Bulk carrier LUNI — St. Kitts and Nevis-flagged, Turkish-owned (Lora Shipping) — has partially sunk off the Iranian coast near Bandar Abbas.

The vessel reportedly took on water, broke in half, and sank.

Conflicting reports on the cause: one version says it collided with another vessel, the other says it struck a drifting mine.

The EU has approved Ukraine using part of a €6 billion defense package to buy Chinese drone components because European suppliers can't meet demand.

It shows Europe's continued dependence on Chinese supply chains for critical drone components.

Source: FT

Argentina's vice president called England "usurping pirates" and "invaders" ahead of their World Cup semifinal, invoking the Falklands dispute.

Argentina's coach, however, urged people to keep politics and the historic conflict separate from football.

Source: The Independent

Pentagon Conceals True Cost of Iran War

Internal US government estimates project the ongoing conflict with Iran could cost taxpayers up to $100 billion, more than triple the Pentagon's public figures.

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The Shocking Legacy of Lindsey Graham: Two Decades of War & Destruction | Reaction & Analysis

What did we do in World War II? Did we think one minute about starving the Germans? Did we bomb every city to smithereens? If you don't understand, this is a threat to Israel. Just flatten Gaza! We flattened Berlin. We flattened Tokyo. If I were Israel, I would have probably done it the same way.

Senator Lindsey Graham

He knows people are disgusted by the death & destruction in Gaza. So he tells people, “It's not like we haven't done it before. It is in our blood.”

This is normalization of deviance - trying to convince people to do something wrong by using past behavior as justification.

In the words of Jeremy Scahill, Co-Founder of Drop Site News

His legacy represents the most destructive policies of a worldview that says that the entire world is filled with nails, and America's hammer needs to run around the world, finding all of those nails to hammer.

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Rome talks reached an agreement to launch two pilot zones in South Lebanon under the Lebanon–Israel framework.

One zone is currently occupied by Israel, while the other borders Israeli positions.

The plan outlines Israeli withdrawal, Lebanese army deployment, and independent third-party verification, with Lebanon pushing for a timeline to expand the arrangement across the rest of South Lebanon.

Source: Al Jazeera

Trump on Russia-Ukraine war:

I tell Putin the same thing all the time.

I don’t want to go into great detail, but it’s, "Vladimir, it’s time for you to stop. It’s time for this war to end."

I think he’s ready to make a deal.

Trump on Minab school strike investigation:

I don't think anybody's gonna ever be able to say what happened there.

It is also possible that those images that you have are AI-generated.

I don't think there can be a conclusive report.

The Trump administration gave the UAE easier access to advanced U.S. AI chips after its support during the Iran conflict.

Democrats criticized the move, alleging it could involve conflicts of interest and political favoritism due to the UAE's financial ties to Trump-related businesses.

Source: WSJ

Trump:

It would be good if Israel got out of parts of Lebanon and southern Syria.

Ahmed al-Sharaa would like to go in and take out Hezbollah. I am thinking about giving him a green light.

Trump:

I thought regime change in Iran was possible when we started Epic Fury.

I had no idea that the Iranian regime would be willing to kill 52,000, or even any, people.

Iran Prepares to Weaponize Red Sea Chokepoint Using Houthis

Following its disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is positioning its Houthi proxies to block the Red Sea's Bab el-Mandeb strait to open a new strategic front against US and its allies.

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NEW: A location on Hengam Island was struck by a U.S. attack minutes ago.

Hormozgan officials said a full report will follow initial assessments.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman:

The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have shown that any aggression against Iranian territory will definitely be met with a reciprocal response.

We have no plans for negotiations at the moment and are focused on defense.

The memorandum of understanding is a set of mutual obligations, and in the event of a violation by the other party, we will also refrain from implementing our obligations.

This is a principle and the same path will be followed in the future.

Source: Tasnim

Israeli Parliament Suspends Vote on Recognition of 1915 Events as Genocide

The Knesset suspended a final vote on formally recognizing the 1915 events as genocide until after the national elections in October.

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CENTCOM:

On July 14, U.S. forces hit Iranian military targets in Bandar Abbas, Khormuj, Ahvaz, Qeshm, Tunb, Bushehr, and Kuh-e Stak to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iran has targeted innocent civilians transiting the strait and in neighboring Gulf countries.

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner:

Türkiye signaled that they want to reenter the F-35 program.

This is incredibly important.

They're a strong ally and they were a producer of key components for the F-35.

From what I've heard so far, this is very promising.

I certainly hope they follow through with what needs to be done on their end to reenter the program.

Iranian state media says a U.S. missile strike on an Iranian Army barracks in Bampur killed 7 soldiers and wounded several others.

Zelensky:

Putin may take certain escalatory steps after the elections.

This could be an increase in mobilization.

Zelensky:

I would not want us to lose America, in one form or another, in these negotiations.

I believe that this war is a priority for Europe, because the war is in Europe, and Europe is providing a great deal of assistance.

But when we talk about security guarantees for the future, we are talking about America.