Daily News Summary – 2026-07-30 – en

At least 11 Pakistani police officers were killed in a drone and ground assault on a checkpoint in Hangu, near the Afghan border, marking the second major attack on security forces within a week.

Colin Gray, the father of the Apalachee High School shooter, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for providing the weapon used in the 2024 shooting that killed four people.

At least nine migrants died as thousands breached the border of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, overwhelming reception centers and prompting Spain to deploy military reinforcements.

Tens of thousands of evacuees are returning home as firefighters gain the upper hand in France, Spain, and Greece, though new blazes continue and two Greek firefighters lost their lives.

A Belgian court sentenced fugitive Dutch drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, known as 'Bolle Jos,' to 14 years in prison for his role in one of Europe's largest cocaine trafficking networks.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto, Japan, killing at least 34 people and causing a deadly explosion at a shopping mall, with rescue operations ongoing amid aftershocks and a heatwave.

The Gironde wildfires have devastated the local tourism economy, with thousands of businesses affected and up to 85% of Lège-Cap-Ferret's economy reliant on visitors.

The EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre is working 24/7 to coordinate wildfire response across Europe, using satellite data and a reserve fleet of aircraft as the 2026 season intensifies.

A 19-year-old French student was fined S$600 in Singapore for licking a straw at a vending machine and posting the video online, in a case highlighting the city-state's strict public conduct laws.

Cleanup crews began removing 1.25 million liters of fermented fish sauce from an abandoned factory in St. Mary's, Newfoundland, ending a 25-year stench nightmare for the community.

An investigation by GPTZero found that four PwC Middle East reports were riddled with AI hallucinations, including fabricated citations and non-existent products, raising questions about the firm's quality control.

Nations including India, Saudi Arabia, and Canada are pouring over $100 billion into state-owned AI supercomputing clusters, treating compute capacity as critical national infrastructure.

The five largest hyperscalers are projected to spend $725 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, much of it financed through off-balance-sheet vehicles, raising fears of a 2008-style crisis.

Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning Irish musician, died in a motorcycle accident in Dublin at age 56, prompting tributes from across the music world.

French DJ Kavinsky, known for the iconic 'Nightcall' from the film Drive, died at 50, with authorities suspecting a stroke. He was a pioneer of synthwave and performed at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

BRICS operationalized Project mBridge, a blockchain-based CBDC settlement platform that bypasses SWIFT, processing over $55 billion in transactions and reducing dollar dependency.

The global race for critical minerals like lithium and rare earths has intensified, with China's export controls and new Western alliances such as FORGE reshaping supply chains.