“Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala, a key figure in a ongoing police corruption inquiry in South Africa, has withdrawn from a controversial plea deal, serving a blow to prosecutors. The business tycoon pulled out of the agreement after a South African court recommended a higher jail sentence – 12 years instead of the agreed eight. Matlala was accused of bribing top police officials to win a 360m rand ($22m; £16.5m) tender for his health company Medicare24 in 2024. He pleaded guilty last month, as part of a deal that could have seen Matlala giving key evidence against senior officials. Though disappointed by Matlala’s U-turn, the state still believes it has a ‘strong and winnable case’, Kaizer Kganyago, a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told journalists on Monday.” (07/13/26)
“India’s consumer price inflation rose to 4.38% in June, up from 3.93% in May as the U.S.-Iran war and a weak monsoon raised food and fuel prices, adding to cost pressures. The headline inflation number was above economists’ expectations for a 4.30% rise, according to a Reuters poll. … Last month, India’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged but said it expects inflation to rise and growth to temper in the financial year ending March 2027.” (07/13/26)
“The European Union coordinated efforts to raise 900 million euros ($1 billion) in aid for Gaza, working with 65 governments and organizations including the White House and the United Nations, the bloc’s top diplomat said Monday. Kaja Kallas announced the fund after a meeting of the Palestine Donors Group in Brussels. ‘The EU is the most credible supporter, for the Palestinian people. We are the largest donor and the strongest backer of the two-state solution,’ she said. The meeting was the second gathering of the Team Gaza Initiative, an effort by the EU to rally support for recovery projects like sanitation and farming in the destitute and war-ravaged coastal enclave of some 2 million people.” (07/13/26)
“El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has secured the nomination of his ruling Nuevas Ideas party for the 2027 presidential election, the party said late on Sunday, following legal changes that cleared the way for his seeking a third term. … In July 2025, the ruling party’s allies in Congress dismantled previous constitutional safeguards and approved new measures that allow indefinite presidential reelection.” (07/13/26)
“A driver was shot dead Monday while [supposedly] trying to mow down Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [gang members] in Maine, according to authorities. Graphic footage on social media shows a man lying by the side of the road near a car, with a bullet hole visible through the driver’s side of the front windshield following the incident in Biddeford just after 7:15 a.m., the Portland Press Herald reported. The unidentified driver reportedly accelerated at ICE [gang members] at an intersection in the small town before the officers shot him dead, eyewitnesses said. … Details on the fatal shooting are still coming through, although locals reported seeing an increase in ICE [gang] activity in Biddeford in recent weeks.” (07/13/26)
“A proposed legal settlement with the U.S. government would require the Keystone Pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a major oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents. The agreement would resolve allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated U.S. and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.” (07/12/26)
“Every weekday morning, Shilpi Chotrani rides her bicycle from her home in the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción to Gibraltar. It’s a short journey but it means crossing an international border. A British Overseas Territory of around 40,000 inhabitants, Gibraltar has a border control for those entering and leaving. That means that during the morning and afternoon rush hours, when around 15,000 Spaniards who work in the territory cross the frontier, there can be long, time-consuming queues. … But from 15 July, it is scheduled to see a new development – the removal of the border, allowing freedom of movement between Spain and Gibraltar.” (07/13/26)
“The European Union will [pretend it has the ability to] impose a minimum age for young internet users to access social media without parental supervision, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday. … Von der Leyen said the bloc would consider age restrictions for other online services too, and will start work on determining which platforms are harmful [sic] to minors.” (07/13/26)
“Social media companies might soon be forced to remove the addictive features that keep teenagers online for hours on end — including the ubiquitous infinite scroll. Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach, initially introduced Assembly Bill 1709 in February as a proposal that would prohibit teenagers from using social media platforms that are designed to be dangerously addictive. But after deliberations over several hearings in the California Legislature between lawmakers, advocates and a prominent Big Tech lobby, all agreed that age-gating the internet could ultimately do more harm than good. So, last month, Lowenthal amended his bill to instead require the companies, including behemoths like Meta and Reddit, to come up with an alternative, less addictive feed for underage users. If the companies can’t abide, then kids under 16 will be unable to make accounts on their platforms.” (07/13/26)
“The US Justice Department launched a grand jury investigation into allegations that the head of the United Auto Workers pressured another high-ranking union official to secure benefits for his fiancée and her sister, according to internal communications within the labor organization. A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the union’s court-appointed monitor as it probes the claims against President Shawn Fain, according to emails seen by Bloomberg News. The messages were sent to Fain, UAW Vice President Rich Boyer and members of the law firm representing the union. Fain called the allegations ‘false’ in a statement to Bloomberg and accused Boyer, whose complaints to the monitor drew early scrutiny to union leadership, of trying to influence the upcoming UAW election.” (07/12/26)
