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The recent uprising of the youth in India might seem to have subsided after forcing Dharmendra Pradhan, the education minister of India, to resign. Still, he was never the true target of this historic youth revolt. The slogans, the placards, the irreverent digital art and the collective anger of the young were directed at one man alone: Narendra Modi.

There exists a pervasive prejudice among the intelligentsia that young Indians today are politically indifferent, consumerist and unconcerned with politics or the erosion of democratic norms. The events at Jantar Mantar have laid bare the shallowness of this assumption. The young harboured no illusions about the nature of this regime. They understood with absolute clarity that in the present constitutional setup, no minister possesses independent agency.

The Indian state today has been reduced to a single face, a single voice and an unyielding hub of authority: Narendra Modi. To demand the resignation of a minister, therefore, was not an administrative plea; it was a deliberate act to compel the supreme leader himself to yield.

Walking through Jantar Mantar, the protest site in central Delhi, occupied by thousands of young people for weeks, one could not escape this truth. What these young people achieved was nothing short of the iconoclasm of our times: the systematic demolition of the carefully curated, mythic public persona that this regime has spent a decade building as the sole visage of the nation.

What was most remarkable about this uprising was its radical decentralisation.

There were no high-budget, professionally printed banners. There was no vanguard organisation dictating the visual language of the protest or distributing uniform slogans for the benefit of television cameras. Scraps of cardboard, discarded paper and cheap marker pens sufficed. Each placard bore the unmistakable, authentic imprint of individual moral agency.

Yet, beneath this extraordinary heterogeneity, there remained an unwavering thematic unity.

Everything revolved around Modi.

The prime minister was mocked, caricatured and systematically stripped of the sacral aura that had been constructed around him for more than 10 years. In a matter of weeks, this generation transformed an imposing figure of state authority into a subject of collective laughter.

The young were outraged, above all, by the sheer, unbridled arrogance of power.

This uprising did not spring from material grievances alone; it arose from a profound sense of humiliation. The immediate symbolic spark was the deeply insensitive remark made by the chief justice of India, who publicly compared unemployed young people to “cockroaches”.

Coming after years in which the higher judiciary has increasingly appeared less like an independent guardian of the Constitution and more like an extension of executive power, the remark was understood as an articulation of the regime’s own contempt for its youth.

The formation of the “Cockroach Janta Party” (CJP) was an act of counter-humour born of deep injury. The already unfolding scandal over irregularities in the NEET examinations provided the movement with a concrete institutional focal point. The scandal became the occasion to demand accountability not just for a single test, but for an entire culture of governance.

The regime, meanwhile, suffered from its own hubris. It had persuaded itself that Indian society was thoroughly managed. Preoccupied with engineering electoral outcomes through the manipulation of rolls, managing parliamentary majorities through party defections, and consolidating its hold over state institutions, it failed to notice the quiet, gathering storm beneath the surface.

Those who possessed platforms, prestige and the power to shape public discourse were engrossed in celebrating the grand narrative of national glory. Television studios debated the nation’s civilisational destiny and its global standing. The mainstream press sang panegyrics to a “New India”. Scarcely anyone looked towards the young who found every avenue of mobility blocked. Their anxieties were rendered invisible because the state and its allied media did not consider them worthy of serious democratic attention.

Deprived of traditional spaces, they constructed their own. Their smartphones became their public square; social media platforms became their political assemblies; and satire became their primary democratic vocabulary.

The ruling ideology had convinced itself that the project of cultural hegemonisation was complete: once the majority was mobilised around a politics of religious identity and grievance against minorities, material realities would cease to matter. The aspirations, anxieties and dignity of an entire generation simply did not figure in this political imagination.

It was against this backdrop of institutional indifference that Sonam Wangchuk began his fast at Jantar Mantar. The government’s initial response was its standard weapon: calculated silence. As Wangchuk’s health deteriorated, the refusal to even acknowledge his presence generated profound moral outrage. Then came the fateful decision to forcibly remove him.

It proved to be a fatal miscalculation. The young perceived the treatment of Wangchuk as an insult to their own citizenship. What was done to him could be done to anyone who dared to stand up. His humiliation became their collective provocation. The response was immediate: Jantar Mantar was flooded by thousands of young bodies.

When the young marched towards parliament on July 20, the state relied on its familiar playbook: barricades, prohibitory orders and violent suppression. It had deployed these very methods against the anti-CAA protesters and the farmers’ movement. But this time, the internal mechanics of fear failed to operate. The blows they received did not shatter their spirit; they deepened their moral clarity.

Their struggle was not merely about securing a policy change or extracting a routine administrative concession. They set out to breach that institutional arrogance. When the Delhi police rained blows on the protesters on July 20, beating young citizens with a ferocity typically reserved for enemy combatants, the protesters did not view those batons as the instruments of an indifferent police force. They recognised them as the direct expression of Narendra Modi’s political will.

Yet, fear failed to perform its intended historic function. Many returned to Jantar Mantar carrying their wounds like badges of honour. Some returned barefoot. Their injuries became symbols of moral persistence rather than reasons for retreat. Their resolve was remarkably simple: they would force Modi to sacrifice one of his own.

Crucially, the protesters refused to yield to the temptation of violence. Their weapons remained language, images and satire. Armed with their phones, they launched an unrelenting assault on the prime minister’s public image, the very asset he has guarded most fiercely throughout his political life. For the first time, Modi was drawn onto a battleground where he could not dictate the rules.

When the prime minister attempted to intervene directly on social media, addressing the youth as “friends”, the rebuttal was instant and devastating:

“We are not your friends.”

It was more than a clever slogan; it marked the psychological collapse of a carefully cultivated paternalistic relationship. For years, Modi had sought to speak directly to the populace, bypassing mediating institutions and independent media. The young rejected that calculated intimacy in a single sentence. The authority of the patriarch dissolved into the irreverence that a free people reserve for their elected officials. The spell of fear was broken.

The assault on Modi’s public image appears to have shaken the regime far more deeply than any routine electoral setback ever could. For more than a decade, his authority has rested not merely on the coercive power of the state, but on the illusion of invulnerability: an image of a leader who never retreats, never admits error and never compromises.

The movement had to be contained before the satire hardened into permanent collective memory and the laughter of the young became the common language of the republic.

Pradhan’s resignation must be read precisely in this light. It is not the sacrifice of a minister; it is a desperate attempt to construct a firewall around the prime minister himself. The government will undoubtedly frame this as evidence of its responsiveness and democratic sensitivity. But the young understand it differently. For them, the resignation is a political concession extracted from an authority that had run out of options.

Before arriving at this point, the state had exhausted its standard repertoire of delegitimisation. It ignored the movement, questioned its motives, accused the youth of being proxies for opposition parties and deployed its media networks to allege foreign plots. When these slurs failed to stick, it resorted to force. Having endured all of this, the young do not view the minister’s exit as an act of state benevolence; they see it as the reluctant admission of a defeat that could no longer be disguised.

Ordinarily, the vocabulary of victory and defeat should not dominate a constitutional democracy. A government is expected to listen to its citizens, not view them as adversaries to be crushed. Dissent is not treason. But when a state consistently treats criticism as hostility and peaceful protesters as enemies of the state, it transforms democratic dialogue into a confrontation. When that happens, it cannot complain if citizens celebrate its retreat as a democratic victory.

The ultimate significance of this movement lies in its moral and creative form. The young answered state coercion with speech, wit, art and an extraordinary mastery of contemporary cultural forms. Their elders have often lamented that a generation raised on short-form content lacks political depth and endurance. Jantar Mantar has demolished that patronising assumption.

The meme was elevated to a potent instrument of political resistance. Laughter accomplished what solemn political rhetoric often fails to do: it punctured fear, dismantled false authority and deprived power of the uncritical reverence upon which authoritarian politics depends.

Authoritarianism requires not just obedience, but awe. It survives as long as people believe the ruler is beyond challenge, beyond satire and beyond defeat. The young at Jantar Mantar refused to grant Narendra Modi that sacral status. They restored him to the position he must occupy in a constitutional republic: an ordinary, accountable political leader, subject to the scrutiny, criticism and satire of the citizenry.

The protest site at Jantar Mantar may now be empty. The barricades have been moved aside and the crowds have returned to their hostels, campuses and homes. But movements of this nature do not end when the physical space is vacated. The critique inaugurated on the streets will continue in countless quiet spaces: university libraries, rented rooms, bus rides and millions of illuminated screens. The language that has been discovered cannot easily be unlearned.

If this youth uprising leaves behind an enduring lesson for the republic, it is a simple, fundamental truth: democracy begins the moment a people recover confidence in their own voice.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

July 28 (Asia Today) — China’s successful stock market debut of its largest DRAM manufacturer has fueled expectations that the company could challenge the three global leaders in memory chips, though Chinese media acknowledged that a significant technological gap remains.

ChangXin Memory Technologies, commonly known as CXMT, became the most valuable company in China’s domestic A-share market after its shares surged 465.82% during their first day of trading on Shanghai’s technology-focused STAR Market on Monday.

The shares closed at 49 yuan ($7.24), compared with an initial public offering price of 8.66 yuan ($1.28).

The closing price gave CXMT a market capitalization of about 3.28 trillion yuan ($484.5 billion), surpassing the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, previously the country’s most valuable domestically listed company.

The shares lost some momentum Tuesday, closing at 47 yuan ($6.94). CXMT’s market value declined to about 3.14 trillion yuan ($463.8 billion), but it remained the largest company in the A-share market.

The listing followed Asia’s largest initial public offering of 2026. CXMT raised about $8.6 billion, nearly twice the amount initially sought, reflecting strong investor demand for Chinese semiconductor companies.

State media celebrates semiconductor advance

Chinese state-affiliated media described the listing as a milestone in Beijing’s drive for technological self-sufficiency.

The Global Times said the market response demonstrated growing investor confidence in China’s semiconductor industry as the country accelerates efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign technology.

The Chinese-language Global Times described memory chips as the “rice of the digital age” and said CXMT had broken the longstanding foreign dominance of large-scale DRAM production.

It said the company had built its design and manufacturing capabilities from virtually nothing over approximately a decade.

CXMT was founded in 2016 and produces DRAM chips used in smartphones, personal computers, tablets and servers. It is widely regarded as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM manufacturer after Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron Technology.

China’s state media said the funds raised through the listing would be used to upgrade memory wafer production lines, expand DRAM research and development and pursue next-generation memory technologies.

Chinese analysts expressed hope that the investment could eventually weaken the dominance of Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron in the global DRAM market.

CXMT’s progress has already heightened investor concern over increasing Chinese competition. Its market debut contributed to declines in several global semiconductor stocks, including shares of South Korean memory manufacturers.

Technology gap remains

Despite the celebratory tone, Chinese media cautioned that CXMT continues to trail South Korean and U.S. memory manufacturers in advanced production processes.

The company is estimated to remain two to three years behind leading foreign manufacturers in some advanced technologies and faces restrictions on access to sophisticated overseas chipmaking equipment.

CXMT’s roughly 8% share of the global DRAM market also remains well below the combined position of Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron.

The memory chip industry is highly cyclical, meaning the current surge in prices and demand associated with artificial intelligence may not continue indefinitely.

Rapid capacity expansion by CXMT and other manufacturers could also increase supplies and place downward pressure on global memory prices.

Chinese state media urged investors and the semiconductor industry not to allow the listing’s success to create excessive confidence.

The debut nevertheless represents a major symbolic and financial achievement for Beijing’s semiconductor strategy. CXMT now has access to substantial capital that could accelerate research, manufacturing expansion and efforts to compete in higher-end memory products.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260728010010446

Taipei, Taiwan – China’s coastguard and civilian fleet are expanding their presence in the waters east of Taiwan, raising fears that Beijing may be rehearsing a containment strategy that would cut off the self-ruled island from outside trade and assistance.

Through June and July, China’s Maritime Safety Administration and coastguard staged multiple patrols and “special maritime law enforcement operations”, according to official government announcements.

While China regularly patrols the Taiwan Strait – the waterway with an average width of about 180km (112 miles) separating coastal China from the main island of Taiwan – this marks the first time the patrols have moved east of Taiwan in such quick succession, according to analysts.

K Tristan Tang, a nonresident fellow at the United States-based National Bureau of Asian Research, said the shift carries both strategic and symbolic weight for Taiwan.

“Beijing is signalling that it wants to extend its claimed administrative jurisdiction to Taiwan’s eastern waters, effectively surrounding Taiwan rather than only eroding Taiwan’s space in the strait,” Tang told Al Jazeera.

“Law enforcement operations” have included patrolling the area and requesting information from commercial vessels about their origin and destination, according to Taipei.

The shift east has also occurred amid a greater uptick in Chinese maritime activity around Taiwan and its outlying islands. Taiwan reported 55 sightings of Chinese coastguard and research vessel activity in June, up from 30 sightings in May.

These sightings included Chinese activity near the uninhabited Taiwan-controlled Dongsha Islands, also known as the Pratas Islands, in the South China Sea.

Beijing has said the operations are a response to talks between Japan and the Philippines to set their maritime boundaries, which infringe on “territorial sovereignty as well as its maritime rights and interests”, according to Chinese state media.

Some of the waters around southern Japan and the northern Philippines overlap with Taiwan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from its coastline.

On July 4, China’s coastguard announced that law enforcement activities to the east of Taiwan would continue to “firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”.

China claims Taiwan as a province – which means it also views Taiwan’s EEZ as under its jurisdiction. It also claims large swaths of the nearby South China Sea and East China Sea, some of which are disputed by Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously told reporters that its activities near Taiwan are “legitimate actions to exercise China’s jurisdiction, safeguard regional stability and uphold order at sea in accordance with the law”.

The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

‘Grey zone’ tactics

Ray Powell, founder and director of Sea Light, a maritime transparency project based at Stanford University, said he views the uptick in patrols as part of China’s “boa constrictor strategy that intends to squeeze Taiwan one coil at a time”.

China has pledged to annex Taiwan by peace or by force, and it employs a variety of pressure tactics, from cutting off access to international spaces such as the World Health Organization, drone and fighter jet incursions, to alleged cyberattacks, according to Taiwan’s National Security Bureau.

Known as “grey zone” tactics, these manoeuvres are designed to strain Taiwan’s limited resources and damage morale in order to convince its 23 million people that annexation is inevitable, according to Taiwanese officials.

Security analysts like Powell have warned that “law enforcement” activities could quickly escalate into a blockade or quarantine. Taiwan is particularly vulnerable to this type of pressure as an island that imports nearly all its energy supplies.

“One day we could look back at this and say this was in some ways the start of the quarantine,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Today it’s radio challenges; what is the next stage after that? When do we start to see them stop and inspect ships or reroute them? It’s not a very big step to start squeezing Taiwan on things it needs, like LNG,” Powell said.

China has already signalled that a blockade could be on the table in the future. Since 2022, Beijing has regularly staged large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, including a simulated blockade of the island during its last round of exercises in December.

While coastguard activity is more low-profile than a naval patrol, Chauluen Lin, an expert in asymmetric warfare at Taipei’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told Al Jazeera the fleet could be considered a “second navy”.

China’s coastguard is not a civilian police force, as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Central Military Commission as a division of the People’s Armed Police.

China’s coastguard patrols have been unusual enough to elicit a rare joint response from the United Kingdom, Germany and France, who said in late June that the “actions threaten regional stability and the freedom of navigation and safety of international shipping”.

“We reiterate our opposition to any unilateral change to the status quo, particularly by threat or use of force or coercion,” the statement said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington disagrees with the expanded patrols and that they undermine regional stability.

A distracted US

William Yang, the Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Northeast Asia, told Al Jazeera that Beijing may be taking advantage of a US distracted by the war in Iran and a president who appears ambivalent towards Taiwan.

Although the US does not recognise Taiwan as a country, it has pledged to help the island defend itself. Much of this assistance has come in the form of weapons sales, training and intelligence sharing.

US President Donald Trump also cast doubt on these commitments when he said US weapons sales could be a “negotiating chip” with China following a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May.

“The external environment has fundamentally changed in the Indo-Pacific region, at least from their perspective, with Washington very focused and tangled up in the Middle East,” Yang said.

“At the same time, the US has no bandwidth to really look at or respond to such an expansion of Chinese maritime operations in these sensitive waters,” he added.

July 28 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 along party lines Tuesday evening to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, succeeding Bill Pulte.

The vote comes one day after lawmakers voted to advance Clayton’s nomination with no Democrats voting to approve.

After the vote Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that he is skeptical of Clayton in the role.

“I came away from his confirmation process with serious reservations about whether he would be willing to stand up to political pressure when it matters most,” Warner said. “Now that he has been confirmed, I sincerely hope he proves those concerned unfounded, because the intelligence community deserves steadier leadership than it has received in recent months.”

Bill Pulte, the acting director, announced Tuesday on social media that he had executed “a fifth and near-final round of TERMINATIONS” that mark a 30% staff reduction during his time in the office.

On July 15, Democrats in the Senate questioned Clayton, a U.S. attorney, on Trump’s allegations that he won the 2020 election. Clayton wouldn’t say that former President Joe Biden won the election, but would say that he was “certified” as president. Clayton said he is not an election denier.

“You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you ask to lead America’s intelligence community,” Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said the confirmation hearing. “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?

President Donald Trump announced Clayton as his nominee in June as senators on both sides of the aisle protested the placement of Pulte. Pulte runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has referred four of Trump’s perceived enemies for prosecution on allegations of mortgage fraud.

Democrats in the House wouldn’t renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a bill that would have extended warrantless spy powers rules, in retaliation for Pulte being named for the position. It’s unclear if the Senate will vote to extend FISA once Clayton is approved.

The House will not be back in session until September.

Tulsi Gabbard resigned from the ODNI in May.

New York’s Haitian community is living in limbo and fear after Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was terminated on Monday. Around 300,000 Haitian nationals rely on the special designation to live legally in the US.

July 28 (UPI) — The United States and Saudi Arabia attacked Iran-backed proxies in Iraq on Wednesday after Saudi air defense systems intercepted days of attacks launched from Iraq against the kingdom’s petroleum facilities.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it struck logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq, describing the joint attack as a “strong response” to the more than 30 drone strikes directed at Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure over the last 72 hours.

The joint attack was the first U.S. military operation during a five-day pause in direct strikes on Iran intended to allow diplomacy to resume. The pause followed 13 consecutive nights of CENTCOM strikes on Iran.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the joint strikes, describing them as “precise and targeted strikes.”

It was unclear if any of the Iraq-launched drones hit their intended targets, though Saudi Arabia said several drones targeting its petroleum facilities in the Eastern Province and Riyadh region had been intercepted and destroyed.

According to CENTCOM, more than 600 “attempted attacks” targeting U.S. assets in the region were launched by Iranian proxies in Iraq between the start of the war in late February and the announcement of the now-collapsed cease-fire in April.

“The unwarranted attacks against U.S. forces were not successful,” it said.

The United States and Iran have been at war since late February, though fighting halted under a fragile cease-fire reached in April. The cease-fire collapsed earlier this month, leading to nearly a fortnight of nightly U.S. attacks against Iran.

Football’s world governing body announces plans to sell stakes of up to 20 percent in the World Cup and other events.

FIFA has proposed a plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other events to private investors, provoking a furious response from the European football governing body, UEFA.

Under the plans announced by FIFA on Tuesday, a $20bn subsidiary would be created to run the World Cup and other events.

World football’s governing body said it would retain a majority share in the new FIFA Forward Enterprise, offering minority stakes to external investment to raise up to $4.2bn.

The plan still needs to be voted on by FIFA’s 211 member nations.

If successful, the proposed investor group is expected to be led by a vehicle founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, FIFA said.

UEFA said the proposal “crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross”.

Reinvested in the game

FIFA has just held a 48-team World Cup across the United States, Canada and Mexico – the biggest in the tournament’s history.

It is one of the world’s wealthiest sporting organisations, generating billions of dollars, largely from broadcasting rights, sponsorship and other commercial deals linked to the World Cup.

But it says this proposal can increase funds to widen access to the sport and strengthen global participation, with all net benefits to be reinvested in football.

“Football is the world’s most popular sport,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“Parts of the game have turned that popularity into remarkable commercial value – and we celebrate that success and want it to continue, because it lifts the whole game.

“Our job is to make sure the rest of football grows with it: FIFA exists to support sustainable, inclusive development in every corner of the world.”

FIFA said that in addition to retaining sole control of the subsidiary, it would retain authority over football governance, competitions, match calendars and regulatory and sporting decisions.

‘World Cup is not a product’

The proposal deepens the divide between FIFA and UEFA, with Europe positioning itself as football’s custodian, while FIFA, a not-for-profit organisation, says it is focused on broadening access with financial largesse.

In a statement, UEFA said it takes the new proposals “extremely seriously”.

“So should every National Football Association. So should every stakeholder: leagues, clubs, players, supporters, governments and everyone who cares about the future of the game.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade – especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

The United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, joined critics, saying on social media that the sport does not belong to investors.

“The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone’s to sell,” Burnham wrote on X.

“Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out.”

July 28 (UPI) — A 16-year-old who used an assault-style rifle to kill two other students and two teachers at his Georgia high school will spend the rest of his life in prison.

On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Colt Gray to life without parole for the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Another teacher and eight other students were injured in the shooting.

Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 counts, including those of murder, on Friday.

“You do not seem to be tormented by what you did, you seemto relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize,” Judge Nicholas Primm of Barrow County Superior Court told Gray on Tuesday. “You aren’t rackedwith guilt. You’re proud of yourself.”

“There’s no joy here,” Primm said. “It’s only a measure of closure. The slain will not return to life. The injured will not forget their wounds. And a 16-year-old, 16-year-old boy, will live and die in prison.”

Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting and was charged as an adult. The two students who died — Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo — were also 14. Gray also killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Prosecutor said in the sentencing hearing that Gray became obsessed with school shooters through an online community and that his jail phone calls with his mother showed he was “thrilled” to be compared to them.

Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was convicted in March on charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for giving his son the weapon he used to commit the shootings.

Family members of those killed had urged the judge to give Gray the maximum sentence for his crimes.

“It is a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind,” said Aspinwall’s wife, Shayna. Their daughters were 2 and 5 when Gray killed their father.

The Houthis recently declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, targeting several tankers.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group says it has fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker, more than a week after imposing a naval blockade on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

In a post on X, Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said the group had “carried out a military operation targeting the Saudi oil tanker (NCC GHAZAL) for violating the maritime navigation ban” that the group had imposed on Saudi vessels.

He added that the group had used several ballistic missiles and forced the vessel to retreat.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a maritime security monitor, said a tanker reported an explosion while transiting the Red Sea, adding that the crew is safe and no environmental damage was reported.

The Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and have fought the internationally recognised Yemeni government, which Saudi Arabia backs, for more than a decade.

On July 20, the Houthis announced their maritime blockade, accusing Saudi leaders of imposing “an unjust and oppressive siege” on Yemen for nearly 12 years, “plundering our resources and imposing a comprehensive blockade”.

It went on to affirm “the right of our great people to respond to the blockade with a blockade”.

Second attack

The Houthis have also claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers transiting the Red Sea last week.

“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named Encelia and Layla, for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on July 22.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that the Encelia had been hit, citing an official source at Saudi Arabia’s Transport General Authority who said all crew members were safe.

The Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, including for oil exports.

Between Yemen to the northeast and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa to the southwest, the strait is just 29km (18 miles) at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound vessels heading to the Suez Canal.

In 2024, about 4.1 billion barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passed through the strait – about 5 percent of the global total.

Video footage captures an Israeli airstrike hitting Al-Muttaqin Mosque in Gaza City, next to Yarmouk Stadium, where dozens of displaced people are sheltering in tents. The strike triggered a powerful explosion that destroyed the mosque and injured several Palestinians.

Hundreds of mourners have paid their respects to the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

The Republican lawmaker and key ally of President Donald Trump unexpectedly died on July 11.

Graham was elected to the US Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008, 2014 and 2020. In 1994, he was elected to ⁠the US House of Representatives, the lower house of the US Congress, for South Carolina’s third congressional district. He recently served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Graham also served as a member of ‌the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

He was a strong supporter of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and had long pushed for military action against Iran.

Graham was a longtime backer of Israel and supported Trump’s ongoing war on Iran. In a planned documentary, Graham told the filmmakers he “almost cried” after the US and Israel began strikes on Iran in February.

He also vocally supported Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in 2022.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several other world leaders attended Graham’s funeral service on Tuesday afternoon at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Trump gave remarks, calling Graham a force in the world and US politics. He called Graham “a beloved friend” and said that he “died doing the work he was born to do”.

“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it,” Trump said. “And no bill became law in the most exceptional republic in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.”

He added: “He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart until that heart itself just gave out.”

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, July 28 (UPI) — Seventy-six years after the United Nations Command was established to help repel North Korea’s invasion of the South, the multinational force remains an essential pillar of stability on the Korean Peninsula, its deputy commander said.

Speaking after a July 7 ceremony marking the command’s founding anniversary, Australian Army Lt. Gen. Scott A. Winter said the command’s responsibilities have evolved far beyond its wartime origins while remaining rooted in the Korean War armistice that halted fighting in 1953.

“The United Nations Command has two key missions,” Winter told UPI at UNC headquarters on Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, about 35 miles south of Seoul. “One is to enforce the armistice, which is a sacred duty that we take every day. The other is to coordinate sending-state contributions in times of crisis or conflict.”

Created by a U.N. Security Council resolution on July 7, 1950, the command brought together forces from 22 nations under U.S. leadership after North Korea invaded South Korea. More than 1.9 million service members from UNC member states served in combat, medical and logistical roles during the Korean War.

Active fighting ended with the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953 — the anniversary of which was commemorated Monday — rather than a peace treaty, meaning the two Koreas remain technically at war. The UNC continues to oversee implementation of the agreement and maintains a rare direct communication channel with North Korea’s military.

Winter said the command still conducts routine telephone communications twice daily with the Korean People’s Army through the military hotline, also known as the “pink phone.”

“It continues to enable us to de-conflict, avoid any sort of miscalculation,” he said, citing the example of recent firefighting operations inside the Demilitarized Zone.

The milestone comes as North Korea has abandoned its longstanding policy of peaceful reunification with South Korea, accelerated development of its nuclear and missile programs and deepened military cooperation with Russia, including sending troops to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Winter said North Korea’s partnership with Russia has reinforced the need for the UNC to adapt to an increasingly complex security environment and strengthen its deterrence role on the peninsula.

“The growing nexus between North Korea and Russia is a reminder for all of us of the global nature of these security threats,” he said. “It’s clear that North Korea has gained both contemporary battlefield experience and exposure to technology.”

He argued that the UNC’s multinational composition strengthens deterrence by demonstrating that security on the Korean Peninsula remains an international concern.

“The more flags that we bring together, the more we can provide multinational legitimacy during periods of peace, the more we contribute to deterrence,” Winter said.

Despite renewed efforts by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s administration to reduce tensions with Pyongyang and eventually pursue a formal peace regime, Winter said the command would continue to have a role even if the armistice were someday replaced.

“Having a ready-made coalition prior to a crisis is much easier than trying to pull a coalition together in crisis or conflict,” Winter said. “I absolutely believe that the best way to prevent conflict is through that multilateral working together.”

He added that the armistice itself was designed to create conditions for a political settlement rather than become a permanent arrangement.

“The armistice was put in place to ultimately create the space for a political solution,” he said. “We welcome any moves in that direction.”

Reflecting on the anniversary, Winter said the command’s history offers lessons that remain relevant as conflicts continue in Europe and the Middle East.

“Seventy-six years ago, nations came together because they understood that’s what it would take to prevent further aggression,” he said. “The importance of multilateralism, the importance of building coalitions of the willing with like-minded countries, because the alternative is unthinkable.”

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – For years, Nuha Abu Lebda dreamed of becoming a mother. But Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has turned that dream into loss, time and time again.

As she was forcibly displaced several times across the Gaza Strip since the war began in October 2023, Abu Lebda lost three pregnancies. She says the losses came after months of air strikes, hunger, fear and living without proper medical care.

“I miscarried because of the air strikes, the displacement, the difficult conditions, the lack of clean water and malnutrition,” she tells Al Jazeera.

After each miscarriage, she hoped she could still become a mother.

“When I lost my baby, I was exhausted. I woke up hoping my baby was still inside me. But the dream I carried for 10 years was gone.”

Abu Lebda sold her gold and almost everything she owned to pay for injections of heparin, a drug prescribed to some women to prevent blood clotting during pregnancy. She hoped the treatment would help her bring her pregnancies to term, but she lost the babies despite it.

“I cried so much because I lost the baby I dreamed of every single day,” she laments.

Even after the fighting slowed, her dream remained the same. “I dream of bringing a baby into this world. I want to be a mother and have children. Every time I see my husband playing with children, I start crying.”

Medical officials in Gaza say they are treating a surge in miscarriages, which they link directly to Israel’s genocidal war and blockade. The trend has worsened as Gaza’s health system has collapsed under bombardments and Israeli ground operations with malnutrition and psychological strain cited as key drivers.

Dr Yasser Saadeddine, the maternity director at al-Awda Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera roughly 70 percent of pregnancy losses his team treats are linked to the war and blockade.

‘I lost my daughter during childbirth’

Abu Lebda is one of many women in Gaza who say they have lost pregnancies during the war. They describe miscarriages, premature births and losing newborns while trying to survive bombardments, displacement, hunger and the collapsing healthcare system.

Mai Zaqout tells Al Jazeera she lost her daughter because she could not access the medical care she needed.

“I lost my daughter during childbirth. She had already died inside my womb for a month, but I could not deliver her because the medical resources and support I needed were not available,” she says.

Her loss came shortly after another tragedy. “All of this happened within a very short time after my husband was killed.”

For Sara al-Awad, she had a scare when she was eight months pregnant. She says powerful explosions in Tal al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in Gaza City, caused extreme fear and stress, leading to severe bleeding.

“Because of the fear, anxiety and the power of the explosions, I started bleeding. My placenta had separated.”

Al-Awad says no ambulance could reach her, and she waited for hours before her brother took her to al-Quds Hospital in a wheelchair. “The doctors decided I needed an emergency C-section immediately.”

Her baby, Muhammad, was born weighing only 1.1kg (2.4lb) and was placed in an incubator. But as fighting continued around the hospital, Sara and her family were separated from him.

“My brother had to leave for the south while Muhammad stayed alone in the incubator. We could only check on him through messages from the medical staff,” she says.

After more than a month, al-Awad was finally reunited with her baby. “Thank God, the ceasefire came. … Muhammad left the incubator after 37 days.”

‘I witnessed horrific situations’

Across Gaza, other women have similar stories.

For Iman Badah, the loss was of the child she had waited years for.

“I am a mother who lost my only son. I waited six years to have him. I gave birth prematurely while I was being displaced,” she tells Al Jazeera.

Nuha Salameh was carrying twins during the war. “Fear and trauma caused me to lose them.”

She says doctors told her that, before the war, her babies may have survived.

“The doctor told me that if the situation had been normal, we would have placed them in the incubator, and they would have lived.”

Nidaa Seyam says she experienced her second miscarriage during the war. “I lost a baby girl, and this is the second time I have miscarried.”

She says doctors told her the war conditions affected her pregnancy. “They told me it was because of the psychological stress we are living through and malnutrition.”

She also describes surviving intense bombardment.

“I witnessed horrific situations where I was trapped under air strikes. I inhaled a lot of toxic fumes.”

‘War, blockade, malnutrition, displacement’

Palestinian doctors say these stories are becoming more common.

They report more miscarriages and pregnancy complications linked to hunger, stress, displacement and the lack of medical care.

At al-Awda Hospital, doctors say they have seen a major increase in pregnancy losses.

“During the war, there was a significant increase in miscarriage cases we received,” Saadeddine says.

He says the causes include “the war and the blockade, including malnutrition, poor hygiene, environmental contamination and continuous displacement”.

Doctors say miscarriages are only one part of the crisis. They are also seeing more babies dying in the womb, more premature deliveries and more dangerous pregnancy complications.

Many women lost their homes, medical records and access to regular check-ups during repeated displacements. Hospitals are also struggling with shortages of medicines, equipment and medical staff.

For many mothers, the war has left wounds that continue to hurt even after most of the fighting has stopped. For women in Gaza, the war has not ended with October’s “ceasefire”. It continues with every pregnancy lost, and every dream of motherhood left unfulfilled.

Health minister urges people in the country ‘to remain alert’ and continue observing public health measures.

Authorities in Uganda have declared the country free of Ebola, as infections from the viral haemorrhagic disease continue to surge in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Ugandan Health ⁠Minister Chris Baryomunsi on Tuesday announced the “successful completion ⁠of the mandatory 42-day monitoring period which begun after the discharge of the last Ugandan national, a locally transmitted patient, on the 16 of June, 2026”.

“Throughout this ⁠period the Ministry of Health maintained intensive surveillance nationwide, and no new Ebola cases have been detected,” Baryomunsi said.

In a later statement on social media, Baryomunsi urged Ugandans “to remain alert” and continue observing public health measures.

Of the 20 confirmed ⁠cases, 18 were discharged while two died from the viral haemorrhagic disease, both of whom ⁠were from the DRC, where a much larger outbreak has been under way since mid-May.

According to the Congolese Ministry of Health, there have been at least 3,262 infections in the DRC, with 1,437 people killed. This is nearly the same as the 2018-2020 outbreak that is the largest ever recorded in the country.

The World Health Organization says the latest Ebola outbreak is the fastest spreading ever recorded, and that its true scale could be two to four times larger than reported data.

The virus strain spreading in the DRC is Bundibugyo, which is the rarest of the four variants of Ebola known to affect humans and currently has no approved vaccines or treatments.

Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic disease that can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding. It spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of people who are sick with the virus or who have died from it.

Iran rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that ships damaged by Iran in the Gulf would be compensated from frozen Iranian funds. IRGC spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that any vessel taking such money will be banned from transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long presented his closeness to the United States – both politically and personally – as evidence of his indispensability to Israel.

Arriving with a camera-ready American accent after spending a large portion of his youth in the country, Netanyahu is said to have used his unique understanding of US politics to charm and cajole numerous presidents into maintaining their unflagging support of Israel and his personal political projects.

For a time it appeared as though US President Donald Trump was the most amenable of all past presidents to Israel and to Netanyahu, particularly after he became the first US leader to agree to participate in a joint war with Israel against Iran.

And yet, with that war stalling, Trump appearing more willing to make deals in the Middle East without Israeli input, and increasing criticism of Israel in the US, there is a sense in Israel that Netanyahu’s Trump card may not be as useful as it once was.

That has come at a bad time for Netanyahu, who faces an election at home in late October and an ongoing trial for corruption, as well as several unresolved conflicts in the region.

Netanyahu’s visit to Washington on Tuesday to meet Trump – his first since the war on Iran began – therefore is an opportunity for a refresh – and a photo opportunity to remind the Israeli public of his ties to the US president.

The optics

Strains in Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump have been growing since the start of the war on Iran, after reporting emerged that it was the Israeli prime minister who convinced the US president of the feasibility of the mission, and the potential for the Iranian state to be overthrown.

Concern has also grown within the US Congress over Netanyahu’s apparent indulgence of Israel’s increasingly violent settler movement – which included the extrajudicial detention of a US senator by settlers – alongside friction over Washington’s decision to consider selling F-35s to Israel’s regional rival Turkiye and agreeing a nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia.

“The real reason Netanyahu’s got this visit [to Washington] is purely cynical,” Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera. “He’s claimed that he’s flying all the way to the US to attend the wake of his apparently great friend [deceased Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham.”

“Supposedly there’s an agenda, supposedly they’re going to talk about Iran, F-35s and Saudi Arabia’s potential nuclear deal,” said Pinkas.

“But really this is about two things: hoping to assure allies and critics within Israel that the relationship with Trump holds and, separately, hoping that Trump will again call for his pardon in the corruption trial,” he added, referring to Trump’s unorthodox intervention in Israel on Netanyahu’s behalf in November 2025.

However, while Netanyahu may be hoping that a good meeting with Trump may help him in the polls, he arrives at a time when his stock in the US is potentially at its lowest.

Netanyahu has received widespread criticism from figures on the American right, such as podcast host Tucker Carlson and the former Republican US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Vice President JD Vance has also been critical of “some” Israelis, using an interview with US podcaster Joe Rogan to suggest that figures within the Israeli government were trying to derail the agreement he was brokering with Iran to end the war.

Analysts have suggested that the Trump-Netanyahu meeting will combine public flattery with private cynicism on the US president’s part. Asked about Netanyahu’s public resistance to the F-35 sale to Turkiye on board Air Force One on Monday, Trump told reporters, “Nobody tells me what we should be selling”.

“Netanyahu arrives in Washington at a time when even many around [Trump] are suspicious of him. He has become toxic in the US,” Ahron Bregman, an Israeli security analyst and senior teaching fellow in the Department for War Studies at King’s College London. “He is regarded in the US – rightly or wrongly – as the one who dragged Trump into a war of choice that has turned into a strategic catastrophe. Nobody, not even Trump, will let him pretend to be the cleverest guy in the room. Those days are gone.”

While few expect any overt signs of disharmony from the visit in public, Netanyahu’s ability to present himself as uniquely positioned to manage the country’s relationship with the US – a key factor in the upcoming election – may be limited.

“Netanyahu’s had a tremendous track record with the US, but he’s burned a lot of bridges,” Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and a former Netanyahu aide in the 1990s, told Al Jazeera, adding that the criticism of Netanyahu was not isolated to figures within the nationalist wing of the Republican Party, but included Israel’s traditional allies within the party’s centre right.

“We’ve seen tension through Trump’s comments on the various F-35 sales, including most recently to Turkiye, as well as US criticism of Netanyahu at the start of the Iran war, so I’m not too sure if Trump’s going to be stumping for Netanyahu for all that much longer,” Barak said. “It could easily be that Trump declares Netanyahu was a great wartime leader, but that it was time for Israel to move on, before meeting with [other Israeli politicians] and endorsing a new prime minister for Israel.”

July 28 (UPI) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter Monday to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., telling him to address Kentuckians about his absence from Congress or resign.

Beshear is a Democrat and is considering a run for president.

McConnell, 84, has been hospitalized since June 14 for a fall. His office has released photos of McConnell and his wife, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote in a Monday letter shared with the media.

“Per our research, a vacancy in the Senate occurs when a senator dies, resigns, or is expelled by a vote of the Senate itself,” the governor wrote. “If you are unwilling to voluntarily show that you still have the capacity to serve, I will insist Leader [Sen. John] Thune [R-S.D.] fully investigate your condition, report to the American people, and begin the process if warranted.”

CNN first reported details of the letter, which was also sent to Thune.

On July 8, Beshear requested details of McConnell’s condition. McConnell’s office has said that he is recovering and working closely with doctors and medical staff. But McConnell himself hasn’t been shown in video or heard publicly via phone call. Images released of him have been met with public skepticism.

In the latest letter, Beshear said that “important events are happening in our country right now during your absence.”

“President Trump is stuck in a war of his own making and has greatly strengthened the very country he claims is a threat,” he said. “Prices continue to rise, crushing Americans who are working hard but not getting ahead. Americans’ voting rights are being eliminated by the Supreme Court and threatened by congressional action. All while you are absent and refuse to communicate clearly and directly to the people you serve.”

McConnell’s office released a statement Monday about the Senator’s health from the hospital’s Office of the Attending Physician.

“Senator McConnell continues his recovery from a fall at home in June. OAP physicians visit with the Senator every day, discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care. Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls. His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility. He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”

McConnell also said in the update that he is sad to miss the annual Fancy Farm picnic in western Kentucky, an event that draws thousands to hear speeches from political candidates from around the state. The picnic is scheduled for Aug. 1.

Beshear noted the update but said it isn’t enough.

“I understand anyone’s desire for privacy, but when you run for office and serve as one of a state’s two U.S. senators, you willingly abdicate much of your personal privacy,” he said in the letter. “That’s the deal, and we all know it when we run.”

McConnell has said he will retire at the end of his term in January. He was hospitalized in February for flu-like symptoms and has fallen in the U.S. Capitol several times.

Both countries expect to see temperatures soar into Wednesday, which could cause the blazes to spread.

The spread of wildfires in France and Spain that had come dangerously close to the cities of Bordeaux and Madrid appears to be slowing, authorities say, but they are bracing for yet another stifling heatwave this week, which could fan the flames of current blazes and ignite new ones.

Nearly 4,000 people were evacuated from tourist sites in the Lacanau area of the Gironde region in southwestern France on Tuesday, bringing the total number who have fled Gironde to well over a quarter of a million. The wine-growing region, which includes the historic city of Bordeaux is the worst affected in France by the wildfires

“We are at a point of fragility,” Eric Brocardi, spokesperson for France’s national firefighters federation, told BFMTV on Tuesday. “We will continue attacking this fire despite the forecast rise in temperatures.”

Images posted by the French newspaper Le Figaro showed ash on a beach in Lacanau. Sophie Brocas, Gironde’s prefect, has banned all sporting and cultural events until August 8.

France’s fourth heatwave of 2026 is expected to begin on Tuesday as temperatures are forecast to reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days. When the heatwave reaches Spain on Wednesday, temperatures are expected to be even hotter there.

In Spain, 116,000 people have had to leave their homes since the wildfires began, but some have since been able to return. In the central province of Toledo, people from nine of 11 evacuated towns were allowed to go back to their homes on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said people “can be a little more at ease” after progress overnight in tackling the many blazes in the country, which are mostly concentrated in central Spain.

Firefighters are also dealing with blazes in the neighbouring provinces of Avila and Toledo. About 800sq km (310sq miles) of land have burned.

One Spanish evacuee from the east of the country told the Reuters news agency he had witnessed “total chaos”.

“It was like in the movies where hell cracked the ground open, and you see the red hell.”

The scorching heat has renewed concerns about climate change with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez describing the fires as “the most painful expression of a climate emergency”.

Sanchez said authorities are beginning “to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the fight against wildfires” but cautioned that the upcoming heatwave still has to be dealt with.

July 28 (UPI) — U.S. healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson said it has reached a proposed $5.5 billion settlement to resolve most remaining lawsuits alleging its talc-based baby powder and other products caused ovarian cancer.

The agreement, announced Monday, follows more than a decade of litigation, including nearly a decade of consolidated federal litigation in New Jersey, along with related cases throughout the country. Tens of thousands of claimants accused Johnson & Johnson of marketing its talc products for feminine hygiene and failing to adequately warn consumers about an alleged cancer risk, despite studies dating back to the 1980s reporting an association between genital talc use and ovarian cancer.

Johnson & Johnson has denied the allegations, describing the litigation as meritless, but said it reached the agreement “to put this matter behind it and remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives,” Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide vice president of litigation, said in a statement.

Before becoming final, the settlement is condition on thee participation by law firms representing at least 95% of the approximately 76,000 ovarian-cancer claimants covered by the agreement.

Johnson & Johnson expects to pay up to $3 billion in 2027, with no additional payments to be made until 2028.

Johnson & Johnson has been facing talc-related lawsuits since at least the late 2000s and has paid out billions of dollars in judgments and settlements. In 2021, it paid about $2.5 billion, including interest, to women whose claims that the company’s talcum powder caused their cancer were consolidated in Missouri.

In 2024, it agreed to pay $700 million to resolve a separate investigation launched by a coalition of 43 attorneys general into allegations that it deceptively marketed the safety and purity of its talc-based products.

The agreement announced Monday was made on the heels of a federal magistrate judge overseeing the multi-district litigation ordered plaintiffs last week to explain why claims should not be dismissed for failing to present specific causation in pending talc claims. Johnson & Johnson said the order affirms its position that the allegations are “premised on junk science.”

Johnson & Johnson discontinued its talc-based Baby Powder in the United States and Canada in 2020 and worldwide in 2023.

July 28 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday to seek U.S. support to defend Ukrainian cities against Russian ballistic missiles, as well as a broader partnership to help hasten the end of the war.

In a post on X shortly after he arrived in Washington on Monday night, Zelensky said the top priority for Ukraine was “anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with America.”

“Peace needs to be brought closer,” wrote Zelensky.

The talks come days after a conference call between Zelensky and his negotiating team and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on how to kickstart stalled diplomatic efforts to bring peace closer and three weeks after a Trump-Zelensky meeting in Turkey.

Trump used the meeting on the sidelines of NATO’s annual summit to praise the way Ukraine was prosecuting the war and announce that he wanted to give Ukraine rights to manufacture Patriot air-defense missiles.

A worldwide shortage of missiles for the U.S.-made Patriot air-defense batteries has degraded Ukraine’s ability to defend itself amid a sustained Russian airborne campaign targeting Ukraine’s cities with highly destructive ballistic missiles in recent months.

Zelensky said he would also join Trump and other world leaders at Washington National Cathedral for the funeral of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a staunch supporter of Ukraine who passed away suddenly July 11 on his return from a trip to Kyiv.

“On behalf of all of Ukraine, we will honor the memory of Senator Lindsey Graham. Together with everyone attending the ceremony in Washington, we will remember his commitment to security and freedom across the transatlantic community and around the world,” said Zelensky.

Graham had just secured Trump’s backing for a long-delayed bipartisan bill imposing tough new secondary sanctions targeting Russia that he introduced along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in the U.S. Senate in April 2025.

In recognition of Graham, his Senate colleagues vowed to expedite the passage of his Sanctioning Russia Act, albeit a version that waters down the 500% tariff he wanted imposed on the imports of countries that purchase Russian oil and natural gas.

A first procedural vote was scheduled for later Tuesday with Zelensky expected to meet with senators afterward.

July 28 (UPI) — Hurricane Genevieve remained a powerful Category 4 storm Monday night in the Pacific, according to forecasters who said it was bringing life-threatening surf and rip-current conditions to the Baja California Peninsula.

The storm was located about 505 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. MST update. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and was moving northwest at 12 mph.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, though forecasters said swells generated by Genevieve were affecting portions of the southwestern coast of Mexico and the Baja California Peninsula.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the NHC said.

Although it remained a major hurricane, forecasters expected it to steadily weaken over the next several days, during which it is forecast to move northwest to west-northwest.

Ex-superstar player succeeds Didier Deschamps as France manager after the national team’s bitter semifinal exit in the United States.

Former France midfielder Zinedine Zidane will take over as national team head coach, the French Football Federation posted on X on Tuesday.

The appointment of the former Real Madrid manager comes two weeks after Didier Deschamps’ tenure as coach ended following France’s fourth-place finish at the World Cup. His final match in charge was the 6-4 defeat by England.

Zidane, 54, is expected to begin his reign with an away UEFA Nations League game against Turkiye before France host Italy at the Stade de France on October 2.

Deschamps, who left after 14 years at the helm, oversaw 185 matches and 120 victories, guiding France to the 2018 World Cup title, the 2020-21 Nations League trophy and the Euro 2016 and 2022 World Cup finals.

Both share a long association, having been teammates in the 1998 World Cup-winning side at  home in France.

Zidane played a pivotal role in that triumph and won the Ballon d’Or that year.