By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a new Iraqi front in the Iran war, Russia’s social media crackdown, and wildfires across Western and Southern Europe.
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Mourners carry the bodies of members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces who were killed by U.S.-Saudi strikes, during a funeral in Baghdad on July 29.Murtadha Ridha/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. and Saudi forces launched joint strikes on Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq on Wednesday, upending a fragile pause in fighting amid indirect U.S.-Iran peace talks and adding another front to a rapidly expanding regional war.
According to Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry, the overnight strikes targeted an Iranian proxy group responsible for drone attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and U.S. troops. “The kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces,” Riyadh said in a statement. U.S. Central Command (Centcom) also confirmed the operation, saying the two countries “struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites” in Iraq.
The primary target was Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group for Iraqi militias backed and trained by Tehran. Iraqi law recognizes the PMF as part of the country’s security forces, reporting directly to the prime minister. However, Centcom has accused the organization of launching more than 600 attacks on U.S. citizens and facilities in the Middle East between February and April.
At least 20 PMF members were killed and another 32 wounded in Wednesday’s strikes. These attacks represent a “highly dangerous escalation” in the war, the PMF said in a statement. Six Iranian advisors were also killed, Iraqi militia officials told The Associated Press. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a militia group tied to the PMF, denied any role in the assaults on Saudi Arabia, and Iran’s foreign ministry accused Washington and Riyadh of violating the country’s “national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi convened an emergency national security meeting on Wednesday to address the strikes, during which Baghdad condemned foreign attacks on its soil and denounced Iran’s use of Iraqi militias to stage its own assaults.
Wednesday’s operation was the first major U.S. military action since Friday, when U.S. President Donald Trump halted attacks on Iran to pursue peace talks. But little progress has been made in recent negotiations, and Tehran has not stopped its own assault on U.S. forces in the region. On Wednesday, Iran fired several ballistic missiles at U.S. military bases in Jordan.
The joint assault on Iraq brings Saudi Arabia even deeper into the Iran war. Since fighting erupted in late February, Riyadh has tried to avoid getting involved, though senior U.S. officials claim that Saudi forces have carried out secret strikes on Iran in recent months. Riyadh has also been fighting a renewed conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who attacked a Saudi oil tanker on Tuesday.
Telegram crackdown. Russian authorities charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Wednesday with aiding terrorism and issued an international arrest warrant for him. The allegations are part of a wider Kremlin crackdown on digital communications platforms, as Moscow seeks to restrict popular messaging apps to promote its own state-backed service. Telegram is one of the most popular such apps around the world, including in Russia.
According to Russia’s security service, Telegram failed to remove “numerous channels, chats and bots” allegedly used by “Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyber fraud” in Russia. This allegedly resulted in “numerous human casualties.” The agency also accused Ukrainian intelligence of using a dating chatbot on Telegram to recruit Russians for “sabotage and terrorist activities.”
Neither Durov nor Telegram has issued an official response. However, the messaging app posted a photo of Durov holding up his middle finger after the charges were announced. Durov currently resides in the United Arab Emirates. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Spreading wildfires. French and Spanish firefighters made progress in their battles against massive wildfires on Wednesday, with local authorities saying that the blazes are under control—at least, for now. But with high temperatures and strong winds expected in the days ahead, Western Europe’s heat wave could reignite the threat.
In southern France, a wildfire four times the size of Paris has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Officials appeared particularly worried after the blaze spread within six miles of a factory in the Bordeaux region that helps build nuclear missiles. Although French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said late Tuesday that major fires in the Landes and Var regions have halted, the Gironde fire remains a threat.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also warned on Wednesday that the danger has not yet passed. “The next 12 hours are going to be very important—decisive,” Sánchez said, even as Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska lifted some evacuation orders in and around the Madrid area. Blazes near the capital are believed to be the largest in Spain’s history.
Meanwhile, wildfire has spread to Greece, where three firefighters died battling blazes on the island of Crete and on the mainland. The European Union warned on Wednesday that Italy could also see wildfires break out in the coming weeks.
U.S. contractor ties to the RSF. Boeing planes linked to a longtime U.S. military contractor were used to transport mercenaries and weapons for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a draft United Nations report due to be published in September. The Panel of Experts on the Sudan “received reliable information from four sources that the aircraft had transported RSF fighters and mercenaries, as well as military equipment, including drones and weapons,” the draft said, per Reuters.
A Reuters investigation published this month found that companies linked to Steven Shaulis, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier whose Singapore-based firm CADG has held U.S. and U.N. contracts for more than 20 years, used two 727 aircraft and a 737 plane to shuttle supplies from an airport in Chad to RSF logistics hubs in Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. Both Shaulis and the RSF have refused to comment on the Reuters and U.N. reports.
Sudan has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since April 2023, when a power struggle erupted between military chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Fighting has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced nearly 14 million others so far. Experts have documented both sides targeting civilians, with the RSF accused of committing acts of genocide.
For those still chasing the Labubu trend, China’s Pop Mart designers have you covered. On Thursday, the Beijing-based toy company will open its first international bakery, offering edible treats modeled after some of its most iconic characters. The two-story storefront, located in Singapore, will have 45 items on its menu costing roughly $3 to $25. Pop Mart also plans to open bakeries in Europe and the United States as well as dessert shops in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
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