Cambodian and Thai officials meet in Malaysia to iron out ceasefire details– abcnews.go.com Source Link Excerpt:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Thai and Cambodia n officials met in Malaysia on Monday for the first round of cross-border committee talks since a tense ceasefire was brokered last week after five days of deadly armed border clashes that killed dozens and displaced over 260,000 people.
The four-day General Border Committee meetings were initially due to be hosted by Cambodia, but both sides later agreed to a neutral venue in Malaysia, the annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has mediated the halt in hostilities last month.
The July 28 ceasefire followed economic pressure from President Donald Trump, who had warned the two warring nations that the U.S. would not conclude trade deals with them if the fighting persisted. Washington lowered tariffs on goods from the two countries from 36% to 19% on Aug. 1 following the truce.
Monday’s talks focused on ironing out details to avoid further clashes. Discussions of the decades-long competing territorial claims over the pockets of land near the shared border are not on the agenda.
Trump reaffirms support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara – Vanguard News Source Link Excerpt:
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying a Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory was the sole solution to the disputed region, Reuters quoted state news agency MAP on Saturday.
According to MAP, in a felicitation message to HM King Mohammed VI in commemoration of the Throne Day of the Kingdom of Morocco, President Trump reiterates US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, adding that support for Moroccan autonomy proposal is the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute.
New US plan for Gaza starting to emerge despite sanitised tour for Trump peace envoy | World News– news.sky.com Source Link Excerpt:
We’ve seen this many times before.
Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel’s closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change course, then nothing changes.
We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we’ve seen and heard so far has offered little hope.
The pressure on Donald Trump to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gazais mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage.
Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide.
China Limits Critical Mineral Supplies to Western Defense Manufacturers– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
Our amazing Leslie Eastman has been reporting on this subject since January:
Defense manufacturers must “stop buying rare-earth magnets that contain China-sourced minerals by 2027.”
Well…it looks like China will make that happen before 2027.
The Wall Street Journalreported that China is now limiting the flow of critical minerals to Western defense manufacturers:
Earlier this year, as U.S.-China trade tensions soared, Beijing tightened the controls it places on the export of rare earths. While Beijing allowed them to start flowing after the Trump administration agreed in June to a series of trade concessions, China has maintained a lock on critical minerals for defense purposes. China supplies around 90% of the world’s rare earths and dominates the production of many other critical minerals.
As a result, one drone-parts manufacturer that supplies the U.S. military was forced to delay orders by up to two months while it searched for a non-Chinese source of magnets, which are assembled from rare earths.
Certain materials needed by the defense industry now go for five or more times what was typical before China’s recent mineral restrictions, according to industry traders. One company said it was recently offered samarium—an element needed to make magnets that can withstand the extreme temperatures of a jet-fighter engine—for 60 times the standard price. That is already driving the cost of defense systems higher, say suppliers and defense executives.
Trump Confirms 2 US Nuke Subs Sent to Counter ‘Highly Provocative’ Russia Ahead of Special Envoy Visit – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters on Sunday that two nuclear submarines he ordered to “face Russia” are now “in the region” ahead of U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s planned visit to Moscow, this week.
Trump previously said on Truth Social he ordered the subs “to be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to what he considered “highly provocative statements” from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about potential war with the United States.
It should be noted that Medvedev is one Putin’s mouthpieces, so it’s a safe assumption that anything he says has the Russian dictator’s approval.
When asked if there’s anything Russia can do to ward off his latest announced tariffs on Russian products imported to the U.S., Trump replied, “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
The president added:
Well, there’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions. You know, they’re wily characters, and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions. So we’ll see what happens.
A tremendous number of Russian soldiers have been killed. And likewise Ukraine, a lower number, but still thousands and thousands of people. And now we’re adding towns where they’re being hit by missiles. So it’s a lot of people being killed in that ridiculous war.
We stopped a lot of countries from war, India and Pakistan, we stopped a lot of countries. And we’re going to get that one stopped too. Somehow. We’re going to get that one stopped. That’s a really horrible war.
Trump Must Resist CCP’s Attempts to Sabotage US’s Panama Deal– thefederalist.com Source Link Excerpt:
In March, the American financial powerhouse BlackRock announced that a group of investors it led had reached a deal with Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings to secure U.S. control over two strategically located ports operated by Hutchison at the Panama Canal. In response, China has been attempting to undermine this agreement. Beijing’s latest stance is to withhold its approval unless a Chinese state-owned enterprise is included as a partner in the deal.
The Panama Canal is a crucial gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and is vital to the economic and strategic interests of the United States. Approximately 70 percent of the goods that pass through the canal either originate from or are destined for U.S. markets, making the U.S. the largest user of the canal.
China views the Panama Canal as a strategic asset for expanding its economic and geopolitical influence in Latin America. In recent years, Beijing has significantly increased its investments in Panama through its “One Belt, One Road” global infrastructure initiative, making it the second-largest user of the canal. This growing presence has raised national security concerns in the United States. Sen. Ted Cruz has pointed out that the two ports operated by CK Hutchison Holdings could serve as “ready observation posts” for China to monitor U.S. military and commercial activities passing through the canal.
In the event of military conflict between the U.S. and China, such as a dispute over Taiwan, there are fears th
South Korea begins removing border propaganda speakers in conciliatory gesture toward North– www.independent.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
The speakers had previously been used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda across the border, but the South’s new liberal government halted the broadcasts in June in a conciliatory gesture as it looks to rebuild trust and revive dialogue with Pyongyang, which has largely cut off cooperation with the South in recent years.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the physical removal of the loudspeakers from the border was another “practical measure” aimed at easing tensions between the war-divided Koreas and that it does not affect the South’s military readiness.
Lee Kyung-ho, a spokesperson for the ministry, didn’t share specific details on how the removed loudspeakers will be stored or whether they could be quickly redeployed to the border if tensions flare again between the Koreas. There were no discussions between the two militaries ahead of the South’s decision to remove the speakers, Lee said during a briefing.
North Korea, which is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its authoritarian leadership and its third-generation ruler, Kim Jong Un, didn’t immediately comment on the South Korean step.
Bangladesh tribunal commences trial of deposed PM Hasina over crimes against humanity– economictimes.indiatimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Sunday commenced the trial of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in absentia over crimes against humanity related to the violent suppression of the 2024 student-led protests.
The interim government-appointed Chief Prosecutor, Tajul Islam, in his opening statement, described Hasina as the “nucleus of all crimes” and called for the maximum penalty.
The prosecution also named Hasina’s two top aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullaah Al Mamun — as the co-accused in the case.
The ICT commenced the proceedings against Hasina on several charges, with the major one being killings and tortures to tame last year’s Students Against Discrimination (SAD)-led violent street campaign that eventually toppled her Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
Colombia Sentences Conservative Ex-President Álvaro Uribe to 12 Years House Arrest– www.breitbart.com Source Link Excerpt:
A court in Colombia sentenced conservative former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez over the weekend to 12 years of house arrest on charges of abuse of procedure and bribery of a public official.
Additionally, Uribe was banned from holding public office for 100 months and 20 days. He must also pay the Colombian state a fine equivalent to 2,420 minimum wages, which translates to over 3.4 billion Colombian pesos (roughly $840,000).
Colombian Judge Sandra Heredia read the sentence on Friday, days after the judge found Uribe guilty of two out of three charges that the former president stood accused of throughout a highly convoluted and lengthy trial process that Colombian politicians and several senior U.S. government members denounced as a sham.
Irish missionary among nine kidnapped from Haiti orphanage– www.bbc.com Source Link Excerpt:
Nine people, including an Irish missionary and a three-year-old child, were kidnapped from an orphanage near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince on Sunday, officials said.
Gena Heraty, the facility’s director, was among those taken from the privately-run Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff during the early hours of the morning, according to Mayor Massillon Jean.
Seven employees and a child were also taken from the orphanage, which cares for more than 240 children, some with disabilities.
“The attackers broke into the orphanage around 3:30am (07:30 GMT) without opening fire,” Jean said, describing it as a “planned act”.
The attackers had broken through a wall to enter the property, Jean said, before heading to the building where Ms Heraty was staying.
Hamas said on Sunday (August 3) it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers. Hamas said it would allow the ICRC access to the hostages but only if “humanitarian corridors” for food and aid were opened “across all areas of the Gaza Strip”. FRANCE 24’s Douglas Herbert gives us his analysis about the situation.
China is developing a powerful new weapon that could transform long-range warfare. Using a radical design capable of extreme speeds and distances, this technology could outmatch traditional missiles and defenses.
China’s military scientists have unveiled a new electromagnetic railgun concept that could dramatically alter the balance of long-range weaponry. Detailed in a paper from the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Army Engineering University and reported by multiple outlets, including the South China Morning Post and Asia Times, the system is designed to fire heavy projectiles at speeds reaching Mach 7. If proven viable, the weapon could deliver devastating firepower at far lower costs than conventional missile systems.
A New Design Tackling Old Railgun Problems
Railguns useelectromagnetic force instead of gunpowder or explosives to propel a projectile at extreme speeds. While the technology has been explored for decades by major powers, including the U.S., Japan, and China, progress has been slowed by persistent engineering challenges.
China’s latest design addresses those obstacles with an unconventional x-shaped configuration. The concept, described by lead researcher Professor Lyu Qingao, stacks two railguns inside a single barrel at right angles, each with its own power circuit. This dual-circuit setup allows the two sets of electromagnetic fields to work independently without interfering with one another.
According to the team’s estimates, the system could fire a 60-kilogram projectile more than 400 kilometers in under six minutes, with impact speeds exceeding Mach 4. Previous Chinese naval prototypes, first seen on the ship Haiyangshan in 2018, were limited to firing 15-kilogram projectiles because of the destructive effects of extreme currents on the weapon’s rails.
A Myanmar junta air strike on a rebel-occupied ruby mining hub killed 13 people on Saturday, according to a resident and a spokesperson for an armed opposition group.
Civil war has consumed Myanmar since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking resistance from pro-democracy guerillas who found common cause with long-active ethnic armed groups.
Their scattered forces initially struggled to make headway, but a combined offensive starting in late 2023 seized swathes of territory, including the town of Mogok – the centre of the ruby trade.
Myanmar is rich in precious stones and rare earth elements coveted by all factions and sold, mostly to neighbouring China, to boost war chests.
A junta spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Poland is set to have more tanks by 2030 than the U.K., Germany, France and Italy combined, after Warsaw signed another multi-billion-euro deal with a South Korean defense company to procure additional K2 tanks.
On Friday, Poland signed an agreement worth over $6 billion with Hyundai Rotem for 180 K2 battle tanks. This is the country’s second major deal with the South Korean company after the first was struck in 2022, also for 180 K2 tanks.
The new agreement will take Poland’s total number of tanks to 1,100 tanks by 2030, including 61 produced domestically.
This would give Warsaw more tanks than the combined total of the U.K., Germany, France and Italy, who are expected to field around 950 tanks by 2030.
Only two NATO member states—Turkey and Greece—will have more tanks than Poland, with 2,238 and 1,344 respectively.
The new Polish-South Korean deal comes as Warsaw and its NATO allies continue to bolster their defenses in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A recent YouGov poll sent a jolt through American politics: Zohran Mamdani, a 32-year-old Democratic Socialist from Queens, outperformed both former Governor Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in a hypothetical general election for New York City mayor. Nationally, 24 percent of Americans say they’d vote for Mamdani—more than Cuomo (9 percent) and Adams (8 percent) combined.
The numbers are more than symbolic. They reveal just how far trust in establishment leadership has collapsed—and how eager younger Americans around the nation are to embrace ideological clarity over managerial competence, charisma over experience, and revolutionary rhetoric over cautious reform.
Mamdani is not, by any traditional measure, a mainstream figure. His base includes young progressives, housing activists, and online socialist media. But the poll captures something deeper than his personal popularity: a profound disillusionment with a political class seen as ethically compromised, strategically adrift, and emotionally disconnected from the public it claims to serve.
This disaffection has real roots. Adams is mired in FBI investigations, plagued by ethical lapses, and widely criticized for inconsistent messaging and underperformance on housing and safety. Cuomo, meanwhile, carries the weight of pandemic-era mismanagement and personal scandal. These aren’t just flawed politicians—they’ve become cautionary tales for a generation fed up with failure.
Lebanese journalist Khoder Taleb, publisher of the Jareeda website, and former advisor to the Lebanese Prime Minister discussed talk of a peace agreement with Israel during a July 24, 2025 broadcast on Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah–Lebanon). He asked what kind of peace can be made with “criminals” and “child killers.” Taleb said that the current situation is worse than the Nazi Holocaust in Germany, adding: “I wish the Nazis would have burned all those Jews.” He cited a hadith describing Muslims fighting Jews on Judgment Day and said that Jerusalem and Palestine will be liberated. Also appearing on the broadcast was British-Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan.
Khoder Taleb: “What peace are we talking about? Peace with criminals? Peace with killers? With child killers? I say this for history’s sake, this is worse than the Nazi Holocaust in Germany. I say this on live TV: I wish the Nazis would have burned all those Jews.
[…]
“On [Judgement] Day, the trees and the rocks will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ This is what we believe in. This is our historical imperative, as Muslims at least. Jerusalem will be liberated. Palestine will be liberated. If not today, then tomorrow. That’s fine, but we must not surrender.”
ROME — ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged more than a million Catholic youths to “spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith” when they return home to some 150 countries, during a Mass closing a weeklong encounter with the next generation of faithful.
“Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are,’’ Leo urged the young faithful. “Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you.”
The young people camped out in sprawling fields southeast of Rome overnight after attending a vigil service for the Jubilee of Youth on Saturday, also presided by Leo who has been ferried to and from Vatican City by helicopter.
The Vatican said more than 1 million young people were present, along with 7,000 priests and 450 bishops.
The special Jubilee celebration is part of the Holy Year that is expected to draw 32 million people to the Vatican for the centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism.
The week has been a joyous gathering marked by bands of youths singing hymns as they move down cobblestoned streets, praying rosaries in piazzas and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.
Irregular Warfare Center Research Bibliography No.2: Lebanese Hezbollah in Latin America– smallwarsjournal.com Source Link Excerpt:
This subject bibliography is a selection of top resources on Lebanese Hezbollah in Latin America and includes journal articles, reports, books, sections of websites, and videotaped talks. The dates of the material range from 2010 to 2025, encompassing various aspects of the terrorist organization and its criminal activities which include narcotics trafficking and money laundering. The purpose is to provide ready-access resources for the study of Hezbollah and its linkages to allied organizations—both states and non-state actors—in Latin America.
