The initial reaction in Israel after the announcement of the ten-day ceasefire with Lebanon has been marked by outrage and deep mistrust, both within the government and among the opposition and the population, especially in the north of the country. Now, all eyes are on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: political and military pressure rests on him.Several ministers in his government have complained that they learned of the agreement through a publication on Donald Trump's social media, or through the media, and have questioned how a truce could be announced without the backing of the security cabinet. According to the White House, Netanyahu would have already accepted the truce on Wednesday night during a conversation with Trump.Despite accepting the ceasefire, the leader insisted that his demands remain: the disarmament of Hezbollah and a “sustainable peace based on strength”. He also stressed that Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon in an “expanded security zone” of about ten kilometers. At the same time, he stated that he has rejected the conditions of the Shiite group –such as a total withdrawal to the international border or a “calm for calm” ceasefire–, leaving open the interpretation that attacks could be reactivated at any moment. This Friday he reiterated this stance: “In one hand I carry a weapon and in the other, a signal of peace,” he said.Avalanche of criticism

The announcement of the truce has triggered an avalanche of criticism from the opposition, which accuses the prime minister of having given in to American pressure and of having placed Israel in a position that could erode its security. The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, has assured that the government once again demonstrates the fragility of its promises and has stated that the fighting in Lebanon can only end by definitively eliminating the threat to the north, which, according to him, will not be possible with the current executive.

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In full negotiations between the United States and Iran for the end of the conflict, about sixty countries met this Friday in Paris to prepare an international military mission, "strictly defensive" to guarantee navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It is a mission promoted by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and it is conditioned on a scenario of peace in the region.

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Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union, will hold its eighth parliamentary elections in five years this Sunday. The instability is not just political: inflation continues to soar, just a few months after the adoption of the euro. The favorite is former pro-Russian general Rumen Radev, who surprisingly resigned from the presidency to run in the elections at the head of the new Progressive Bulgaria (PB) coalition. His program combines social promises with a commitment to dismantle a system that many citizens consider oligarchic and clientelist.

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Donald Trump's return to the White House seemed poised to further boost the growing European far-right. Leaders like Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and, among many others, Geert Wilders, celebrated the New York magnate's victory with great fanfare. However, the constant threats and humiliations from the President of the United States against European Union member states and the war in Iran have been met with great animosity in the community bloc, leading some voices on the European far-right to advocate for maintaining distance from the American leader. An electoral strategy that has intensified this week, after the explicit support of the Trump administration for Viktor Orbán did not contribute in any way to preventing the electoral defeat of the acting Prime Minister of Hungary. the electoral defeat of the acting Prime Minister of Hungary.

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Iran announces that it is reopening the Strait of Hormuz in response to the 10-day ceasefire mediated by the United States between Israel and Lebanon. "In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage of all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire, following the coordinated route as already announced by the Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

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Iran announces that it is reopening the Strait of Hormuz in response to the 10-day truce resulting from US mediation between Israel and Lebanon. The Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said this Friday on X that they are unblocking the passage "for the remaining period of the ceasefire" in Lebanon, until the end of April. This deadline goes beyond the ceasefire agreed upon by the US and Iran. However, ship traffic will remain conditional on a toll imposed by Tehran, as vessels will have to follow the coordinated route as already announced by the Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Republic.

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Yuriy Zarko, mayor of Bilopíl·lia, works about twelve hours a day. Whether delivering supplies to a retired woman, in a meeting about the Russian mines scattered around the area or visiting a courtyard where a projectile has fallen, this public servant, always accompanied by his drone detector, walks the streets of his hometown, which before the war had about sixteen thousand inhabitants. "Now there must be about six thousand, but we don't know; before the conflict I managed about twenty square kilometers of land, but now, due to the reorganization of the front, my responsibility has extended to 500. Many community leaders have left, but I have decided to stay, they are my people and I am the head of the council," he says with a vital and bitter smile.

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The breeze barely manages to soften the tension that can be felt in the improvised camps next to the Beirut promenade. Under tarpaulins held up with ropes and scraps of wood, dozens of families continue here, a few meters from the sea, although the ceasefire has been in effect for hours. No one is dismantling anything, yet. Few seem willing to believe that this time it will last.

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Vladimir Putin is having more and more trouble maintaining the bloody virtuous cycle that is allowing him to advance drop by drop in Ukraine. Russian army recruitment figures have fallen in the first three months of the year and do not compensate for the pace of casualties caused by Ukrainian drones amid the Kremlin's offensive. The Russian president is trying to avoid a new mobilization that, according to experts, would be inefficient and insufficient to conquer all of Donbas. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to combat the shortage of soldiers by introducing robots onto the battlefield, the technological innovation that both sides crave to tip the scales of the war.

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Donald Trump has announced that Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement to implement a 10-day ceasefire that will come into effect from five o'clock Washington time this Thursday. In a post on Truth Social, the Republican claims to have spoken with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. "The two leaders have agreed to a ceasefire with the aim of achieving peace." Amidst last-minute diplomatic efforts to secure a new round of peace talks between the US and Iran, the Iranians had requested a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon as a gesture of good faith. Originally, the agreement mediated by Pakistan explicitly included an end to Israeli attacks in the Arab country.

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Lebanon and Israel have been negotiating since Wednesday, in the first direct talks in 34 years. Lebanon has been dragged into the war by the attack on Iran, and this front threatens the fragile ceasefire agreed between Washington and Tehran, which expires on Tuesday. Trump announced yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would speak by phone.Trump announced yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would speak by phone. It is not yet known if this conversation has taken place. Throughout Thursday, Lebanon conditioned it on a ceasefire, which Trump announced in the mid-afternoon and Netanyahu confirmed at nightfall. On Wednesday, the advisors of Netanyahu and Aoun did meet in Washington. We review the keys to the situation, who the actors are, and why these conversations are not destined to end the violence.

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"This is not defense, it's an endless spiral. We are normalizing war as if it were the only option," says Michael, holding a purple sign written in Hebrew and Arabic: the only way out is through agreements. "What we are doing is barbarism." In Paris Square in Jerusalem, next to the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the protest that has been repeated for six weeks has been gaining intensity, although it remains a minority. But what defines these mobilizations is not only their political content, but also the police response they receive. Since the beginning of the offensive against Iran, the Israeli police have been controlling demonstrations more closely: limiting the number of participants, cordoning off public spaces, dispersing gatherings, and making almost immediate arrests.

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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Joseph Aoun, will speak this Thursday for the first time in 34 years, a meeting that was later confirmed by Likud, the party of the Israeli Prime Minister. But a little later Aoun has made it a condition that a ceasefire be agreed before any direct conversation takes place. "The ceasefire that Lebanon demands from Israel would be the natural starting point for any negotiation," he said in a statement.

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Donald Trump distanced himself this Wednesday from Viktor Orbán, three days after his resounding defeat in the legislative elections, and said he likes the president-elect, Péter Magyar, although he did not name him. "I think the new guy will do a good job," he said in an interview with ABC News. During the election campaign, the US president called on Hungarians to "get out and vote" for his friend. He even participated, remotely, in one of his rallies just a week ago. He did so with a call from the phone of his vice president, J.D. Vance, who traveled to Budapest to support the ultraconservative leader.

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"Before the war, I had a good life. [...] One day a shell fell at home. It killed my father and mother instantly." This is the testimony collected by Doctors Without Borders from Amna, a thirteen-year-old girl who now lives with her fifteen-year-old sister in the Tawila refugee camp in Darfur. Like her, 14 million people have been displaced to Sudan because of the war. Like her parents, about 150,000 people have died victims of the conflict.

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Donald Trump is increasingly isolated in Europe. The estrangement between the US president and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, widened this Tuesday. Trump has accused Meloni of not having enough "courage" to give military support to Washington in the war in Iran, after the prime minister criticized Trump for his attacks on the Pope.

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The use of robots in war is no longer science fiction: machines that replace soldiers are already operating on today's fronts. And Ukraine – like Gaza – is one of the major testing grounds for military technological development. President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that the Ukrainian army has driven back Russian troops from a position using only drones and robots, without exposing any humans: "For the first time in the history of this war, we have recaptured an enemy position using only unmanned equipment: ground systems and drones. The occupants surrendered and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our part," he assures.

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Islamabad, Paris, Rome, Ankara, Qatar, London… Behind the scenes, international diplomacy is working against the clock to prevent the collapse of the truce between Iran and the United States. In this context, Donald Trump said this Tuesday in an interview with the New York Post that talks with Tehran could resume in the next 48 hours and that the venue would likely be Pakistan. At this point it is difficult to discern to what extent the tycoon's words are a real prediction or a wish, but they are in line with previous reports indicating that US officials are trying to resume talks with the Iranians before the ceasefire expires next Tuesday.

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The war between the United States and Israel against Iran has reactivated internal disputes within the German far-right. Within Alternative for Germany (AfD), a Trumpist wing coexists with a critical sector that increasingly distances itself from the occupant of the White House. The far-right party sought to get closer to Trump after his return to the White House. They share with him the rejection of immigration, climate change denial, and criticism of the European Union. However, with the start of the war against Iran, AfD leaders are again trying to distance themselves from Washington.

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August 10, 2023. 2:10 AM, Moscow time. The Luna-25 mission launches from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. For the first time in 47 years, Russia is launching an unmanned lunar mission, which aims to touch down near the Moon's south pole, study its soil, and search for traces of frozen water. On August 16, the spacecraft enters lunar orbit and, three days later, begins its landing maneuvers. But at the crucial moment, something goes wrong. The engines do not shut off when they should, the craft adopts an incorrect trajectory, and it crashes into the lunar surface.

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