International
Argentina asks to be a “global partner” of NATO
Argentina requested to be a “global partner” of NATO in the framework of a meeting held this Thursday by its Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, and the deputy secretary general of the multilateral organization, Mircea Geoana, official sources reported.
As published by the holder of the portfolio on social network X and disseminated his ministry, Petri presented “the letter of intent that expresses Argentina’s request to become a global partner of this organization.”
“We will continue to work on recovering links that allow us to modernize and train our forces to the NATO standard,” concluded the Argentine Minister of Defense.
Petri accompanied his publication with several photographs – including that of the delivery of the official letter – of his meeting with Geoana in Brussels, where the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is located.
Argentina’s rapprochement with NATO is linked to the new foreign policy developed by the Government of the ultraliberal Javier Milei, which has as references the United States and Israel.
In addition to the recent visit to Argentina of the commander of the Southern Command of the United States, Army General Laura Richardson, with a vocation to expand collaboration in defense, the South American country is clearly aligned with Israel both in the war in the Gaza Strip against the armed wing of Hamas and in the recent crisis unleashed with Iran.
Petri is this week in Europe, where on Monday he signed an agreement for the purchase of 24 used F-16 fighter planes from the Danish Army.
Milei was going to travel to Denmark to meet with the Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and celebrate the signing of the agreement, but suspended the visit following Iran’s attack on Israel and returned from the United States – where he had traveled to receive a tribute from a Jewish organization – to organize a “crisis committee” in Buenos Aires.
Argentina keeps in its memory the memory of two serious attacks against the interests of the Jewish community: in 1992 against the Embassy of Israel; and in 1994 against the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA). Both left more than 100 dead and hundreds of injured.
As its official website shows, NATO has 32 full members. Born after World War II (1939-1945), twelve countries signed their accession in 1949: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United States, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
They were joined, in various expansions, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden – the last two incorporations, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, against the background of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In addition, it has several allies qualified as global partners, the same status that Argentina now intends: Australia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Colombia, the only country in Latin America, admitted in 2017.
Undoubtedly, an important aspect that could generate some internal conflict is the diplomatic dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands between the United Kingdom – one of the founding members of NATO – and Argentina, which caused a war in 1982.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
International
Three salvadorans in Florida sentenced in $146 million construction tax fraud scheme
Three Salvadoran residents living in Orlando, Florida, were sentenced for conspiracy to commit tax fraud and wire fraud involving a scheme exceeding $146 million in the construction industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. The sentence was handed down by federal judge Timothy J. Corrigan on Tuesday, July 29.
Eduardo Aníbal Escobar (45) was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison, Carlos Alberto Rodríguez (36) to 3 years and 4 months, and Adelmy Tejada (57) to 18 months in prison, followed by 6 months of house arrest. All three pled guilty on April 3, 2025.
In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered restitution payments totaling $36,957,616 to the IRS for unpaid payroll taxes, and $397,895 to two insurers for workers’ compensation claims related to the scheme.
Escobar and Rodríguez are permanent legal residents originally from El Salvador, while Tejada is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Salvadoran origin.
International
Kremlin hails preparedness after Kamchatka quakes leave no casualties
The Kremlin expressed relief that the earthquakes that struck Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula today —the first being the strongest since 1952— resulted in no casualties, and emphasized that the region is well prepared to face such natural disasters.
“Thank God, there were no victims,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during his daily press briefing.
The presidential representative stated that “all alert systems were activated in time, and evacuations were organized for residents in areas requiring it in response to tsunami threats.”
“Overall, the seismic resilience of the buildings proved effective (…) Therefore, we can say that the technological preparedness demonstrated a high level,” Peskov added.
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