Information

• European ministers have agreed to implement new measures to combat online misinformation following a crisis in Ceuta. • To improve shared situational awareness, member states plan to develop early-warning systems, including social media monitoring and pre-frontier intelligence. • EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, called for increased international cooperation to dismantle powerful smuggling networks.

• Fixed income trading in European banking remains a "two-tiered race" during Q2, as the sector continues to struggle in the shadow of equity markets. • BNP Paribas and Barclays are locked in a competitive struggle for dominance, while Societe Generale has successfully overtaken UBS in trading performance. • The trend highlights a significant disparity in how European banks are capturing fixed income revenue compared to the more robust equity trading sector.

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez criticized EU allies for their "selfish" reaction to the migration crisis in Ceuta, accusing them of spreading prejudice and misinformation. • Sánchez argued that border security is a "shared responsibility," noting that Spain and Morocco have worked together to prevent unauthorized movement into mainland Europe with minimal support from other member states. • The tension escalates as Italy has temporarily reinstated border checks on arrivals from Spain, while officials in Finland and Denmark have suggested suspending Spain from the Schengen area.

Police also released notes received from presumed abductors of mother of Today anchor Savannah GuthrieThe family of Nancy Guthrie issued a new appeal on Saturday for information on the whereabouts of their missing grandmother, six months after she disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, and a day after local investigators released two purported ransom notes.“Six months ago, someone took her out of her bed in the dead of night. We have lived every moment, every breath, and every heartbeat in agony and despair ever since,” a post on Instagram said. Continue reading...

In recordings made in 2016 and 2017 former president also appears to describe possessing classified informationFormer US president Joe Biden appeared to discuss sensitive information and describe possessing classified documents in audio recordings released on Monday by the Oversight Project, a conservative activist group.The heavily redacted transcripts and recordings were made in 2016 and 2017, while Biden was working with a ghostwriter on his 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. No classified material was ever alleged to have appeared in the book. Continue reading...

Upper tribunal unable to find document cited in case and claims it is ‘analogous to relying on bogus evidence’UK politics live – latest updatesA senior judge has accused the Home Office of relying on “AI hallucinated” information to refuse an asylum claim.The case relates to a Moroccan woman and her child who fled her country after experiencing forced underage marriage and extreme violence, including rape. The woman claimed asylum on the basis of fears that she would be killed by her husband: a powerful, previously convicted criminal. Continue reading...

• Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari defended the provincial government's governance and development record during a press conference at the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR). • Bokhari accused rival political parties of relying on "disrespectful criticism" and electoral rigging in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) polls rather than focusing on performance. • The PML-N intends to center its electoral message on its manifestos and governance achievements to win over AJK voters.

• PageMind has raised €1.2 million in funding to expand its AI-driven product discovery tools for the e-commerce sector. • An unnamed AI medical imaging marketplace secured $10 million to scale its operations and technology. • AMD has launched the Helios AI Rack-Scale System, positioning the company to compete more directly with Nvidia in the high-performance AI hardware market.

• NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input on a potential upcoming prize competition focused on science and innovation. • Interested parties must submit responses to specific topics, with a character limit of 3,000 (approximately 500 words) per response. • This process allows NASA to solicit external expertise and innovative ideas to help the agency explore the unknown in air and space for the benefit of humanity.

• India's PV Sindhu will lead the national challenge at the China Open Super 1000 tournament. • Sindhu enters the competition with significant momentum following her recent victory at the Japan Open. • The tournament is scheduled to begin this Tuesday, marking a high-stakes event for top global badminton players.

• PolitiFact, a project of the Poynter Institute, has launched "Well Informed," a new service designed to provide reliable health information to consumers and news organizations. • The initiative utilizes research-backed stories and social videos to help the public distinguish credible medical evidence from health-related misinformation. • This launch addresses the growing need for verified health data to combat the spread of misleading personal health claims across digital platforms.

• The Trump administration's cuts to staff and resources have left government agencies underprepared to combat foreign influence and disinformation campaigns. • In 2024, China and Russia expanded their targeting beyond the presidential election to include various congressional races. • These resource gaps are critical because they weaken the institutional guardrails necessary to reduce the reach and impact of foreign interference.

• A Federal Reserve inspector general's report revealed that the central bank failed to protect critical economic data from "foreign adversaries." • A senior advisor named Rogers allegedly leaked interest rate decisions to Chinese state actors via email and hand-delivery between 2017 and his 2021 retirement. • The report also highlighted a 2018 breach where confidential brief books containing sensitive forecasts and economic analyses were shared with unauthorized outsiders.

• A new class of "entrepreneurial workers" in China is utilizing generative AI for copywriting, design, and e-commerce to survive an economy with collapsing social mobility. • These solo operators focus on frugal survival and rent coverage rather than scaling for IPOs, reflecting a shift toward grassroots economic resilience. • This trend mirrors the strategy of Chinese AI firms like DeepSeek, which prioritize model compression and architectural optimization over the high-compute, high-spend approach used in Silicon Valley.

John Edwards resigned in June after independent investigation following claims of sexual harassment and bullyingThe UK information commissioner who resigned over sexual harassment and bullying claims is understood to be taking legal action against a woman who flagged his conduct.The science and technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said she was “appalled” by the fact that John Edwards was preparing to serve legal papers on one of the “incredibly brave” women at the ICO who raised concerns about his behaviour. Edwards resigned from his post as the UK’s data regulator in June after an independent investigation. Continue reading...

• Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows rose by 6% last year, totaling $1.6 trillion and reversing a two-year decline. • According to the UN Trade and Investment’s World Investment Report 2026, released on July 7, the surge was primarily driven by the AI boom in advanced economies. • UNCTAD's Nan Li Collins emphasizes that developing countries must identify and utilize new FDI entry points to benefit from this digital investment drive.

• South Korea is implementing a new law that imposes steep punitive damages on news outlets and social media influencers who spread false information. • Journalist groups and academics, including Professor Kim Hong-yeol of Duksung Women’s University, warn that the measure could stifle public discourse. • Critics argue the law is likely to trigger widespread self-censorship and discourage the reporting of sensitive political or social issues.

• South Korea implemented a new disinformation law on Tuesday, introducing punitive damages and stricter obligations for digital platforms. • Major platforms must now establish formal procedures for reporting and managing disinformation, hate speech, and discriminatory content. • The Democratic Party of Korea argues the law is essential to combat social damage caused by "cyber wreckers" who spread false claims for profit.

• MHProNews is drafting a report titled “American Freedom and Housing at 250” to coincide with the United States' 250th anniversary. • The analysis utilizes research from R. J. Rummel on democide and Thomas Sowell’s critiques of big government to argue that the modern regulatory state has stifled prosperity. • A primary focus is the "man-made" U.S. housing crisis, which the publication attributes to restrictive zoning laws and financing barriers that prevent affordable homeownership.

• A new UN report warns that the rapid development of AI technology is currently outpacing the ability of experts to fully understand its associated risks and benefits. • The report specifically highlights critical concerns regarding child safety and the proliferation of disinformation resulting from these advancements. • Major U.S.-based corporations, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, are spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually to develop AI, often prioritizing growth over societal policy concerns.

Culture secretary says her department will stop using platform, citing concerns over far-right content fuelling violence and divisionThe UK’s culture and media department will stop using X because the site “now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate”, Lisa Nandy has announced.The culture secretary’s department is the UK’s second to quit the Elon Musk-owned platform over increasing concerns about the way it highlights and prioritises often inaccurate far-right and racist content and is used to incite violence and division. Continue reading...

• Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has unveiled LongCat-2.0, a new open-source large language model featuring 1.6 trillion parameters. • The company claims this is the first model of its scale to complete both full training and inference using exclusively domestic Chinese chip clusters. • This development is significant as it demonstrates China's ability to build massive AI models despite international restrictions on high-end semiconductors.

• Afghanistan's Information and Culture Minister, Haqqani, stated that the Afghan people remain steadfast and do not fear ongoing bombings or external pressure. • The Minister highlighted a critical funding gap, noting that humanitarian response plans are currently only 11 percent funded as global assistance declines. • Afghanistan has been added to the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) list of the world’s most neglected crises due to rising violence, displacement, and inflation.

• A federal judge dismissed a Department of Justice lawsuit against Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, ruling that Pennsylvania is not required to share its unredacted voter-registration database with the Trump administration. • This legal action was part of a broader effort by the DOJ to sue more than half of U.S. states to force the release of unredacted voter rolls. • The ruling marks the tenth time a federal judge has sided against the administration in these specific efforts to obtain voter data.

• House Committee Chairmen Jim Jordan, Bryan Steil, and James Comer sent a formal letter to former Biden White House Counsel Dana Remus demanding documents and communications. • The request focuses on ActBlue's fraud prevention policies following New York Times reporting that Remus possesses direct, firsthand information regarding the matter. • This action is part of a broader oversight effort by House Republicans to investigate potential fraud and misleading statements made to Congress.

• The CDC is currently responding to Ebola disease outbreaks occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda. • The agency has issued specific health guidance and monitoring information for travelers returning to the United States from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan. • These measures are critical to prevent the domestic spread of the virus and ensure that returning travelers receive immediate medical screening if symptoms appear.

Bolton to plead guilty charges that he unlawfully retained sensitive national security information in agreement that includes $2.25m fineSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.John Bolton, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, is expected to plead guilty on Friday to charges that he unlawfully retained sensitive national security information. Continue reading...

• The UK government has launched two new AI research labs backed by a £60 million investment from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). • One lab will focus on creating open-source AI systems compatible with common hardware, while the second will research learning methods that do not rely on massive centralized computing resources. • This initiative aims to strengthen collaboration between academia, industry, and the public sector to make AI more efficient, open, and useful for the country.