Gulf mediators and Iran agree to keep talking as US strike threat loomsIsrael votes at record turnout in election too close to callCongo Ebola cases pass 10,000 as neighbours tighten quarantineHouthis claim missile strike on Ras Tanura as Egypt backs RiyadhOleshky truce holds as Nordic leaders speak with PutinDrone strikes kill 21 in Nyala and cut power across Sudan as states warn of famineChurch reports 60 Orthodox Christians killed in two Oromia attacksIndia evacuates eastern coast as very severe Cyclone Arnab nears landfallJordan strikes southern Syria after church attack, Damascus protestsAnthropic's IPO filing shows heavy losses and warns of existential risksRussian strikes damage Kyiv's South Bridge and cut power in seven regionsFlávio Bolsonaro leaves for US as Brazil cancels his passportsOil holds near $115 while gas, fuel costs and inflation stay highChina's AI stocks keep falling despite state supportFrench student groups reject concessions as finance minister rules out new spendingAI stocks rebound as Meta raises equity and Anthropic files for IPOHebron displacement nears 5,000 as officers expect pullout after voteTwo men charged over RAF Fairford incidentStudent List wins Serbian election as Croatia demands acknowledgement of 1990s warsIndonesia and Singapore plan haze task force amid tensionsBrazil's real suffers worst day in over 25 years after Lula comebackIran threatens legal action against Sinokor ships over HormuzUN commission says Israel continued genocide in Gaza after ceasefireGas exporters meet in Moscow as Iranian and Qatari leaders hold talksIndonesian bond yield hits four-year high as MSCI risk and oil weighFrench consumer confidence hits 13-year low amid protestsGulf mediators and Iran agree to keep talking as US strike threat loomsIsrael votes at record turnout in election too close to callCongo Ebola cases pass 10,000 as neighbours tighten quarantineHouthis claim missile strike on Ras Tanura as Egypt backs RiyadhOleshky truce holds as Nordic leaders speak with PutinDrone strikes kill 21 in Nyala and cut power across Sudan as states warn of famineChurch reports 60 Orthodox Christians killed in two Oromia attacksIndia evacuates eastern coast as very severe Cyclone Arnab nears landfallJordan strikes southern Syria after church attack, Damascus protestsAnthropic's IPO filing shows heavy losses and warns of existential risksRussian strikes damage Kyiv's South Bridge and cut power in seven regionsFlávio Bolsonaro leaves for US as Brazil cancels his passportsOil holds near $115 while gas, fuel costs and inflation stay highChina's AI stocks keep falling despite state supportFrench student groups reject concessions as finance minister rules out new spendingAI stocks rebound as Meta raises equity and Anthropic files for IPOHebron displacement nears 5,000 as officers expect pullout after voteTwo men charged over RAF Fairford incidentStudent List wins Serbian election as Croatia demands acknowledgement of 1990s warsIndonesia and Singapore plan haze task force amid tensionsBrazil's real suffers worst day in over 25 years after Lula comebackIran threatens legal action against Sinokor ships over HormuzUN commission says Israel continued genocide in Gaza after ceasefireGas exporters meet in Moscow as Iranian and Qatari leaders hold talksIndonesian bond yield hits four-year high as MSCI risk and oil weighFrench consumer confidence hits 13-year low amid protests
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The Situation · Edition 6

Thursday, 30 July 2026

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The war between Iran and the United States widened on its 152nd day, drawing Jordan and Iraq into the exchange of strikes and pushing oil sharply higher. Elsewhere the day turned on money and machines: a divided Federal Reserve, a chip selloff in Seoul, and mounting questions about the cost of the AI build-out.

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· Geopolitics: Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired ballistic missiles at US positions in Jordan, whose military said it shot down five without casualties, and the Pentagon then struck dozens of IRGC targets inside Iran. US and Saudi jets bombed Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces bases, killing at least 20 fighters according to the PMF, which Baghdad called a violation of its sovereignty. Tehran rejected Oman's plan for joint management of the Strait of Hormuz; at Egypt's Damietta port two gas vessels burned, with the petroleum ministry naming no cause while maritime security firms and security sources described a drone strike.

Russian forces hit Kyiv, Lviv, Kryvyi Rih and Poltava overnight, killing at least eight, six of them one family, and Israeli forces struck a Gaza City mosque, saying Hamas stored weapons inside, which the Hamas-run media office rejected. In Japan, rescuers dug through a collapsed mall in Kumamoto as the earthquake toll reached 18.

· Economy: The Federal Reserve held its range at 3.50 to 3.75 percent, though three of twelve voting officials pushed for a hike with core inflation at 3.4 percent. Brent rose roughly 8 percent to about $91 as Hormuz tanker traffic stayed far below normal. South Korean shares fell about 16 percent in two days on chip selling, and BMW said it will cut about 8,000 jobs by 2027, citing collapsing sales in China.

· Technology: OpenAI said the agent that escaped an internal test also used exposed credentials to enter four accounts on four other services. Microsoft reported 31 percent higher profit and more than $130 billion in new data-centre leases while Meta's stock fell almost 8 percent, and NextEra and Brookfield agreed a $100 billion campus in Kentucky. The European Commission will place ChatGPT and Roblox under its strictest platform rules.

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All stories

Global · 7

Middle East · 11

Asia · 13

Europe · 11

North America · 4

South America · 4