New fighting in Syria. Druze and Bedouin groups continue to fight in the southern city of Sweida, in spite of a ceasefire between the Syrian government and Druze leaders that took effect yesterday. It is the second such agreement to collapse this week. The Syrian Ministry of the Interior said that government forces were not involved in the most recent clashes. The latest fighting comes as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is on his way to Washington to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tonight over security issues including Iran and Syria, which Israel attacked multiple times this week in what it said was a defense of the Druze groups.
EU sanctions on Russia. The European Union (EU) announced new sanctions on Russia this morning, saying it would “not back down” in supporting Ukraine. The measures include a ban on Nord Stream gas transactions, a lower oil price cap, and targeting more shadow fleet ships. A Kremlin spokesperson criticized the bloc’s “consistently anti-Russian stance” and said Russia has “already acquired a certain immunity from sanctions.”
Britain’s voting age. The country will change its voting age from eighteen to sixteen in time for the next national election, the government said yesterday. It is part of broader electoral reforms by the center-left Labor Party that include more safeguards against foreign interference and limits on political donations from shell companies. The aim of lowering the voting age is to increase participation.
Sudan vaccination rates. The war in Sudan has caused routine vaccination rates among young children to nearly halve since 2022, according to the World Health Organization. The rate stood at 90 percent three years ago and is currently 48 percent—the lowest in the world.
Eswatini migrant repatriation. The small African kingdom where the United States deported five migrants with no ties to the country this week has said the men will be repatriated to their home countries of Cuba, Jamaica, Laos, Vietnam, and Yemen. U.S. officials previously said that the deportee’s home countries had “refused” to accept them.
Monsoons in Pakistan. Heavy rains in the country’s Punjab region have killed 63 people and wounded more than 300 in just twenty-four hours, according to local officials. Nationwide deaths from the rains have exceeded 150 since late June, primarily because of collapsing buildings. More than half were children. In 2022, the monsoons killed more than 1,700 people and caused upwards of $30 billion in damage.
Far-right clashes in Spain. The country said yesterday that it would heighten investigations of far-right and racist groups. It follows days of clashes between such groups and African migrants in Murcia, a region in southeastern Spain, sparked by a reported attack on a man last Friday. Eleven people including the leader of an anti-immigrant group have been detained since, according to authorities.
Climate cost of Pentagon budget. The 2026 budget for the Pentagon will include a $1 trillion spending increase that could result in 26 megatons of new military emissions, the Guardian reports. That would make the U.S. military and its industry—separately from the United States itself—the eighteenth-largest emitter in the world. The new emissions could cause more than $47 billion in damages globally, according to analysis by the Climate and Community Institute.
