After 75 years, the global refugee system is mostly about getting lucky

• Professor Rodrigue Tremblay published an analysis on August 4, 2026, arguing that U.S. President Donald Trump is more corrupt and dangerous than corporate media portrayals suggest. • The piece focuses on Trump's conduct since his second inauguration on January 20, 2025, claiming his actions demonstrate a significant risk to governance.

• President Trump warned that Iran will be "hit very hard" if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened soon to allow oil shipments to resume. • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reported that talks are currently progressing to resolve the blockade.

• The Middle East is shifting toward "Energy Redundancy Diplomacy," a strategy focused on maintaining energy production, financing, and exports through multiple interchangeable systems. • This approach aims to ensure stability by creating backup infrastructures that can be activated when geopolitical disruptions occur.

• Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett accused Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning the goal of defeating Hamas and effectively handing control of Gaza to Qatar. • The IDF is tightening its strike policy in Gaza, now requiring the chief of staff's explicit approval for certain operations.

Hits on two towns among deadliest bombings since start of June ceasefire An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed one person and injured 11, the Lebanese ministry of health said, in one of Israel’s deadliest bombings since the start of the June ceasefire.Israel carried out an airstrike in the town of Tebnine, hitting a cemetery, the Lebanese health ministry said. It said the town of al-Mansouri, in south Lebanon, was also bombed, forcing families to flee. Continue reading...

The MTA will sell its remaining machines that weigh up to 1,050lbs as it transitions to contactless fare payment systemThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City has begun auctioning off its final MetroCard vending machines, offering New Yorkers the chance to own one of the transit system’s most recognizable fixtures as the agency continues its transition to Omny.The auction opened Wednesday morning and will run through 19 August, according to the MTA. The agency is offering a limited number of retired MetroCard Vending Machines (MVM) and MetroCard Express Machines (MEM), which have served subway riders for decades. Continue reading...

Variety of prescriptions were found in blood of mother accused of strangling her three kids, according to testimonySign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom accused of killing her three children in January 2023, continued on Wednesday with a forensic toxicologist testifying to the variety and concentration of medications found in the defendant’s blood.Justin Brower, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Laboratories, testified that his lab examined the levels of four psychiatric medications detected in Clancy’s blood after she allegedly strangled her kids and attempted to take her own life. Continue reading...

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who was convicted of harassing Jewish MP, says Badenoch has offered him advisory role instead• UK politics live – latest updatesA former neo-Nazi activist who was convicted of harassing a Jewish MP has withdrawn as a Conservative election candidate after his selection prompted an outcry from Jewish groups and others.Joshua Bonehill-Paine said on Wednesday he had withdrawn from next year’s local elections, and that Kemi Badenoch had instead offered him a role as an advisor to her party’s culture and integration commission, specifically focusing on how young men become radicalised. Continue reading...

Activist who rallied around a datacenter moratorium will face incumbent Republican Tom Barrett in NovemberUS politics live – latest updatesWilliam Lawrence, a prominent environmental organizer who foregrounded his support for a datacenter moratorium, has won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s seventh congressional district in a victory for progressives.Lawrence was a co-founder of the youth-led climate justice organization the Sunrise Movement, the group that in 2018 mainstreamed calls for a Green New Deal to battle economic injustice while rapidly phasing out planet-warming fossil fuels. The 36-year-old defeated Bridget Brink, a former US ambassador to Ukraine and Slovakia, and Matt Maasdam, a former US Navy Seal and military aide to Barack Obama. Continue reading...

If the progressive wins Michigan’s general election, it could redefine the 2028 presidential contest. If he fails, the establishment will call him a cautionary taleUS politics live – latest updatesIn the final stretch of the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed challenged voters at a small event in rural Michigan to think about the message they could send the rest of the country when they cast their ballots.“Who are we? Who do we want to be?” El-Sayed said. “Do we want a state that’s defined by how much money corporations brought in to tell us what we couldn’t have? Or do we want to be a state where we demonstrate to the rest of the country what’s possible when you build a movement of, by, and for the people?” Continue reading...

Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting wrongdoing at stationThe alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with intellectual disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest-ever disciplinary actions against its police force.The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station, and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and stating that she had been sexually assaulted at the station. Continue reading...