Fourteen nations reject China’s South China Sea claims.
Today's events
South China Sea ruling.
The United States and thirteen other governments marked the tenth anniversary of the 2016 tribunal ruling, reaffirming it as “final, legally binding” and rejecting China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea.1Jul 11 · StateUnited Arab Emirates export rules.
The Commerce Department moved to grant the United Arab Emirates “enhanced favorable treatment” under U.S. export-control rules, a step easing restrictions on advanced-technology transfers to a key Gulf partner.2Jul 10 · Fed. Reg.Afghan general extradited.
Abdul Zahir Qadeer — a former border-force general and deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s parliament — was extradited from Kenya to face U.S. charges of conspiring to traffic heroin, methamphetamine, and military-grade weapons.3Jul 10 · DOJCuba protest anniversary.
On the fifth anniversary of Cuba’s mass July 11 protests, the State Department demanded the release of hundreds still detained and pressed the Communist government to accept political and economic reforms.4Jul 11 · StateColombia election.
The United States and twelve Western Hemisphere governments jointly warned against efforts to cast doubt on Colombia’s election results, urging a “peaceful, orderly, and transparent” transfer of power.5Jul 10 · StateIran financiers sanctioned.
Extending a week of pressure, the Treasury blacklisted a Dubai-based businessman accused of managing global real estate for Iran’s supreme leader, along with three Iranian currency-exchange houses that move hard currency for the regime.6Jul 10 · StateForeign drug supply.
The Food and Drug Administration proposed registering “hub-and-spoke” distributed drug makers as single establishments and forcing disclosure of foreign plants — including active-ingredient suppliers — that feed the U.S. drug supply.7Jul 10 · FDAKeystone Pipeline spill.
Keystone Pipeline owner South Bow agreed to a $26.9 million civil penalty, plus about $40 million in prevention work, to settle claims over a 2022 Kansas rupture that spilled nearly 13,000 barrels of crude.8Jul 10 · DOJInbound investment.
U.S. affiliates of foreign multinationals employed 8.57 million Americans and added $1.52 trillion to output in 2024, government data showed, with British, Japanese, and German owners the largest employers.9Jul 10 · BEA
This week
Syria delisting.
President Trump notified Congress on July 8 of his intent to rescind Syria's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism after a 45-day period, citing counterterrorism assurances from President al-Sharaa. The move follows his June 2025 sanctions-relief order and clears the way to end remaining sanctions and reopen trade and investment with Damascus. First covered in the July 9 daily.1Jul 8 · StateChina missile test.
The State Department said it tracked China's launch of an unarmed intercontinental-range ballistic missile from a submarine into the southern Pacific, urging Beijing to open arms-control talks and to notify launches as other nuclear powers do. Days later the U.S., Japanese, and South Korean foreign ministers backed Taiwan Strait stability and opposed the weaponization of supply chains. First covered in the July 7 daily.2Jul 6 · StateNATO arms deals.
At NATO's Ankara summit, allies announced $3 billion in arms deals with U.S. firms — a European Patriot-missile plant, surveillance drones for ten nations, and joint missile production — as allied defense spending topped 2025 levels by $120 billion, according to the White House. The deals landed alongside the U.S.–Japan–South Korea memorandum to speed small modular reactor exports, signed on the summit's margins. First covered in the July 10 daily.4Jul 8 · WHAircraft trade order.
Trump signed a national-security trade proclamation directing Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate agreements on imported commercial aircraft, jet engines, and parts, with tariffs to follow within 180 days if talks fail. The proclamation found the imports threaten to impair national security, and it joined a parallel national-security investigation into anthracite and metallurgical coal imports opened the same week. First covered in the July 10 daily.5Jul 9 · WHRecord crude output.
U.S. crude production averaged a record 13.6 million barrels per day in 2025, the Energy Information Administration reported, keeping the United States the world's largest producer at roughly 40 percent above Russia and Saudi Arabia. The Permian Basin supplied nearly half, at 6.6 million barrels per day, and the agency forecasts output near 14.2 million by 2027. First covered in the July 10 daily.6Jul 9 · EIAVenezuela air bridge.
Two weeks after the June 24 earthquakes, U.S. relief for Venezuela passed $386 million, and the State Department opened a weekly Miami-to-Venezuela humanitarian air bridge with Amazon and the aid group Airlink. At Southern Command's direction, 110 airmen deployed to Caracas's international airport to run air-traffic and cargo operations, with the USS Fort Lauderdale supporting distribution offshore. First covered in the July 7 daily.7Jul 8 · State
Allied Governments
NATO and Gulf states.
At a NATO summit in Ankara, allied foreign ministers launched joint projects with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on maritime security and drone defense, and condemned Iran’s “indiscriminate attacks across the region.”aJul 10 · NATOBritish Army AI.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence signed a £2 billion, 15-year contract for an AI-driven “combat laboratory” to train up to 60,000 soldiers a year, drawing on lessons from Ukraine.bJul 10 · UK MoDHigh Seas Treaty.
The United Kingdom ratified the High Seas Treaty, the first legal mechanism to create marine protected areas across the two-thirds of the world’s ocean that lies beyond any nation’s jurisdiction.cJul 10 · FCDO
Voices
“We reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on ‘historic rights.’”
Joint Statement of 14 Governments · Jul 111
“The United States is taking decisive action to cut off the financial lifelines sustaining Iran’s ruling elite.”
Thomas Pigott, State Dept Spokesperson · Jul 106
“The world is safer now that Abdul Zahir Qadeer is facing justice in the United States.”
DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole · Jul 103
“The FDA is proposing changes to our establishment registration regulations that would reflect how distributed manufacturing actually works — as one single establishment.”
Michael Davis, Acting Director, FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research · Jul 107
“Hundreds of Cubans remain unjustly detained for the simple sin of asking for basic rights, opportunities, and dignity.”
Sec. of State Marco Rubio · Jul 114
“This fair and comprehensive settlement represents a federal-state partnership commitment to protect our nation’s waters and prevent future oil spills.”
Jim Macy, EPA Region 7 · Jul 108
Sources
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement on the Tenth Anniversary of the Philippines-China South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award,” July 11, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/south-china-sea-arbitral-tribunal-award
- Federal Register, “Enhanced Favorable Treatment for the United Arab Emirates under the Export Administration Regulations,” July 2026. federalregister.gov/…/uae-export-administration
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Former Afghan General and First Deputy House Speaker Extradited to the U.S. to Face Narcotics and Weapons Charges,” July 10, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/afghan-general-extradited
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Five Years After the July 11 Demonstrations, Cubans Deserve A Better Future,” July 11, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/cubans-deserve-a-better-future
- U.S. Dept. of State, “Joint Statement by Members of the Shield of the Americas,” July 10, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/shield-of-the-americas
- U.S. Dept. of State, “U.S. Squeezes Iran's Regime Financiers and Shadow Banking Networks,” July 10, 2026. state.gov/releases/…/irans-regime-financiers
- U.S. Food & Drug Administration, “FDA Proposes Rule to Modernize Drug Manufacturing Registration,” July 10, 2026. fda.gov/news-events/…/drug-manufacturing-registration
- U.S. Dept. of Justice, “Justice Department Files Proposed Settlement with Owner and Operator of Keystone Pipeline,” July 10, 2026. justice.gov/opa/pr/…/keystone-pipeline-settlement
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, “Activities of U.S. Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprises, 2024,” July 10, 2026. bea.gov/news/2026/…/foreign-multinational-enterprises
- NATO, “NATO Deepens Security Cooperation with Gulf Countries through the Launch of Flagship Projects,” July 10, 2026. nato.int/…/gulf-flagship-projects
- UK Ministry of Defence, “AI Battle Lab to Prepare British Army for Modern Warfare,” July 10, 2026. gov.uk/…/ai-battle-lab-british-army
- UK Foreign Office (FCDO), “World's Ocean to Be Better Protected as UK Ratifies Landmark Treaty,” July 10, 2026. gov.uk/…/uk-ratifies-high-seas-treaty