China Sanctions 10 US Defense, Rare Earth Firms Over Pentagon Blacklist

Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
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China Sanctions 10 US Defense, Rare Earth Firms Over Pentagon Blacklist

Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 
Lockheed Martin showcases advanced capabilities at World Defense Show in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

China imposed export controls on 10 US companies involved in defense and rare earths mining in response to Washington's blacklist of Chinese firms, Beijing said on Monday.

Also, exporters are prohibited from providing dual-use items to the listed entities, China's commerce ministry said, adding that “any relevant export activities currently underway must cease immediately.”

The move comes a month after US President Donald Trump visited Beijing, seeking to stabilize fraught relations during talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Although the countries agreed to work towards reducing tariffs, ties have since been tested as both sides stunt the other in tech and defense.

Washington released a new blacklist this month of 80 companies and their subsidiaries it said were aiding the Chinese military.

China's new export controls come “in response to the US government's egregious act of adding to its so-called 'Chinese military enterprise list,’” the commerce ministry said in a statement, adding the move was also to “safeguard national security.”

The 10 entities include Aveox, which holds aerospace defense contracts with the US military, and Oshkosh Defense, which produces military vehicle fleets.

It also lists US rare earths producers MP Materials and USA Rare Earth.

China's finance ministry simultaneously announced a ban on agencies involved in public procurement from buying products made by 46 US firms, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing's defense division.

Companies with US investments operating in China are excluded, according to a statement from the finance ministry, which said measures would take effect from Monday.

The list of companies and their subsidiaries that Washington blacklisted this month include Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, internet search provider Baidu, and automakers BYD and NIO.

 



Truck Carrying Wedding Guests Struck in Indonesia, Killing 13 People

This aerial shot taken using a drone shows a general view of a village in Kendeng Mountains in Rembang, Central Java, Indonesia, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ibrahim AS)
This aerial shot taken using a drone shows a general view of a village in Kendeng Mountains in Rembang, Central Java, Indonesia, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ibrahim AS)
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Truck Carrying Wedding Guests Struck in Indonesia, Killing 13 People

This aerial shot taken using a drone shows a general view of a village in Kendeng Mountains in Rembang, Central Java, Indonesia, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ibrahim AS)
This aerial shot taken using a drone shows a general view of a village in Kendeng Mountains in Rembang, Central Java, Indonesia, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ibrahim AS)

A pickup truck carrying wedding guests was crushed between two trucks on a busy highway on Indonesia's main island of Java, killing 13 people and injuring five others, police said Monday.

The crash occurred Sunday afternoon on the northern coastal highway near Kiajaran Kulon village of Indramayu regency, as the group was returning home after attending a wedding in neighboring Parean village, local traffic police chief Undang Syarif Hidayat said.

The Associated Press quoted him as saying that the victims were traveling in an open-bed pickup truck when the vehicle slowed and stopped near a median opening to make a U-turn on the highway when it was struck from behind by a wing-box truck traveling in the same direction.

“The impact pushed the pickup into the opposite lane where it was hit again by another truck,” Hidayat said, “The powerful collision hurled more than a dozen people from the pickup truck onto the highway.”

Five survivors remained hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to serious, police said. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in Indonesia, where overloaded vehicles, inadequate road safety measures and poor compliance with traffic regulations frequently contribute to fatal crashes.


US Says Completed Strikes on Dozens of Iranian Targets as Both Vie for Strait of Hormuz

A projectile approaches a target at an unknown location, following what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 12, 2026. US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS
A projectile approaches a target at an unknown location, following what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 12, 2026. US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS
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US Says Completed Strikes on Dozens of Iranian Targets as Both Vie for Strait of Hormuz

A projectile approaches a target at an unknown location, following what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 12, 2026. US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS
A projectile approaches a target at an unknown location, following what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 12, 2026. US Central Command/Handout via REUTERS

The US military said on Sunday it completed a new round of strikes in Iran aimed at preventing Tehran from attacking shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz.

"CENTCOM forces struck Iranian military air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats using US fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time," the US military said in a post on X.

The US and Iran each asserted Monday they controlled the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” Central Command said. “Iran does not control it.”

Iran's Revolutionary Guard sharply rejected America's statement.

“The Strait of Hormuz is our territory, and we will not allow a rogue and child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference in it,” the Guard said.

The attacks, sparked by Iran striking a container ship Sunday in the strait off the coast of Oman, again underlined that the waterway that once saw a fifth of the world's traded crude oil and natural gas pass through it remained the key issue in negotiations.

The narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf has seen shipping disrupted since the start of the war as Iran maintained a chokehold on it by attacking commercial vessels around it, intimidating shippers.

Iran and the US are nearly at the midway point of the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war.

Instead, it has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait.


France Opens Terror Probe after Guns Found in Car Near Synagogue

People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
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France Opens Terror Probe after Guns Found in Car Near Synagogue

People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

French anti-terrorist prosecutors on Sunday opened an investigation after weapons were found in a car parked in a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish population.

Three hundred people were evacuated on Saturday evening from a neighborhood in Sarcelles, north of Paris, following reports of a suspicious vehicle, which was found to contain "a military-grade weapon", according to the interior minister.

An investigation has been launched "on charges of forming a terrorist criminal organization with a view to preparing crimes involving attacks on persons and the transport, possession and acquisition of weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise," the prosecutors said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on BFMTV that the vehicle was found near one of the town's several synagogues.

"We do not yet know the motives," Nunez said, adding that "the individuals have not yet been identified."

A security cordon had been set up on Saturday evening around the car, which was parked in a busy neighborhood near a cinema and restaurants that were evacuated in the early evening.

Bomb disposal experts found no explosives, but according to a police source, the stolen car contained an assault-style rifle and a handgun.

Nunez stated that three attacks had been foiled since the start of the year, including a knife attack last February on a gendarme beneath the Arc de Triomphe during the ceremony to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.