Friday’s headlines were dominated by escalating global crises on multiple fronts: the U.S.-Iran standoff over the Strait of Hormuz deepened after President Trump vowed to declare the waterway U.S. territory, while Colombia’s death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquake climbed past 280 with hundreds still missing. In Europe, Poland revealed it had foiled an unprecedented Russian plot to assassinate a U.S.-Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw, marking the first known Russian attempt on an American citizen inside NATO territory, even as Russia rejected ceasefire talks and threatened harsher strikes on Ukraine. Tensions also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where a settler siege of Palestinian homes drew rare U.S. condemnation, and in the Pacific, where Japan protested Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit to the disputed Kuril Islands. Elsewhere, conflict and instability persisted in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon, while Latin America grappled with the lingering fallout from Venezuela’s leadership crisis and renewed U.S.-Mexico diplomatic friction.
- United States: President Trump said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory, as the Pentagon sent the carrier USS George Washington to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln after reported morale problems and suicide attempts aboard the latter following an extended deployment.
- Iran: Tehran insists the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” rejecting Trump’s claim of US “total control,” while the IRGC-linked Persian Gulf Strait Authority continues to restrict shipping amid the ongoing war with the US and Israel.
- Israel: Israel’s defense minister called for police, not the military, to take over law enforcement in the West Bank after a nearly week-long siege by settlers of Palestinian homes in Qusra, which drew a rare rebuke from the US ambassador to Israel.
- State of Palestine: The UN human rights office condemned the ongoing settler siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra as an attempt to force families out, while Gaza’s death toll from the two-year war has passed 73,000 amid ongoing rubble-clearance operations.
- Lebanon: Beirut condemned Israeli home demolitions in the south as a “serious violation of international law,” as reports emerged that Israel is preparing an operation to seize a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon.
- United Arab Emirates: State oil giant ADNOC said two of its tankers were attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz this week, prompting the UAE to accuse Iran of “flagrant” maritime violations.
- Colombia: The death toll from Monday’s magnitude-7.4 earthquake in the country’s west has climbed past 280, with nearly 400 people still missing as rescue crews and new President Abelardo de la Espriella’s government scramble to respond.
- Ecuador: Tremors from the Colombia earthquake were felt across the border, while a Washington Post investigation revealed covert US strikes on Ecuadorian fishing boats near the Galápagos as part of anti-drug trafficking operations.
- Venezuela: The country remains under a US-led transitional arrangement following January’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez having briefly served as acting president amid continuing uncertainty over long-term governance.
- Ukraine: Kyiv struck Russia’s major Ust-Luga oil port on the Baltic Sea and destroyed Russian drone relays and command posts, while Russian drone strikes killed a woman and child in Sumy region and injured civilians in Cherkasy.
- Russia: Moscow rejected ceasefire calls and threatened tougher strikes on Ukraine, warning residents they will “freeze this winter,” as Ukraine says it has hit nearly a third of Russia’s major oil refineries in the past two weeks.
- Poland: Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that security services foiled a Russian-ordered plot to assassinate a dual US-Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw, calling it the first known instance of Russia targeting an American citizen on NATO soil.
- Japan: Tokyo lodged a diplomatic protest after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever visit to the disputed Kuril Islands (Japan’s “Northern Territories”), further straining bilateral relations.
- South Korea: Former President Yoon Suk-yeol has been sentenced to life in prison over his martial law declaration, a landmark ruling in the country’s ongoing political crisis.
- North Korea: Pyongyang continues to expand missile and munitions support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Seoul and Washington warning that a new North Korean missile launch could come at any time.
- Sudan: The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured Al Kurmuk, a strategic town in Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian and South Sudanese borders, in a renewed push to expel the army from the region amid the country’s ongoing civil war.
- Ethiopia: Relative calm has returned to the Ethiopia-Sudan border following clashes between Ethiopian forces and Tigray fighters, even as the country’s National Dialogue Conference continues in Addis Ababa.
- South Sudan: An inter-party national dialogue is set to launch ahead of December elections, though First Vice President Riek Machar remains under house arrest facing treason charges, clouding prospects for a credible vote.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: Congolese forces and allied Wazalendo militia clashed with Rwandan-backed M23 rebels near Bukavu’s Kavumu airport, as a Qatar-mediated ceasefire framework continues to show only fragile progress.
- Cameroon: 93-year-old President Paul Biya, absent from public view for nearly two months while abroad in Geneva, reshuffled the country’s military leadership, fueling public speculation over his health and succession.
- Guinea-Bissau: The transitional military government set an August 30 referendum date on constitutional reforms that would shift the country to a stronger presidential system, months after a coup ousted the elected president.
- Nigeria: Abuja deployed troops to the ECOWAS stabilization mission in Guinea-Bissau, underscoring its continued leadership role in West African regional security efforts.
- Pakistan: Islamabad continues cautious diplomatic thaw signals with India following a symbolic handshake between senior officials in Dhaka, even as regional tensions persist.
- Peru: Lima’s foreign ministry confirmed that at least 459 Peruvian nationals have enlisted to fight for Russia in Ukraine, raising concern in the region.
- Argentina: New data showed inflation accelerated in July to a 2.1% monthly rate, a setback for President Javier Milei’s economic program.
- Brazil: President Lula’s government formally began reviewing potential retaliatory measures against tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last month.
- Mexico: The son of former President López Obrador said the Trump administration revoked his US visa, adding a new layer of friction to bilateral relations.
- Haiti: The US resumed deportation flights to Haiti as Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 Haitians is set to expire, ahead of the country’s planned general elections later this year.
- Australia: Canberra reiterated criticism of a Chinese ballistic missile test near Tuvalu’s waters last month and continues to press Washington on tariff relief, per a Pacific Islands Forum ministerial meeting this week.
- Fiji: Hosted this week’s Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting, where members backed a stronger regional security plan and climate push ahead of COP31.
- Papua New Guinea: The country’s Independent Commission Against Corruption vowed to continue investigating graft allegations despite threats and intimidation against its officers.
- United Kingdom: Domestic political coverage continues to focus on migration policy debates, including reported talks between Reform UK and El Salvador’s government over deporting foreign criminals.
- Greece: Protesters demonstrated at the port of Piraeus near Athens against the arrival of a cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists, reflecting continuing regional tensions over the Gaza war.
