USA - Saronic Technologies is preparing to build a massive shipyard on the Texas coast capable of producing autonomous surface vessels at scale, a project expected to create more than 10,000 jobs. Bloomberg reports that the Austin-based technology company, which specializes in maritime drones, is building a $3.2 billion shipyard at the Port of Brownsville on the Texas coast. The facility will manufacture medium- and large-class autonomous vessels. Earlier this week, the US military used Saronic's Corsair one-way attack vessels in a swarm strike against a submarine and ship-maintenance facility at Iran's Bandar Abbas naval base. Saronic CEO and co-founder Dino Mavrookas told Bloomberg that the new shipyard reflects a broader revival of the US industrial base as the country shifts toward a wartime economy. "Built from the ground up to deliver ships at a speed and scale not seen since World War II, this investment is about more than constructing a shipyard," Mavrookas said.

USA - Drones have the Pentagon turning on itself: One day, it’s seeking fleets of ever-cheaper uncrewed planes to wage war. Two days later, it’s pleading for lasers to shoot them down. The current conflicts involving Ukraine and Iran — where drones have helped both nations counter the superior force of Russia and the US, respectively — show that drones are here to stay. Continuing miniaturization, increasingly sophisticated navigation, better networking, and ever-clearer remote viewing have turned drone warfare into the Next Big Thing in the Pentagon’s airborne arsenal. The Current Big Thing in the Defense Department’s arsenal, of course, remains costly fighters, bombers, and spy planes with real humans at the controls. But their grip on the stick is ineluctably loosening.

USA - The US military said that it carried out new airstrikes against Iran on Sunday to “swiftly punish” the country’s Revolutionary Guard after an attack on a base in Jordan killed two American service members, left one missing and four requiring hospitalization. The strikes were designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to restrict the traffic of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said. Iran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with US and Israeli strikes on February 28. The new strikes came after the US military announced its first troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, following a drone and missile attack on a base in Jordan on Friday. Since the war began, 16 US service members have been killed and over 430 wounded.

GERMANY - Germany has raised its national terror threat level from “abstract” to “high” after intelligence agencies detected an increase in potential attack plans, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said. The move comes as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government prepares to expand the powers of the country’s intelligence services. Speaking to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Dobrindt said the revised assessment was based on a growing volume of intelligence indicating possible terrorist threats. “This means Germany must expect the risk of terrorist attacks at any time,” he added.

USA - The US State Department on Saturday issued a worldwide travel alert for Americans abroad, citing heightened tensions in the Middle East and warning that groups supportive of Iran could target US citizens and interests overseas. The global "Worldwide Caution" alert comes as active fighting between the United States and Iran intensifies. Earlier Saturday, the US military announced that an Iranian missile and drone strike in Jordan killed two American service members and left another missing. "Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation," the State Department said in its advisory.

USA - As the US-Iran conflict escalates again, desalination plants and water infrastructure have emerged as strategic targets alongside military bases and oil facilities. Here’s why Gulf nations’ dependence on desalinated water has turned access to drinking water into a critical security issue with major humanitarian consequences. Water production and distribution systems have become targets because they represent an indispensable service in a region where natural freshwater is exceptionally limited. Unlike oil exports, which mainly influence international markets, damage to desalination facilities directly affects civilian populations by disrupting access to drinking water.

USA - Two support columns on the 21st floor of a 37‑story tower under construction near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan began to buckle Tuesday morning, destabilizing several upper floors and triggering a rapid evacuation of the building and surrounding blocks, officials told Newsweek. By late afternoon, city officials said the situation inside the former Pfizer headquarters had begun to stabilize, noting that inspections showed the damaged columns had not shifted and that emergency shoring work would continue into the evening and take several days, according to PIX11 reporter Henry Rosoff. The alarm was first raised just before 8 am ET, when debris was reported falling from 235 East 42nd Street, now being converted into a luxury residential complex expected to hold between 1,500 and 1,600 apartments.

KUWAIT - Kuwait has accused Iran of targeting “vital” civilian sites after reporting attacks on a power station, water desalination plants and an oil facility on Saturday morning. The state’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning “the heinous Iranian aggression that targeted the country’s territories” as a violation of international law. It added: “The repeated targeting of these vital facilities reveals a systematic hostile approach targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure that endangers the lives and safety of civilians.”

UK - Britain cannot afford a fresh spending binge, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Andy Burnham. The Washington-based body said the UK Government should be “very selective in accommodating new demands” for spending and instead focus on reducing the deficit. It cautioned that the UK faces serious “challenges” from high debts, rising interest bills and the increasing costs of healthcare and pensions linked to an ageing population. However Mr Burnham will use a speech on Friday to pledge to be “unashamedly” Labour, suggesting he will tax and spend more. Speaking at a special conference that will see him crowned as Labour’s leader, he will argue that rebuilding the economy will require “a new path to the one we’ve been on for the last 40 years”.

UK - More than 600,000 people in Britain are too fat to work, research suggests. A University of York study has demonstrated the impact of Britain’s weight problem on the economy and its contribution to worklessness. Official data show 15 million adults in Britain are obese and the researchers found that around four out of every 100 obese people were likely to be unemployed solely because of their body weight. The effect of obesity on employment was also stronger in men than women, data showed. Experts warned of “substantial economic losses” because of the number of people whose weight was hindering daily activity, and driving them out of work. The Government has announced pilot schemes in which the unemployed will be given weight-loss jabs to get more people back to work.

UKRAINE - The Ukrainian drones hovered over the shipping lanes in the Sea of Azov until they caught sight of their prey. Spread out on the waters below, Russian tankers – sluggish, defenceless vessels of around 7,000-ton capacity – were sailing towards the occupied Crimean peninsula. Explosions lit up the night sky as the drones swooped down, one after another, after another. In the morning, satellite imagery picked up smoke still rising from the hull of one of their crippled victims. This July 14 attack brought the number of Russian vessels hit in the Sea of Azov to 116 in a week-long campaign, according to Ukraine’s drone forces. These intense strikes on a maritime trade route – equivalent to one every two hours – have effectively halted traffic on a key supply line, in a campaign with few parallels in the history of modern warfare.

UKRAINE - The four-year stalemate in Ukraine has suddenly broken. For the first time in modern memory, Russia is having to import fuel to keep its economy and society afloat. The speed of events is extraordinarily rapid and portends a tectonic shift in the global balance of power, dramatically improving the strategic fortunes of Europe. Ukraine’s drone force of “Magyar’s Birds” has struck 30 oil and gas tankers in the Black Sea region since Wednesday. It claims to have hit 147 vessels linked to Russia in 10 days, effectively closing the Sea of Azov and tightening the blockade of the Crimean peninsula. It is attacking refineries at will, continuously, from St Petersburg to Siberia, crippling Russia’s biggest plant some 2,250km into the interior at Omsk. The range has jumped fivefold since early last year. “Russia no longer has a safe rear, and distance is no longer protection,” said Sergiy Makogon, from the Centre for European Policy Analysis.

GERMANY - German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has proposed replacing the expiring UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with an EU-mandated force to prevent a security vacuum, he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. The UNIFIL mission expires on December 31, 2026. Germany's parliament extended the country's participation in the mission for the final time just weeks ago. Wadephul said Lebanon, with a stabilizing government, represented "one of the most hopeful developments in the region at the moment." An EU-mandated force could "create the conditions for the Israeli army to withdraw without Hezbollah returning with its terror," the minister added. The proposal comes as European nations seek to maintain regional stability while balancing relations with Israel and Lebanon.

USA - As grim as the political scene is in Israel today – with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition bulldozing through contentious and damaging legislation on the final days of the Knesset before the October election – the view on the other side of the world in Washington regarding Israel is just as worrisome. Two events overnight Wednesday emerging from the US Capitol, one a vote and the other an interview, exemplified the rockslide – turning into an avalanche – of anti-Israel sentiment that has taken hold in the hallowed halls of decision-makers. The degree to which both the Republican and Democratic parties are sharpening their claws against Israel and hyper-focusing on it to the exclusion of critical issues indicates that the long-standing US-Israel bond is in a real crisis.

PUERTO RICO - Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the US territory, worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency. Thousands of people in the island’s northeast region face 48-hour rationing periods from Friday, said Luis González, executive president of the island’s water and sewer authority. The rationing program will affect several communities in the cities of Canovanas and Rio Grande as temperatures keep rising. “There’s just not enough water,” he said, adding that rationing will likely be extended to other areas.