Reuters

The U.S. military will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Washington seeks to bolster defenses following threats from Iran and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah.

The U.S. is bracing for Iran to make good on its vow to respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh two days ago in Tehran – one in a series of killings of senior figures in the Palestinian militant group as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages.

Freed Russian dissidents conflicted after prisoner swap

DW

Andrei Pivovarov, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin entered DW’s conference room in Bonn on Friday and started speaking with little fanfare.

The three Russian opposition figures, who a day earlier were still serving sentences in Russia, were among those freed in the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.

They arrived in Germany less than 24 hours before, and the media conference was their first chance to speak about their experiences in Russian prison and their shock at being released.

Venezuelan electoral body confirms Maduro’s victory in presidential elections

CGTN

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council confirmed on Friday that President Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday’s elections with 51.95 percent of the vote.

With 96.87 percent of the ballots counted, Maduro received 6,408,844 votes, while his main opposition rival garnered 5,326,104 votes (43.18 percent), according to Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council.

Kamala Harris secures votes to become Democratic U.S. presidential nominee

Nikkei Asia

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks from the South Lawn of the White House during an event with NCAA college athletes on July 22.   © AP

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough votes to become the Democratic presidential candidate, party officials announced Friday, ending an extraordinary nominating process that saw the incumbent president dropping out of the race.

Her nomination was secured through a new online voting procedure by the party’s national convention delegates. She will be the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to lead a major political ticket for president.