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Europe
Russia
Jun 15, 2025 Russian President Putin told his U.S. counterpart, Trump, yesterday that Moscow was ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after June 22, once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers' bodies. Putin and Trump held a call for the fifth time since the Republican took office and sought to reset relations with Moscow. "Both leaders expressed satisfaction with their personal relations" during the call, in which they also discussed the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the Kremlin said. It added that the presidents "communicate in a businesslike manner and seek solutions to pressing issues on the bilateral and international agenda, no matter how complex these issues may be." Zelenskyy urged the United States to ’shift tone’ in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was "too warm" and would ’not’ help to end the fighting. Washington might relocate resources at its expense, to beef up the defense of its close ally Israel which unleashed a large-scale attack on Iran on Friday. Zelenskyy meanwhile did not mention whether Ukraine would agree to the next round of talks, only saying that the exchanges will be completed and the parties will discuss the next step. Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine and Russia swapped prisoners in the fourth such exchange last week. It is part of a large-scale plan to bring back 1,000 wounded prisoners from each side and return bodies of killed soldiers. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv also said it had received another 1,200 ’unidentified’ bodies from Russia. Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Russia intensified its advances along the front line, especially on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy, where it seeks to establish a buffer zone, to protect its bordering region of Kursk, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelenskyy said Russia's advance on Sumy was stopped and that Kyiv's forces had managed to retake one village. He said 53,000 Russian soldiers were involved in the Sumy operation. Russia has demanded Ukraine cede territory and renounce Western military support if it wants peace. (Source: The Japan Times / AFP (France)-JIJI (Japan))
Asia
Iran
(Sunday), 15 June 2025 - 09:25 Israel and Iran strike at each other overnight into Sunday. Iran has said 78 people were killed there on the first day of Israel's campaign on Friday, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack. A fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital. Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's defence ministry building, causing minor damage, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said today. In the first apparent attack to hit Iran's energy infrastructure, Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at South Pars, the world's biggest gas field, after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday. The South Pars field, offshore in Iran's southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran. Fears about potential disruption to the region's oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9% on Friday even though Israel spared Iran's oil and gas on the first day of its attacks. An Iranian general, Kosari, said on Saturday Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers. (Times Live – South Africa / Reuters - United Kingdom)
15 Jun 2025 - 08:01 am In Iran's capital, AFP journalists heard a series of blasts at around 2:30 am. Iranian authorities have not provided an updated toll as of early Sunday. (Source: The Peninsula – Qatar)
Israel
15/06/2025 - 9:42 GMT+2 'Israel military warns Iran to evacuate nuclear sites'. The Israeli military has warned Iran on Sunday to immediately evacuate 'military weapons production factories', likely signalling new strikes. Col. Adraee, a military spokesperson, posted the warning on the social platform X in Farsi. The warning follows a statement by the Iranian minister of foreign affairs Araghchi saying Tehran would stop its attacks on Israel if Israel would stop theirs. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France, „With AP” - U.S.)
15 Jun 2025 - 08:01 am Air raid sirens and explosions were heard by AFP journalists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Sunday. Israel's emergency services said at least eight people, including children, were killed in the overnight strikes, and around 200 were wounded. In Bat Yam, outside of Tel Aviv, two women, aged 69 and 80, a girl and a 10-year-old boy were killed, while about 100 others were wounded, according to a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA). In Shfela region, west of Jerusalem, another 37 people were wounded, the MDA spokesperson added. In the north of Israel, in the Western Galilee, rescuers said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building, killing three women. A woman in her 20s also died after an Iranian missile hit a home in the Haifa region, leaving about a dozen people wounded, MDA said. An MDA spokesman told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that around 200 people were wounded in the overnight missile strikes fired by Iran. (Source: The Peninsula – Qatar)
Yemen
15.06.2025 Today, Yemen’s Houthis claim striking ‘sensitive Israeli targets’ in Yaffa, central Israel, with hypersonic ballistic missiles, in coordination with the Iranian army, at various times in the last 24 hours. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
North America
United States
15.06.2025 A US official, according to Axios, confirmed that Israel asked Washington to join the military operation, but said currently the administration is not considering it. Washington has repeatedly said that Israel acted alone in its recent military actions against Iran. Citing American and Israeli sources, the news outlet said Israel lacks the capability to destroy Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is buried deep within a mountain, and needs US assistance to target it ’effectively’. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
June 15, 2025 People from 12 countries are already banned from entering the United States – and now Trump is said to be thinking of adding another 36 countries to the list. An internal memo about it reportedly says these countries have 60 days to meet new requirements, or face restrictions too. They include 25 countries in Africa, four in Asia, four in the Carribbean, and three in Oceania), and include strategic US partners Egypt and Djibouti. The Washington Post said that concerns varied for each country, but were things such as lack of reliable ID documents, lack of a ‘competent or cooperative central government authority’, a high number of citizens who previously overstayed their visas, or claims of antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States by their citizens. But the paper reported it said that if a country was willing to accept foreign nationals deported from the US in a ‘safe third country’ agreement, they could reconsider the ban even if other reported issues were not resolved. (Source: Metro – United Kingdom)
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