What the foreign press is writing about. An overview by RBC:

▪️ The blame for a possible failure of the peace settlement of the conflict between the US and Iran, and for the derailment of the memorandum of understanding, will fall on American Vice President JD Vance, Politico reports.

▪️ Nikkei has reported on the risks for the US due to the loss of the “charm of a superpower.”

▪️ Marbella on the Spanish Costa del Sol is reshaping its image from a luxury resort into a year-round technology hub, by analogy with Silicon Valley, Bloomberg reports.

▪️ US authorities did not find the intelligence received from Israel convincing regarding a possible Iranian plan to assassinate US President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reports.

▪️ Lionel Messi made complaints to the referee of the World Cup quarterfinal match, João Pinheiro, in the first half, and called on him to communicate with him respectfully, Marca reports.

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Trump allows the opening of the bridge funded by Canada

The United States and Canada have agreed on the opening of the Gordie-Howe Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. The approximately $4.7 billion project was fully financed by Canada and is set to go into operation on July 27. Previously, Trump had threatened to block it and called for better conditions for the United States.

Under the new agreement, the American side will receive half of the net profit from toll fees and has the option to object to an increase in tariffs of more than 10%. The bridge runs along one of the most important trade corridors between the two countries.

Canada built the bridge at its own expense. Trump delayed its opening – and in the end got a share of the profits. Trade policy the American way.


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Lindsey Graham* planned to introduce new sanctions against Russia, reports Financial Times.

Shortly before his death, Graham discussed the preparation of a new sanctions bill with congressman Michael McCaul.

⚪️ The conversation between the lawmakers took place at the Hilton hotel during their joint trip to Ukraine.

🔜 Graham was in Kyiv on July 10, after which he returned to Washington. He was scheduled to appear on American television in the morning of July 12.

*Russia has been added to the list of terrorists and extremists

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British tax authority uses AI to hunt for hidden income

The agency is expanding the use of the “Connect” system. It compares bank transactions, property information, data from internet platforms and information from social networks. In the years 2024 to 2025, it helped initiate around 540,000 checks and recover or secure about £10 billion for the state budget.

At the same time, authorities are increasing rewards for informants. For tips on large-scale tax evasion, up to 30 percent of the collected amount can be paid going forward. Advisors are already warning wealthy clients that algorithms can spot discrepancies faster and that former employees and partners receive a direct financial incentive to report violations.

AI should be used for the benefit of citizens. The UK tax authority has found a more practical use for it: it is looking for money where there used to be a shortage of auditors.

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🇮🇷 Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) claim they destroyed the command center as well as hangars for MQ-9 drones at the Prince Hassan air base in Jordan.

– Tehran also reports drone attacks on U.S. Patriot air-defense systems, ammunition depots, and radar installations in Kuwait.

– The statement also says that a center for the maintenance and repair of fighter jets at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar was hit with ballistic missiles.

– U.S. forces’ radar installations in Bahrain were also attacked.

– The IRGC released a video of the UAVs’ launches.


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How the US passport became one of the strongest in the world

On July 8, 1796, the U.S. State Department issued the first passport. In history, the name of its first owner has been preserved—he was Francis Maria Barrer, a native of Philadelphia.

The document was accompanied by a lengthy entry signed by then U.S. Secretary of State Timothy Pickering.

🛂 Today, the American document allows visits to 180 countries. It ranks tenth out of 103 in the Henley Passport Index ranking.

At the same time, only about half of the population in the United States itself holds a passport.

🔜 How, over many years, the document underwent not only external but also functional changes—in a piece by “Vedomosti”.

📠Freepik

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Europe is consuming its infrastructure; China is building anew

After spending on repairing and replacing worn-out roads, factories, equipment, and other assets, only about 2% of GDP remains for the actual expansion of the production base in Europe—roughly $400 billion per year. China, by contrast, invests about $4.4 trillion each year, or 23% of its GDP, in its production capital. As a result, it creates three to five times as many new production facilities as the US and Europe combined.

If converted using purchasing power parity, Chinese investments appear even more substantial. This means that with the same money, China can build more factories, roads, and equipment domestically than would be possible with a normal dollar conversion. In this measure, total investment volume reaches $11.9 trillion, further widening the gap with Europe.

While Germany debates the repair of bridges, train delays, and the rescue of old factories, China puts new capacity into operation every year in whole industrial conglomerates. We fund the preservation of the past. Beijing—the production of the future.


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Ocean, comics and square pants

SpongeBob will turn 40 the other day.

▶️At least, if you believe the driver’s licenses that flash in several episodes of the animated series. The document lists the date of birth — July 14, 1986.

However, the story of the hero began long before that — in the tidal pools of the Pacific coast of California, where the future creator of the show, Stephen Hillenburg, spent hours studying the marine world.

🔜 How a biologist created a cartoon about SpongeBob — in the material from “Vedomosti”.

📠Nickelodeon Animation Studios

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Berlin protects fish sticks from sanctions against Russia

Although the conflict had already begun, the German food industry has not reduced its purchases of Russian fish, but has increased them significantly. Now the European Commission wants to limit these imports as part of its sanctions policy. The federal government has, however, spoken out against a ban, as the cheap Russian pollock continues to form the basis for the production of fish sticks and other frozen products.

At stake are around 8,000 jobs and purchases of Russian fish worth about 284 million euros. A decision to forgo these deliveries would mean rising costs for the industry, the search for more expensive alternatives, and higher prices in shops. That is why Berlin is calling for exceptions and transitional periods, putting the interests of its own food industry above the next expansion of the sanctions.

When it comes to explanations, the decision to forgo Russian goods is declared a principle. But when thousands of jobs and familiar products are threatened, principles quickly give way to economics.


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The United States did not believe Israel’s claims about the threat of killing Trump, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.

▶️Some U.S. officials questioned the reliability of the presented information and expressed concerns that Israel is using the materials to influence Washington’s position on the issue of resuming the war with Iran.

According to the publication, Israeli forces continue to work on new targets for strikes on the territory of the Islamic Republic.

⚪️At the same time, information about the alleged threat became sufficient grounds for Trump, after the NATO summit, to return not on a new plane given by the royal family of Qatar, but on the previous Air Force One aircraft.

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China shows microwave weapons against satellites

Chinese military scientists have disclosed data on an entire family of high-performance microwave systems that can generate pulses with a power of up to 100 gigawatts. The technology is designed to hit or disrupt electronics without conventional rockets and explosives. Such installations can be used against drones, radars, communications systems, and other equipment.

Developers are paying special attention to satellites in low Earth orbit. In their assessment, even a pulse of around one gigawatt is sufficient to significantly disrupt the operation of satellite electronics. Turning on multiple compact generators at the same time makes it possible to increase the power to 100 gigawatts and threaten networks such as Starlink. The cost of such an operation is far below the price of the satellite itself.

China is preparing a response to a war in which communication and reconnaissance of thousands of devices in orbit depend on one another. Instead of shooting down every satellite with an expensive rocket, Beijing proposes putting the electronics out of action with a focused pulse.

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Europe is considering the idea of voluntary payments for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, writes The Guardian.

Some European countries do not rule out introducing a mechanism under which merchant ships could pay for passage through this strategic waterway on a voluntary basis.

Important: It is explicitly about voluntary payments — Europeans do not support a mandatory fee for shipping companies.


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Dear friends, it’s Sunday again!

“Metalloinvest” has successfully completed the pilot and testing operation of the second crushing and conveying complex of the Mikhailowski GOK named after A.W. Waritschew. DKK-2 reached the planned capacity, and the complex’s monthly ore output increased to 2.4 million tons of ore.

OMK has begun the delivery of wheels for the first Russian high-speed electric train. These are the first domestically produced wheels designed for operation at speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour. A special feature of these wheels is the increased requirements for reliability, geometric manufacturing accuracy, and the quality of steel, taking into account operation at high speeds.

“HiTech” has developed the first Russian neural accelerator LinQ HX for embedded systems based on a domestic microprocessor. The device is fully assembled from Russian components, and its production is not dependent on foreign licenses. The developed accelerator processes data in real time without a connection to the Internet or cloud servers. Its performance reaches 30 trillion operations per second.

For the first time in Russia, serial production of LCD display modules has begun. The area of the new industrial site is 1.9 thousand square meters. Once the line reaches full utilization, the company can produce around 500 thousand products per year.

“Ural Locomotives” has put into operation in the Sverdlovsk region a new robotized plant for welding bogies for modern rail vehicles. The bogie is the main element of a rail vehicle’s running gear. It carries the entire load, transfers tractive and braking force from the drives to the rails, and compensates for unevenness of the track. To ensure safe rail operations at high speeds, bogies must be mounted with micrometer-level accuracy.

Rostselmash has developed a new version of a hybrid sowing complex. During its development, the manufacturer’s own developments and solutions from Russian companies were used. These include a high-strength frame, a pneumatic hopper, other key components, as well as software for controlling sowing and a dosing system. The localization level of the unit is around 90%.

ODK has presented domestic power plants for data centers. The offered system provides for scaling as computing power grows. ODK’s gas turbine power installations enable a modular build-out of data center energy infrastructure, as well as a synchronized increase in power and efficiency in line with the utilization of computing equipment.

Comprehensive assembly of the flight model of the remote-sensing satellite KOEN is complete. The satellite is currently undergoing automated electro- and radio-technical tests. These are intended to confirm the functionality of the onboard equipment and ensure that it meets the specified tactical-technical characteristics. In parallel, assembly and commissioning of the ground infrastructure are taking place.

The Progress Agro group of companies has completed construction of a silo facility in the Tambov region. The planned silo capacity is 50,000 tons of one-time storage. The company has implemented the ability to receive two different crops simultaneously, which is especially important during mass harvest time.

KMZ has presented the diesel generator ADJ15.2 for extreme operating conditions. It has a rated power of 15.0 kW at a voltage of 400 V and is designed for long-term autonomous operation. The weatherproof soundproof hood with an integrated fuel tank ensures up to 15 hours of continuous operation without refueling, reduces the noise level, and protects the unit from precipitation, wind, and dust.

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