Israel's Eilat port to shut down over unpaid debts triggered by Houthi attacksThe Israeli business and economics newspaper The Calcalist reported on Thursday that the Eilat municipality had frozen the port's bank accounts, amounting to approximately 10 million shekels ($3m), due to unpaid taxes. The newspaper reported that the port had recorded a steep drop in revenue due to Houthi attacks on ships linked to Israel. Israel's Shipping and Ports Authority said on Wednesday that due to the "financial crisis it has entered due to the ongoing conflict, the Eilat Municipality informed the port's management of the seizure of all its bank accounts due to debts owed to the municipality.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-eilat-port-shut-down-over-unpaid-debts-triggered-houthi-attacksUS strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites, reportsThe report said that US officials believe the attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear facility was successful in setting back enrichment capabilities there by as much as two years, citing two current officials. The two other facilities that the US struck were not as badly damaged and may have been degraded only to a point where nuclear enrichment could resume in the next several months if Iran wants it to, the report added. Reuters could not immediately verify the NBC report. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
https://www.newarab.com/news/us-strikes-destroyed-only-one-three-iranian-nuclear-sites New Israeli incursion | Limited Israeli forces advance near Al-Rafid and renewed military movements along Golan line Earlier today, several Israeli military vehicles escorting vehicles carrying soldiers have advanced into the predominantly-Druze town of Qal’at Jandal in Qatna area in the southern Rif Dimashq. This bizarre development in border areas inside Syria has triggered a state of tension in the region, especially with the sensitive location of Qal’at Jandal town on the border strip with the occupied Syrian Golan, and which is located only 35 kilometers away from the capital Damascus.
https://www.syriahr.com/en/366126/French court orders pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter freed after 40 years“We’re delighted. I didn’t expect the French judiciary to make such a decision nor for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release,” he was quoted as saying. “For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressures.” Abdallah’s lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset also welcomed the decision: “It’s both a judicial victory and a political scandal that he was not released earlier.” Abdallah is expected to be deported to Lebanon. Prosecutors may file an appeal with France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, but it is not expected to be processed quickly enough to halt his release next week.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/17/french-court-orders-pro-palestinian-lebanese-fighter-freed-after-40-yearshttps://archive.ph/B2Ley Merz rules out company tax and joint borrowing in EU budget In its plan, presented Wednesday, the Commission proposed an EU tax on high-turnover companies and a €400 billion crisis fund, potentially to be financed via joint borrowing. The plan fired the starting gun for what will be two years of haggling between the EU executive, national capitals and the European Parliament, all of which must agree before the spending plan can be approved.
https://www.politico.eu/article/friedrich-merz-germany-company-tax-joint-borrowing-eu-budget/https://archive.ph/CUPqFAthens, Greece: Comrades Accused of ‘Conspiracy Vengeance/Armed Response’ Case Attempt EscapeThursday 10/7, in the Loukareos courts, some of the accused chose the path to freedom, even at the risk of their own lives. Despite the protection measures of the state apparatus and without any scruples about the consequences of this decision, they clashed with the cops, managing to wrest the weapon from one and immobilize a second. However, in their attempt to free the remaining accused, the cops regrouped and the escape attempt ended.
https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/20378/Unemployment hits four-year high as earnings stagnateThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of UK unemployment increased to 4.7 per cent in the three months to May, from 4.6 per cent in April, the highest level since June 2021. As with the rise in prices, this was worse than economists had been predicting, suggesting the situation is deteriorating fast, with gross domestic product shrinking for the last two months. And average earnings growth slowed to 5 per cent in the period to May to its lowest level for almost three years. ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “The labour market continues to weaken, with the number of employees on payroll falling again, though revised tax data shows the decline in recent months is less pronounced than previously estimated.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unemployment-hits-four-year-high-earnings-stagnateFascist terrorist cell uncovered in Canada’s militaryThe arrest last week of two active members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), a CAF veteran, and an Army Cadet trainer in an armed terrorist plot has exposed, yet again, that Canada’s military is serving as an incubator of fascist forces. Five years after a CAF reservist sought to assassinate then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and as the ruling class showers the military with tens of billions of dollars in additional funding, far-right activities among CAF members clearly continue unabated.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/07/16/xxzg-j16.htmlFormer colonial ruler France hands over its last military bases in SenegalFrance returned Camp Geille, its largest base in Senegal, and its airfield at Dakar’s airport in a ceremony on Thursday attended by top French and Senegalese officials, including Senegalese Chief of the General Staff Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/17/former-colonial-ruler-france-hands-over-its-last-military-bases-in-senegalhttps://archive.ph/PtBptEl Salvador’s top human rights group flees President Bukele’s ongoing crackdown on dissentThe organization has been one of the most visible critics of Bukele, documenting abuses in the strongman’s war on the country’s gangs and the detention of hundreds of Venezuelan deportees in an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump. Bukele’s government has long targeted opponents, but Cristosal Executive Director Noah Bullock said things reached a tipping point in recent months as Bukele has grown empowered by his alliance with Trump.
https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-cristosal-bukele-crackdown-trump-detentions-593b84470be85b4036a5ca5854a1cf41Brazil passes ‘devastation bill’ that drastically weakens environmental lawThe new law – widely referred to as the “devastation bill” and already approved by the senate in May – passed in congress in the early hours of Thursday by 267 votes to 116, despite opposition from more than 350 organisations and social movements. It now goes to the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has 15 working days to either approve or veto it. Even if he vetoes the legislation, there is a strong chance that the predominantly conservative congress will overturn that, triggering a likely battle in the supreme court, as legal experts argue that the new law is unconstitutional.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/17/brazil-passes-devastation-bill-that-drastically-weakens-environmental-lawTaiwan launches ‘urban resilience’ drills to test war readiness amid PLA pressureThe drills were held alongside the island’s annual Han Kuang military exercise, Taiwan’s largest and most comprehensive war games. This year marks the first time that the government has officially integrated its long-running civil response and air defence drills into a single, comprehensive “urban resilience exercise”. At 1.30pm, air-raid sirens sounded across northern Taiwan, prompting a coordinated response that included the evacuation of civilians and vehicles, lighting blackouts, and shelter-in-place procedures. In Taipei, mass rapid transit (MRT) stations implemented “entry-only” protocols, with passengers instructed to remain underground. Streets emptied, traffic stopped, and businesses shut their doors – transforming the capital into a wartime simulation.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3318633/taiwan-launches-urban-resilience-drills-test-war-readiness-amid-pla-pressure?module=top_story&pgtype=subsection