📊 Iraqi Crossfire, Anthony Fauci, and Robot Ban

Battleground politics, COVID hearing, and national security.

Jul 29, 2026

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Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇮🇶 Iraq’s balancing act buckles under widening regional war. American and Saudi strikes hit Iran-aligned armed groups inside Iraq. Saudi Arabia blamed Iraqi militias for drones targeting its petroleum facilities. The retaliatory attacks struck bases of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF is formally part of Iraq’s security system, though many factions retain autonomous commands. The coalition said at least 20 members were killed and 32 wounded. Iraq’s National Security Council condemned the strikes as violations of sovereignty. The armed factions denied launching the drones and suggested Yemen’s Houthis were responsible. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered non-state groups to disarm by September 30th. That is also the deadline for American troops to complete their withdrawal from Iraq. Al-Zaidi, a businessman and political outsider, emerged after months of government deadlock. President Trump hosted him at the White House this month. Several PMF factions fought the Islamic State group and once cooperated with an American-led coalition. Others trace their roots to the insurgency after the 2003 invasion. Confronting them directly could ignite internal unrest. Al-Zaidi’s planned visit to Saudi Arabia was postponed after the strikes. Iraq is again being forced to balance between Washington and Tehran while both turn its territory into contested ground.

🇫🇷 Southern Europe burns as France battles a colossal blaze. Three firefighters died in Greece as wildfires stretched from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean. France’s largest fire remained uncontained in the Gironde region near Bordeaux. The burn zone was roughly four times the size of Paris. At the evacuation peak, about 330K people fled homes and vacation sites in France and Spain. The Gironde fire alone displaced roughly 220K people. Authorities ordered another 4K people from coastal tourist areas as some earlier evacuees returned. More than 2.2K firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilized in France. Crews from other European countries reinforced the response. Temperatures approached 104 degrees Fahrenheit while strengthening winds threatened renewed expansion. Investigators believe routine brush-clearing near a high-voltage line may have ignited the French blaze. The work appeared to comply with regulations. Volunteers used pumps, water tanks, and heavy equipment to defend roads and communities. Smoke raised particulate pollution across Gironde and Landes. Drought covered mainland France and Corsica, with soils nearing record dryness from 2022. Firefighters on Crete faced strong winds with helicopters and water-dropping aircraft. The continent’s fire season is no longer confined to isolated emergencies when heat, drought, and wind align across borders.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

🦠 Fauci pleads the Fifth more than 100 times. Physician and immunologist Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions during a Republican-led Senate hearing. The session examined his role in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky subpoenaed Fauci to testify under oath. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. His lawyers argued that answering could expose him to accusations of lying during the hearing. Former President Joe Biden pardoned Fauci in early 2025. Republicans have suggested that any new perjury would fall outside that protection. Paul and other senators accused Fauci of misleading Congress about the pandemic’s origins. Fauci has repeatedly denied those allegations. He said Paul was trying to fulfill public promises to put him behind bars. Democrats described the hearing as an attempt to entrap a longtime public servant. The confrontation lasted roughly three hours. Paul removed defense lawyer David Schertler after he tried to speak without recognition. Schertler called the proceeding biased and the removal outrageous. Fauci has received death threats and required security since his COVID-era newfound fame. The hearing produced little new testimony while reopening every unresolved political grievance of the pandemic.

⚖️ President Trump asks justices to erase Carroll’s $83M verdict. Trump and the Justice Department petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation award. A Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay $83M in January 2024. The case concerns statements he made about Carroll during his first presidential term in 2019. Federal lawyers argue those comments fell within the scope of his office. They want to invoke the Westfall Act, which can shield federal employees from personal lawsuits for official conduct. Trump’s attorneys also argue that presidential immunity bars the judgment. Lower courts have rejected his efforts to overturn the verdict. A divided federal appeals court delayed payment while the Supreme Court considers the petition. The justices refused in June to hear Trump’s challenge to a separate $5M verdict. That jury found him liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 and defaming her after leaving office. The earlier judgment has been paid. Carroll said the assault occurred in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan. She went public in a 2019 memoir. Trump has denied wrongdoing and accused her of inventing the allegation to sell books. The new appeal asks whether statements made from the presidency can create personal civil liability approaching $100M.

🗂️ MISC

🦾 America bans new foreign-made humanoid robots. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) barred imports of newly approved foreign humanoids, robot dogs, and power inverters. The agency cited cybersecurity, supply-chain, and national-security risks. The restrictions are aimed primarily at China. Beijing controls an estimated 85% of the global humanoid-robot market. About 15K humanoids shipped worldwide in 2025. Chinese manufacturers Unitree and AGIBOT each shipped more than 5K. American competitors Tesla ($TSLA) and Figure AI each shipped only a few hundred or fewer. The inverter ban could reach renewable-energy systems, data centers, and household appliances. Inverters convert direct-current electricity into alternating-current electricity. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the rules apply to new versions of covered imports. Previously approved devices and existing equipment may remain available. The move precedes Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned September meeting with President Trump. China accused Washington of using national security to suppress competitors. Morgan Stanley forecasts China’s humanoid market could reach $15B by 2030. Nvidia ($NVDA) recently designed a robot platform using Unitree hardware. The ban protects American developers from price competition without materially slowing China’s domestic robotics expansion.

📉 Oil rebounds as AI stocks fall and the Fed holds. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) fell 0.5% after trimming a steeper decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 825 points, or 1.6%. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4%. Brent crude surged 7.2% to $88.03 per barrel after fighting resumed with Iran. The benchmark has traded between $72 and $102 this month. Iran fired missiles at American forces while Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Tehran-backed militias in Iraq. Federal Reserve officials kept their main interest rate unchanged. Three policymakers voted to raise it. Traders had assigned roughly a 34% probability to the first increase in three years. Nvidia ($NVDA) fell 2.1%. Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) lost 3.3%, while Micron Technology ($MU) dropped 6.8%. KLA ($KLAC) sank 8.4% despite stronger-than-expected profit and revenue. Apple ($AAPL) gained 0.9% and pushed its market value above $5T. South Korea’s Kospi fell another 6% after plunging 10.8% one session earlier. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.64% from 4.61%. Higher oil, stubborn inflation, and scrutiny of AI spending left investors facing expensive risks at once.