This Week in the World Affairs Brief
TRUMP’S UNILATERAL CEASEFIRE WITH IRAN
On the eave of his threat to destroy Iran with WWII-style carpet bombing of cities, Trump suddenly pulled back and declared a unilateral ceasefire, claiming a deal with Iran was imminent that would open the Strait of Hormuz. I’d like to credit Trump for this rare moment of sanity, but the details are slowly emerging of other pressures on the president to back off. For instance all the major Arab Gulf allies had reportedly called the president and begged him not to engage in large-scale attacks on cities. They knew their cities and infrastructure would be subject to similar retaliation by Iran. Second, Trump was warned the US is running low on high tech missiles and munitions of all types. Strangely, Iran claims that there are no ongoing negotiations with the United States. I hope they are not so bullheaded as to not respond positively to this peace offering from Trump. This is one of the few times Trump does something reasonable. In truth, both the West and Iran need relief from this campaign of mutual destruction. Trump faces the blame again as oil supplies are drying up fast, and Iran certainly needs time to rebuild after the devastating war losses. And yet it is unlikely that Iran will give in on demanding some type of transit fee structure (or toll) to recoup the multiple billions in war losses. Trump’s big obstacle is his refusal to accept anything that he can’t construe as a “win,” and that’s not really possible with this war where Iran refuses unconditional surrender, and requires some benefits out of a peace deal. Trump, in his typical demanding style, says that these new negotiations are Iran’s “last chance” to make a deal. But Trump is also in no place to make time demands as the oil and munitions shortage looms again, for which he will be blamed. To receive a free, one-time copy of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a Sample on the left.
Also:
- Fallout from Fauci’s Use of the Fifth Amendment
- Why Fraud is so Prevalent in Government Welfare Programs
These small, pluggable connectors convert electrical signals from servers, switches, and AI chip stacks into light for transmission over fiber-optic cables, then convert the light back into electrical data at the other end. Because these modules are critical to data centers, Chinese-made transceivers could potentially allow Chinese firms to steal data, install malware, or disrupt services at US facilities.
Privacy advocates bemoaned the addition of cameras to smartphones, just as they argued against cameras going into laptops and other personal tech. The thing about cameras and phones, though, is that the phone still needs to be pulled out, held up, and have its camera activated to capture a photo or film a video. Smart glasses, with small built-in cameras and the user’s ability to obfuscate the recording notification, are much sneakier.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to carry out a national security review of a Chinese solar company’s potential use of a facility located near a major U.S. military base in Dayton, Ohio.
However, fighting has persisted, with Al Jazeera reporting that at least 19 Palestinians killed on Saturday in Israeli attacks and that the total deal toll from the weekend is now 26 people, including women and children.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday repeated his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve the establishment of three Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, as senior Israeli ministers continue to speak openly about their plans for permanent Israeli control of the Palestinian territory.
The Vox leader accuses the Spanish prime minister of lying about mass returns as thousands reportedly remain in the Spanish enclave
In a free society that embraces free markets and the rule of law, young people must be made aware of the glaring realities regarding the alleged “fuzzy and warm” nature of Marxist (collectivism, communism, progressivism, socialism) iterations.
There are at least twelve aspects of the Marxist ideology that are clear and present dangers to democratic nations as well as undemocratic countries.
First, Marxism was founded on the stark concept of atheism.
How These Taxes Usually End
Do these people ever learn? Recall New Jersey circa 2016, when a single hedge fund manager's change of address to Florida had Trenton's budget officials publicly sweating over the state's revenue forecast - one guy, one moving truck, one fiscal panic. Recall Illinois' richest resident, Ken Griffin, packing his entire firm off from Chicago to Miami in 2022, taking what was reportedly the state's largest individual tax bill with him. Recall the Pacific Northwest's most famous ex-resident developing a sudden fondness for South Florida in 2023, mere months after Washington's shiny new capital gains tax survived its court challenge - and then unloading billions in stock from the comfort of a state that taxes none of it. Recall the world's richest man decamping California for Texas in 2020, with his companies trailing behind like ducklings.
‘I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,’ the president said.
Yet New Yorkers still do not have to present voter identification during elections, and the hypocrisy is just off the charts, as this only highlights an inconsistency in the state's approach to identification requirements:
ID Required: Shovel snow
ID Required: Buy milk and bread at a gov't-run grocery store
No ID Required: Voting in elections
"We are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers … sort of a library card-esque thing," one of Mamdani's socialist officials said.
Latest footage proves leftist Spanish government talking point is complete lies
If Bash thought she could lob a bunch of accusations against Kennedy and he would take it quietly, she was sorely mistaken. Kennedy didn't dodge a single question. He turned every one of them into an indictment of a press corps that spent years demanding blind obedience and calling it science.
... rather than relying solely on the navy, Beijing deploys the Chinese Coast Guard to project control over contested waters in the South China Sea, East China Sea, and around Taiwan. Coast guard vessels regularly patrol disputed areas, escort Chinese fishing fleets, inspect foreign vessels, and employ coercive measures—including water cannons, lasers, blocking maneuvers, and collisions—to challenge rival claimants. They also operate alongside the People's Liberation Army Navy during military exercises, particularly those focused on Taiwan.
The president warned the United States remains ‘locked and loaded and ready to go.’
A report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, published on July 27, also assessed that U.S. interceptor stockpiles had fallen to fewer than 900 Patriot missiles, and fewer than 300 Terminal High Altitude Air Defense missiles.
Obviously this is about geopolitical dominance. Beijing's public posture increasingly treats AI and unmanned platforms as the technologies that will reshape modern warfare, and Xi's remarks land while the United States pours its own money into military AI and autonomous systems.
The new ban also aims to hide the backwardness of Chinese weaponry, according to Chinese military scholars and a collector.
Footage shows a civilian used his Second Amendment right to repel the shooter.
"According to the ministry, Russian forces struck 24 seagoing vessels used by the Ukrainian military for supplies during the week of July 11-17, including 14 dry cargo ships and one tanker," TASS continnues.
Moscow seeks to sever military supply routes and disrupt arms shipments bound for Ukraine, but this has also obviously resulted in damaged and sunken tankers, auxiliary vessels, and even deaths of civilian bystanders among international shipping crew.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris has long spoken about the importance of being surrounded by other black or minority Americans. But her new $8.5 million home is located in an exclusive Malibu neighborhood where the population is overwhelmingly white.
Several immigrant business owners are preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan for city-owned grocery stores, Fox News Digital confirmed Wednesday.
A sprawling energy facility, as well as warehouse belonging to the online retailer Wildberries, went up in flames, resulting in several injuries. During the attack a residential area was also struck, resulting in the death of a woman in her destroyed home.
" A ship was damaged at Pivdennyi port and two more were hit near Odesa, according to a Defense Ministry post on Telegram. Earlier Thursday, Ukraine attacked the Russian Black Sea port of Taman, a key gateway for grain shipments, while Russia hit vessels in and around Ukraine's Black Sea ports."
A suspected Russian missile has crashed in a field in Poland, with smoke seen rising from the Lublin region, as NATO fighter jets were scrambled amid WW3 fears
“Grocery stores operate with 1-2% profit margins already so taxpayers will have to subsidize 30% discounts on groceries,” CNBC anchor Sara Eisen wrote on X. “It also threatens to shut down local markets and bodegas (and reduce access to food), because they have to compete with the city stores, while also paying commercial rent and earning profits.”
Peter St. Onge, an economist at The Heritage Foundation, wrote on X that if the government-owned stores set their prices 30% below retail value then the city would lose “at least 28 cents on the dollar.”
"We are choosing escalation when de-escalation remains an option, entrenching ourselves deeper into a broader war that we don’t have the capability or desire to sustain," he explained, adding: "There is not a military solution here that will lead to a win. More bombing will not convince Iran to open the SOH or to give us the deal we want, it will only harden their position."
Cameras are ubiquitous today. They’re in most stores. They’re on streets in every city and town recording your license plate and often looking to tag you with a speeding ticket. If you have a late-model car, its cameras and computer chips will rat you out upon request. If you knock on your neighbor’s door, a camera is probably recording you. When you travel, almost all immigration authorities recognize your face in addition to taking digital fingerprints.
China has given its response on Thursday to a prior Reuters investigation which strongly alleged that Beijing is preparing to transfer up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers MANPADS to Iran.
The Reuters report was highly specific, even identifying the Hong Kong-based company that facilitated the signing of the arms deal between the Iranians and Chinese, but Beijing has rejected the report as a lie and 'groundless', saying there's no truth to it.
I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions."
And so he did, an estimated 111 times, but it won't protect him completely.
On Jan. 20, 2025, his last day in office, Biden granted Fauci a full and unconditional pardon covering any offenses he may have "committed or taken part in" tied to his government roles between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025. The broad preemptive pardon Joe Biden handed him on the way out the door covers federal charges alone, and it leaves him exposed to the state charges that may arrive sooner than his lawyers expected.
Oil soars on reports of Iran targeting US Jordan base; Iraqi militants attack KSA for 2nd day.
Hormuz indirect talks continue amid reports of a possible resurrected MoU deal.
Shipping remains stalled with virtually no tanker traffic through Hormuz.
Iran insists Hormuz stays closed unless its terms are accepted.
Houthis escalate attacks, prompting more ships to avoid the Red Sea.
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