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Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a potential plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Myanmar’s junta’s pursuit of political legitimacy, and domestic mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No Deal Yet An agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained in the works on Thursday, as mediators separately urged U.S. and Iranian officials to come to a consensus on control of the strategic waterway. With Tehran claiming that it is in the “final stage” of drafting a deal with Oman, all eyes are now on Washington to determine what happens next. Welcome back to…

Announcing a pause on more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding to Minnesota and California last month, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz accused state officials of being too lax about fraud, citing among other things the results of a provider verification process in Minnesota and the rapid growth of a California home care program. But he left out important context in both cases. Oz speaks ahead of Vice President JD Vance on July 8 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. Oz said at the July 21 press conference that Minnesota disenrolled 3,000 healthcare…

The Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture of South Africa, Gayton McKenzie, posted on X saying that Infantino had been “very good to African football”.”Africa should be cautious in joining the public lynching of Infantino. He has been very good to African football. “We can debate his ideas but let’s not forget who has been a friend to us. Many of those calling for his head want the old status quo back too.”Speaking to the BBC after Infantino’s proposal emerged, football officials from Malawi and Uganda said Fifa investment had transformed the game both on and off the pitch, arguing…

Ukraine said it has hit two oil refineries in multiple strikes deep inside Russia with patrol boats and other vessels in the Black Sea also hit.President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Bashneft-Novoil and Slavneft-Yanos refineries were struck in the attacks aimed at limiting oil revenues Moscow “uses to finance” its war.Yaroslavl regional governor Mikhail Evraev said Slavneft-Yanos was on fire after what he called the “largest enemy drone attack”. He said four people were injured.Meanwhile, Ukraine said at least 11 people were killed in Russian attacks, and the southern city of Kherson reported a total blackout. Russia said it targeted fuel,…

The Conservatives have said they would end the provision of social housing for foreign nationals in England if they win power at the next election.The party said ending new tenancies for all foreign nationals, as well as current tenancies for couples where neither person is a UK, Irish or EU citizen, would free up an estimated 228,144 homes for British families.The Conservatives said Labour had “lost control of immigration” and British families had been left sitting on housing waiting lists as a result.But Labour said the policy was an “unserious, unworkable proposal, copied from Reform, that does nothing to tackle…

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.Google will announce its latest smartphone lineup, the Pixel 11 series, at its “Made by Google” event on Aug. 12. Hot on the heels of Samsung’s latest foldables, Google plans to follow up with its own, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, along with the Pixel 11 Pro, XL, and base model. Also: Is the new (pricier) Pixel 11 series still a good value compared to Samsung’s Galaxy phones?Based on preliminary information, it looks like the 11 series will largely feature incremental upgrades to the processor, camera, and storage, while costing more as…

Black Hat USA 2026 —Las Vegas—When Bob Lord became the first chief security officer (CSO) for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2018, he plastered “Bobmoji” stickers above urinals, in bathroom stalls, and on the mirrors. As employees washed their hands, avatar renderings of his face served as a security-first reminder.To implement and maintain a strong security culture, CSOs must be willing to be “absurd,” Lord revealed during Black Hat USA 2026. Lord, now consultant at Lord Consulting, and his successor, Steve Tran, broke down how the party organization built its defenses following a 2016 hack by Russian state actors…

Binance-affiliated entities filed a Hong Kong petition against RedotPay’s founders, alleging the payment startup used its partnership with Binance to divert more than 470,000 Binance Card customers into its own competing stablecoin card.As Bloomberg News reported, Binance claims $472.8 million in losses, built on an estimated $925 lifetime value per customer, and says RedotPay received roughly $304 million in user funds routed through Binance Pay.RedotPay denies the allegations and says the case will not affect its daily operations.RedotPay says it now serves more than 8 million users and processes roughly $14 billion in annualized payment volume, a scale that reportedly…

Flowering plants in pollinator gardens, agricultural fields, and residential landscapes often grow alongside weeds that are controlled with herbicides. Honeybees regularly visit these same areas while collecting nectar and pollen, raising questions about what happens when they are exposed to weedkillers during their daily foraging. A Virginia Tech study found that glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, can interfere with honeybee foraging and may undermine the long-term stability of colonies. The research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a graduate student grant from the university’s Department of Entomology. Published in the Journal of…

In June, a bird flu outbreak at Kathmandu’s Central Zoo killed at least 65 animals from more than 20 species, exposing flaws in Nepal’s disease surveillance.The outbreak has raised concerns that similar outbreaks could go undetected in national parks, where wildlife is not routinely monitored.Experts warn that shared feeding sites, including Nepal’s renowned “vulture restaurants”, and the reliance of wild carnivores on domestic poultry could create pathways for influenza viruses to spread between birds and mammals.Despite the outbreak and recommendations from the zoo’s own investigation committee for contingency plans, stronger biosecurity and rapid reporting, Nepal’s wildlife and livestock authorities…