July 27, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day: in 1866, The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland, to Heart's Content, Newfoundland.
QOTD: “Trump denied that dwindling munitions are a problem, insisting in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that “we have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need.”
YEMEN/KSA/SHIPPING - Red Sea shipping slows after Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia, data shows
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/red-sea-shipping-slows-after-houthi-attack-saudi-arabia-data-shows-2026-07-27/
Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz stayed low over the weekend, shipping data from Kpler showed on Monday.
Eleven commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, the lowest level in months, the data showed.
Red Sea traffic has been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade Saudi exports, expanding the U.S.-Iran conflict that has already choked oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
The shipping disruption caused prices of physical crude cargoes in the Middle East, Europe and Africa to jump to two-month highs last week.
Seven of the vessels that passed through Bab el-Mandeb were oil tankers with three of them entering the Red Sea. Two of them are very large crude carriers (VLCCs) heading to the port of Yanbu to load Saudi crude while the third is a Russian-linked ship, the data showed.
The four vessels that exited the Red Sea on Sunday included the Hong Kong-flagged VLCC New Explorer carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati crude for eastern China's Ningbo port, a tanker carrying 1 million barrels of Russian crude for China and a tanker with about 750,000 barrels of Saudi crude onboard for Pakistan, the data showed.
ISRAEL/SEC - 2 mosques in the West Bank are set on fire during a deadly surge in settler violence
https://apnews.com/article/israel-west-bank-settler-violence-mosques-5df1ad919914ceca2678c335c7d13183
Two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were set on fire overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack, officials said Sunday, after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.
Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which threaten to ignite widespread violence across the territory.
Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding. Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.
Israel’s military says it condemns such incidents
The mosques, in the villages of Qusra and Kour in the northern West Bank, suffered extensive damage in the fires.
In Qusra, the attackers spray-painted “revenge Benayahu,” referring to one of the Israeli soldiers killed on Friday, and “the land of Israel is redeemed with blood.” The soldier lived in a nearby settlement.
Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, who lives next to the Qusra mosque, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire. The fire was too large for him to fight on his own, so he called for help.
US/IRAN/MIL - Trump Pauses Iran Strikes as Officials Weigh Dwindling Air Defense Stocks
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-pauses-iran-strikes-as-officials-weigh-dwindling-air-defense-stocks-c7d7ebb0?mod=world_lead_pos2
President Trump has put off a major escalation of his military campaign against Iran amid efforts to revive diplomacy to open the Strait of Hormuz and a debate over the impact of declining munitions stocks, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The U.S. military had been poised Friday to launch an intensive series of strikes against Iran, which could have lasted up to two weeks, the officials said.
But the operation was delayed so diplomacy could proceed and as officials discussed the effect a major attack could have on the U.S.’s shrinking stocks of Patriot and other air defense interceptors. The president could still order an attack, officials said, noting that the situation remains fluid.
The White House has been informed of the declining inventories of air defense interceptors by Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officials added. The issue is a concern for Caine, who believes that the low inventories wouldn’t preclude a resumption of major combat operations against Iran, but would add to the risk, the officials added.
A spokesman for Caine said he wouldn’t discuss the chairman’s confidential advice to the president.
Several officials said Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, believes the U.S. can cope with the limited stocks of Patriot and other air defense interceptors because stepped-up U.S. strikes, if they are approved by Trump, would blunt Iran’s ability to launch large numbers of missiles. A spokesman for Central Command declined to comment on Cooper’s planning.
MORE: Drones attack Iran's neighbours as Tehran appears to test Trump's latest pause
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-it-still-controls-strait-not-seeking-talks-after-trump-halts-bombing-2026-07-27/
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq reported drone attacks on Monday, two days after the United States abruptly suspended a two-week campaign of air strikes against Iran, as Tehran appeared to put President Donald Trump's latest strategic U-turn to the test.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down drones aimed at petroleum targets, some in its eastern province and others in the capital Riyadh. It said the drones had been launched from Iraq by Iran-backed militia, and it reserved the right to respond.
Separately, Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen said they had targeted transit sites carrying oil to Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea oil port of Yanbu, in retaliation for what it said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni air space.
Earlier, Jordan reported shooting down two drones, and Iraqi security sources reported a series of drone attacks on camps housing Iranian opposition Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. Officials did not identify the sources of those drones.
Jordan and northern Iraq were the locations where four U.S. service members were killed during the two-week air campaign, which Trump suspended abruptly over the weekend after his top brass advised him that the strategy had run its course.
DPRK/INTELLIGENCE - Kim Jong Un Is Upgrading His Spy Network
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/north-korea-spy-network-2cdeee27?mod=world_feat2_asia_pos1
Kim Jong Un wants his spies to up their game.
North Korea is believed to have pulled off some major intelligence feats over the years. Its 2014 hack of Sony Pictures ballooned into a national security crisis for the U.S. In 2016, Pyongyang’s hackers stole U.S.-South Korea military plans. The following year, North Korean spies were blamed for orchestrating the assassination of Kim’s half-brother in Malaysia.
But despite such cases, North Korea is underequipped in intelligence gathering, lacking an extensive international web of spies and tools such as a global satellite network.
Now, Kim wants to address that. In a rare mention of the country’s spy program earlier this month, he presided over a meeting that called for “radical” enhancements to North Korea’s military reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities, according to state media. The goal is to better control the threats from potential enemies and gather key information, state media said.
Pyongyang didn’t further elaborate on the future mandate for North Korea’s spy agency, a vast organization consolidated just before Kim took power in 2011. But last year, the group was renamed, adding the word “intelligence” to become the “General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau.” That suggests the Kim regime is eager to expand its covert operations overseas. Traditional spying, hacking operations and spy satellites all fall under the body.
INDIA/POL - Inside Modi’s Decision to Cave to India’s ‘Cockroach’ Protesters
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-27/inside-modi-s-decision-to-cave-to-india-s-cockroach-protesters?srnd=phx-politics
After a day of clashes last Monday in which police used batons and tear gas to block thousands of Indian students from marching on the parliament, the target of their wrath was finally ready to step down.
That evening, Dharmendra Pradhan — under pressure for weeks to resign as education minister following an exam scandal in May — met with Home Minister Amit Shah and offered to leave his post, according to people familiar with the matter. Images of police belting young protesters with long wooden sticks quickly shot around the world, sparking widespread public outrage.
Long considered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-hand man, Shah told the embattled minister to hold tight and stay in the job, saying the government had no intention to make any changes, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.
Five days later, Pradhan resigned as Modi relented to all demands of the nascent youth-led Cockroach Janta Party, a stunning about-face that reflected a seismic shift in his political calculus. The threat wasn’t just to one minister over one issue anymore: As protests spread even to Modi’s traditional strongholds, his personal brand and broader plans to cement his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s grip on India for years was suddenly being questioned.
BRAZIL/ARGENTINA/POL - Brazil Recalls Ambassador After Milei Attacks Lula, Judge
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-26/brazil-summons-ambassador-after-milei-attacks-lula-judge?srnd=phx-politics
Brazil’s government recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations after President Javier Milei launched a fierce attack on President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a Supreme Court justice during the kickoff rally for Brazil’s leading right-wing presidential candidate on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira also summoned Argentina’s ambassador to express Brazil’s “revulsion” over Milei’s actions, the ministry said in a statement Sunday.
Recalling an ambassador for consultations as a demonstration of displeasure is considered a strong diplomatic gesture and had never happened before between Brazil and Argentina, including during periods of military rule in both countries. Ambassadors had been recalled to exchange views in the past.
On Saturday, Milei attended the event that formally confirmed Flávio Bolsonaro as the presidential candidate as his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is under house arrest after being convicted over an attempted coup.
Milei said Flávio “can stop” Lula and referred to the leftist leader as a “convict” and a “thief.” The Argentine libertarian also attacked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the coup trial that resulted in Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence of 27 years, and three months.
Milei called Moraes a “bald piece of trash” after the justice denied him permission to visit Bolsonaro under house arrest.
SPAIN/FRANCE/EUROPE/SUMMER - Wildfires spread in France and Spain forcing more to flee
https://www.dw.com/en/wildfires-spread-in-france-and-spain-forcing-more-to-flee/a-78119908
Massive wildfires in France and Spain continued to gather strength overnight with yet more evacuations for residents near France's western Bordeaux and Spain's capital Madrid.
A new fire outside the Spanish coastal town of Valencia claimed one life and forced residents to flee.
What is the latest on the French wildfires?
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Sunday said that the blaze raging in the Gironde region near popular Bordeaux had become "extremely intense and unpredictable again" overnight.
Some 2,500 firefighters as well as 1,500 military personnel and 1,200 police have been deployed to the region.
New overnight evacuations brought the total number of displacements in France to over 220,000.
Fires near Bordeaux — a city of 268,000 residents — have also blocked roads, including a highway along the Atlantic coast, and halted train service near the major wine producing city.
In all, the fires have consumed some 42,000 hectares (103,000 acres) — an area four times the size of Paris, or seven times the size of Manhattan — laying waste to more land than at any time since 1949, when fires destroyed 50,000 hectares.
Separately, firefighters are battling an active fire in the southern Var region, where 3,000 people have been evacuated.