Spain declared a national emergency over wildfires for the first time as two blazes west of Madrid burned out of control. Across the border France ordered the total evacuation of the Cap-Ferret peninsula, with some residents leaving by boat. About 87,000 people have been displaced across the two countries.
China test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the South Pacific nuclear-free zone on July 6, drawing protests from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US. The timing was not subtle: it landed the same day Australia and Fiji signed a historic mutual defense treaty.
Pakistan says it killed 29 militants in calibrated strikes along the Afghan border after a deadly attack in Karachi. Afghanistan’s Taliban government says 36 civilians, including women and children, died in the same strikes. Two nuclear-armed neighbors are pointing at very different body counts.
A magnitude 7.2 quake hit near Caracas on Wednesday evening. Less than a minute later, a 7.5 followed. At least 188 people are dead, more than 1,500 are injured, and seismologists warn the final toll could run far higher.
Keir Starmer won the biggest Labour landslide in a generation eighteen months ago. On Monday he resigned, citing a loss of confidence among his own MPs. Now a Greater Manchester mayor who was not even in Parliament is favourite to run one of the world’s largest economies.
China announced sanctions on 10 American defense companies, blocking Chinese exports of dual-use goods to drone makers, rare earth miners, and defense contractors. It is a direct response to a US move against Chinese tech firms.