söndag 12 juli 2026
Full term of office when Israel goes to the polls
In just over three months, Israel will go to the general election. It is the first time in 38 years that an election has been held in Israel after a governing coalition has managed to serve a full four-year term, writes The Jerusalem Post.
Israel's parliament, the Knesset, announced on Sunday that the election date has been set for October 27.
For Israel, the past three years have been marked by war on several fronts – against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and against Iran.
This after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invested heavily in the issue of Israel's security.
Therefore, many see this autumn's election as a fateful election for the incumbent 76-year-old Benjamin Netanyahu.
While opinion polls point to a red line for Netanyahu, he is strongly aiming to win this autumn's election. His goal is, among other things, to form a broad national government, without support from fringe parties.
Russian influence in Africa
Former Wagner soldiers have a drug empire in Africa
Around 500 former mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group have settled along the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic and started a drug empire, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Outside the reach of the law and Moscow, they sell tramadol, a painkiller opioid. The pills come mainly from India and are transported in via river from neighboring Congo-Kinshasa.
They are sold to miners in the Russian gold mines, to militiamen in the civil war and – according to a source with former Wagner connections – to the president’s bodyguards.
The Russian group has essentially taken control of the state, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
– The Central African Republic is the country where Wagner was strongest. Their economic assets in the country, such as gold mines, remain intact, says analyst Charles Bouëssel.
The leader of the Russians in Africa: Prigozhin's son
28-year-old Pavel Prigozhin leads the group of former Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group who have built a tramadol empire in the Central African Republic, reports the Wall Street Journal.
He is the son of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a suspected Kremlin-orchestrated plane crash after the Wagner uprising in 2023.
Wagner soldiers arrived in the Central African Republic in 2018 after being hired by Faustin-Archange Touadéra to put down an uprising.
Using Toyota Land Cruisers and armed helicopters, the Russians managed to prevent the rebels from taking the capital Bangui. Since then, they have remained, gaining in-depth knowledge of the country and infiltrating the state apparatus.
Russian invasion The world's response
Musk paid for Tommy Robinson's trip to Russia
Last month, British far-right figure Tommy Robinson appeared in Moscow with tech guru Elon Musk's father Errol Musk. In a video clip at a luxury hotel in the Russian capital, Robinson urged Britons to protest in the streets after a knife attack in Belfast.
Errol Musk tells The Guardian that he arranged the trip and that it was paid for by his sons Elon and Kimbal's Musk Foundation.
The elder Musk is deeply pro-Russia, has met Russian ministers and believes that Russians have a "genetic advantage" over the rest of the West. He describes Tommy Robinson as a "great young man" and says they met Russian politicians during their visit.
Robinson himself says he traveled to Russia to see "the beauty of a civilized country."
Sources: Germany buys 50,000 drones for Ukraine
Germany is financing 50,000 drones for Ukraine, a source with insight told Reuters.
It is one of the largest single drone orders for Ukraine from another country.
The order includes, among other things, FPV drones of the Shrike model, which are manufactured in Ukraine. The drones will be equipped with components from the American company Auterion. The company's CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed to Reuters an order of $90 million, equivalent to around 974 million kronor.
Meier, however, does not want to comment on any further details.
Britain is also investing heavily in drones for Ukraine. Last month, the country announced that it plans to deliver 150,000 drones this year, worth 752 million pounds - around 9.7 billion kronor.
Analysis: Did Putin give up war goals for the sake of the Olympics?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) justified the decision to allow Russian athletes back in by saying that the Russian committee no longer includes sports from the occupied Ukrainian regions.
Russia has not denied this, writes the Kyiv Post in an analysis, and wonders if Putin has given up one of his most important war goals – total control over the occupied territories – in order for Russian athletes to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
"It is understandable that the Kremlin would want to hide this from an international audience [...] because it shows that they are willing to negotiate and give up some of the 'spoils of war', even if they officially refuse to compromise."
There are similarities between Putin's war on Ukraine and Trump's war on Iran – in particular that both have stalled, write Anton Troianovski and Paul Sonne in the New York Times.
There is, however, one crucial difference: Putin is determined to continue at any cost, while Trump increasingly seems to be wavering in the face of the long-term consequences – among other things, he has acknowledged the risk of economic depression, they continue.
– (Trump) seemed, at least for a while, to have learned a lesson from the war: that it would be better if he ended it, says Joe Biden’s former Iran envoy Robert Malley.
Middle East crisis Iran war
Source: New US attacks on Iran
The US attacked Iranian air defense and missile systems on Sunday afternoon, sources for several media outlets reported.
The Americans also fired on several Revolutionary Guard boats in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media reports that the island of Qeshm in the strait was attacked with missiles, but that no one was killed, writes Reuters. At the same time, Kuwait reports that three border posts and an offshore oil platform were attacked.
Also on Sunday night, the US attacked several locations in Iran, and the Iranians responded with drones and missiles against military bases in several Gulf states.
Soldiers killed after commanders ignored warnings
Six US soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack on the industrial port of Shuaiba in Kuwait during the second day of the Iran war. According to a review by the Washington Post, the attack was preceded by intelligence that the port was a likely target, warnings that commanders ignored.
The newspaper has spoken to 17 witnesses, including soldiers who survived the attack. They are critical of the commander sending troops to the port despite internal assessments advising against it, including because the facility lacked adequate defenses against drones. At the same time, the soldiers doubt whether anyone will be held accountable.
“If we don’t learn from these mistakes, if we all just buy the same lie, then this will happen to another unit and they will end up in the same situation as we did,” said Major Stephen Ramsbottom, who was in the building when it was hit.
Middle East Crisis Strait of Hormuz
USA: Strait of Hormuz is open – traffic is flowing
Once again, there are completely opposite messages from the USA and Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump and the US military claim on Sunday that the strait is open.
"Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing," writes the US Central Command Centcom on X.
Iran stated last night that the strait has been closed to all maritime traffic until further notice. Since then, American and Iranian forces have attacked each other with drones and missiles. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait have also been attacked by Iran.
Iran: Strait of Hormuz closed to all ships again
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, and no ships are allowed to pass until further notice, the Revolutionary Guard announced according to Reuters.
This after a ship that tried to pass via an “unapproved route” was fired upon and stopped, they state according to the state news agency Irib.
Furthermore, the Revolutionary Guard writes that the “enemy” will be met with a powerful response if they make any “slips” in response to this.
Yesterday, American government sources told several media outlets that the United States is demanding that Iran declare the Strait of Hormuz open again after Saturday’s meeting with Oman.
– Otherwise, it will be bad for them, said one of them.
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