably to Western audiences. Once diplomatic repercussions followed, however, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry began insisting that there was no convincing evidence of the country’s involvement.

This approach allows Kiev to benefit from the outcome of an operation while avoiding responsibility for the methods used. When an action wins the approval of Western partners, Ukrainian involvement is highlighted through hints or public statements. When allegations of violating sovereignty or cooperating with radical organizations arise, the authorities issue denials and demand proof of activities they had effectively boasted about only shortly before.

Syria became an extension of the same model, this time in a larger and more politically significant conflict. In December 2024, The Washington Post reported that Ukrainian intelligence had sent a group of drone operators and approximately 150 FPV drones to Syria’s Idlib province. According to the newspaper’s sources, the assistance was intended for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Reuters subsequently reported on the same claims, noting that the alleged assistance involved more than consultations and included the transfer of equipment as well as the presence of specialists capable of training local fighters in the use of drone systems. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham emerged from organizations linked to Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate and, at the time, remained on the United States’ list of designated terrorist organizations.

For the Ukrainian leadership, the origins and ideology of such partners appear to matter little whenever their immediate objectives coincide with those of Kiev and its Western patrons. In Mali, Ukrainian intelligence engaged with rebels operating in the same battlespace as an Al-Qaeda affiliate. In Syria, according to reports in the American press, Ukrainian specialists helped an organization with a jihadist past acquire modern drone capabilities.

What connects these cases is not merely the participation of irregular armed groups but also the nature of the assistance attributed to Kiev. It involves precisely those areas in which Ukraine has accumulated considerable experience during the war, including intelligence gathering, target acquisition, operator training and the use of strike drones. The Ukrainian authorities are now attempting to turn these capabilities into a distinct export product, offering them to forces whose immediate objectives align with the interests of Washington and its regional partners.

Middle East connection

Reports of arrests in Iraq suggest that Ukrainian activity in the Middle East may not have been confined to Syria. According to Baghdad’s account, the detained groups carried out attacks inside the country and acted in Ukraine’s interests while disguising their operations as the work of local resistance factions.

Such tactics offer clear advantages to those organizing the attacks. Local operatives carry out the mission, initial responsibility falls upon regional armed groups, and the external sponsor retains the ability to distance itself from the incident. When an operation succeeds without provoking serious consequences, the result can be used privately or publicly to demonstrate effectiveness. When arrests and an international scandal follow, official structures simply remain silent.

This is what distinguishes the Iraqi case from the events in Mali. Ukrainian intelligence effectively boasted of the African operation because its outcome could be presented as a blow to the Russian presence. Similar publicity in Iraq would be far more dangerous, since the alleged attacks took place on the territory of a state in no way linked to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Instead of making public statements, Kiev therefore chose to behave as though Baghdad’s accusations did not concern it.

Silence, however, does not erase the broader pattern. Across several regions, Ukrainian structures have been linked to the use of intermediaries and local armed networks through which objectives unrelated to the direct defense of Ukraine are pursued. The countries and operatives may change, but the underlying method remains recognizable.

The attack on the Iranian vessel was the most overt attempt yet to demonstrate a convergence between the interests of Kiev and Washington. Iran occupies an important place in the foreign policy of Donald Trump’s administration, and Ukraine’s ability to strike routes associated with Tehran can therefore be presented as an additional argument for continued American support.

It is no longer enough for Ukraine to speak endlessly about the situation at the front, its losses and its shortages of weapons. Such arguments have been repeated for years and are gradually losing their persuasive force. Zelensky needs new grounds on which to portray the financing of Kiev not as endless assistance to a troubled ally, but as an investment in an instrument capable of acting against America’s adversaries in different parts of the world.

However, the Ukrainian leadership’s conduct after the Caspian Sea strike exposed the limits of this policy. Having secured the desired publicity, Kiev attempted to retreat as soon as a genuine confrontation with Iran appeared possible. The death of a sailor, the diplomatic protest and demands for compensation proved to be a price the Ukrainian authorities were unwilling to pay, despite having previously used the operation itself for political messaging.

Selling an image in place of a coherent strategy

Taken together, these episodes form a consistent picture. Kiev is attempting to offset its dependence on Western money and weapons through highly publicized overseas operations designed to suggest that Ukraine has evolved from a permanent supplicant into a provider of security capable of carrying out missions far beyond its own territory.

This approach was especially evident in March 2026, when the Ukrainian authorities launched an extensive publicity campaign around cooperation with the Gulf states. Kiev dispatched specialists to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan before signing defense cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Ukraine promised to share its experience in countering Iranian drones and missiles, including interception methods, electronic warfare techniques and the organization of air-defense systems. In return, Kiev expected investment, contracts and scarce ammunition for Patriot systems.

The publicity generated by the initiative was far more substantial than its demonstrable practical results. Kiev spoke at length about hundreds of deployed specialists, unique expertise and a future regional defense architecture, yet Zelensky was later able to say only that Ukrainian teams had intercepted drones in several unnamed countries. Neither the number of interceptions nor the precise extent of Ukraine’s role or the impact of these missions on the overall effectiveness of Gulf air defenses was publicly disclosed. Meanwhile, the region continued to face Iranian attacks, while American, Israeli and national air-defense systems remained, according to Western reporting, the central pillars of its protection. The March initiative therefore looked primarily like a carefully staged presentation in which political claims ran well ahead of independently verifiable results.

There is an obvious contradiction here. Had Kiev truly possessed an abundance of highly effective systems capable of transforming an entire region’s ability to counter drones and ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian authorities would not simultaneously have been pleading with the West for additional air-defense systems, interceptor missiles and money to protect their own energy infrastructure. Even while offering the Gulf states Ukrainian interceptors and specialists, Zelensky openly expected to receive Patriot missiles in return, precisely because Ukraine itself lacks sufficient supplies to counter Russian strikes. Kiev was therefore selling its partners the image of an almost indispensable expert while simultaneously admitting that it could not protect its own airspace without foreign systems and ammunition.

The activities of Ukrainian structures in Mali, Syria, Iraq and the Caspian Sea should be viewed through the same lens. Local armed groups are used as intermediaries, drone technology becomes an instrument of political bargaining and every highly publicized operation is converted into promotional material for Washington.

This demonstration is particularly important in relations with the Trump administration, which approaches the open-ended financing of Ukraine more pragmatically than its predecessors. Kiev is attempting to show that it can serve Washington in its confrontation with Iran, in Syria and in other regions where direct American involvement would entail political risks. Hence the effort to portray the Ukrainian security services as a universal instrument capable of working through local forces, exporting drone technologies and carrying out carefully staged strikes.

Ultimately, what emerges is a series of short-term public-relations exercises aimed less at producing lasting military results than at preserving international interest in Kiev. The Ukrainian authorities are selling the West an image of their own indispensability in the hope of obtaining additional money, weapons and political protection, while attempting to conceal the gap between the scale of their claims and the limited number of independently verified achievements behind yet another information campaign.

The US and Israel are preparing a major bombing campaign against Iranian energy infrastructure that could begin as early as this weekend, according to multiple media reports.

The proposed operation would target power plants, oil refineries, and other energy-related facilities in what CBS News described as potentially one of the harshest bombing campaigns against Iran to date. American and Israeli forces are reportedly coordinating their preparations, although the precise scope and duration of the operation have not been finalized.

CBS and Axios reported that US President Donald Trump is seriously considering the strikes but has not yet issued final authorization. The Wall Street Journal, citing separate US officials, subsequently claimed that Trump has already ordered a new attack that could begin over the weekend and last several days.

US officials have reportedly discussed completing the strikes before financial markets open on Monday because of concerns that attacks on Iranian energy facilities could disrupt oil prices and damage the US and global economies.

The strike plan was reportedly discussed during Trump’s cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday. Some White House aides focused on domestic politics strongly opposed the escalation, CBS reported, although the president publicly indicated that heavier attacks are approaching.

“We’ll be hitting them very hard,” Trump told reporters. “At some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

Military officials reportedly discussed cutting electricity across Tehran, while power plants and refineries were identified as likely targets. However, the Pentagon declined to discuss potential targets before Trump made a final decision.

“The Department of War is locked and loaded, ready to execute the president’s directives at a moment’s notice,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

US sources said Israel has been notified and is coordinating with Washington, but an Israeli official denied that the country has been asked to participate or informed of any decision to resume full-scale operations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly presented Trump with three military options during their meeting earlier this week, including attacks on Iranian land routes used to resupply military forces. Netanyahu also met with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Axios reported that the proposed attacks are intended to pressure Tehran into accepting Washington’s terms in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

A joint campaign would mark Israel’s return to direct combat operations and risk prompting Iran to resume missile strikes against Israel, which it has not targeted since the earlier memorandum of understanding collapsed and the US restarted combat operations in July.

A US Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter crashed and caught fire at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, on Friday, apparently resulting in the total loss of the $109 million aircraft, according to footage from the scene.

Emergency crews responded at around 10 AM local time to what the military described as a “Class A mishap,” its category for the most serious accidents. The aircraft was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11 of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

“The pilot ejected, was transported to a local medical facility in stable condition for evaluation and treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” the Marine Corps said in a follow-up statement, adding that the crash occurred on the base’s flightline.

JUST IN: An F-35 caught fire after a mishap at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego on Friday morning. Emergency crews responded to heavy smoke around 10 a.m. Cause under investigation.

- FOX 5 pic.twitter.com/oDthXqbQRf

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 31, 2026

Footage from the scene showed a thick column of black smoke rising above the base. Aerial video showed the burned-out jet lying in a scorched dirt field near the runway as military personnel and firefighters surrounded the wreckage.

Exclusive video sent by our follower.

Initial reports indicate that a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II has crashed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, home of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, in San Diego, California. pic.twitter.com/qze3GLm8Og

— aircraftmaintenancengineer (@airmainengineer) July 31, 2026

The crash also sparked a vegetation fire, prompting a response from the San Diego Fire Department. White fire retardant could be seen covering parts of the ground around the aircraft. No injuries on the ground were immediately reported.

The military did not immediately disclose what caused the crash. The F-35B is the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant of the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter and is operated primarily by the Marine Corps. Each aircraft costs approximately $109 million.

Miramar was formerly home to the US Navy fighter-pilot school depicted in the film Top Gun and was once known as “Fightertown USA.” The school moved to Nevada in 1996, when the base was transferred to the Marine Corps.

The latest incident occurred almost exactly one year after a US Navy F-35C crashed near Naval Air Station Lemoore in central California on July 30, 2025. Its pilot also ejected safely before the jet struck a field and burst into flames.

German officials are trading blame after it emerged that the suspect behind last weekend’s deadly Berlin attack had been released from prison on probation just months before the attack despite reportedly being considered a “high-risk individual.”

A van plowed into a crowd during the festivities known as Christopher Street Day, the German capital’s annual pride event, last Saturday. A Polish woman was killed in the attack and 31 people were injured, according to the authorities. The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German national of Lebanese descent, was fatally shot by police during an attempted arrest on Sunday following a large-scale manhunt.

Law enforcement officials later revealed that Ballout was a known Islamist who had previously tried to join Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and had pledged allegiance to the terrorist group in a video allegedly recorded on the day of the attack.

Why was the suspect free?

Ballout was arrested at Berlin Airport in November 2025 upon his return from Lebanon, where he had spent three months behind bars over “inciting a religious conflict.” According to German officials, he had traveled to Lebanon earlier that year in a bid to join IS jihadists in neighboring Syria.

In Germany, he was charged with “preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state” in connection with his attempt to join IS. He was tried by a juvenile court in May 2026, which sentenced him to a year and ten months behind bars.

The court immediately suspended the sentence and released him on probation, arguing that he had already spent six months in pretrial detention in Germany and three months in a Lebanese prison. The judges also accepted that Ballout had allegedly distanced himself from IS and described his attempts to join the terrorist group as “amateurish,” according to a report by Legal Tribune Online.

The ruling nevertheless acknowledged that it “cannot be expected” the defendant “will not commit further offenses in the future.”

Berlin’s judiciary authorities defended the decision amid a wave of criticism in the wake of the attack. The ruling was passed “within the framework of the applicable legal situation,” the head of the Berlin Court of Appeal and the city’s Prosecutor General said in a joint statement.

The Tiergarten District Court that passed the judgement reportedly stated that its job was to ensure people are not unfairly deprived of liberty while crime prevention was the task of security officials.

‘Catastrophe’

Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the attack and called on Germans not to be intimidated by “such acts.” Those behind such attacks “want to divide our society, they want to take away the most important thing we have: our openness and our freedom,” he said in a statement issued in the wake of the incident.

He then faced criticism on social media for attending a business association dinner in Paderborn while the suspect remained at large. The chancellor dismissed the accusations, saying he wanted to demonstrate that “normal” life must continue despite the terrorist attacks.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dorbrindt said that Ballout’s case raised “a whole lot of questions” and called for harsher measures against “potential terrorists” up to electronic ankle monitors and preventive detention, saying existing surveillance measures were insufficient. He still urged caution over a proposal by the Bavarian government head, Markus Soder, to strip dual nationals classified as high-risk individuals of German citizenship.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann blamed the court’s decision to release the suspect on probation for the attack, calling it “a catastrophe.” “The judges who have to rule on such a case must be aware of the responsibility they bear for the safety of the people,” he told a local broadcaster.

The Greens and the Left MPs in the Bundestag demanded an emergency session of the Interior Affairs Committee involving the chiefs of the Federal Criminal Police, the domestic security agency (BfV) and the Prosecutor General. Berlin Police Chief Slowik Meisel maintained that the suspect had remained under active surveillance since his release in May but had demonstrated no signs of preparing an attack.

“We never lost sight of this man,” she said, adding that “we found nothing” that would warrant preventive detention.

Not enough diversity

An integration commissioner for Berlin’s Neukolln district, Guner Balci, blamed the incident on conservative values. All conservative religious people have a problem with homosexuality regardless of their faith, she told Die Zeit, adding that “things become difficult” in places “where there is no socio-cultural mixing.”

Cansel Kiziltepe, a Berlin government member responsible for diversity and anti-discrimination, demanded Merz hold a roundtable on combating LGBT+ hatred. The chancellor must make the comprehensive protection and equality of queer people a top priority at the national level, she maintained.

The federal government’s LGBT+ commissioner, Sophie Koch, warned that the far right continued to pose a threat to the LGBT+ community and called for increased security at future pride events.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner suggested introducing Islam lessons to the state schools to reduce the influence of what he called “backstreet mosques.”

Redeeming the irredeemable

According to Berliner Morgenpost, Ballout had attracted the attention of the authorities from an early age. He was reportedly considered “aggressive” in primary school, transferred between schools, and eventually referred to a special education center.

“Support and intervention needs were identified early on, and he finished school without a diploma,” Berlin’s Education Department told the paper, with its head, Katharina Gunther-Wunsch, blaming the situation on the “lacking” cooperation from his family.

The man later accumulated a criminal record. In 2019, he was convicted of assaulting another person in the schoolyard. Two years later, he was found guilty of assault and extortion with an intent to rob, CBS reported, citing German security officials.

In 2024, he shared IS propaganda posts on his Instagram page, according to Berlin law enforcement authorities. His aunt married an infamous Islamist preacher and recruiter and two of his cousins fought for IS in Syria and Iraq, Die Zeit reported.

In 2025, he attempted to join IS twice. The second attempt resulted in a prison sentence in Lebanon and was followed by his arrest in Germany.

Upon his release in May, Ballout was referred to a de-radicalization program run by an NGO called Violence Prevention Network Berlin. Its communications director, Cornelisa Lotthammer, acknowledged to the New York Times and CBS that the man was basically irredeemable.

“His extremism was deep,” she told NYT. “He was very radicalized.”

According to Lotthammer, the staff quickly determined his cooperation was “fake.” “Our colleagues could tell that he wasn’t very interested in a real deradicalization process,” she told CBS while maintaining her organization did “what we were supposed to do” and saw no signs of an imminent attack that could have been reported to law enforcement.

Western regime change wars in countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Libya transformed entire regions into terrorist havens and led to “migration waves” such as the one currently engulfing Spain’s exclave of Ceuta, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko told RT on Friday.

An estimated 50,000 migrants, mostly young men, swam from Morocco and crossed into Ceuta on Thursday and Friday in an unprecedented influx that triggered a humanitarian crisis in the city. Around 48,000 had voluntarily returned by Friday evening, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

“The root cause of those migration waves lies in the policies of the West itself, which took aggressive action against Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now Iran,” Grushko said, adding that this left entire regions in the Middle East and North Africa “stripped of statehood and transformed into safe havens for terrorists and extremists.”

The consequences of these Western policies are now being seen in “these waves of migration,” he said.

This is a collapse of the immigration policy that the EU has pursued for many years.

Grushko called the situation a failure not only of the EU’s “regulation – or lack thereof – of immigration,” but also of the bloc’s worldwide posture and policies it pursues regarding “countries that it considers its partners.”

Problems like immigration were “swept under the rug” while the bloc focused on militarizing and preparing for a war with Russia, he said.

“Reality is simply smashing through the ideological and political doors and walls they have erected, revealing to the European Union where its true problems lie,” Grushko said.

Watch the RT interview below:

The EU has responded to the migrant invasion of Ceuta with watery statements on solidarity, and a stone-faced refusal to blame Morocco for opening its borders. But when Brussels could blame Russia, it sang a different tune.

As nearly 60,000 north African migrants poured into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, right-wing and center-right European leaders immediately blamed Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had only three months earlier granted legal status to 500,000 illegal immigrants.

Sanchez refused calls from local authorities in Ceuta to declare a national emergency, but deployed a token force of 60 troops to the exclave – a gesture perceived by the European right as inadequate.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was first to respond, calling for Spain’s exclusion from the EU’s border-free Schengen Area. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares replied angrily, demanding “European solidarity, not partisan demagoguery” from Italy. Nevertheless, Italy suspended visa-free entry from Spain on Friday evening.

There was little sympathy for Spain on the European right, with the following leaders and officials joining Meloni in blaming the migrant surge on Sanchez’ policies:

• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – demanded Spain secure its borders “if Schengen is to survive”

• Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker – threatened to close Austria’s borders, accused Sanchez of creating “additional incentive for illegal migration”

• Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – said EU should consider suspending Spain from Schengen

• Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson – demanded Spain regain control of its borders

• Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis – called for Spain’s suspension from Schengen

• Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen – backed the Schengen suspension

• French President Emmanuel Macron – announced preparations to strengthen France’s internal border with Spain 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico took a different tone, criticizing the “hypocrisy” of EU leaders who oppose illegal immigration, but “only a few years ago, through their lax approach, allowed illegal migrants to enter EU countries in massive numbers, causing serious crises.” Fico condemned proposals to boot Spain from Schengen, and offered the Spanish government assistance in securing its borders.

SPAIN MUST BE SUPPORTED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL MIGRATION.

I am closely monitoring developments in the migration crisis in the Spanish enclave in Africa on an hourly basis. Today, I also joined the initiative of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calling for a strong…

— Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) July 31, 2026

How did the EU respond to the migrant surge?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the invasion of Ceuta as “unacceptable,” and promised to work with Spain and Morocco to “control the situation.” Von der Leyen refused to blame either the Spanish or Moroccan governments, instead declaring that “returns must be swift, as our rules allow.” 

“I am confident that our close partnership with Morocco will help deliver concrete results,” she added.

The images coming from Ceuta are unacceptable.

We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules.

Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.

I tasked two Commissioners…

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 31, 2026

As EU member states piled on Spain, some of the bloc’s most senior officials attempted to quash the rising right-wing anger. European Parliament Vice President Javi Lopez condemned Meloni’s position as “unworthy of a European partner,” adding that “when migration is weaponized, Europe answers with solidarity, not selfishness.” The EU’s former chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, ridiculed the Italian PM’s threats to expel Spain from Schengen. “That option simply does not exist in the legal architecture of the Union,” he wrote on social media. “It just can’t.”

Chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, meanwhile, did not issue a single statement on the most serious border breach in EU history.

Why is nobody mentioning Morocco?

Amid the infighting, none of the European leaders blaming Sanchez, nor anyone at von der Leyen’s European Commission, have publicly acknowledged the role Morocco played in instigating the crisis.

IN CRE I BLE #Ceuta cientos de marroquíes a la carrera tras llegar a nado al espigón del Tarajal#FronteraSur #Haraga #Inmigracion pic.twitter.com/qVA6MwDuxU

— KARIM PRIM (@KARIMPRIM) July 30, 2026

Video footage from the border in Ceuta appears to show Moroccan guards opening barbed-wire gates, allowing migrants to pour onto Spanish territory.

Numerous trucks were filmed carrying hundreds of young men toward the border from the Moroccan side.

🚨WATCH: New footage shows truck loads of 1000s of Moroccans being dropped off on the Ceuta border yesterday 🇪🇸

Busses and trucks rammed full of military aged men, all at the same time, orchestrated and organised.

This is an INVASION & it’s high time the Spanish government… pic.twitter.com/orDvVJTDbY

— BRITAIN IS BROKEN 🇬🇧 (@BROKENBRITAIN0) July 31, 2026

While the most widely circulated clip shows police intercepting one of the vehicles several miles away, many others apparently unloaded their passengers at the open border without interference.

ESTO ES MUY GRAVE. Me llegan estas imágenes de cómo las autoridades marroquíes vacían camiones llenos de jóvenes cerca de la frontera con Ceuta.

Quien no quiera ver que se trata de una operación perfectamente preparada por el régimen, es que es ciego. pic.twitter.com/YpxFAaF7Wb

— Taleb Alisalem (@TalebSahara) July 30, 2026

Morocco has a longstanding claim to Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s two north African exclaves, and this claim is tacitly backed by the US House Appropriations Committee, by some sections of the US’ powerful Israel lobby, and by Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a close associate of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Morocco has used migrants as political leverage before. When Spain allowed Western Sahara separatist leader Brahim Ghali to enter the country for medical treatment in 2021, Morocco responded by temporarily relaxing restrictions at the Ceuta border, letting around 8,000 migrants enter the Spanish territory. 

Madrid – with the backing of the EU – accused Rabat of “weaponizing” migration, but Morocco won in the end: the following year, Spain agreed to support Morocco’s ‘autonomy plan’ for Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. Under the plan, Western Sahara would receive some powers of self-governance, but would remain under permanent Moroccan sovereignty.

The crisis taught the Moroccan government a powerful lesson: by weaponizing migration, it can extract valuable political concessions from Spain and the EU.

The Belarus hypocrisy

The EU’s kid-gloves handling of Morocco stands in stark contrast to its response to illegal immigration from Belarus in October and November of 2021. That year, just under 40,000 migrants – mostly from Africa and Asia – attempted to cross from Belarus into Poland, prompting Polish authorities to erect a razor-wire fence, deploy thousands of soldiers, and accuse Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of waging “hybrid warfare” on behalf of the Russian government.

Lukashenko had grievances against Poland and the EU, given that both had provided enthusiastic support to his political opponents during Western-backed riots in Minsk the year before. However, he has denied accusations of weaponizing migration, and no evidence of any Russian involvement in the supposed “hybrid warfare” campaign has ever emerged.

Nevertheless, the EU accepted Poland’s framing. Von der Leyen declared that the border surge was “a hybrid attack, not a migration crisis.” European Council President Charles Michel and chief diplomat Josep Borrell used the same wording, and within weeks, the EU sanctioned 17 Belarusian officials over “human rights abuses and the instrumentalisation of migrants.”

📍 At the border between Poland and Belarus.

Poland is facing hybrid attacks from across the border.

We stand in solidarity with our Member State.

In our new EU budget, we have proposed to triple border management funding.

We are all responsible for Europe’s external borders pic.twitter.com/gdoWTmr3NW

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 31, 2025

Despite the fact that Ceuta received more migrants in a day than Poland did in a year, no senior officials in Brussels or any EU member state have raised the possibility of sanctioning Morocco. The EU is capable of taking swift action against supposed “hybrid warfare,” but the decision to do so is clearly only made when it is politically expedient to do so – and not when doing so would upset a de-facto ally of the US and Israel.

What happens next in Ceuta?

As of Friday evening, roughly 48,000 of the 60,000 migrants had voluntarily returned to Morocco, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry. Both Sanchez and the ministry thanked Morocco for taking back its migrants, although it remains unclear whether Madrid had to grant any concessions for this to happen.

The crisis appears to be simmering down, but its legacy will be twofold: first, Morocco’s apparent belief that it can wield disproportionate influence over EU politics through migration has been further vindicated. Rabat discovered that it could extract concessions from Madrid with 8,000 migrants in 2021. With 60,000, it can plunge the EU into infighting and push the Schengen Area to breaking point.

Secondly, Spain is unlikely to forget the pile-on by Meloni and her ilk. Posting on X on Friday evening, Sanchez shared a series of migration figures that implicate Italy as the EU’s leading point of entry for migrants between 2021 and 2026. Notably, and despite the EU-wide campaign against Lukashenko in 2021, the bloc’s eastern border – with Belarus and Ukraine – sits at the very bottom of the list.

“Solidarity and empathy are optional,” Sanchez wrote. “Respect for European treaties and data is not. This is not the time to divide. It is the time to continue building a strong and united EU.”

The events unfolding in Ceuta should not be reduced to the familiar European language of invasion, emergency and border control. From a Pan-African perspective, what we are witnessing is the human consequence of a profoundly unequal economic relationship between Africa and Europe.

Spain now has an opportunity to move away from the conventional European model of engagement with Africa and learn from the partnerships developed by countries such as China, Russia, Brazil and India. These relationships are not without problems or contradictions. Nevertheless, they have generally approached African countries as political and economic partners, supported infrastructure and productive development, and recognised Africa as an emerging centre of global power rather than merely a source of raw materials, migration and insecurity. 

Spain can draw lessons from these experiences while developing its own distinctive partnership with Africa, based on geographical proximity, historical connection, mutual development and respect for African sovereignty.

Young Africans do not risk their lives at sea because Europe possesses higher fences. They do so because the present international economic system has concentrated opportunity, capital and mobility on one side of the Mediterranean while denying them on the other. 

Spain must, of course, protect its borders, preserve public order and ensure the safety of the people of Ceuta. No responsible African position requires Spain to surrender its sovereignty or tolerate disorder. Nevertheless, security measures alone cannot resolve what is fundamentally a question of development, dignity and economic justice.

Spain is particularly well-placed to recognise this.

Under its current government, Spain has increasingly demonstrated a willingness to distance itself from some of the harshest and most arrogant tendencies of mainstream European and North American foreign policy. It has shown greater sensitivity towards the Global South, defended international law in difficult circumstances and spoken of Africa not merely as a source of migration or insecurity, but as an equal strategic partner.

Spain’s official Africa Strategy for 2025–2028 speaks of mutual respect, shared benefit, responsible investment, youth employment and a relationship conducted “from equal to equal.” These principles deserve recognition and support. They must now be transformed from diplomatic language into economic reality.

Spain’s relationship with Africa is also distinctive. It is certainly not free from the history of colonialism, military confrontation and political inequality. No honest African analysis should conceal this. Yet Spain’s connection with Africa cannot be defined exclusively by colonialism.

Spain and Africa are geographical neighbours. They share Mediterranean and Atlantic spaces, centuries of human movement, commercial exchange and profound cultural interaction. Much of Spanish history, language, architecture, agriculture, music and identity was shaped through its relationship with North and West Africa.

Africa is therefore not a distant region lying beyond Spain’s strategic horizon. It is part of Spain’s immediate historical and geographical environment. This gives Spain an opportunity to lead Europe towards a different relationship with the continent.

The dominant Western approach has too often treated Africa through four narrow lenses: minerals, migration, terrorism and geopolitical competition. African countries are approached when their resources are required, when their votes are needed, when their young people arrive at European borders or when Western powers fear the growing influence of China, Russia and other actors.

That model has failed Africa, and it will eventually fail Europe as well.

Spain can offer another path. It can support African industrialisation rather than importing African raw materials. It can encourage joint ventures, technology transfer and local production rather than relationships based on extraction. It can invest in African agriculture, renewable energy, transport, education, digital infrastructure and manufacturing while ensuring that employment and value remain inside Africa.

It can also expand legal mobility, university exchange, vocational training and circular migration so that movement between Africa and Spain becomes organised and mutually beneficial rather than dangerous and controlled by smugglers.

Africa does not require charity. It requires investment without domination, cooperation without paternalism and trade that allows African societies to produce, manufacture and prosper.

The long-term answer to Ceuta is therefore not simply a larger wall. It is the creation of an economic space in which a young African does not have to cross a border illegally to imagine a dignified future.

At the same time, African governments must accept their own responsibilities. They must confront corruption, economic exclusion, unemployment and the failure to provide their youth with credible opportunities. Pan-Africanism cannot place every failure at the feet of Europe while exempting African elites from accountability.

Spain should reject the politics of fear that turns desperate human beings into an invading army. African states should reject the political manipulation of migration and prevent vulnerable young people from being used as instruments of diplomatic pressure.

The crisis offers Spain a choice. It can follow the conventional European response: more fear, more militarisation and more distance from Africa. Or it can remain faithful to the better principles it has recently articulated and help construct a new relationship between Europe and the African continent.

From a Pan-African perspective, Spain should be encouraged to choose the second road. But genuine leadership will not be measured by how effectively Spain closes the gate. It will be measured by whether Spain helps build a world in which fewer people are forced to knock desperately upon it.

Israeli strikes have continued across Gaza hours after US President Donald Trump announced a “historic agreement” under which Hamas would be disarmed and the IDF would completely withdraw from the enclave.

At least one Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded in the attacks on Friday, according to Palestinian health officials cited by media reports.

The agreement was reached late on Thursday following talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the US under the Washington-led Board of Peace. Trump hailed it as a “monumental step toward lasting peace and security” and a major milestone in his 20-point plan for the enclave. However, both Hamas and Israeli officials have since questioned key provisions of the deal.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir described the draft agreement as “unacceptable to Israel.” Writing on Telegram, he said that the “targeted killings” of “Hamas terrorists” in Gaza must continue, along with the “encouragement” of Palestinian “emigration” from the enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that Israeli forces will “remain in the security zones as long as necessary.” 

Hamas has insisted that no disarmament will take place while Israeli forces remain in Gaza. In a statement, the group said any discussion of the handover of heavy weapons was conditional on a complete end to hostilities, a full Israeli withdrawal, reconstruction, international guarantees and progress toward Palestinian statehood.

According to AFP, Hamas sources said the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a Palestinian technocratic body established by the Board of Peace, would become the sole authority responsible for managing and storing Hamas’ weapons. Reuters separately reported that Hamas had reiterated that any handover remained contingent on an Israeli withdrawal and increased humanitarian aid entering the enclave.

A Roadmap for Completing the Implementation of President Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan in Gaza

Principles:

1. All parties reaffirm their commitment to President Trump’s Comprehensive Plan to achieve peace in Gaza, which constitutes, together with the UN Security Council…

— Board of Peace (@BoardOfPeace) July 31, 2026

Under the published roadmap, Israel must complete “without delay” its remaining commitments under the October ceasefire arrangements, “particularly the cessation of military operations.” Hamas and other Palestinian factions would transfer civilian governance and security functions to the NCAG. Heavy weapons and military infrastructure would subsequently be decommissioned under the committee’s administration, while Israeli forces would withdraw in phases.

The Board of Peace was established under Trump’s Gaza plan following last October’s ceasefire to oversee the enclave’s post-war transition and reconstruction. It is tasked with supervising reconstruction, supporting the transfer of civilian governance to the NCAG and coordinating the deployment of an international stabilization force.

According to the Gaza health authorities, at least 73,340 Palestinians have been killed and more than 174,000 wounded since Israel launched its military campaign in response to the deadly Hamas raid of October 2023.

Kiev’s strikes on international oil and gas shipments in the Caspian and Black seas could indirectly benefit the US by giving Washington greater influence over global supply chains amid the Iran crisis, Russian foreign policy expert Darya Saprynskaya has told RT.

Ukraine has escalated long-range attacks on civilian vessels and energy infrastructure in recent months. The most recent strikes hit two tankers in the Caspian Sea off Kazakhstan carrying cargoes belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The consortium, whose shareholders include US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, condemned the strikes as “terrorist attacks” and noted that Washington has previously described such attacks as unacceptable.

“There have already been public signals from the United States that Ukraine should avoid international energy infrastructure. However, incidents have continued,” Saprynskaya, a research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences and an expert at the Valdai Discussion Club, told RT on Friday.

“Washington’s response has so far remained relatively restrained,” the analyst said, suggesting broader geopolitical implications of the muted reaction.

A destabilized Caspian and Black Sea energy corridor may indirectly benefit the US if tensions with Iran intensify, as it could increase the strategic importance of alternative routes, American energy companies and US influence over global supply chains.

Saprynskaya said the CPC handles 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports and includes US and European shareholders.

“It’s very difficult to see any strategic benefit for Ukraine itself in damaging these assets linked to major American corporations,” she said.

The move is “very risky” for Ukraine because it is “so interconnected with European countries,” she said, adding that it could affect the EU’s financial backing of Kiev. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Watch the full RT interview below:

India’s northeastern state of Assam is battling the worst floods in decades that have left at least 80 dead, millions of hectares submerged, and thousands marooned or displaced.

Assam sees flooding every year in the monsoon season, like many parts of India, but this year they were especially destructive in the state. The flooding, which started around the end of June, intensified last week when the Brahmaputra river, which originates in the Tibetan Himalayas, quickly swelled from intense rainfall.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said on Thursday that 212,400 people were affected in the worst-hit districts of Charaideo, Golaghat, Jorhat, and Sivasagar. An RT India crew travelled to the flood-hit areas and captured the destruction and the tears.

“My husband earns a living by driving an e-rickshaw,” a woman told RT. “Our only source of income has been taken away. In just 10 minutes we lost everything.” 

In many places, even though the flood waters have receded, people are not able to live inside their homes which are covered in knee-deep mud.

“All the paddy fields we had and the livestock, which were our only source of income, all washed away,” said another local.

Some paddy fields now resemble water bodies. Officials reported that 437 villages are still under water and 17,198 hectares of crops have been damaged across the state.

As figures trickle in, more than 90,000 heads of livestock are also being counted as washed away.

India received 1% more rainfall than the July average. Assam’s chief minister has said that some districts in the state received nearly 500% above normal rainfall in July. 

The state administration has set up 112 relief camps and distribution centers across the four districts, providing care to 75,583 affected people, according to reports.

Up to 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in roughly 24 hours, overwhelming border forces and increasing the territory’s population by as much as 70%.

The unprecedented influx has triggered a political crisis, raised questions over the true nature of the incident, and exposed deep divisions in the West.

What happened at the border?

Tens of thousands of migrants stormed a weak point in the town of Ceuta, on the Spanish border with Morocco on Thursday. Ceuta’s regional president, Juan Jesus Vivas, said on Friday that around 60,000 people had entered the city since the border crisis erupted the previous day. The magnitude is such that it represents the single greatest human traffic invasion in the EU’s history.

Even more conservative estimates from Spanish media and security sources ranging from 30,000 to 49,000 would still mean that Ceuta’s regular population of some 84,000 had increased overnight by some 50%.

At least 41 migrants reportedly died. Many drowned while attempting to swim around the border barriers, while others were allegedly killed in a stampede near the Tarajal breakwater.

Widely circulated footage showed predominantly young adult men swimming around the breakwater, climbing border structures, and pouring through crossing points as Spanish officers struggled to contain them. Some later marched through Ceuta chanting: “Bye bye Morocco, hello Spain.”

Local police said they had been “completely overwhelmed” by the influx, while the regional government warned that reception facilities, hospitals, and other public services were nearing collapse.

So sieht das dann aus, wenn Tausende Marokkaner in #Ceuta nach Spanien übersetzen.
Das ist eine Landnahme und sie treffen auf ein sozialistisch regiertes Land, das gerade erst 1,2 Millionen illegale Migranten mit legalen Papieren ausgestattet hat und einen Regierungschef, der… pic.twitter.com/2Utuz8gJoW

— Birgit Kelle (@Birgit_Kelle) July 30, 2026

Madrid initially rejected Ceuta’s request to declare a national emergency but later deployed soldiers, special police, and additional Civil Guard units.

Morocco eventually reinforced its side of the border, deployed water cannons and tear gas, fired warning shots, and moved detained migrants away from the frontier. By Friday afternoon, the massive flow appeared to have largely stopped, although some people continued trying to swim into Spanish territory.

Hundreds of migrants also began walking back toward Morocco through the same breakwater route they had used to enter Spain.

Why Ceuta?

Ceuta is one of two Spanish territories on Morocco’s northern coast, alongside the enclave of Melilla. Together, they form the EU’s only land borders with Africa. Morocco claims both cities as part of its territory, viewing continued Spanish control as a legacy of European colonialism, while Madrid has considered them integral parts of Spain since 1580.

The enclaves have repeatedly become flashpoints in diplomatic rows between the two countries. Morocco is believed to have intentionally eased border controls during a dispute in 2021 to spark a migrant influx to pressure Madrid. However, that incident involved only about 10,000 migrants - several times less than the latest crisis.

What triggered the crisis?

It is currently unclear what exactly sparked Thursday’s incident but several possibilities have been raised. Spanish officials blame traffickers exploiting a recent court ruling, others suspect that Morocco deliberately eased border controls to pressure Madrid.

Some have also linked the timing to Spain’s rapprochement with Algeria, Morocco’s regional rival, and to the Sanchez government’s worsening relations with Washington.

🚨 BREAKING UPDATE: Spain's Civil Guard chief declares the border has "TOTALLY COLLAPSED," per @BillMelugin_

THOUSANDS of military-aged African men have poured over the border in the past several hours.

This is because Spain just gave AMNESTY to illegals. All amnesty does is… pic.twitter.com/1uR9dZGXaT

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 30, 2026

How did the Spanish court ruling increase the risk of mass migrant invasion?

The Supreme Court ruling in July asserted that immediate deportation can only apply to migrants crossing land barriers. Those intercepted at sea, on the other hand, must instead go through standard deportation procedures, including legal assistance and the chance to claim asylum.

The Spanish government has claimed that this ruling was misrepresented by traffickers as making sea crossings harder to reverse. The idea had allegedly spread “like wildfire” through human-smuggling networks and helped trigger the mass rush, Madrid suggested.

Critics have also linked the influx to Spain’s recent regularization of around 500,000 undocumented migrants, arguing that the measure encouraged further illegal entry.

Is Morocco applying pressure on Madrid?

The scale of the influx and the apparent lack of resistance on the Moroccan side have prompted accusations that Rabat deliberately loosened border controls to pressure Madrid, drawing parallels with the 2021 incident.

Tens of thousands of people were able to travel toward Ceuta and gather near the frontier before Moroccan forces intervened. Civil Guard sources described Rabat’s initial assistance as limited and insufficient, while footage showed migrants entering by sea and land as Moroccan security forces largely remained out of view.

Morocco, however, has vehemently denied its involvement in the latest influx, instead blaming criminal trafficking networks for the crisis.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has also maintained that cooperation with Morocco continues.

The Algeria dispute

Suspicions of Morocco’s involvement have further been fueled by the timing of the crisis, which comes as Spain has been seeking to restore relations with Algeria - Rabat’s main geopolitical rival.

The two North African states have long been at odds over Western Sahara. Morocco claims the territory as its own, while Algeria supports the Polisario Front’s demand for an independent Sahrawi state.

Spain had backed Morocco’s autonomy plan in 2022 and repaired ties with Rabat. However, that caused a diplomatic rupture with Algeria, an important energy supplier to Spain.

Last week, Sanchez visited Algiers for the first time in four years as the two governments seek to restore relations. The Ceuta crisis erupted ten days later.

Some have suggested that Morocco intentionally allowed the migrant influx to occur as retaliation for renewed Spanish engagement with Algeria and an effort to influence Madrid’s foreign policy. Morocco has rejected the accusations.

Is Washington part of the equation?

Some have also linked the crisis to tensions between Washington and the Sanchez government, which escalated after Madrid refused to allow its bases to be used for US strikes on Iran.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Madrid for refusing to commit 5% of GDP to defense and has threatened to cut trade off with Spain altogether.

Following the Ceuta breach, senior White House officials shared footage of the crossings, presenting the crisis as the result of Spain’s left-wing migration policies and directly targeting the Sanchez government.

The United States stands with the people of Spain, and all Europeans, against this egregious violation of their sovereignty and human rights.

This unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government's deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal…

— Department of State (@StateDept) July 31, 2026

Washington has meanwhile maintained close relations with Rabat, reaffirmed its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, and praised Morocco’s role in the US-backed Abraham Accords with Israel.

This has prompted claims that Morocco may have expected the Trump administration to tolerate political pressure on Sanchez, particularly when the crisis also served Washington’s own campaign against the Spanish government.

How has the international community reacted to the mass immigrant invasion?

The images of dense crowds streaming into Ceuta have prompted shock and ridicule that Spain has lost control of its border.

US President Donald Trump called the scenes “terrible” and presented them as a warning of what could happen in the US if Democrats returned to power.

European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber described the situation as “appalling” and said that the images were the direct consequence of the “pull factor” created by Spain’s mass regularization program and the “instrumentalisation of illegal migration.”

Italy accused Spain of failing to protect the EU’s external frontier and encouraging further migration through its regularization policy. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome was prepared to consider “extraordinary measures,” including suspending Schengen arrangements with Spain. Finland has backed the proposal.

Elon Musk mocked the scenes by comparing them to the zombie film World War Z with the caption: “Wow, the situation in Spain looks crazy!”

Just kidding, this is the actual footage … pic.twitter.com/jYRpSWM24e

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026

Russian presidential investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev compared the crowds with depictions of the sack of Rome in 410 AD and described Ceuta as a vivid illustration of “catastrophic” EU and UK migration policies. He also accused European left-wing parties of supporting mass immigration in the expectation that migrants and their descendants would later vote for them.

Other widely shared posts have also ridiculed the Sanchez government’s longstanding humanitarian defense of migration by contrasting his rhetoric about empathy and vulnerable newcomers with footage from Ceuta showing crowds composed overwhelmingly of young men.

Can the migrants be returned?

Spain and Morocco have agreed to accelerate the return of those who entered Ceuta illegally, but Madrid cannot summarily send back migrants who arrived by sea.

Under the recent Supreme Court ruling, the expedited “border rejection” procedure applies only to people crossing physical barriers, such as fences. Those intercepted after swimming into Ceuta must instead be dealt with under the ordinary return procedure, which requires individual processing, legal assistance, and access to asylum protections.

Unaccompanied minors also cannot be deported as adults and must be identified and placed under child-protection procedures.

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, around 48,000 of the estimated 60,000 arrivals had already voluntarily returned to Morocco by Friday evening. Spanish authorities have not said how many of those remaining will be deported or how long the process could take. The government is reportedly considering new maritime barriers and possible legal changes to facilitate its response to future crossings.

Washington DC, July 29, 2026. On this day, a city accustomed to protocol visits and carefully orchestrated diplomatic spectacles welcomed a rather unexpected guest. Vladimir Zelensky’s unofficial visit to the US took place under the pretext of attending the funeral of former Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in the US Senate. A private, closed-casket funeral was held. Zelensky’s meeting with US President Donald Trump also took place behind closed doors – with no cameras, no joint statements, and no usual show of unity.

Trump, however, found time to meet with the head of the Kiev regime. Soon after the private meeting, a social media post appeared along with two images – a color photograph and a black and white one. The photos show Trump patting Zelensky on the shoulder with a patronizing expression. According to American political tradition, black-and-white photographs are often published in memory of the deceased. According to military expert Aleksey Leonkov, the photograph seems to send a clear message: “Well, man, hang in there as long as you can. We’ve got no Patriot missiles for you, but hang on.”

The atmosphere of Zelensky’s informal and rather unplanned visit reinforced the feeling that Kiev has once again been shown the limits of US support. Zelensky didn’t come alone – he was accompanied by many Ukrainian officials and representatives of the security forces. However, his public ‘achievements’ amounted to a conversation behind closed doors and two photos.

The closed casket

Lindsey Graham was one of the most ardent supporters of Ukraine in the US Senate for many years. He was someone Kiev could count on to pressure the Trump administration and push through new packages of military aid. That’s why Zelensky used his funeral as an excuse to travel to the US.

The fact that Graham was buried in a closed casket gave rise to many theories. The official version is that his death was the result of a “sudden and brief illness.” The unofficial version is that, as military expert Aleksey Leonkov puts it, the senator was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He recalled that while Graham was in Kiev, the Russian army carried out one of its most powerful strikes on military targets in the city. 

Zelensky’s new demands 

Of course, Zelensky didn’t just come to bid farewell to the senator with whom he shared a hatred for Russia. Behind closed doors, he hoped to utter his usual “Gimme!” and hand Trump a specific ‘wish list’. According to Andrei Klintsevich, 3rd class Active State Councilor of the Russian Federation, Zelensky wants from America what he can’t get from his European partners: first of all, anti-aircraft missiles. “He asked for the winter package: 300 missiles for the Patriot system, PAC-3 missiles, which can shoot down [Russian] ballistic missiles, though not hypersonic ones, specifically Iskander or sea-based ballistic missiles.” Zelensky also asked for licenses to produce these missiles domestically.

Klintsevich notes that the Kiev government’s desire to obtain these licenses has come up against hard reality. And the problem isn’t just that the White House has to make the corresponding decision. Manufacturing these missiles involves a complex technological chain. RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and other companies are involved in assembling Patriot missiles. Some make the seeker heads, others the engines. Each item requires its own licenses, which must be withdrawn from commercial circulation and transferred to Kiev free of charge. “Of course, no one will agree to this,” Klintsevich says. 

PAC-3 missile licenses are more than just a set of documents. It would be wrong to think that missile production can be scaled up like drone production. Drone components are readily available on the open market, but rocket technology is different. “Everything is specialized: from the engine to the rivets, to the fuel, and everything else,” the expert says. 

The problem isn’t the assembly line; Trump has already approved the start of production at General Motors and Ford plants. However, the subcontractors that supply complex components, such as gyroscopes and seekers, are critical in the production chain. 

Production volumes don’t look impressive either: Lockheed Martin produces about 600 missiles per year for all systems worldwide. An increase of 50 units is planned with the launch of German production. By 2035, they plan to produce 2,000 missiles. “Considering the number [of missiles Russia] launches, even that would not be enough,” says Klintsevich.

Combined, these two bottlenecks – issues with subcontractors and limited production volumes – make the demand for licenses and large-scale production practically impossible to implement in a short timeframe. 

The Iran-Ukraine front

Zelensky’s second initiative during this trip was the attempt to get involved in the Iranian conflict. The goal was pragmatic: by demonstrating Ukraine’s active participation in the conflict, Zelensky wanted to gain access to military supply chains. To demonstrate this, a Ukrainian drone attacked an Iranian tanker, resulting in the death of one person.

Before Zelensky’s trip, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga made harsh accusations against Iran, claiming that it “deserved” the blow. But after Zelensky’s visit, his tone changed. “Let’s not stir up the conflict,” the foreign minister urged. Apparently, Zelensky’s attempt to get involved was unsuccessful.

Alexey Leonkov notes the reason behind the change in Kiev’s public statements. “Netanyahu does not need a competitor on the Iranian track, because the Iranian conflict is the prerogative of Israel,” he says. Netanyahu refused a private meeting with Zelensky. Israel jealously guards its key role in the Middle Eastern conflict. And Washington is not ready to get into a dispute with a key ally in the region for the sake of Kiev. Moreover, Ukraine’s earlier attempt to provide specialists from Madyar’s group to protect the Middle East from Iranian drones did not yield any results.

America’s refusal fits into a broader logic. Zelensky was given to understand that Ukrainian initiatives that go beyond the established boundaries will not be backed by the US. Zelensky’s attempt to use the Iranian crisis as a lever of influence over the US only confirmed the existing boundaries: US military assistance will continue in the same volumes as before and mainly through European intermediaries.

Help, we’re winning! 

The meeting between Trump and Zelensky took place in closed format – without protocol or joint statements. This leaves wide room for interpretation. But most likely, Zelensky tried to convince Trump that he is now winning in the conflict with Russia, and the bet should be placed on the winner.

This pressure may have contributed to the new sanctions bill passed on the same day. But Zelensky didn’t secure any agreements concerning missile supplies or licenses. “It’s impossible to say that Zelensky returned with clear agreements that guarantee the acquisition of missiles and a license [for their production],” states Klintsevich. 

Leonkov believes that Zelensky’s pressure failed for objective reasons. The results of the ‘air war’ that Kiev declared did not impress anyone in the US. Zelensky received drones, complete intelligence information, and Palantir’s Prisma AI, and declared a turning point in the war, but so far hasn’t succeed.

According to Leonkov, the turning point will come from the actions of the Russian army: “The blows that Russia is now inflicting on the entire transport infrastructure – ports, as well as sea, railway, fuel and energy infrastructure – paralyze not only the activities of the Ukrainian army on the front line, but also complicate the logistics that the West established on the territory of Ukraine in 2023, when it started actively supplying weapons and military equipment.”

Expert assessments 

Moscow sees this as a simple protocol visit without any consequences. A meeting behind closed doors, two photographs, and no new obligations regarding missile supplies (in terms of volumes, dates, or licenses) – that’s all there is to it. Kiev had already received everything that it could count on through European channels. Attempts to exceed these agreements proved futile. 

In order to strengthen Ukraine’s image in the eyes of Western partners, during Zelensky’s trip, the Ukrainian armed forces carried out major drone raids on Moscow, which were countered. “That’s why we will continue to fight. So far, we haven’t encountered the overwhelming difficulties that we were promised,” explains Klintsevich. 

Western publications and Ukrainian sources interpreted the visit otherwise. Reuters and other major new agencies limited themselves to neutral language about “ongoing contacts.” Kiev’s statements, as often happens after negotiations behind closed doors, emphasized the very fact of dialogue and “mutual understanding,” rather than a specific result.

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon or the US Department of State issued any statements about new emergency military aid packages for Kiev after the visit. This in itself is more important than any interpretations. Perhaps, in the current situation, only the Russian army is capable of really ‘giving’ anything to Ukraine.

Conclusions 

Without a ‘winter package’ of 300 PAC-3 missiles and licenses for their production, Ukrainian air defense remains depleted. Even considering an increase in American production to 2000 missiles by 2035, taking into account the intensity of Russian missile launches, this will not be enough. This means that Ukraine will remain vulnerable during the winter campaign.

Speaking more broadly, there is no qualitative change in the situation for the Russian side. Attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure continue to impede Western-built logistics chains and drain Ukrainian resources.

Assessing the bigger picture, one cannot fail to note that the political (and sometimes not only political, as in the case of Lindsey Graham) existence of those who linked their fate with Zelensky ended rather ingloriously. Sadly, an entire country – Ukraine – has linked its existence with him.

As nearly 50,000 North African migrants surged into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta overnight, one group responded with mockery and glee: Israeli politicians and their Zionist supporters, who celebrated the slap in Spanish President Pedro Sanchez’ face.

An estimated 49,000 migrants, predominantly young Moroccan men, stormed across Morocco’s border with the Spanish exclave of Ceuta between Thursday and Friday, after guards on the Moroccan side seemingly decided to open the barbed wire gates built to prevent such a surge. 

As videos of the migrants marauding through Ceuta spread on social media, local authorities in the city begged for military intervention from Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez refused to declare a national emergency, but sent a token force of 60 troops to the exclave. 

Right-wing politicians across Europe condemned Sanchez’ half-hearted response, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker all calling for Spain’s exclusion from the EU’s Schengen borderless travel zone.

In certain Israeli circles, however, the reaction was one of jubilation. Although Israeli politicians and influencers have spent decades lamenting the supposed “Islamization” of Europe, they celebrated on Friday as tens of thousands of Muslims poured into EU territory. After Sanchez labeled Israel’s war on Gaza a “genocide,” banned the transit of military goods to Israeli via its territory, and denied the US use of its military bases to strike Iran, Zionist commentators viewed the invasion of Ceuta as just punishment for Spain.

Israel’s UN ambassador embraces decolonization

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, used the crisis to call on Spain to surrender its two north African exclaves: Ceuta and Melilla.

“Spain, which never misses an opportunity to lecture Israel, has declared a state of emergency in Ceuta following the crisis over its immigration policy,” he wrote on X, referring to the local emergency declaration in Ceuta. “Maybe before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa.”

Spain, which never misses an opportunity to lecture Israel, has declared a state of emergency in Ceuta following the crisis over its immigration policy.

Maybe before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in…

— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) July 30, 2026

Meanwhile, Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, the Golan Heights, and parts of southern Lebanon is considered illegal under UN and international law. While Israel does not officially support Morocco’s claims to Ceuta and Melilla, the Jewish state has strengthened relations with Morocco since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair, hinted back in 2019 that his father could “fund NGOs in [Spain] calling you to give away Ceuta and Melilla.”

Journalist celebrates the ‘Spanish punishment’

Israeli journalist Edy Cohen was far from the only reporter celebrating, but in a lengthy post on X, he presented the invasion as divine punishment for the desecration of the Israeli flag at last month’s ‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona.

“When you want to destroy Israel, you get the young Moroccans,” he wrote. “They raised a banner that said ‘Destroy Israel’. Fate, with almost divine cynicism, raised another one for them: ‘Receive Morocco’.”

El castigo español: cuando quieres destruir a Israel, recibes a los jóvenes marroquíes

Hace exactamente un mes, en el festival de San Fermín en Pamplona, miles de españoles vestidos de blanco y rojo corrían con los toros y desplegaban sobre sus cabezas un enorme cartel: «DESTROY… pic.twitter.com/rLOOIyiwVo

— إيدي كوهين אדי כהן 🇮🇱 (@EdyCohen) July 31, 2026

Cohen followed his celebratory message with a threat: “And don’t be surprised if in a few years those same young people who stormed Ceuta are the ones taking to the streets of Madrid and Barcelona shouting the new slogans… he who invites the destruction of the Jewish state suddenly discovers that destruction can also start in his own home.”

Ben-Gvir wants open borders for Spain

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined in the mockery, congratulating Sanchez “for his profound commitment to welcoming immigration and ‘human diversity’.”

Ben-Gvir, who has called for the destruction of Lebanon, the execution of Palestinian prisoners, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war, called on Sanchez to go further and aid in the depopulation of Gaza.

Mis felicitaciones al Presidente del Gobierno de España, Pedro Sánchez, por su profundo compromiso con la acogida de la inmigración y la "diversidad humana".
Como alguien que demuestra una gran preocupación por Hamás y los residentes de Gaza, le llamo a traducir las palabras en…

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) July 31, 2026

“As someone who demonstrates great concern for Hamas and the residents of Gaza,” he continued, “I call on you to translate words into actions: open the doors of Spain and grant refuge to the residents of Gaza who seek to emigrate. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute a little more to Spain’s ‘human diversity’.”

A two-state solution for Spain

Israeli influencer Yoav Kaufman posted a novel solution to the crisis on X: hand over half of Spanish territory to Morocco, in a modern re-do of the Islamic conquest of Spain. “2 States for 2 Nations. Living side by side. In peace and prosperity,” he wrote, mocking Spain’s support for Palestinian statehood.

2 States for 2 Nations. Living side by side. In peace and prosperity. pic.twitter.com/ZRXPQgXMER

— Yoav Kaufman 🇮🇱 (@yoavkaufman) July 31, 2026

Ironically, Kaufman describes Israel as “fighting the West’s future war” on his X profile.

The Israel lobby makes its offer

Israel’s powerful lobby in the US has also positioned itself against Spain in the argument over Ceuta. Michael Rubin, policy director at the pro-Israeli Middle East Forum think tank, suggested that “if Spain would return occupied Ceuta and Melilla to their rightful Moroccan sovereignty, Madrid would not be in this mess.” To ensure that as many people as possible heard his argument, Rubin posted in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Berber.

If Spain would return occupied Ceuta and Melilla to their rightful Moroccan sovereignty, Madrid would not be in this mess.

Si España devolviera Ceuta y Melilla ocupadas a su legítima soberanía marroquí, Madrid no estaría en este lío.

لو أعادت إسبانيا سبتة ومليلية المحتلتين إلى…

— Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) July 30, 2026

In an article for Israel’s Ynet news site in April, Moroccan journalist and Middle East Forum fellow Amine Ayoub called on Israel to help “Morocco recover Ceuta and Melilla,” so that the US and Israel could “punish a NATO member that has repeatedly chosen obstruction” and establish a military presence on the Strait of Gibraltar. 

The disastrous heatwave and drought across Europe have pushed the Rhine and Danube rivers to historic water lows, forcing two EU countries into atomic energy power-downs while disrupting industrial output and major trade routes.

The Rhine and Danube serve as vital commercial corridors, historic borders and a continuous navigable link between the North Sea and the Black Sea. Many European power plants rely on the rivers for cooling water, and that is why record-low levels have sharply reduced electricity output.

Hungary faces ‘unprecedented’ energy crunch

The Danube, which flows through or borders ten countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has reached historically low levels this July. In Budapest, the river fell to a record-low of 23 cm on Thursday, 10 cm below the previous record set in 2018, according to Hungary’s official water-monitoring service.

Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant, the country’s largest source of domestic power, generating nearly half of its electricity, was forced to cut output at three of its four reactors, reducing production to about 60% of capacity. On Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar warned the plant could be shut down altogether within 24 to 72 hours “for the first time in 44 years,” because its cooling-water intake nozzles can no longer reach the receding Danube.

“An energy crisis situation may arise from Monday,” Magyar warned, urging the public to reduce electricity use. He stressed the national energy supply remains secure for now, but warned that in the coming days “this unprecedented situation will require solutions we have not had to use before.” The government is preparing a series of measures, including mobilizing domestic generating reserves, securing electricity imports, asking major industrial consumers to reschedule production and voluntarily cut consumption, and reducing unnecessary energy use in government buildings.

Heatwave spreads across Europe’s nuclear sector

Downstream in Romania, one of two reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear plant – which generates roughly one-fifth of the country’s electricity – was shut down earlier this week because of low water levels. The Energy Ministry had planned to take the second reactor offline on Thursday due to “unfavorable developments in hydraulic conditions,” but kept it running overnight. It remains on standby for shutdown if river conditions deteriorate further, operator Nuclearelectrica said. The two reactors have never before faced simultaneous shutdown because of low water levels.

Analysts warn the reactor outages could increase Hungary’s and Romania’s reliance on electricity imports while driving up power prices across the EU, as both countries are normally major electricity exporters. The disruption could further deepen the bloc’s energy crunch, which began with the loss of cheap Russian gas following Ukraine-related sanctions on Moscow and has worsened this year amid the US war on Iran and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy shipping route.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria is also on the brink of a severe grid emergency. Energy Minister Iva Petrova warned this week the country could be forced to temporarily shut down both operational reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear plant – its only nuclear power station – within days.

Elsewhere, French power providers are also feeling the strain of extreme heat. State-owned utility EDF shut down one reactor at the Golfech plant on Thursday after soaring river temperatures pushed cooling conditions beyond operating limits, and warned output at the Tricastin plant could also be reduced. Many of France’s reactors rely on river water for cooling, but environmental rules limit the discharge of heated water when river temperatures are already high. The outages have tightened electricity supplies, with French evening power prices climbing to around €200 per megawatt-hour on Thursday – among the highest summer levels since the 2022 energy crisis, according to Epex Spot data.

Switzerland’s Beznau plant on the Aare River has also been hit hard, with its two reactors cycling between full shutdowns and 50% power cuts over the past month after river temperatures reached the 25°C regulatory threshold.

Low water levels hit river traffic

Record-low river levels have also disrupted river traffic across Europe, affecting everything from shipping to tourist cruises. Cargo ships can no longer carry full loads, forcing operators to split shipments between several vessels or shift freight to road and rail, with surcharges driving up transport costs.

In Hungary, the Ministry of Transport and Investment said low water levels have halted most cargo traffic, with vessels still operating restricted to just 10% to 20% of their normal loads. Romania faces similar problems, with commercial barges barred from carrying full loads, while tugboats are limited to two barges per convoy, forcing multiple extra trips.

In Serbia, hundreds of small boats and dozens of cargo vessels have been stranded on the dried-out riverbank near Novi Sad, where the Danube has retreated up to 20 meters from its usual shoreline. Barges and tankers were carrying only about 30% to 40% of their normal capacity, local reports said. Serbia’s fuel imports plunged to just 25% of their July target because of constrained river transport, Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic said last week.

The Rhine traffic also affected

The Rhine flows about 1,230 km (765 miles) from the Swiss Alps through or along Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands before reaching the North Sea, making it one of Europe’s busiest shipping routes for grains, minerals, ores, coal and oil products, including gasoline. Navigable depth at Kaub – a key Rhine chokepoint for shipments to southern Germany and Switzerland – stood at 29 cm on Thursday, the lowest since 2018, according to German federal data.

Cargo vessels continue to pass through the chokepoint but are carrying only about 20% of their normal loads, Roberto Spranzi, director of German shipping cooperative DTG, which operates around 100 inland freight vessels, told Reuters. He said low water levels mean four to five times more vessels are needed to move the same volume of cargo. As a result, tanker barge transport from Rotterdam to Karlsruhe, Germany, rose to around €145-€150 ($165.84-$171.56) per ton on Thursday from €45 at the end of June, according to media reports citing commodity traders.

Reduced navigable depths are disrupting deliveries of essential petrochemical feedstocks, including naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), reports claim. Commodity intelligence provider ICIS reported that LyondellBasell had declared force majeure on butadiene supplies from its Wesseling plant after low water levels disrupted feedstock deliveries. German chemical giant BASF also warned of possible force majeures and product shortages because it relies heavily on the river for transport.

Heavy industry along the Rhine is also feeling the impact. German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp said this week the severe drought has created major bottlenecks in transporting raw materials to its main production hub in Duisburg, forcing it to curb hot metal production.

Forecasts show Rhine clearance could fall to 24 cm on Friday, the lowest level since records began in 1990, which could worsen the bottlenecks and further drive up shipping costs.

Meanwhile, another major heatwave – the fourth this summer – is forecast to hit Western Europe in the coming days, meteorologists warn. Temperatures are expected to soar above 40°C across the Iberian Peninsula and France, with some areas potentially reaching 45°C. As the system moves east, 40°C-plus heat is forecast to spread across Central Europe, from western Germany to Italy, Hungary and much of the northern Balkans.

The Gauteng Political Killings Task Team has discovered the body of a missing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party member, bringing a tragic end to the search for 51-year-old Aaron Makola, who disappeared earlier this month.

National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said Makola was reported missing after he vanished on 10 July 2026. A day later, on 11 July, his vehicle was found abandoned, raising concerns about his whereabouts and prompting an investigation.

Mathe said the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team officially took over the investigation on 20 July after engaging with Makola’s family and obtaining information that investigators believed could assist in tracing him.

“An extensive investigation led members of the GP PKTT to Delmas on Thursday, July 30, 2026, where the EFF member was tragically found,” she said.

Mathe added that preliminary investigations indicate that Makola had been shot dead before his body was dumped in a bush. His family has since positively identified his remains.

“Investigations are at an advanced stage to identify and apprehend those responsible for the murder, including both the perpetrators and any individuals who may have orchestrated the crime,” said Mathe.

Authorities have not yet established a motive for the killing, and the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team continues its investigation.

In another case, a 34-year-old man appeared before the Cullinan Magistrate’s Court for the murder of Monica Dube, the Election Coordinator and Secretary for the EFF in Tshwane Region Two. Sipho Lucky Mahlangu is facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and murder. He abandoned his bail application. 

It is alleged that during the early hours of June 13, Mahlangu and an accomplice broke into the deceased’s residence in Wallmansthal through a window.

The pair allegedly entered her bedroom and shot her in the head while her children were present. After fleeing the scene, they allegedly stole her cellphone, which was reported missing.

On July 4, Mahlangu was spotted at a taxi rank by the deceased’s daughter, who alerted the police, leading to his subsequent arrest. For further investigations, the matter has been postponed to September 17.

First published by IOL

Indian police have registered a case against Meta’s country head and several Facebook and Instagram users over posts deemed offensive toward Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Police are ​preparing to send a notice to Meta Platforms India head Arun Srinivas following complaints by two individuals, reports said citing senior officials of the cyber crimes unit in Hyderabad. The southern city hosts Meta’s main operations hub in the country.

The videos were reportedly posted during the student protests in New Delhi earlier this month that led to the resignation of the federal education minister.

The complainants alleged that the posts “contain offensive language, ridicule, and indecent remarks directed at the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other individuals” and also appear to have been digitally altered or AI-generated.

New Delhi has tightened content rules that protect online platforms from liability over user-generated content. Since February, platforms have been asked to remove ​unlawful content flagged by courts or the government within three hours. The window was previously 36 hours.

Earlier this week, Meta assured the government that safeguards had been put in place after a video posted from Narendra Modi’s account was briefly blocked on Facebook.

A Meta team will reportedly soon meet government officials to discuss key issues, including content regulation.

A parliamentary panel has also summoned representatives of Meta, X, Google, and Snapchat to discuss user privacy and public order.

Earlier this month, India raised concerns over the rollout of a new username feature by the messaging app WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, calling it a potential cybersecurity risk. WhatsApp is the top messaging platform in the country of 1.4 billion, with more than 500 million users.

In June, New Delhi temporarily banned the Telegram app, claiming it was a key facilitator of the leak of questions in a national entrance exam, which triggered student protests.

The combined user base of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in India is more than 1.15 billion, making it Meta’s largest market. 

The development also comes as student protests ignite a debate in the country about the surveillance technology that law enforcement agencies use to tackle unrest and how it holds up to scrutiny under Indian law.

The German government has approved a bill to deploy artificial intelligence in processing asylum, visa and residence permit applications.

The initiative aims to accelerate procedures and reduce pressure on immigration authorities. It was endorsed by the cabinet on Wednesday but still requires backing from the federal parliament and Federal Council.

The EU’s economic powerhouse, Germany has long been the bloc’s leading destination for asylum seekers. In 2025, the country received more than 163,000 applications, accounting for about one in five claims lodged across the bloc’s 27 member states, according to the EU Agency for Asylum. The country also hosts the EU’s largest migrant population in absolute terms, with nearly 17 million foreign-born residents accounting for about 20% of Germany’s population.

Over the past year, the federal government has tightened Germany’s migration policy by expanding border checks, increasing the number of migrants turned back at the border, and accelerating asylum procedures and deportations. The measures marked a sharp break with the open-border policy adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015.

Under the proposed AI Migration Administration Act, based on legislation adopted in November 2025, the authorities would be allowed to use personal data from asylum and immigration proceedings to develop AI systems and other automated software. The government says the tools would help analyze administrative workflows, process applications more quickly and support decision-making, stressing that final decisions would remain the responsibility of migration officials.

The bill would also allow AI in cases where there are justified doubts about the accuracy of an applicant’s statements to compare information submitted in applications with publicly available information online.

The proposal has drawn criticism from several German human rights groups, which argue that the use of AI in migration procedures could undermine privacy and lead to discriminatory outcomes. Deutsche Welle cited digital rights watchdog AlgorithmWatch as saying that the government was seeking to use migrants and tourists as “guinea pigs” for the technology. The experts also said that the system could not guarantee the protection of personal data or prevent discrimination.

Advocacy groups Pro Asyl and AWO reportedly warned of the risk of “algorithmic bias,” arguing that overburdened officials could become overly reliant on AI-generated recommendations instead of exercising independent judgment. Charity Caritas also cautioned that the use of AI in processing applications could increase the risk of errors.

The move comes amid a broader shift toward stricter migration rules implemented by the EU that has recently adopted the updated Pact on Migration and Asylum, which tightens border procedures, asylum screening and rules for managing migration flows across the bloc.

A similar AI-based measure is being explored in Britain, where there is a plan to deploy Facial Age Estimation technology at the border to help assess the age of migrants claiming to be minors. The proposal has also faced criticism from dozens of rights groups, which warn that the technology could produce inaccurate results, reinforce algorithmic bias, and raise concerns over the handling of sensitive personal data.

A Ukrainian commander instructed squad leaders to open fire on soldiers attempting to flee their positions, according to an audio recording cited in a new media investigation into alleged abuses on the conflict front line.

The report, published on Thursday by the Western grant-funded outlet Texty.org.ua, focuses on the 225th Separate Assault Regiment. The unit reportedly ranks second in the number of complaints filed by soldiers, behind only the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, known as “Skelia,” which became the subject of a formal investigation following a similar exposé in late June.

The recording reportedly captures the commander of the 225th Regiment, Major Oleg Shiryaev, telling subordinates that “anything that moves” without authorization should be treated as an enemy.

“Anyone who flees their position, deserters – they are the enemy too,” the officer reportedly said, adding that “there is no such thing as our guys.”

The investigation was based on interviews with current and former members of the regiment, including soldiers who had deserted, as well as troops from units deployed near the 225th, the outlet said. Their testimony allegedly points to systematic mistreatment intended to enforce discipline among rank-and-file service members.

According to the report, soldiers were effectively detained between combat deployments and compelled to return to frontline positions under threat of death. Those accused of breaking the rules were allegedly beaten, with some reportedly stripped naked and tied to trees as an additional form of humiliation.

As with the earlier allegations involving the 425th Regiment, the reported abuses in the 225th have been linked to former Ukrainian Armed Forces commander-in-chief Aleksandr Syrsky, who was removed from his post earlier this month.

Syrsky had clashed with former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, who also lost his position during a government reshuffle. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky initially intended to retain Syrsky but ultimately replaced him amid domestic and international criticism surrounding Fedorov’s dismissal.

Texty reported that Shiryaev participated in Kiev’s military crackdown in Donbass following the 2014 armed coup before later retiring from service. In 2018, he was accused of organizing the illegal seizure of a grain-storage facility in Kharkov Region, although the case reportedly remains unresolved.

He returned to active duty after the conflict with Russia escalated in 2022 and was appointed commander of the 225th Regiment the following year.

India should consider appointing a “polar ambassador” to pursue “polar diplomacy” more effectively, a parliamentary panel has recommended.

“Creating such a position will not only help India project the importance given to these regions in its foreign policy architecture but will also help put across its policy stance in relation to polar areas/pursue polar diplomacy in a more effective manner,” lawmakers on the committee said. 

A parliamentary panel in India is a small group of MPs that weighs in on bills and budgets, and the work of various ministries. 

India established a scientific presence in Antarctica in 1982 and has three active research stations there now. New Delhi came out with an Arctic Policy in 2022.

The Arctic has become increasingly important for New Delhi amid the shipping disruptions in the Middle East caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. India is considering increasing the use of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), also called the Arctic route, Russia’s minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, Alexey Chekunkov, said last month.

Russia is investing heavily in developing the NSR, which is the shortest shipping route between East Asia and Europe. Indian shipyards are in talks to build four non-nuclear icebreaker ships for Russia.

The committee noted that all Arctic Council member states, and most non-Arctic observer states have polar or Arctic ambassadors, and dedicated polar or Arctic affairs departments.

It recommended that the government enter into an agreement with Japan, Singapore and South Korea, which, along with India, are observers in the Arctic Council, to enhance Asia’s collective voice in the forum. Having a polar ambassador will also help India work toward getting full-member status of the council, it said.

An “Indian narrative of the Arctic” should be formulated to enhance New Delhi’s leadership position in the polar areas, it said, adding that the government should strengthen its role as a representative of the Global South to advocate their collective interests in the polar regions.

The panel led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also made a slew of other recommendations including that the government buy polar research vessels as the shortage of such ice-class vessels was impacting India’s polar research and other activities. It also said the Indian government should explore fishing in polar regions while taking into consideration the fragile ecology there.

“Being a country of more than 11,000 km long coastline and multiple islands, any sea level rise will have significant economic and strategic impact on India. Melting of sea ice surrounding Antarctica and Arctic will also have a significant impact on the Indian monsoon climate system,” the panel said.

The military-technical balance of power is a key element of every political system and changes in that balance, including those brought about by the emergence of new forms of warfare, shape political intentions and determine what is possible in international affairs. The rapid transformation of warfare, driven by the drone revolution and demonstrated over the past year in both Ukraine and the conflict around Iran, offers an opportunity to reassess familiar concepts and how they are evolving.

The spirit has changed, but let us leave the military aspects of drone warfare to the specialists and focus instead on the political consequences.

August 2025 can be seen as the turning point, when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held their much-discussed meeting in Alaska. Whether any concrete agreements were reached remains disputed, but what’s clear is the essence of what became known as the ‘spirit of Anchorage’.

Trump believed that although Ukraine was resisting stubbornly, its defeat was ultimately inevitable and the sooner Kiev accepted concessions, the less severe the damage would be. The understandings reportedly reached reflected what Russia was prepared to settle for, the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbass, and where meaningful political negotiations could begin. The White House then turned to the other interested party, the Ukraine-Western Europe partnership.

It’s difficult to judge how much pressure Trump actually placed on his European counterparts. Some effort appears to have been made, but neither Trump nor his advisers were prepared to invest significant political capital and that was especially true given that parts of his administration didn’t share his hostility towards Vladimir Zelensky. 

The Western Europeans, for their part, played the situation skillfully. The post-Anchorage pilgrimage of leaders to the White House, mocked by many at the time, as they appeared to indulge Trump’s often boorish behavior, served its purpose. The objective of the EU and UK was simple: to slow down the process that appeared to have begun in Alaska and buy enough time to convince the American president that his assumptions were wrong. Ukraine, they insisted, was still capable of changing the course of the war.

Almost a year later, it is fair to say that Brussels and London, together with Ukraine, achieved at least part of that objective.

Meanwhile, Western perceptions of the conflict have changed and at this summer’s G7 and NATO summits, the US president displayed a noticeably more neutral, at times even supportive, attitude towards Kiev. In effect, he acknowledged that his earlier confidence in Ukraine’s inevitable defeat had been, at the very least, premature.

Whether this shift reflects genuine changes on the battlefield or the success of an effective political and media campaign is open to debate, but either way, the change is real and the much-discussed ‘spirit of Anchorage’ has faded because the political climate itself has changed.

Fear and hatred in Europe

Ukraine’s growing ability to conduct long-range drone strikes is the product of three years of sustained financial and technological support from Western Europe, and despite Trump’s repeated claims that “Sleepy Joe” squandered hundreds of billions of American dollars on Ukraine, it’s European governments, Germany above all, that are now carrying the greatest burden of supporting Kiev’s war effort. That’s why assistance didn’t collapse after Trump returned to the White House and sharply reduced American aid.

Western Europe finds itself in a difficult position as it faces persistent economic problems alongside growing concerns about Ukraine and its own internal stability. Maintaining support for Kiev is politically sustainable only if it is presented not as solidarity with Ukraine, but as an investment in the half-continent’s own security.

Public rhetoric, particularly in Germany, increasingly suggests that a military confrontation with Russia around the turn of the next decade is a genuine possibility. The argument is straightforward: As long as Ukrainians are fighting, Western Europe has time to prepare and therefore the conflict should continue for as long as possible, although how much of this militaristic rhetoric reflects genuine belief remains open to debate.

The circumstances have undoubtedly revived Western Europe’s long-standing historical suspicion of Russia, a powerful and, from the their perspective, unpredictable giant to the east. During periods of close economic cooperation these fears receded into the background, replaced by the pursuit of mutual benefit, but this political crisis has quickly pushed commercial interests aside.

In that sense, today’s expectation of a future military confrontation isn’t entirely artificial as it reflects deeply rooted attitudes within Western Europe’s political consciousness.

There is, however, another dimension that is both more rational and perhaps not fully appreciated in that the EU and UK’s political establishment is searching for a new basis for internal cohesion at a time of profound economic and social change, and that faced with mounting uncertainty, it requires a unifying idea.

Nothing serves that purpose better than an external threat.

The African Union (AU) supports South Africa’s proposal for a continent-wide discussion on migration following recent tensions over illegal immigration, the South African Foreign Ministry has said.

Clayson Monyela, the head of public diplomacy at South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), said on X on Thursday that Pretoria has “defeated the attempt to single out & isolate” the country during discussions at the AU. 

“The AU has agreed with us. The AU will discuss the migration issue broadly & look at the ‘Pull & Push’ factors,” he wrote. Monyela added that countries should examine the factors driving migration and said sending, transit, and destination countries “must collaborate to find solutions.”

Monyela’s comments came after Ghana asked the AU to discuss what it described as “xenophobic attacks in the Republic of South Africa against African nationals” as a separate agenda of an upcoming meeting.

The request followed a diplomatic dispute between the two countries after Ghana said one of its nationals was killed during anti-immigration protests in South Africa and raised concerns over the safety of African migrants. Pretoria rejected the claim, saying police investigations showed the man was shot a day before the protests in what authorities described as an extortion-related criminal attack.

Last week, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola also stated the AU had agreed that migration should be discussed through a broader continental framework rather than by focusing on individual countries.

“We welcome any discussion that will be comprehensive on migration to deal with all issues, including the root causes of illegal migration,” the minister said.

South Africa has stepped up deportations and border enforcement in recent months as part of its migration policy. Government figures show that more than 53,000 foreign nationals had been processed for deportation or repatriation as of July, after the authorities intensified a nationwide crackdown on illegal migration.

The debate has intensified following anti-immigration demonstrations held across South Africa in June. Protest organizers demanded tougher action against undocumented migration, while rights groups warned against xenophobia and attacks on foreign nationals.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his criticism of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has said the Israeli leader could be arrested on war-crimes charges if he visits the city.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Mamdani has said his administration would seek to enforce the warrant if presented with an opportunity to do so.

Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity this week, Netanyahu accused the mayor of siding with Iran, which he described as a mortal enemy of both Israel and the United States.

“The army of Israel, the young men and women of Israel, the public in Israel… stand up and say, ‘Yes, we’re willing to stand up at this moment and stand in the breach with the United States.’ This is the ally that Mamdani and his ilk are vilifying,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu claims NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani "supports Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah."

Source: Hang Out with Sean Hannity pic.twitter.com/3Lahrohbcc

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 30, 2026

“And what is he supporting? Iran. Who is he supporting? Hamas. Who is he supporting? Hezbollah,” he added, accusing Mamdani and other critics of Israel of “moral cynicism” and “absurdity.”

Iran, Hamas, and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement are part of what Tehran calls the regional “axis of resistance,” an alliance opposed to Israel and its influence in the Middle East.

Public opinion in the US has shifted against Israel in recent years as Netanyahu’s government expanded military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and lobbied Washington to join forces for an air campaign against Iran. In a recent Economist/YouGov poll, 47% of respondents said they believed Netanyahu had committed war crimes in Gaza, while 49% supported enforcing the ICC warrant if he entered the US.

Israel’s influence on American foreign policy, particularly President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran, has also fueled divisions within the MAGA movement. Prominent Trump allies, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have publicly broken with the president over the issue.

Mamdani is regarded as a rising figure in the Democratic Party. His victory in the New York mayoral election was widely seen as proof that outspoken criticism of Israel is no longer necessarily a barrier to electoral success in the US, even in a city with one of the world’s largest Jewish communities. The Israeli government equates criticisms of its policies with anti-Semitism.

A US government map misplaced every African country it highlighted during a presentation at a major international AIDS conference, prompting an apology from the State Department.

The map appeared on Sunday during a presentation by Jeff Graham, the top US health official overseeing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), at the AIDS 2026 Conference in Rio de Janeiro. The session focused on Washington’s new health funding agreements with African governments, but all six countries identified on the map were incorrectly positioned.

Nigeria was placed in the Sahara, making the West African coastal nation appear landlocked, while Mozambique was moved from southeastern Africa to the Horn of Africa. Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) appeared on the opposite side of the continent, and the locations or borders of Cameroon, Malawi, and Uganda were also inaccurate.

An examination of the image found a watermark indicating that it had been created using OpenAI technology, Reuters reported. The company was quoted as saying that it is investigating the incident.

The State Department said it takes “full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation” caused by the blunder, including among its African partners.

“This was an unfortunate error caused by a team member who hastily altered the slide deck immediately before the presentation at the AIDS 2026 Conference,” a State Department spokesperson said on Thursday.

🇺🇸🌍 The U.S. State Department can’t even locate African countries on a map.

During an official presentation in Rio de Janeiro, the American delegation displayed an AI-generated map placing Nigeria in the Sahara, Mozambique on the Horn of Africa, and Côte d’Ivoire on the… pic.twitter.com/3iuvPRr7gH

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) July 30, 2026

The error was first publicized by AIDS campaigner Emily Bass, who described the slide as “disrespectful to African collaborators.” Matt Petit, an artificial intelligence and geopolitics specialist at the Atlantic Council, said whoever created and approved it “did not know where countries in Africa are and did not care to check their work.”

The presentation concerned Washington’s America First Global Health Strategy, introduced as part of an overhaul of foreign assistance following the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development after President Donald Trump returned to office last year.

The State Department says agreements concluded with 34 countries include more than $14.3 billion in US assistance and $9.6 billion in investment from recipient governments. However, the initiative has faced resistance elsewhere in Africa. Ghana and Zimbabwe rejected proposed agreements over demands for access to sensitive health data, while Zambia suspended negotiations in May over data provisions and Washington’s attempt to link health assistance to a critical-minerals deal. Kenya signed a five-year agreement in December, but its implementation has faced a legal challenge over privacy and constitutional concerns.

The map incident is not the first geographical gaffe by a US administration. In 2017, Donald Trump twice pronounced Namibia as “Nambia” while addressing African leaders. In 2022, Joe Biden thanked Colombia instead of Cambodia for hosting an ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, according to the official White House transcript.

The US has sanctioned a Delhi-based company that represents Iran’s Mahan Air in India, along with entities in Russia and China that do business with the privately owned carrier.

“India-based Skiez Travels and Logistics Private Limited… and Russia-based Air Cargo Pro Limited… serve as general sales agents for Mahan Air in India and Russia, respectively,” the Treasury Department said in a statement on its website.

“Those who provide financial services, logistics, or commercial support to the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] or Mahan Air are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Mahan Air is itself under US and European Union sanctions.

The US Treasury claimed that although Mahan Air presents itself as a civilian carrier, it has played a central role in enabling the IRGC by providing “travel services for IRGC‑Qods Force personnel, facilitating military training, and supporting Iran’s procurement and transport of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and weapons.”

Skiez has represented Mahan Air in India from 2020, according to its website. General sales agents are official representatives for an airline in a country where it doesn’t have a local office, and manage ticket and cargo sales, as well as customer support.

The other entities sanctioned are Chinese-based Shanghai Wings International Logistics Co, which serves as a general sales agent for Mahan Air in China, the Shanghai Elite International Travel Co, which represents Mahan Air in China, and its executive director, Tang Xin. DadeNegar Startup Studio, which the Treasury described as a “front company affiliated with Iran’s IRGC,” has also been targeted.

The US and Iran have exchanged several rounds of attacks in the latest escalation of hostilities. The conflict was triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and has led to the near-complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of the world’s energy used to pass.

Dozens of Indian companies and individuals were targeted by the US in earlier sanctions rounds.

As Europe endures another summer of record-breaking temperatures, the heat is no longer just a Mediterranean story; it is increasingly an Arctic one.

A recent study demonstrates that accelerating sea-ice loss in the Barents Sea is increasing the likelihood of simultaneous summer heatwaves across Europe and East Asia, underscoring how changes in the High North reverberate across continents. The Arctic is, therefore, no longer a distant frontier defined solely by ice, energy resources, and great-power rivalry; it is a global climate regulator whose transformation directly affects the well-being of both the Global North and South.

The Arctic may not be a ‘global common’ under international law, but it has become so in terms of its consequences; its climate system impacts monsoon rains in South Asia, heatwaves in Europe, extreme weather events in North America, and food security in Africa. In this sense, the Arctic is often described as the ‘kitchen of the world’s weather’. It may, therefore, be more appropriately understood as a ‘shared climate common’, reflecting the transboundary nature of its environmental impacts. This reconceptualization highlights the potential role of institutions such as BRICS in addressing Arctic-related climate challenges, even though most of its members are non-Arctic states.

Against this backdrop, India’s 2026 BRICS chairship arrives at a pivotal moment. As the leading voice of the Global South and an increasingly active Arctic stakeholder through scientific research and polar diplomacy, India is uniquely positioned to broaden the Arctic conversation beyond traditional geopolitical competition.

By placing the interconnected challenges of climate resilience, sustainable development, scientific cooperation, and inclusive governance at the center of the BRICS agenda, New Delhi can help build a bridge between the concerns of the Global South and the rapidly changing realities of the High North. For India, it is an opportunity to reshape how emerging powers engage with Arctic governance.

India has recognized this transformation gradually. From establishing the Himadri research station in Svalbard in 2008 to adopting its Arctic Policy in 2022, New Delhi has steadily expanded its scientific and diplomatic engagement. Yet the country’s Arctic approach remains largely science-driven and relatively cautious. Unlike Arctic coastal states, India does not possess territorial ambitions in the region. Instead, it seeks responsible participation based on scientific research, environmental stewardship, sustainable development, and international cooperation.

BRICS offers a unique platform through which India can elevate this vision.

BRICS push

The Arctic itself is undergoing profound geopolitical change. Russia remains the dominant Arctic power, possessing approximately half of the Arctic coastline, the world’s largest fleet of nuclear icebreakers, and extensive energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Western sanctions and the deterioration of Russia-West relations following the Ukraine conflict have significantly disrupted established mechanisms of Arctic governance and cooperation.

Governance for the Arctic Eight or Governance through Cooperation? The latter concept implies institutionalized changes and broader claims to participation in Arctic governance based on the indivisibility of contemporary environmental challenges, the global consequences of climate change, and rising international tensions that affect all states.

The rationale for such claims has become particularly pronounced in recent years, as the Western Arctic states suspended cooperation with Russia within the framework of the Arctic Council. As a result, the Arctic Council has become largely inactive. This has provided non-Arctic states seeking a greater role in Arctic affairs with a compelling argument for promoting more inclusive governance arrangements.

From the perspective of Russia and the Arctic states, however, such initiatives are viewed more as a challenge than as an opportunity. Russia remains interested in restoring the full functioning of the Arctic Council.

From Russia’s perspective, the most unfavorable scenario would be one in which governance through cooperation evolves into the internationalization of the Arctic — that is, the opening of Arctic governance to all interested stakeholders on an equal basis. Russia’s current priority is, therefore, to preserve the unity of the Arctic Council while engaging non-Arctic states through the most acceptable forms of cooperation in the Arctic region.

Such engagement may take place either bilaterally or through multilateral arrangements, provided that these mechanisms complement rather than replace the Arctic Council. Their development should be guided by Russia’s national policy priorities as well as the expectations of its partner states.

At the same time, BRICS has expanded both geographically and politically. With the admission of new members, including countries from West Asia and Africa, BRICS increasingly presents itself as a Global South platform. Although not all BRICS members possess direct Arctic interests, many are affected by Arctic-driven climate change, changing global shipping routes, and evolving energy markets.

This creates an opportunity to broaden the discourse on Arctic governance beyond the traditional Arctic Eight. Rather than viewing the Arctic exclusively through the lens of military competition or resource extraction, BRICS can emphasize climate justice, sustainable development, and scientific cooperation.

India is particularly well positioned to facilitate this conversation in consonance with its relationship with Russia. India maintains longstanding strategic partnerships with Russia while simultaneously deepening cooperation with the other important Arctic states such as the United States, Norway, Denmark, and Canada. This diplomatic flexibility enables New Delhi to engage across geopolitical divides without becoming exclusively aligned with any side. India’s ability to maintain dialogue across competing geopolitical camps could become an asset rather than a liability.

India’s Arctic engagement rests on five interconnected pillars: scientific research, climate resilience, sustainable economic development, maritime connectivity, and international governance. Research conducted through Himadri and India’s Arctic expeditions contributes to understanding the connections between Arctic processes and the Indian monsoon, Himalayan glaciers, and extreme weather events.

However, this scientific credibility and India’s growing role in Arctic governance do not imply support for the internationalization of the region in the legal sense. A broader process of internationalization based on recognizing the Arctic as the ‘common heritage of humankind’ — effectively extending to the region a legal regime comparable to that governing Antarctica — is neither feasible nor consistent with the existing legal framework. The Arctic is not terra nullius. Instead, it is governed by a complex body of international law, principally established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Why BRICS matters

India’s BRICS chairmanship arrives at a time when global governance institutions face increasing fragmentation. Although scientific cooperation continues in various forms, political dialogue has become significantly more constrained.

BRICS cannot replace the Arctic Council, nor should it seek to do so. Instead, it can complement existing institutions by focusing on issues where emerging economies possess shared interests.

There are four areas which need attention.

First is climate adaptation. Many BRICS countries are among those most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing relatively less to historical emissions. Arctic warming accelerates global climatic disruptions that disproportionately affect developing countries. A BRICS dialogue linking Arctic science with Global South climate adaptation would fill an important governance gap.

Second is scientific cooperation. Joint polar research involving BRICS universities, research institutes, satellite programs, and oceanographic missions would diversify knowledge production beyond traditional Western research networks.

Third is sustainable shipping. The gradual opening of Arctic maritime routes presents both opportunities and uncertainties. While the Northern Sea Route will not replace the Suez Canal in the foreseeable future, seasonal navigation could reshape portions of Eurasian trade. India, with its growing maritime economy and interest in the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor, has reasons to understand these evolving logistics.

Fourth is clean energy. The Arctic contains significant reserves of critical minerals, rare earths, natural gas, and emerging renewable energy opportunities. Cooperation on technological innovation, environmental standards, and responsible resource management would benefit both Arctic and non-Arctic developing economies.

The Russia factor

Russia’s support for a larger BRICS role in the Arctic is driven by an effort to strengthen and expand cooperation in the region. By bringing trusted emerging powers, especially India, into Arctic energy, shipping, science, and infrastructure, Moscow seeks to diversify partners to overcome constraints of Western sanctions, strengthen the commercial viability of the Northern Sea Route, reduce overreliance on China, and embed Arctic development within the institutions of an emerging multipolar order.

In this vision, BRICS complements rather than replaces the existing Arctic governance architecture, broadening participation without undermining the sovereign prerogatives of the Arctic states. No discussion of India’s or BRICS Arctic engagement can ignore Russia, as it is the only Arctic state in the grouping.

Russia remains India’s principal Arctic partner. Cooperation extends beyond hydrocarbons to include scientific exchanges, higher education, maritime logistics, and polar research. Russian expertise in icebreaker technology, Arctic port management, cold-climate engineering, and northern infrastructure represents capabilities that few countries possess.

Connecting the Global South and the High North

Perhaps India’s greatest contribution lies not in material capabilities but in narrative innovation. The Arctic has often been portrayed as an exclusive domain of Arctic states or major powers. Yet climate change demonstrates that Arctic transformations generate consequences extending far beyond the Polar Circle.

India can, therefore, advance a broader conceptual framework linking Arctic governance with Global South priorities. Rather than securitizing the Arctic further, India could advocate ‘responsible globalization of Arctic governance’, an approach recognizing both the sovereign rights of Arctic states and the legitimate interests of non-Arctic stakeholders affected by climate change in the Arctic.

India’s ongoing BRICS chairship provides an opportunity to move from rhetoric to practical cooperation in the Arctic for BRICS countries. A BRICS Polar Research Network could connect universities, climate institutes, and polar research centers for collaborative projects and research exchanges.

A BRICS Climate Data Platform could integrate satellite observations, cryosphere research, and climate modelling to improve adaptation planning across developing countries. India could initiate annual BRICS dialogues on Arctic governance involving policymakers, scientists, indigenous representatives, and industry experts.

The New Development Bank could explore financing mechanisms for sustainable Arctic-related infrastructure, renewable technologies, and climate adaptation projects, provided these conform to environmental standards.

Educational exchanges focusing on polar engineering, cold-region technologies, and Arctic environmental management could strengthen human capital across BRICS. None of these initiatives would challenge existing Arctic institutions. Instead, they would complement them while expanding Global South participation in scientific and policy discussions.

Challenges ahead

Nevertheless, India will have to proceed cautiously. The Arctic is becoming increasingly militarized. NATO’s growing northern presence, Russia’s security concerns, and intensifying US-China competition all complicate the strategic environment. India should avoid being drawn into geopolitical rivalries that could undermine its scientific credibility.

Similarly, environmental concerns remain paramount. Increased shipping, hydrocarbon development, and mineral extraction raise legitimate ecological risks. Any Arctic engagement should, therefore, remain firmly anchored in sustainability and international law. Balancing economic opportunities with environmental responsibility will determine the credibility of any future initiatives.

Emerging necessity

Climate change, scientific research, maritime connectivity, and sustainable development have linked the High North with the aspirations and vulnerabilities of the Global South. India’s 2026 BRICS chairship arrives at a moment when these connections are becoming impossible to ignore. Rather than treating the Arctic solely as a theater of strategic competition, New Delhi has an opportunity to promote a more inclusive vision that combines scientific cooperation, climate resilience, and responsible governance.

Success will depend not on attempting to reshape Arctic institutions but on building bridges between regions, disciplines, and political divides. India can leverage its scientific credentials, diplomatic flexibility, and longstanding partnerships, including with Russia to foster constructive dialogue among both Arctic and non-Arctic actors.

If pursued with consistency, India’s BRICS presidency could mark an important step in connecting the concerns of the Global South with the future of the High North. In an era when Arctic warming increasingly influences weather, economies, and societies across the globe, such a connection is no longer aspirational, it is an emerging necessity.

Russian security officers have detained a self-styled revolutionary accused of collecting intelligence on military transport and infrastructure for Ukrainian special services, the Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Friday.

The 50-year-old suspect was identified as a member of Artpodgotovka, an opposition movement that was outlawed in Russia in 2017. According to the agency, the group’s founder, former Saratov regional lawmaker Vyacheslav Maltsev, acted as an intermediary between its members and Ukrainian handlers.

The FSB alleges that the man posed as an employee of a logistics company to gain access to military cargoes. He reportedly gathered information about shipping routes, identifying markings and other operational details, as well as vulnerabilities at military facilities.

Although the suspect was detained in Novgorod Region, his alleged activities extended across seven Russian regions, the security service said.

He has been charged with participation in a terrorist organization. Artpodgotovka was designated a terrorist group in 2021, having previously been classified as extremist.

Maltsev established Artpodgotovka in 2013 while active in regional politics in Saratov. Initially presented as an art club, it later developed into an opposition political movement. Maltsev gained followers by repeatedly claiming that a popular revolution would break out in November 2017.
Footage shared by investigators showed the suspect’s Artpodgotovka membership card that identified him as a “member of the revolution.”

Maltsev fled Russia in 2017 and later received asylum in France. He has since appeared regularly on Ukrainian television, offering political commentary and predicting Russia’s imminent collapse.
The FSB also claims that Maltsev is linked to French intelligence and is shielded from Russian efforts to extradite and prosecute him.

The German government is developing a “secret plan” to prevent regional authorities from potentially obstructing the deployment of NATO troops to the Russian border, according to a joint investigation by The Telegraph and Die Welt.

The “contingency” measures are reportedly driven by fears that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could secure enough support in upcoming regional elections in two eastern states to form local governments.

Known for criticizing Berlin’s anti-Russia policies as harmful to Germany’s national interests, the right-wing party has grown to become the country’s most popular political force after once again being excluded from last year’s federal coalition talks.

In the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD currently enjoys the support of 41% of voters, a recent survey suggested, compared with only 24% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD is polling at 36%, seven points ahead of its closest competitors, the Social Democratic Party.

Berlin has long accused the AfD of extremism, while Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has claimed that the party has “undeniable” ties to Russia and must be deprived of access to classified information if it comes to power.

The federal government is now seeking a way to rein in what The Telegraph bluntly described as “pro-Kremlin traitor states” in the event that NATO decides it is time to go to war with Moscow.

NATO roundabout

The scenario centers on NATO’s Reinforcement and Sustainment Network, which involves moving large troop contingents, heavy equipment, and logistical supplies to bloc members in Eastern Europe and the Baltic. Germany is set to play the role of what The Telegraph and Die Welt described as NATO’s “roundabout,” with its geographical location making it a central logistics hub.

The head of Germany’s Joint Operations Command, Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank, stated last year that Berlin is prepared for a war with Moscow and stands ready to facilitate the deployment of 800,000 NATO troops toward the Russian border in less than six months.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of attacking NATO unless attacked first and has dismissed such allegations as “nonsense” designed to justify Russophobic hysteria and rampant militarization.

Nevertheless, the NATO mechanism could be triggered without any hostile move by Russia, “at the first sign” reported by a Western intelligence service that Moscow was preparing an attack, according to The Telegraph.

Protests and obstructionism

The issue poses significant challenges for Berlin because such a deployment would technically take place before any conflict with Russia had actually broken out, while regional authorities enjoy broad powers over activities on their territory during peacetime.

An uncooperative regional government could potentially delay troop movements through “bureaucratic obstructionism” by withholding the necessary permits or refusing to provide NATO troops with police escorts and priority access to local roads.

Merz’s government also reportedly expects the deployment to trigger protests among local residents and debates within regional authorities about the extent to which they want to become involved in a process that could “expose them as part of NATO’s logistical hub.”

Bending the rules

Under German law, the federal government has very few ways to limit states’ independence short of declaring a state of emergency or imposing martial law. “The key question is how to circumvent a state not adhering to the federal idea without violating the constitution,” Roderich Kiesewetter, an MP from Merz’s CDU, told The Telegraph and Die Welt, adding that the Interior Ministry is drawing up relevant plans.

Berlin has already set the secret plan in motion to “create mechanisms that would make it possible to overrule individual states or to take the necessary measures,” added Tobias Krull, deputy chairman of the Saxony-Anhalt parliament’s Interior Committee.

Few details have emerged about what such plans could entail, but nationwide emergency regulations are reportedly being revised as part of the scheme. “Federal law takes precedence over state law – it’s as simple as that,” an unnamed lawmaker told the outlets.

Germany’s Basic Law allows for so-called “federal enforcement” if a regional government violates an obligation under federal law, but the clause has never been invoked.

During a state of emergency or under martial law, the federal parliament could also activate certain provisions allowing the government to intervene in state affairs and simplify military logistics. This would still require a two-thirds majority – something Merz’s government would be unlikely to secure, given that the AfD controls more than 23% of the seats in the Bundestag, while another 10% are held by the Left – another party the chancellor has ruled out cooperating with.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is caring more for Ukraine than his own nation, an opposition MP, Marcus Frohnmaier, told Rick Sanchez on the latest episode of Sanchez Effect aired on Wednesday.

The government has neglected the ongoing competitiveness and energy crisis in Germany while directing billions of euros in aid to Kiev, according to the lawmaker from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merz “is the chancellor of Ukraine and not the chancellor of Germany,” Frohnmaier stated.

Merz, who came to power in 2025 following a snap election, has become the least popular German chancellor in decades in less than two years since taking office. A total of 84% of Germans were dissatisfied with his performance, including more than half of his own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party supporters, according to an ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll published earlier this month.

According to Frohnmaier, Merz either reneged upon or failed to deliver on almost all his campaign promises. The chancellor “promised people to [build] a strong economy, to make Germany safe again, and so on, and he failed,” said the MP, who represents the nation’s most popular party, according to the polls.

The lawmaker also argued that the Merz government outright ignored the most pressing issues faced by the nation. “German companies [are] leaving the country, they’re going to Poland, they’re going to the US,” he said, adding that those that are “not big enough” just go “bankrupt.” Frohnmaier blamed it on high energy costs and excessive regulation and taxes.

The German economy did take a hit in the wake of the Ukraine conflict escalation in 2022 – partly due to Berlin’s decision to abandon cheap Russian energy imports in line with the EU sanctions imposed against Moscow. Before Germany’s decision to de facto impose a Russian energy embargo upon itself, Moscow supplied 55% of the country’s natural gas imports.

Merz himself admitted earlier this month that the nation’s “ongoing energy crisis [was] due to the lack of Russian gas” but suggested no way out of it. Earlier, he also repeatedly blamed Germany’s economic troubles on its people by telling Germans to work more and claiming that the “welfare state as we have it today can no longer be financed.”

At the same time, he actively pushed for a massive military spending increase, vowing to make the German army the strongest conventional force in Europe, with his government also repeatedly pledging more support for Ukraine amid plans to cut social spending.

According to Frohnmaier, the current chancellor’s story is that “of incompetence.” “I think this guy is not able to be a head of a government and to take responsibility,” the MP said.

Watch the full report below:

US President Donald Trump has cast doubt on whether Washington will allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles, despite previously promising to grant Kiev a production license.

Trump told the Financial Times in a telephone interview on Thursday that he was “not sure” whether Ukraine would receive permission to produce the missiles, adding that Washington was still considering the request.

Describing the Patriot as a “very extraordinary weapon,” Trump said the US had to be “a little bit careful” about granting other countries access to its advanced military technology.

The remarks appear to contradict Trump’s public pledge at the NATO summit in Türkiye earlier this month, when he told Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky that Washington would provide Kiev with a license to manufacture Patriot interceptors.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said at the time, suggesting that Ukraine could produce the missiles rather than complain that the US was not supplying enough of them.

Zelensky emerged from closed-door talks with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, claiming that they had discussed licenses for interceptor production. Trump, however, offered no indication that any agreement had been reached, saying only that “many things were discussed” and that the meeting went “very well.”

The initiative is also facing resistance from US manufacturers, with Boeing reportedly reluctant to transfer sensitive technology used in the seeker warheads of PAC-3 interceptors, according to Die Welt. Lockheed Martin manufactures the missile bodies, while Boeing supplies key components for the warheads.

Kiev’s push for at least 300 additional missiles to sustain its air defenses through the winter has also been complicated by a worldwide shortage, as Washington has expended large numbers of interceptors in its ongoing war with Iran.

Trump has denied reports that the US military is running short of munitions, insisting last week that it has “far more” missiles than it needs. US media reports have nevertheless suggested that concerns over dwindling Patriot and THAAD stocks have affected the scale and timing of American military operations against Iran.

The US president told the FT that his priority is negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict rather than supplying more weaponry. “I’m not looking for missiles. We’re looking for peace,” he said, adding that his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, would visit Ukraine in the coming days.

Moscow has repeatedly argued that Western weapons deliveries prolong the hostilities without changing their ultimate outcome. Russian officials have also warned that transferring increasingly sophisticated military technology to Kiev makes NATO countries direct participants in the conflict.

European football’s 55 member associations have unanimously voted to boycott the World Cup if its governing body goes ahead with its plan to sell stakes in its competitions to private investors.

In a statement on Thursday, UEFA, which oversees Europe’s football, said it rejects a proposal by world football governing body FIFA to transfer ownership interests to stakeholders, calling it an “ultimatum.”

“The moment external investors acquire ownership interests in FIFA competitions, football changes forever… From that moment onwards, every decision… is no longer driven by what best serves the game, but by what best serves shareholders,” it wrote. “The World Cup is not for sale”

UEFA stressed that none of the teams in its national associations would take part in any FIFA competition while the private equity bid remains on the table. The boycott would cover all of the global body’s competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups.

Statement on behalf of UEFA and its 55 National Associations

— UEFA (@UEFA) July 30, 2026

The proposal includes the creation of a new commercial subsidiary valued at up to $20 billion to run major football events.

In a press statement on Tuesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who is up for reelection next year, said private investors would receive a minority stake. “Regulation, development and governance of the game” would stay with FIFA, he said.

If members vote in favor of the deal, they would receive up to $20 million per association for the 2027-2030 cycle, Infantino said. If they reject the proposal, they would receive the currently planned $10 million.

The uproar comes just weeks after FIFA courted controversy at the World Cup, which was jointly hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. FIFA overturned a one-match suspension for US striker Folarin Balogun after intervention by US President Donald Trump. The decision drew harsh criticism from UEFA, who called the move “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

Palestinian militant group Hamas has agreed to completely disarm in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace plan, although Israel must also meet a series of conditions as part of the agreement, according to a senior official.

Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating delegation, confirmed to Al Jazeera on Friday that an agreement has been reached, adding that an official statement will be released soon.

“These negotiations were difficult and hard, and we tried to reach the best possible formula that was achievable,” Hamad, whose remarks were also carried by Reuters and the BBC, was cited as saying. He stressed, however, that Israel must approve the phased disarmament, adding that Hamas will not implement any part of the agreement unless Israeli forces fulfilled their obligations, particularly withdrawing from Gaza and advancing reconstruction in the Palestinian territory.

“We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the [Gaza] Strip,” he stated.

Hamad also told the BBC that the group insists on the wording “inventorying and storing weapons” under Palestinian oversight rather than handing them over to Israel.

Trump breaks the news

The news first emerged when Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday that his Board of Peace has reached a “historic agreement” on the complete disarmament of Hamas and every other armed group in Gaza, calling it a “monumental step toward lasting peace and security” and a major milestone in his 20-point plan for the enclave.

“The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases,” the US president wrote. “As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors.”

Trump said Gaza would eventually be governed by a “new Palestinian government” working closely with the Board of Peace. He thanked Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye for mediating the talks, insisting the territory would no longer be allowed to serve as a base for attacks against Israel.

Board of Peace Director-General and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov confirmed the breakthrough in a post on X.

“Today, agreement has been reached on the decommissioning of weapons and civilian transition in Gaza. It took months of very difficult negotiations to get here,” he wrote, adding that there were several moments when he “did not believe we would make it” and insisting the Israeli withdrawal “must move in lockstep” with Hamas decommissioning.

Today, agreement has been reached on the decommissioning of weapons and civilian transition in Gaza. It took months of very difficult negotiations to get here. There were several points when I did not believe we would make it... What the agreement says matters. What happens next…

— Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) July 31, 2026

Reports published shortly before Trump’s announcement, however, suggested significant details remain unresolved. Hamas reportedly wants to retain “personal” small arms, while heavy weapons would be stored under the supervision of a Palestinian body rather than destroyed. It also seeks amnesty for members of the disbanded armed formations and wants the process synchronized with an Israeli withdrawal rather than surrendering all weapons in exchange for a promise that Israeli troops would later leave.

It is realistic to expect Hamas to disarm now that the group has “made the strategic decision” to do so, Ramallah-based journalist Mohammed Najib told RT. He added, however, that the reported deal can only succeed if it is backed by international guarantees and Israel follows through on its commitments.

”Hamas concluded that no construction can take place in Gaza if it continues to reject the disarmament. So they agree to this issue,” he said, adding that “as this agreement was declared by US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu cannot say no to it.”

Saad Nimr, a professor of political science at Birzeit University, also argued that Hamas is unlikely to give up its weapons before Israel begins withdrawing from Gaza, as the group no longer trusts Israel to honor ceasefire commitments.

“The more Israel gets out of Gaza, the more Hamas will give up their weapons,” he told RT, arguing that any disarmament would have to happen in parallel with an Israeli pullout.

Israel’s reaction

Earlier in the day, unnamed sources told Reuters that talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on implementing the Gaza peace plan had made rare progress, though an Israeli official said the proposed terms were not satisfactory. Following Trump’s announcement, the Times of Israel reported, citing an unnamed source, that the agreement had been signed by Hamas negotiators, the board, and the mediating countries, but that “the Israeli office” issued a statement saying the disarmament proposal did not meet Israel’s demands.

Israel has yet to comment officially, although members of the government have already voiced skepticism and opposition.

“Israel says it will not take any action until Hamas is disarmed with its weapons, tunnels and infrastructure and we all understand the complexity of this,” Moshe Sa’ada of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party told public broadcaster Kan News. “Hamas is already saying that it’s the other way around: that it expects Israel to withdraw and only afterwards it will disarm.” Sa’ada added that he still believed there would ultimately be “no other option” in Gaza “apart from military rule and end-to-end occupation.”

Right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also blasted the emerging deal before Trump’s social media post.

“You only talk with Nazis through the crosshairs – and no other way,” he wrote on X. “The only solution in Gaza to which Israel is willing to be a partner is encouraging emigration and destroying Hamas.”

An official told the BBC that if Israel decides not to withdraw as part of the peace plan, Trump would be “very disappointed.”

The announcement came as Israeli strikes continued across Gaza despite the ceasefire introduced last October. The Gaza Health Ministry said hospitals received the bodies of six people on Thursday, along with 34 wounded patients. The dead reportedly included an eight-year-old child killed in a strike on a displacement camp in Khan Younis and an 18-month-old baby killed when a home in the Bureij refugee camp was bombed. According to Gaza health authorities, at least 73,341 Palestinians have been killed and more than 174,000 wounded since Israel launched its military campaign in retaliation for the deadly Hamas raid of October 2023.

Trump’s Board of Peace was initially presented as a temporary body overseeing Gaza’s reconstruction and the transition to an unelected Palestinian technocratic administration. Its founding charter, however, authorizes it to pursue “peace-building” initiatives in other conflict-affected regions and grants Trump sweeping personal authority.

Trump holds veto power over all decisions, can issue directives on the organization’s behalf and serve without a fixed term. He can be replaced only if he resigns or is unanimously declared incapacitated by the executive board, and he personally designates his successor. Invited members normally receive three-year terms, but that limit does not apply to those contributing more than $1 billion.

Palestinians have no representation on the board’s upper governing bodies and participate only through its technocratic arm, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). The 15-member civilian body, led by Ali Shaath and operating under the board’s oversight, is tasked with managing Gaza’s day-to-day public services. It is also the interim authority to which Hamas has agreed to transfer governing powers.

The NCAG welcomed the Hamas disarmament agreement, calling it “the opening of a path toward beginning” implementation of the broader peace roadmap. In a statement on X on Friday, it said it was ready to “assume its responsibilities” and “take over the administration of the [Gaza] Strip” to ensure the roadmap leads to “practical steps that have a tangible impact on citizens’ daily lives.” Since it was established by the Board of Peace in January, the NCAG has been unable to enter Gaza, largely due to Israeli objections.

Statement by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza

The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) welcomes the progress announced yesterday regarding the roadmap, and the opening of a path toward beginning its implementation.

This development…

— اللجنة الوطنية لإدارة غزة - NCAG (@NCAG) July 31, 2026

The military and political confrontation between the United States and Iran is becoming less a crisis than a permanent feature of the international landscape. A new center of chronic instability is emerging in south-western Eurasia, and it will shape political and economic developments across the wider region for years to come.

This matters not only because of Iran’s geopolitical position, but because it’s now a permanent member of both BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Unlike Russia’s confrontation with the West, which is mediated through the conflict in Ukraine, Iran’s dispute with Washington is direct and that reality inevitably raises questions about how BRICS and the SCO will function as organizations and what role they can play in an increasingly fragmented international order.

Both groups emerged from the crisis of the liberal world order that became apparent in the early 2000s when the American-led ‘war on terror’ and the invasion of Iraq convinced many governments that the promised unipolar world had failed to deliver stability or impartial global leadership.

The SCO, founded in 2001, was designed to strengthen regional cooperation in Eurasia while BRICS, launched in 2009, sought broader coordination among leading non-Western powers on global issues. Both represented a growing lack of confidence in institutions dominated by the United States and its allies.

Yet neither organization has attempted to build a direct alternative to the Western-led international system. This restraint has always served two purposes in that first, it allows countries with very different attitudes towards the West to remain within the same framework, and second, it avoids alienating the many states of the Global Majority that prefer to maintain productive relations with both China and Russia on one hand, and the United States and Western Europe on the other.

As a result, BRICS and the SCO have generally adopted cautious and consensual positions and their public rhetoric has often created the impression that Western behavior presents no fundamental challenge to international stability, and that there’s little urgency in constructing alternative institutions of global governance.

This has always been something of a contradiction, given the very existence of BRICS and the SCO is itself a vote of no confidence in the post-Cold War order. If their members genuinely believed that the US and the EU could provide fair and effective leadership in global governance and Eurasian security, there would have been little reason to create entities from which Western powers are largely absent.

Sooner or later, both organizations were always going to confront the question of what comes next and Iran’s confrontation with the United States has simply accelerated that debate.

It also exposes the limits of consensus politics as only Russia has unequivocally condemned what it describes as American and Israeli aggression against Iran. Other members, including China, have adopted far more cautious public positions; while welcoming the ceasefire in April and the memorandum signed in June, the diversity of views makes coordinated political action difficult.

At the same time, the conflict creates several practical challenges that BRICS and the SCO cannot ignore, and the first is energy security. The assumption that the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz would eventually return to their previous stability is no longer realistic given Washington has transformed its relationship with Tehran from political confrontation into military-political rivalry. That shift will permanently alter one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

For resource-rich powers such as Russia or the United States, this is manageable, but for countries heavily dependent on imported energy, including China and India, the implications are considerably more serious.

The second challenge concerns transport and logistics because Iran occupies a central position in the International North-South Transport Corridor linking Russia with the Middle East and South Asia and persistent instability will inevitably complicate investment and long-term planning.

The situation may become even more complicated if tensions between Israel and Turkey continue to grow beneath the surface and Central Asian states, increasingly viewed as attractive destinations for investment and trade, will have to adjust their own development strategies accordingly.

The third issue concerns America’s regional alliance system. As Washington becomes more deeply involved in confrontation with Iran, it places growing pressure on its Middle Eastern partner, but the wealthy Gulf monarchies have little desire to transform themselves into heavily militarized societies resembling Israel and their strategic calculations are becoming more complicated with every escalation.

These are immediate concerns, but the longer-term consequences may prove even more significant as the continuing confrontation between Washington and Tehran represents not only a challenge for BRICS and the SCO, but also an opportunity.

The broader international environment is changing and increasingly, the United States and the wider West are no longer viewed as providers of stability and development. Instead, many countries see them as sources of geopolitical disruption as confidence in the Western-led order continues to erode, while its ability to present itself as the natural center of global governance weakens.

A prolonged American confrontation with Iran is likely to reinforce that trend, given it will consume diplomatic attention and expose the limitations of US power in managing multiple crises simultaneously. For organizations such as BRICS and the SCO, this creates opportunities that don’t require ideological confrontation or institutional overreach.

Attempting to forge a unified foreign policy among such diverse memberships would only generate internal divisions. The strength of both groups lies precisely in their flexibility and they provide platforms where countries with different interests can cooperate without requiring complete political alignment.

That model is becoming increasingly valuable as the existing international system loses coherence.

So, rather than trying to mirror Western alliances, BRICS and the SCO should continue offering frameworks for practical cooperation while allowing members to pursue their own national interests because as confidence in Western institutions continues to decline, their relevance will grow naturally.

The collapse of the international order built around Western dominance isn’t a temporary phenomenon and the task for BRICS and the SCO is therefore not to create artificial unity where it does not exist, but to take advantage of the strategic space opened by that transformation and that may ultimately prove to be their greatest strength.

This article was first published by Valdai Discussion Club, translated and edited by the RT team.

Spain has deployed just 60 troops to its North African exclave of Ceuta after thousands of migrants overwhelmed security forces and stormed across the border from Morocco, with up to 30,000 more people reportedly swarming the frontier.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said the military contingent consisted of three platoons of 20 soldiers each, sent to reinforce the Guardia Civil after officers admitted that the border had “totally collapsed.” Madrid also dispatched specialized police units, bringing their total number to around 200, as well as 30 additional Guardia Civil officers.

The small military deployment came after Ceuta’s regional government pleaded with Madrid to take “decisive” action, close the border and declare a national emergency, warning that local police, hospitals and migrant reception facilities had been overwhelmed.

The Spanish Army is moving toward the Ceuta border with Morocco. pic.twitter.com/UV5swszyU2

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 30, 2026

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government rejected the emergency request, arguing that migration does not qualify under legislation covering natural disasters, major accidents and other national catastrophes.

Migrants continue to flood into Spain pic.twitter.com/Dluot7MRUR

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 30, 2026

The soldiers were ordered to support the Guardia Civil “in the exercise of its powers” and perform any additional tasks deemed necessary to maintain security. However, Madrid announced no expanded rules of engagement or independent authority for the troops to seal the frontier, detain migrants or carry out expulsions. Their publicly defined role therefore remains one of supporting the police rather than taking control of the border.

🔴 #URGENTE | INVASIÓN EN CEUTA

Avalanchas de marroquíes saltan la valla de Ceuta y entran ilegalmente en territorio español sin ningún control. pic.twitter.com/KQQYrnCKSO

— Vito Quiles 🇪🇸 (@vitoquiles) July 30, 2026

Footage showed large groups swimming around the Tarajal breakwater using inflatable tubes, climbing border structures and rushing through an opened gate as overwhelmed officers struggled to contain the flow. Moroccan forces later deployed reinforcements and used water cannon to disperse crowds gathering near the Bab Ceuta crossing.

Die spanische Exklave Ceuta wird derzeit überrannt: Bereits mehr als 1.500 Migranten, vorwiegend aus Marokko und Algerien, gelangten in kürzester Zeit in die EU. Ihr Ziel dürfte mutmaßlich Deutschland sein. Grenzen müssen jetzt geschlossen und Abweisungen rigoros durchgesetzt… pic.twitter.com/hW7RtKi2OE

— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) July 30, 2026

“The situation is absolute chaos,” local Civil Guard chief Rachid Sbihi told AP. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said, adding that the border had “totally collapsed.”

Spanish state television initially reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had crossed the border, while local outlet Ceuta al Día claimed that around 20,000 had arrived. Antena 3 cited Guardia Civil sources as estimating that almost 40,000 people had swarmed the frontier, although it acknowledged that the figure was approximate. Thousands more were reportedly traveling toward the border from Tangier, Tetouan, Fez, Rabat, Casablanca and other Moroccan cities.

Fourteen bodies were recovered from the sea around Ceuta within 24 hours, but no deaths have been attributed to clashes with Spanish or Moroccan security forces. The victims are believed to have died while attempting the maritime crossing.

Sanchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska are scheduled to visit Ceuta on Friday. Spain and Morocco have meanwhile promised closer coordination and the rapid return of migrants who entered illegally, although Madrid has not explained how that pledge will be reconciled with a recent Supreme Court ruling restricting the summary expulsion of people arriving by sea.

The French police have admitted that they have orders to let illegal migrants get on small boats and head across the English Channel for the UK, according to a video released by British Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.

In a video posted on X on Wednesday, Philp speaks to members of the French police on a beach in northern France and confronts them about a group of migrants piling onto a small boat just a few yards away.

“Our order is to let them go like that… We just have to say to them, ‘don’t do that, it’s dangerous’,” one officer says.

Just leaving this here for you @ShabanaMahmood….. https://t.co/n4HtXdLL9m pic.twitter.com/otYzGwhaah

— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) July 29, 2026

Speaking to Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine on Thursday, Philp stressed that the French officers could have “easily stopped the migrants” by puncturing the rubber dinghy without putting anyone at risk, as the water was “knee deep.”

“Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, is paying the French government over half a billion pounds, £660 million of our money to the French government to stop these boats,” he said.

The £661 million ($889 million) migration agreement, inked in April, is intended to boost French enforcement action, build up police presence on beaches and increase surveillance with new helicopter units, cameras and drones, according to the Home Office.

Nevertheless, at least 1,487 migrants crossed over to the UK in small boats in the past seven days, with almost 800 arriving on Wednesday, according to government figures.

Successive UK governments have repeatedly promised and failed to reduce the arrivals, despite escalating tensions following a number of attacks and high-profile murder and rape cases involving migrants in recent years.

Just last week, Keir Starmer was replaced by Andy Burnham as prime minister. Starmer lost support following his deeply unpopular handling of anti-immigration protests and his crackdown on internet speech.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov has claimed he was dismissed because reforms to overhaul military procurement and tackle entrenched interests within the ministry triggered a backlash.
 
Fedorov was removed by Vladimir Zelensky earlier this month after just six months in office as part of a sweeping government reshuffle. At the time, Zelensky cited tensions between the defense minister and commander-in-chief Aleksandr Syrsky, while Ukrainian media reported that disagreements over military reform lay behind the rift.
 
In an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda published on Wednesday, Fedorov suggested the broader government reshuffle may have served as cover for his dismissal. He said changes to procurement rules and defense tenders had angered vested interests.

“Very many people surrounded the Ministry of Defense and me as minister because we started rebuilding many internal processes,” he said. The reforms had “caused great dissatisfaction” among those whose interests they affected, Fedorov added.
 
He also said private companies and law enforcement exerted influence over the Defense Ministry. He alleged that some department heads in the ministry had been appointed by such companies, saying his team had sought to reform the “system” rather than “fight specific people.”
 
Fedorov, 35, became Ukraine’s youngest-ever defense minister in January after serving as minister of digital transformation since 2019. During his six-month tenure, he deepened Kiev’s cooperation with US data-mining and military technology company Palantir while pursuing reforms at the corruption-plagued ministry. In his farewell statement following his dismissal, Fedorov acknowledged that he had failed to reform the ministry in accordance with “NATO standards.”

The Ukrainian outlet Strana, citing sources, previously suggested the government reshuffle may also have been intended to remove Fedorov, claiming Zelensky had grown dissatisfied with what it described as the minister’s “independent political game” and his ties to circles close to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
 
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has repeatedly faced procurement scandals under Zelensky. Previous ministers Aleksey Reznikov and Rustem Umerov were both removed after their tenures became embroiled in allegations related to military supplies and Western-funded weapons contracts.

The co-founder of Palestine Action has been granted permission to challenge the group’s prohibition at the British Supreme Court, as police arrested hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists in London.

The court ruled on Thursday that Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, could appeal the proscription later this year. Palestine Action was listed as a terrorist organization last July, and although Britain’s High Court ruled the ban unlawful earlier this year, an appeals court later reinstated it, citing the group’s “support for violence.”

“We will continue to fight this proscription all the way to the Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn what has become one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history,” Ammori said in a statement.

The ban placed Palestine Action in the same legal category as Al Qaeda and the IRA, and criminalized public displays of support for the organization. More than 3,500 Palestine Action sympathizers have since been arrested for displaying t-shirts, flags, and placards supporting the group at protests.

As the first trials for these Palestine Action supporters were scheduled to begin at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Thursday, police arrested another 115 people outside the courthouse for expressions of support for the group.

Palestine Action was proscribed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who served under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer led a nationwide crackdown on pro-Palestine activism, following the ban with calls for the “policing of language” and banning of anti-Israel protests.

Starmer’s replacement, Andy Burnham, has said that the Labour Party “didn’t get it right” on the war on Gaza and “needs to do better.” However, Burnham’s home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has left the prohibition in place.

It is unfathomable that Andy Burnham's new Government is continuing with the proscription of Palestine Action meaning huge numbers of police resources are being redeployed and used to police and arrest pensioners peacefully protesting a genocide. pic.twitter.com/JvyYXHcD0l

— Cllr Martin Abrams (@Martin_Abrams) July 30, 2026

Last month, four Palestine Action members were sentenced as terrorists for vandalizing an Israeli arms plant near Bristol in 2024. After ramming their way into the Elbit Systems factory with a decommissioned prison van, they destroyed computers, drones, and other equipment inside, causing around £1.2 million ($1.6 million) in damage.

Joint US-Saudi strikes on alleged Iran-aligned militia positions across Iraq have sparked political backlash, with Baghdad condemning the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. RT’s Ali Rida Sbeity reported on the ground.

The strikes targeted positions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in seven provinces, according to Iraqi officials, with the group saying at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded. Washington and Riyadh said they had targeted Iran-linked militants in response to a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities, a claim denied by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

The PMF is formally part of Iraq’s security structure, meaning the strikes are being treated “not as simple attacks on armed factions, but as attacks on institutions belonging to the Iraqi state,” Sbeity said.

Tensions deepened after US President Donald Trump claimed the strikes had been coordinated with Baghdad. “That stands in sharp contrast to the public Iraqi position, which describes the strike as a violation of sovereignty,” Sbeity added.

The current escalation comes after a brief pause in direct US attacks on Iran-linked targets. Earlier this week, Tehran launched missiles at US military installations in Jordan in its first regional attack since fighting subsided.

Former IRGC commander Hossein Kanani Moghaddam has warned that the strikes would prompt a coordinated response from Iran and its regional allies. “An attack on Iraq is considered an attack on Iran due to the strategic bond between Iran and Iraq,” he told RT.

Ahmed Al-Shahri, head of the Saudi Experience Forum, described the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s strategic infrastructure as crossing a “red line.”

The US-Saudi strikes have “once again” placed Iraq at the center of a wider regional confrontation that Baghdad has “repeatedly tried to avoid,” Sbeity said.

The first patient to receive Russia’s personalized melanoma vaccine is feeling well and has developed the immune response needed to fight the disease, said Aleksandr Ginzburg, the scientific director of the Gamaleya Research Institute, which helped develop the treatment.

Last year, the Russian Health Ministry approved two domestically developed personalized cancer treatments: an mRNA-based vaccine for advanced melanoma named Neooncovac and a peptide medicine targeting colorectal cancer dubbed Oncopept.

Neooncovac was administered to its first patient in April. The recipient is a 60-year-old man with stage-three melanoma and metastases, who is being treated at the Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute.

According to Ginzburg, the patient is “feeling completely normal” and continuing treatment. Tests have shown “very positive” immunological responses, with the body producing the active compounds needed for the immune system to fight the tumor and its metastases, he told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

The patient is expected to receive two further doses of the medicine. His immune response will continue to be monitored throughout the treatment, Ginzburg said.

He also announced that personalized melanoma vaccines are being prepared for ten more patients and should be ready within one-and-a-half to three months.

Andrey Kaprin, head of the National Medical Research Center of Radiology, previously described the technology used to develop the vaccine as a fundamentally different approach to cancer treatment. Rather than simply treating the disease, the method is intended to teach the immune system to identify and destroy the cells posing a threat, he said.

Samples of the patient’s tumor and healthy tissue are used to analyze their genetic characteristics and create a customized vaccine designed to train the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.

Russian health officials have meanwhile reported that patients receiving Oncopept have also developed the required immune response. The Gamaleya Institute is additionally working on treatments for pancreatic, kidney, and non-small cell lung cancer.

Beijing has lodged an official protest with New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry over controversial remarks made by the country’s top diplomat, Winston Peters, to a Chinese-born MP during a heated parliamentary exchange.

The Chinese Embassy in Wellington made the announcement on Thursday, a day after the event, citing “negative China-related remarks.”

On Wednesday, during debate on the country’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Peters, founder and leader of the right-wing populist NZ First party, was asked by China-born Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-Nan whether he had been vaccinated.

In response, Peters alleged that the lawmaker, who was born in the Chinese city of Tianjin but grew up in New Zealand, had “come here five minutes ago.”

“Go back to your own country. That's where they lie like a flatfish, but they don't lie like that here,” Peters said. “This is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to. Go back to where you’ve come from, you loudmouth.”

The incident also prompted a rare public intervention by China’s ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, who said on X that while he generally avoided commenting on domestic politics, “sometimes, a statement says more about the person that makes it than anything or anybody else.”

On the ambassador's comments, Peters said that his remarks were a defense of democracy and free speech. In a post on X, he argued that the envoy had “proven the point” he made in parliament, contrasting New Zealand’s democratic freedoms with what he described as “communist and dictatorship countries.” Peters added that he would “not resile from that point.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, whose National Party currently governs in coalition with NZ First, dismissed Peters’ remarks as “inappropriate attention-seeking.”

Commenting on Peters’ attack, Xu-Nan said: “It’s a little bit unbelievable to have a Minister for Foreign Affairs, I guess, scapegoating the migrant communities as a distraction to shift the blame away from all of the harm that this government is doing.”

NZ First has previously faced criticism over similar remarks. Last year, deputy leader Shane Jones shouted “send the Mexicans home” at Philippines-born MP Francisco Hernandez, prompting a diplomatic protest from Mexico. Peters later said the comments “may have been expressed differently” in the heat of the moment.

Thousands of north African migrants have broken into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco. Regional authorities have pleaded with Spain’s socialist government to send in the military, but Madrid has refused.

Groups of migrants began swimming around the border fence separating Ceuta from Morocco earlier this week, but the trickle became a surge on Thursday when a large group overwhelmed border guards and broke through the fence.

The head of Ceuta’s regional government estimated that up to 2,000 people had arrived by midday on Thursday, overcrowding reception centers and creating “a humanitarian and social emergency.” The majority of the arrivals are young men, the Associated Press reported.

Video footage shared on social media showed hordes of migrants cheering as they poured into the Spanish territory by land and sea.

IN CRE I BLE #Ceuta cientos de marroquíes a la carrera tras llegar a nado al espigón del Tarajal#FronteraSur #Haraga #Inmigracion pic.twitter.com/qVA6MwDuxU

— KARIM PRIM (@KARIMPRIM) July 30, 2026

Ceuta’s mayor-president, Juan Jesus Vivas, called on the Spanish government to declare a national emergency and deploy police officers and soldiers at the border. The Spanish Interior Ministry, however, said that it does not consider migration to be an emergency.

No es una crisis migratoria en Ceuta, es una declaración de guerra de Marruecos. pic.twitter.com/FaqS2z0u6E

— David Santos (@davidsantosvlog) July 30, 2026

🔴 Miles de inmigrantes ilegales asaltan la frontera y entran en la ciudad autónoma: "Es una invasión sin precedentes".https://t.co/FwIknSSM8p pic.twitter.com/l99I8lH7sI

— Bipartidismo Stream (@Bipartidismo_) July 30, 2026

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – who legalized 500,000 illegal immigrants earlier this year – offered an ambiguous response. “We are mobilizing all necessary resources… and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible,” he wrote on social media. “This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation.”

Russia has reportedly proposed a mechanism for settling trade with Bangladesh in Indian rupees to bypass US sanctions and facilitate payments for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, local media has reported.

Dhaka has been unable to make the loan repayments for the Russian-financed plant due to US sanctions on Russian banks.

Moscow’s proposals to overcome the disruption in payment are likely to be discussed at bilateral talks to be held later this year, Bangladesh media reported, citing unnamed officials in Dhaka’s Economic Relations Division (ERD).

RT sources have not confirmed the reports, but they acknowledged that the issue of making payments for the Rooppur nuclear power project remains unresolved.

Bangladesh media also reported that Moscow has proposed establishing a bilateral payment infrastructure and renewed its proposal to open a local branch of a Russian bank.

However, RT sources pointed out that, excluding the nuclear power plant, trade between Moscow and Dhaka is too limited to justify building a mechanism for making national-currency payments from scratch.

The estimated cost of the two-reactor 2,400 MW-plant is about $13 billion, with Russia providing a government loan covering 90% of the amount. Russia has also taken on long‑term obligations to supply nuclear fuel, perform technical maintenance, and manage spent nuclear fuel.

The plant’s first reactor is expected to begin commercial operation next month, with an initial supply of about 300 megawatts. 

Part of India and Russia’s bilateral trade is settled in Indian rupees. Dhaka also reportedly trades with New Delhi in Indian rupees, along with the US dollar and other foreign currencies.

Dhaka exported goods worth $245 million to Russia during the July-May period of the current fiscal year, data provided by the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh showed.

Since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the West has consistently sought to draw Türkiye into its policy of confrontation with Moscow. This was particularly evident at this month’s NATO summit in Ankara when the West attempted to pressure the Turkish leadership into adopting a clear anti-Russia stance.

For Washington and Europe, Türkiye is particularly valuable. It is not just a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, but a country with the second-largest army in NATO, a developed defense industry, a strategic location in the Black Sea region, and significant influence in the Middle East and parts of Eurasia. Therefore, for the West, it is crucial to not just secure Ankara’s formal loyalty (which is already ensured by its NATO membership), but to make it part of the unified anti-Russia front. 

Ankara, however, continues to pursue a policy that significantly differs from the course of most NATO states. Calling Türkiye completely neutral would be a mistake. It supports Ukraine’s narrative concerning territorial integrity, maintains military-technical ties with Kiev, participates in meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Council, and occasionally makes political statements in support of Ukraine. However, Türkiye has not joined EU sanctions against Russia or curtailed Russian-Turkish economic cooperation; moreover, it has maintained direct channels of communication with Moscow. The European Commission’s 2025 report noted that Türkiye has consistently refrained from joining EU restrictive measures against Russia, although it has taken steps to prevent sanctions from being circumvented through its territory. The trade turnover between Russia and Türkiye also remains high, despite external pressure.

Türkiye’s independent policy irritates the particularly radical elements of Western elites. The West wants Türkiye to act not as an autonomous regional center of power, but as a disciplined participant in its strategy of exerting pressure on Moscow. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan views NATO membership not as a rejection of his own foreign policy, but as a tool for strengthening the Turkish state. Ankara is prepared to utilize the alliance’s capabilities, demand the lifting of restrictions on the Turkish defense industry, and seek access to modern weapons and European funding. However, it is not prepared to automatically sacrifice relations with Russia for the interests of Washington, Brussels, or Kiev.

This was clearly demonstrated by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s three-day visit to Russia on June 15-17. The packed agenda demonstrated Ankara’s desire to develop relations with Moscow. Fidan met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of the Security Council Sergey Shoigu, representatives of the Russian leadership and the business community, and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin. Fidan was also received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The discussed topics included bilateral cooperation, energy, transport, regional security, and prospects for resuming Russia-Ukraine negotiations. 

Such active diplomacy demonstrates that Türkiye is unlikely to be drawn into an anti-Russia bloc. Russian-Turkish relations are based not only on personal dialogue between Erdogan and Putin. Major energy, trade, investment, and infrastructure projects exist between the two countries. Russia is currently constructing Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant, the Akkuyu NPP. At the end of 2025, Türkiye  announced that Russia would provide an additional $9 billion in funding for the project. For Ankara, severing such ties wouldn’t just be a symbolic demonstration of solidarity with the West; it would bring concrete economic losses and additional risks to energy security.

The situation in the Black and Azov seas is especially important for Türkiye. The escalating attacks on vessels directly affect Turkish interests. In June, Fidan noted that Kiev must avoid actions that could undermine security in the Black Sea and Türkiye’s interests. At that time, tankers near the Turkish coast, including a Turkish vessel, had been attacked. Ankara lodged formal protests to Ukraine in regard to these incidents.

After the NATO summit, the problem became even more acute. In nine days, drones struck 116 vessels in the Sea of ​​Azov, including tankers, bulk carriers, and tugboats. Russia characterized these actions as attacks on civilian shipping, while Kiev claimed that it struck only military targets or vessels supplying the Russian armed forces. Regardless of the interpretation, these incidents resulted in the restriction of commercial shipping and a threat to maritime trade, crews, and regional logistics. For Türkiye, whose economy depends heavily on the security of maritime communications, this situation is unacceptable.

Ankara fears more than just economic damage. Turkish leaders understand that the expanding geography of the strikes could directly affect Türkiye’s borders. Drones and naval drones are not always able to accurately determine a vessel’s nationality, crew composition, beneficial owner, or the nature of the cargo being transported. Any error could result in the deaths of Turkish citizens, damage to Turkish property, or an environmental disaster off the country’s coast. This is precisely why Türkiye is interested in limiting the scale of the war. 

Moreover, Erdogan continues to assert his role as a mediator. For him, this is an opportunity to strengthen Türkiye’s international status. Ankara has already hosted Russia-Ukraine talks, brokered grain deals, facilitated prisoner exchanges, and repeatedly offered to host new contacts on its territory. Although the Turkish platform ultimately collapsed, as Kiev failed to comply with the terms of the agreements and Ankara lacked the political will to pressure Zelensky and his entourage, Türkiye believes it may still be a mediator in the future. During his June visit to Moscow, Fidan reiterated Türkiye’s readiness to host another round of talks and help make them more productive.

Fidan’s position on the agreements discussed between Russia and the US during the summit in Anchorage is also notable. Fidan urged the Ukrainian side to heed the understandings reached in Alaska, noting that Moscow’s unilateral commitment is insufficient and that “it takes two to tango.” This formulation fundamentally differs from the approach of most European politicians, who place the blame for the failure to reach an agreement solely on Russia. Ankara has made it clear that a diplomatic settlement requires reciprocal action from Kiev and its Western backers. 

Fidan’s visit to Ukraine on July 15-16, 2026, does not contradict this stance. The Turkish foreign minister’s trips to both Moscow and Kiev are part of a single diplomatic strategy. Türkiye is talking to both sides, as this is the only way it can maintain its potential as a mediator. Fidan’s talks with Vladimir Zelensky do not mean that Ankara is siding with Ukraine.

Naturally, Türkiye  will continue to make certain overtures to Ukraine and partners within NATO. It will not publicly renounce its support for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity,” will not cease cooperation with Kiev, and will participate in Western meetings on Ukraine. For example, on July 13, Fidan represented Erdogan at the Paris summit of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. However, Türkiye’s participation in such formats does not necessarily mean that it is ready to break ties with Russia. Turkish diplomacy traditionally strives to maintain ties with various players, preventing any single power center from gaining a monopoly on relations with it.

The West could offer Türkiye several concessions such as the lifting of sanctions, a return to the F-35 program, access to European defense funds, investments, and political concessions. But even these incentives are unlikely to force Erdogan to completely reconsider relations with Moscow. The Turkish leader understands that without Russia’s involvement, it is impossible to resolve issues concerning Syria, the Middle East, the South Caucasus, the Black Sea region, as well as energy and Eurasian policy issues. Furthermore, demonstratively joining the anti-Russia front would deprive Türkiye of its mediator status and transform it from an independent player in international relations into just another tool used by the West to implement its strategy. 

Therefore, Western attempts to draw Türkiye into an open confrontation with Russia are not likely to yield the desired result. Ankara may make certain concessions, bargain with Washington, expand cooperation with NATO, and strengthen ties with Ukraine; but it will probably avoid crossing the line that would directly damage relations with Russia. Türkiye will not choose between Russia and the West: its goal is to force Moscow, Washington, and Brussels to consider Turkish interests.

This is the essence of Erdogan’s policy. It’s neither neutrality in the classical sense, nor equidistance. Rather, it is strategic autonomy based on pragmatism, balance, and the desire to extract political and economic advantages from the competition among major powers. The West would like to see Türkiye as part of a united anti-Russia front. However, Türkiye prefers to see itself as a separate center of power. And as long as Erdogan retains control over the country’s foreign policy, the likelihood that Ankara will fully submit to the West’s anti-Russia strategy remains low. 

The US Senate has unanimously urged President Donald Trump not to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker who helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit and abuse underage girls.

Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced British newspaper tycoon and former MP Robert Maxwell, who had suspected ties to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and related offenses.

The resolution, introduced by Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen and approved without objection from either party on Wednesday, states that Maxwell should not receive “a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency.”

Rosen stated that it was “horrifying” that Trump had even entertained the possibility of clemency, arguing that Maxwell should never receive a pardon for helping Epstein abuse underage girls.

Trump has repeatedly declined to categorically rule out pardoning Maxwell. When asked about the possibility last year, he stressed that he had the authority to do so but said nobody had approached him with a request. He later also said he would consult the US Justice Department following the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Maxwell’s appeal in October 2025.

Speculation over possible clemency further intensified after Todd Blanche, then deputy attorney general and now Trump’s nominee for attorney general, interviewed Maxwell for around nine hours over two days as part of the Justice Department’s Epstein investigation.

Maxwell was granted limited immunity for the interview and was transferred to a lower-security federal prison shortly afterward. Her lawyer denied that she had sought anything in return for cooperating but acknowledged that she would welcome relief from her sentence. Blanche has said he would not recommend a pardon.

The Senate move comes amid continued anger over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files. The disclosure process has faced criticism over delays, extensive redactions and the absence of major new prosecutions, disappointing supporters who had expected the records to expose powerful figures connected to Epstein.

Trump and Maxwell moved in the same social circles in New York and Florida during the 1990s and early 2000s, when the president was also acquainted with Epstein. After Maxwell’s arrest in 2020, Trump drew criticism for saying, “I just wish her well, frankly.”

The US president has denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein and says he ended his relationship with the financier years before his 2019 arrest. Maxwell later told Justice Department officials that she had never witnessed Trump behaving inappropriately.

India’s labor market and educational system should adapt to the emerging artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, a top advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Disagreeing with the idea that AI will eat away human jobs, Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, told RT India that new technologies will also create new kinds of jobs.

“Textile technology of the early 19th century caused losses of jobs. Today’s textile industry worldwide employs a lot more people than existed in the 18th century,” he said in the latest episode of the ‘India, Russia, and the World’ podcast.

Sanyal said rather than wasting time on ways to protect today’s jobs, the workforce should be retrained.
Citing the example of podcasting, he asked, “Who knew that podcasting would be a profession? This profession did not exist, you know, half a generation ago.”

Stressing the need for the higher education system to become attentive to how the job market and opportunities evolve, he said, “The old system of giving lectures and curriculums is changing… at a glacial pace, all that has to go.”

He said in the future people will join the workforce at an early age. “And they may be going back and refreshing themselves well into middle age or even old age.”

The concept of concentrating all your higher education right in the beginning of your life without developing new skills the rest of your life is “probably now an outdated model,” Sanyal said.
India is already a reasonably important player in AI, he noted.

“The global capability centers of Microsoft or Google or Meta or Apple, you know, are huge in India,” Sanyal said. “Even parts of the foundational [AI] models being developed by these companies are developed in India.”

He said the latest data suggests that India’s economy grew at 7.8% in the first quarter of this year, despite geopolitical shocks. India will not pursue growth by risking macroeconomic instability, he said, citing this as the “reason we have been very careful about controlling inflation.”

India has tamed inflation in the 2 to 6% target range in the last decade.
 
The country is creating a network of bilateral free trade pacts to counteract the breakdown of the old multilateral system, he said.

He said energy is not the only problem posed by the Iran war. “There are 10 million Indians who live in that area. We have to worry about them. They are also not only a source of remittance, but their physical safety is an issue,” Sanyal stressed.

Sanyal also talked of the hundreds of thousands of Indian sailors. “Recent conflicts have had casualties, a lot of them in West Asia, but very recently also in the Black Sea,” he said.

RT has opened submissions for the 2026 Khaled Alkhateb International Memorial Awards, which honor outstanding war reporters working in conflict zones around the world.

This year’s contest will accept news reports or series of reports from conflict zones, with a maximum running time of ten minutes. Submissions are accepted in Russian, Arabic, and English, or with subtitles in any of the three for reports in other languages. Qualifying videos must have been published between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026.

The competition is open to reporters from major media organizations, independent journalists, freelancers, and bloggers.

RT launched the award in 2018 to commemorate its Arabic stringer Khaled Alkhateb. The 25-year-old freelance warzone correspondent was killed in 2017 in a shelling while covering a Syrian government offensive against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Homs.

“This is the ninth year we’ve honored the best war correspondents with the Khaled Alkhateb Award, and each year we see the job getting harder and harder for our people – especially in the Special Military Operation zone, and especially in our region, because Israel and Ukraine are deliberately targeting journalists,” RT Arabic chief Maya Manna said.

Sometimes journalists are killed live on air, and the West says nothing at all – it just stays silent. So we feel compelled, and duty-bound, to make sure people know that a war correspondent’s work can get you killed. And every year we show the heroes who go to the front regardless, and bring us the truth.

The jury for this year’s competition will include journalists from leading news organizations, each with firsthand experience covering conflict zones around the globe. The members will be announced at a later date on the award’s official website. Submissions will be accepted via a form on the site.

Ukraine’s deadly attack on an Iranian cargo ship named Anna in the Caspian Sea was Vladimir Zenensky’s “gift” to Israel and the US, the former senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Kanani Moghaddam, told RT.

The strike, which killed one Iranian sailor and injured another on Saturday, came three days before Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Zelensky acknowledged the operation shortly after it occurred, hailing the “very strong results” of strikes on vessels that he claimed “were involved in the transportation of military cargo” linked to Iran.

“This shows that Zelensky, on the eve of his trip to America, wanted to give a gift to the Zionists and Trump, and thus took this action,” Moghaddam said.

The former commander also warned that if Ukraine continues to attack Iranian ships in the Caspian Sea, Tehran will retaliate using medium-range missiles. Iran possesses missiles with ranges of around 2,000km, which, according to publicly available estimates, could reach parts of eastern Ukraine.

Watch the full statement below.

Five children from Russia and Ukraine are about to be reunited with their loved ones under an international humanitarian initiative, Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova reported. According to Moscow, the process is being coordinated by US First Lady Melania Trump and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, praised Melania Trump for what he called “a vital global humanitarian and peacemaking role” in helping Russian and Ukrainian children separated from their families reunite with their relatives. “Under her coordination, 33 children have already been reunited with their families,” he wrote in a post on X on Thursday, adding that “more reunifications” are ahead.

According to the White House, this is the fifth group of children the US first lady has helped reunite. “This milestone marks another step toward ensuring that innocent kids can safely return to their homes, communities, and the people who care for them,” it said in a statement.

“While diplomacy and peacebuilding are important to this effort, they are surpassed by our collective ability to place children above international disputes,” Melania said, commenting on the reunition.

A five-year-old boy has just arrived in Russia, where he was reunited with his mother, Lvova-Belova said, adding that the child had lived with his father in Ukraine back in 2020.
Earlier this year, the boy’s mother learned that his father had died, and Russian authorities helped the family reconnect.

A Ukrainian woman also came to Russia from Germany for her daughter on Thursday, according to the commissioner. The girl had been living with her grandmother since 2023.

Three more children are about to reunite with their relatives in Ukraine and Germany.

Another six-year-old boy is about to be reunited with his Ukrainian mother, who has been living in Russia with his grandmother since 2022. A 15-year-old teen, who has been living with relatives in Russia, will also soon go to his mother, who is living in Ukraine, according Lvova-Belova. One more 15-year-old will travel to Germany to live with his older sister, who has requested custody of him.

All the humanitarian efforts are being carried out upon the orders of President Vladimir Putin on the basis of requests of parents or close relatives of the affected children, the commissioner said, maintaining that the child’s interests are taken into account in each particular case. “Soon, all the children will be reunited with their loved ones!” she added.

A total of 31 children have been returned to Russia, and 145 children returned to Ukraine or other countries as part of the humanitarian initiative backed by the Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner’s Office, according to Moscow’s data.

A quarter of young Africans believe US foreign aid cuts could benefit their countries by pushing governments to tackle domestic challenges instead of relying on external assistance, African Youth Survey 2026 shows.

At the same time, nearly half of respondents said the closure of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would have a negative impact.

The survey found that 26% of respondents viewed the aid cuts positively, while 46% expected adverse consequences, 16% said they would make no difference, and 11% were unsure. Optimism about the cuts was strongest in Ghana and Nigeria, whereas concern was highest in Mozambique, Rwanda and Kenya.

The report said just over half of respondents (53%) expected healthcare services and disease prevention to be the sectors hardest hit by the reduction in US funding. “Concern [was] felt most acutely in Zambia and Mozambique, where over four-in-five (83%) already report experiencing the impact, and in Kenya, where three-quarters (75%) say the same,” it said.

Education, economic development and food security were also among the areas most likely to be affected, according to those surveyed.

African Youth Survey 2026 was conducted by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation among 4,901 people aged 18 to 24 across 16 African countries. Researchers carried out face-to-face interviews in Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The findings echo the views of some African policy experts, who argue that the reduction in foreign aid could encourage governments to rely more on domestic resources.

“The collapse of USAID funding provides Africa and its leadership an opportunity to take a fundamental rethink of its over-reliance on Western foreign assistance and donor aid,” Michael Owuor, a researcher at the Global Centre for Policy and Strategy (GLOCEPS), told RT.

The findings come after US President Donald Trump’s administration moved to dismantle the agency. In February 2025, it announced that most of its employees would be placed on administrative leave. A month later, the US State Department said it was terminating around 6,300 USAID programs worldwide.

The Italian mafia is seeking to buy up some of the 800,000 firearms reportedly missing or stolen from Ukraine since 2022, including drones and other advanced arms, senior prosecutors have warned.

Some 780,465 items sent to Ukraine have reportedly disappeared since the escalation of the conflict, including around 149,000 during the first five months of 2026. The Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper reported on Wednesday that much of the arsenal consisted of European military supplies intended for Kiev.

The outlet noted that European law enforcement authorities have struggled to track the flow of these arms, given that Western governments conceal the details of their extensive military shipments to Ukraine.

The weapons have since reportedly ended up on the European black market and are now said to have attracted the attention of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, which would like to upgrade its arsenal with military-grade systems.

Palermo chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia told Italy’s parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission this week that the criminal organization was trying to build a “quality arsenal” and has already obtained access to AK-47 rifles and powerful explosives.

De Lucia said that the mafia is also trying to obtain more advanced weaponry, such as mine-dropping drones, warning that Italian security services are not prepared to deal with such weapons systems.

Concerns over weapons leaking from Ukraine into European criminal networks have persisted since the early months of the conflict. Europol reported back in 2022 that arms were being trafficked into the EU for organized crime groups, with several countries, including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain, having since stated that weapons sent to Kiev had reached local criminals.

The latest report comes amid repeated corruption scandals involving Ukraine’s military and state institutions. Recent investigations have uncovered millions of dollars in illicit sales of military equipment and theft from military repair contracts and drone funds, alongside wider schemes involving defense procurement and foreign donations.

Commenting on the Italian prosecutor’s warning, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had long warned that Western weapons sent to Kiev would spread through illicit markets and eventually threaten Ukraine’s European sponsors.

Zakharova explained that some of the weapons supplied to Kiev never actually reach their stated destination because of corruption, while those that do arrive are divided between the front, black-market buyers, and armed groups in other regions.

Russian officials have also accused Ukraine of supplying weapons and drone expertise to militants in Africa, while Mali has alleged that Kiev provided kamikaze drones to terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel.

The US is pushing to secure a role for American companies in a $12.5 billion Ethiopian Airlines airport project. Washington is seeking greater commercial and infrastructure influence in Africa, where China now has a stronger presence.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for the Middle East and Africa Mark Mitchell described Bishoftu International Airport as a “transformative” project during a virtual briefing in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

“Across agencies… the Department of Commerce has closely engaged in pushing to secure strong United States participation,” he said after talks with Ethiopian Airlines officials.

Mitchell did not identify potential companies or contracts, but said US involvement could result in “more Boeing aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines.” Ethiopian Airlines agreed in April to purchase six additional Boeing 787-9s.

Construction began in January about 40 km southeast of Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airlines says the first phase will be completed in 2030 and handle 60 million passengers annually. Capacity is expected to reach 110 million when fully developed, making it Africa’s largest airport.

The project is intended to accommodate the state-owned carrier’s rapid expansion. Ethiopian Airlines reported a 20% increase in revenue to a record $9.1 billion in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to the Ethiopian News Agency. It transported 20.7 million passengers and added nine aircraft and four international routes. The carrier now operates more than 170 planes and serves 150 international destinations.

Under a financing mandate signed last August, the African Development Bank plans to provide a $500 million loan and lead efforts to mobilize $8.7 billion for Bishoftu.

The US initiative comes as Washington competes with Beijing for trade, technology, and infrastructure cooperation in Africa. Ethiopian business newspaper Addis Fortune reported in January that China Communications Construction Company and Beijing Urban Construction Group were conducting initial site clearing and groundwork at Bishoftu.

Ethiopian Airlines has separately confirmed on its website that several Chinese firms and joint ventures were shortlisted to bid for the airport’s main construction and infrastructure packages.

The push comes despite lingering trade tensions. Ethiopia remains excluded from the US African Growth and Opportunity Act program after Washington suspended its eligibility in 2022, citing human rights violations during the conflict in northern Ethiopia.

Statehood Day in Kiev. Very important. Very historical. “So how can I make it all about me?” the EU said. Here comes Brussels to put the “hood” in “statehood” day, and bring some muscle to Kiev’s mobilization hustle.

What a great opportunity for the EU to come back into town for another photo op, another summit, and another round of butt- and back-slapping.

‘Queen’ Ursula von der Leyen set the tone: “It’s a special moment. Ukraine has built a strong military momentum. The tide is turning. I will announce new initiatives to integrate our defense industries. So we can produce more, and faster. We will also discuss accession and preparations for this winter.”

At this point, all those same talking points have had more comebacks than Madonna. The tide’s been turning for so long that you’d expect it to have actually arrived somewhere by now. So what’s the occasion this time, beyond pretending that you actually had Statehood Day on your calendar in Brussels? Because let’s pretend that an excuse to drop by is actually necessary, and that you’re not just the Karen of the northern hemisphere block watch.

Excuse me! It’s the prestigious occasion of the fifth Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit. Because the first four were obviously so productive that they have to fish the same talking points out of the recycling bin.

Stop me if you know this one: support, integration, EU accession somewhere down the road. Ukraine’s promised path to the EU seems to consist primarily of summits announcing that the path exists. Then there’s the “Coalition of the Willing.” Which is basically the European version of the Avengers. Except that instead of superheroes assembling, it’s the EU clown posse assembling to celebrate their assembling superpower.

They also assembled in Paris, promised coordination, and produced the usual result: another round of commitments to future commitments. But hey, they’re planning some military exercises for September. Poland says that they’ll go ahead on that, with British and French troops involved. Except that Germany reportedly isn’t joining, with Berlin noting that the drills are limited and mainly staff-focused. Which is like RSVPing ‘yes’ to a wedding because you like the idea of the marriage, but in reality you just can’t be bothered. Hopefully they’ll at least have enough tact to send an Amazon gift card.
And while France is stepping up as the new lead war drummer, Bulgaria seems to be looking to exit stage left. “We have exhausted our capabilities to provide military support. I mean weapons and commissions from the warehouses of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. We have provided 13 packages. We don’t have anything else to supply to Ukraine,” said Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev.

So basically he’s saying, “Look, we checked the warehouse. Do you want the broken chair that’s left in there, or what?”

Then there’s the EU’s latest move on Ukrainian refugee arrivals. Europe has entered a new phase of messaging. The kind where they say the quiet part a lot less quietly.

Specifically, the part about Ukrainians not being able to defend Ukraine while also kicking back on a patio somewhere in the EU. So unless you’ve already got a reservation for that patio and have been hanging out there for a while now, you can forget it.

They need to first satisfy their military obligations in Ukraine amid full mobilization, the EU says. And if they happen to survive that, then they can give asylum a shot, I guess.

So while leaders continue to promise Ukrainians support, anyone actually taking them up on their offer had better make a point of keeping up with the fine print. Because they’re using tactics normally associated with the guy who sells you a lemon at the used car lot. Come for the shiny asylum offer – and get a swift kick to the behind back to Kiev.

There are also reports that Ukraine itself has asked EU countries to tighten access for its citizens under temporary protection rules. Which is a unique and novel dynamic. Because usually when people leave a country during a war, the government of the country they’re leaving doesn’t get to call ahead and ask if maybe fewer of them could be let in.

Speaking of truth masseuses, Hungary’s new defense minister has been talking tough on Russia.

“It is necessary to see the interests and values ​​of the nation and the allies. We are closing the door in the face of the Russians,” said Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi.

So dramatic. You can almost hear the door slam in the background. But when you actually take a closer look under the blustery rhetoric, it turns out they don’t seem all that interested in actually locking that door. It’s more of a swinging pet door. Because for all the public tough talk, Hungary recently refused to send weapons to be used against Russia. Like Slovakia, the US, and the Czech Republic with the recent NATO package. Poland and the Netherlands say that they’ve already given what they can. So this united front is starting to look like a group project where everyone says that they’re psyched but then discreetly bails.

So where does that leave the grand coalition? A lot of countries are still saying the ‘right’ things, but fewer of them are willing to reach into their pockets for anything that isn’t self-serving involving their own military industrial complexes. And everyone is trying very hard not to stare at the glaring gap between those two things.

Meanwhile, over in Kiev, the EU’s collective message is that momentum is building. And it seems that they figure that if they keep saying that often and loudly enough, then eventually they might stop getting pestered by Kiev about when exactly the momentum-powered ride is supposed to end in an EU fairytale. At this rate, it’s all starting to look like Disneyland’s hellish It’s a Small World ride: an endless refrain with no obvious final stop.

Europe isn’t positioning itself for a resolution to this conflict anytime soon, but rather a marathon. Like an endless relay for Ukraine. One that they’re willing to sponsor as long as they don’t have to personally do the sweating. And now they seem to be aligning policy to make sure that it has the people to keep going. Whether those people had other plans or not.

Boeing is reluctant to share the technology used in the warheads it manufactures for the Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles which Ukraine and its Western supporters want to manufacture in Europe, German media outlet Die Welt has reported, citing sources.

US President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that Ukraine would receive a license to produce the coveted Patriot systems. Manufacturing is expected to be based in a European NATO country, potentially Germany, where the facilities would be considered safe from potential Russian attacks.

In a report on Wednesday, Die Welt correspondent Christoph Wanner outlined several obstacles facing the initiative, including what he described as Boeing Defense’s unwillingness to transfer sensitive technology to foreign partners.

Boeing manufactures the seeker warheads used in PAC-3 interceptors, while Lockheed Martin produces the missile bodies. Boeing Defense CEO Steve Parker recently said that the company intends to manufacture 850 of the warheads this year, compared with 650 in 2025.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said Kiev needs an additional 300 interceptor missiles to sustain its air defenses through the coming winter.

Media reports have pointed to a worldwide shortage of Patriot interceptors and other costly US-made munitions. The supply crunch has reportedly intensified as a result of Washington’s ongoing conflict with Iran.

Germany remains one of the Ukrainian government’s main military donors as it is also seeking to expand its own armed forces, citing what officials describe as a growing threat from Russia. Berlin’s rearmament plans have faced financial pressures and a widespread public reluctance to volunteer for military service.

Moscow maintains that the Ukraine conflict was engineered by NATO as a proxy war against Russia. Russian officials have accused the bloc of using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder” while supplying Kiev with weapons, funding and intelligence.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the attempted murder of an entrepreneur in the city of Tula. RIA Novosti has identified the victim as the head of a company that produces drones.

According to investigators, the incident occurred in the early hours of July 29 as the businessman was entering his apartment in a residential building in the center of Tula, a city about 193 km (120 miles) south of Moscow. An unidentified assailant fired several shots before fleeing the scene. The victim was rushed to a local hospital.

Russian Laboratory of Air Transport (RLAT), the Tula-based manufacturer of Ovod FPV drones, told RIA Novosti that the victim of the assassination attempt was Andrey Cherezov, the company’s founder, owner, chief designer and lead developer.

“After 2022, he began developing drones based on combat experience, turning a small company in Tula into an enterprise with a global reputation,” the company’s press office told the news agency.

Local news outlets later reported that Cherezov was returning home from work and had just reached the door of his fourth-floor apartment when the attack occurred. The assailant fired three shots at point-blank range before fleeing. The businessman’s wife opened the door after hearing the gunfire.

According to Izvestia, Cherezov was being treated in intensive care and remained in serious but stable condition.

Kommersant reported that Cherezov’s company develops drones, aerospace systems and related technologies, including secure communications, portable anti-drone radars and electronic warfare-resistant UAV systems. RLAT reportedly supplies Ovod FPV drones and UAV components to the Russian military.

According to the company’s financial statements as cited by the newspaper, RLAT reported revenue of more than 1.3 billion rubles ($16.3 million) in 2025 and a net profit of nearly 28 million rubles (about $358,000).

RIA Novosti reported on Thursday that Cherezov is listed in Ukraine’s controversial state-backed Mirotvorets database, which catalogs individuals Kiev considers enemies of the country. Earlier this month, RLAT was included in the EU’s 21st package of sanctions against Russia.

It remains unclear whether the attack on Cherezov was linked to his business activities, with investigators yet to determine the motive behind the attempted killing. Law enforcement officers are searching for the gunman, whose identity remains unknown.

Former US Coronavirus czar Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing a state investigation after declining to answer questions during a US Senate hearing on the origins of Covid-19 and the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the probe after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times on Wednesday.

“Fauci’s lack of candor to Congress is unbelievable. My office is launching an investigation into Dr. Fauci. It’s past time we get the truth of what happened during COVID,” Uthmeier wrote on X.

Senator Rand Paul, who led the hearing, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis argued that Fauci had no legal basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment because former President Joe Biden had granted him a blanket pardon covering potential federal offenses.

Fauci justified his actions by citing what he described as Paul’s “obvious obsession” with his “prosecution.”

Both Paul and DeSantis called for Fauci to be held in contempt of Congress – a formal finding that a witness has obstructed a congressional investigation.

DeSantis also said that the former White House medical adviser could face legal action at the state or local level, noting that Biden’s pardon applies only to potential federal crimes.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz called for Fauci to face criminal charges following the hearing. Speaking to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, the Texas lawmaker called the former White House medical adviser “the most damaging bureaucrat in the history of America” and said he “should go to jail.”

The investigation comes after years of clashes between Florida officials and Fauci over the federal Covid response. Under DeSantis, the Republican-run state became one of the leading critics of lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine policies promoted during the pandemic.

Australia has taken legal action against Telegram over alleged failures to tackle terrorism-related content. Just the day before, Russia launched its own case against the messaging platform and its founder, Russian-born entrepreneur Pavel Durov.

The Australian eSafety commissioner announced on Thursday that it had started civil proceedings in federal court for Telegram’s “alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material from the platform including videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings,” despite complaints from users.

The regulator said videos of the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre and the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting remained accessible on the platform for around three months before being taken down. The regulator is seeking penalties of up to A$54.6 million ($38 million).

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant argued that leaving such material online risked “normalizing extremist content” and facilitating the “recruitment and radicalization of at-risk individuals.”

The Australian case comes just a day after Russia charged Durov with facilitating terrorism. The Federal Security Service (FSB) on Wednesday accused him of failing to shut down channels allegedly used by Ukrainian special services to recruit Russian citizens to carry out terrorist attacks. The agency said it would place the Dubai-based billionaire on an international wanted list.

Telegram’s CEO responded to the charges by posting a picture of himself raising a middle finger on X. He has previously claimed Moscow’s attempts to restrict Telegram were an attack on freedom of expression.

Durov is also under criminal investigation in France, where prosecutors accuse Telegram of failing to curb criminal activity on the platform, including child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, and organized fraud. French investigators questioned him for a fourth time earlier this month.

He has dismissed the allegations, asserting that Paris is using the charges to pressure him into imposing political censorship on behalf of the West.

For much of the outside world, Africa is still imagined primarily as a rural rather than an urban continent. Its familiar visual language consists of savannahs, deserts, tropical forests, ocean shores, safaris and villages.

With a few exceptions – Cairo, Cape Town, perhaps Marrakesh – African cities have rarely become destinations or cultural symbols in their own right. Yet anyone trying to understand the continent’s future should look not only at its mines, farms and ports, but also at its construction sites, commuter routes and rapidly expanding suburbs.

The decisive process is urbanization. More than 700 million Africans already live in urban areas, and this number is expected to reach approximately 1.4 billion by 2050. Around 80% of the continent’s population growth over the coming decades will be absorbed by cities and towns. More than 60 African cities already have populations above one million; by the middle of the century, there may be around 159.

Big city life

These numbers may seem abstract until one imagines what they mean on an ordinary weekday morning. In Lagos, Nairobi, Abidjan or Dar es Salaam, urban growth is experienced as a queue for a minibus, a new row of shops beside a road, an apartment block rising behind a market, or another hour added to the daily commute.

A city expands first not in an architect’s drawing, but through millions of private decisions: a family moving closer to work, a trader renting a stall, a landowner dividing a plot, a developer adding three floors to a building originally designed for one.

For many urban residents, mobility remains a daily negotiation. Nairobi has its brightly painted matatus (minibuses); Abidjan its gbakas and shared taxis; Johannesburg its minibus networks; Lagos its motorcycles, ferries and trains.

These systems are often criticized as chaotic or unsafe. Yet they also demonstrate how quickly informal institutions emerge when formal infrastructure fails to keep pace. For many passengers, every day becomes a struggle: several forms of transport may be needed to travel between home and work, while congestion and the spatial legacies of colonial planning stretch journeys across entire metropolitan regions.

It is a restructuring of the economy. Migration from villages to cities usually involves a change in employment: agriculture ceases to be the only mass source of income, while work emerges in construction, trade, transport, services, manufacturing and public administration. Cities create consumer demand, concentrate education and healthcare, and support the formation of new professional and middle classes. Standards of housing, employment and leisure change with them.

African societies are still, in many respects, learning to live in cities of unprecedented scale. The urban culture associated with regular transport, predictable municipal services, codified land use and stable public space has not become universal.

The African city therefore often appears disordered to the outside observer. Roads turn into markets; garages become workshops; residential houses acquire shops, offices and additional floors; undeveloped land is occupied before officials complete a plan for it. But chaos is not necessarily the opposite of urban development. It may be one of its early forms.

“Announcement of the future” – or a dysfunctional community?

The architect Rem Koolhaas, who spent years studying Lagos, Nigeria, initially described it as “the ultimate dysfunctional city.” He later became interested in the initiatives that allowed it to function despite weak formal structures. At another point, he called Lagos not a backward city, but “an announcement of the future.”

Lagos often seems to anticipate problems that other global cities are only beginning to face: extreme density, informality, infrastructure operating above its intended capacity, and a constant overlap between trade, transport and public life. But there is also a danger in romanticizing improvisation.

What looks inventive to an architect visiting for a week may feel exhausting to a resident who spends four hours commuting or buys water from a tanker because the public network does not reach the neighborhood. The future African city cannot depend on improvisation alone.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, six African metropolitan areas are expected to have populations above ten million by 2035: Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Greater Johannesburg, Luanda and Dar es Salaam. Another 17 cities may exceed five million residents. Africa’s 100 leading cities are expected to account for more than 60% of the continent’s GDP by that year.

This means an extraordinary rise in demand for housing, roads, railways, offices, schools, hospitals, electricity, water and urban administration. It also means that municipal governments will increasingly resemble the governments of small countries.

Changing the scale

Lagos State illustrates the change in scale. Its proposed 2026 budget amounted to ₦4.237 trillion (around $3.06 billion). Such a figure no longer describes a municipal treasury in the traditional sense. A megacity must do more than collect waste, issue building permits and repair roads. It has to construct transport systems, manage land, organize the supply of energy and water, attract investment, create employment and respond to flooding, heat and coastal erosion.

The opening of the first phase of the Lagos Blue Line in September 2023 was therefore more than the launch of a railway. The 13-kilometre line connected Marina with Mile 2 and introduced electric urban rail to a city long dominated by roads and informal transport.

The project had been delayed for years, a reminder of the financial and administrative difficulty of building infrastructure in a rapidly changing metropolis. Yet its eventual opening also showed that African megacities are gradually acquiring the institutions needed to complete complex projects.

The physical appearance of the continent’s cities is changing alongside their systems of movement. Older images – informal settlements, unfinished buildings, rubbish dumps and overcrowded markets – have not disappeared. But beside them are new business districts, residential compounds, transport corridors, parks and administrative quarters. International firms including OMA, Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, UNStudio and SOM now treat Africa as a serious market for architecture and urban development.

What skyscrapers are for?

Skyscrapers occupy a special place in this transformation. At first glance, Africa does not need them. In many countries, land remains available, while the immediate urban problems are not a shortage of vertical space but insufficient electricity, water, sewage, transport, safety and waste management. A high-rise cannot exist apart from these systems and is therefore a test of the city beneath it.

For decades, the symbol of African high-rise construction was the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg, completed in the 1970s and rising to 223 meters. It reflected the corporate power of Johannesburg’s old central business district.

Later, South African leadership passed to The Leonardo in Sandton, which reaches 234 meters. The change was geographically revealing. Johannesburg’s business life had moved north from the historic center towards a district offering stronger private security, newer offices and more concentrated capital.

In the 2020s, the geography of African skyscrapers expanded dramatically. Egypt completed the Iconic Tower in its New Administrative Capital, reaching approximately 394 meters.

Morocco built the 250-metre Mohammed VI Tower near Rabat.

In Abidjan, the planned 421-meter Tour F is intended to become the tallest building on the continent. Addis Ababa has also produced proposals for headquarters towers exceeding 300 meters.

These projects form part of a continental competition for a new skyline. They express political confidence and the desire to place African capitals on the visual map of global modernity. Yet their meaning differs from that of many post-independence towers built during the second half of the twentieth century.

At that time, high-rises often functioned primarily as monuments to sovereignty. They declared that a newly independent state possessed ministries, banks, airlines and corporations worthy of monumental headquarters. Their economic role was sometimes secondary, and some remained partially vacant or poorly connected to the surrounding city.

Today, a skyscraper is more likely to be presented as an investment asset. It may combine offices, apartments, hotels, retail and conference facilities. It can help capitalize expensive land and meet demand from banks, telecommunications companies, energy firms and state holdings. Investment in office space can also support the formal economy: contracts, taxation, registered companies and stable employment.

But Africa’s architectural future cannot consist simply of importing the skylines of Dubai, Shanghai or New York. Glass towers designed without regard to climate can become enormously expensive machines for producing heat.

They require constant air conditioning, imported materials and uninterrupted electricity. Their façades may look modern in computer renderings but prove badly adapted to dust, humidity, intense sunlight or unreliable maintenance.

When African architects find local ways 

A different approach can be seen in the work of Burkinabè architect Diebedo Francis Kere. His buildings use local materials, shade, natural ventilation and community participation not as decorative references to tradition, but as practical technologies. The Pritzker Prize jury praised his understanding that architecture is “not about the object but the objective” and emphasized the importance of buildings rooted in place and community.

Kere’s career began not with a tower, but with a school in his home village of Gando. The building used compressed earth blocks and a raised roof to create ventilation and protect classrooms from extreme heat. Villagers participated in its construction. Years later, reflecting on the project, he said: “I wanted to give something to my people, and that has given me an international career.” This may offer a more important model for African architecture than height alone. The innovation lies in combining modern engineering with local climate, labor and materials.

Climate is already becoming one of the defining problems of African urban design. Heatwaves, floods and coastal erosion are intensifying precisely as cities grow denser.

Freetown has responded through its “Freetown the Treetown” program, which pays residents to plant and maintain geotagged trees. The program treats vegetation not as beautification but as infrastructure: shade, slope stabilization, water retention and protection against urban heat.

Across the continent, reflective roofs, shaded streets, urban forests, green roofs and climate-resilient road materials are gradually entering municipal policy. The African city of the future may therefore look less like a forest of sealed glass towers and more like a layered system of courtyards, arcades, planted streets, mixed-use districts and buildings designed to function even when electricity is interrupted.

What African urbanization means for the world

The central dilemma of African urbanization is the balance between symbol and system. Architecture cannot compensate for the absence of urban governance. Without strategic planning, a city grows as a collection of fragments: a luxury tower beside an unpaved road, a gated district beyond the reach of public transport, a railway without sufficient feeder buses, a new administrative capital separated from the population it is intended to govern.

Africa in the twenty-first century is not only a continent of demography, resources and conflicts. It is a continent of future cities. It must still answer fundamental questions: what will form the center of the city beyond the port, market and government quarter; who will finance new infrastructure; who will maintain it; and how density, accessibility, climate and local identity can be combined.

These answers matter far beyond Africa; some of the world’s largest urban agglomerations of the coming century will grow here. Their architects and governments will be forced to experiment with forms of density, transport, housing and climate adaptation for which no established global model is entirely adequate.

African urbanization is thus becoming a laboratory of the future. The skyscraper is not its main invention. It is simply one of the most visible instruments by which the success – or failure – of that experiment will be measured.

The violence in New Delhi last week amid mass student protests has ignited a debate in the country about the surveillance technology which law enforcement agencies use to tackle unrest – and how it holds up to scrutiny under Indian law. 

In addition to the shutdown of Internet services in the protest area, the jamming of mobile phones, and the recording of protesters’ Instagram handles, Delhi police also reportedly deployed facial recognition technology and biometric surveillance.

What was the technology used?

According to local media, Delhi police deployed at least three ‘Ikshana’ mobile surveillance vans, equipped with powerful cameras that continuously captured live images and compared them using AI-enabled facial recognition technology to a police database, reportedly in order to “identify criminal elements among the protesters.” 

‘Ikshana’ means vision or eye in Hindi, and each van is equipped with eight state-of-the-art cameras mounted on a telescopic mast, offering a 360-degree view. The system is integrated with artificial intelligence capabilities for facial recognition and video analytics. The vans were originally inducted by the Delhi police in 2023, ahead of the G20 summit.

Inside, officers monitor the screens as the facial recognition software processes live video feeds of the crowd, and throws up images for comparison against “a large database of criminals.” 

The AI software helps identify, or verify, the identity of the individual captured in the image by analyzing facial features and comparing them against a database of stored images in order to find potential matches.

Additional CCTV cameras were also installed around the protest site in Jantar Mantar in Delhi and connected to a mobile police control room. The police also allegedly used Meta smart glasses to snap pictures of the protesters.

Investigative journalist Srishti posted a video clip on X last week of seeing her face on the monitor of a police control van while reporting for the independent news site Article14 from the protest site. ”Delhi police were caught on camera surveilling a journalist on duty,” she claimed. 

The satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which led the protests, posted a similar video, claiming “mass-scanning citizens exercising their legal right to protest is unconstitutional.”

The overt signs of mass surveillance forced many young people, some of them students, to wear masks at the protest site. They feared the simple act of holding a poster or a placard would get them into a police database and would be used against them. Some reports quoted protesters as claiming police officers threatened to send their photos to their parents.

No surveillance, says government 

Interestingly, even as the on-site evidence and statements by senior police officers confirmed the AI-enabled surveillance, India’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta – the government’s top lawyer – told the Delhi High Court that the recordings were routine and had been conducted in order to maintain law and order: “There is no snooping. There is no surveillance.” 

The Indian government has claimed anti-social elements had infiltrated the protests. The Delhi police reportedly identified about 1,000 people with criminal records, including murder cases, from the gathering of thousands of people. 

These are, however, accusations against those individuals and not necessarily convictions.

’Manufacturing suspects’

Activists have raised several questions regarding the legality of the surveillance under Indian law. 

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) wrote last week to the Delhi police demanding that live surveillance and the facial recognition monitoring of peaceful protests be ceased immediately.

In an article published on its website, it said, citing older records of its correspondence with the Delhi police, that the force has “no specific rule for the use of facial recognition technology.”  It pointed out that a similarity score of 80% and above is treated as a positive result. “Applied to a crowd, this arithmetic manufactures suspects,” the IFF wrote.

The IFF said the police had admitted that no privacy impact assessment of facial recognition technology had ever been conducted. India’s Supreme Court recognized privacy as a fundamental right in 2017.

Curiously, the use of the databases by police rests on a 1920 law, which was only repealed in 2022. “What legal basis they rest on today is unknown,” the IFF said, adding there was ‘function creep,’ with a court permission to use the databases to trace missing children being used in other purposes.

It is also not clear which database the police are using. There are concerns that the police system is linked to the biometric and other information in the national identity database, Aadhar – which rolled out facial recognition in India.

Surveillance challenged

Student activist Aishe Ghosh has implored the Delhi High Court to declare the mass surveillance of ​protesters unconstitutional and has demanded the destruction of all personal data collected during the demonstration. She has also requested the court to frame guidelines on how surveillance technology can be used. 

Ghosh is a former president of the students union of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a member of the student wing of the opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM.

On Tuesday, the police visited the party’s Delhi office to arrest her over her alleged role in a 2021 protest. Party leaders and lawmakers shielded her from the police. 

The party has called it an attempt to “intimidate” her for taking part in the protests. When the issue was raised in Parliament, Indian Health Minister J.P. Nadda called it “a routine law-and-order action.” On Wednesday a Delhi court stayed the arrest warrant against Ghosh.

A party lawmaker filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi police’s use of the technology.

The Ukrainian Embassy in India provoked controversy with an X post on Wednesday subtly pressuring New Delhi to take a harder line on Russia and questioning the safety of Indian sailors. The post was deleted soon afterward.

Thirteen Indian seafarers are stranded aboard the MV Amir1 in Chornomorsk, Ukraine, as Russia intensifies its attacks on Ukrainian ports and other military-related infrastructure.

The Ukrainian Embassy claimed New Delhi had yet to respond to its request for a conversation between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to discuss the situation. 

It also shared India’s advisories to its nationals serving on board ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea – both conflict zones that have seen the deaths of Indian sailors – saying they offered “two different levels of protection” and testily asked whether the Russian envoy would be summoned “once again” for further explanations.

The tweet has since been deleted but it was reported on by several India media outlets.

The Indian Foreign Ministry has not commented on the Ukrainian embassy’s tweet.

India had summoned the envoys of both Russia and Ukraine to protest attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea in the last two weeks, in which five Indian sailors have died.

New Delhi also issued a maritime advisory telling Indian seafarers in the conflict zone to exercise utmost caution and take voyage-specific risk assessments before entering the region. 

The Black Sea notice and India’s earlier one on the Strait of Hormuz  – despite their slightly differing language – are just advisories. Ship owners and captains ultimately decide where their ships go and it is not practical to disembark, and re-embark, sailors while transiting a conflict zone.

In response to India’s earlier protest, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Russia had explained its position to India, and that “our armed forces are striking and will continue to strike those vessels involved in transporting ammunition, weapons and so on for the Kiev regime.”

Breaking: Ukraine President Zelensky thanks US Senators for bill that threatens India and four other countries with up to 100% tariffs for buying Russian oil and gas pic.twitter.com/jHXeB9URH1

— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) July 29, 2026

The embassy tweet came soon after Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who is currently in Washington, welcomed the US Senate advancing legislation that would see the top five buyers of Russian energy hit with 100% tariffs on their exports to the United States. India is the second largest buyer of Russian oil.

India’s embassy in Ukraine said on Wednesday that the MV Amir1’s situation has been brought to its attention. “We attach the highest priority to this and are in constant touch with all concerned to ensure safety and security of all Indians onboard,” it posted on X.

A situation regarding MV AMIR1 with Indian seafarers onboard has been brought to our attention. We attach the highest priority to this and are in constant touch with all concerned to ensure safety and security of all Indians onboard. @MEAIndia

— India in Ukraine (@IndiainUkraine) July 29, 2026

Ukraine’s ambassador to New Delhi, Aleksandr Polishchuk, told news agency ANI that “India definitely has a very good relationship with the Russian Federation, and its reputation internationally is very big. We are always asking the Indian government to support us in bringing Russia to the negotiation table.”

The Ukrainian military unit at the centre of multiple torture and murder investigations has warned the public to focus on supporting the army, and not on  scandals linked to brutality in the ranks.

The 425th Separate Assault “Skelia” Regiment is alleged to have suffered a significantly high number of non-combat deaths, allegedly linked to the systematic mistreatment of trainees and other unlawful practices.

An investigation set up following media reports of brutality and death during training resulted in arrests, the latest of which were on Tuesday, involving two Skelia medics.

The Skelia Assault Regiment responds to critics

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Skelia’s command accused “political forces, public organizations, bloggers and some media outlets” of exploiting the scandal.

“We appeal to everyone trying to speculate on the negative things that happened in the unit: do not prevent us from doing our job – destroying and driving out the enemy,” the statement said.

Support our achievements and heroism, help the military and the investigation, but don’t try to score ‘likes’ on social media or boost your political capital on the unit’s problems.

Several Ukrainian public figures have accused former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov of amplifying the scandal to weaken former Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Syrsky. Both officials lost their posts during a government reshuffle earlier this month.

Shortly after the first reports brutality and mistreatment emerged, Skelia commander Lt. Col. Yury Harkaviy was suspended, while this week two combat medics have been arrested on suspicion of unlawfully detaining and torturing soldiers.

Another Skelia member has been arrested for allegedly attacking a military chaplain and a lieutenant colonel from a separate unit.

Ukraine's military scandals not limited to Skelia

The former commander of Ukraine's 154th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Stanislav Luchanov, who served in the 425th brigade, is under arrest in connection with the murder of two civilians who were allegedly in dispute with his wife, by two soldiers under his command.

The latter case triggered further controversy after military veteran Col. Aleksandr Gremarchuk published a social-media post appearing to justify the killings.

Gremarchuk accused “crooked politicians, schemers and draft dodgers” of fostering hostility toward the armed forces and said he would respond violently to anyone who insulted his family.

“If someone wants to know whether I would waste a civilian for my family: I say yes. A civilian, or a military man. I’d personally carve one up like a pig for Easter,” he wrote.

The Facebook post was liked by an account belonging to former Commander in Chief and current Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhny, widely seen as a potential rival to Vladimir Zelensky in any election. 

Ukraine's growing military-civilian divide

Relations between the armed forces and civilian society have already been strained by the military's frontline losses, rampant defense sector corruption and Kiev's deeply unpopular mobilization campaign.

Roaming conscription gangs frequently use brutal force to detain potential recruits in public places, a practice widely referred to in Ukraine and internationally as ‘busification.’

The conscription system is known to be widely corrupt, with critics claiming that wealthy or politically connected men can use bribes and influence to avoid service.

Before the escalation of the conflict in 2022 Ukraine ranked 122nd out of 180 countries for corruption, alongside Eswatini and behind Zambia, Nepal, Egypt, Algeria, and the Philippines.

Widespread public anger at the brutal, corrupt and deeply unpopular system has triggered several large protests in recent months, most notably a major disturbance in Lviv, known as a Ukrainian nationalist heartland. The military cracked down on the riot and reportedly began a campaign of harassment against suspected participants.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, has warned that the country could soon face cases of mob justice as public confidence in the military’s accountability sinks to new lows.

The events in Lviv “must show all of us that the boiling point in Ukrainian society has almost been reached,” he said.

Five Kenyan security officers were killed after their patrol vehicle struck an improvised explosive device near the Somali border allegedly planted by Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, Kenyan police have said.

The officers included four members of Kenya’s elite Special Operations Group (SOG) and one National Police Reservist. The reports also said gunfire was exchanged after the blast before the suspected terrorists fled the area.

“A patrol team from SOG Alungu came into contact with Al-Shabaab militants in the general area of Wantey Dam,” a police officer said as quoted by Reuters.

The attack took place at around 12 PM in El-Raamo in the Kutulo area on the Alungu route, a road commonly used by Kenyan security forces near the border with Somalia. According to the reports, the victims included Administration Police officers Ngaira Wekesa, Patrick Mwaura Karumba, Peter Mbugua Mburu and Yasin Kiptoo Lomer, as well as National Police Reservist Adan Adow Gedi. 

The attack is the latest in a series of security incidents in northeastern Kenya, where Al-Shabaab has targeted security personnel and civilians near the Somali border. In January, suspected militants killed Senior Chief Abdi Gani Owl and primary school teacher Stephen Musili in neighboring Garissa County.

Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent groups, particularly Al-Shabaab, have been carrying out regular attacks in several African countries since 2007. The terrorist group continues to conduct raids, bombings, and targeted assassinations in an effort to destabilize the Somali government and regional security structures, and also establish its own rule based on a hard-line interpretation of Sharia law.

The latest attack comes months after Somali government forces reported major operations against Al-Shabaab. In June, Somalia’s Ministry of Defense said government troops, supported by airstrikes, killed more than 30 militants in the Somali Middle Shabelle region. 

In March, Somali troops eliminated nine terrorists in another operation in Lower Shabelle, while two separate security operations the same month left 22 more fighters dead.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Rwanda have traded accusations over a proposed plan to disarm a militant group operating on the Congolese side of their shared border, exposing renewed tensions over a peace deal mediated by US President Donald Trump.

Kinshasa announced on Tuesday that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) has signed a protocol covering disarmament, demobilization, and relocation to designated cantonment sites.

Congolese Regional Integration Minister Floribert Anzuluni said FDLR members would not be forcibly returned to Rwanda, while fighters and their dependents could relocate to a third country if conditions for voluntary repatriation were not met. He said there was no agreed estimate of the number involved, while the cantonment sites and implementation timetable were still being determined.

The FDLR, formed by ethnic Hutu fighters including some linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has operated in eastern DR Congo for decades. Kigali has accused Congolese forces of cooperating with the group, which it considers a threat to Rwanda.

Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya described the protocol as a “major turning point” in addressing the FDLR issue, saying it complies with the Washington Accords and demonstrates Kinshasa’s progress toward fulfilling its commitments.

He accused Rwanda of using the FDLR’s presence as a pretext to justify aggression against DR Congo for 30 years.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe rejected the protocol as a “delaying maneuver” by Kinshasa, arguing that the FDLR is not a party to the Washington Accords but the armed group targeted by their security provisions.

“The FDLR genocidaires are not a party to these accords; they are instead their subject,” he wrote on X, adding that DR Congo’s principal security obligation was supposed to be fulfilled within 90 days.

Nduhungirehe also accused Kinshasa of intensifying military support for the FDLR and integrating many of its fighters into the Congolese army since the accords were signed on December 4, 2025. DR Congo has previously denied supporting the armed group.

The leaders of DR Congo and Rwanda formalized the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity in the US capital last December. The deal commits both sides to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, cease hostilities, support the disengagement of armed forces, facilitate the return of refugees, and promote regional economic cooperation. It requires Kinshasa to neutralize the FDLR and Rwanda to lift its “defensive measures,” which DR Congo says means withdrawing Rwandan troops from its territory.

Relations between the two African states have been strained for decades by the rebel war in eastern Congo. Kinshasa has repeatedly accused Kigali of backing the M23 rebel group, allegations the Rwandan government has denied.

Thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since fighting between M23 and Congolese forces escalated in January 2025, with the rebels seizing Goma, the capital of North Kivu, and Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.

Russian forces carried out long-range strikes across Ukraine overnight, targeting airfields, defense industry facilities, telecommunications infrastructure and logistics hubs, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

The attacks struck targets in Kiev and Lviv, as well as in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhitomir, Rovno, Vinnitsa and Dnepropetrovsk, the ministry announced on Thursday morning.

According to Ukrainian media, around half of the Russian missiles and drones launched during the barrage were directed at western Ukraine. Metro stations in Kiev reportedly became overcrowded as residents sought shelter ahead of the expected attacks.

The Russian military said the operation focused on facilities used to manufacture, store and deploy Ukrainian missiles and drones involved in long-range strikes against Russia. Three vessels suspected of transporting military cargo were also targeted, the ministry added.

In a later update, the ministry listed the specific locations it had selected for the strikes. They included The Mayak plant in Kiev, which produces components for FP-1 and FP-2 kamikaze drones, and another drone plant in the Ukrainian capital. The two locations hit in Lviv were involved in the production of missile engines and electronic components for long-range missiles, it said.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russia struck locations involved in the production of FB-5 Flamingo and Neptun-MD missiles and other long-range weapons as well as naval drones, the ministry added.

Meanwhile, overnight Ukrainian attacks reportedly struck two warehouses belonging to the Russian e-commerce company Wildberries in Penza and Sarapul. The firm said one person was injured.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said that it had lost another F-16 fighter jet during a combat interception mission. The pilot ejected and was rescued, according to Kiev.

Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure and commercial vessels since Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day “pressure campaign” against Moscow last month. Ukrainian officials have said the campaign is intended to damage the Russian economy and make the public feel the effects of the conflict more directly.

Zelensky traveled to Washington this week for talks with US President Donald Trump; he is seeking additional Patriot interceptor missiles for Ukraine’s air defenses. However, American stockpiles have reportedly been substantially reduced by the conflict with Iran and could take years to replenish, suggesting that Kiev’s shortage of key air-defense munitions is unlikely to be resolved soon.

Russian operations aimed at disrupting Ukrainian maritime shipments have meanwhile reportedly brought commercial traffic close to a standstill, with shipping companies considering the route too dangerous. Ukraine relies heavily on its Black Sea ports to export wheat, metals and other major commodities.

British energy regulator Ofgem on Wednesday proposed fees and stricter rules for AI data center developers to cull “unviable, stalled or speculative projects” that are taking up scarce grid capacity amid skyrocketing electricity demand.

It comes as the UK moves to grow its cloud computing and artificial intelligence industries but grapples with a sharp spike in grid connection requests – which Ofgem says have more than tripled in less than a year.

The amount of electricity capacity being sought by firms wanting to plug into the UK’s grid spiked from 41 gigawatts to 125 gigawatts between November 2024 and June 2025, driven largely by demand from data center projects, the regulator said in a press release on Wednesday.

The figure is nearly triple the UK’s 2025 peak electricity demand of around 46 gigawatts.

Under the proposed rules, developers would have to pay a refundable fee of between £237,500 and £712,500 ($316,000 to $947,000) per megawatt of electricity, Ofgem said. The fee would be forfeited if a project exits the grid connection queue before reaching energization.

The measure is expected to “tackle unviable, stalled and speculative projects,” according to the regulator.

In March, the UK government announced reforms aimed at clearing speculative grid connection requests, which it said more than quadrupled in the six months prior.

The reforms come as Brits face an ongoing energy price crunch; electricity and gas prices more than doubled in the UK in 2022 following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, when most European nations imposed sanctions on Russia and began phasing out cheap Russian gas supplies for more expensive alternatives. According to Ofgem, this year’s average household energy bill is expected to be around £1,862, almost 50% higher than in 2021.

While the Western restrictions had a detrimental impact on the Russian economy, it has adapted to them and learned to “minimize their effects,” according to Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned that “sanctions are a double-edged sword” and hurt both Russia and the countries that impose them.

The US military has warned troops in the Middle East against filming the aftermath of Iranian drone and missile attacks, with some personnel in Jordan reportedly told that their mobile phones could soon be confiscated to strengthen “operational security.”

The head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, claimed in a July 28 letter obtained by Reuters that photos and videos published by American service members were helping Tehran improve the accuracy of its strikes.

Cooper complained that journalists and online “open-source intelligence” researchers were effectively conducting battle-damage assessments for Tehran.

“Iran knows the weapons were fired; however, their forces do not know if they missed by 50 meters, hit an empty tarmac, or successfully struck a crowded facility,” Cooper wrote. “Detailed lists, descriptions, and analyses of what was hit, openly published by news outlets, are essentially performing Iran’s Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) for them, free of charge.”

One video cited by Cooper was recorded using Meta smart glasses during a deadly Iranian missile and drone attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17. The footage showed US troops running for shelter and entering a bunker as warning sirens blared.

Video captures the moment that several Iranian medium to intermediate-range ballistic missiles struck Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan overnight, killing at least two and injuring several other American Servicemembers. pic.twitter.com/cJz39E1LvP

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 18, 2026

Separate close-range footage from the same night appeared to capture multiple ballistic missiles directly striking the Jordanian facility. The Pentagon later confirmed that three American service members had been killed in the attack.

Two sources told Reuters that troops stationed in Jordan had been informed that their phones would be taken away in the coming days. A third said broader restrictions were being considered across the region, although CENTCOM described Cooper’s letter as merely a general security reminder.

While the Pentagon’s stated concern is that Iran may take advantage of the footage, the restrictions would also make it considerably harder for the public to independently assess the true impact of Iranian attacks.

The possible phone seizures would give Washington greater control over the flow of information. CENTCOM routinely publishes short, curated clips of American aircraft taking off, missiles being launched and Iranian targets being struck.

Meanwhile, firsthand recordings of Iranian attacks are rare, as allies hosting US bases in the region have also imposed strict bans on filming and penalties for violations. Such videos have contradicted the limited picture presented in official statements, which routinely emphasize successful interceptions or describe Iranian attacks as unsuccessful without detailing damage, casualties or equipment losses.

Concerns about transparency have grown since the US Department of War quietly updated its database over the weekend to show that 18 service members had been killed and 624 wounded since the war began on February 28. Lawmakers have demanded more information about damage to radar systems, aircraft hangars, barracks and other infrastructure at US bases.

The US has launched a “powerful” bombing raid against Iran after US President Donald Trump warned that it was “our turn to hit them,” following Tehran’s ballistic missile attack on American forces in Jordan the previous night.

US Central Command said the new strikes began at 8 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday.

“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East,” CENTCOM announced.

The command did not immediately identify the targets, disclose how many aircraft or missiles were involved, or say how long the operation was expected to continue.

Iranian media reported explosions across several southern regions shortly after the US operation began. Press TV said areas around the southwestern city of Abadan had come under missile strikes, while blasts were also heard on Qeshm Island and in the southern port city of Bushehr. There were no immediate reports of casualties or details about the facilities targeted.

Trump had warned earlier on Wednesday that Iran was about to face a harsh response, reportedly telling Fox News: “We’re going to beat the f***ing s**t out of them.”

Speaking later at the White House, Trump said Iran had fired five missiles at American forces and credited US Patriot air-defense systems with intercepting all of them. “We’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them,” he added.

CENTCOM described Tuesday’s missile launch as an attempted “surprise attack,” claiming that all the incoming projectiles had been intercepted. The command did not initially mention Jordan, saying only that the missiles had targeted US forces “based in the Middle East.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later claimed responsibility for the attack. The IRGC said it was responding to “aggressive actions” by the US military and warned that its operations would continue as long as Washington persisted with what it called “illegal and malicious actions” against Iranian interests.

The renewed US bombing ended a brief pause that began after Trump suspended a 13-night campaign of strikes last Friday to allow negotiations with Tehran to proceed. He had warned, however, that military action would resume if diplomacy failed.

German auto giant BMW is planning to slash some 8,000 jobs globally by the end of 2027, according to several news media outlets, including Reuters and Bloomberg. German workers are expected to be particularly affected as the manufacturer is dealing with high production costs in Europe, as well as plunging sales in China, according to the reports.

The company allegedly offered buyouts to those in research, development, planning and other corporate departments as part of a deal aimed at pushing through with the plan. Factory workers would not be eligible for the deal, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

BMW CEO Milan Nedeljkovic is expected to announce a voluntary reduction program at a staff meeting this week, the sources said, adding that the scheme would be launched in October and run through 2027. The company will reportedly slash around 5% of its total workforce.

The automaker employed 87,436 people in Germany as of late 2025, which accounted for more than a half of its global headcount. The company has already been making gradual reductions, with a reported decrease of 2.3% compared to 2024, according to Bloomberg.

It comes just a day after another German carmaker, Porsche, announced plans to eliminate another 5,000 jobs by 2035, bringing its total planned reduction to around 9,400 positions. Its parent company, Volkswagen, is considering slashing up to 100,000 jobs amid a protracted industrial slump caused by high energy prices.

The Federation of German Industries (BDI) warned last week that the nation’s industrial sector was losing 15,000 jobs every month in what it described as a “critical” situation.
Once Europe’s industrial powerhouse, Germany has struggled with near-zero growth for years. It contracted in both 2023 and 2024, the first back-to-back annual decline in more than two decades, and is forecast to grow by just 0.5% this year. Corporate insolvencies also rose by more than 22% in each of those years, according to official data.

The crisis has been repeatedly linked by officials and business representatives to high energy costs resulting from Berlin’s decision to abandon cheap Russian oil and gas imports. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted earlier this month that Germany’s “ongoing energy crisis [was] due to the lack of Russian gas.”

Before Germany’s decision to join the EU’s sanctions and de facto impose a Russian energy embargo upon itself, Russia supplied 55% of the country’s natural gas imports. Last week, the newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported that the nation had been paying five times as much for imported gas as it did before abandoning long-term Russian supply contracts.