As McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris saw his hopes swelter after winning the Dutch Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri now holds a massive 34-point lead in the Formula One championship.
McLaren had been on track for a fifth successive one-two victory on a day full of drama until Norris suffered late-disappointment on Sunday after both Ferrari drivers crashed out in separate incidents.
After claiming that he could smell smoke in his car’s cockpit, Norris slowed down and took his seat in second place on lap 65 of 72, with evidence emerging from the wrecked vehicle.
Late in the race, Norris reported a “funny” smell in his cockpit while chasing Piastri.
Norris said, “I don’t know if I’m on fire or not. He had to stop because the car’s back was full of smoke.
Norris and his broken-down car met at the finish line of the race while standing behind a barrier by the trackside.
Norris’s race engineer apologized by expressing his satisfaction with his recent improvement.
Norris responded, “It’s irrelevant.”
With nine races left, Piastri’s advantage over second-placed Norris increased from nine points to 34.
After Norris’s breakdown, the Australian won by managing three safety car restarts, holding off twice, and then putting his rival Max Verstappen in his place.
Piastri addressed the team, “Nicely done, everyone, nicely done.” “I’m sorry for Lando for what occurred,” he said.
Verstappen, a native of Belgium, placed second behind Racing Bulls’ French rookie Isack Hadjar, who won his first Formula One podium, in third place and exhilarated.
As the squad celebrated its first podium appearance in four years, Hadjar was lifted off the ground and slapped on the back by a crowd of cheering team members.
This is the first step, according to Hadjar, who said, “because that was always the target since I was a child.”
In the same location, both Ferraris collided with the barriers. In yet another disappointing Ferrari race, Lewis Hamilton hit the wall in a rainstorm.
Charles Leclerc, a teammate, spun into the same barrier after being struck by Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes.
Confirmation of our top ten Zandvoort #F1 #DutchGP images. twitter.com/81hYFSRLWS
According to author Joan Williams, populism has been pushed into the party by elitism.
Author Joan Williams contends that the United States Democratic Party’s elitism is still driving people away as the popularity of the party reaches historic lows.
Williams is the author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back and the founder of the Equality Action Center at the College of Law in San Francisco.
The UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, will remain there until 2026, with an exception for an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” starting in 2027, according to a UN Security Council vote on Thursday.
Israel and the United States have heavily pushed for UNIFIL’s closure, despite the fact that UNIFIL has not fulfilled its stated purpose. They claim that the organization has provided political cover for Hezbollah since the 2006 war.
In addition to its invasion of south Lebanon in October, Israel is still occupying at least five locations in Lebanon. Israeli troops should leave south Lebanon, according to a ceasefire agreement reached in November, but that has not yet been done.
What does the closure of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mean for Israel’s border region? What information is necessary here.
What’s going on now?
South Lebanon will remain under UNIFIL’s control until December 31, 2026.
After that, it will have a year to leave its forces and give the Lebanese Army command of the area.
Given Israel’s disproportional position in terms of military might, technology, and US support, the development seems to favor Israel. Israel’s air force regularly violated Lebanon’s airspace with surveillance flyovers even before Hezbollah started fighting with Israel in October 2023.
When UNIFIL’s mandate expires [Hussein Malla/AP] Lebanon’s security forces will have to deploy to all of south Lebanon.
There won’t be a global organization that can follow these violations now that UNIFIL has been discontinued.
Andrea Tenenti, a UNIFIL spokesman, questioned how Israeli forces’ continued support for UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was put into effect at the end of the 2006 conflict.
If the [Israeli military] are still present in the south, how can they be deployed everywhere in the south? he inquired.
These are the things that are challenging to comprehend, so to put it another way.
Describe UNIFIL.
After Israel invaded southern Lebanon earlier that year, the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) was established to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel would retake control of south Lebanon in 1982 before Hezbollah expelled them in 2000.
More than 10,000 peacekeepers from 47 nations make up UNIFIL, with Indonesia and Italy serving as the country’s top two.
It records violations of UN Resolution 1701 and monitors the entire border region.
Israel has focused its attacks on Naqoura, a coastal town with its headquarters in Naqoura. After the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024, not during fighting, according to Al Jazeera’s report earlier this year.
UNIFIL has 50 positions on Lebanese territory and 1, 060 square kilometers (409 square miles) of southern territory where it conducts its operations.
UNIFIL’s ability to use force
Only in self-defense or to defend armed civilians.
UNIFIL typically doesn’t fire on either Hezbollah or Israel because of its role as a peacekeeping force.
UNIFIL has recently used non-lethal force to defend itself in situations where its vehicles have been attacked.
What are Israelis’ opinions of UNIFIL?
They don’t support fans.
In the past, Israel has attacked UNIFIL’s peacekeepers, and UNIFIL accused Israel of intentionally attacking its peacekeepers during the conflict last year.
UNIFIL is a body with an international mandate and legitimacy that publishes reports on Israeli attacks and violations in southern Lebanon, in contrast to Gaza, where Palestinian voices are the only ones authorized to voice information about Israeli attacks or civilian killings.
The US sees UNIFIL as a waste of money because it doesn’t address Hezbollah’s influence in south Lebanon directly.
The US has increasingly adopted Israel’s position on UNIFIL under President Donald Trump.
The United States will support an extension of UNIFIL for the last time, according to Dorothy Shea, the acting US ambassador to the UN. The first letter in UNIFIL, “i,” denotes “interim.” The UNIFIL mission needs to come to an end.
Why is Hezbollah in trouble?
Hezbollah is perceived by Israel and the US as a “terrorist” organization.
In response to Israel’s occupation of Lebanon and the subsequent expulsion of the occupiers from south Lebanon, Hezbollah was established in the 1980s. Although Lebanon contributed the majority of the casualties and damage during the two parties’ inflicted war to a stalemate in 2006.
Israel saw Hezbollah as a primary threat and its weapons as a deterrent to military action between 2006 and last year. Israel’s military has attacked southern Lebanon and occasionally struck closer to Beirut without restraint since the ceasefire was reached, despite an assurance that hostilities would end.
Israel claims that it is attacking Hezbollah targets despite the fact that civilians were frequently killed in Israeli airstrikes last year and continue to do so.
Hezbollah’s influence in south Lebanon is a priority for Israel and the US, according to Bilal Hussein/AP.
How about Lebanon’s?
UNIFIL’s renewal was supported by the current Lebanese government.
Nawaf Salam, the prime minister, applauded the decision to renew UNIFIL’s mandate, stating that it “reaffirms the necessity of extending state control over all of its territory” and “reiterates the call for Israel to withdraw its forces from the five sites it continues to occupy.
With the exception of the Lebanese government, UNIFIL has a wider range of viewpoints in south Lebanon.
Many Lebanese residents have publicly criticized the peacekeepers’ presence, despite the fact that some do so.
In south Lebanon, armed civilians attacked a UN vehicle in May with axes and rods. Many southerners have expressed anger toward UNIFIL troops because many of them are unable to return to their homes in South Lebanon due to Israel’s destruction of their villages or because there are still Israeli-style assaults on them. Some people reportedly have a suspicion toward them.
Conflicts between Lebanese civilians and UNIFIL troops are documented on violent videos. After an argument, a local smacks a Finnish UNIFIL peacekeeper across the face in one.
In Marjayoun, near the Israeli-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, on November 19, 2024, vehicles from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force travel along a street.
China’s president Xi Jinping has informed 20 world leaders that he hosted a summit in northern Tianjin that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security forum now bears “greater responsibility” for preserving regional peace and stability.
As he hosted and addressed the high-profile gathering at a banquet on Sunday evening, Xi also emphasized the SCO’s commitment to the development and prosperity of its member states.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi was quoted as telling the assembled leaders that the ongoing SCO summit has the crucial task of fostering consensus among all parties and fostering momentum in cooperation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most notable guests at the two-day summit. This is his first visit to China since 2018 following years of tense relations following an Indian and Chinese troops clashed in 2020 at a disputed Himalayan border.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is also present, as is Vladimir Putin, who is facing a 2023 international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant.
The court has no authority in China because it is not a member of the ICC and not a member of the original Rome Statute.
China and Russia have occasionally compared the SCO to the NATO military alliance. The summit, which will be held in Washington, is the first since Donald Trump’s second term as president of the United States, which will begin in 2025. It is a powerful demonstration of global South solidarity in the face of global wars, conflicts, and Trump’s tariffs, which are shaking up the world’s economies.
A “meaningful direction”
Xi and Modi made a promise earlier on Sunday to work together and to improve cooperation along the border.
In his opening remarks, Modi claimed that “there is a peaceful environment at the borders after disengagement” and that ties with China have “moved in a meaningful direction.”
According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, he also noted “the importance of peace and tranquillity on the border areas for the continuation of bilateral relations.”
Our cooperation is a “connection between our cooperation and the interests of 2.8 billion people in both countries.” Modi told Xi, “This will also open the door for the welfare of the entire humanity.”
The two most populous countries are fiercely allied to each other in South Asia as they vie for dominance. For the first time in five years at a summit in Russia, Modi and Xi had a meeting in October.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, Xi stated in regards to ties with India that he hoped the Tianjin meeting would “further elevate” and “promote the sustained, healthy, and stable development of bilateral relations.”
According to Xi, the two sides should “not let the border issue define the overall China-India relationship,” adding that their main concern should be economic development.
China-India relations will flourish and advance steadily as long as they keep their commitment to the overarching goal of being partners, not adversaries, and providing development opportunities, not threats, according to Xi.
Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, flew to New Delhi earlier in August to make an announcement about their reconciliation.
Both parties made promises to resume border negotiations and resume direct flight and visa issues.
When anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed, police in Australia used pepper spray. Nationalist “March for Australia” rallies were attended by thousands of people all over the nation, which the government decried as “spreading hate.”
Iran’s network of Middle Eastern allies has suffered severe blows over the past two years. President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria fell apart. Hezbollah faced mounting pressure to disarm in Lebanon after being forced to lay down its weapons under a ceasefire negotiated by the United States. After US forces massively bombarded infrastructure and civilian areas in Yemen, the Houthis were forced to stop preventing maritime traffic through the Red Sea. Ahmed al-Rahawi, their prime minister, and several other ministers were killed on Thursday in an Israeli attack.
Iran’s once-formidable deterrent has dramatically decreased. And now it appears that its influence in Iraq is waning by the day. The Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a group of predominately Shia paramilitary units, are under increasing pressure from the US to rein in Iranian allies.
Although it may be difficult and risky to integrate the PMF into the Iraqi army, it could if it were to be done. However, it could help to advance the country’s sovereignty and state.
US pressure’s effectiveness
The PMF’s brief history  exemplifies Iraq’s wider setbacks of trying to balance pressures from the US and Iran with its wider situation.
In response to the country’s security vacuum, which was directly at the root of the country’s rise of ISIL (ISIS) in 2014, it established its paramilitary organizations. After the US invasion, the Iraqi army was disbanded in 2003, and the reconstituted force lacked the morale and readiness to defend the nation.
The PMF succeeded in halting ISIL’s advance where the regular army had failed, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) co-opted many of its members as regional influence tools.
The PMF still has a significant influence in Iraq today. It includes hardline groups that are unwaveringly loyal to Iran and groups that genuinely seek integration with the Iraqi military.
Mohammed al-Sudani, the prime minister of Iraq, is being under increasing US pressure to overthrow his own ruling coalition, which has strong support from the PMF.
The proposed American strategy, which would allow compliant units to join the regular army and remove militia leaders from positions of authority, is nothing less than a complete overhaul of Iraq’s security structure. Some Iraqi lawmakers have pushed the PMF to become a military force for the first time in the process by passing legislation that would permanently enshrine it.
The PMF’s integration bill, which was introduced in March, aims to make it a permanent, independent military body with a budget, a command structure, and a military academy. Additionally, it would give the PMF commander a ministerial rank, institutionalizing what Washington perceives as Iranian influence within the Iraqi government.
The bill was temporarily withdrawn from parliament thanks to US pressure. Marco Rubio, the US’s secretary of state, made a clear warning that a comprehensive analysis of US-Iraqi relations, possibly involving sanctions, would result from passing such legislation. Given Washington’s recent 35 percent tariffs on Iraq, this threat had weight.
The processing of electronic transactions by Iraqi state-owned Al-Rafidain Bank caused a disruption in the payment of PMF fighters’ salaries in June, which was brought on by US pressure.
US lawmakers have been calling on Al-Rafidain Bank to be sanctioned for a 2022 corruption scandal, in which $2.5 billion in state funds were allegedly stolen from it because of allegations that people close to the PMF were involved.
The unavoidable reckoning
No longer is it about whether the PMF should remain in its current form in Baghdad. In Washington, that query has been resolved. Al-Sudani is under a lot of pressure to stop the Iraqi state’s parallel army from aligning with Iran.
Iraq’s course of action is clear. Under constant American pressure, Iran’s political order, which has long been dominated by its allies and endured systemic corruption, isundergoing fundamental change. Washington appears to be determined to not leave the outcome in the hands of Tehran’s final significant regional stronghold.
Because of his lack of other options, Al-Sudani will cling to American pressure. The regular army will include all factions who are willing to distance themselves from Tehran. Refusing to participate will be isolated, destroyed, or their funding will be severed for those who refuse. Not when, but when will determine this outcome.
There are a lot of risks. Iranian-affiliated paramilitary organizations may violently repress dissolution. Despite its weakened regional standing, Tehran can still stoke chaos across Iraqi territory.
Iraq may yet be hurled back into civil conflict as a result of the ghosts of 2006 returning. However, if Iraqi institutions are able to withstand the storm, stronger sovereignty would result in a state that has been sorely lacking since the US invasion of 2003.
