Iran claims attacks in strait of Hormuz; Houthis announce blockade of Red Sea shipping route – Middle East crisis live

• Governments are increasingly utilizing social media influencers as unofficial ambassadors to shape global public opinion and project soft power. • States provide these creators with privileged access, official tours, and interviews with senior officials to cover geopolitical conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran, as well as China's global ambitions.

• In an article published July 20, 2026, author Ellen Brown explores the "AI Abundance Paradigm" and the societal shift occurring as machines replace human labor. • The piece examines how the transition from a scarcity-based economy to one of abundance alters human behavior, moving away from competition and fear of loss.

• Recent attacks in Ukraine over the weekend resulted in at least 12 civilian deaths and numerous injuries across the country. • Infrastructure damage was reported at World Food Programme (WFP) warehouses in Dnipro and World Health Organization (WHO) facilities near Kyiv.

• Tensions between the USA and Iran have escalated, sparking renewed fears of a broader regional conflict across West Asia. • The escalation occurs within a region already destabilized by multiple ongoing security crises and geopolitical volatility.

• The US Central Command conducted airstrikes for the ninth consecutive night, targeting Iranian missile sites, air defense systems, and military command centers. • Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed the interim ceasefire deal signed by Donald Trump as "worthless and invalid," while Iranian negotiators announced the suspension of their commitments.

Exclusive Harris poll for Guardian reveals Americans’ assumptions about stock market and wider economyTwo in five Americans believe the stock market isn’t for them and only benefits the top 1%, according to a new Harris Poll poll exclusive to the Guardian that surveyed investing habits and knowledge about the economy.The poll found a similar share of Americans had incorrect assumptions about the relationship between the economy and the stock market. Nearly 40% did not know that the economy and the stock market were not the same thing. And two-thirds of Americans incorrectly believed that a growing stock market means the overall economy is growing.This survey was conducted online by the Harris Poll from 9-11 July, among a nationally representative sample of 2,154 US adults, with 1,667 reporting some level of investing. Continue reading...

European leaders have made positive noises about the new UK PM, but he is likely to face the same restrictions as StarmerUK politics live – latest updatesAndy Burnham is unknown in Brussels, but that will soon change. In his schedule for the autumn is an EU-UK summit that may underscore the same dilemmas that have confronted previous British prime ministers in the relationship with Europe.EU leaders were quick to offer congratulations to Britain’s prime minister, the seventh since the 2016 Brexit referendum. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she looked forward to strengthening the EU-UK partnership “for the security of our shared continent” and “the prosperity of people on both sides of the Channel”. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, invited Burnham to visit Berlin “very soon”, noting that the UK and Germany’s “deep connection is particularly evident in these times”. Continue reading...

Interviews with residents of Russian-held region point to frustration with Moscow as Ukrainian campaign to isolate it takes toll on daily lifeFirst, the guests stopped coming. As Ukrainian drones and missiles pounded Crimea throughout the spring and into the summer, Russian tourists began cancelling their bookings at the small guesthouse Marina runs in Yevpatoria, a resort town on the peninsula’s Black Sea coast.Then petrol became scarce, making it harder to stock the business with food and other essentials. Now, electricity and running water are cut off for much of the day, just as the summer heat sets in. Continue reading...

Salah Sarsour, president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, said ‘dehumanizing’ treatment reminded him of time spent in Israeli military jailThe president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque said he was subjected to “dehumanizing” treatment during more than 80 days in federal immigration custody – treatment that reminded him of the time he spent in Israeli military prisons in occupied Palestine nearly four decades ago.“It all brought back old memories of things that happened to me when I was tried in Palestine,” said Salah Sarsour in his first interview since being released last month. “The humiliation, the treatment by guards, the way they talk to people, the way they try to put people down.” He said he lost more than 30lb while in immigration detention. Continue reading...

PM Mark Carney says Canada has made proposals to resolve dispute as tariffs are due to be imposed on wide range of goodsSign up for US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has said that Ottawa is ready to deepen trade talks with the United States, after US president Donald Trump ordered fresh tariffs targeting Canada.Canadians across the political spectrum united in anger at Trump. “If these tariffs proceed, Canada should respond tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” Ontario premier Doug Ford said. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, called the tariffs a “direct violation” of the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement Trump negotiated. Canada’s Conservatives called the tariffs “another unacceptable and unjustified attack on Canadian workers and our businesses,” adding: “Canadians are not a punching bag.” The leader of Canada’s New Democrats called them “the latest economic grenade thrown over the border by an out of control President who has lost touch with reality.”Ilya Somin, a professor of law at George Mason University who helped file the successful challenge to Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, points out, the president’s new 50% tariffs on Canadian imports “are based on Section 338 of the notorious 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff legislation, which severely exacerbated the Great Depression.”Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, announced on Monday that she is not entering the race to replace the late senator Lindsey Graham in the snap Republican primary next month. Continue reading...

Democrats have called for an end to the war’s resumption amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. Plus: Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham on finding stardom in her 50sGood morning. Democrats have seized on the killing of three US troops in Iranian strikes to urge Donald Trump to reverse his resumption of the war with Iran. Amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties, Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, accused the president of having “frighteningly lost control of this war”.Even as US forces launched a 10th consecutive wave of attacks against Iranian targets, concern over the deaths of American service personnel threatened to complicate moves to escalate the conflict, which has reignited after Trump last week walked away from a memorandum of understanding agreed with Iran in June.How has Iran responded to continued US strikes? Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday they had targeted US military sites, including air defence systems and a radar installation in Bahrain and Kuwait, while the crew of a tanker in the strait of Hormuz reported being ⁠struck by an unknown projectile. Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan said they had activated defences to repel the attacks.How many people have been killed and injured in the war so far? The latest casualties brought the number of US service members killed since the start of the war on 28 February to at least 17. More than 1,700 Iranian civilians are estimated to have been killed. Nearly 100 US service members have been injured over the last two weeks of escalating strikes.What is happening with Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat? Darline Graham, the South Carolina interim senator and sister of the late Lindsey Graham, said she plans to run for a full Senate term after Trump endorsed her last week. In an interview with Sean Hannity, Graham – who was appointed by Governor Henry McMaster to finish the remainder of her brother’s term – said she had “made a decision. I’m in.”Why are their fresh concerns about AI chatbots and elections? A European study, published by the civil liberties group Liberties and based on research during this year’s Hungarian parliamentary elections, has concluded that AI chatbots provide inaccurate, inconsistent and unreliable guidance to voters asking which party they should back. Continue reading...

Global hunger declined for the third year in a row in 2025 but experts call for action to bring down costs of fruit, vegetables and dairy as report shows 2.69bn people can’t afford to eat wellOne in three people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet, a new report has found, prompting calls for urgent action on food affordability.There are 2.69 billion people unable to afford a diverse diet that meets their energy and nutrient needs, and it will take “immense” amounts of work to achieve the global target of zero hunger by 2030, the annual report from five UN agencies warned. Continue reading...