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booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
Bota
Symbolic image: Trump threatens harder strikes as US envoys keep talking to IranSymbolic image

Trump threatens harder strikes as US envoys keep talking to Iran

5 sources

Trump said on Friday that his envoys will continue negotiations with Tehran while US strikes go on, and gave no date for ending the war. An Iranian official says Tehran has plans ready for any further American attack.

What happened

  • Trump named Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as negotiators, with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also involved (Politika).
  • Asked whether a deal was still possible, Trump answered yes, while saying he is losing faith in Iran's authorities (TASS).
  • Trump said the campaign is in its fifth month and compared critics to those who prolonged Vietnam.
  • The US and Israel began the war on 28 February; a June memorandum on a ceasefire collapsed when Washington resumed large-scale strikes on 8 July.
  • Trump said Iran hit US forces in Jordan days earlier, during negotiations.

The view from outside

Russia's TASS relays Wall Street Journal reporting that Trump has ordered a fresh attack lasting several days, possibly starting this weekend, and CBS reporting that Washington and Israel are preparing strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure; neither claim is confirmed by the other sources here. Al Jazeera cites the Iranian agency Tasnim for Tehran's response plan, without detail.

What could happen next

  • Whether the multi-day campaign described by the Wall Street Journal begins is unconfirmed; no source names targets or a start date.
  • Trump set no timeframe for ending the war and cast doubt on a new round of talks (Bloomberg).
  • CNN reported Trump is looking for an exit ramp, which sits against his public threats.
  • The status of the June memorandum remains unresolved after the 8 July resumption of strikes.
How the camps see it

  • United States: Trump says Washington wants to win, will keep hitting Iran hard, and that Tehran breaks its word, yet a deal remains possible.

  • Iran: Tehran state media say the armed forces are on alert with comprehensive plans to answer any strike, and that threats only harden national unity.

Also involved

Israel

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