Iran war updates: Netanyahu orders Israeli army to expand Lebanon invasion | US-Israel war on Iran News

• The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to war in the Middle East has triggered significant negative consequences for the global economy. • The crisis has highlighted critical structural vulnerabilities and the extreme sensitivity of international trade to disruptions in this strategic maritime corridor.

• The article highlights a contradiction between the rise of nationalist rhetoric among global politicians and the actual public desire for international cooperation. • It argues that global solidarity remains remarkably popular among citizens, despite political efforts to belittle foreign alliances and promote isolationism.

• Middle Eastern states are increasingly utilizing digital diplomacy—including strategic communication and online narratives—to project soft power and manage national images on a global scale. • These digital tools allow governments to bypass traditional media to engage directly with international audiences, manage crises, and connect with their respective diasporas.

• Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf stated on Sunday that Tehran will refuse any deal with the United States until the rights of the Iranian people are fully secured. • Separately, official Berri highlighted that the primary obstacle to a ceasefire is not the resistance's position, but the ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon.

• ACCORD is analyzing the evolving African mediation landscape, questioning if current mediation architectures are failing to keep pace with rapidly changing conflict dynamics. • A critical "seventh shift" identified is geopolitical fragmentation, where global powers have moved away from multilateral norms toward pursuing transactional interests.

The neighborhood that makes America’s clothes has been buffeted by ICE raids and post-Covid problems – but leaders say hope is on the horizonDowntown Los Angeles’s fashion district, the largest apparel manufacturing hub in the United States, is a neighborhood in freefall. While 83% of clothing cut and sewn in the United States is made here, the district has suffered in recent years as visitation and sales have plummeted.“I went from making $2,000 a day to making now $500, sometimes $700,” said Fernando Carmona, who owns the women’s dress store AP Design by Rocca. He added that rent for his store is $8,250 a month. Continue reading...

Casting shifts to EU talent as paperwork delays and visa limits make hiring British crews less viableFrom blacklists for UK passport holders to being asked to work illegally while on holiday, the plethora of extra costs and red tape thrown up post-Brexit are restricting opportunities for British actors seeking work in the EU.Mainland Europe has always been a springboard for those in the creative industries, from gaining crucial first credits on a TV, film or theatre production to building a marketable resume and paying the bills while attempting to make it big in the UK or US. Continue reading...

Letting nature take over at a former dairy farm has resulted in a surge of species in just three yearsThree years of rewilding on a former dairy farm in east Somerset have seen recorded bird species soar from 67 to 94, butterfly species rise from 11 to 24 and small mammals grow in number.Heal Somerset, the first site acquired by the charity Heal Rewilding, has produced a state of nature report mirroring a national survey by environmental charities that has tracked the decline in nature. Continue reading...

Ravi Naik says legal ruling that forced Sarah Wynn-Williams to make silent appearance at Hay festival also applies to himThe lawyer representing the Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams has said he too has been prevented from promoting her memoir under a legal ruling, after her silent appearance at the Hay festival.Ravi Naik said the terms of an arbitration proceeding meant neither Wynn-Williams nor her “agents” could promote her bestselling book Careless People or say anything disparaging about the company. Continue reading...

Family were enjoying a waterside barbecue in Bochum before members ended up in jeoparty in riverA cyclist has been praised for having “stepped in decisively” and rescuing four members of a family who nearly drowned in the Ruhr River in Germany during a waterside barbecue that nearly ended in tragedy.The family of eight had set themselves up on the riverbank in the western city of Bochum, the local fire brigade reported, but the gathering took a panicked turn when one woman got too close to the water’s edge and toppled down into the current, police told local media. Continue reading...

Rampant Bull needed a makeover after wear and tear from tourists, but refurbishment ‘castrated’ it, critics sayThe restoration of a floor mosaic in Milan called the Rampant Bull has been mocked after the works appear to have erased a crucial anatomical detail – its testicles.The 19th-century mosaic in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade needed a makeover because a small crater had formed in the tiny pink tiles featuring the bull’s testicles, due to the constant stream of tourists performing a heel-spinning gesture. Continue reading...