July 8, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1950, Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of the United Nations forces in the Korean War.
QotD: "They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people,” President Trump told reporters in Ankara. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."
US/IRAN/MIL – Trump says interim accord to end war is ‘over’ after Iranian strikes.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday an interim agreement to end the war with Iran was "over" after Tehran carried out new attacks on U.S. bases in the Gulf.
In a flare-up of hostilities that pushed oil prices up sharply, Iran said it had targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait after U.S. forces struck Iranian targets in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked before a NATO summit in Turkey whether the memorandum of understanding was over, Trump said: "It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them."
"They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people," he told reporters in Ankara. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time dealing with them."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they had targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait and that they had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation.
IRAN/STATE FUNERAL – Thousands march as Khamenei’s funeral procession crosses into Iraq.
Mourners marched through Iraq's holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, following the coffin of slain Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as his six-day funeral procession, which drew huge crowds in his home country, pressed on across the border.
People carrying large portraits of the late leader gathered along the route and chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" as Khamenei's coffin was driven on a large truck through the streets.
Iraqi and Iranian flags fluttered above the crowd, alongside the banners of powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militias whose supporters joined the procession.
Najaf holds special significance for Shi'ite Muslims worldwide as the burial place of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad.
Khamenei's coffin arrived on Tuesday evening at Najaf's international airport, where Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, senior officials and religious figures attended an official reception.
NATO – Trump told NATO leaders he wants to keep US in alliance, sources say.
President Donald Trump told NATO allies he wanted to keep the United States in the alliance at a leaders' meeting in Ankara on Wednesday, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters.
Inside the closed summit meeting, he also said the U.S. was prepared to continue selling weapons to allies no matter how they were put to use, the source said, requesting anonymity.
The source quoted Trump as having told NATO leaders: "We want to remain with you".
The White House did not immediately comment on Trump's remarks at the meeting.
Trump did not repeat his criticism of NATO ally Spain nor his announcement of the termination of an interim ceasefire deal with Iran during the meeting, the source said. Nor did he mention the issue of Greenland, which has sown friction within the bloc, the source added.
US/TURKEY/ISREAL/What balance? – Netanyahu warns US could ‘destroy’ Mideast power balance as Trump floats F-35 jet sale to Turkey.
Trump on Tuesday became the first US president visit to Turkey in 11 years, arriving with a pledge to lift US sanctions imposed on its NATO ally over its purchase of Russian defence missiles and the suggestion that the US would sell Turkey F-35 fighter jets.
In a demonstration of warming relations between Washington and Ankara, Trump was welcomed by President Tayyip Erdogan at the airport with a lavish state ceremony during which Turkish soldiers riding horses escorted Trump's motorcade to the presidential palace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted Tuesday by saying that the US sale of fighter jets to Turkey would "destroy" the balance of power in the Middle East.
"It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East, because Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations," Netanyahu told CNN in a televised interview, adding: "When you give them that power, you're going to see aggression in its wake."
INDIA/CANADA/US/LAW – US charges suspects in Sikh separatist’s murder.
US authorities on Tuesday charged Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his alleged North American deputy Satinderjeet Singh with orchestrating the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
The high-profile killing in 2023 had severely strained the diplomatic relationship between Canada and India at the time.
The charges were part of a sweeping international law enforcement operation involving agencies in the United States, Canada and Europe that charged 37 alleged members of three India-linked crime syndicates accused of kidnappings, racketeering, extortion, arms trafficking, drug smuggling and murder, US Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference.
"Working together, law enforcement in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate," Essayli said.
FRANCE/POL/LAW – Cheers and boos for Le Pen’s French campaign launch after guilty verdict.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was greeted by cheers and boos on Wednesday as she launched her presidential campaign in western France, the day after an appeals court enabled her to run despite confirming her conviction for embezzling EU funds.
As she shook hands in the street market of the small town of La Fleche in the Loire Valley, some jeered "Give the money back!" and "Go to jail!" while others chanted "Marine, President!" — a sign of the tensions that may lie ahead.
The Paris appeals court on Tuesday shortened Le Pen's ban on running for office, while upholding her March 2025 conviction for misusing European Parliament funds to pay party staff.
Le Pen, who at 57 has already run for president three times and is leading opinion polls for next year's election, seized her opportunity for another attempt at becoming modern France's first far-right president.
DAMASCUS/FRANCE/STATE – Explosions rock Damascus on second day of Macron’s visit to Syria.
Explosions rocked Syria 's capital on Tuesday as France’s president met with his counterpart in a landmark visit, with at least 18 people wounded, Syria's Interior Ministry said.
It was the second attack to rock Damascus in a week and a setback for new President Ahmad al-Sharaa as he welcomed the first visit from a major Western leader since the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad by insurgent groups in late 2024. Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with outbreaks of violence as they assert control, but the capital had been been largely peaceful.
French President Emmanuel Macron was in the presidential palace when the explosions happened. An official from the Élysée Palace said he was safe and the meeting with al-Sharaa continued, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Macron’s security.
UKR/RUS/MIL – Russia tries to jam Musk’s Starlink systems to counter Ukrainian drones.
Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian "mid-strike" drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots told Reuters.
Kyiv's development of "mid-strike" drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war in Ukraine.
In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine has attacked supply lines, fuel storage facilities, air-defence installations and command centres, disrupting Russian forces' logistics and causing fuel shortages in Russian-occupied Crimea.
But Russia is now developing many ways to try to counter the mid-range strikes, four drone commanders and pilots told a Reuters crew that visited Ukraine's 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment at work in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia's methods to protect fuel and other military supplies range from hiding shipments in civilian vehicles to using sophisticated electronic jamming devices to block connections used to pilot the drones, they said.
Jamming devices have been installed by Russia near towns and military facilities, including some that can disrupt the Starlink systems operated by Musk's SpaceX, they said.
ISRAEL/GAZA/CIVILIANS – Israeli strike kills World Cup screening organizer in Gaza just before kickoff.
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-world-cup-strike-egypt-israel-8fae6d465136e7f1a7d1bb03e805c0a0
An Israeli strike on Gaza just before the kickoff of the Egypt-Argentina World Cup match killed a top Palestinian aid official who helped organize public screenings of the game across the enclave, according to local health officials.
The blast turned what was supposed to be a moment of celebration — the live screening of a potential Argentina upset by an Arab team — into a reminder of how the near-daily Israeli strikes across Gaza are continuing to kill civilians despite a truce reached in October.
The bomb hit a car in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City at dusk Tuesday, killing passersby Mohamed al-Wahidi, an official at the Egyptian Committee in Gaza, 10-year-old boy Hamza al-Deri and his 8-year-old brother, Fari. Ahmed Daghmush, 33, the driver of the car, was also killed. That’s according to Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the director of Shifa Hospital, which received the four bodies.
The Israeli military said al-Wahidi, who helped organize the soccer screenings, was not a target of the strike. It said the strike was aiming for a Hamas militant, and it was checking if Daghmush was the target.
ZIMBABWE/POL – Zimbabwe’s 83-year-old president signs law to delay elections and extend his own term.
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed into law constitutional amendments that abolish direct presidential elections, postpone the next vote and extend his tenure, according to a government notice issued on Tuesday, despite strong opposition from critics.
Mnangagwa, already one of the world’s oldest serving leaders at 83, had previously pledged to step down when his second and final term ends in 2028.
But his ruling ZANU-PF party, backed by some lawmakers from the fractured opposition, pushed the amendments through Parliament, making Zimbabwe the latest African country to amend its constitution in a way that allows an incumbent president to remain in office longer.
Parliament approved the amendments in June. They postpone the next election, scheduled for 2028, by two years, effectively extending Mnangagwa’s tenure to 2030.
The revised constitution also scraps public voting in presidential elections, with lawmakers now responsible for choosing the president, and extends the terms of the president and MPs from five years to seven.
Comments (1)
President Emmerson Mnangagwa for life!