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Schrödinger’s MoU
The third round of US strikes on Iran. The Gulf is burning.
Overnight Wednesday into Thursday, the United States launched another wave of strikes against Iranian targets. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed one of its members was killed. Iran continued to target US military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens a third time Wednesday morning. Iran’s IRGC issued a statement calling the US army “child-killing and terrorist” and saying American forces had “openly violated the ceasefire and violated the Islamabad understanding.” Iran did not address its own attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait was pointed in its response. Its Foreign Ministry condemned Iranian strikes on its soil in “the strongest terms” and called them “a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, a direct threat to its security, stability, and the safety of its citizens.” Kuwait did not direct those words at the United States. The Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi also condemned Iran’s strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait, describing them as “a flagrant violation of the two countries’ sovereignty and a continuation of Tehran’s efforts to undermine regional peace efforts.”
Al Jazeera’s analysis published Wednesday afternoon noted that Wednesday marked the third time the United States has launched major strikes on Iran while peace talks were nominally ongoing. Tehran has said this pattern caused trust to break down. The MOU has not been formally terminated. Trump said it was “over.” He also said talks “might” continue. Day 22 of 60. Thirty-eight days remain on a clock that may no longer be running.
In Iran, Khamenei’s funeral procession reached Najaf, Iraq on Wednesday. Vast crowds filled the streets of the holy city. Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, has still not appeared publicly. The funeral’s final ceremony — his burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad — is today.
In Lebanon, two more people were killed by an Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Wednesday. The death toll in Lebanon since March 2 has risen to 4,321.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry and the GCC Secretary-General both condemned Iran’s strikes on Gulf states in terms that American coverage has not prominently featured. The Gulf states are not simply collateral victims — they are sovereign nations that have been struck by Iranian missiles on their own soil and are saying so in the clearest possible diplomatic language. That condemnation sits alongside a very different signal from Al Jazeera’s analysis, which placed the current escalation in a specific documented pattern: this is the third time the US has struck Iran while talks were nominally underway. The Gulf states and the Arab press are holding two truths simultaneously that American coverage is keeping separate.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: The US struck Iran for the third consecutive day overnight. Iran struck US military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait. Kuwait called the Iranian strikes a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty. The MOU clock is at Day 22 of 60. Thirty-eight days remain — if the clock is still running. Khamenei is being buried in Mashhad today.
Sources: Al Jazeera live blog (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — IRGC member killed confirmed, third Bahrain sirens confirmed, IRGC “child-killing” statement verbatim confirmed, July 8); Al Jazeera analysis (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — third time US struck while talks ongoing confirmed, GCC Albudaiwi statement verbatim confirmed, Kuwait Foreign Ministry statement verbatim confirmed, Iran trust breakdown framing confirmed, July 8); CBS News live blog (US — Bahrain third sirens confirmed, IRGC “Islamabad understanding” statement confirmed, Kuwait “strongest terms” confirmed, July 8); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — Lebanon 4,321 death toll confirmed, Nabatieh al-Fawqa drone strike confirmed, Najaf funeral crowds confirmed, Mojtaba still absent confirmed, July 8)
The Senator
After France beat Paraguay 1-0 on July 4 in Philadelphia — Mbappé converting a winning penalty — a Paraguayan senator named Celeste Amarilla opened X and typed.
She called Mbappé a “colonized Cameroonian, trying so hard to pretend to be French.” She called him “bitter, new money, arrogant and ugly.” She said Paraguay’s players should have slapped him. She posted this as a sitting member of Paraguay’s national legislature, a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, and deleted the posts after the backlash began. One post remained visible on Instagram.
Then she doubled down.
At a press conference Tuesday, Amarilla said her posts were written “in the heat of the moment” and that she comes from a generation “where calling someone a ‘black shit’ was totally normal.” She said she is trying to “deconstruct” herself. She demanded an apology from Mbappé for calling her “unworthy of her position,” which she characterized as “gender-based violence.” She threatened legal action against him, citing Ronaldinho’s prison stint in Paraguay as evidence that her country was not afraid to pursue soccer players legally.
She also issued an open letter in which she retracted the racial slurs but maintained her criticism of Mbappé’s behavior: his alleged refusal to shake hands with Paraguay’s goalkeeper, his “arrogance and contempt.” “In a single moment, you showed your contempt, your arrogance and your bad manners,” she wrote. “It hurt me and it hurt my whole country deeply.”
Mbappé responded Monday in French. “Madame Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position. You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honour throughout the competition. Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country. I will never allow people like her the freedom to spread their hatred and racism across the world.”
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X, “Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support.”
Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Relations condemned its own senator’s remarks, calling them “contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful cohabitation, as well as the respect for human dignity that our country promotes.”
FIFA issued a second statement calling itself “deeply disturbed by the racist abuse.” The UN Human Rights Office called Amarilla’s remarks “dehumanizing” and “despicable.” French prosecutors opened a criminal investigation. The French Football Federation said it would take judicial action.
France plays Morocco in the quarterfinals today in Boston. Mbappé has scored seven goals in the tournament, tied with Messi and Haaland for the most. He will be on the pitch again today.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Al Jazeera’s piece on the Amarilla incident placed it in proper context: footballers of African descent are routinely subjected to racist abuse both on and off the pitch, and this World Cup has produced multiple such incidents. CBC named another one in the same breath: Belgium coach Rudi Garcia’s description of Senegal as one of “those teams” that “tend to lose their tactical structure towards the end of the match,” racially coded language that drew its own scrutiny. FIFA’s new anti-racism protocols were designed to address on-pitch racism. They hold no authority over senators. The international press is reading Amarilla’s remarks not as an isolated social media outburst but as evidence that football’s anti-racism framework stops at the stadium gate.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: A Paraguayan senator posted racist abuse at the world’s best soccer player after he scored the goal that eliminated her country. She doubled down twice. The UN condemned it. French prosecutors are investigating. Paraguay’s own government condemned her. She is demanding an apology from Mbappé. France plays Morocco today in Boston.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — Amarilla “colonized Cameroonian” confirmed, Philadelphia July 4 match confirmed, Mbappé response verbatim confirmed, Paraguay Foreign Ministry condemnation confirmed, wider racism context confirmed, July 7); ESPN (US — open letter confirmed, “heat of the moment” confirmed, “deconstruct myself” quote verbatim confirmed, Ronaldinho threat confirmed, apology demand confirmed, “gender-based violence” characterization confirmed, shaking hands dispute confirmed, July 7); CBC (Canada, public broadcaster — UN Human Rights Office “dehumanizing and despicable” confirmed, French prosecutors investigation confirmed, Garcia Senegal coded language confirmed, FIFA “deeply disturbed” confirmed, anti-racism protocols context confirmed, July 8); Washington Post (US — FFF judicial action confirmed, Macron “another goal” quote confirmed, July 7)
Lorenzo Araujo
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo worked in construction for 35 years. He built homes. He created work for dozens of men. He sent all three of his sons — Ronaldo, Lorenzo Jr., and a third — to college. Earlier this year, he began the process of obtaining legal status in the United States. He had his biometric scan done. His fingerprints were taken. He attended every appointment. He had studied what to do if ICE ever pulled him over.
At 6:50 Tuesday morning, ICE officers stopped his vehicle in Magnolia Park, a neighborhood that has been a hub for the Mexican American community in Houston for a century. DHS says he rammed an ICE vehicle, ignored commands, and attempted to run over an officer. An officer shot him in the abdomen. Three other men in or near the vehicle were detained, one of them his uncle. No one has heard from any of them since.
His son Lorenzo Jr. held a family photograph at a press conference Wednesday. His son Ronaldo spoke. “He did not deserve to die,” Ronaldo said. “He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream.”
A bystander, Juliet Martinez, recorded a video of the immediate aftermath. It shows a black vehicle angled toward a white van, doors open, a bleeding and handcuffed man groaning on the ground, his leg shaking. Federal officers stand over at least three other handcuffed men. The video has not been released by federal authorities. No body camera footage has been released. DHS has not identified the officer who fired.
LULAC CEO Juan Proaño said, “The federal government handed us a story about Renee Good, and the story fell apart moments after the video was released. Today, in Houston, we’re being handed the same story about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in almost the same exact words. Prove it.”
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had no criminal convictions. He was close to obtaining legal status. His uncle is missing.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday she is considering legal measures or may ask the United Nations to intervene to stop the violence against Mexican nationals in the United States. That is a head of state of a neighboring country invoking the UN over the conduct of American immigration enforcement on American soil. It is the most direct international diplomatic response to an ICE killing since the program’s expansion began. American coverage has treated the Salgado Araujo killing primarily as a domestic law enforcement story. Mexico is treating it as an international one.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status. His sons held his photograph at a press conference Wednesday. His uncle was detained and hasn’t been heard from since. A bystander video of the aftermath exists and has not been released. Mexico’s president is considering asking the United Nations to intervene. No footage has been released. No charges have been filed against anyone.
Sources: PBS NewsHour / AP (US wire — 35 years work confirmed, sons to college confirmed, Ronaldo quote verbatim confirmed, biometric scan/fingerprints confirmed, legal status process confirmed, no criminal convictions confirmed, July 8); CBS News / AP (US wire — sons press conference confirmed, Juliet Martinez video description confirmed, uncle detained confirmed, no contact since confirmed, Sheinbaum considering UN intervention confirmed, July 8); NBC News (US — LULAC Proaño “prove it” quote verbatim confirmed, Magnolia Park century hub confirmed, July 7); Texas Tribune (US — no footage released confirmed, DHS has not identified officer confirmed, Texas Tribune seeking footage confirmed, July 7)
WAR DAY 132 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468 killed, 26,500+ injured (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10 — does not reflect ongoing exchanges of fire)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,321 killed (Al Jazeera live blog, July 8 — updated from prior figures) 🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — tracker frozen June 10; does not reflect ongoing Iranian strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10 — does not reflect ongoing strikes)
🛢️ Brent crude: $77.53/barrel (OilPrice.com — down $1.77 from Wednesday evening; markets slightly easing on Trump’s signals of a short conflict)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.85/gallon (AAA — up $0.05 from yesterday; pump prices catching up to crude spike)
Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon, which has been updated to 4,321 killed per Al Jazeera live blog July 8. The tracker does not reflect ongoing US strikes on Iran or Iranian strikes on US installations in Bahrain and Kuwait. Casualty figures from those exchanges have not been confirmed at publication time. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
