Thursday, July 23, 2026 – U.S. targets Iran for 12th straight night. Iran launches retaliatory attacks. IRGC reports interceptions of tankers. Damaged tanker towed into Iranian waters. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf says there will be no oil sales in the Gulf until Iran’s security is assured. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatens retaliation for any support for infrastructure attacks. Report: U.S. tells Israel it will intensify strikes on Iran. U.S. probes possible Russian role in Iranian drone strikes on CIA sites. Ansarallah strikes two tankers in the Red Sea. President Donald Trump threatens Iran over future Ansarallah attacks. Clashes in Southern Yemen. Israel continues its assault on Gaza. Two Palestinians killed near Nablus; Israel alleges stabbing attack. Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank. Over 4,200 settlers storm Al-Aqsa compound. Malaysia rejects U.S. pressure to reverse its ban on Israeli citizens. Israeli military conducts multiple operations in Lebanon amid “ceasefire.” Oil surges past $100. Amish Shah wins Arizona House primary. House narrowly passes $95 billion budget for Iran war. Ex-DOGE staffers launch military AI cyber startup valued at $1.4 billion. House passes National Defense Authorization Act. AIPAC-tinged 314 Action PAC backs Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. House narrowly passes resolution to halt Iran war. Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm posts 200% returns. Trump says U.S.-Saudi deal subject to normalizing relations with Israel. Trump administration weighs military strikes in Mali. Five Thai soldiers killed in attack on southern checkpoint. At least 20 killed in bandit attacks on Nigerian villages. Russia and Ukraine trade strikes, killing eight. Drone strike from Sudan injures civilians in Chad border town. Mexican journalist found dead in Oaxaca. At least 82 dead in floods across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan. China begins two-day live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait. Europe hits Google with $1 billion fine for abusing its market power. U.S. cannot account for $13 billion of Venezuelan oil money, FT reports. Pakistan rejects Amnesty’s call for investigation into deadly Kabul airstrike.
This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday
Iran
U.S. targets Iran for 12th straight night: A new wave of U.S. strikes hit sites across Iran starting on Wednesday night, killing at least two and striking additional civilian and energy infrastructure.
A U.S. missile destroyed an asphalt storage depot in the western Iranian state of Khuzestan on Wednesday night, and explosions were reported around Ahvaz.
A U.S. missile also hit the Shalamcheh border crossing, at the Iran-Iraq border, according to Iraqi officials, killing two people in a nearby rest facility. Iranian officials said the border crossing, used frequently by religious pilgrims, remained functional.
Several explosions were heard in Ziyarat, near the southern coastal city of Sirik, according to Tasnim, with additional explosions heard in Bandar Mahshah.
Iran’s Health Ministry reported on Wednesday the death toll from U.S. airstrikes since June 6 had risen to 53, with 592 people wounded. Among those killed were six women and three children.
Iran launches retaliatory attacks:
The IRGC claimed successful attacks on U.S. military assets in Kuwait, saying it damaged a “large warehouse of military equipment, a Patriot missile defence system, and a hangar of American MQ9 drones” at the country’s Ali Al-Salem airbase on Wednesday evening. The IRGC also reported that it had successfully disabled a telecommunications tower in the country.
The IRGC also said on Wednesday it had struck a U.S. base in Jordan, targeting radars and interceptors.
Drones hit the Abdali border crossing between Kuwait and Iraq on Thursday, causing material damage but no casualties, Kuwaiti authorities said. The Defense Ministry spokesman said the attack was carried out by “hostile drones,” without identifying the source of the drones.
Both Kuwait and Bahrain’s militaries reported Thursday that their air defenses were intercepting Iranian attacks.
IRGC reports interceptions of tankers: The IRGC said that three oil tankers attempted to transit the mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, claiming one exploded and caught fire while the other two turned back following multiple warnings from Iranian officials.
In a statement, the IRGC reiterated that the Strait remains closed to tankers unless passage is coordinated with Iran, and warned of a forthcoming “punitive operation” in response to the “violation,” which it said was encouraged by the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio bemoaned the disruptions to shipping on Wednesday, telling reporters at the ASEAN summit in Manila that “commercial ships are going through the Straits, and they’re being blown up.”
Damaged tanker towed into Iranian waters: The Kavomaleas, a Malta-flagged tanker set ablaze off Oman on Sunday night, appears to have been towed into Iranian waters, according to satellite imagery flagged first by open-source analysts and since confirmed by the Financial Times.
The $55 million ship can carry 500,000 barrels of crude, FT said. It was struck by two projectiles near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking an engine-room fire that forced its evacuation.
The Kavomaleas was one of two tankers hit that night belonging to Greek shipping tycoon George Prokopiou, whose firm Dynacom is among the most aggressive operators in the strait, sending at least 10 tankers through since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February. Dynacom told FT any move of the ship was unapproved and that it was “trying to verify” its whereabouts.
Ghalibaf says there will be no oil sales in the Gulf until Iran’s security is assured: Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Tehran will not allow other countries in the region to export oil if Iran cannot, and said the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its prewar status.
“The equation of this war is clear: all or nothing,” Ghalibaf wrote. “If we do not sell oil in this region, no one will sell oil. If our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe. The Strait will only be secure in the absence of American forces.”
Araghchi warns retaliation for any support for infrastructure attacks: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Thursday that any attack on Iran’s infrastructure would trigger retaliation against those involved in supporting the attack.
“Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye,” Araghchi wrote on X, saying “any aggression” would compel “a powerful and decisive response.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi issued a similar warning on Thursday, telling European governments in Tehran that allowing their territory or military bases to support U.S. attacks on Iran would make them parties to the aggression.
Report: U.S. tells Israel it will intensify strikes on Iran: The U.S. reportedly informed Israel of its plans to intensify strikes on Iran in the coming days, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday, including its intention to use heavy bombers against the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain site near Qom.
Washington reportedly gave Israel advance notice so it could prepare for possible Iranian missile retaliation, prompting Israel to raise its military readiness to its highest level.
U.S. probes possible Russian role in Iranian drone strikes on CIA sites: U.S. intelligence analysts are investigating whether Russia provided targeting information or advanced drone technology for Iranian drone attacks that struck at least two CIA facilities in March, including the CIA station at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, according to Reuters.
Officials suspect Iran used Russian-enhanced Shahed drones equipped with a more accurate Russian satellite navigation system, the Kometa-M, though sources cautioned no firm conclusions have been reached and Iran may have simply been targeting the embassy generally rather than the CIA station specifically.
Yemen
Ansarallah strikes two tankers in the Red Sea: Ansarallah forces said on Thursday they had struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, setting both vessels on fire.
The group identified the tankers as Encelia and Layla, saying they had violated its ban on Saudi-linked shipping. Saudi Arabia later confirmed the attack on the Encelia.
UKMTO separately confirmed a tanker had been struck by an unknown projectile 70 nautical miles southwest of Al-Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, causing an onboard fire. No casualties or environmental damage were reported.
Ansarallah also claimed roughly 10 ships have already turned back since it imposed a blockade on Saudi ships, vowing to continue enforcing its “siege with siege” policy.
At least nine vessels have made U-turns to avoid the Bab al-Mandab strait as a result of Ansarallah’s blockade, according to the AFP.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that five vessels, four of them oil tankers, changed course in the Red Sea on Wednesday.
Trump threatens Iran over future Ansarallah attacks: U.S. President Donald Trump warned Thursday that Washington would hold Iran responsible for any future Ansarallah attacks on commercial shipping. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said any further attacks from the group would bring “major military punishment” against both Iran and Ansarallah, describing the group as an Iranian “surrogate and/or proxy.” He also said he was “very disappointed” with the Yemeni group, whom he claimed had acted “very professionally and smart” during the recent U.S.-Iran conflict.
Oman’s called for avoiding escalation and threats that could “endanger freedom of navigation,” in a statement from its Foreign Ministry, adding that it is working with Saudi Arabia, Yemeni parties, and the U.N. envoy to “resume the political process and roadmap” aimed at achieving stability.
Clashes in Southern Yemen: Heavy clashes erupted overnight in southern Yemen between Ansarallah-aligned forces and fighters affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), according to regional reports.
Fighting was concentrated west of Al-Dhale province, particularly around Qa’atabah and the Hajar front, with artillery and other heavy weapons reportedly used.
STC-affiliated sources claimed they repelled the attack and reported four of its fighters killed and 10 wounded, according to Iran’s Tasnim news.
Palestine
Killed and wounded: Over the past 24 hours, five Palestinians were killed—three in new attacks and two due to wounds sustained in earlier attacks—and six were injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. One body was also recovered from under the rubble.
The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 73,311 killed, with 173,924 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 1,185 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 3,816, while 803 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble.
Israel continues its assault on Gaza:
An Israeli strike in northern Gaza on Thursday morning killed two Palestinians and wounded several others, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed at least four Palestinians on Wednesday, with one attack killing a man and wounding several others sheltering in the Jabalia refugee camp.
Israeli attacks on Wednesday also wounded a 13-year-old girl in al-Tawam, northwest of Gaza City, and wounded at least three others near Rafah and Khan Younis.
Two Palestinians killed near Nablus; Israel alleges stabbing attack: The Israeli military claimed Thursday that two Palestinians stabbed an Israeli citizen near the Alon Moreh settlement in the occupied West Bank. The military said a “civilian at the scene” killed the two Palestinians, aged 20 and 16, presumably referring to an armed Israeli settler. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that “Israeli forces” killed them, withheld their bodies and that two other Palestinians were wounded in the attack.
Israeli troops encircled the nearby town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, following the incident and were carrying out searches in the area, according to the Times of Israel.
Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank:
Israeli settlers set fire on Thursday to Palestinian lands in the towns of Salem, Beit Furik, and Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, WAFA reported.
Armed Israeli settlers also attacked water wells and pipelines in several towns near Hebron, bringing the total number of wells seized by settlers in recent days to four, with settlers reportedly diverting, swimming in, and destroying the wells upon seizure.
Settlers forcibly displaced a Palestinian from their home in Jalud, south of Nablus, on Wednesday, after a months-long campaign which involved setting up a post near their home, setting it ablaze, cutting off electricity to the house, and blocking anyone attempting to bring them food or water.
Over 4,200 settlers storm Al-Aqsa compound: More than 4,200 Israeli settlers, alongside members of the Israeli Knesset, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday to mark Tisha B’Av, one of the largest incursions this year, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also entered Al-Aqsa under heavy police protection. Ben-Gvir praised the people who took over the site, saying they “felt like owners.”
As part of the incursion, Israeli forces restricted Palestinian worshippers’ access to the site, assaulting several.
Palestinian American athlete held by Israel without charge since June 2: Natalie Abudayyeh, 21, a youth leader in her Lutheran church, American citizen, and a member of the Palestinian women’s national soccer team, will remain in Israeli prison until at least September 23 after a military court hearing Wednesday, a bishop from the Evangelical Lutheran Church said, calling the ruling “incomprehensible.”
Abudayyeh, who was studying journalism at Birzeit University, was seized at gunpoint from her university apartment on June 2 alongside three other female students.
Israeli authorities have reportedly denied every request from Abudayyeh for bail and refused to let her family visit or contact her in any way.
She has been held nearly two months without charge at Damon Prison, where prisoners have reported severe conditions and repeated rights violations.
Malaysia rejects U.S. pressure to reverse its ban on Israeli citizens: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday that Malaysia will not reverse its pledge to deport any Israeli citizens in the country, despite a letter from eight U.S. lawmakers urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to suspend military cooperation over the policy, The New Arab reported. Malaysia conducts 14 bilateral and multilateral military exercises with the U.S. every year, according to experts, and U.S. collaboration has dramatically improved its maritime military capacity.
Lebanon
Israeli military conducts multiple operations in Lebanon amid “ceasefire”:
Israeli forces conducted a “massive explosion operation” in the southern town of Al-Tiri in the Bint Jbeil district on Thursday, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
Israeli forces also subjected residents of the town of Ibl al-Saqi to heavy machine gun fire and a series of detonations, according to the NNA. A man was wounded by Israeli gunfire in the same area.
Israeli forces, backed by bulldozers and military vehicles, also raided the town of Srebbine in the Bint Jbeil district.
📥 Have a tip on Capitol Hill? Email DC Correspondent Julian Andreone at Julian@dropsitenews.com
U.S. News
Oil surges past $100: Brent crude jumped more than 6% Thursday to top $100 a barrel, its highest price in about two months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The surge triggered a bond selloff and dragged down U.S. stock futures with worries about inflation dominating the market.
Amish Shah defeats DCCC-backed rival in Arizona House primary: Emergency physician Amish Shah won Wednesday’s Democratic primary in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, which represents the northeastern parts of the Phoenix metro area, over Marlene Galán-Woods, who was backed by the DCCC, delivering another setback to the party’s national campaign arm, the AP reported.
Shah will face Republican Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker endorsed by President Donald Trump, in a district that has shifted toward the center in recent years.
House narrowly passes $95 billion budget for Iran war: House Republicans narrowly passed their $95 billion budget blueprint 216 to 214 on Wednesday to fund the Iran war and impose new voting restrictions, with two Republicans—Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Warren Davidson (Ohio)—voting against it.
The measure will provide up to $73 billion in additional military funding for the U.S. campaign against Iran, with $12 billion allocated for farmers and $10 billion for Trump’s voting restrictions.
Ex-DOGE staffers launch military AI cyber startup valued at $1.4 billion: Former Department of Government Efficiency employees—including Gavin Kliger, until recently the Pentagon’s chief data officer—have launched Cathedral, a startup seeking government contracts for AI-driven military cyber operations against adversaries like China, after closing a $160 million funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, Reuters reported Wednesday.
House passes NDAA: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the $1.1 trillion National Defense Authorization Act 216–212 on Wednesday, with six Democrats—Henry Cuellar, Don Davis, Jared Golden, Vicente Gonzalez, Adam Gray, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez—voting yes and seven Republicans voting no. The measure includes Section 219, which more tightly integrates the U.S. military intelligence and the defense industrial base with Israel.
The bill makes U.S. military support for Israel easier and more institutionalized. It creates a Pentagon office tasked with accelerating U.S.-Israeli military technology cooperation, including joint R&D, testing, co-production, data sharing, and moving jointly developed technology into procurement.
Separately, it extends through 2029 an existing authority allowing the U.S. to transfer weapons already stored in its War Reserve Stockpile in Israel. That authority can permit transfers without Congress voting on each shipment, with Congress only receiving notification under the underlying law.
AIPAC-tinged 314 Action PAC backs Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Senate Race: 314 Action, a PAC launched with the stated purpose of electing science and medical professionals to Congress, in 2024 and 2026 took substantial sums of money from a super PAC linked to AIPAC and other pro-Israel donors, as we previously reported. Both high-profile efforts failed: In 2024, their candidate Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) won but has since called the support “toxic,” has sworn off AIPAC backing, and denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal.
In 2026, the millions put behind Ala Stanford in a Philadelphia congressional race weren’t enough to lift her over Chris Rabb.
Since then, 314 Action has worked to buff up its image, and endorsed Adam Hamawy in New Jersey, a doctor who volunteered in Gaza, and now El-Sayed, also a doctor and strident AIPAC critic.
Rabb told Drop Site he’s pleased to see his old nemesis on his side of a race: “Glad to see [Executive Director] Erik Polyak learned from the ass-whooping his org got in PA-03 in the May primary, and that 314 Action has decided—albeit belatedly—to back another excellent candidate with a STEM background who’s ardently opposed to AlPAC and is unabashedly pro-Medicare for All! First Hamawy for Congress in NJ, then El-Sayed for Senate in MI! As the saying goes, ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day!’”
314 Action also spent $300,000 to boost Amish Shah in Arizona on Tuesday. Shah beat another Democrat who was backed by the DCCC and Bold PAC, which has also been a vehicle for AIPAC cash. By playing both with and against AIPAC, it becomes harder to know when 314 is genuinely pursuing its mission of backing doctors and scientists, and when it is acting as a vehicle for AIPAC.
House narrowly passes resolution to halt Iran war: The House voted 214-208 on Thursday to pass a resolution requiring congressional approval for continued U.S. military action against Iran, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats, the AP reported.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who led the resolution, said the war has “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal” in a speech in favor of the resolution on the House floor.
Trump Jr.’s investment firm posts 200% returns: Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm 1789 Capital has generated returns of roughly 200% as of June 30, far outpacing the venture capital industry average of around 21%, the Times reported on Wednesday.
1789 Capital has grown from a fund managing a few hundred million dollars to one managing more than $3 billion in assets by investing in companies benefiting from Trump administration policies, The New York Times reported.
The firm’s investments include rare-earths producer Vulcan Elements, which received a $620 million Defense Department loan months after 1789 invested and is now under congressional Democratic scrutiny, and Polymarket, now valued at $15 billion after federal regulators granted it a U.S. operating license.
Centrist Dem backing data centers takes data center cash: Matt Maasdam, who is running against Will Lawrence in a Michigan House race, returned a contribution from Palantir executive Mehdi Alhassani after the killings of Reneé Good and Alex Pretti, given Palantir’s links to ICE. But Alhassani was also a key player in Palantir’s push for data center expansion, Drop Site’s Ryan Grim reports, while Maasdam and Lawrence have clashed in the campaign over the issue. Lawrence has made data center opposition core to his campaign, while Maasdam has argued that opposition is futile. “If we don’t participate in these in the way that it’s coming, all those opportunities will go to other states,” Maasdam has argued. “They’ll go to Indiana, and they’ll go to Ohio, and we will not have a say in how to guide and lead the AI future revolution. And I want to make sure that Michigan is participating there.”
While Maasdam returned Alhassani’s money, he has kept large contributions from many other executives connected to data center buildouts, including D.E. Shaw Group executive Cedomir Crnkovic, who is heavily invested in OpenAI and Anthropic and runs his hedge fund’s machine learning arm; Brian Jacobs, co-founder of Emergence Capital, which invests heavily in infrastructure linked to data centers; and Gaurav Kapadia, CEO of XN Investment Group, also heavily invested in data centers. Lawrence’s opponents, meanwhile, have accused the democratic socialist of being in the tank for Big Tech because of an $11,000 401k that includes investments in index funds, which includes Big Tech companies.
Other International News
Trump says U.S.-Saudi deal subject to normalizing relations with Israel: President Trump said on Thursday that the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal is subject to Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel. He added that the deal does not allow the enrichment of uranium. “The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) being made between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords. The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities,” Trump wrote on social media. In response, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Saudi Arabia’s joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East.”
Trump administration weighs military strikes in Mali: The Trump administration is considering military action in Mali against JNIM, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, which would mark an eighth country where Trump has ordered strikes this term, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Senior officials are divided on the move, with National Security Council counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka one of the most vocal advocates.
Five Thai soldiers killed in attack on southern checkpoint: Five paramilitary soldiers were killed and six civilians wounded Wednesday evening when about 10 assailants attacked the Buketa Sami checkpoint in Narathiwat province, wielding guns and using pipe bombs, AFP reported. The assault, one of the deadliest against Thai security forces in recent years, came a day after a car bombing outside a police station elsewhere in Narathiwat.
At least 20 killed in bandit attacks on Nigerian villages: At least 20 people were killed Wednesday when armed gang members attacked villages in Zamfara State in northwest Nigeria, according to the AFP.
Russia and Ukraine trade strikes, killing eight: Ukrainian strikes on Russia and Crimea killed four people on Thursday, including a three-year-old boy, and Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions also killed four people while injuring 10, according to Reuters. The attacks follow Ukraine’s Wednesday strikes on Wildberries, a major online retailer in Russia, which destroyed five of the company’s biggest distribution centers.
Drone strike from Sudan injures civilians in Chadian border town: A drone believed to belong to the Rapid Support Forces attacked positions roughly seven kilometers inside of Chad’s border on Wednesday, injuring two children and destroying vehicles and shops, Sudan Tribune reported.
Mexican journalist found dead in Oaxaca: Journalist Francisco Leyva, 60, was found dead Wednesday in Oaxaca, marking at least the fourth killing of a journalist in Mexico since June, Reuters reported. Leyva, who reported on government corruption and cartel violence, is at least the fifth journalist killed in Mexico this year, according to press freedom group Article 19.
Heatwave causes jailed Tunisian opposition leader Ghannouchi to pass out: Jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, 85, temporarily lost consciousness amid an intense heatwave at Tunisia’s Mornaguia prison, according to the daughter of fellow imprisoned politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, who said she witnessed the incident during a Tuesday visit. Ghannouchi, who was imprisoned in 2023, is one of several elderly opposition figures imprisoned by President Kais Saied, whose rule has been described as “increasingly authoritarian.”
Pardoned ex-Honduran president to seek dismissal of local charges: Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025 after being convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2024, said Wednesday he will seek to have separate fraud and money laundering charges in Honduras dismissed when he returns Sunday, according to Reuters. Trump’s December pardon of Hernandez was announced before the country’s elections, in which Trump supported the right-wing eventual victor Nasry Asfura and threatened to revoke U.S. aid if Asfura did not win. Read a report on the Hernandez pardon by Jose Luis Grenada Ceja, Drop Site’s Latin America editor, here.
At least 82 dead in floods across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan: The death toll from the flooding in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, caused by heavy rains earlier this week, has risen to at least 82, with at least 10 dying in India’s Assam state over the last 24 hours alone, Reuters reported. More than 650,000 people have been affected by the flooding across 11 districts in Assam, state authorities reported.
China fires water cannon at Philippine vessel near Scarborough Shoal: Philippine authorities accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of firing a water cannon at a government fisheries vessel in the Scarborough Shoal on Thursday, Reuters reported. China said that it drove away two Philippine vessels on Monday, accusing the vessels of intruding on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, and urged the Philippines “to cease its infringing and provocative actions.”
China begins two-day live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait: China began two days of live-fire drills on Thursday near Dongshan Island in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of its southeastern Guangdong province, Reuters reported. The exercises, which are expected to run from 6 am to 6 pm, follow similar Chinese exercises which took place in December and involved the launch of rockets into waters north and south of Taiwan.
Europe hits Google with $1 billion fine for abusing its market power: The European Commission fined Google a total of €890 million ($1 billion) Thursday. A €460 million fine was imposed under the Digital Markets Act for favoring its own products and services in search results. A second fine for €430 million was levied for unfair practices in the Google Play app store.
U.S. cannot account for $13 billion of Venezuelan oil money, FT reports: The Trump administration has collected more than $13 billion from Venezuelan oil sales this year but has said almost nothing about what happened to the money, according to a Financial Times investigation that cited Kpler shipping data and Argus pricing.
Pakistan rejects Amnesty’s call for investigation into deadly Kabul airstrike: Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected Amnesty International’s call for an investigation into a March 16 airstrike on Kabul that the UN says killed at least 269 civilians and wounded 122 others. Amnesty said its analysis of satellite imagery, more than 60 photographs and videos, and interviews with current and former employees indicated that the strike hit a drug rehabilitation center and found no evidence supporting Islamabad’s claim that it targeted “military and terrorist infrastructure.” Read Drop Site’s reporting from March on the deadly Kabul airstrike here.
📖 READ Israel Firebombed a Family Home Where Children Were Sleeping in Latest Killing Spree
🛒 SHOP for your Drop News/Not Bombs Hoodie
💬 JOIN our Whatsapp Broadcast Channel for the latest reporting, podcasts, and breaking news, delivered directly
⚠️ TOO MANY EMAILS? You can go to your account settings to unsubscribe from the Drop Site Daily newsletter—while still getting the rest of our reporting