FBI Probing Whether Water System Cyberattacks in Michigan and Seven Other States Are Being Conducted by Iranian Hackers, or Being Staged to Look Like They Are

Image of Iranian hackers via Grok AI

Federal investigators are investigating a wave of cyberattacks on municipal water systems in multiple states after Michigan confirmed it had joined Minnesota in detecting intrusions consistent with activity linked to Iranian hackers.

Officials say the attacks targeted operational technology controlling drinking water treatment and distribution, forcing some utilities to switch to manual operations, though no contamination of drinking water or public health threats have been reported.

CBS News reports:

Investigators are probing to determine whether the activity is the work of Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials and sources familiar with the incident. Sources cautioned that since they had not definitively attributed the attack, their assessment could change as additional technical evidence is collected. They are also probing whether the actor could have attempted to appear Iran-based as a way of stirring the pot amid the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran.

The FBI reported incidents in “at least seven states” but didn’t identify them. On Saturday, Michigan joined Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks on the state’s water systems but an official said all systems were operating “safely.”

In Minnesota, more than 30 municipal water utilities were affected, while Michigan officials described a smaller number of reports, around nine systems, showing malicious activity that matched federal warnings.

The FBI, along with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has been fully engaged, and intelligence assessments point to Iran as a likely suspect based on a longstanding pattern of targeting American water and wastewater infrastructure.

One of the more serious incidents occurred in the small Minnesota city of Braham, where attackers succeeded in shutting down controls for a well and the water treatment plant, leaving roughly 1,700 residents temporarily dependent on stored water in the city’s tower.

Local crews isolated the compromised system, restored a backup, and brought the plant back online within about 90 minutes.

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy stated that all affected systems continued to operate safely after local operators addressed the issues, with communications director Dale George emphasizing there were “no known impacts that posed a public health concern,” in a statement obtained by CBS.

Signs of the hacking campaign have been detected in at least seven states, according to reports, and they follow a joint advisory from the FBI, CISA, and partner agencies warning of Iranian actors targeting the water sector.

Unfortunately, locally managed utilities often lack the resources and specialized expertise to defend against sophisticated state-sponsored cyber operations.

A wire from Nerve News notes, “The incidents expose a persistent national security liability: locally managed public utilities that lack the budget and technical expertise to defend against state-sponsored cyber warfare. While the federal government spends billions on foreign military engagements, American towns remain reliant on water treatment facilities where a single breach can take a plant offline.”

As of Sunday, authorities are urging water utilities nationwide to harden their systems while the investigation continues.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/fbi-probing-whether-water-system-cyberattacks-michigan-seven/

Egyptian Police Arrest Four Christians Who Complained About Being Beaten By Muslims

An Egyptian police car sits on a road. 

A Coptic Christian church in Egypt endured an attack by an Islamic mob earlier this month — resulting in the arrests of four Christians who endured beatings.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a church faced a horde of Muslims — mainly women and children — throwing stones at the building on July 8.

Some of the believers were injured, while the priest’s car and the church building were damaged.

Tal Al-Quiblya, a province in upper Egypt, did not have a church for many years, but Christians started “organising prayers and regular masses in their homes on a rotating basis,” per the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

“The varying distances involved in traveling to different homes affected some residents’ ability to attend regularly,” the organization added.

“Consequently, the villagers decided to designate an existing building located amidst their homes as a church — a move made with the knowledge of both security authorities and the village’s Muslim residents.”

Their efforts to coordinate the worship of the Triune God appeared to incense the Muslim locals.

When the mob attacked on July 8, the police were quickly deployed.

But in addition to arresting several of the Muslims, they arrested four of the Christian men who had been assaulted.

The four men were only released on July 10 once they withdrew their legal complaints against their assailants.

“The attacks occurred despite the fact that the church priest, Father Pavlos Kamal, had notified security authorities about incitement and harassment during previous religious services — yet the authorities failed to intervene pre-emptively to prevent the attacks,” the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights noted.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide Founder Mervyn Thomas noted that the ministry is “highly concerned at this latest attack on a Christian community in Upper Egypt, and particularly at the continuing failure of the local police to act pre-emptively.”

“In addition, the fact that four victims of violence were detained and were only released upon withdrawing their complaint against their assailants is a lamentable indication of an abiding inequality before the law.”

While Egypt is today a largely Islamic country with a Coptic Christian minority, they were predominantly Christian between the 3rd century until the 13th or 14th centuries after countless Islamic incursions.

Open Doors ranks Egypt as 42nd in the world for persecution of Christians.

“In Egypt, most religious freedom violations happen at the community level,” the ministry said.

“These include harassment of Christian women and mobs expelling Christians after alleged blasphemy. Incidents such as these take place mostly in rural areas of Upper Egypt and in some economically disadvantaged urban areas, especially when Islamic extremists are present.”

https://www.westernjournal.com/egyptian-police-arrest-four-christians-complained-beaten-muslims/

Thousands Forced To Evacuate As Fires Rage In Washington, Governor Declares State Of Emergency

Prayers are needed for those in the state of Washington.

Wildfires in Washington have forced thousands of residents to evacuate as three separate wildfires are currently raging in the Evergreen State.

The fires have resulted in Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson to declare a state of emergency for the entire state.

Here are the current scenes:

USA Today provided further details on the fire and revealed if there has been any deaths linked to the fires:

Three major wildfires burning near Spokane, Washington, caused authorities to declare a state of emergency and forced thousands of people to evacuate.

The People Who Burned Cities to Beat Trump are Back and They’re FURIOUS

The Old Trails, Fairview and Autumn Lane fires have scorched over 7,700 acres with 0% containment as of 2:45 p.m. ET on Aug. 2, Benjamin Cossel – public information officer for the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 – confirmed to USA TODAY. Cossel said that more than 600 structures have been destroyed by the fires, a number that he said is likely to rise. He added that Autumn Lane was the “fire of concern” for Aug. 2.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and burn ban on Aug. 1. Multiple areas of Spokane are under a Level 3 evacuation order, the highest level in the state. About 5,000 homes have been evacuated, according to the Associated Press.

People watch as massive plumes of smoke rise from a wildfire in Spokane, U.S., August 1, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
“We urge residents of Spokane to heed evacuation orders and to stay alert to changing conditions and evacuations as they are rapidly changing,” Courtney James, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, told CBS News.

No deaths related to the fires have been reported as of Aug. 2.

Here is the aftermath of one of the ares that was hit by the wildfires:

More footage:

NPR reported a record-setting drought and high winds is to blame for the spread of the wildfires:

Washington is in the midst of a record-setting statewide drought, leading the governor to issue a statewide burn ban on Saturday. The ban prohibits most outdoor fires, including those for trash disposal, yard debris, land clearing, bonfires, and campfires not contained in structures such as fire rings.

“Our record-setting drought and high winds are creating dangerous conditions across the state,” Ferguson said.

Thousands of Washington state residents also have been hit by power outages, with almost 11,000 customers affected as of 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to a live map from U.S. energy company Avista Utilities, with over 8,000 of those in Spokane County.

So far this year, more than 1,000 fires have burned approximately 425,000 acres in Washington state — the most since 2021, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

“This year has already been one of our busiest wildfire years on record, and we just started August,” Upthegrove said. “Our firefighters are already stretched thin across the state, and with more heat and wind expected this weekend and for the rest of the summer.”

https://wltreport.com/2026/08/02/thousands-forced-to-evacuate-as-fires-rage-in-washington-governor-declares-state-of-emergency/

Italian Navy Intercepts and Boards Tanker From Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’ in the Mediterranean

Screengrab after footage by Italian Ministry of Defense

Cargo ships are a soft target.

In the fifth year of the Ukraine war, the European countries finally found a way to safely flex their military muscles by boarding defenseless cargo ships allegedly part of Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’.

We have seen France, the UK and now Italy engage in these interceptions.

Euronews reported:

“The Italian navy has boarded a Russian tanker in international waters off Pantelleria, an island located between Sicily and Tunisia. The operation was carried out as part of an arms and oil trafficking monitoring mission with the support of a Greek vessel and a Polish maritime patrol aircraft.

[…] The tanker Toa Payoh, which is subject to European Union sanctions and belongs to the so-called Russian ‘shadow fleet’, has undergone nationality verification, which for ships is determined by the flag they are authorized to fly. The Toa Payoh is sailing under the declared flag of Cameroon.

The tanker, which left the port of Cotonou in Benin on 16 July bound for Istanbul, was intercepted west of Pantelleria. According to the ministry’s account, the tanker’s master initially did not provide the requested cooperation. A team of Italian military personnel then reached the vessel by helicopter from the ship Thaon di Revel and carried out the planned checks.”

Reuters reported:

“The ​vessel had switched to a Cameroon registry only last week, according to ⁠a source familiar with the operation. Maritime authorities launched the inspection to verify that ​the tanker was legally entitled to fly the Cameroon flag and that its registration documents ​were valid.

The source said the EU naval mission, named operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini, did not have the authority to seize vessels during such inspections, meaning the Toa Payoh was not detained.

However, documentation gathered during ​the boarding was still being examined and could be used by national authorities for ​a subsequent sequestration if necessary.

The Toa Payoh’s captain initially failed to cooperate with the EU mission, prompting ‌a team ⁠of Italian military personnel to board the vessel from a helicopter launched by the Thaon di Revel, the EU’s EUNAVFOR MED’s flagship.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/italian-navy-intercepts-boards-tanker-russias-shadow-fleet/