Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“China’s economic growth slowed sharply between the start of April and end of June as weak domestic demand and the Iran war’s impact on oil prices overshadowed the country’s strong exports. Official gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed the world’s second largest economy grew in the second quarter by 4.3%, below Beijing’s annual target, and after a 5% rise in the first quarter. … The announcement represents the first full quarter of GDP data since the start of the Iran war on 28 February and marks the lowest quarterly expansion since the end of 2022, as China was emerging from its strict Covid-19 restrictions.” (07/15/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd959x4edy8o
Source: The Fifth Column
“The Iran Deal Is Dead. The War Is Back.” (07/15/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/there-is-no-they-566
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Michigan Democratic Primary Preview! The State of the Democrats Post-Platner (with Bill Scher).” (07/15/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/michigan-democratic-primary-preview
Source: Antiwar.com
by Timothy Hopper
“The latest U.S. strikes on Iran have put one of Donald Trump’s defining promises under pressure. He returned to the White House insisting that America could no longer keep paying for other countries’ wars. During the campaign, he pointed to trillions spent in Iraq and Afghanistan while roads, factories, and communities at home were neglected. A long conflict with Iran would make that promise difficult to keep. The question is not whether the United States can defeat Iran conventionally. It can. The harder question is whether Washington can contain the fallout, absorb the cost, and keep a limited operation from widening. Presidents rarely stumble because their forces cannot win a battle. Trouble begins when war grows, bills rise, and its purpose becomes harder to explain.” (07/15/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/timothy_hopper/2026/07/14/trumps-iran-trap/
Source: Niskanen Center
by Ben Bain
“When I left the Army in 2013 I had a terrible experience with the VA. Despite having a simple profile and a graduate degree, it took me years to navigate the system after a comedy of administrative errors. I lived the dysfunction that was in all the headlines in 2014. Yet years later, whenever I re-engage, it’s a transformed experience for the better. Things just seem to work and I go back about my life. When government services work, they stop feeling remarkable.” (07/15/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/proof-that-it-can-be-done-what-a-decade-at-va-can-teach-the-rest-of-government/
