“Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been released after he was detained during growing protests over the education system. This comes as opposition parties staged a protest at parliament on Wednesday demanding the resignation of India’s education minister, echoing the demands of student demonstrators. The protests, which have been led predominantly by students and a social media-driven movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Protesters have called for the resignation of Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a leak of medical school test papers forced more than two million medical students to retake their exams and was linked to at least 12 student suicides. Gandhi and other opposition leaders were detained on Tuesday during a sit-in outside Modi’s residence in New Delhi while accusing the government of ignoring student demands.” (07/22/26)
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. war against Iran has cost $37.5 billion, so far, as he is facing questions and protests at a Senate hearing ahead of a $95 billion GOP budget package to fund the military, along with aid to farmers and voting law changes that are top White House priorities. Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier accounts, during testmnony before the Senate Appropriations Committee. … Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are also testifying before the panel. … War funding makes up the bulk of the GOP’s new budget proposal, one last priority package the Republicans hope to launch before lawmakers recess to campaign for the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.” (07/21/26)
“The Ukrainian president fired his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday, bowing to pressure after the removal of popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov sparked the fiercest leadership crisis of his presidency. President Volodomyr Zelenskyy announced in a post on Telegram that Syrskyi will be replaced by Mykhailo Drapatyi. Zelenskyy’s decision to fire Fedorov, one of his closest allies, led to rare wartime protests on the streets of Kyiv. Fedorov publicly aired his disagreements over military strategy with Syrskyi, known as ‘The Butcher.’ Syrskyi, 60, is a more traditional military commander focused on infantry and artillery, while Fedorov, 35, is seen as a modernizer, whose focus on technological advancements in drone warfare has led to Ukraine’s recent successes in hitting Russia.” (07/21/26)
“Republican voters in Tuesday’s Arizona primaries nominated conservative [sic] candidates for high-profile races for governor and a U.S. House seat, as Democrats rallied behind moderates [sic] leading up to the November 3 midterm elections. The results also marked wins for U.S. President Donald Trump, who endorsed victorious Republicans in two of the most-watched primary races. U.S. Representative Andy Biggs comfortably won the Republican nomination for governor and will face Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, who was unopposed in her primary. With Trump’s endorsement in hand, Biggs handily defeated U.S. Representative David Schweikert and two other candidates, according to media projections. … Meanwhile, former professional football player Jay Feely, who is also backed by Trump, defeated two challengers, secured the Republican nomination that puts him on the November ballot for election to Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.” (07/21/26)
“French lawmakers have adopted a bill prohibiting minors under 15 years old from accessing social media. French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the bill’s passage in a social media post Tuesday, shortly after it received approval by both chambers of Parliament, saying it was now up to the Constitutional Council, which reviews the constitutionality of legislation, to rule on the measure. The bill, the first of its kind within the European Union, also enforces a ban on cellphones in secondary schools. … If the bill is greenlit by the Constitutional Council, the ban will take effect starting in September 2026. Some left-wing lawmakers have questioned the measure’s constitutionality and the government’s ability to actually enforce the ban, among other things.” (07/21/26)
“The Trump administration has paused more than $1bn in Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota, citing ‘suspected fraud and noncompliance’ – withholding of funding that follows a $243m pause in Medicaid payments to Minnesota earlier this year. ‘If those states want that money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate,’ said Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said at a press conference on Tuesday. Officials relied on AI to identify potential fraud, Kennedy said.” (07/21/26)
“A federal judge on Monday ordered the release of a woman [abducted] by ICE at Logan International Airport after traveling to Boston for a Noah Kahan concert. Maria Rosales, 32, a former DACA recipient whose application to renew her spot in the immigration program has been pending since 2023, was [abducted] at the airport while trying to fly home to Florida on July 10. She has been detained at an ICE [concentration camp] in Burlington since then, according to court filings. US District Judge Myong J. Joun ordered that Rosales be released by 7 p.m. Monday. Rosales was no longer listed on ICE’s detainee locator website on Tuesday morning.” (07/21/26)
“Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will summon China’s ambassador in Manila, his office said on Tuesday, hours after Manila’s envoy in Beijing was similarly summoned following accusations by both sides of provoking tensions in the contested South China Sea. Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro confirmed to reporters Marcos had summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan at 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, China’s foreign ministry said it summoned Manila’s envoy to China. The summoning of ambassadors comes a day after the Philippines and China accused each other [over] an encounter in the Second Thomas Shoal of the South China Sea. Philippine officials said one of its navy personnel was struck on the head but Beijing said Manila provoked the incident.” (07/21/26)
“A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín said in a Monday ruling that the class-action settlement provides ‘meaningful relief’ to affected authors and publishers. About 91% of the more than 482,000 books covered by the ruling have been claimed by authors or publishers who are now due payment. Plaintiff attorney Justin Nelson said in a statement that the settlement was ‘the largest known copyright recovery in history. We look forward to making distributions to the Class as promptly as possible.'” (07/21/26)
“Prosecutors and investigators with Hungary’s tax authority on Tuesday raided offices housing data servers used by former prime minister Viktor Orbán ‘s Fidesz party as part of a probe into suspected embezzlement and other crimes, a prosecutor’s office spokesperson told The Associated Press. Fidesz accused the governing Tisza party, led by pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar, of seeking to use legal means to destroy it. Marianna Bodó, a spokesperson for the Bács-Kiskun County chief prosecutor’s office, said in an email that the raid was part of an investigation into the suspected misuse of grant money through Hungary’s National Cultural Fund while Orbán’s government was in office.” (07/21/26)
