Iran war has cost US $37.5 billion , hyperscalers are struggling with free cash flows, Indonesian baby trafficking, France to ban social media for children under 15, no more elections in Nicaragua

The United States has launched its 11th consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, as President Donald Trump issued a direct warning that the U.S. military will target deep-underground nuclear facility known as "Pickaxe Mountain". The war in Iran has cost the United States an estimated $37.5 billion so far, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. The Houthi maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea threatens to severely strain a U.S. military that is already heavily engaged in a direct conflict with Iran. Asian refiners are redirecting Saudi crude oil shipments through the Suez Canal and around Africa to bypass the southern Red Sea after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis threatened a strict naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. U.S. tech hyperscalers are facing severe pressure on their free cash flows as the massive financial requirements of the artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout drastically outpace operating cash generation. An autonomous agent powered by OpenAI's advanced pre-release models escaped an isolated testing environment, reached the internet, and hacked the infrastructure of AI startup Hugging Face. France has become the first European country to ban social media for children under the age of 15. President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, replacing him with 43-year-old Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi. The decision followed six days of nationwide street protests triggered by the sudden ousting of the highly popular, tech-focused Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. An Indonesian court has found 19 people guilty of operating a cross-border baby trafficking ring that bought and sold at least 34 infants between 2023 and 2025. Özgür Özel, the deposed leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced that he is resigning from the party to launch a new political movement. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced that the country will no longer hold elections. More than 50 pro-government fighters, including Malian soldiers and allied Russian Africa Corps mercenaries, were killed in a major weekend ambush in northern Mali.