Mexican influencer shot dead while streaming live on social media

• 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.

• The 75-year-old global refugee system, established by the Refugee Convention and Protocol, is facing a crisis of effectiveness as it struggles to adapt to modern geopolitical realities. • While 149 state parties officially maintain their commitment to the treaties, the author argues that these obligations are being "hollowed out" in practice.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Obama-appointed judge seemed unmoved by Trump attorneys’ arguments in case also naming MurdochA federal judge in Florida seemed skeptical of arguments from Donald Trump’s legal team on Wednesday over whether the court should allow a $10bn defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal to move forward.Trump sued the Journal and News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch over a July 2025 article about a “bawdy” letter reportedly from Trump that was included in a 2003 birthday book for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Trump has denied authoring or signing the letter, and his attorneys have argued that the Journal published the story despite having been told it was false. Continue reading...

University says it has ‘new information’ about academic career of Jason Arday, the youngest black professor in its historyJason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, is to face investigation by the university after what it called “new information” regarding his qualifications and career.Cambridge initially defended Arday – the youngest black professor appointed in the university’s history, with a compelling life story of educational disadvantage – as “the victim of a vile campaign”. But as questions mounted over Arday’s own claims, the university’s leaders felt that Cambridge’s reputation was in danger. Continue reading...

Democrats ‘united by a common purpose: putting a check on Trump’, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand sayAbdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primaryWhat we learned from midterm primary electionsLeading Democrats quickly papered over whatever qualms they had about progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed after his win in the Michigan Senate primary was confirmed on Wednesday, instead welcoming the former public health official as their champion against Republican nominee Mike Rogers.The state is now key to Democrats’s hopes of retaking control of the chamber in November’s midterm elections. Winning in Michigan would put them on the path to snarling Donald Trump’s legislative agenda and blocking his judicial nominees for the final two years of his presidency, while defeat could undermine their prospects of gaining a majority in the chamber for years to come. Rogers lost a Senate race in Michigan two years ago by a slim margin to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Continue reading...

Sheikh Hasina, 78, plans a December comeback two years after being ousted in a bloody uprising led by studentsBangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by year-end, even though she faces a death sentence.“They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go,” said the 78-year-old, speaking two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Continue reading...

Data shows victims of torture and trafficking among those prosecuted for crossing Channel by irregular meansMore than 1,100 people, including survivors of torture and trafficking, have been convicted of illegally arriving in the UK since 2022, according to freedom of information data.The Home Office introduced the offence of illegal arrival in 2022 in a bid to deter those planning to come to the UK by small boat or by other irregular means such as lorries. Continue reading...

Initial evidence suggests the drone, which was found near Ukrainian cargo planes at the German airport, came from RussiaThe armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation.Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border. Continue reading...