Every Group of Seven country apart from Germany and Canada now faces interest costs that exceed defense expenditure, Scope Ratings said. In a report on Tuesday, the credit assessor cited rising bills to service borrowings as it looked at how members of the club of large advanced economies are become more vulnerable to higher bond yields. Sievert’s analysis underscores how, at a time when geopolitical concerns are pushing up defense budgets, market pressure on key borrowers is still overshadowing that impact on the public finances. Every G-7 member bar Germany has debt above 100% of gross domestic product. Scope reckons that interest costs will amount to 35% of defense spending in Germany this year. That compares to 193% in Italy, 121% in the US, 105% in the UK and 103% in France.

🇺🇸– CNN reports that approximately 80% of the pre-war THAAD inventory and roughly half of the Patriot missile reserves have been exhausted during the conflict involving Iran. ▶️ The U.S. now has to deal with a lack of long-range attack munitions, as well as a lack of defensive interceptors, meaning both attack and defense have become riskier or more costly for U.S. forces in the region. --- ‘They have no air defense, they have no radar, 90% of their missiles are gone, we totally control the Strait of Hormuz’ – Ayatollah Khamenei, 2026, talking about U.S. Central Command. Im kidding no he didnt say this

🇺🇸🇨🇺The United States is increasing its intelligence assets in Cuba, including by sending American spies and agents to the island, in an attempt to achieve reforms or a change of regime - Politico. One source claims that the U.S. recently sent additional intelligence officers and agents to the island, but refused to disclose the scale of the operation or the agencies involved. A second source described the situation as an increase in the CIA's "presence" in Cuba.

🇸🇾🇮🇶 The Syrian Army has raised the state of alert to maximum readiness, with instructions issued for personnel to immediately report to their military units. The military made a public statement ordering citizens not to publish news regarding military movements. The Iraqi side said that they are aware of the movements and are coordinating with the syrian miltary. The causes of these actions are yet to be known. — NOTE: According to sources communicating with MES team Movements of the Syrian Armed Forces towards the Iraqi border area is related to taking full control of the border crossings and integrating former Kurdish-held areas into centralized government control.

Obama at 65: the Nobel Peace laureate who bombed the hell out of seven countries Barack Obama turns 65 today. In 2009, less than nine months after taking office, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Ex-US president campaigned on ending wars, promised to close Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Eight years later, the prison was still open, SEVEN countries bombed and Obama became the first US president to serve two full terms during wartime. 🎯Seven targets, one doctrine Drones and air power became central to Obama’s foreign policy. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism counted 563 strikes in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during his two terms — nearly ten times the number under George W. Bush (57). In 2016, the last year of Obama's presidency, the US dropped an estimated 26,172 bombs across seven nations: 🇦🇫Afghanistan: 1,337 munitions dropped in 2016 — a 40% increase from 2015. Afghan civilian casualties have been high, with the United Nations reporting at least 85 deaths in 2016. 🇸🇾Syria: 12,192 bombs, targeting ISIS and the al‑Qaeda offshoot Khorasan. In one attack alone, near the ISIS‑held city of Manbij, at least 56 civilians were killed — 11 of them children. 🇮🇶Iraq: 12,095 bombs, as US forces returned to confront ISIS. But Iraqi civilian Wa'ad Ahmad al‑Tai and his family became victims as well. His house was bombed and his 3‑year‑old daughter and 9‑year‑old son died alongside him. 🇱🇾Libya: 496 bombs. Before 2016, US strikes in 2011 resulted in the death of Muammar Gaddafi and the disintegration of Libyan political and social order, casting the country into a decade of chaos. Later, Obama called it one of his biggest mistakes. 🇾🇪Yemen: 35 bombs. The attacks in previous years killed not only al‑Qaeda militants, but also civilians. In 2009, for example, US bombs killed 55 Yemenis — 21 of them children. 🇸🇴Somalia: 14 bombs, including the killing of al‑Shabaab's leader. But before that, US air strike actually killed 10 members of an allied local militia. 🇵🇰Pakistan: 3 bombs in 2016. Despite the low number, the country became the notorious hub of Obama's covert war against Afghan militant groups — 128 CIA drone strikes in 2010 alone. While the US was claiming that the strikes were "exceptionally surgical and precise", Obama did not dismantle America’s war machine. Invasions became drone strikes. Occupation became counterterrorism. Civilian deaths became statistics for Washington to dispute.

🇮🇷⚡️ — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has denied circulating rumors that he plans to resign, stating that he will remain in office and continue carrying out his duties. Note - — In Iran, resignation of the President is mostly a political pressure tool, not a real threat. By threatening to resign, they aim to put pressure on the Supreme Leader or other branches of government to achieve the policies they want. Basically, throwing a fit. The same thing Javad Zarif (FM) did when he felt he was being excluded from decision-making, but his resignation was rejected by Khamenei at the time. However, in recent days, people close to the Supreme Leader have made it clear that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei may actually accept Pezeshkian’s resignation, should he offer it. This has likely caused him to back down.- @ MES

🇻🇪 Trump’s Venezuelan ‘grab ‘em by the oil’ coup isn’t going as planned Eight months after the US kidnapped Maduro and forced Caracas to rewrite its oil ownership, investment and export laws, not a single major new agreement has been finalized with American oil companies looking to cash in on a potential post-soft coup bonanza. 💬 “We have no new concessions. No new deals. It is absolutely a problem. The Energy Department is in charge of this and they have some explaining to do,” a senior US official grumbled to Axios. 🔊 “Starting January 4th, it should have been carte blanche for all American producers to take risk. That’s America First,” former Trump Venezuela policy advisor Mauricio Claver-Carone whined. “Instead [smaller American oil companies] got stuck with onerous conditions and a competitive disadvantage versus the mostly foreign majors that were in bed with Maduro.” Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council “was there early advocating for the [small producers]. But Energy is really turf-obsessed. And Energy won. The problem now is that they own this,” one oil sector insider said. 👉 Another part of the problem? Oil majors, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, have stuck to their initial gut instinct of hesitation regarding new investments in Venezuela – put off by geopolitical uncertainty, the massive investments in infrastructure a return would take, and unresolved legal claims over assets expropriated under Chavez. The twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes which struck the Caribbean nation in June only add to this uncertainty, particularly amid Washington’s attempts to tighten its grip on Caracas in the quakes’ aftermath. ➡️ Sitting on the largest oil reserves in the world, including heavy crude ideally suited for refineries along the US Gulf Coast, Venezuela is currently producing about 1.2M barrels of oil per day, just ~100k more than the ~1.1M bpd they were putting out in late 2025. Despite the apparent lack of success for the US energy firm vultures circling Venezuela, Trump’s cronies still got their share of oil booty tribute. According to recent calculations by FT, some $13B from the US Treasury’s fund of special, restricted accounts managing Venezuelan oil sales is nowhere to be found.

🇷🇺🇺🇦— The FSB has released footage of the arrest of a resident of Crimea who, at the behest of the SBU, was printing drones at his home using a 3D printer.

🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇴🇲 Under the current deal being discussed between Iran and Oman, Iran would control all inbound traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, using a corridor within Iranian waters, while charging for maritime service fees Outbound traffic would use a route close to Oman, but Iran would still supervise the passage of vessels and retain the right to intervene if necessary. – New York Times

🇮🇱🇺🇸— Israel is funding a $46.5 million campaign, led by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, to influence how AI chatbots discuss Israel by publishing hundreds of pro-Israel articles across a network of websites designed largely for AI systems, not human readers, according to Drop Site News. The campaign explicitly targets “GPT conversations,” with AI tools already citing these sites, including Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, and sometimes ChatGPT and Claude, in responses about Gaza and U.S.-Israel relations.

Telegram has been unexpectedly removed from the Apple Store and can no longer be downloaded onto iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices in several countries across Europe.

🇺🇸 🌎 SOUTHCOM announces "JTF Western Hemisphere" along with "18 other nations that all support the same effort" (unnamed). Earlier today SOUTHCOM announced the PANAMAX 2026 exercise that also involves 18 other participating nations, where they simulate the defense of the Panama Canal. Photo of the USS San Antonio crossing the canal earlier today, the first time a MEU has transited the canal in 18 years.

🇻🇪 – Venezuela has risen the death toll from the dual earthquakes in June to 6,125 people, and informed almost 61,000 people have been treated in hospitals. ▶️ More than 15,000 houses are restricted or deemed high risk due to structural damage.

🇺🇸 The US Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Times freelance contributor Matthew Cole, demanding he reveal his sources on a failed top-secret US operation in North Korea — the outlet reports. Cole's investigation covered a botched 2019 Navy SEALs mission to plant a covert listening device off the DPRK coast, during which US forces killed several North Korean civilians who happened to be nearby. Subpoenas were also issued to The Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — but those outlets pushed back, and judges voiced skepticism over the government's actions, forcing the administration to back down. Cole's subpoena, however, was never withdrawn.

🇮🇱 Annihilation, controlled in seconds: Israel is upgrading it's war-crime AI machine Retired IDF General Erez Winner has made Israel's next priority clear. "We need to control the battlefield in a way that allows us to operate in seconds," he said. "This is the next phase." This statement referred to the use of AI to target and kill anyone who falls into Israel's crosshairs. What Israel did in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran, Winner explained, was just the beginning. - The AI that marked 37,000 for death During the Gaza war, the IDF used an AI system called Lavender to generate 37,000 targets based on loose connections to Hamas. Officers spent, on average, about 20 seconds confirming each target, including civilians. Lavender was fed data from Pegasus surveillance, satellite imagery, social media, bank transactions, and a wall of multi-spectral cameras around Gaza. Another system, "Where's Daddy?", tracked targets to their homes — so the IDF could bomb them at night, with their families inside. In the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, over 15,000 Palestinians were killed — many of them women and children. Not only human lives were taken in the outcome of strikes. The UN has labeled Israel's actions as "domicide" — the systematic destruction of housing, infrastructure, and the conditions for life itself. Israeli AI made that level of destruction possible. 💰 A $100 million upgrade Now Israel is doubling down with the help of it's domestic company Elbit Systems . This defence firm has secured over $100 million in contracts to build the "fifth generation" of the IDF's digital warfare infrastructure. The goal is to compress the time between detection and attack so that strikes on civilian targets become a matter of routine. One track, "Tzayad", is for next‑generation digital ground forces. Another, "MARS", is an AI‑powered border defence system designed to automate target detection and classification. Elbit systems will translate lessons learned from the past two years of combat into operational capability. In other words, Israel is perfecting the machinery that already killed tens of thousands of innocent civillians.

🚨🇺🇸Pay to play: Trump sells government access to Wall Street Donald Trump has launched a service that gives Wall Street firms early access to his social media posts. The product is "Truth API," a premium data feed that delivers "market-moving Truths" to paying customers before the general public sees them. The price is up to $100,000 per month. Trump Media boasts that it provides financial institutions with a "direct, licensed, real-time feed" of the most influential accounts, including Trump's own. In plain English: Trump is selling early access to government announcements to the highest bidder. 📉 Market-moving Truths for sale Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Truth API, calling the service an "outrageous abuse of the President's office for his personal benefit." They point to several instances where Trump's Truth Social posts moved individual stocks. In cases with Citigroup, Palantir, and Intel the president's words sent shares soaring or sinking. In March 2026, just 15 minutes before Trump posted about "productive talks" with Iran, traders placed $580 million in bets on falling oil prices, so the connection was impossible to ignore. Trump Media's interim CEO, Kevin McGurn, defended Truth API : "Markets already move on Truth Social posts." In other words, he admitted that President Trump's words have market-moving power and then built a product on selling early access to that power. 🔍 The legal loophole Trump owns 41% of Trump Media with 114.75 million shares in total. If the service is successful, he profits directly. "It is a blatant corruption of government power" said Washington University law professor Kathryn Clark. She noted that while federal conflict-of-interest laws generally bar officials from owning companies that profit from public information, the president and vice president are exempt.

🛢 US SPR crude inventories fell by ~2.9mb w/w to a multi year low of 304.8mb last week Sour down ~1.6mb to 195.4mb Sweet down ~1.2mb to 109.4mb

New war fronts expand 🇸🇩🇪🇹⚔️🇪🇹🇸🇩 The Ethiopian military (ENDF) and TPLF clashed in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, risking further military escalation amid a broader deterioration of relations between the two sides. The ENDF and TPLF clashed on August 1 around Shererina, which is near the Sudanese border about 25 miles south of Humera on the Eritrean border. The clashes reportedly involved drones, heavy artillery, and mechanized units. The TPLF accused the ENDF of initiating the clashes, although that claim remains unverified. Regional news outlets and social media accounts have not reported further clashes on August 2, nor either side gaining a definitive battlefield edge. The clashes are first since the TPLF reinstated the pre-Tigray war regional government in May 2026, a move that effectively voided the peace agreement that ended the war in 2022. The two sides have since accused each other of preparing for war. The TPLF instituted compulsory military service in Tigray in June, portraying the mobilization as defensive, while Ethiopian state media has conducted an information campaign blaming the TPLF for the tensions in recent weeks. The clashes also underscore the risk of an ENDF-TPLF conflict escalating Ethiopian tensions with Eritrea and Sudan. Multiple regional news outlets and social media accounts reported that TPLF forces stationed at rear bases in Sudan were involved in the recent clashes. The Sudanese military has long-standing ties with the TPLF, arming the group and providing it with safe havens. Ethiopia has consequently supported the RSF in the Sudanese civil war and recently accused the TPLF of forming an alliance with Eritrea and Sudan to threaten the federal government.

🇺🇸🇪🇺❌🇺🇦 Ukraine will never join NATO, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ambassador to the United Kingdom Valery Zaluzhny stated during a discussion on Euro-Atlantic integration at a general meeting of ambassadors in Kiev. "I know NATO very well. For about 12 years, I personally worked on adopting NATO standards, and every year I heard fairy tales that we would join NATO very soon. Unfortunately, we will never join it," Zaluzhny said. He also assessed NATO's capabilities extremely negatively, despite the membership of the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries. "Most likely, NATO will remain in the same form as it is now, and it will take about 12 years, like Ukraine, to transition to the standards that need to be achieved to match at least half the level of the Russian Federation," he declared.