Aggregator

Fragile Iran 'Pause' Shattered As US Base In Jordan Comes Under Attack, Oil Soars Summary

• Oil soars on reports of Iran targeting US Jordan base; Iraqi militants attack KSA for 2nd day.
• Hormuz indirect talks continue amid reports of a possible resurrected MoU deal.
• Shipping remains stalled with virtually no tanker traffic through Hormuz.
• Iran insists Hormuz stays closed unless its terms are accepted.
• Houthis escalate attacks, prompting more ships to avoid the Red Sea.

*  *  *

Fresh Unilateral Strikes on Jordan Base; Iraqi Militants Again Target KSA 

Iranian state media in the overnight hours (local) are reporting fresh apparent Iranian missile attacks in Jordan. A "US base in Jordan was possibly targeted" after reports of explosions there, Fars and IRIB report. Tehran officials have insisted they have not requested US talks following the prior nearly two straight weeks of fighting, though a 'pause' took effect last Friday when President Trump ordered a halt to US airstrikes. The day was filled with headline hype of a potential 'resurrected' MoU deal. Once again these 'deal is close' headlines prove misleading and premature. CENTCOM is confirming on the heels of the Iranian media reporting:

• Senior American official: Iran launched missiles toward an American base in Jordan (Axios)
• CENTCOM: IRGC forces launch multiple ballistic missiles from Iran and all Iranian missiles were effectively intercepted

Adding to the uncertainty and jitters of already sensitive global oil, Iraqi militants on Tuesday fired projectiles on Saudi Arabia for a second day, also amid the ongoing missile threat from Yemeni Houthis. According to the Associated Press:

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom.

The attacks underscored lingering tensions despite a period of calm between the United States and Iran, neither of which has announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement that air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that had attempted to target petroleum facilities in the nation’s eastern region. It said the attacks were “once again launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias.”

Oil climbing on the headlines of the rare pro-Tehran aggression during a 'pause':

WTI OIL JUMPS 5% AS US INTERCEPTS IRANIAN ATTACK ON ITS TROOPS

Below: unconfirmed initial image circulating...

Preliminary: footage of a direct hit on Muwaffaq Al Salti air base in Jordan. pic.twitter.com/NGi3R0DLkG

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 28, 2026 Shipping Latest: Bab El Mandeb & Hormuz

Iran has reaffirmed that if Oman does not agree to its terms for the Strait of Hormuz, the the vital oil transit waterway will remain closed, per Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister. This also as things are again heating up in the Red Sea region, with the Houthis late Tuesday announcing they've once again targeted a Saudi oil tanker for violating the blockade. Reuters reports:

Yemen’s Houthis claim to have fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker, accusing the vessel of violating what they describe as their maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea and ignoring warning calls.

The Iran-aligned group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, claims the vessel was forced to turn back.

According to separate reporting, China is holding direct negotiations with Yemen's Houthis to ensure safe passage for its ships through the southern Red Sea.

Iran says it hasn't sought US talks in past 16-17 days, reports Irib News

And a US CENTCOM update on its latest figures: it says that as of Tuesday the US military has redirected 18 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded another two to "ensure full compliance of the US blockade against Iran." The latest from Netanyahu's meeting with Trump at the White House:

Channel 12 on a senior Israeli official: Netanyahu confirmed to Trump that additional strikes on rehabilitated Iranian nuclear facilities are unavoidable

More vessels reportedly turning away from planned routes after Houthi threats:

Three product tankers loaded at Saudi Arabian Red Sea ports and bound for Asia-Pacific and east Africa have turned north towards the Suez Canal, as Houthi-related threats to shipping prompt charterers to reassess passage through the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The tankers appear to…

— Giovanni Staunovo🛢 (@staunovo) July 28, 2026 Fox Reports Mediators 'Close' to Resurrecting MoU

Here we go again... despite no evident change in war posturing on either side, and despite shipping traffic still largely at a complete standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, Fox News is out with claims that the failed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) could be 'resurrected'... bringing us back to the 'deal is close' constant headlines of earlier this summer (though of course the sides were never in reality close - and simply returned to a wider bombing campaign)...

"Mediators of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East believe the U.S. and Iran are close to a deal that would resurrect the failed memorandum of understanding, according to The Times of Israel," Fox writes, based on the earlier Israeli media article. Negotiators from Pakistan, Egypt and Qatar have been haggling over an Oman-proposed Strait of Hormuz management plan. It will involve fee-collection and is backed by the Gulf states, supposedly. The timing of all of this interesting given Trump is currently hosting Netanyahu at the White House. More from Fox:

Iran and Oman — both of which are situated on the Strait of Hormuz — have reportedly signed off on the proposal advanced by the mediators.

The two sources said the White House was waiting to make a decision until after President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Meanwhile...

JMIC: DATA INDICATES ZERO TANKERS IN EITHER DIRECTION OF HORMUZ

Still, the return to deal 'optimism' has pushed oil prices down further - which is perhaps the entire point of US officials anonymously hyping that a deal is 'close' once again.

And S&P futures briefly reached High of Day on the headline...

Oman's Hormuz Management Proposal

US-Iran attacks have remained paused, and oil prices have extended their declines, as President Trump has claimed Tehran and Washington are now having "very friendly talks" while at the same time suggesting negotiations might not be prolonged.

"We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don't work out, we will go back to very strong military action," Trump told Axios, as we highlighted previously. But possibly the most promising development in terms of an off-ramp is that Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz.

This would reportedly include including collecting voluntary fees for using it, ​according to sources who spoke to Reuters Tuesday. The report notes that "The plan could serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the ‌U.S.-Israeli war on Iran."

via Reuters

However, this also to some degree represents the stalemated situation going back to square one, given the United States has consistently and vehemently opposed any fees being collected that would go to Iran. An immediate response from Tehran on the proposal has not been forthcoming, and talks could drag on for days related to the Oman plan. Already Tehran is adding some strict conditions regarding frozen or seized Iranian assets abroad, per Bloomberg citing state media:

"Any company or country that receives funds from Iranian assets will not be allowed to pass through the strait," semi-official Tasnim news agency cites a spokesman for Iran’s central military command as saying in response to recent US proposal.

Reuters provides more detail in the following: "The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia's Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations."

"The Western diplomat compared it to a voluntary carbon tax for flights, where anyone buying a plane ticket can choose to tick a box if they want to pay to offset their emissions," the report adds.

'Glimmer of Hope' Amid Indirect Hormuz Talks

The Wall Street Journal has said this represents a "glimmer of hope" as fighting has halted since last Friday:

A U.S. official and mediators said Iran and Oman were still far apart on some issues, including whether to charge fees for transit. But both sides said there was progress, marking the first glimmer of hope for diplomacy since President Trump ordered a new round of military strikes on Iran more than two weeks ago in response to Tehran firing on commercial vessels in the strait. 

...The goal of the Iran-Oman talks is to agree on which route vessels can take through the 22-mile-wide strait. Conflict erupted earlier this month after the U.S. began guiding ships through the strait by hugging the Omani coast, while Iran wants vessels to cross through its territory. 

In the meantime President Trump had laid out Monday while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One his view that there's "plenty of time" to deal with Iran and that "we are talking right now.." He laid out that while "there's a good chance that something could happen," it remains that If not, "we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago."

Trump has on Tuesday reiterated to Fox News that Iran understands it will never have a nuclear, and reaffirmed that the two sides are talking.

.@POTUS on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain: "We have the greatest cameras in the world focused on [it]... I know exactly what's going on at Pickaxe, it's not a big problem. We took out their nuclear sites, and we'll have to take out Pickaxe if we don't make a deal. If we don't make a… pic.twitter.com/PMdXaBkDvu

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 28, 2026 Jazan Oil Refinery Shut Down for Repairs After Strikes

Over in Saudi Arabia, where missile and drone attacks out of Yemen (and possibly Iraq) over past days have damaged Aramco facilities, one regional media source says that "Saudi Aramco has shut down its Jazan oil refinery after a Houthi missile and drone attack damaged key facilities at the site, according to reports."

"The refinery, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude per day, suffered damage to its Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area. Repairs are expected to be completed and operations to resume by Aug. 15, according to a note from consultancy IIR," Turkiye Today adds.

Satellite imagery also shows alleged damage to gas storage tanks at Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq facility, most recently to be hit targeted likely by the Houthis:

🔥 Satellite imagery shows damage to multiple gas storage tanks at Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq (Buqayq) refinery. White and black cooling covers are also visible over two storage tanks to prevent spread.

Explore and Compare: https://t.co/TrYreAAiGB#SaudiArabia #Gas #Oil pic.twitter.com/qxwdaNKaBc

— Soar (@SoarAtlas) July 28, 2026

However, there still no official Saudi confirmation of Abqaiq being struck, but only that it was targeted:

🇸🇦 Contrary to social media reports, no Aramco or SPA statement has confirmed that Abqaiq was hit, quantified damage or alerted of a production halt.

Official Saudi report from the Saudi Press Association (SPA) only said drones “attempted to target oil facilities in Eastern… https://t.co/8wTv1uD6oF

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 28, 2026

As for the possibility of where things go from here, amid potential escalation which could see the Houthis further target Saudi oil complexes, President Trump had also warned in the aforementioned Fox interview that the US will "take out" Pickaxe Mountain if it doesn’t reach a deal with Iran.

He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the US to stay involved in the Iran war, and the two leaders will meet Tuesday in the late morning hours at the White House.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 05:35

According to her friends, the wife, mom and nurse was a normal middle-class woman.

Why, Oh Why Do They Do This?

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Viral footage circulating online shows a British man methodically working his way along the streets of his own city with a wheeled bin and litter picker, clearing the rubbish left by others. He is not being paid and not making a political point. He is simply trying to prevent the area from descending into a tip.

Remarkably, as he works, foreign shopkeepers and residents repeatedly emerge from their premises to instruct him to clear the mess outside their own doors, standing by as he does so.

One older local, taking in the state of the streets, observes that if President Trump were to see them he would declare the place a "shithole."

This is wild

White man in the UK is going around picking up trash to make his city look nicer

A foreigner comes out her shop and tells him to pick up the trash outside her shop

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but maybe instead of telling me to do it...."

Again and again... pic.twitter.com/EtgcRZfvNL

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 27, 2026

This pattern is expanding everywhere.

In Page Hall, Sheffield, the same individual was filmed over and over dumping household waste on the corner of Bolsover Road. Residents record from behind windows and ask Sheffield City Council how long they are expected to accept it.

Residents in Page Hall, Sheffield, say they're frustrated after repeated fly-tipping by the same culprit on the corner of Bolsover Road.

The resident who shared the footage is calling for action from Sheffield City Council.

Are we expected to just accept this? pic.twitter.com/ErPaS9SmqJ

— Kiera Diss (@KieraDiss) July 26, 2026

In Marseille, a resident filmed the streets after North African arrivals moved in. Garbage was thrown from windows. The neighbourhood was reduced to literal shit. "We never asked for this," he says.

A man in Marseille, France's second largest city, shows the situation in his neighborhood after North Africans started moving in.

"They throw all their garbage out of their windows. We are living in literal shit. We never asked for this."

No one should have to live like this. pic.twitter.com/h50x5Wu8gy

— Dr. Maalouf ? (@realMaalouf) July 25, 2026

In a quiet Birmingham street an asylum seeker was caught emptying bags of rubbish into the road, perhaps to make the area feel more familiar.

?? En un tranquilo barrio de Birmingham, un solicitante de asilo que no come tocino, se encargó de regar toda la basura del vecindario en las calles, y poder sentirse como en casa. ¿Estas son las mieles de la integración cultural que el progresismo nos vendió? pic.twitter.com/szER7spf5Z

— Carlo Martin (@Liberfach0) July 13, 2026

The countryside has not been spared. Hundreds of tonnes of plastic, foam, wood and household waste appeared overnight along the River Cherwell near Kidlington in Oxfordshire. The pile reached 20 feet deep and stretched 500 feet, metres from the A34. Locals called it a catastrophe in a first-world country.

On Bwlch Mountain in the Rhondda a farming family that has worked the land for ninety years found a stream of rubbish cascading down the slope from a lay-by, visible for miles. Household goods, plastic, cardboard. The farmer said it keeps her awake at night.

In Dorset's Holt Heath nature reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, tipper vans dumped at least 20 tonnes of waste earth and debris across National Trust and Forestry England land. Police called the act despicable.

In the Peak District a furious motorist confronted two men caught dumping a sofa in a national park.

Deport them...

Come here and treat our country like a shit-hole...

This is the moment a furious motorist confronts two suspected fly-tippers he caught dumping a sofa in the Peak District National Park... pic.twitter.com/zKhLhdbEyi

— 'Seeing is believing' (@dave24144975) July 19, 2025

The same national park and nearby hills have been left covered in litter, human faeces and abandoned rubbish by day-trippers who treat protected landscapes as free dumps.

Across the Atlantic a Canadian man caught a group of Indians dumping a couch in the forest. He forced them to pick it up and take it to the dump himself.

Canadian man catches a group of Indians dumping a couch in the forest and forces them to pick it up and take it to the dump.

Do you support this patriot? pic.twitter.com/Iz1BltFniX

— Casey Krol (@CaseyKrol) July 27, 2026

In Small Heath, Birmingham, another fly-tipper was filmed in the act.

Small Heath in Birmingham

Another Fly Tipper caught in the act pic.twitter.com/FKmrsdL8Q7

— WeGotitBack ??????????? (@NotFarLeftAtAll) May 15, 2025

In civilised societies, the bin truck comes once a week. Council tips and recycling centres operate. Yet the same people continue throwing rubbish into the streets and rivers.

Why do they insist on doing this when the bin truck literally comes to their house once a week to collect rubbish? pic.twitter.com/Ylk6jd4jkd

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) May 4, 2026

This is not a lack of facilities. It is a refusal to use them.

Footage from the countries many of these individuals left behind shows the cultural baseline. In India, tonnes of waste are dumped straight into rivers.

This is in India ??. ????????????
Tonnes of waste was dumped by workers of a town panchayat in a flood river at Thittakudi in Cuddalore district in Tamilnadu. pic.twitter.com/iLa2Se57D6

— Licypriya Kangujam (@LicypriyaK) August 2, 2020

When a tourist in India suggested to a local to pick up dropped litter and put it in a bin, the reply was a flat refusal. The litter stayed exactly where it was.

In Bangladesh a river no longer holds water or fish, only human and animal faecal matter, trash and floating mounds of waste that wash away in floods.

Bangladesh ~ The river no longer holds fish or water, only human/animal fecal matter, trash, and soggy mounds of mystery matter that floats away when a flood comes through. pic.twitter.com/o4jrfNOy0C

— Dane (@UltraDane) October 1, 2024

In Algeria a holiday beach at Oran is filmed as an open-air dump.

Une femme en vacances en Algérie filme une plage à Oran : une décharge à ciel ouvert!

Ça vous dirait de passer les vacances là-bas, voyage offert? pic.twitter.com/jVS9n6GsyB

— ??????? Kim Jong Un (@KimJongUnique) July 27, 2026

In Pakistan entire loads of rubbish are emptied straight into public waterways while the West frets over paper straws.

Congratulations on saving the planet with recycling, turning your AC down, and struggling with paper straws

Meanwhile, in Pakistan...

Writer: Ianpic.twitter.com/qR3u3XRDCh

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 27, 2026

These people arrive in Britain steadfastly refusing to deviate from the practices of the places they left. They are offered free collection, legal disposal sites and public bins. Many choose instead to tip waste into streets, rivers, mountains and nature reserves.

They show no respect for the environment they now occupy and no regard for the people who have to live with the mess.

That behaviour might be routine in the third-world dumps they came from. It is not routine here. The services exist. The choice is deliberate. The result is Western towns, rivers and countryside being turned into the same wastelands the individuals left behind.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 05:00

The governor also wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, calling for an investigation into McConnell's condition.

The out-of-control AI found four logins which allowed it to access multiple unnamed online services.

In the now-deleted video taken in June, 16-month-old Theodore ‘Teddy’ Kiser can be seen alongside his father, Brady Kiser, at one point.

Which Countries Are Best (& Worst) For Women?

Where is the best place in the world to be a woman?

As Visual Capitalist's Srijaa Chatterjee highlights in the following graphic, according to the latest Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index, the answer remains Northern Europe, where Nordic countries occupy all five of the top positions.

Published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, the 2025/26 WPS Index ranks 181 countries using 13 indicators spanning women’s inclusion, justice, and security. The results form the basis for this 2026 ranking.

The World’s Best and Worst Countries for Women

The following table ranks countries based on the Women, Peace and Security Index.

Rank Country WPS Index Score 1 🇩🇰 Denmark 0.939 2 🇮🇸 Iceland 0.932 3 🇳🇴 Norway 0.924 3 🇸🇪 Sweden 0.924 5 🇫🇮 Finland 0.921 6 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 0.918 7 🇧🇪 Belgium 0.912 8 🇳🇱 Netherlands 0.905 9 🇦🇹 Austria 0.898 9 🇳🇿 New Zealand 0.898 11 🇦🇺 Australia 0.896 11 🇪🇪 Estonia 0.896 13 🇮🇪 Ireland 0.891 14 🇸🇮 Slovenia 0.889 15 🇱🇹 Lithuania 0.887 16 🇨🇦 Canada 0.885 17 🇱🇻 Latvia 0.884 17 🇸🇬 Singapore 0.884 19 🇨🇭 Switzerland 0.877 20 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 0.872 21 🇩🇪 Germany 0.869 22 🇯🇵 Japan 0.866 23 🇫🇷 France 0.864 23 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 0.864 25 🇪🇸 Spain 0.862 26 🇵🇹 Portugal 0.861 27 🇵🇱 Poland 0.854 27 🇹🇼 Taiwan 0.854 29 🇷🇸 Serbia 0.844 30 🇲🇹 Malta 0.841 31 🇺🇸 United States 0.840 32 🇨🇿 Czechia 0.832 32 🇭🇺 Hungary 0.832 34 🇨🇷 Costa Rica 0.824 35 🇺🇾 Uruguay 0.822 36 🇲🇩 Moldova 0.821 37 🇰🇷 South Korea 0.815 38 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 0.814 39 🇮🇹 Italy 0.811 40 🇸🇨 Seychelles 0.810 41 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 0.809 42 🇧🇧 Barbados 0.807 43 🇷🇴 Romania 0.801 44 🇲🇳 Mongolia 0.799 45 🇬🇪 Georgia 0.798 46 🇸🇰 Slovakia 0.797 47 🇦🇷 Argentina 0.791 48 🇭🇷 Croatia 0.788 49 🇬🇩 Grenada 0.787 49 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 0.787 51 🇸🇷 Suriname 0.779 52 🇨🇾 Cyprus 0.770 52 🇬🇾 Guyana 0.770 54 🇵🇾 Paraguay 0.768 55 🇧🇭 Bahrain 0.765 56 🇦🇲 Armenia 0.762 57 🇹🇭 Thailand 0.761 58 🇴🇲 Oman 0.755 59 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.753 60 🇬🇷 Greece 0.752 61 🇲🇪 Montenegro 0.743 62 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde 0.741 63 🇧🇾 Belarus 0.739 63 🇨🇱 Chile 0.739 63 🇵🇼 Palau 0.739 63 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 0.739 67 🇲🇾 Malaysia 0.738 68 🇦🇱 Albania 0.731 68 🇫🇯 Fiji 0.731 70 🇰🇼 Kuwait 0.723 70 🇶🇦 Qatar 0.723 72 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 0.722 73 🇻🇳 Viet Nam 0.721 74 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 0.720 75 🇷🇺 Russian Federation 0.718 76 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico 0.707 77 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 0.706 78 🇲🇻 Maldives 0.704 79 🇯🇲 Jamaica 0.703 80 🇧🇴 Bolivia 0.701 80 🇵🇪 Peru 0.701 82 🇽🇰 Kosovo 0.700 83 🇱🇦 Lao PDR 0.698 84 🇮🇱 Israel 0.697 84 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan 0.697 86 🇵🇦 Panama 0.696 87 🇸🇻 El Salvador 0.691 88 🇯🇴 Jordan 0.686 89 🇨🇳 China 0.685 89 🇼🇸 Samoa 0.685 89 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 0.685 89 🇹🇴 Tonga 0.685 89 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago 0.685 94 🇬🇦 Gabon 0.679 94 🇲🇺 Mauritius 0.679 96 🇮🇩 Indonesia 0.678 97 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 0.675 98 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 0.674 99 🇧🇹 Bhutan 0.673 100 🇹🇳 Tunisia 0.671 101 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands 0.670 102 🇲🇦 Morocco 0.668 102 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste 0.668 104 🇧🇿 Belize 0.667 104 🇰🇭 Cambodia 0.667 106 🇹🇷 Türkiye 0.664 107 🇳🇮 Nicaragua 0.659 108 🇧🇼 Botswana 0.658 108 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands 0.658 110 🇸🇳 Senegal 0.657 111 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 0.653 112 🇰🇮 Kiribati 0.652 113 🇫🇲 Federated States of Micronesia 0.648 113 🇿🇦 South Africa 0.648 115 🇻🇺 Vanuatu 0.646 116 🇺🇦 Ukraine 0.645 117 🇬🇭 Ghana 0.639 118 🇻🇪 Venezuela 0.638 119 🇧🇷 Brazil 0.632 120 🇳🇵 Nepal 0.631 121 🇷🇼 Rwanda 0.624 121 🇹🇿 Tanzania 0.624 123 🇩🇿 Algeria 0.621 124 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 0.620 125 🇪🇬 Egypt 0.617 126 🇱🇸 Lesotho 0.614 127 🇪🇨 Ecuador 0.612 128 🇮🇷 Iran 0.608 128 🇱🇾 Libya 0.608 128 🇳🇦 Namibia 0.608 131 🇮🇳 India 0.607 131 🇵🇭 Philippines 0.607 133 🇦🇴 Angola 0.601 133 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 0.601 135 🇰🇲 Comoros 0.590 135 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 0.590 137 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire 0.589 138 🇧🇯 Benin 0.587 138 🇺🇬 Uganda 0.587 140 🇨🇬 Congo 0.583 141 🇱🇧 Lebanon 0.575 142 🇿🇲 Zambia 0.566 143 🇹🇬 Togo 0.562 144 🇬🇹 Guatemala 0.561 144 🇭🇳 Honduras 0.561 146 🇩🇯 Djibouti 0.560 147 🇲🇽 Mexico 0.558 148 🇸🇿 Eswatini 0.556 149 🇨🇴 Colombia 0.551 150 🇲🇼 Malawi 0.549 151 🇲🇿 Mozambique 0.548 152 🇰🇪 Kenya 0.542 153 🇬🇲 Gambia 0.528 154 🇬🇳 Guinea 0.527 155 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 0.526 156 🇪🇹 Ethiopia 0.516 157 🇱🇷 Liberia 0.512 158 🇮🇶 Iraq 0.510 159 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau 0.508 160 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 0.507 160 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 0.507 162 🇳🇬 Nigeria 0.495 163 🇳🇪 Niger 0.492 164 🇲🇱 Mali 0.478 165 🇹🇩 Chad 0.476 166 🇲🇷 Mauritania 0.475 167 🇵🇸 Palestine 0.469 168 🇲🇬 Madagascar 0.466 169 🇵🇰 Pakistan 0.462 170 🇸🇴 Somalia 0.455 171 🇨🇲 Cameroon 0.451 172 🇲🇲 Myanmar 0.442 173 🇸🇸 South Sudan 0.411 174 🇧🇮 Burundi 0.407 175 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.405 176 🇭🇹 Haiti 0.399 177 🇸🇩 Sudan 0.397 178 🇸🇾 Syrian Arab Republic 0.364 179 🇨🇫 Central African Republic 0.362 180 🇾🇪 Yemen 0.323 181 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 0.279

The rankings reveal a sharp geographic divide. Northern Europe continues to set the global benchmark for women’s wellbeing, while countries affected by conflict and political instability cluster at the bottom.

Denmark ranks first with a score of 0.939, followed by Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and New Zealand round out the global top 10. Afghanistan ranks last, with a score less than one-third of Denmark’s.

Why Nordic Countries Continue to Lead

Nordic countries occupy all five of the top positions thanks to consistently strong performance across the index’s three dimensions: inclusion, justice, and security.

Women in these countries generally benefit from high levels of education, workforce participation, legal protection, financial inclusion, and political representation, alongside relatively low rates of violence. Strong public institutions and broad social safety nets also help support gender equality throughout life.

While no country scores a perfect 1.0, the Nordic region remains the global benchmark for women’s wellbeing.

Outside Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand continue to perform strongly. Costa Rica and Uruguay also enter the top global quintile for the first time, reflecting sustained gains in women’s rights and wellbeing and making them notable standouts in Latin America.

Conflict Remains the Biggest Divider

At the opposite end of the rankings are Afghanistan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, Syria, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, South Sudan, and Myanmar. Many of these countries have experienced years of armed conflict, political instability, or humanitarian crises that disproportionately affect women.

More than 70% of women living in the 12 lowest-ranked countries reside within 50 kilometers of armed conflict, exposing them to higher risks of displacement and gender-based violence. Countries with greater exposure to conflict also tend to score worse on access to justice and maternal health.

This aligns with broader research showing that violence against women rises during periods of instability, while fragile institutions often struggle to provide legal protections and support services. According to the World Health Organization, violence against women remains one of the world’s most widespread human rights violations.

Women’s Wellbeing Reflects Broader Society

The WPS Index measures more than gender equality alone. By combining indicators across security, economic inclusion, healthcare, legal rights, and political participation, it provides a broader snapshot of how supportive countries are for women to live, work, and thrive.

Countries that rank highly typically combine economic opportunity, strong legal protections, accessible healthcare, and low levels of violence. Nations facing prolonged instability, by contrast, often struggle across several dimensions at once.

The rankings therefore offer a broader view of social resilience and institutional strength, not just women’s outcomes in isolation.

To explore more global demographic and workforce trends, check out This Map Shows Where Women Work on the Voronoi app.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 04:15

An Idaho dad allegedly drafted an Instagram story, looked at cell phone pictures, and browsed Amazon moments before his 7-year-old son was killed in a car crash as he faces manslaughter charges. Austin Summers, 31, was driving a black GMC Sierra truck when he allegedly rear-ended a 2013 white Ford F450 that was experiencing mechanical...

Toronto pitcher Shane Bieber’s start against the Washington Nationals was anything but a walk in the park.

'Free Stuff' In Norway Still Costs Half Of Average Pay

Authored by Joakim Book via TheDailyEconomy.org,

Every few years, Americans rediscover Scandinavia. 

Someone visits Norway or Denmark, returns dazzled and envious of parental leave and universal childcare, and asks why America refuses to copy what obviously works. On the day dedicated to celebrating America, Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote for The New York Times that America is so great that, in fact, it should be more like Norway. If American companies can pay high wages and generous benefits to workers there, Kristof observed, they could do so in New York, too.

If only America were willing to embrace a little more social democracy and bigger government, this popular and recurring story goes, perhaps it could enjoy the same prosperity and flourishing that Norway does — and have its population also routinely rank among the happiest on the planet.

I was born and raised in one Nordic country, have worked in another, and for the last six years have lived in a third, so I’m fairly familiar with our way of life. I’ve also spent much time in America, stunned and enamored of the way things are in the vast, diverse, and unruly union of states. Europeans are simultaneously fascinated and bewildered by America. 

Plenty of things are amazing about these United States, and quite a few things awful about the Nordics; I suspect American intellectuals, dreaming about Norway without understanding its nature and tradeoffs, overlook both.

“You Want Security, Health Care and the American Dream? Look to Scandinavia”

Norwegian workers certainly have higher wages than those in many European countries, including those of its fellow Scandinavians. Hotel cleaners, retail clerks, and construction workers often earn salaries that surprise visiting Americans. Thanks to Baumol’s cost disease, decades of well-managed petroleum wealth have pushed up industrial and service wages. 

The first thing an American professional moving to Norway would notice isn’t the generous parental leave, but the great loss of disposable income and material well-being. Norwegians households average 30 percent less disposable income than those the US, and the cost of everyday items is much higher. 

The Scandinavian bargain might look like free services, but it as tradeoff: more public goods, fewer private goods. 

When American politicians or intellectuals promise Nordic welfare states, most people imagine this happening automatically or by taxing the rich, and everybody benefits. That’s not the case. The real Nordic model taxes earners more (45 percent in Denmark, 40 in Norway, 41 in Sweden, compared to 25 percent in the United States) and charging flat value added tax (VAT). Broad welfare states require broad tax bases; Nordic welfare states are financed not by billionaires but by ordinary workers. The “free” benefits are bought with invasive and regressive consumption taxes (up to 25 percent), payroll taxes, and income taxes that reach well that begin after just $10,000 (the first $16,000 is tax free in the US). 

An American professional, pocketing the median earnings of about $65,000, would pay over $17,000 in Norwegian income taxes (compared to about $5,000 per the IRS calculator, naturally subject to state taxes and various deductions), with the employer forced to chip in another $9,200 for the privilege of merely hiring her. From what’s left over, she faces a high cost of living and sales taxes between 11 percent and 25 percent. 

Were she in Sweden, a much poorer country with wages well below Norway’s, our middle-of-the-road American professional would land herself in the top 20 percent of earners — though not yet triggering the top 53 percent (or 64 percent) marginal tax rates.

For the Tax Foundation, Cristina Enach summarized, “In 2024, Denmark’s tax-to-GDP ratio was 45.2 percent, Norway’s was 40.2 percent, and Sweden’s was 41.4 percent. This compares to a ratio of 25.6 percent in the United States.”

Some of that difference is accounted for by healthcare spending (private, not government) and pension contributions (401(k) or other retirement accounts) and other personalized options. The Nordics give you one option: the state.

In return, yes, our hypothetical expat would receive subsidized childcare, education, paid time off, and health care. Those services would be of  dubious quality, with waiting times stretching into months even for life-threatening conditions. For some, that’s a trade worth making, but it’s not obviously superior, as economist Noah Smith concluded in his comparison a few months ago.

Inequality is indeed lower in Norway, where a person in the top 10 percent earns just three times as much as a person in the bottom 10 percent. That means there’s less reason to strive, less room to grow. Looking to the future, investments in growth, employment, and AI-fueled opportunities are far more attractive stateside than in stagnating Scandinavia. Suppressing growth at the top has suppressed everyone’s potential.

The Norwegian Story Isn’t the Nordic Story

The gap between the average person’s wellbeing in America and that of almost all European countries has widened dramatically over the past three decades. In income per capita, the United States has steadily pulled away from Europe over the last thirty years. The United States’ average income now exceeds every EU member except Luxembourg and Ireland. Citizens of fourteen EU nations earn less on average than residents of even the poorest state: Mississippi, and the EU as a whole ranks between Oklahoma and Maine.

Joseph Sternberg’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year is illustrative: both Americans and Europeans are shocked when they learn how much materially better off America is. “Politically, bliss is ignorance,” concluded Sternberg. “European welfare states, by creating relatively comfortable lives for voters, conceal the full extent of Europe’s prosperity gap.”

Norway is an affluent country by European standards, but only average compared to America as a whole. Rough figures indicate that Americans, on average, enjoy material economic abundance on par with Iceland and Norway, but are 20 percent to 60 percent better off than the other Nordics. (The difference between the economic outliers and the other Nordics is the difference between New York State and Michigan.) While there are nuances in life, politics, and economics between the five Nordic countries, it’s not like the tax rates, labor economics, public schooling, the overall welfare state, or the generosity of parental leave are that different.

It’s no accident that Kristof reported from Norway; had he run this comparison with Sweden or Finland, the economic outcome would have been so unacceptably low that few Americans would be persuaded by the promise. People in the Norwegian and Icelandic success stories are significantly richer than the other Nordics. Even adjusting for purchasing-power-parity numbers via the University of Groningen-Penn World Table data for 2023, Americans are still a comfortable 15-20 percent richer than most Scandinavians.

It’s Impossible Anyway, So Why Are We Dreaming?

The most immediate sticking point to inflated dreams about the Nordics is that nobody has figured out a way to effectively translate and recreate social and economic institutions elsewhere. To say nothing about a population’s values, behaviors, and traditions.

Institutions emerge from particular and path-dependent histories. They’re not IKEA furniture to merely ship across an ocean and assemble at home. Academic or political observers often make the mistake of thinking you can just isolate a few desirable behaviors or economic institutions, retrofit them onto America, and effortlessly create better lives here. 

Plus, America has long tolerated — indeed celebrated — a remarkable degree of eccentricity and ambition. Americans start improbable companies in garages, and they love their “weirdos.” When they do things, they (over)do them properly — SpaceX. College football. Time Square. Las Vegas. Whatever you’re interested in or passionate about, some all-American oddball has built a community for that. It’s a nation of inventors and obsessive animal lovers. They build Burning Man in the desert and whole cities at sea. Their wide-open spaces connect a web of places-as peoples-as-philosophies: Hollywood, elite universities, Silicon Valley and Broadway, Nashville and Detroit, Amish meeting houses and evangelical megachurches, Hindu temples and Highland games from coast to coast. Our great hybrid culture thrives on liberty, not just lower taxes. Our cultural inheritance is the result of having astonishingly many different attempts thrown at the American wall to see what sticks. 

The Nordics don’t have that. With the recent exception of fintech and startup wonders (riding on an early, high-tech boom from the ‘90s), trying new, eccentric things in those cold lands isn’t exactly welcome. The Scandinavian idea of Jantelagen, the expectation that nobody should think themselves special, results in a lack of opportunities and a disregard for novelty that most Americans see as both rude and discouraging. 

The political equilibrium keeping Scandinavia afloat was, until recently, a mostly homogenous population on sparsely populated lands eerily willing to subjugate individual preferences and quirks to common, collective rules. America stands out in the exact opposite way: letting 15 times as many people pursue radically different lifestyles and individual ambitions with cheerful respect, but little regard for whether the neighbors approve. 

Even if it were possible to transplant Norwegian economic and political institutions onto America, how can we be confident we won’t have a Swedish-level economic debacle instead of the wealthy, comfortable Norway a social reformer might dream of?

We can admire and learn from Scandinavian countries using the “Nordic Model,” which have achieved robust social programs without sacrificing too much in the way of economic prosperity. That balance is fragile, and might not work forever: immigration troubles, stagnating growth, and an overbearing regulatory state are exposing the cracks.  

Scandinavia has built wildly successful societies for a few million very similar-minded people. But the United States has built something more impressive: a vast, messy republic of economic and social flourishing where hundreds of millions of people peacefully pursue wildly different visions of a good life.

Becoming more like Norway means becoming less American, with less of the opportunity, ingenuity, and the entrepreneurship that made America great. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 03:30

Carlos Lagrange may still be a long shot to impact the Yankees this season, but his progress from a shoulder injury has at least kept the door open.

Russia’s main domestic security agency said Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with “aiding terrorism” and put on an international wanted list.

A harrowing new docuseries is shedding new light on the gruesome 2022 death of four University of Idaho students.

A harrowing new docuseries is shedding new light on the gruesome 2022 death of four University of Idaho students.

Dear Abby advises a wife whose husband's Facebook habit is fueling jealousy and arguments.

Turns out, Shohei Ohtani’s knee injury is not the only complicating factor in his uncertain status as a pitcher.

Iran needs to rearm after months of fighting in which the US and Israel have struck facilities linked to its missile, drone and air-defense programs.

Russia Answers Drone Attacks With War On Ukrainian Ports, Maritime Shipping

The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) has an 'answer' to Ukraine's recent long-range drone attacks, which have wreaked havoc on oil production and most recently online retailers and manufacturing. Ukraine has also been attacking Russian ships elsewhere in the Black Sea as well as Sea of Azov.

The MoD has announced a fresh wave of strikes targeting multiple Ukrainian port installations and Black Sea shipping targets, which represents a sharp escalation in Moscow's ongoing campaign to choke off regional logistics, and in order to further 'punish' Ukraine.

Golden Leo seen partially submerged offshore Odesa, July 26. Via the Odesa Military Administration

While Ukraine's repeat large drone waves on the Moscow region have driven headlines, much less attention has been paid to the emerging and renewed Black Sea war.

Moscow seeks to sever military supply routes and disrupt arms shipments bound for Ukraine, but this has also obviously resulted in damaged and sunken tankers, auxiliary vessels, and even deaths of civilian bystanders among international shipping crew.

Russia's military has said that from the weekend through Monday, key logistics hubs of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Port of Mykolaiv (Nikolayev) have been hit - with the latter site seeing a docked cargo vessel receiving a direct strike.

All of this comes after local authorities in Odessa confirmed Sunday that a foreign-flagged cargo ship, which some reports have identified as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo, capsized and sank near the coast after taking heavy damage from a Russian attack over a week ago.

🚨 Russian strikes continue to hit Ukrainian ports and vessels supplying the military

The attacks targeted a trans-shipment facility and fuel depots in Nikolayev's port, and also hit a cargo vessel at sea that was hauling military supplies to Odessa and Chernomorsk. pic.twitter.com/d7VLskmYOC

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) July 28, 2026

According to The Maritime Executive: 

A small cargo ship that was badly damaged in a Russian strike off Odesa has gone down, according to Ukrainian authorities. The small vessel had absorbed multiple hits, and it sank after six days of progressive flooding.

On July 19, three Russian cruise missiles hit the Turkish-operated, Guinea-Bissau-flagged ship Golden Leo off the coast of Odesa. The vessel was outbound with a load of corn at the time of the strike; Russia has been targeting Ukraine's grain export sector in retaliation for strikes on Russian logistics and energy infrastructure. 

Video of the slowly sinking ship had gone viral over the last several days, and the Russian attack killed ten people - and with eight crew members later having to be rescued. 

At least two of the projectiles that hit the vessel were anti-ship missiles, triggering a massive fire before it went under.

The cargo vessel hit by multiple Russian cruise missiles while carrying Ukrainian grain off the coast of Odesa last week finally sank earlier today. pic.twitter.com/oAeSZZkHAW

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 26, 2026

Russia has come under international condemnation for these attacks, especially from India given the rising numbers of Indian crew members killed or injured.

Russian vessels with civilian crew have also been coming under attack from Ukraine in the same region...

The crew of the Russian NEW VICTORY Bulk Carrier, IMO 9159050, filmed a FP-1/FP-2 attack drone strike on their vessel in the Black Sea. pic.twitter.com/R6vSvqCeZs

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) July 26, 2026

Sea war has also lately expanded into the Caspian, potentially linking the Ukraine and Iran conflicts...

Ukraine says it has struck several vessels in the Caspian Sea used to transport Russian military cargo to Iran. Reports suggest the cargo ships Port Olya 2 and Begey were hit. Meanwhile, Iranian regime-affiliated channels are threatening ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/OBFk2SdH3H

— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) July 25, 2026

But the Kremlin has shot back, saying it is Ukraine which is unleashing "indiscriminate terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure" through its constant drone attacks.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 02:45

Scott Gottlieb called Dr. Anthony Fauci's diary entries "disappointing," citing evidence of suppressing opinions and enjoying media notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shohei Ohtani hit the night’s first home run. Max Muncy belted the one with the most historical significance. But neither homer led to a Dodgers win.