USA
US Senate approves sweeping Russia sanctions bill targeting energy
The package would impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, financial institutions and the so-called shadow fleet used to evade restrictions on Moscow's oil exports. It would also allow President Donald Trump to set tariffs of up to 500% on Russian imports, including gas and oil.
Culture news
Barack Obama pays tribute to Glen Hansard in his summer 2026 playlist
Barack Obama continues his longstanding tradition of sharing his music (and literature) picks for the summer - and has paid tribute to the Oscar-winning Irish musician Glen Hansard, who tragically died this week in a motorcycle crash at the age of 56.
Tech News
Anthropic admits its AI models hacked three companies during testing
The announcement comes just days after rivals OpenAI revealed that their popular ChatGPT platform went rogue during its testing phase of its most powerful AI model, where it too infiltrated other organisations’ cyberspace.
Gaza
Hamas agrees to Trump's disarmament deal to enable Israeli withdrawal
Trump said the deal to advance his 20-point peace plan will be rolled out in “carefully structured phases”, but did not announce a timeline as to when the process may be completed. Israel's far-right minister deemed the deal "unacceptable".