🇷🇺⚡- A Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber crashed in the Amur region, killing six of the seven onboard.

🇮🇱⚡- Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to hold a security meeting with opposition leader Lapid tonight following the "new intelligence" regarding "indications of Israeli enemies preparing to attack."

🇮🇹🇮🇶⚡️- Italy has finalized its withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

🇪🇹🇪🇷 - Ethiopian and Uguugumo-affiliated media report that the Ethiopian Armed Forces, ENDF, have withdrawn from the Afdera area of northern Afar. It remains unconfirmed whether Uguugumo forces advancing from Dalol have captured the town of Afdera.

Interesting observation: While the ENDF continues to advance through the harsh terrain of Tigray against the far more formidable Tigray Defense Forces, it has seemingly allowed Uguugumo rebels to seize vast swathes of open territory in Afar that could otherwise be defended using Ethiopia’s air and drone power.

Compounding this is Addis Ababa’s decision to bar international media from entering northern Afar to cover the Uguugumo offensive, with access restricted to Ethiopian state-backed outlets and of course al-Jazeera. The only individuals permitted to speak with al-Jazeera have been pro-Addis Ababa Afar regional officials, all of whom have repeated the exact same line: Eritrean forces are involved in the Uguugumo offensive.

Map key:
- Red: Tigray Defense Forces,
- Blue: Fano,
- Purple: Uguugumo.

🇺🇸🇹🇼🇨🇳⚡️- Taiwan says its arms negotiations with the US are continuing and Washington has repeatedly assured Taipei that American policy toward the island has not changed following last week's Trump-Xi summit.

Taiwan's Defense Minister said no ongoing weapons program has been altered, while production of Taiwan's long-delayed order of 66 advanced F-16Vs has now reached the point where deliveries can begin.

🇩🇪🇨🇳⚡️- Germany is moving to block Chinese state-owned shipping giant COSCO from acquiring 80% of Hamburg logistics company Zippel over national security concerns.

A confidential government memo reportedly warns the acquisition could create strategic dependencies that China could exploit as leverage during a political crisis. Zippel connects German ports with inland supply chains by rail, truck and ship.

🇪🇺🇬🇧🇮🇷⚡️- Claims of urgent messages issued by various Western countries warning their citizens to immediately leave Iran are false. Neither French, British, Italian or German embassies in Iran have issued new messages. Messages preventing travel to Iran or advising citizens to leave Iran have been the same ones for months and no new alerts were issued today.

Source: Embassies in Iran of France, the UK, Germany and Italy.

The most recent alert of the cited countries by multiple channels was a travel alert issued by the Italian Embassy on July 25th.

🇺🇸🇸🇻⚡️- The Trump administration blocked a Department of Homeland Security notice that would have ended Temporary Protected Status for about 200,000 Salvadorans living in the U.S., according to Politico.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has reportedly been lobbying the Trump administration to keep the protections, as remittances coming from the U.S. are crucial to El Salvador’s economy.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️- "The United States shares Netanyahu's assessment regarding the possibility of an attack." - U.S. intelligence officials tell Fox News.

🇮🇱⚡- "The security establishment denies Netanyahu's impression and is surprised by his statements; there is no new intelligence warning regarding an imminent attack, and the levels of alert during the holiday period have not changed at all, which reinforces the narrative that the alarm was politically motivated," - Galei Tzahal, IDF Radio.

🇮🇱⚡- "The urgent security discussion held by Netanyahu this evening [with Yair Lapid] was scheduled a week ago. There are no specific security alerts today," - A high-ranking security source tells Israeli Channel 13.

🇺🇸⚡️- Boeing has been selected to build the U.S. Navy's sixth-generation fighter jet, the F/A-XX. The aircraft is intended to replace the Navy's fleet of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers in the 2030s.

The contract marks the second big win for Boeing during President Trump's second term, after the company was awarded the U.S. Air Force's F-47 program in 2025.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇶🇦⚡️- Efforts by Qatari mediators to broker a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran are at a stalemate, with neither side willing to concede to the other's demands, according to Axios.

U.S. officials believe President Trump could order a new round of strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, while Qatari officials are reportedly growing frustrated with both sides.

"It is stuck. The Iranians are asking for things the U.S. can't accept and the U.S. thinks it is winning so there is no need for compromise," one source told Axios.

Others in the region, including Egypt and Pakistan, have reportedly urged Iran to agree to nuclear concessions, but Iran has said the only way that will happen is if the U.S. returns to the terms of the June memorandum.

🇺🇸🇧🇷⚡️- American LNG giant Cheniere has signed a 22-year supply agreement with Brazil's Petrobras. Petrobras will purchase roughly 800,000 metric tons of American LNG annually, giving Brazil a long-term source of gas for its power market while providing another major overseas customer for US energy exports.

🇺🇸⚡️- TSA airport security agents checking IDs and boarding passes across the country are no longer allowed to sit down during their shifts.

TSA confirmed the policy change today, telling media outlets: "This welcome change reinforces both our security posture and our commitment to hospitality by having these officers on their feet and alert. All officers must meet fitness for duty requirements to be capable of performing their vital national security function."

🇺🇸🇵🇸🇮🇱⚡️- The U.S. Senate blocked a resolution that would require the Trump administration to report to Congress about the increasing violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The vote was 51-47 and largely along party lines, with Republican Senator Rand Paul joining Democrats to support the resolution while Democratic Senator John Fetterman joined Republicans in blocking it.

🇮🇱🇮🇷 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that intelligence suggests Israel's enemies are planning an attack. However, those claims were recently pushed back on by the security establishment and senior IDF officials.

For what appears to be the first time, Israel's military and intelligence leadership have publicly broken with Netanyahu on the assessment. Rerum Novarum views this as a sign of growing tensions between him and the country's security establishment as he looks to secure re-election and remain in power, though it increasingly looks like he may be isolating himself.

Netanyahu also met with officials from several Arab countries in the UAE earlier this week, where Iran and its proxies were a main topic of discussion. It should be noted that several countries reported to have met with Netanyahu have publicly denied the meeting, further isolating the prime minister. Israeli elections are scheduled for October 27, 2026.