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Two Decades Since the London Bombings: Remembering the Morning That Changed Europe

Two Decades Since the London Bombings: Remembering the Morning That Changed Europe

On the morning of July 7, 2005, London was struck by a series of coordinated bomb attacks on public transport, which British authorities immediately described as the worst terrorist act in the United Kingdom since World War II.

A morning of horror in the British capital

The explosions happened almost simultaneously in the underground and on a double-decker bus. Suicide bombers attacked during the morning rush hour, leaving 52 dead and more than 700 injured. As recorded by agencies and reporters from Danas newspaper, the first explosions occurred between Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations, then between King’s Cross and Russell Square, and soon after on the metro line near Edgware Road. The fourth explosion destroyed a bus at Tavistock Place.

Although responsibility was claimed by a previously unknown group, “Al-Qaeda/Jihad Organization in Europe,” British and international security experts recognized the “handwriting” of Osama bin Laden’s global network. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that evening, after returning urgently from the G8 summit: “They are trying to intimidate us by killing innocents, but they will not succeed.”

Global condemnation and wave of solidarity

The attack on London sparked a huge wave of international reactions. The United Nations immediately adopted Resolution 1611, emphasizing the “unwavering will to fight terrorism.” Condolences poured in from around the world – from then-Pope Benedict XVI to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while G8 leaders declared that the attack on London was “an attack on all civilized people.”

London under siege

The city was paralyzed that same day – the entire public transport system was halted, streets were blocked, and citizens were left in uncertainty. British security services activated “Cobra,” a special emergency crisis plan. Snipers were positioned on rooftops, while special units searched underground tunnels and stations.

Eyewitnesses told British television of terrifying scenes: one described the bus as looking “like a sardine can with bodies scattered around.” During those moments, Queen Elizabeth II expressed “deepest condolences on behalf of the whole nation” while visiting the injured in hospitals.

Two decades later: London and the world today

Today, 20 years later, the London bombings known as 7/7 remain a powerful memory of a turning point in Europe’s fight against terrorism. The British security system, legislation, and politics have changed drastically since that day, while the public debate continues about balancing security and civil liberties.

Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair withdrew from politics in 2007 but remains active in public life as a speaker and founder of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, an organization focused on security, reform, and international relations.

The July 7, 2005 attacks remain a symbol of the era when Europe began to face the reality of homegrown Islamist extremism. The parallel with today’s world – still marked by conflicts, radicalization, and tensions – highlights the ongoing relevance of how societies respond to the threat of terrorism – not only with weapons, but also with the values they defend.

Opposition in Kenya calls on president to resign over order for police to shoot protesters

Opposition in Kenya calls on president to resign over order for police to shoot protesters

Opposition leaders in Kenya today called for the resignation of the country’s president, William Ruto, after he urged police to shoot anyone caught stealing or causing damage during anti-government protests.

Two days ago, Ruto declared that he would not allow “anarchy” disguised as peaceful protests in Kenya and instructed police to shoot and “break the legs” of those caught looting or damaging property during demonstrations. Today, the funeral was held for a civilian who was shot and killed at close range by a police officer during recent protests – reports Danas.

One of the opposition leaders, Kalonzo Musyoka, said the president’s order was “unconstitutional” and that he must “either resign or face impeachment.”

Waves of protests have swept across Kenya in recent weeks, with human rights organizations urging local police to show restraint.

The National Human Rights Commission, a Kenyan state-funded organization, announced that more than 50 people had died during two major protest rallies.

The unrest began after the death of blogger Albert Odjuang in police custody last month. Police claimed he fatally injured himself by banging his head against a wall, a statement contradicted by a coroner’s report.

Tensions escalated further following the police killing of a civilian named Boniface Kariuki.

During protests against police brutality on July 17, Kariuki was selling face masks when he was apparently attacked by two police officers. As he tried to get away, one of them shot him in the head at close range. Yesterday, that officer was charged with his murder, and a hearing on his appeal is scheduled for July 28.

Thousands turned out for the June 25 demonstrations, which marked the first anniversary of massive protests against the government’s tax policies.

At today’s funeral for Kariuki in the Murang’a region, no uniformed police officers were seen, but riot police were still deployed nearby. At the funeral, next to the coffin, there was a photo capturing the moment of Kariuki’s murder. Many young people attended the burial, carrying Kenyan flags, alongside mothers of dozens of young people killed in protests over the past year.

The governor of Murang’a, Irungu Kang’ata, said that local leaders would ensure justice for Kariuki’s murder. “The government must take responsibility for the killing of Boniface,” he said.

The Art of “Bluffing” or Punishment for Allies – What Trump’s Tariffs Mean for Japan and South Korea

The Art of “Bluffing” or Punishment for Allies – What Trump’s Tariffs Mean for Japan and South Korea

By sending a letter announcing the introduction of so-called “reciprocal tariffs” and a slight increase, Trump delivered an unexpected blow to his loyal military and political ally, Japan.

US President Donald Trump published a list of countries to which he sent formal letters notifying them of his administration's decision regarding “reciprocal tariffs,” calculated based on the US trade deficit, writes RTS.

Among the first 15 countries on the list of “fortunate recipients” of these letters, interestingly, were also Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which received a few percentage points discount compared to figures published in April. Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea, Washington’s decades-long loyal allies, did not fare as well: South Korea's tariffs remained the same as previously announced, while Japan’s were slightly increased by one percent.

This happened despite expectations in those East Asian countries that their previous contributions to the US economy – through billions in investments in car factories (Japan) and chip plants (South Korea) – and their strategic military importance to Washington in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, would grant them significant exemption.

In recent years, both countries have also been very useful for the US as financiers of postwar reconstruction in countries destroyed by US military interventions. The Seoul government has also increasingly become a major supplier of weapons to NATO countries in Europe.

Trump vs Japan

South Korea remained at 25%, while Japan learned from Trump’s letter that its rate would increase from 24% to 25%. These are “reciprocal tariffs,” which differ from “sectoral tariffs” that also affect these East Asian economies, such as the 25% tariffs on cars and car parts and the tariffs on steel and aluminum products, which initially were set at 25% but at one point even rose to 50%.

It is fairly clear that South Korea remained at the same level of “reciprocal tariffs” because, due to election-related political instability and the process of forming a new government, it was unable to enter negotiations. Japan, however, which negotiated with Trump’s team for over two months but failed to offer what Trump wanted most, was effectively punished. Not just symbolically, as the small one-percent increase might suggest, but primarily because it did not get the expected reduction that politicians, business leaders in Tokyo, and even US partners and neutral observers in Asia had hoped for.

Is it the art of bluffing?

In his typically unpredictable style, which he and some of his team see as part of an unmatched art of negotiation, Trump once again postponed the implementation of the “reciprocal tariffs” (sectoral ones already apply) by three weeks, until August 1. This should, supposedly, give the countries from the first wave of letters, including Serbia and Japan, more time to think about what they could offer Trump to get a better tariff rate.

According to reports in the Japanese media, Trump’s letter leaves room for future adjustments in tariff rates.

However, for Japan, reaching an agreement in the next few weeks seems unlikely, as elections for the upper house of parliament are scheduled for July 20. These may be a tough battle for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, facing public dissatisfaction with years of inflation and especially rising rice prices.

Some in Japan still believe that Trump is bluffing, hoping that if Japan makes one or two more concessions, it might get relief at least on “reciprocal tariffs,” if not on auto tariffs, which are most important to it. Many suggest that Tokyo could appease Trump by significantly increasing imports of American-made cars, since vehicles are where the US has the largest trade deficit with Japan. But since American cars are not popular in Japan, there is even speculation that Toyota might export cars made in the US back to Japan to formally boost American exports and reduce Japan’s trade surplus (which was $68 billion and $62 billion in the last two years).

Yet fewer and fewer people see Trump’s moves as a passing bluff, and more view them as real disrespect and coercion. Japanese media openly report on frustration in political circles in Tokyo and increasingly write about presidential whims, lack of information, and incompetence within Trump’s negotiating team.

For example, a few days ago, Trump posted on social media that Japan is a spoiled country that refuses to buy American rice despite shortages and that he would send an official letter to impose tariffs (which he did). But in reality, Japan buys most of its imported rice from the US. In fiscal 2024, it purchased about 346,000 tons of rice from California, while total imports reached 767,000 tons. Recently, in an effort to lower rice prices after droughts in 2023, Japan even imported large quantities of rice from the US twice.

A stifling dependence

If Toyota, despite its domestic plants, had to import its own cars from the US to Japan, it would be a painful paradox and a kind of tragicomedy, if not an insult to intelligence.

Yet, Tokyo is economically and politically dependent on the US – and this is the card Trump plays, regardless of the political consequences this could have for the alliance and Washington’s reputation in Japan. Whether Trump truly believes that Japan has exploited the US unfairly or simply wants to extract economic concessions – or perhaps seeks an excuse to keep high tariffs to fill the budget gap caused by recent tax cuts – is unclear.

Either way, high tariffs will cause serious, even enormous damage to Japan, whose second-largest trading partner after China is the US and whose auto industry relies heavily on the American market.

With friends like these, who needs enemies

Damaging economic actions by American partners are nothing new for Japan. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Japan’s industry was gaining ground in the US with affordable, high-quality electronics and cars, Washington pressured Tokyo into harmful concessions.

While Japanese car makers survived by building plants in the US, the semiconductor industry didn’t. As Japan ceded its leading position, production and innovation moved to South Korea, the US, and Taiwan. Today, Japan lags behind in patents and chip design and is trying to catch up by attracting Taiwan’s TSMC to build plants in Japan with subsidies and tax breaks.

Through the 1985 Plaza Accord, Japan also had to dramatically strengthen its currency against the dollar. This led to economic overheating, a real estate and stock bubble, followed by a crash and a banking crisis in the early 1990s. Since then, Japan’s growth has never recovered, and economists call the last three and a half decades Japan’s “lost decades.”

Yet Trump’s tariffs are special. Unlike past US actions, these are sudden, uncompromising, and broad. Unlike the Plaza Accord, which also made Japanese products more expensive abroad but at least made Japanese companies and citizens wealthier in foreign currency terms, Trump’s tariffs bring no benefit at all – only harm.

What lies ahead?

Perhaps in the future, Japan might gain political benefits from Trump’s tariffs – depending on the path Tokyo takes. The government could choose silence and patience, hoping that after Trump a friendlier US administration will come (thus enduring yet another wound from its closest ally). But as many commentators say, hope is not a strategy.

Alternatively, Japan could use the tariffs as a reason to become more economically autonomous, deepening trade and tech ties with China, South Korea, ASEAN, India, the EU, South America, and Africa. Greater independence through trade diversification could turn disappointment with Washington into an unexpected opportunity.

Poland Temporarily Reintroduces Border Controls with Germany and Lithuania

Poland Temporarily Reintroduces Border Controls with Germany and Lithuania

The Polish government's Security Center issued a warning today stating that from midnight, temporary border controls will be reinstated with Germany and Lithuania until August 5, with the possibility of extension.

"If Germany lifts its controls, which, let me remind you, were introduced in October 2023, we will also lift ours," said Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak.

Statistics from the German border do not show a significant increase in legally returned migrants since Germany reinstated its controls, especially since May of this year, when it stopped accepting asylum applications from refugees and migrants arriving from EU countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic.

Poland's opposition right, despite the average number of migrants returned to Poland being similar to the time when the conservative nationalists of Law and Justice were in power until autumn 2023, has since the presidential elections in mid-May and early June launched an aggressive campaign accusing the pro-European centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk of allegedly failing to protect the western border, claiming that Germany is illegally deporting thousands of migrants from North Africa and Asia to Poland every week – reports Danas.

What Is the Border Defense Movement?

With strong support from opposition conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński and both presidents – outgoing Andrzej Duda and newly elected Karol Nawrocki – Polish radical nationalists and extremists have been organizing via social media since March. In recent weeks, they have appeared at the German border as a self-proclaimed Border Defense Movement.

These self-proclaimed patrols, consisting mainly of hooligans and radical right-wing thugs, have set up checkpoints, stopping pedestrians and vehicles, checking IDs, and increasingly clashing with Polish Border Guard officers and police, whom they accuse of not doing their jobs properly.

The Polish Ombudsman and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights have called on the government to immediately remove these unauthorized patrols, which are causing problems for residents of Polish border towns who depend on German clients and tourists, now frightened by the presence of these groups – even though there are no “thousands” of migrants.

"Poles are not indifferent. They are defending their basic interests. They are defending Poland. They are defending the safety of our citizens, our women. Yes, we need migrants to work, but there is no reason to let in young men we know nothing about," said opposition leader Kaczyński, who visited the German border today.

5,000 Soldiers to Assist Border Guards

Prime Minister Tusk’s government responded to the opposition’s campaign, disinformation, and the problems caused by the "citizen arrests" and ID checks by radical nationalists by deciding to reintroduce controls for a month and deploy 5,000 soldiers to assist border guards and police at the German and Lithuanian borders.

Units from territorial defense and military police, as well as air force units with drones, will be directly involved in the border controls, while others will be stationed further inland in Polish territory.

From July 7, crossing the Polish border with Germany will only be possible at 52 designated checkpoints, 16 of which will have permanent control points, and with Lithuania at 13 checkpoints, with two permanent posts.

Controls will not be classic EU external border checks but random, with border guards focusing on vehicles with multiple passengers and buses.

Archaeologists Discover 3,500-Year-Old City in Peru

Archaeologists Discover 3,500-Year-Old City in Peru

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of the ancient city of Pénjico, estimated to be 3,500 years old, in the northern Peruvian province of Barranca. It is believed to have served as a key trading hub connecting early communities along the Pacific coast with those living in the Andes and the Amazon.

Located about 200 km north of Lima, the site is thought to have been founded between 1800 and 1500 BCE, around the same time early civilizations were flourishing in the Middle East and Asia. Researchers say the discovery sheds light on what happened to the oldest known civilization in the Americas – the Caral civilization.

Over eight years of research at the site, 18 structures have been uncovered, including temples and residential complexes. Drone footage released by the researchers shows a circular structure on a hillside in the center of the city, surrounded by the remains of stone and adobe buildings.

At the site, researchers discovered ceremonial artifacts, clay sculptures of human and animal figures, and necklaces made of beads and shells.

Dr. Ruth Shady, the archaeologist who led the recent investigation of Pénjico and the excavations of Caral in the 1990s, said the discovery is important for understanding what happened to the Caral civilization after it was destroyed by climate change.

Elon Musk Announces Creation of His Own Political Party – Party of America

Elon Musk Announces Creation of His Own Political Party – Party of America

Billionaire Elon Musk, until recently a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump with whom he recently had a falling-out, announced on Saturday the creation of his own political party, the "Party of America".

"Today, the Party of America is being formed to give you back your freedom," he wrote on his social network X.

Defiantly opposing the budget bill of the U.S. president, whom he accuses of increasing the national debt, Elon Musk recently vowed to launch a political party if Trump’s bill were to be passed.

Originally from South Africa, Elon Musk will not be able to run in future presidential elections, as candidates must be born in the United States.

He launched a poll on the idea on his social network X on Friday, during the American holiday, Independence Day, and the day of the ceremonial signing of Donald Trump’s “big and beautiful bill.”

"By a two-to-one margin, the result was: you want a new political party, and you’ll get one!" declared the tech mogul on Saturday, after 65% of about 1.2 million voters answered "Yes!" to the question of whether they wanted the "Party of America" to come to life.

"Our country is being destroyed by waste and corruption; we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Elon Musk criticized the current state of affairs.

A former close ally of Donald Trump, whose campaign he funded during the 2024 presidential election, Musk was tasked with reducing federal spending as head of his commission DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency), but he and Trump, the two billionaires, had a spectacular falling-out in May in front of the whole world.

Serbia: Amnesty and Civil Rights Defenders Urge Authorities to Stop Unlawful Use of Force Against Protesters

Serbia: Amnesty and Civil Rights Defenders Urge Authorities to Stop Unlawful Use of Force Against Protesters

Amnesty International and Civil Rights Defenders have issued a joint statement stating that "footage of Serbian riot police randomly attacking peaceful protesters gathered at street blockades and in front of universities in Belgrade is alarming."

"A large number of arrests have been recorded, along with numerous reports of excessive or otherwise unlawful use of force against students – both during the protests and during arrests and police detention. The authorities must urgently investigate and clarify reports of masked individuals in civilian clothing attacking protesters," the statement said.

It adds that "although the state has the responsibility to maintain public order and respond to individual incidents of violence, the use of force must be a last resort and always strictly necessary and proportionate to achieving a legitimate goal."

"Harsh suppression of peaceful dissent cannot be justified," it emphasizes.

"Serbian authorities must act with restraint and ensure that citizens can safely participate in protests and freely express their dissatisfaction without fear of intimidation, harassment, or violence. Failure to act accordingly may further increase tensions. Cases of unlawful use of force by the police must be urgently and independently investigated, and police officers suspected of illegal conduct must be held accountable," it said.

It also adds that "EU leaders must clearly and unequivocally condemn any human rights violations against protesters and emphasize that ensuring the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression is essential in Serbia’s EU accession process."

Czech Republic Left Without Power: People Trapped in Elevators, Traffic Lights and ATMs Not Working

Czech Republic Left Without Power: People Trapped in Elevators, Traffic Lights and ATMs Not Working

Large parts of northern and eastern Czech Republic, including Prague, are experiencing a power outage today, reportedly due to a failure at a major substation on the eastern outskirts of the country's capital.

"The power went out across the entire eastern bank of the Vltava River, but the metro and several tram lines were quickly restarted," stated Prague Deputy Mayor Zdeněk Hřib.

Václav Havel Airport is operating normally, while on the eastern side of the Vltava in Prague, ATMs and traffic lights are not working, and shops and restaurants are without electricity, reports the portal info.cz.

Fire department spokesman Miroslav Řezač said that several dozen people were trapped in elevators. In some buildings, fire alarms were triggered.

The utility company PRE announced that it is working on fixing the issue, but it is not yet known when residents will have electricity again.

Power also went out in larger towns around Prague, such as Mladá Boleslav, where the Škoda car factory is located.

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