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geopolitical · geopolitical

Sudan faces a population shift as conflict empties areas, burdens cities, and disrupts economic and social stability.

military · geopolitical

Senior Philippine officers from the armed forces have emphasised continuity among the military leadership, with the expected retirement of chief of staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr coming at a sensitive moment for President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr. The transition comes as Manila continues to face pressure from Beijing in the South China Sea and calls from several retired officers for the military to reconsider its support for Marcos. Whoever Marcos appoints to replace Brawner has to ensure that the...

geopolitical · geopolitical

Investors increasingly see gaming bonds as a losing bet.

geopolitical · geopolitical

The United States and Iran continued to trade blows for a sixth day on July 16, as the foes battled over the vital Strait of Hormuz, despite a call from mediator Pakistan to resume talks. The renewed fighting and US blockade of Iranian ports came a month after a preliminary deal was signed that aimed to end the conflict. Since last week, the renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, according to its government.

geopolitical · geopolitical

An Italian court has found 32 defendants guilty over the deadly Genoa bridge collapse in 2018. Forty-three people ‌died when their vehicles plunged from the flyover in the port city. On the morning of August 14, 2018, during a summer storm, a 200-metre section of the bridge collapsed, sending dozens of vehicles plunging on to warehouses and a riverbed beneath.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Syria said on July 19 it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon by seizing a shipment that included missiles at its border with Iraq. It comes after US President Donald Trump floated the idea of Syria intervening in Lebanon against the armed groupn, and amid talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Rome over the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south of Lebanon. FRANCE 24's Renée Davis tells us more.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Renat Karchaa emphasized that attacks on the Zaporozhye NPP were nothing less than nuclear terrorism

social demographic · culture

The meetings come weeks after industrial rivalries forced Paris and Berlin to scrap the landmark Future Combat Air System (FCAS) fighter jet program.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that as a result of Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russia's oil and gas sector, Ukraine is managing to shift public sentiment in Russian society and force Russia back to the negotiating table.

social demographic · culture

An Italian court on Thursday sentenced the former head of motorway operator Autostrade per l’Italia to 12 years for his role in a deadly bridge disaster eight years ago. Giovanni Castellucci was found guilty of vehicle homicide and negligence related to the collapse of the bridge in Genoa that killed 43 people in one of the country’s worst infrastructure disasters. The courtroom was packed with relatives of those who plunged to their deaths when the Morandi Bridge – part of a key highway...

social demographic · sports

Watch all 11 winning goals scored in stoppage time at the 2026 Fifa World Cup.

geopolitical · geopolitical

Safety at the plant has been and remains absolute priority, the plant’s spokeswoman Yevgeniya Yashina stressed

natural disaster · natural disaster

Powerful storm floods hundreds of homes in Russia's urals

social demographic · culture

The Falkland Islands have been at the heart of a long-running dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina.

social demographic · sports

Bob MacIntyre's three-under 67 first round at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale was "exactly" what he wanted.

natural disaster · natural disaster

Malaysia’s largest Islamist party was wiped out in Johor’s state election last weekend, but PAS is now trying to turn that defeat into bargaining power. Its argument is that supporters who had no PAS candidate to vote for helped deliver a landslide victory to Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition led by Umno, its long-time rival for Malay-Muslim voters. The two parties have spent years competing for influence among Malaysia’s Malay majority, but they have also explored cooperation when it serves...

geopolitical · geopolitical

Also in today’s newsletter: New York’s data centre crackdown and the new era of critical mineral diplomacy

natural disaster · natural disaster

Severe fire season in northern hemisphere also sees fast-moving outbreaks in Scotland and Canada

geopolitical · geopolitical

Fund urges ‘cautious approach’ to fiscal pressures

geopolitical · geopolitical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it is right that Ukrainians are able to hold peaceful protests and express their views even during the war, adding that he has not yet reached the conclusion on the issue they have raised.

social demographic · sports

As prediction markets draw record trading around events like the World Cup, Jump Trading Group is betting the once-niche contracts are becoming a lasting corner of Wall Street.

geopolitical · geopolitical

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Human Rights Watch executive director Philippe Bolopion says the Trump administration has "launched an all-out assault on human rights" at home and abroad. He calls the Fort Bliss ICE detention centre a "human rights catastrophe" and warns Washington is ready to "upend the rules-based world order".

military · geopolitical

According to Igor Kimakovsky, the Russian fighters have closely approached the Ukrainian defense line near the Verkhyaya Tersa settlement

geopolitical · geopolitical

On July 15, Ukraine struck a service vehicle of the nuclear power plant with a drone, killing Alexander Yakovlev and his driver

geopolitical · geopolitical

More than 65 countries expected to address 'renewed threats' from 'far-left political violence and terrorism'.

military · geopolitical

The US military targeted an unladen oil tanker which it said was heading for the key Iranian oil terminal on Kharg island.

social demographic · sports

England’s wait for another World Cup triumph wait told through the football, people and moments that have shaped the world since 1966.

social demographic · sports

BBC Sport explores a bond between two world-class footballers from different generations who appear bound by destiny

military · geopolitical

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commenting on the planned changes at the Defence Ministry, has acknowledged that Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi have been unable to work together effectively and that problems on the battlefield, in military brigades and with mobilisation remain unresolved.

military · geopolitical

JD Vance says Epstein had connections to CIA and Mossad Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Thu, 07/16/2026 - 11:59 US vice president tells podcaster Joe Rogan there is an 'extremely well-funded' Israel-linked campaign to derail Iran negotiations US Vice President JD Vance speaks at This is the Turning Point Tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, US, April 14, 2026 (Reuters) Off The paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein was connected to the “highest levels” of US and Israeli intelligence, JD Vance said on Monday. “He clearly had connections to the upper, the highest levels of American intelligence,” the US Vice President told podcaster Joe Rogan, in relation to Epstein. “He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.” Told by Rogan that “most people think he was Mossad”, Israel's external intelligence agency, Vance replied: “Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or some other country… or both.” The vice president, who describes himself as “an OG Epstein conspiracy theorist”, said that Epstein’s connections were to what he described as “elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of centre”, most notably former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. “It wasn’t like he was super connected to the right of centre of Israeli politics,” Vance said. There has been much speculation about whether Epstein was working for Israeli, US or even Russian intelligence. The convicted sex offender, who hosted a slew of rich and powerful people on his private island and was connected to former US president Bill Clinton, pro-Israel billionaire Les Wexner, British politician Peter Mandelson and Queen Elizabeth’s son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, appeared to have accumulated a vast amount of compromising information over many years. 'There are certain influencers in America who are being paid in order to attack the deal [with Iran]' - JD Vance Asked earlier this year whether they considered Epstein to have been a Mossad asset, an advisor to the Indian government told Middle East Eye: “100 percent”. There is, though, no categorical proof that Epstein worked actively for an intelligence agency. The Epstein files do, however, document the financier’s funding of Israeli groups, including Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces, and the settler organisation the Jewish National Fund, as well as his ties to members of Israel’s overseas intelligence services. An FBI memo produced by the bureau’s Los Angeles field office in October 2020 reported that one of its sources had come to believe Epstein “was a co-opted Mossad agent”. According to the document, the disgraced paedophile was described as having been “trained as a spy” for Israel’s intelligence service. Israel-backed campaign to derail US-Iran deal In his interview with Rogan, Vance – who appeared to be positioning himself as a successor to Donald Trump and a presidential candidate in 2028 - described a “very discreet extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the derail the deal” with Iran. Vance has spearheaded negotiations with Iran, resulting in the memorandum of understanding signed by the two counries last month. The deal has fallen apart and the US and Iran are once more exchanging strikes. “There are certain influencers in America who are being paid in order to attack the deal,” he said, mentioning funding that came from Israel. The vice president referenced a Time magazine article from this week that details an “Israeli influence operation targeting the MAGA base”. Brad Parscale, a digital advisor on Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, is reportedly being paid $1.5m a month to run this operation. According to Vance, the Time article “lists a bunch of people who have quite literally been paid by a former Trump campaign person, who is himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government, and those people are attacking me quite viciously.” “They want to continue the military campaign.” Speaking to Joe Rogan, US Vice President JD Vance said that some officials within the Israeli government are trying to manipulate American public opinion to derail the peace negotiations and prolong the war on Iran “indefinitely” pic.twitter.com/gFxuj8OL08 — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 16, 2026 “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign,” Vance said. The vice president said that "that are people... who are super-hawkish in the American sysetem who have attacked the deal and frankly in some ways tried to derail the deal. And what I always say to those people is, what is your proposal?" Vance described himself as “the reasonable moderate” in “this massive pro-Israel, anti-Israel debate in the United States of America. He said he had been widely accused of being an antisemite, “which is insane”. When asked if he thought the US would have engaged in the most recent war with Iran were it not for Israeli influence, Vance said, “yes, yes I do.” “I think the president, separate from any influence from Israel, believes very strongly, and again I agree with this, that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said. “The idea that Donald Trump is being blackmailed is crazy to me,” he said, when asked by Rogan if Israel was using the Epstein files – or some other compromising information – to get Trump to do what they wanted. Epstein Files News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0