“Israeli [squatters] in the occupied West Bank set fire to two mosques early Sunday as well as scrawling buildings with graffiti that local Palestinian officials near Nablus said called for ‘revenge.’ ‘The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had already been furnished with couches. They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls,’ said Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra outside Nablus. The Israeli military confirmed that graffiti and traces of arson were found when they inspected the area. … Separately, Palestinian authorities said Israeli [squatters] had sought to burn a mosque near Kour and attacked Palestinian laborers at a stone-cutting facility near Ramallah.” (07/26/26)
“Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said a deadly Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea ‘cannot go unanswered’, calling it a violation of the United Nations Charter. In a social media post on Sunday, Araghchi accused Israel of provoking the attack in an attempt to ‘drag Europe into its war’. … Ukraine said it had targeted a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iranian-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea. But the Foreign Ministry said Iran ‘has never intervened in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine’. Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker has warned Ukraine could face retaliation over the strike.” (07/27/26)
“Russia considers it premature to comment on reports that the United States and Ukraine are discussing a possible halt to aerial attacks as part of efforts to end the war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday. A Ukrainian source told Reuters that Ukrainian and U.S. officials had discussed a proposal for an air ceasefire to present to Russia as part of a new push to revive peace talks aimed at ending the conflict triggered by Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The source said Ukraine had approached Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past with offers of a ceasefire, which had been turned down. However, some officials believe that pressure on Russia’s economy from ongoing Ukrainian drone and missile strikes may soften Putin’s stance.” (07/26/26)
“Flavio Bolsonaro on Saturday formally launched his campaign for Brazil’s October presidential election, seeking to extend his family’s grip on the country’s far-right movement despite a series of scandals that have dented his once-strong challenge to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. … Far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro anointed his eldest son, a senator, as his successor after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s 2022 election.” (07/25/26)
“Andy Burnham has ruled out calling an early general election and said he will ‘honour’ Keir Starmer’s manifesto. The new Prime Minister insisted he ‘faced the public’ in the Makerfield by-election and had a mandate for his sweeping changes to the country. Burnham was speaking after a busy first week in the top job, during which he pledged to roll out the biggest changes the UK has seen in four years. … Burnham’s vow means the country should not face a general election until 2029, five years after Keir Starmer swept to power in 2024. There had been speculation that the new PM would want to go to the polls after he wiped out Reform’s poll leader almost immediately after entering No 10.” (07/26/26)
“Thousands of Tunisians have rallied in the capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied, denouncing worsening living conditions, democratic backsliding and mismanagement of the state. Crowds marched down Habib Bourguiba Avenue in central Tunis on Saturday as the country marked five years since Saied declared a national emergency, suspended parliament and later dissolved it in order to rule by decree. It’s the latest in a run of recent protests opposing crackdowns on dissent, a struggling economy and limits on press freedoms. Saied’s opponents accused him of abusing emergency measures to institute a reversal of Tunisia’s hard-won democratic transition process.” (07/26/26)
“One of the FBI’s most wanted alleged COVID-19 fraud fugitives has been returned to the United States after authorities captured her in Jamaica. FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital she had been living under the fake identity ‘Harley Newman’ while evading charges tied to an alleged $32 million pandemic relief fraud scheme. Elaine Angene Escoe, 41, arrived back in South Florida Thursday after Jamaican authorities arrested her after a federal manhunt. Prosecutors allege she helped fraudulently obtain more than $32 million in taxpayer-funded COVID-19 relief funds before fleeing the country after failing to appear in federal court.” (07/25/26)
“The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group. Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack.” (07/26/26)
“Scott Winters was having dizzy spells but decided not to see a doctor after ChatGPT told him it would take several more serious episodes before he would need care. Instead, it recommended he lounge in a recliner. But weeks later, Winters would find himself being wheeled into an emergency room, convulsing and slipping in and out of consciousness, suffering from multiple blood clots in his lungs. … Winters is now suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI for not only providing unlicensed medical advice but also actively discouraging Winters from seeing a doctor. … Just one day after Winters filed his complaint, the company publicly released ChatGPT Health, a model based on a later version of ChatGPT, designed to interpret intimate medical records and give users health guidance.” (07/25/26)
“The Department of Agriculture on Friday lifted a ban on cattle imports from Mexico that had been in place to contain the spread of a parasite threatening U.S. livestock. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said Douglas, Ariz., would be the first port of entry to be open on Aug. 24. All cattle imports from Mexico were halted by the Biden administration in November 2024, when the first cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm were detected in the south of the country.” (07/25/26)
