Putin orders roadmap for high-speed rail network by 2026
Russian president Vladimir Putin has directed the government to develop a roadmap for a national high-speed rail network by March 31, 2026. The plan will set timelines and key details for each project, starting with the Moscow–St. Petersburg line, Xinhua reported.
He also instructed the government and SberBank to outline how 300bn rubles (about $3.7bn) from the National Wealth Fund will be used to fund the route, with a report due by October 1.
The Moscow–St. Petersburg line will be Russia’s first high-speed rail, cutting travel time to 2 hours and 15 minutes. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov will lead the effort, according to Xinhua.
US and Mexico begin 90-day trade talks
President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Mexico have agreed to a 90-day extension of their current trade terms, aiming to reach a new agreement during that period.
The decision came after a phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who confirmed that planned US tariffs—previously set to begin on August 1—have been postponed to allow space for dialogue, according to Xinhua.
Trump highlighted the complexity of negotiating with a neighboring country but said the two sides are building a better understanding. Both leaders described the conversation as positive, with hopes of finalizing a long-term trade deal within the 90-day window.
Talks are expected to continue actively during this period, Xinhua reported.
Iran drives out 1.5 million Afghans, with some branded spies for Israel
Ali Ahmad's eyes fill with tears as he lifts his shirt to show deep bruises across his back.
While he was detained, Iranian officers struck him and accused him of spying, he says. "They used hoses, water pipes and wooden boards to beat me. They treated us like animals."
He was speaking to the BBC earlier this month at Islam Qala on the two countries' border, before crossing back over to Afghanistan. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
Iran - which says it hosts more than four million undocumented Afghans who fled conflict in their homeland - has been stepping up deportations for months. In March those without papers were given a July deadline to depart voluntarily, but since a brief war with Israel in June, the authorities have forcibly returned hundreds of thousands of Afghans, alleging national security concerns, BBC reported.
Radioactive wasp nest found at old US nuclear weapons site
A radioactive wasp nest with radiation levels ten times of what is allowed under regulations was found at a facility that once produced parts for US nuclear weapons, federal officials said, BBC reported.
"The wasp nest was sprayed to kill wasps, then bagged as radiological waste," says a US Department of Energy report released last week. No wasps were found at the site near Aiken in South Carolina.
Investigators say the contamination is not related to a nuclear waste leak, and that there was no impact to "the environment, or the public".
Environmental groups have criticised the government's handling of the situation, according to BBC.
