U.S. sanctions Iran finance network amid Hormuz attacks.
Today's events
Iran finance network.
The U.S. sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani's network — four people and nine entities — for helping Tehran evade oil sanctions and bankroll the Revolutionary Guard, following Iran's attacks on Strait of Hormuz shipping.1Jul 24 · StateForced-labor tariffs.
The Trade Representative imposed 10–12.5% tariffs on 60 economies — covering 99.4% of U.S. imports — for failing to ban goods made with forced labor; ten partners, including India, agreed to adopt such bans.2Jul 23 · USTRCartel crackdown.
State sanctioned more than 50 people and firms tied to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel, including its new leader Juan Carlos González, and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.3Jul 23 · StateRussian email hacks.
CISA and allied agencies warned that a Russian state hacking group has exploited a Zimbra email zero-day since 2025; merely viewing a booby-trapped message steals a target's last 90 days of email.4Jul 23 · CISAData-center power.
The White House expanded its Ratepayer Protection Pledge to more than 200 additional utilities and states — now covering 80% of U.S. power and 263 million people — so data-center operators, not households, fund AI's electricity demand.5Jul 24 · WHTimber trafficking.
For the first time, the Justice Department will lead the U.S. delegation to an APEC forestry meeting in China, pressing members to prosecute timber trafficking — the third most profitable transnational crime, worth $52–157 billion a year.6Jul 24 · DOJRed Cross funding.
State announced more than $200 million in humanitarian aid to the international Red Cross movement — nearly $133 million to the Committee of the Red Cross's global appeal and $70 million to its federation of national societies.7Jul 23 · StateBoxcar deaths.
A federal grand jury in Texas charged 11 people over a train-smuggling scheme that sealed seven migrants, including a 14-year-old, in an airless shipping container in May; all seven died and each defendant faces up to life.8Jul 24 · DOJIsotope supply risk.
A GAO audit found the Energy Department — the sole U.S. source of many isotopes, shipping over 7,700 batches a year, mostly for medicine — still leans on adversarial nations for critical materials and has not assessed market needs or supply risks.9Jul 23 · GAO
This week
Canada tariffs.
President Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on nearly $20 billion of Canadian motor vehicles, alcohol, and dairy on July 20, invoking a 1930 trade statute against what the administration calls Canadian discrimination against U.S. commerce. The duties take effect in thirty days; energy, potash, and critical minerals are exempt. The third round of the North American trade-pact review convened in Mexico City the same week, with a fourth round set for Washington in September.2Jul 20 · USTRStrait of Hormuz.
U.S. strikes on Iranian assets used to attack commercial shipping reached a ninth consecutive day on July 20. In Manila, Rubio said Iran has reached out for talks, has not kept its commitments, and holds no legal right to control transit through the strait. On July 24, State sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani's network — four people and nine entities — for helping Tehran evade oil sanctions and bankroll the Revolutionary Guard.3Jul 20 · StateFour soldiers returned.
President Trump, War Secretary Hegseth, and the Joint Chiefs chairman attended the July 22 dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of four soldiers killed in attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan and Iraq, three of them in a single July 17 attack. The Pentagon tied both attacks to Iranian aggression, placing American casualties at bases far from the Strait of Hormuz fighting.4Jul 22 · War.govXi visit holds.
Rubio met his Chinese counterpart in Manila on July 22 to lay groundwork for Xi Jinping's planned September visit to Washington, days after saying Chinese teams keep arriving to prepare it. In the same week, the White House released declassified material alleging China obtained personal data on 220 million American voters in 2020, and State condemned Chinese actions against Philippine navy personnel at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.6Jul 22 · State
Allied Governments
Ukraine force.
Britain's Lieutenant General Tom Bateman took command of the Multinational Force Ukraine in Paris — the coalition force that would deploy to Ukraine if hostilities end — in a planned UK–France rotation.aJul 24 · UK MoDGaza famine.
The Foreign Office called it “completely unacceptable” that 1.2 million people face food shortages, with 90% of Gaza's population confined to under 30% of the territory, and pressed Israel to admit aid at scale.bJul 23 · UK FCDOAUKUS pact.
Britain reaffirmed its “unwavering” commitment to the AUKUS submarine partnership in a call between the prime minister and Australia's Anthony Albanese, both calling it critical to global deterrence.cJul 23 · UK No.10
Voices
“The Iranian regime is the world's leading state sponsor of terror, and for more than 40 years has used the IRGC to foment instability in the region and beyond.”
U.S. Dept. of State · Jul 241
“The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it's well past time for our trading partners to do the same.”
U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer · Jul 232
“LAUNDRY BEAR's targeting is almost certainly to gather sensitive information for the Russian Federation, with these actors primarily focusing on the covert acquisition of email data.”
CISA Advisory AA26-204a · Jul 234
“Pelón's days of operating with impunity are numbered; he will be brought to justice.”
U.S. Dept. of State · Jul 233
“Timber trafficking is the third most profitable form of transnational crime, with revenue estimates ranging between $52 billion to $157 billion annually.”
PDAAG Adam Gustafson, DOJ · Jul 246
“Relying on potentially adversarial overseas suppliers risks U.S. access to these critical materials.”
U.S. Government Accountability Office · Jul 239
Sources
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Sanctioning an Iranian Financial Evasion Network,” July 24, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/iranian-financial-evasion-network
- USTR, “USTR Takes Action in Forced Labor Section 301 Investigations,” July 23, 2026. ustr.gov/press-releases/…/forced-labor-section-301
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Sanctioning Over 50 Targets Linked to Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación,” July 23, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/cartel-de-jalisco-nueva-generacion
- CISA, “Russian State-Supported Cyber Actors Conduct Phishing Campaign Targeting Users of Zimbra Collaboration Suite” (AA26-204a), July 23, 2026. cisa.gov/news-events/…/aa26-204a
- White House, “President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge Secures American AI Dominance, Protects Consumers,” July 2026. whitehouse.gov/releases/…/ratepayer-protection-pledge
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “ENRD to Serve as Head of U.S. Delegation at Forestry Ministerial at APEC Forum in China to Grow Support for Timber Trafficking Enforcement,” July 24, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/apec-forestry-timber-trafficking
- U.S. Dept. of State, “United States Announces More Than $200 Million in Humanitarian Assistance to the ICRC and IFRC,” July 23, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/200-million-icrc-ifrc
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “11 Charged in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation Relating to Aliens Found Dead in a Boxcar Earlier This Year,” July 24, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/boxcar-smuggling-deaths
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Managing Critical Isotopes: DOE Could Better Assess Market Needs and Respond to Risks” (GAO-26-108053), July 23, 2026. gao.gov/products/gao-26-108053
- UK Ministry of Defence, “UK takes command of multinational force for Ukraine,” July 24, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/uk-command-multinational-force-ukraine
- UK Foreign Office (FCDO), “FCDO statement: UN Integrated Food Security Phase Classification snapshot for Gaza,” July 23, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/fcdo-food-security-snapshot-gaza
- UK Prime Minister's Office (No.10), “PM call with Prime Minister Albanese of Australia: 23 July 2026,” July 23, 2026. gov.uk/government/news/…/pm-call-albanese-australia