July 23, 2026

MIDDLE EAST WAR | Day 146.

• Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebel group claims to have attacked two Saudi-linked oil tankers in the Red Sea overnight, their first such attack since announcing a blockade of Saudi shipping earlier this week. [more]
• U.S. forces continued renewed strikes on Iran for a 12th-straight night overnight, with the military's Central Command saying the attacks were designed to "further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters." [more]
• In a social media post yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces would "destroy one bridge or power plant" in Iran each time Iran targets a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. [more]
• The price of international benchmark Brent crude oil rose about 6% today, surpassing the $100 per barrel mark for the first time since May on continued interruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the new attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1,608 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Reports say authorities in Romania are investigating a potential Russia-Ukraine war-linked drone strike on a tanker ship that caught fire off Romania's Black Sea coast earlier this week. One person was killed, and two others were injured, in the fire, and reports note that the Liberian-flagged ship was carrying liquefied petroleum gas from the Egyptian port of Alexandria to Ukraine. [more]

U.S. FEDERAL FUNDING | The House voted, 216-214, largely along party lines, yesterday to adopt the framework for a $95 billion reconciliation funding proposal that includes $60 billion for the Pentagon, $13 billion for other national security needs, $12 billion for relief for farmers, and $10 billion for voting law changes aligned with priorities put forward by President Donald Trump. [more]

U.S. DEFENSE BUDGET | The House voted, 216-212, yesterday to pass the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act bill, which calls for nearly $1.15 trillion in defense funding and includes provisions for, among other things, service member pay increases, defense infrastructure expansion, approval of a nationwide missile defense system, and increased air and naval craft production. The Senate's version of the bill was blocked in the upper chamber last week over objections to the planned inclusion of provisions enacting President Donald Trump's voting regulation priorities and the formal renaming of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. [more]

U.S. CRIME TRENDS | A new report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice think tank says 9 of 13 different crimes tracked in 30 U.S. cities over the past year showed decreasing incident rates, including those for homicide, carjackings, residential burglary, and aggravated assaults. Among the crimes that showed increases were shoplifting, domestic violence incidents, sexual assaults, and drug offenses. [press release] [full report] [more]

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT | Newly released Labor Department data indicates that initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 in the week ended July 18 – the largest decline in three months. [full report] [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION DETENTION | Reports say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has abandoned plans to convert two warehouses in Pennsylvania's Berks and Schuylkill counties into immigration detention centers. The move follows state regulator concerns over local water and wastewater services in the counties that they said would be inadequate to handle the thousands of detainees envisioned by ICE. [more]

U.S., SAUDI ARABIA, AND ISRAEL | In a social media post today, U.S. President Donald Trump said an agreement for the U.S. to facilitate the development of domestic civilian nuclear power capability in Saudi Arabia is dependent upon Saudi Arabia formally recognizing and normalizing relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords. [more]

U.S. AND VENEZUELA | U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein yesterday set June 1, 2027, as the start date for the trial of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking charges. Under the schedule set by Hellerstein, attorneys for the Maduros can begin filing challenges to the indictment and charges beginning in early September. [more]

NICARAGUA | In a statement today, Nicaragua's congress said it plans to move forward with a constitutional amendment to abolish elections in the Central American country. The move follows President Daniel Ortega's announcement earlier this week that “there won’t be any more elections." [more]

CONGO | Speaking at a health summit in Ghana yesterday, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reports also cite health officials as saying 80% of new cases in the outbreak have emerged outside known chains of transmission, signaling the disease is spreading faster than epidemiologists can track it. [more]

FRANCE | Regional officials say more than 10,000 people were evacuated last night from areas around the southwestern French tourist center of Lège Cap-Ferret as a wildfire that has burned more than 4,900 acres continued to expand. Reports say about 500 firefighters have been deployed to battle the blaze. [more]

INDIA | Defying newly announced restrictions, thousands of demonstrators took part in a sit-in on the streets of New Delhi, India, today as part of the country's "Cockroach" protests. The sit-in follows overnight clashes in which police used tear gas and batons to disperse protesters. [more]

THAILAND | Regional officials say about 10 yet-unidentified attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at a security checkpoint yesterday in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province, killing five soldiers and injuring several civilians. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul condemned the attack as a "serious threat to national security." [more]

PERU | The Andean Court of Justice, which interprets and enforces the laws of the Andean Community trade bloc, announced this week that it will hear a case in which Peru is charged with failing to combat illegal mining. [more]

E.U. TECH REGULATION | The European Commission announced an €890 million ($1 billion) fine against tech giant Google today for violations of the European Union's Digital Markets Act involving what it says was the company's setting up of the Google Play store and its ubiquitous search engine to steer consumers towards its own services and apps to the detriment of competitors. Google criticized the E.U. fine as being driven by "a small group of self-serving complainants" and suggested it would negatively impact European businesses and consumers. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first automobile, a Ford Model A, for $850. Five years later the company introduced its hugely influential Model T. [more history]