Saturday, 18 July 2026

According to reports, the strike hit the funeral of a Palestinian who had been killed earlier. Hamas called it a “brutal massacre” of mourners, while the Israeli military said it had deliberately struck a cell of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was aware of reports of uninvolved victims. Even the death toll is disputed, seven according to Palestinian sources and eight according to others. In parallel, the dispute over the West Bank is escalating: Al Jazeera reports growing EU pressure for sanctions as settlers attacked children, and Israel's Haaretz documents how settlers, under army protection, drove off Palestinian livestock. After long wrangling, Ireland adopted an import ban on goods from occupied territories but exempted services, causing dispute even among critics. Israeli, Palestinian and European accounts of the events thus stand irreconcilably side by side.

After the surprise removal of Fedorov, regarded as the architect of Ukraine's successful drone strategy, people again took to the streets from Lviv to Kharkiv to demand his return. The Russian opposition exile outlet Meduza and Reuters both report protests spanning two days, while the BBC stresses the anger of many soldiers over the personnel decision. Le Figaro traces how the general named as interim minister, Chmara, should not actually be able to hold the post under Ukrainian law. At the same time, Zelensky also reshuffled the SBU intelligence service and installed a new acting chief there. Critics see the shake-up as a consolidation of presidential control in the midst of war, while supporters point to the need for tighter procurement. How the change will affect the conduct of the war remains open.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires again drifted across the US Northeast, worsening air quality as far as the New York area, where this Sunday's World Cup final is being held. The conservative Die Welt quotes Trump accusing Canada of “willful negligence” and complaining that the smoke is becoming an annual event. The FT describes how Trump frames the situation as an “invasion” of polluted air and wanted to call Carney, while The Guardian reports that Republicans are threatening sanctions against Canadian government officials. The BBC and Le Monde note that experts see climate change as the cause of the worsening fires, and point out that the Trump administration is at the same time rolling back several climate protection rules. The interpretation of the smoke as a Canadian failure and as a consequence of global warming thus collide head-on.

The two quakes at the end of June are among the most severe in the country's history; the consequences are, according to the authorities, devastating, with countless buildings destroyed. Serbia's B92, citing Venezuelan officials, gives a figure of 5,069 dead and more than 20,000 people in makeshift camps, while the FAZ and Deutschlandfunk confirm the mark of more than 5,000 dead and 16,700 injured. AFP describes, from a village on the edge of the quake zone, how supplies are running out. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said the IMF funds were meant to help affected families with housing, infrastructure and public services. Because the reporting relies heavily on official Venezuelan figures and independent verification is difficult, the exact numbers should be treated with caution.

The Serbian government is staging the launch of the dialogue as the start of a new chapter: Đurić congratulated citizens on the “strategic partnership” with the US, and Kosovo's Koha soberly confirms the signing of two memoranda. The independent Serbian outlet N1, by contrast, asks whether Belgrade is really breaking with its “four pillars” policy among Washington, Moscow, Beijing and Brussels. The analyst Kostić argues on N1 that Serbia will continue to balance so as not to anger Russia, especially as long as the dispute over the mostly Russian-controlled and US-sanctioned oil company NIS remains unresolved. Thus the state-aligned Serbian success narrative, the skeptical independent view and the Kosovar-Albanian observation stand side by side. How far the rapprochement will carry depends on tangible questions such as energy, investment and Kosovo.

The change comes at a time of political upheaval and economic stagnation. The New York Times stresses that Burnham will become the seventh prime minister in ten years amid instability, while the FT reports on Starmer's departure and the planned appointment of Mahmood as chancellor of the exchequer. From the left, Green Party leader Polanski warns in Politico that Burnham must not “sit on the fence” as Starmer did, after the latter had declared that Labour would not try to be “greener than the Greens.” The liberal Economist draws a mixed balance of Starmer's two years, with progress but too ponderous. Burnham is seen as a representative of the party's left wing and comes immediately under pressure from the economy, a resurgent right and his own ranks. Whether the change brings stability or perpetuates the permanent crisis remains open.

At the council of ministers at Augustusburg Palace, Berlin and Paris agreed on closer cooperation on nuclear deterrence with joint exercises and a steering group, as Deutschlandfunk and taz report; the taz highlights that both countries also want to work together on their course toward China. Politico interprets the meeting as an attempt to swiftly advance EU initiatives ahead of a possible presidency of Marine Le Pen, with both sides framing the urgency as an economic necessity. Der Spiegel points out that nothing came of the joint fighter jet project for now and that Macron's days in power are numbered. From a Kosovar perspective, Telegrafi quotes Merz pledging that the close coordination with Paris will continue even after a change at the Élysée. Signals of a new departure thus mix with doubts about feasibility given the political uncertainty in France.

China's Xinhua reports that US markets fell and semiconductors slid into a technical bear market, while The Wall Street Journal additionally points to the plunge in Netflix shares after a growth warning. In Asia, Taiwan's benchmark TAIEX index shed nearly 3,000 points amid the tech sell-off, according to the Taipei Times. The sell-off fuels doubts about whether the high valuations of the AI boom are sustainable, after chip stocks had previously risen sharply. At the same time, the Taipei Times points to the geopolitical dimension: Taiwan wants to keep its most advanced TSMC technology at home despite US pressure. The shift in market sentiment thus meets the ongoing dispute over control of chip manufacturing. Whether this is a healthy correction or the start of a broader repricing is contested.

Klüssendorf announced that the SPD would fight the CDU/CSU for a return of the wealth tax and higher inheritance taxes, blaming decades of misguided tax policy. The liberal Die Zeit and the conservative Die Welt both report on the initiative but assess it from different vantage points: while the SPD frames it as a question of distributive justice, in the conservative camp it is read as a burden on the business location and on high performers. The dispute comes within a CDU/CSU-led coalition in which the SPD is the junior partner, which makes implementation more difficult. Sourcing on this day is thin and rests mainly on the SPD's initiative itself. Whether it amounts to more than campaign rhetoric remains to be seen.

The reform eases the CO2 price burden on companies and gives them more time, but in effect lowers the climate targets. The left-leaning taz judges that this will not save industry and draws the wrong conclusions, while the liberal Die Zeit finds that the Commission has given in to industry pressure and at the same time rescued emissions trading, which is remarkable in the age of Trump. Politico reports that energy-intensive industry is dissatisfied and speaks of “dangerous window dressing,” with only the DIHK seeing anything positive. The conservative Le Figaro highlights that a net-zero target by 2039 is regarded as unrealistic, that firms would be allowed to emit for longer, but that emissions trading would be extended to aviation and waste. Thus the accusation of betraying the climate, industry's complaint about too little relief, and the interpretation as a pragmatic rescue stand opposed.

According to reports by the FT, the Trump family's company has named a six-figure sum for high-speed access to Truth Social, and Bloomberg describes how promotional emails were already circulating on Wall Street as traders prepare for the cost. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reports on the sharp criticism from Democrats and ethics experts, who regard preferential access to price-moving presidential posts as highly problematic. Al Jazeera notes that Trump has repeatedly been accused of using state influence for improper financial gain. Defenders can point out that market-relevant information is traded via fast data services anyway. The core of the dispute is whether public official statements are being commercialized here and conflicts of interest institutionalized.

The FAZ and Handelsblatt both report that since the subsidy was restarted, more than 50 million euros have flowed and that Tesla leads among the subsidized brands. This feeds the old debate over whether state purchase subsidies mainly produce windfall effects and whether it makes sense to use German taxpayer money to prop up the sales of foreign manufacturers. Supporters point to the boost needed for electric mobility and the recently weak market, while critics point to the limited steering effect. Sourcing on this day is thin and rests on two German business outlets with similar figures. How sustainably the subsidy revives sales is still open.

The state-aligned Global Times celebrates the conference, with more than 300 world premieres, as a showcase of Chinese AI strength, while the liberal Die Zeit warns that the AI world is splitting into two blocs and interprets Xi's new organization as staging a counterweight to the US. Le Figaro speaks of a turning point and frames Xi's push for global regulation as a new front in the rivalry with Trump's America. Bloomberg reports that Beijing rejected accusations that Chinese competitors were illicitly distilling the outputs of leading US models, after firms such as Anthropic had made the claim. The New York Times also points to the freely available Kimi model from the Chinese provider Moonshot, which is narrowing the gap to the US frontier. China's self-portrayal as a leader of cooperation and the Western view of bloc formation and intellectual theft thus collide.

The Wall Street Journal reports that SpaceX and the Pentagon are negotiating over a data center, and that the AI chip start-up Etched is in talks over a $20 billion valuation. The FT reports that Meta and Anthropic are negotiating a data center deal of up to $10 billion, with Meta considering entering the cloud business and investing a total of $145 billion in infrastructure. The deals show how the appetite for computing power is tying up capital on an unprecedented scale and binding tech corporations, start-ups and the state more closely together, for instance through the talks between SpaceX and the Pentagon. At the same time, the information so far rests on reports by the WSJ and FT and is in part marked as exclusive and still unconfirmed. Whether the capital outlay turns into viable businesses or a bubble is forming remains open.

According to a report by Politico Europe, Paris and Berlin want to build a European competitor to Palantir, whose analytics platform is used by several European security agencies. The backdrop is growing concern about dependence on US software in security-relevant areas, aggravated by possible access by American authorities and the political closeness of Palantir's founder to the Trump administration. A senior NATO commander stressed that there was as yet no equivalent European solution. Trade outlets such as WirtschaftsWoche point out that earlier sovereignty initiatives failed on scale and market penetration. Sourcing on the specific plan is still thin and rests mainly on the Politico report. Whether the announcement turns into a viable project remains to be seen.