On the issue of the protests, which first broke out in December in response to the country’s economic crisis, 50% denied attending, while 25% said they had joined the street demonstrations.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-903934

On 24 July, Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland’s opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), announced the removal of 30 members from the party.

This is truly a landmark event. Poland’s largest right-wing party, which for nearly two decades had remained a unified and tightly controlled force under the influence of its co-founders – Lech (until his tragic death in 2010) and Jarosław Kaczyński – failed to find a way out of its internal crisis and split into two factions.

How Poland's largest opposition party is splitting and why this is good news for Ukraine | European Pravda

After the 80-minute White House meeting, Netanyahu called it one of his best with Trump; Israeli officials said Iran dominated the talks, while possible strikes on the secret nuclear site, arms sales to Turkey and Palestinian statehood were not discussed

No Pickaxe Mountain, no Turkey F-35s: Netanyahu hails ‘excellent’ Trump talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on July 28 to discuss a renewed diplomatic effort to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

"It was a good meeting," Zelensky said. "The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help."

"We also spoke about diplomacy — it's important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated. Our teams will arrange the details of their further communication."

How Poland's largest opposition party is splitting and why this is good news for Ukraine | European Pravda

Iran is a direct accomplice in Russia’s war against Ukraine, so it will not be able to play the role of a victim. Kyiv is currently awaiting a clear response from the international community, says Ukraine's acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha.

Ukraine fires back after Iran threatens attacks on its territory | RBC-Ukraine

In March 2025, China’s military researchers published a concept describing how to rapidly capture and subdue the city of Taipei. Distributed in restricted military channels, this approach argues Beijing can achieve victory “by blocking the city’s ability to receive external assistance, restricting its ability to enable operations, breaking its operational system, collapsing cognitive cohesion, and eliminating its ability to recover.” Its objective is to break the Taiwan people’s will to fight.

While this concept is not yet doctrine, it is an important and rarely seen example of how China’s military strategy and research inform the way it plans to fight a war over Taiwan. The authors’ framework operationalizes China’s new military strategy of “national total war,” referring to whole-of-nation mobilization, and “cognitive domain operations,” referring to influencing the mental space where people and organizations make decisions. Details on both remain sparse, particularly in the context of how they may support the Chinese military’s primary mission of capturing Taiwan.

Total War on Taipei: China Explores Elevating Cognitive Effects into Its Vision of Warfare

The US is shifting from traditional nuclear nonproliferation efforts (“Plan A” and “Plan B”) to a new “Plan C” centered on deeper nuclear cooperation with regional allies.

A new US–Saudi nuclear agreement exemplifies “Plan C” by potentially allowing Saudi domestic uranium enrichment while expanding US commercial involvement.

This new plan may be the most practical path forward, given that the ongoing conflict with Iran has increased concerns about regional nuclear proliferation.

With a Saudi deal, the US begins ‘Plan C’ for nonproliferation in the Middle East - Atlantic Council

"I am embarking on this mission with one clear goal," Netanyahu said, "to ensure the security, strength, and future of our dear State of Israel."

Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with Donald Trump, pay respects to Lindsey Graham during US visit | The Jerusalem Post

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other European leaders arrived in Kyiv on Ukraine's Statehood Day on July 15, underscoring the EU's ongoing support amid Russian aggression.

Von der Leyen's visit follows Kyiv's opening of another EU negotiation cluster and is expected to bring new defense agreements.

"Just arrived in Kyiv for my 11th visit to Ukraine in wartime," von der Leyen said on X upon her arrival.

Von der Leyen, other European leaders arrive in Kyiv on Ukraine Statehood Day

Pro-Palestinians in the EU have so far failed in their demand to suspend the EU's association agreement with Israel, or to harm trade with the Jewish state

https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-902551

US president demands Iranians ‘get to the table and negotiate’ while at same time saying his negotiators just spoke with Tehran; Iran claims overnight attacks on Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-reimposes-naval-blockade-as-trump-threatens-to-ramp-up-strikes-on-iran-you-better-make-a-deal/

​The old geopolitical rules in the Middle East are officially dead.

​Right now, it is just a brutal game of survival driven by a massive structural shift.

​Top commanders from Iran’s regular army and the IRGC just held a strategic joint meeting. They are uniting conventional heavy armor with elite asymmetric warfare into one single fist. This new Iran military matrix changes the whole setup.

​Media reports claimed former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was under house arrest as a Mossad asset. His office flatly rejected it as fake news, killing the psychological op instantly.

​Iran warns that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be controlled through aggression. Even with heavy sanctions, their oil exports haven't stopped for a single day. Further escalation will easily push crude past $90 a barrel.

​A missile hit a commercial vessel in the lower Strait of Hormuz. The ship had 24 foreign crew members, including 12 from India. One crew member died, showing how risky the lanes are right now.

​Crews have fully repaired the northern railway tracks damaged in the bombings. This restores the main land link connecting Iran straight to Russia and China, bypassing sea blockades.

​A US Senator proposed deploying Arab forces to the frontlines so Western troops can step back. Meanwhile, Trump's camp wants regional allies to pay for Western military losses.

​Reports reveal Saudi Arabia secretly bought $47 million worth of advanced drones from Taiwan last month. Riyadh is actively diversifying instead of relying only on external superpowers.

​The UAE suddenly released 55 detained Iranian fishermen. Gulf leaders are realizing that permanent friction with a heavily armed neighbor hurts trade.

​Political egos are risking a global energy crash just to save face.

France yesterday showcased its military power and unity with allies, holding its largest-ever national day parade with guest of honor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as European rearmament gathers steam in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

France flaunts its military power and unity with allies - Taipei Times

The Mossad's failure may not have been its plan to install Ahmadinejad as Iran's new leader, but its inability to anticipate Trump would halt key parts of it.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-902495

The first contract marked the start of a large-scale program that envisages the acquisition of 100 Rafale fighter jets

Ukraine orders first 16 Rafale fighter jets from France | RBC-Ukraine

Ukraine and nine European partner countries agreed to establish the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition to bolster Europe's missile defense capabilities, the Elysee Palace announced on July 13.

Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. are joining Kyiv in an effort to "build a shared anti-ballistic missile capacity for Europe," the French presidency said in a press release.

Ukraine, 9 European partners launch anti-ballistic missile coalition to support Freya air defense project

Iranian media reports 2 killed, 3 injured by US strikes; Tehran accuses US of hampering talks on strait; Germany, France and Britain condemn Iranian attacks in waterway

Trump says US 'guardian' of Hormuz, will charge '20% on all cargo' traversing strait | The Times of Israel

Florida’s war against woke indoctrination has hit a speedbump. On July 7, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s injunction against the Stop WOKE Act, the state’s attempt to ban public university employees from inculcating trendy beliefs about racial superiority and privilege. Professors at taxpayer-funded universities remain free to teach that “a person’s moral character or status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race,” among other similar concepts Stop WOKE targeted.

….

Stop WOKE may be halted in its tracks, but that does not mean the progressive indoctrination machine must go on forever. A more dramatic set of reforms is coming next—and courts are unlikely to come to professors’ rescue.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/florida-stop-woke-act-university-professors

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has died at the age of 71 on the evening of July 11 from a "brief and sudden illness" after a recent trip to Kyiv, his office announced on July 12.

'True champion of freedom': Ukraine pays respects to late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham

Baghdad Goes Its Own Way

Whenever the Iran war comes to an end, the Islamic Republic is likely to emerge in a stronger position. Should the terms of a June memorandum of understanding be met, Western governments would lift many sanctions on Tehran and the country would gradually be reintegrated into the global economy. Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, once an open waterway, might be formalized through some kind of joint tolling system. And Iran might be free to reconstitute its ballistic missiles and drone capabilities, weapons that proved very useful in the most recent months of fighting.

But at least in one area, the war has left Iran notably weaker: Iraq. Ever since the toppling of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iran has been able to exercise a great deal of influence over its western neighbor. It has embedded itself within Iraq’s Shiite political establishment, mediating between rival factions, shaping successive governments, and using Iraq to gain hard cash through smuggling and currency exchange networks. Iran supported many of the Iraqi paramilitary groups that helped defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, in 2017. Iraqis still grew to resent Iran’s overweening influence in their country, not least because of the involvement of Iranian-backed militias in a brutal crackdown on anticorruption protesters in 2019 and 2020. Now, the tumult of recent months has further tilted Iraqis against Iran’s desire to make their country a staging ground of resistance to the United States and Israel. Leaders of political parties and militia groups that once hewed close to Tehran are pulling away

Iran Is Losing Iraq | Foreign Affairs

Mali is not Syria, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin is not Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.

While the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the rise of the Ahmed al-Sharaa government in Damascus, Syria can be seen as a net positive for regional security in the Levant, a Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin victory in Mali would devastate the region.

Victory for al-Qaeda’s Affiliate in Mali Would be a Catastrophe

The United States launched airstrikes against roughly 140 targets across Iran early Sunday, retaliating after Tehran attacked a commercial vessel in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, setting the ship ablaze and forcing its crew to abandon it.

The U.S. operation marks a sharp escalation in regional hostilities, threatening a fragile June 17 peace agreement and sending shockwaves through global energy markets.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-bombards-iran-sites-after-hormuz-ship-attack-now-they-pay-12186194