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Nine other stories

• Washington steps into the yen market. Reuters, citing the Financial Times, reported that the U.S. Treasury bought yen through the New York Fed after Japan also moved to support its currency. The report did not specify the Treasury's purchase size; BOJ data suggested Japan may have sold as much as $58.97 billion, while the dollar fell from about 158.9 yen to 157.6. 4
• Kyiv takes a heavy ballistic strike. A Russian missile and drone attack killed nine people and wounded 33 in the Ukrainian capital, according to an Al Jazeera report carrying Reuters and AFP material. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 27 ballistic missiles were launched and only one was intercepted, blaming a shortage of Patriot interceptors; the figures remain attributed claims, not an independent battlefield count. 5
• Gaza's medicine supply becomes part of the ceasefire dispute. An Israeli strike destroyed two medicine warehouses used by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, while two other warehouses and an outpatient clinic were damaged, Reuters reported. Palestinian officials reported two deaths elsewhere in Gaza; Israel said it hit a Hamas hideout but did not disclose evidence for that claim in the report. 6
• China patrols around Scarborough Shoal. China's military and coast guard conducted joint air and naval patrols around the disputed South China Sea feature, which Beijing calls Huangyan Dao and Manila calls Bajo de Masinloc. China said the patrols were a response to actions undermining regional stability and announced regular enforcement measures around a new nature reserve; the Philippine embassy had not immediately commented. 7
• WMO sees a stronger El Niño arriving. The World Meteorological Organization expects El Niño to intensify during August to October, bringing higher global temperatures and a significant shift in rainfall patterns. A positive Indian Ocean Dipole could amplify drought, flood and wildfire risks around the Indian Ocean basin. 8
• Sargassum turns into a tourism and waste problem. Record masses of rotting seaweed are piling up along Mexico's Caribbean coast, with hotels cutting rates and spending millions on cleanup. Mexico had collected 96,151 metric tons this year by the Reuters report, while officials were ordering more boats and barriers; the ecological trade-off is real because offshore sargassum also shelters turtles and fish. 9
• Crimea's power cuts reach kitchen tables. In Massandra, a field kitchen was serving about 200 people a day after Ukrainian attacks cut power and left towns across Crimea with limited fuel supplies, Reuters reported. One resident said her building had gone without electricity for ten days; the episode shows how strikes on infrastructure are being felt far from the front line, while attribution remains part of the wider war narrative. 10
• Romania doubles down on bear culling. Romania estimates it has 10,000 to 13,000 brown bears, Europe's largest population outside Russia, and lawmakers doubled the annual hunting quota to nearly 900 for this year and next. Conservationists say the measure misses the practical problem: bears entering towns for food, while fines, waste controls and electric fencing are not being enforced well. 11
• FIFA abandons its World Cup stake-sale plan. FIFA president Gianni Infantino backed away from the proposal after it created divisions and was no longer serving its original objective, the BBC reported. The reversal leaves the governing body facing questions about governance and how it seeks outside capital for its biggest competitions. 12

Quote of the day

"Every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people. And every night without them results in more casualties."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, quoted by Al Jazeera in its report on the Kyiv attack. 5

Further reading

• Strategic interdependence is rewiring the global economy - The Financial Times on why security and supply-chain resilience are changing economic decisions beyond simple cost efficiency.
• The new age of geoeconomics - The Financial Times on the return of strategic statecraft and its effect on business planning.