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Europe
Hungary
21.07.2025 Hungary and Serbia will jointly build a new oil pipeline aimed at safeguarding affordable energy supplies amid ongoing EU efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy, Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó announced today. The pipeline, with an expected annual capacity of 4-5 million tons, is planned to become operational by 2027. Hungary will construct 180 kilometers of the new infrastructure as part of the project. 'Brussels wants to cut us off from Russian oil and gas, forcing Hungarian families to pay two to four times more. We won’t allow that,” Szijjártó told in Budapest. “We are building new sources, not shutting them down.” According to the minister, the pipeline will help protect Hungary’s long-standing utility cost reduction program and shield families from energy price hikes driven by EU policies. Budapest has repeatedly warned that ending access to Russian energy would harm its economy and raise household costs, as over 80% of Hungary’s oil imports currently flow through the Druzhba pipeline. In 2023, Hungary and Serbia also launched joint investments in gas infrastructure, including a new interconnector aimed at enhancing regional energy security. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Belgium
Monday, 21 July 2025 King Philippe of Belgium has called the humanitarian situation in Gaza 'a disgrace to humanity,” although he did not specifically mention Israel. “I join everyone who denounces the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent civilians, trapped in their enclave, are starving and succumbing to bombs,' the King said in his annual speech ahead of Belgium’s national day. He also called for an immediate end to the 'unbearable crisis.' King Philippe spoke of a meeting he had with a Palestinian and an Israeli father who had both lost a child. He said, “They have put aside their feelings of revenge and chosen to transform their suffering into a message of peace.” The Flemish Forum of Jewish Organisations had criticism about the speech. They do not understand why King Philippe did not also mention the terrorist attack of October 2023 and the hostages who are still held in Gaza. (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)
Poland
21.07.2025 The largest conventional oil field in Poland has been discovered in the Baltic Sea, six kilometers from the northwestern Polish port of Swinoujscie, the Canadian firm Central European Petroleum announced today. The Wolin East field is estimated to contain 22 million tons of recoverable hydrocarbons and 5 billion cubic meters of commercial-grade natural gas. Central European Petroleum described it as one of the biggest in Europe. Natural gas deposits within the Wolin concession could be equivalent to more than 300 million barrels of oil. Drilling is being carried out by the US firm Noble Corporation, while Zenith Energy, a well engineering consultancy and project management company, announced earlier this year that the Wolin East 1 well had been successfully delivered to Central European Petroleum. The country imports much of its gas as liquefied natural gas from the Middle East and the US via new terminals in Gdansk and Swinoujscie, as well as natural gas delivered via pipeline from Norway. This Baltic Sea discovery is expected to reduce Poland’s reliance on foreign energy resources and could also affect the nearby German energy market. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Russia
21 July 2025 In Finland, CheckFirst researchers work to combat online disinformation. They tracked down several versions of the highly secretive Russian signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit Center 16 challenge coins issued by the Russian government, found on a variety of publicly available websites, as well as on the websites of Russian challenge coin manufacturers, such as GosZnak, SpetsZnak, or Breget. Based on this OSINT methodology, CheckFirst researchers were able to identify 10 distinct directorates within Center 16, which specialize on various aspects of defensive and offensive cyber espionage. Previously only a single Center 16 directorate had been identified in the unclassified domain. By examining geographic indicators found on several of challenge coins, such as maps or coordinates, CheckFirst researchers were able to partly map out the geographic structure of Center 16, locating nearly a dozen interception facilities throughout Russia. (Source: intelNews – U.S.)
by Fitsanakis
The report
Ukraine
July 21, 2025, Monday // 08:54 Aerial assault began around 11:40 p.m. on July 20, when air defense systems were activated in Kyiv Oblast. By 12:24 a.m. on July 21, authorities issued a countrywide air-raid warning as the threat of missiles extended to all of Ukraine. A second national alert followed at 3 a.m. as Russian MiG-31K aircraft, capable of carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, were detected in the air. The Ukrainian Air Force also confirmed launches of Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea and reported that Tu-95 strategic bombers had taken off from Russia's Murmansk Oblast. Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., Russia carried out a massive combined aerial assault on Kyiv and other regions across Ukraine, deploying attack drones alongside cruise and ballistic missiles. The overnight strikes triggered widespread damage. Fires were recorded in four city districts: Darnytskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Dniprovskyi, and Solomianskyi. In the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, Russia used multiple types of missiles and Shahed drones, damaging civilian infrastructure across at least three villages within the Ivano-Frankivsk hromada. In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Russian forces struck several communities in the Nikopol district - Nikopol, Marhanets, and Chervonohryhorivka hromadas - using FPV drones and artillery. The strikes damaged infrastructure. Another drone strike hit the Mezhova hromada in Synelnykove district, again targeting infrastructure. Ukrainian air defenses shot down seven Russian drones over the region. This renewed wave of strikes adds to the recent pattern of Russian attacks targeting cities far from the frontline. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)
Asia
Gaza
July 21 2025 08:33:17 Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory on Sunday. The U.N. World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid "encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire' near Gaza City, soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints. Eighty were killed as truckloads of aid arrived in the north. Nine others were reported shot near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier. Four were killed near another aid site in Khan Yunis, also in the south. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (U.N. OCHA) agency, 87.8 percent of Gaza is now under displacement orders or within Israeli militarized zones, leaving "2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12 per cent of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed." Israel yesterday withdrew the residency permit of head of the OCHA office in Israel, Whittall, who has repeatedly condemned the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Saar, in a post to X, accused him of spreading lies about the war in Gaza. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)
Iran
Jul 21, 2025 Even moderates in Tehran have stopped trusting Western promises. In the contemporary era, there have been at least four major betrayals by the United States that continue to underscore Iran’s fear of foreign duplicity. So, what should the West expect now? It doesn’t matter who rules Iran. The leadership - regardless of name or face, whether wearing a crown, a turban, or a tie - shares a foundational belief: the West cannot be trusted to keep its word, honor its deals, or respect Iranian sovereignty. This doesn’t mean Iran is inflexible or incapable of negotiation. But its starting point is not trust, it’s caution. (Source: Responsible Statecraft - U.S. )
by Khatami, a member of the National Committee of Etehad-e Mellat, a leading reformist party in Iran, where he chairs its Foreign Policy Committee. He holds an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Tehran and focuses on U.S.–Iran relations. He has written in Persian and co-authored three books on regional politics.
Japan
July 21, 2025 - 10:08:11 Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition failed today to secure a majority in the 248-seat upper house in a crucial parliamentary election, NHK public television said. The loss is another blow to Ishiba’s coalition - Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito - making it a minority in both houses following its October defeat in the lower house election, and worsening Japan’s political instability. Soaring prices, lagging incomes and burdensome social security payments are the top issues for frustrated, cash-strapped voters. Stricter measures targeting foreign residents and visitors also emerged as a key issue, with a surging right-wing populist party leading the campaign. US President Trump has added to the pressure, complaining about a lack of progress in trade negotiations and the lack of sales of US autos and American-grown rice to Japan despite a shortfall in domestic stocks of the grain. A 25 percent tariff due to take effect Aug. 1 has been another blow for Ishiba. It was the first time the LDP has lost a majority in both houses of parliament since the party’s foundation in 1955. (Source: The Korea Herald - South Korea)
Syria
Monday), July 21 2025 08:45:19 Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave an updated toll late Sunday of 1,120 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 427 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 354 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin. The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening. Residents of Sweida city number at about 150,000. Government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence. Israel had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)
North America
United States
Jul 21, 2025 09:26 IST "No one is above the law". Obama handcuffed, put in jail: Trump posts AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform, amid poll fraud charge. The video comes after the Trump administration accused Obama of election fraud in 2016, with the US President backing calls for his prosecution. Trump's Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Gabbard has accused the former President of attempting to undermine Trump's victory in the 2016 election. Citing declassified documents, Gabbard claimed senior officials during Obama's regime manufactured and politicised alleged intel assessments to show that Trump's win was due to Russian interference. She also called for Obama and former senior US national security officials to be prosecuted, which has also been echoed by Trump. (Source: India Today)
NATO
21.07.2025 NATO Secretary General Rutte participated today in an online meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group - hosted by German Defense Minister Pistorius and UK Defense Secretary Healey - aimed at enhancing support for Ukraine by 'providing additional US assets through investments from allies in Europe and Canada'. NATO will coordinate the initiative through its command in Wiesbaden, Germany, at the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which manages logistical hubs in the eastern part of the alliance territory. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
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