“Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentine President Javier Milei used a trip to the country to criticize its leaders and judiciary, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday. In his second visit to the country, Milei arrived in Brazil on Friday to throw his weight behind Senator Flavio Bolsonaro’s presidential run. The eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday officially launched his bid to unseat Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been extending his lead ahead of October´s elections. … The two countries have a virtually non-existent diplomatic relationship. Milei has not sought an official meeting with Lula on either trip to Brazil, nor has the Brazilian leader shown any interest in hosting him.” (07/26/26)
“A federal judge last week drew a sharp line around President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, ruling the broadcaster can probe how Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech was understood by the public — but cannot relitigate the riot at the U.S. Capitol itself. … Trump filed a lawsuit against the BBC in December in a personal capacity for both defamation and for a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for $5 billion apiece, seeking $10 billion total.” (07/26/26)
“More than 600 U.S. service members have been wounded since the war with Iran began in February, Pentagon statistics indicate, following a quiet weekend update to a casualty database that had days earlier sharply revised the toll downward. The update follows reports last week that the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System revised the death toll of U.S. service members killed in fighting with Iran downward from 18 to 14 and the number wounded from 482 to 420, along with other discrepancies between the database and publicly reported information, prompting Democrats to call on the Pentagon for a full accounting.” (07/27/26)
“Shein says it swung to a quarterly loss as its sales slowed after US President Donald Trump removed an import duty exemption on small packages. It also comes as uncertainty remains over the tit-for-tat US-China tariffs wars, which is currently paused. The fast-fashion giant, which has its headquarters in Singapore but was founded in China, said it lost $99m (£74.1m) in the first three months of the year, compared with a net income of $395m a year earlier. … The so-called de minimis exemption had allowed goods valued at $800 or less to enter the US without paying any tariffs. US consumers relied on the exemption to buy cheap goods from online commerce sites like Shein and Temu.” (07/27/26)
“Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has launched a new political party, formalising his split with former ally Ousmane Sonko and setting up a struggle for control of the reform movement that swept them to power in 2024. The creation of Kiiraay-The Republican Patriots on Saturday formalised the collapse of the alliance between Faye and Sonko after months of tensions over the direction of the government and Senegal’s mounting economic challenges. The new party grew out of the Diomaye President coalition, which backed Faye’s successful 2024 presidential campaign. Speaking before supporters in Dakar, Faye portrayed Kiiraay as a movement centred on institutions rather than personalities.” (07/26/26)
“SpaceX launched it’s 13th Super Heavy-Starship rocket Friday, with the giant booster chalking up an on-target but ‘hard’ splashdown off the Texas Gulf Coast while the Starship upper stage carried out a successful sub-orbital hop to the Indian Ocean. … It was the second test flight of a third-generation Super Heavy-Starship, building on lessons learned during the initial flight of a ‘V3’ rocket in May when the booster missed its landing target and the Starship suffered an early engine shutdown on the way to space. This time around, the booster appeared to perform as planned throughout its ascent …. But as the booster dropped toward the Gulf, only 10 of 13 engines restarted and at the moment of splashdown, only five appeared to be running. … the Starship deployed 20 third-generation Starlink internet satellites in a real-world test of the rocket’s Pez-like payload dispenser, releasing the satellites one at a time from a slot near the nose of the vehicle.” (07/25/26)
“Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) was indicted on bribery charges on Friday following a monthslong state investigation into a campaign finance scandal. Luke was accused of accepting campaign finance contributions in 2022 while she was a state lawmaker in exchange for securing funding for COVID-19 testing sites. A Hawaii grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging Luke with criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports among other charges, according to the state’s Department of the Attorney General. … The charges stem from allegations that Luke accepted at least $35,000 in campaign contributions from businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum in exchange for support for testing sites operated by the National Kidney Foundation, where Solidum served as a lobbyist and consultant.” (07/25/26)
“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)
