MIDDLE EAST - Oil loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu were suspended, sources told Reuters, while Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline remained offline after attacks on the kingdom’s energy infrastructure. The renewed confrontation between Washington and Tehran is increasingly being fought not only through military pressure but through the energy market, where disruptions to Gulf exports are pushing oil prices higher, testing the resilience of regional economies and creating a growing domestic challenge for the United States ahead of November’s midterm elections. That pressure intensified Tuesday as Saudi Arabia’s principal route for exporting oil without passing through the Strait of Hormuz suffered another setback. Separately, Libya halted operations at three oil fields after protests led to the closure of a crude pipeline.

MIDDLE EAST - Iran’s leaders were never going to passively submit to slow strangulation. Facing Donald Trump’s blockade of their ports and the near-total loss of their oil exports, the regime is now striking back across the Middle East, aiming to inflict enough damage to force America to relent. In the last seven days, the Houthi rebels in Yemen have broken out of their highland strongholds and advanced down the coastal plain, seizing key positions alongside the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where the Red Sea meets the Indian Ocean. Ever since Iran began attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb has become the principal outlet for Saudi Arabia’s oil. The kingdom has managed to re-route about two thirds of its exports – more than four million barrels per day – via the Red Sea. Iran is now doing everything possible to wreck this alternative, which is why the Houthis have strengthened their hold on the choke point, where they have positioned Iranian-supplied anti-ship missiles.

USA - The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Iran war cost the US $38 billion up to August 1, a figure that is rising by up to $3 billion a month. Hegseth has requested $67 billion in urgent extra military funding from Congress for the war, in addition to his request for $1.5 trillion in annual funding for the War Department next year, up from $1 trillion this year. Both have yet to be agreed.

GERMANY - Friedrich Merz has cancelled a trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly amid political pressure at home. The German chancellor was due to fly to the US next Tuesday, where he was to be awarded the “Henry Kissinger Prize” by the American Academy in Berlin. He was also due to address the UN General Assembly. However, he cancelled the trip following his Christian Democrats (CDU) party’s poor performance after the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s triumph in the Saxony-Anhalt election and growing discontent within his own party. The loss, in which the AfD was close to securing an outright majority, has caused mounting political pressure on Mr Merz and his party with a number of leading conservatives calling for his resignation. “Contrary to original plans, the chancellor will not travel to New York next week, as his presence is required in Berlin,” a government source said on Tuesday.

UK - Britain’s money-printing experiment is about to become more expensive. What began as a way to rescue the economy has quickly become a headache for both the Government and the Bank of England. When interest rates were low in 2009 but the economy was crying out for help, banks began their campaign of “quantitative easing”. First deployed in the US, “QE” – as it became known – saw Threadneedle Street print money to buy government bonds, known as gilts. The goal was to drive down the cost of borrowing, encouraging people and businesses to spend more to stimulate the economy. The experiment largely worked during the financial crisis. Jobs were saved while inflation remained low. During lockdown, though, the results were very different as inflation took off and central banks around the world were forced to increase interest rates. There is no easy way out of the QE mess. The next crisis may demand that the printing presses are fired up again. Before then, the Government must work out a different way to pay for it.

UK - Optimism is comforting, but it might also be the most dangerous thing in the world. The sunny assumption that things will be OK, that the worst won’t happen, can leave us exposed to truly dreadful risks. This isn’t just about artificial intelligence and the death of all humanity, though that’s a good – or bad – place to start. To summarise: we are currently developing technology whose own creators say they do not fully understand, cannot entirely control and which may well as a consequence cause the deaths of some, many, or even all humans.

TAIWAN - Chinese military aircraft entered air defense zones on two sides of Taiwan while a collection of Chinese naval and government vessels operated around the island, Taiwan’s military said Monday. The latest activity is part of an increasingly regular Chinese military presence around the self-governing island rather than an isolated deployment. Taiwan, meanwhile, is preparing to spend a record-setting NT$1 trillion (New Taiwanese Dollars), roughly $31 billion, on defense in 2027 for the first time as Taipei accelerates its military buildup in response to pressure from Beijing, President Lai Ching-te said earlier this month, according to Reuters. The Chinese military’s sustained operations are not confined to the Taiwan Strait. Beijing has increasingly demonstrated an ability to move naval and air forces into waters east of Taiwan and farther into the western Pacific, complicating Taiwan’s ability to treat its eastern coastline as a protected rear area during a potential conflict.

CANADA - The Canadian Armed Forces has issued a new directive barring chaplains and other military personnel from mentioning God, Jesus, or other religion-specific language during mandatory public events. Military Personnel Instruction 03/26, Spiritual Reflections in Military Settings, was issued on July 29, 2026, by the Chief of Military Personnel. It states that chaplains “must instead offer a spiritual reflection” when prayers or religious observances are requested at official government events that members are expected or required to attend.

Countries from Brazil to Taiwan are bracing for a surge in dengue driven by the “supersized” El Niño, as the UN warns this year’s weather phenomenon could be the strongest on record. “El Niño is being supersized before our eyes,” Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said last week. “The ​science leaves no room for doubt: the planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are heating up.” The weather phenomenon – a periodic warming of sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific, caused by weakening trade winds – alters rainfall and temperature patterns across the globe. That, in turn, causes extreme weather like droughts, heatwaves, floods and typhoons – which then trigger events including wildfires, crop failures and a collapse in affected fisheries. In Taiwan, the Centres for Disease Control has told people to protect themselves from mosquito bites as the weather phenomenon kicks in. In 2015, an El Niño year, the country had a record-breaking outbreak [of dengue], with 43,000 cases and 228 deaths.

USA - A 199-year-old supreme court ruling could hand the President unlimited power. In 1827, the Supreme Court settled a question most Americans have never thought to ask: Who decides when America is in a state of “insurrection”? Their answer: the authority “belongs exclusively to the President.” And his decision is “conclusive.” In other words… We don’t need a vote from Congress. Or a sign-off from a judge. One man – Donald Trump – could over-rule every other branch of government – including the all-powerful “Deep State.”

GERMANY - Germany’s political battle over the AfD’s historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt is going international. After the party won 43.8% of the vote, Chancellor Friedrich Merz raised the possibility of using an extraordinary federal power against a future AfD-led state government. Now European lawmakers from five countries are asking the United Nations to scrutinize the move. The pressure on Merz is growing on several fronts. The AfD parliamentary group has also filed a criminal complaint against the Chancellor after he described the party’s “remigration” policy as “nothing other than ethnic cleansing based on skin color and origin.” The international effort was initiated by German AfD MEP Petr Bystron, who argues that Berlin’s response to the election raises fundamental questions about the treatment of democratic opposition in Germany.

RUSSIA - For a long time, Russia battled with the EU over the pricing process for oil and gas. Russia, specifically Putin, wanted to sell oil/gas to the EU based on production prices and fair profits. Europe wanted to buy Russian oil/gas based on “market prices” which are manipulated by speculation. President Putin fundamentally doesn’t like this approach because it artificially inflates the price based on speculation and inorganic influences.

MIDDLE EAST - Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were responsible for an attack on a key oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi government confirmed on Saturday, saying that the attack came from its Maysan Governorate. A local commander has been dismissed, the Rudaw media channel in Iraq said, and Baghdad has sought to prevent Riyadh from retaliating by admitting that its territory was utilized as a launchpad for the attack. The attack on Saudi Arabia shows how the militias threaten the region. By cutting off energy trade, they are also threatening the world.

UK - Male teachers will be allowed to supervise girls getting changed at swimming pools or sports centres under new NSPCC guidance. The children’s protection charity has removed a policy stating that adult supervisors of pupils getting dressed should be the same gender from its latest safeguarding document. Campaigners have since written to the NSPCC calling on it to reverse the decision and accused it of coming under pressure from trans activists. The charity’s previous policy said: “Adults who are supervising children getting changed should be of the same gender as them.” However, in its latest “safeguarding considerations for changing rooms” briefing, the line has been removed. As the leading UK body for the safeguarding of children, what is the NSPCC for if not to do its utmost to protect children? It appears instead to have decided that the safer route is to avoid offending trans activists, even if that puts the safety, privacy and dignity of children at risk.”

MIDDLE EAST - A massive attack by Yemeni’s Houthis on Saudi Arabia has become the first serious test for the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement – a defense pact between Riyadh, Ankara, and Islamabad established just a month ago. We’re no longer talking about a future security architecture in abstract terms. Rather, a very concrete question is being posed: What actions should Saudi Arabia’s allies undertake following a strike on its territory?