Vengeful Iran, fixated on killing Trump, accuses US of striking Iranian nuclear facility under construction

July 19 2026

Editorial Team

There is only one point on which we find common ground with Donald Trump in the Iranian affair and it's not his folly in the Strait of Hormuz: it's the urgent need to eradicate any of Iran's nuclear ambitions. A theocratic fundamentalist regime should never possess the capability to harness nuclear power for any purpose. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that it cannot be trusted and remains a persistent source of instability in Middle Eastern affairs. If the United States has indeed intensified its military campaign against Iran—especially targeting critical nuclear facilities like the under-construction Darkhovin nuclear power plant, as suggested by reports from Turkish media—then so be it. Such actions may ultimately benefit the broader international community and salvage a war that should never have started in the first place. 

The Police: Synchronicity Tour

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tour by The Police, Associated album Synchronicity'

Start date: 23 July 1983, End date: 4 March 1984

No. of shows 66 in North America, 

36 in Europe, 3 in Australia

105 total

The Synchronicity Tour was a 1983–1984 concert tour by the Police to promote their fifth album, Synchronicity. It commenced on July 23, 1983 in Chicago and concluded on March 4, 1984 in Melbourne. It touched three continents for a total of 105 shows.

Mexico: Sixth journalist killed in 2026, government must urgently address violence against the press

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the killing of Josué Martínez Contreras, director of the online news outlet Noticias San Martín Texmelucan, on 16 July in the state of Puebla. 

He is the sixth journalist to be killed in Mexico since the beginning of 2026. RSF calls for the federal government to ensure the crime is thoroughly investigated, establish whether it was linked to his journalistic work and urgently strengthen measures to prevent the unrelenting attacks against the press.

France, Germany expand defence partnership as Europe seeks more military autonomy

By Andreas Rinke and Florence Loeve

July 17, 2026 8:16 AM PDT

Summary

• German troops will join a French nuclear exercise for the first time
• France will keep fully funding its nuclear deterrent, Macron said
• Merz, Macron cite Chinese overcapacity and undervalued currency as pressures on Europe

BRUEHL, Germany, July 17 (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany and France pledged on Friday to deepen defence cooperation and counter intense economic competition ‌from China, which they said was exerting drastic pressure on Europe through overcapacity and an undervalued currency.

There Won’t Be a Japanese Empress Anytime Soon

July 18, 2026

There have been only eight female monarchs. The last was Empress Gosakuramachi, who ruled from 1762 to 1770.

Japan's parliament has enacted a controversial, male-only succession rule, ensuring that Princess Aiko, the popular daughter of Emperor Naruhito, cannot inherit the throne and solidifying a patriarchal, 19th-century law. Critics, including feminist scholars, condemn the move as a prioritization of tradition over the viability of a shrinking imperial family, effectively treating royal women as "childbearing machines" to ensure male lineage.

Xi offers AI olive branch to the world, calling for ‘symphony of global cooperation’

By Han Guan Ng, Chan Ho-Him, and The Associated Press

July 17, 2026, 11:37 AM ET

Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China’s objections to what he called the “overstretching” of national security concerns.

Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation. American-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the world’s most advanced technologies, spurring China’s efforts to build its own know-how and intensifying the rivalry between the world’s two biggest economies.

Andrew Tate and brother arrested in US after more charges laid against them in UK

July 18, 2026

Kathryn Armstrongand

Claire Keenan

Reuters

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been arrested in the US after British authorities announced they were bringing further charges against them. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Andrew Tate was being charged with seven further counts of rape, as well as other charges relating to alleged crimes including sex trafficking and child pornography.

Two U.S. service members killed in Jordan, one missing; Iran threatens ‘unforgettable lessons’ after calling off interim peace agreement

Published Sat, Jul 18 2026

6:56 PM PST

Michael Wayland Azhar Sukri Terri Cullen
Key Points

• The U.S. military said two American service members in Jordan were killed on Friday and one is missing in action.
• Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the country has suspended its commitments to the memorandum of understanding signed last month with the U.S.
• When asked about Iran no longer abiding by the interim peace agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said, “I couldn’t care less.”
• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran has “unforgettable lessons in store” for the U.S. after American forces concluded a seventh straight night of strikes against his country.

The U.S. military said on Saturday that two American service members in Jordan were killed in action in Jordan on Friday as U.S. Central Command and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Another service member is missing in action, according to Centcom.

How data centers became a symbol of Americans' rage

Feeling ignored by political and economic powers, people are rallying against computer hubs over concerns about their communities’ future

July 18, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

By Shira Ovide

Kyle Schmidt ticked through what makes him irate about the massive Google data center slated for construction about a mile away from his home near Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

He didn’t like that residents were kept in the dark about what would be built on a pristine tract of mostly forested land. He’s worried about the data center’s potential impact on the community’s water supply and on the dream home that his family moved into last year.

Todd Blanche meeting leaves Epstein survivors stunned and angry

Sources tell MS NOW the acting attorney general made false representations, refused to make commitments and seemed to have no interest in meeting with survivors.

Jul. 17, 2026, 6:35 PM EDT
By Lisa Rubin

On Thursday morning, during the second day of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., dropped an unexpected ultimatum: While he acknowledged he was leaning toward supporting Blanche, he expected him to meet with Epstein survivors before he would be willing to vote for him in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatens states over elections

NBC NEWS
The secretary’s comments come as the Trump administration is increasingly using government agencies to sow doubts about the nation’s electoral system

July 17, 2026, 11:23 AM PDT
By Rebecca Shabad

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday threatened state election officials with possible prison time if they don’t comply with Trump administration methods to determine whether noncitizens are on voter rolls.

Netanyahu's coalition falls to 48 seats, opposition gets 62 seats after legislative blitz - poll

 Jerusalem Post

The poll found that 83% of voters oppose the inclusion of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties in the coalition that is formed after the elections, while only 8% support it

By MOSHE COHENJULY 

JULY 17, 2026 10:50

The opposition bloc is expected to gain 62 seats in the next election, while the current coalition is projected to fall to 48, according to the latest poll published on Friday by Maariv.

Trump Media pitched $100,000 monthly fee for fastest feed of U.S. president’s posts, sources say

Published Sat, Jul 18 2026

9:57 AM EDT, Reuters

Donald Trump’s social media company has discussed charging Wall Street traders and investment firms as much as $100,000 a month for faster access to the U.S. president’s posts on his Truth Social platform, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump Media & ⁠Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, has in recent weeks also pitched a discounted plan of $60,000 per month if the firms sign up for a three-year plan, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are ​confidential.

If only football was just like this

By Yiannis Damellos

July 18, 2026

Tonight was one of those nights that reminds you why football is hands-down the best sport in the universe. Strip away the trophies and the intense pressure, and let the athletes play purely for the love of the game, for themselves, and for the billions watching worldwide. What remains is a breathtaking display of pure sporting excellence. Honestly, if aliens were watching tonight’s third-place playoff, they’d be cheering right along with us and declaring football the king of the cosmos.

ICE Contractor Arrested After Shooting Protester Who Was Walking Away

Brandon Booth, 42, has been booked on suspicion of murder

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling

July 17, 2026/4:17 p.m. ET

ABC News

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has yet more blood on its hands.

An employee at an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, shot a protester Thursday evening, Aurora Police Department shared in a written news release. The woman was hit in her lower body but is expected to survive.

For 1,000 years, a cult worshipped the hero of the Odyssey

7 hours ago

Isabelle Gerretsen

The Odyssey was far more than entertainment to ancient Greeks. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of a cult that revered the Homeric hero on his legendary home island of Ithaca.

At the start of the Odyssey, the epic poem's war-weary protagonist finds himself trapped on a remote island by the goddess Calypso. She promises Odysseus immortality and eternal youth if he chooses to stay with her. But after 10 years of waging war against the Trojans alongside other Greek heroes, Odysseus longs to return to his family and home on the Greek island of Ithaca and "see even just the smoke that rises from his own homeland", as Emily Wilson writes in her translation of Homer's epic.

Iran: The Memorandum of Understanding collapsed after the U.S. attacks – Harsh “retaliation” in Kuwait

MIDDLE EAST

Tehran has suspended its own commitments and implementation of the MOU and is “busy defending the country” an Iranian government official said, accusing the United States

July 18, 2026, 16:06

The United States and President Donald Trump have once again ignited tensions in the Middle East, striking targets in Iran in recent days. According to Iran’s Ministry of Health, U.S. attacks on the country since July 6 have killed at least 50 people and injured more than 500.

9 Words From JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon That Every Investor Needs to Hear Right Now. Hint: It Could Change Your Investment Strategy.

Banks are having a field day in today's market

By Jennifer Saibil – Jul 17, 2026 at 12:15PM EST

The Motley Fool

Key Points

• JPMorgan reported blowout second-quarter results, like other banks.
• The company's growth was driven by its Investment Banking and Equity Markets groups.
• Banks are in the midst of a strong bull market, but there's no way to know when it's going to peak.