An updated #Afghanistan map; the consolidation of Taliban-controlled areas is visible.

Donald #Trump has amassed $102m in political donations, making him the most dominant fundraiser in America’s Republican Party. The former president raised more than $56m via WinRed, an online donations platform, in the first half of the year, more than any other Republican. (The Economist)

#US and #Britain blamed #Iran for an attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street, off the coast of Oman. Two crew members were killed on July 29th when a drone carrying explosives hit the Japanese-owned, Liberian-flagged vessel, which is operated by Zodiac Maritime, an Israeli firm based in London.

General Min Aung Hlaing, the military ruler of #Myanmar, named himself prime minister and extended a state of emergency by two years. He also promised to hold elections. In the six months since the army seized power nearly 7,000 political opponents have been arrested and hundreds killed.

Alert 🚨: #Italy

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/01/tourists-evacuated-from-pescara-as-italy-records-over-800-wildfires

The Russian hackers behind the #SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign broke into the email accounts of some of the country’s most prominent federal prosecutors’ offices last year, the Justice Department said. The Justice Department said 27 U.S. Attorney offices had at least one employee’s email account compromised during the hacking campaign, which it believes was carried out from May 7 to December 27, 2020, while 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York were breached as well.

The International Monetary Fund’s board approved its largest-ever disbursement (FT) of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights for member countries to boost their economic recoveries from the pandemic. The special reserves, which countries can choose to exchange for currency (Reuters) and are not required to repay, are set to be available on August 23.

The body of Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian dissident living in exile in Ukraine, was found hanging in a park in Kyiv.

Shishov ran an NGO that helps Belarusians fleeing President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to settle abroad.

Police opened a murder inquiry.

❗At least four ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates broadcasted warnings that they had lost control of their steering under unclear circumstances as authorities reported “an incident” was underway in the area.

It wasn't immediately clear what was happening off the coast of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, but Britain's maritime trade agency reported that a "potential hijack" was taking place with suspected involvement of Iranian forces.

🚨An officer was attacked at a transit station outside the #Pentagon, gunfire was exchanged between the suspect and law enforcement and multiple people were injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a huge bomb attack in #Kabul targeting the defense minister as the insurgents fought for control of a string of besieged cities.

The bomb-and-gun attack on Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammadi Tuesday was one of the biggest in Kabul for months, bringing violence to the capital after intense fighting in the south and west of the country.

The Afghan and US militaries have carried out airstrikes against the insurgents to push them back, and the Taliban said the Kabul attack was a response to that.

Federal prosecutors in #Germany have charged a German Italian woman with espionage, alleging she worked with her husband to feed information to Chinese intelligence for years.

In a statement, prosecutors said the woman, identified only as Klara K., is the wife of Klaus L., a retired German political scientist. He was arrested last month on suspicion of spying for China for almost a decade, using the political contacts he built up at a think tank.

At the time of his arrest, German public broadcaster ARD reported that Klaus L., who is in his 70s, had also been an informant for Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, for half a century. He was well-connected with senior officials in the spy agency, according to ARD.

⚡#Israel Air Force jets conducting airstrikes in southern #Lebanon in response to yesterday afternoon's rocket fire directed at Kiryat Shmona.

Preliminary info from An Nahar shows Israel Air Force jets struck an area with air-to-surface missiles, in the outskirts of the town of Al-Ayshiyeh in southern Lebanon.

The new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi of #Iran is set to take the oath of office in a ceremony at Iran's parliament later today. His arrival has been preceded by major Iranian escalation in the Arabian Gulf, which saw two attacks on Western or Israeli oil tankers in the past week alone linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Analysts say the shadow tanker war between Iran and Israel is linked to stalled negotiations over reviving the nuclear deal in Vienna.

U.S. President Joe Biden is giving temporary safe haven to thousands of Hong Kong residents targeted by #China's anti-democratic crackdown, the White House announced Thursday morning. "There are compelling foreign policy reasons to defer enforced departure for Hong Kong residents presently in the United States," the president said in his memo codifying the 18-month delay.

⚡️Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon for a second straight day Friday after more than 10 rockets were fired across the border amid rising tensions with Iran.

🚨 The Taliban launched series of attacks around Badakhshan capital of Fayzabad.

UN warns of a dangerous turning point in #Afghanistan, says over 1,000 people killed in the past month.

Alert: an updated map of #Afghanistan [Aug 7, 2021]. The Taliban forces continue to attack different areas. Dire situation in Sheberghan, Kunduz, Logar.

The Taliban have captured a second provincial capital in #Afghanistan, Sheberghan, a day after they took over the south-western financial hub of Zaranj.

The US sent B-52 bombers to Jawzjan province in a bid to stop the Taliban offensive there.

⚡️#Afghanistan: The Taliban seized control of Taluqan, an important city in northern Takhar province along the border with Tajikistan - reports