Egyik 19

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Europe

European Union
July 9, 2025  Throughout the post-Cold War era, the European Union (EU) relied on four key assumptions: the United States’ willingness to shoulder the primary responsibility for European security, the reliability of Russia as the major source of energy, China’s status as a major growth market for European goods, and the budgetary durability of prioritizing social benefits over security needs. These assumptions, which worked for several decades, provided a foundation for the European way of life constructed around political stability, democratic governance, generous social programs, favorable borrowing terms from international capital markets, and the projected image of a reasonable, soft-power alternative to China, Russia, and the United States. These assumptions are no longer valid. The last three years have witnessed remarkable changes, mostly to Europe’s disadvantage. Considering the tectonic shifts in the global system, Europe is now under pressure on several fronts, one of the most important being trade negotiations with the United States. In 2023, the US-EU trade in goods and services stood at $1.4 trillion. Europe’s annual trade surplus with the United States - at $236 billion in 2024 - has become a sore point and target for the America First agenda. American grievances include high EU tariffs on certain goods such as fish, seafood, trucks, bikes, and automobiles, as well as EU digital regulations that 'unfairly' target large technology firms, an issue exacerbated by hefty fines on Apple and Meta. "Other issues include delays in EU approvals for genetically modified crops or bans on agricultural imports containing residues of certain types of pesticides". The Trump administration regards Europe as less of a friend and more of a challenge. Europe’s ability to finance its social largesse is'nt endless. In 2023, total social protection benefits expenditure in the EU was equal to 26.8 percent of the EU’s GDP. According to the OECD, France’s public social spending accounts for 31.6 percent of its GDP, Italy’s for 30.1 percent, and Germany’s for 26.7 percent. Many European countries face severe fiscal and debt management challenges as well as rising costs for social benefits networks. According to the IMF, Italy’s debt-to-GDP figure stands at 134.8 percent, Spain’s is at 105. percent, and France’s is at 110.6 percent. 'Demands for increased defense spending are likely to exacerbate fiscal pressures'. Social benefits may have to be cut, which would be highly unpopular and lead to demonstrations and riots. 'The NATO governments recently committed to allocating 5 percent of their GDPs to defense spending'. Where that money will come from, barring fiscal stringency in other realms, remains an issue. The pressures combined indicate that Europe will sign a trade deal with the United States soon. Europe’s ponderous decision-making processes and post-Cold War mentality, conditioned by a world of multilateralism, soft power, and generous social benefits, are now severely challenged. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Dr. MacDonald, the Chief Economist for Smith’s Research & Gradings, a Fellow with the Caribbean Policy Consortium, and a research fellow with Global Americans. He worked for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Credit Suisse, Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, KWR International, and Mitsubishi Corporation. His most recent book is The New Cold War, China and the Caribbean (Palgrave Macmillan 2022).

Asia

Iran
08.07.2025  Results of the confrontation with Israel. The Israeli attack on Iran was the most serious test of the strength of the Islamic Republic since the Iran-Iraq War. It led to significant human, material and reputational losses. However, even with the help of the United States, Israel failed to achieve the main goals of the attack: to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme and overthrow the country’s government. It united Iranians on a national and patriotic basis, and strengthened the determination of the Islamic Republic’s leadership to firmly confront external challenges. Tehran has no intention of curtailing its nuclear programme and its enrichment activities, in particular. It is premature to talk about the end of the Iranian-Israeli confrontation. The idée fixe for Israel has been and remains the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme, which, according to Tel Aviv, primarily serves as a means of creating nuclear weapons. The Trump administration resumed negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme. Tehran has pragmatically agreed to negotiations based on the belief that diplomacy is the only viable solution to its nuclear issue, and that it might be possible to reach an agreement with Trump. Israel insisted that American negotiators issue an ultimatum demanding that Iran completely cease enrichment activities. When the negotiating process began to suggest compromise solutions with the possible continuation of low-level enrichment by Tehran, Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran. ’US President Trump not only knew about Tel Aviv’s plans, but also greenlighted them, believing that forceful pressure on Tehran would force it to accept Washington’s maximalist demands regarding nuclear issues.’ Iran responded with sensitive missile and drone strikes, often overcoming Israel’s multi-component air defences and causing serious damage to Israel’s military-industrial infrastructure as well as residential neighbourhoods. Despite the intensive bombing, Israel failed to cause irreparable damage to the main nuclear infrastructure facilities deep underground. The United States came to the aid of its regional ally, dropping heavy bunker buster bombs on the facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. But even these bombings, according to Iranian authorities, did not cause critical damage, since all the enriched uranium and centrifuges had been removed from the nuclear facilities in advance and dispersed to new storage locations. US President Trump, unwilling to get involved in a military conflict with Iran, announced the destruction of the Iranian nuclear programme and called on Israel and Iran to observe a ceasefire. Exhausted by the 12-day war, Tel Aviv and Tehran stopped bombing one another. The real damage done to the Iranian nuclear programme can only be clarified after an objective international investigation. This is currently difficult, since Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA, accusing its head Grossi of harbouring a biased attitude towards Tehran and spying for the West. Tehran will be ready to reconsider its decision if the Agency provides firm guarantees of the security of the Iranian nuclear programme (INP) and Iranian nuclear scientists. Regarding President Trump’s proposal to resume nuclear negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi noted that it is impossible to trust those who, in the midst of negotiations, launch a military operation against someone with whom they want to agree. Nevertheless, Tehran will most likely resume negotiations in order to avoid a new escalation of the situation. By supporting the Iranian leadership in repelling Israeli aggression, the Iranians, after the end of the critical phase of the conflict, made it clear that they expect the authorities to take active steps to resolve acute socio-economic problems and bring the country out of international isolation. The country’s leadership is being asked questions about why Iran was left defenceless in the face of Israeli aggression. Why did the protective system of regional proxy groups, the creation and strengthening of which took so much financial and material resources that could have been used to resolve internal Iranian problems, not work? The declared ceasefire remains fragile. Both sides are using it to restore destroyed military facilities, strengthen air defence systems, and replenish their missile and drone arsenal. Israel says it will prevent Iran’s efforts to restore its nuclear and missile programmes. Hypothetically, to destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in its entirety is only possible as a result of a ground operation, which neither Israel nor the United States are ready to commit to. The only way left to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem is through political and diplomatic means. It is necessary to agree on mutually acceptable, controlled limits on Iran’s nuclear activities. (Source: Valdai Discussion Club - Russia)
by Maryasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Iran (2001-2005)

North America

United States
09.07.2025  Trump met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time this week. The talks in the Oval Office lasted for over an hour. Netanyahu’s official X account posted a brief statement after the meeting, saying the prime minister concluded his second meeting with President Trump. A Qatari delegation arrived at the White House ahead of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting and held talks for several hours with senior officials. Earlier yesterday, Netanyahu met with Vice President Vance and visited Capitol Hill, telling reporters after a meeting with House Speaker Johnson that Israel still has to ’finish the job’ in Gaza, including releasing hostages and destroying Hamas' military and governance capabilities. He said he may discuss additional items with Trump later in the visit. US special envoy for the Middle East Witkoff said yesterday that after two days of proximity talks he is hopeful that a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will be agreed to by the week's end following progress in talks. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

July 8, 2025 - 12:49  Trump and Netanyahu met for several hours in Washington. Trump's third face-to-face encounter with Netanyahu since returning to office in January came just over two weeks after the president ordered the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in support of Israeli airstrikes. Before heading to Washington, the Israeli leader said his discussions with Trump could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group. Netanyahu's visit follows Trump's prediction, on the eve of their meeting, that such a deal could be reached this week. Ahead of their visit, Netanyahu told reporters Israeli negotiators were driving for a deal on Gaza in Doha, Qatar's capital. Israeli officials also hope the outcome of the conflict with Iran will pave the way for normalization of relations with more of its neighbors such as Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu met earlier yesterday with Witkoff and Secretary of State Rubio. President Trump, hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House yesterday, said his administration would be meeting with Iran. The two leaders, with their top advisers, held a private dinner in the White House Blue Room. "We have scheduled Iran talks, and they ... want to talk. They took a big drubbing,". Trump also said he would like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point. Iranian President Pezeshkian said in an interview released yesterday that he believed Iran could resolve its differences with the US through dialogue. Trump and his aides appeared to be trying to seize on any momentum created by the weakening of Iran, which backs Hamas, to push both sides for a breakthrough in the 21-month Gaza war. President Trump indicated progress on a controversial effort to relocate Palestinians out of Gaza, suggesting that the residents could move to neighboring nations. We've had great cooperation from ... surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen, Trump said. We're working with the US very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we're getting close to finding several countries, Netanyahu said. Gazans criticized the proposal and vowed never to leave their homes in the coastal enclave. Human rights groups condemned the plan as ethnic cleansing. During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a letter that he said he had used to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture, thanked him. Outside, hundreds of protesters, many wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and waving Palestinian flags, gathered near the White House, waving banners that read Stop Arming Israel and Say No to Genocide. They also called for Netanyahu's arrest, referring to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu was due to meet Vice President Vance. He planned to visit the US Capitol today to see congressional leaders. (Source: The Korea Herald - South Korea / Reuters - United Kingdom)

(8 July 2025, 10 CEST)  Trump says Ukraine will receive more weapons after US pause on shipments. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

(8 July 2025) 08:30  Netanyahu’s visit to the White House - his third since Trump took office in January - comes as the two leaders take a victory lap on the heels of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end the fighting and is now pressuring the Islamic Republic to return to negotiations. At the dinner, Trump said the US and Iran were set to meet soon and reiterated that he’s open to lifting sanctions on Iran. His envoy Witkoff told reporters that the US and Iran would meet within the next week. “I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off, give them a chance at rebuilding,” Trump said at the dinner with Netanyahu. “Because I’d like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying ‘Death to America, Death to the USA, Death to Israel,’ as they were doing.” Netanyahu is visiting Washington as the Trump administration pushes for a halt to the war in Gaza, with the US president raising hopes for a deal that could stop the fighting and see the release of hostages still being held by Hamas. Trump said last week that a ceasefire could be close to the conflict that has raged since the attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023 and which has threatened to further destabilize the region. Trump and Netanyahu suggested a ceasefire was in reach, and the Israeli leader hinted that he would be willing to expand the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s relations with several regional nations. “I think we can work out a peace between us and the rest of the Middle East with President Trump’s leadership,” Netanyahu said. Netanyahu has accepted a proposal put forward by Trump that would pause fighting in Gaza for 60 days and see the return of some hostages. Hamas said last week it had responded positively to the proposed deal and was ready to immediately enter negotiations. International pressure is mounting on Israel to end its war in Gaza as more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in the military campaign, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Aid agencies are warning the 2 million residents of Gaza are at risk of famine. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, still holds about 50 hostages, of whom Israel believes 20 are still alive. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)

Tuesday 08 July 2025 07:26 BST  Trump gushed over Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after being presented with a Nobel Peace Prize nomination during their meeting at the White House yesterday. ’He's forging peace, as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other,’ Mr Netanyahu said. ’Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,’ Mr Trump said in response, adding: ’It's a great honour.’ (Source: The Independent

08/07/2025 - 03:17  Trump reignited his trade war by threatening more than a dozen countries with higher tariffs yesterday, including key allies Japan and South Korea. Then he extended the deadline for countries to negotiate his sweeping tariffs to August 1. Tokyo and Seoul would be hit with 25 percent tariffs on their goods, he wrote. Countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia were slapped with duties ranging from 25 percent to 40 percent. Trump warned of further escalation if there was retaliation against the levies. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday that he won't easily compromise in trade talks with Washington. Companies from Japan and South Korea have made significant manufacturing investments in the US in recent years. Trump has also threatened another 10 percent tariff on countries aligning themselves with the emerging BRICS nations, accusing them of Anti-American policies after they slammed his duties at a summit. (Source: France 24 with AFP = France)

July 8, 2025  When he was named director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel under U.S. President Trump, a media report called Gor “maybe the most powerful man you’ve never heard of.” Gor’s public profile has increased more recently, as he continued his work overseeing appointments of thousands of officials for the Trump administration. The Times of Malta and OCCRP have obtained a notarized Maltese property record that shows Gor’s origins. He was born Gorokhovsky on November 30, 1986, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. The December 2024 profile of Gor by the Washington Post called him an immigrant from the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. His mother created a Maltese company in 1994, listing her nationality as Israeli. When he was a boy, Gor’s family emigrated to the U.S., where he became a citizen. His path to politics led him eventually to a job with Republican Senator Paul, and then into Trump’s orbit. Gor left Paul’s office in 2020 to work as chief of staff on the Trump Victory Finance Committee for the failed re-election campaign. He also co-founded a conservative publishing company with Trump Jr. called Winning Team Publishing. (Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project - U.S.)

7/8/2025  An impostor pretending to be Secretary of State Rubio contacted foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress by sending them voice and text messages that mimic Rubio’s voice and writing style using artificial intelligence-powered software, using both text messaging and the encrypted messaging app Signal, which the Trump administration uses extensively. In May, someone breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Wiles and began placing calls and messages to senators, governors and business executives while pretending to be Wiles. Impersonating a federal officer or employee to deceive or obtain something is a crime. (Source: MSN / The Washington Post = U.S.)

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Europe

Germany
04.07.2025  Germany is in talks with the US to purchase Patriot missile systems and deliver them to Ukraine. Today, the Bild daily first reported on the topic. Germany will finance two Patriot air defense systems. Defense Minister Pistorius will travel to Washington in mid-July and discuss these matters with his counterpart. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Poland
July 7, 2025  Poland is buying an insane number of tanks from South Korea. Is Poland 'preparing for war’? Warsaw assumes that the Russians will go hard against Poland after it takes over Ukraine, but there remains little hard evidence indicating Russia intends to do so. In 2022, Poland became South Korea’s most important defense customer, allegedly signing upwards of $22 billion in multi-system arms packages - included 180 K2 tanks, 212 K9 self-propelled howitzers, 48 FA-50 fighters, and several Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers. On July 2, Warsaw finalized a $6 billion export agreement with South Korea’s government. One of the most potent systems it is purchasing is South Korea’s K2 Black Panther Main Battle Tank (MBT). The deal involves as many as 180 tanks - making it Seoul’s largest single-weapon export deal to date. At least 63 of those 180 MBTs will be built in Poland in a joint agreement between South Korean manufacturer Hyundai Rotem and Polish defense conglomerate PGZ. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert

European Commission
(Monday), July 7, 2025 2:23 pm CET  Der Leyen appears before the European Parliament in Strasbourg today ahead of the first vote of confidence in a European Commission president since 2014, over her secret texts from 2021 with Bourla, the chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. They related to discussions on getting vaccines to Europe at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The vote itself is scheduled to take place on Thursday. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

(6 July 2025)  Brussels says it will build up emergency stockpiles of critical minerals and cable repair kits as 'concerns mount over the EU’s vulnerability to attack'. Member states should co-ordinate backup supplies of food, medicines and even nuclear fuel, the European Commission said in a draft document setting out a stockpiling strategy. It would also accelerate work on EU-level stockpiles of items such as cable repair modules to ensure prompt recovery from energy or optical cable disruptions and commodities such as rare earths and permanent magnets, which are crucial for energy and defence systems. The EU in March also advised households 'to stockpile essential supplies to survive at least 72 hours of crisis'. The need for investment in critical stockpiling 'would also be considered in proposals for its new multiannual budget', which are due to be put forward later this month. 'Last month, General Breuer, the German chief of defence, warned that Russia could attack an EU member state within the next four years'. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)

Ukraine
July 7, 2025  Ukraine withdraws from mine ban treaty, following the example of five other European nations bordering Russia. Kyiv announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on June 29. Ukraine widely uses anti-vehicle mines not covered by the treaty. Russia is not a party to the treaty. Moscow has not confirmed it uses anti-personnel mines in Ukraine. Russian officials say Ukraine has already used such devices in the war. The United States approved the provision of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine in November. Frontline areas and pockets of the Kursk region just inside Russia are thickly contaminated with the small devices which explode when triggered by contact, vibration or tripwires. A bomb squad company commander from Ukraine's 59th brigade operating near the eastern city of Pokrovsk said a large rotary drone could be used to deploy up to 70 anti-personnel mines at a time. Kyiv's decision would put civilians at risk for years. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
7 July 2025  Britain’s mainstream media have not carried out a single investigation into the extent, impact or legal status of the more than 500 surveillance flights over Gaza that the RAF has carried out since December 2023. The Ministry of Defence continues to insist that the operations, carried out by Shadow R1 aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, are designed purely to assist with the discovery of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Spikes in the number of flights have coincided with especially deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza. The flights started operating in December 2023. Defence Review was announced earlier in June by Keir Starmer. Out of 993 stories on the “defence review” in UK media on 2 June, a tiny handful took the time even to acknowledge the existence of significant public opposition to increases in defence spending, particularly at the expense of cuts to public services. The vast majority of published criticism of Labour’s defence plans come from the Tories or military voices arguing that 'this is too little, too late' or that it isn’t clear where the money will come from. There is, apparently, no space for hard news content that investigates whether increased defence spending is either effective nor necessary. Meanwhile, the mainstream media’s continuing silence on RAF spy flights over Gaza is a flagrant abdication of their stated responsibility to ask tough questions of military planners. Far from holding power to account, mainstream media – through their silence and meekness – are allowing the government to get away with murder in Gaza. (Source: Declassified - United Kingdom)
by Freedman, a Professor of Media & Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London and a founding member of the Media Reform Coalition.

Europe
July 7, 2025  Can Europe defend itself without the United States? Besides rearmament, Europe must recognize that it needs to have its diplomatic channels to Moscow. Those who solely rely on rearmament to deter Russia ignore the fact that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the West was a sign of weakness, not strength. It was an attack that arose from a perceived defensive posture. Instead, to many in the West, Putin’s actions appear to be expressions of imperial interests, and his policy is seen as expansive. Any appearance of weakness must indeed be avoided in dealing with Russia. In the Russians’ worldview, not just Putin’s, the West exploited Russia’s weakness during the early and mid-1990s, when its economy was in a state of decline. This was despite Bush Senior’s promises against any eastward expansion of NATO. Besides Bush, declassified documents show security assurances against NATO expansion to Soviet leaders came from US Secretary of State Baker, German Foreign Minister Genscher, German Chancellor Kohl, French President Mitterrand, British Prime Minister Thatcher, British Foreign Secretary Hurd, British Prime Minister Major, and NATO Secretary-General Woerner. Russian leaders have repeatedly complained about NATO expansion, beginning with Putin’s predecessor, Yeltsin, who wrote to President Clinton that the expansion of NATO eastwards breached the spirit of the 1990 treaty. For Russians, the lesson was that only the interests of the strong are perceived and respected. There is a significant difference between an aggressor pursuing an imperialist and expansionist policy, and taking actions necessary to protect its interests and preserve its influence. Confrontation and harshness only reinforce the threat perception and set in motion a spiral of escalation. Negotiations and initiatives are needed to overcome the security dilemma. Building trust requires effort and open communication. Uncompromising toughness towards Russia, is the wrong answer when it comes to long-term peace and security. Many Putin sympathizers tend to underestimate the threat posed by an aggressive Russia, even if it is out of weakness. According to this perspective, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine originated from the West. Trump goes a step further and blames Ukraine for starting the war. The Putin sympathizers emphasize NATO’s expansion towards the East, encircling and constricting Russia, and view Moscow as being in a purely defensive posture, overlooking the fact that this can also manifest as an attack, which may have begun as defensive but has ultimately evolved into aggression. By annexing Crimea, intervening in eastern Ukraine and, since 24 February 2022, trying to conquer the entire Ukrainian territory, Russia has violated the European peace order and put military force back on the agenda as a political tool in Europe. Who guarantees that Moscow will not reuse military force in other respects? To argue, given the currently unsettled situation between Russia and the West, that Moscow poses no threat is not a demonstration of strategic foresight and is potentially dangerous in terms of security policy. Europe’s strategic interest is to establish a stable regional peace order that excludes the use of force and coercion between states and creates forums in which conflicting interests can be resolved through negotiation. From a European perspective, it is also a matter of involving and containing Russia, rather than driving it altogether into China’s sphere of Influence. To resolve the conflicts on the European periphery, Europe remains dependent on Russia, and everyone should be aware that in a war with Russia, Europe would be the battlefield. Two approaches are conceivable dealing with Russia and historically proven: “change through diplomatic rapprochement” and credible military deterrence. It means seeking new ways to resolve the security dilemma and foster new trust. There should be new efforts to develop a new security architecture that Moscow has long sought, one in which the interests of all parties are considered, with security among them, not against each other. This also means leaving no doubt that military aggression will not go unanswered and ensuring that credible military deterrents are also in place. With the United States withdrawing, Europe will need to decide how to preserve peace on the continent. In concrete terms, confidence-building measures could take the form of an official withdrawal of NATO accession promises to Ukraine and Georgia, which would result from a larger set of negotiations on a new security architecture. Other elements would include the revival of the 1999 Adapted Convention on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (ACFE) Treaty, which limits conventional armed forces in Europe but is adapted to post-Ukraine circumstances and establishes a military balance on the continent. The resumption of ACFE negotiations could be the prelude to a revival of the disarmament treaties. Europe’s current reliance on the US military to deter Russia is problematic due to differing transatlantic interests. A relatively unarmed Europe cannot pursue an independent Russia policy so long as Washington is seen as the only one that can provide the security guarantees sought by the Kremlin. The geopolitically-minded Putin, who is currently being made aware of the inadequacy of his military offensive in Ukraine and who is equally interested in curbing Russia’s overdependence on China, could over time be incentivized by Washington to stop his Ukraine war ’should Trump concede’ Ukrainian territories conquered by Russia and ease Western sanctions in return for Russia’s good behavior in other regions and on other issues important to the US. Europe, as a whole, could thus experience what the Eastern European states are historically familiar with, namely that their interests are sacrificed to a deal that the bigger powers make in their interest. The issue could now shift to establishing a credible deterrence without Washington’s involvement. ’Europeans also consider their military capabilities, independent of the United States, in both conventional and nuclear sectors, to prevent possible blackmail attempts or even aggression by the Russian leadership. In this way, European states could also minimize the risk of Moscow and Washington negotiating a deal in which the Europeans pay the primary price’. Today’s advocates for peace would do well to remember that détente succeeded not despite rearmament, but in tandem with it. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Dr. Burrows, the Counselor to the Executive Office of Stimson Center and has had a distinguished career in the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Dr. Braml, the Secretary General of the German Group and the European Director of the Trilateral Commission, an influential global platform for dialogue between America, Europe, and Asia. Both are authors of the recently published book “World To Come: The Return Of Trump And The End Of The Old Order”.

Asia

China
(6 July 2025)  China’s Zijin Mining recently said it planned to acquire a gold mine in Kazakhstan for $1.2bn. Appian sold its Mineração Vale Verde copper and gold mine in Brazil to China’s Baiyin Nonferrous Group for $420mn in April. The most active Chinese mining groups in overseas deals include CMOC, MMG and Zijin Mining. The Chinese government used to select one buyer per asset sale process and back that group. What’s evolved over the past three to four years is the government allowing Chinese groups to compete with one another. That implies they don’t fear losing to the west anymore. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)

Israel
July 6, 2025 7:51 PM GMT+2  The Supreme Court ruled in June that the defence ministry could no longer grant blanket exemptions to Jewish seminary students from military conscription. Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel's 21% Arab population are mostly exempt. Israel's military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students. The community represents 13% of the population today. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

North America

United States
7/7/2025  Israel and Hamas have resumed indirect talks on a cease-fire in Gaza after months of heavy Israeli military action. Iran, battered by the Israeli and U.S. strikes, is sending signals that it might be willing to resume nuclear negotiations, albeit on its own terms. The White House is reaching out to Syria’s new government, hoping for improved ties between Damascus and Israel. The durability and scope of the diplomacy remains in question. The normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia is critical for Trump and Netanyahu. An even more ambitious goal of Trump’s is to ease decades of animosity between the U.S. and Iran. ’If the Gaza war drags on after a 60-day pause, if Iran hides its highly enriched uranium and threatens to enrich it further, or if Netanyahu’s political calculations stymie key decisions, the moment could pass with little to show for it,’ said Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Pentagon official who is now at the Atlantic Council. A Gaza cease-fire is the most achievable outcome. Israeli officials and Hamas’s leaders have resumed indirect talks in Qatar on a possible deal. Yesterday, Netanyahu said he wouldn’t relinquish his goal of seeing Hamas removed from power and disarmed even as spoke about the promise of expanding Israel’s relations with Muslim-majority countries and his commitment to freeing Israeli hostages. Even a permanent end to the fighting in Gaza is unlikely to be sufficient to revive prospects for Israeli-Saudi diplomatic breakthrough. Saudi Arabia for years has said Israel must agree on a path toward Palestinian statehood before normalization with Israel would be possible. A large majority of Israelis now oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, arguing it would be a reward for Hamas’s attacks and would threaten Israel’s security in the future. There has been no indication that Iranian officials are ready to give up enriching uranium and instead rely exclusively on foreign fuel supplies for the country’s civil nuclear program. as Witkoff has demanded. During his May trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump declared that the U.S. would avoid military intervention and nation-building efforts in the Mideast, and pursue his dream that Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 set of agreements that normalized relations between Israel and Muslim-majority countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In confining U.S. strikes to a one-and-done attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure while eschewing regime change, Trump has largely hewed to that goal. Though it was Israel that began the strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Trump’s decision to use B-2 bombers and submarine-launched cruise missiles against Iran’s most fortified sites has given him additional sway with Netanyahu. Netanyahu has emphasized that the war in Iran has created diplomatic opportunities for Israel. His statements indicate he thinks he might be able to pursue the war in Gaza and seek normalization with Saudi Arabia at the same time, an assessment at odds with most U.S. analysts. (Source: The Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

(July 7, 025)  DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no 'client list,' committed suicide. When Musk had a falling out with Trump last month, Musk accused the president of being 'in the Epstein files.' Musk later deleted his accusation and other posts on X, saying he "went too far." (Source: Axios - U.S.)

July 6, 2025  'The United States has kept its own forces out of direct combat, choosing instead to treat Ukraine as a proxy in a broader strategy to degrade Russia’s conventional military capabilities'. 'The strategy aims to impose long-term costs on Moscow - roughly comparable to those experienced when the Soviet Union became bogged down in a decade-long conflict in Afghanistan and subsequently suffered regime collapse' - without risking US lives or instigating open conflict between NATO and Russia. From the opening hours of the conflict, the United States established clear boundaries - including no US troops on the ground, no airstrikes on Russian territory with US weapons, and no overt attempt to overthrow Russian President Putin. These principles acted as guardrails, demonstrating America’s wider fear of nuclear escalation. A key strategic tools in America’s arsenal has been economic pressure against Russia. Lastly, the United States has gone to great lengths to reinforce the NATO alliance. Some critics argue that 'while the US has allowed Ukraine to survive through three years of conflict, the support has not been generous enough to allow Ukraine to decisively win'. Others argue that the United States should not be involved at all, that any involvement is a waste of resources on a conflict that bears little bearing on US strategic interests. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

Jul 6th, 2025  After days of making noise about launching a new political party in response to the President Trump-backed Big, Beautiful bill, the Tesla boss announced the formation of what he’s calling the America Party to appeal to those hoping to curb government spending. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.' In a signal he plans to win at any cost, Musk made an allusion to Epstein - by sharing a photo of Maxwell captioned: 'Why is she the only one going to prison? Where’s all the men that had sex with those underage girls?' Musk seems to believe he can takeover the American political system in no time flat. (Source: Mediaite - U.S.)

NATO

6 July 2025  'World War III will start with simultaneous Xi and Putin invasions taking the globe to the brink of Armageddon', warns NATO chief Rutte. Russia today hit back at ex-Netherlands premier Rutte, claiming he had 'gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch', while warning he should look forward to a future in a hellish Siberian labour camp. (Source: Daily Mail - United Kingdom)

South America

Brazil
6 Jul 2025  Brazil hosts BRICS summit; Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi skip Rio trip. Leaders expected to decry US President Trump’s trade tariffs while presenting the bloc as a defender of multilateralism. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

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Europe

Luxembourg
(2 July 2025)  "Luxembourg unlikely to fully meet defence spending target report says". (Source: Luxembourg Times)

Spain
3rd July 2025  Princess Leonor, the future queen of Spain having disembarked from Spanish waters in mid-January for six months of practical training aboard the naval training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano, sailed the seas and stopped at ports all over South and Central America before arriving in New York City on 5 June. From there, the future queen carried out engagements with her shipmates - including a concert at Carnegie Hall and an oath of allegiance ceremony involving Spanish residents of the United States, where she acted as flag bearer. Before flying back to Spain, for 20 days, Princess Leonor joined the Spanish Navy for military exercises off the Canary Islands, training aboard the Blas de Lezo frigate. On 3 July, future queen arrived in Gijón aboard the Blas de Lezo. Princess Leonor visited the Jovellanos Maritime Rescue Centre. The future queen had lunch with civil and military authorities aboard the Juan Sebastián de Elcano. Princess Leonor will complete her six months of life at sea on 13 July, when the training ship arrives in Marín. Three days later, she will graduate with the rank of Naval Ensign. After the summer, Princess Leonor will enroll at the San Javier Academy in Murcia for her final year of military training. The future queen will train within the Spanish Air and Space Force over the next year; completing a three-year program that saw her train with the Spanish Army and the Spanish Navy. (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

European Commission
(Thursday), 3 Jul 2025  EU Commission President der Leyen faces no-confidence vote next week. MEPs will take a vote of no-confidence next Thursday. (Source: The Journal - Ireland)

02.07.2025  The EU breaks the rule of law, somehow der Leyen will be forced to resign. A motion, supported by over 70 MEPs and due to face a procedural hurdle today, accuses der Leyen of breaching EU transparency standards in 2021 by negotiating a multi-billion-euro COVID-19 vaccine deal via text messages with Pfizer CEO Bourla. Despite pressure from lawmakers and the media, the messages were never released. The motion is now awaiting a procedural review by the Conference of Presidents, the European Parliament's top political steering group, which will decide today whether it can proceed to debate. Nobody, at this moment, is very pleased to work with der Leyen anymore, Romanian Member of the European Parliament Piperea said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
04.07.2025  The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed carrying out a massive strike on targets in the Ukrainian capital in a statement. The ministry said that the strike was carried out using ground-based high-precision long-range weapons, the Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile system, and long-range drones against industrial enterprises developing and manufacturing different drones' types, including FPV, other robotic mobile complexes, and various equipment. Infrastructure of a military airfield and the oil refinery was struck. 'The objective of the strike has been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,' it said. The Southern group of forces captured the settlement of Predtechine in Donetsk region over the past day, and five settlements over the week, the ministry said. Meanwhile, over the past week, Russian armed forces carried out five group strikes against Ukrainian military industry enterprises, oil refineries, control points, radar stations, ammunition depots, drones' production workshops, storage, and launch sites, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries. Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski claimed today that the consular section of his country's embassy was damaged in Kyiv during Russia's overnight airstrike. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

9:33 am, July 4, 2025  Russian air defenses shot down or intercepted 48 Ukrainian drones across five regions overnight, the country’s Defense Ministry reported yesterday. (Source: Meduza - based in Riga, Latvia)

Jul 4 2025  Vice-president of Russia's state oil pipeline operator Transneft, the largest such company in the world, Badalov, 62, fell from the 17th floor of the luxury Moscow tower block - where he lived in a tenth floor penthouse. This is at least the 12th such death among high-ranking industry figures since the beginning of 2022. (Source: The U.S. Sun)

3 July 2025  On March 27 Putin appointed Gudkov to be the Russian Navy's new deputy leader, second in rank after Admiral Moiseev. Gudkov led the 155th Separate Marine Brigade, a Pacific Fleet unit that took part in the February 2022 occupation of areas north of Kyiv, including Bucha. The strike that killed Gudkov happened on July 2 and his death was confirmed on July 3 by the Ministry of War on Telegram. He was killed during combat operations in one of the border areas of the Kursk region, the ministry writes. (The Barents Observer - Norway)

Ukraine
(July 4, 2025)  Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine overnight in the largest aerial assaults since the war began. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed. Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites. Emergency services reported damage in at least five of the capital's 10 districts. Drone strikes damaged rail infrastructure in Kyiv. (Source: ABC News - U.S.)

July 1, 2025  Overnight on June 30, Russia launched the largest aerial assault in the entire Ukraine War: 537 aerial weapons - 477 drones and 60 missiles. Ukraine was allegedly intercepting 475 of the 537 aerial weapons. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

Asia

China
03 July 2025  Earlier this year, a new Bill was introduced in the US Congress to combat organ harvesting in China, specifically from Uyghur and Falun Gong communities. China ‘to triple number of Uyghur organ-harvesting centres’. (Source: The Telegraph - United Kingdom)

Iran
July 1, 2025, 3:19 AM  Israel’s war on Iran backfired. Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium and its advanced centrifuges - the core ingredients for developing a nuclear weapon - appear to remain intact. Tehran appears set to embrace a strategy of nuclear ambiguity, similar to the posture Israel itself has long maintained - refusing to clarify the scope of its nuclear capabilities and denying access to inspectors.Tehran has remained firm that enrichment is nonnegotiable. Netanyahu launched this war to eliminate the strategic challenge posed by Iran. Instead, he exposed Israel’s vulnerabilities, intensified Iranian nationalism, and failed to destroy Iran’s core military and nuclear capabilities. Iran’s missile strikes appeared deliberately calibrated. Iran’s ballistic missiles successfully penetrated Israeli and U.S. air defenses, targeting military bases, intelligence compounds, oil refineries, and research centers.  Ben Gurion Airport was shut down, economic activity slowed dramatically, and capital flight increased. Missile defense systems such as Arrow and THAAD were heavily depleted, with estimates indicating that Israel used at least $500 million worth of U.S. THAAD interceptors. Inside Iran the war became a unifying moment around the idea of defending the nation from foreign aggression. They saw their country bombed while seeking compromise.  'According to CNN, the Trump administration has been engaged in behind-the-scenes talks - some held even during the height of the war - that propose up to $30 billion in investment for a civilian nuclear program in Iran, contingent on Iran forgoing enrichment. These proposals also include sanctions relief and access to frozen Iranian funds. While U.S. officials maintain that zero enrichment is a red line, the push for a new deal suggests a shift in priorities'. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
by Toossi, a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy.

North America

United States
7/5/2025  The U.S. Air Force has abandoned plans to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries from the remote Johnston Atoll - an unincorporated U.S. territory some 800 miles southwest of Hawai, designated as a National Wildlife Refuge home to 14 species of tropical birds - in the Pacific Ocean, using Musk’s SpaceX. The decision was made after Reuters reported that experts were concerned the project, which would harm the seabirds that nest on the islands. The proposed program involves test landing rocket re-entry vehicles that are designed to deliver up to 100 tons of cargo anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes. (Source: MSN / The Daily Beast = U.S.)

5 July 2025  Trump signs 'Big Beautiful Bill' - the crucial 4.5 trillion USD tax cuts bill - during July 4 celebrations at White House. A day before, the crucial 4.5 trillion USD tax cuts bill was passed by the US Congress with a 218-214 vote turnout. Not a single democrat voted for the bill. "You have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history," Trump said. The legislation reportedly includes provisions to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, implement broad spending cuts, and fund a stringent immigration strategy. One of the highlights of the bill is a USD 350 billion border and national security plan including the USD 46 billion to expand the US-Mexico border wall, USD 45 billion for 100,000 migrant detention beds, and a hiring blitz for immigration enforcement, including 10,000 new ICE officers, each receiving a USD 10,000 signing bonus, as per media reports. (Source: Outlook - India)

July 4, 2025  Military expansion. Two militarized zones form a buffer along 370 kilometers of border, from Fort Hancock, Texas, through El Paso and westward across vast New Mexico ranchlands. The Defense Department added an additional 400-kilometer zone last week in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and plans another near Yuma, Arizona. Combined, the zones will cover nearly one-third of the U.S. border with Mexico. They are patrolled by at least 7,600 members of the armed forces. More than 1,400 migrants have been charged with trespassing on military territory, facing a possible 18-month prison sentence for a first offense. Border Patrol arrests along the southern border this year have dropped to the lowest level in six decadese. On June 28, the Border Patrol made only 137 arrests, a stark contrast with late 2023, when arrests topped 10,000 on the busiest days. (Source: AP - U.S.)

Jul 3, 2025  The greenback is down more than 7% this year and Morgan Stanley predicts it could fall another 10%. A weaker dollar could make US exports more competitive, boosting Trump’s plan to rebalance US trade, but makes imports more expensive, adding to the sting of tariffs. (Source: Semafor - website, U.S.)

July 2, 2025 During the transition from the Biden administration to the second Trump administration, neoconservative Senator Graham (R-SC) propagated a proposal for the United States to gain access to rare earth minerals in eastern Ukraine. It called for the United States to extract from Kyiv prominent access to Ukraine’s bountiful natural resources as repayment for the years of expensive American aid to Ukraine. Graham’s proposal was primarily intended as a poison pill designed to prevent a real peace deal from being brokered. The end result? Rather than staying focused on an immediate peace deal to end the war, Trump went down a rabbit hole. He became involved in securing mineral rights for after the war, rather than just ending the war and worrying about mineral rights thereafter. In doing so, valuable time was lost. Ukraine was never serious about such a deal. Many of the minerals Trump sought were in Russian hands to begin with. Beyond that, leader Zelenskyy had used the mineral deal as bait to hook the British and French. In other words, the minerals Trump coveted were not in direct control of Ukraine - and even if they were, Ukraine had already promised much of them to the British and French. One of the few mineral deposits in Ukraine that was not under Russian control was the lithium mines to the east of the Ukrainian village of Shevchenko in the Donetsk region, along the border with the Dnipropetrovosk Region of Ukraine. This is along the main axis of fighting in the war today, and the Russians have been advancing there - slowly, yet methodically and (apparently) irreversibly. Had Trump eschewed Graham’s proposal about taking mineral rights from Ukraine, the fighting would likely have been paused months ago, and a real deal could have been made with Russia to stop the killing. The peace process is dead. Before long, Trump will be left with nothing to bargain over, and Moscow will take what it wants - regardless of what the West says about the matter. Another reason why Trump needs to stop listening to Graham and his allies. The mythical resource non-deal was always intended to kill the peace process, and it appears to have done just that. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert

July 2, 2025, 1:19 PM  The White House confirmed yesterday that President Trump's administration froze the shipment of some air defense and precision guided weapons that were on track to be sent to Ukraine. Officials said the decision followed an assessment of U.S. stockpiles. The military shipment was frozen comes just a week after Trump signaled his openness to selling Patriot missiles to Ukraine. (Source: ABC News - U.S.)

Jul 02, 2025  The state of Alaska has floated the possibility of detaining migrants in an isolated site surrounded by bears - 'Bear Alcatraz'. (Source: Newsweek - U.S.)

01 Jul 2025  Trump's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center was constructed in eight days over 10 miles of alligator-infested swampland and features heavy security which critics have compared to the conditions in concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Images inside the facility showed rows of bunk beds surrounded by cages. Trump yesterday toured the detention center, which is surrounded by alligator-filled swamps in the Everglades, designed to hold migrants prior to deportation. It features barbed wire, 200 cameras and 400 personnel. It would house around 3,000 detainees. Trump said he’d like to see similar facilities in other states. Alligator Alcatraz is a concentration camp, an X user wrote. 'This facility’s remote, harsh nature could leave people in very real danger, especially as Florida’s heat index skyrockets and hurricane season escalates,' Abdo, The National Parks Conservation Association’s Sun Coast Regional Director said in a statement. Florida’s fresh drinking water supply would be at risk from this ill-conceived plan, she added. (Source: The Irish Star - Ireland)
See also: Photos on (X)

NATO

4th July 2025  US Air Force's General Grynkwich became Nato's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). Grynkewich has taken over from the US Army's General Cavoli, who has been in the post for the past three years. (Source: BFBS Forces News - United Kingdom)

Space

July 2, 2025  Astronomers track the third known interstellar object that may have wandered over from another star system, the European Space Agency said today. Designated for now as A11pl3Z, it is currently near Jupiter and moving toward Mars, but it should get no closer to the sun than that. More observations are needed to confirm that it is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet, or what shape it is. Its size is estimated at roughly 40 kilometers across. (Source: The Associated Press - U.S.)

.5 7 9 12:58

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 "A Pride fecsegő felszínének káprázatos látványtechnikája alatt a hallgatag mély
e felszínnél sokkal izgalmasabb rétegei nyílhatnak meg azok előtt, akik elegánsan elemelkednek az anyázás-technika hétköznapi világától.

A legmélyebb szint egyszerűen az, hogy a mindenségben a rend uralkodik,
és minden, ami szembe megy ezzel az előbb vagy utóbb „széthull darabokra”.

A második szint, hogy a világot irányító globális élősködő szándékosan rugdalja lefelé
a létezés entrópikus lejtőjén az emberiséget, amely így sokkal könnyebben kifosztható.

A harmadik szint, hogy nem a pride vagyis büszkeség a lényeg számukra, hanem az,
hogy (lévén a büszkeség ellentéte a szégyen) szégyenként élje át létét mindenki, aki nem „más”.

És végül a negyedik réteg az, hogy minden politikai erő a saját politikai pecsenyéjét süti a Pride tüzén."

Pride (Pénz, Pin@ & Politika), avagy a büszkeség és szégyen diszkrét dialektikája

Bogártól

- Video -

https://tinyurl.com/yv2wwrwt

 (Forrás: YouTube / Egy Bogár Naplója)

16 980 megtekintés

Kulcsszavak:    Európai Bizottság    Európai Parlament    Európai Unió    film    Föld    Magyarország    video

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Europe

Germany
30.06.2025  "Germany is not on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons," government spokesman Merz told reporters in Berlin today. He reiterated that his government "does not seek nuclear weapons." Over the weekend, Spahn, head of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's close political ally urged his country to join the nuclear weapons umbrella of Great Britain and France. ’Europe must become capable of deterrence. For this purpose, American atomic bombs are stationed in Germany. But this is not enough in the long term. We must talk about German or European participation in the nuclear arsenal of France and Great Britain,’ Spahn said in an interview with the daily Welt newspaper. Germany has committed to non-nuclear defense in international treaties, which prohibit it from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is also cooperating in NATO weapons-sharing agreements. NATO has said the US has deployed a limited number of B-61 nuclear weapons to locations in Europe. It is reportedly believed that about 20 US nuclear warheads are stored at the Buechel Air Base, located in southwestern Germany. In 2022, Germany chose Buechel as the future home of 35 American-made F-35 aircraft. They will replace their aging Tornado jets, which Germany has relied on for decades. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Italy
June 30, 2025  Italy’s cabinet approved a decree that lets almost 500,000 documented immigrants enter the country in the next three years - “the entry into Italy of essential labor that is indispensable to the national economic and production system and otherwise unavailable domestically,’ according to a government statement. Italy needs workers due to its aging population. The needs of the job market will include a mix of seasonal and non-seasonal workers, nannies and carers for the elderly as well as highly skilled workers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has pointed out on repeated occasions that while some legal entries are needed, the fight against those who do not have their paperwork in order will continue. There’s been a significant decline after Meloni’s first year in office, partly due to deals signed or renewed with north African countries including Tunisia. The new decree includes preferential treatment for citizens coming from states that promote media campaigns against illegal migration. Last year, only 7.8% of entries turned into residency permits and stable employment. (Source: Bloomberg - U.S.)

30.06.2025  Italy’s government is considering reclassifying a long-discussed €13.5 billion (approximately $14B) bridge to Sicily as a military project in a bid to help meet NATO’s new defense spending target of 5% of gross domestic product by 2035. Officials say the planned bridge over the Strait of Messina, set to be the world’s longest suspension bridge, could serve dual civilian and strategic purposes. Italian Foreign Minister Tajani and Infrastructure Minister Salvini argue the bridge would boost NATO military mobility by enabling the rapid transfer of troops and equipment between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean region. Italy spent just 1.49% of its GDP on defense in 2023. Final government approval for the project is expected in July. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
30.06.2025  "The Russian side has decided to introduce counter restrictions on access from the territory of the Russian Federation to the web resources of fifteen media outlets of the bloc’s member states involved in the dissemination of false information,” said a Russian Foreign Ministry statement. No details were given regarding which European media outlets were sanctioned by Moscow. The statement said the measures were taken in response to restrictions imposed by the 27-member bloc within the framework of its 16th sanctions package approved in February against eight Russian media outlets. On Feb. 24, the EU announced its 16th sanctions package against Russia, which included suspending the bloc's broadcasting licenses of eight Russian media outlets, namely Eurasia Daily, Fondsk, Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation, and Krasnaya Zvezda. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

China
30 Jun 2025  China’s Communist Party membership rose to 100.27 million by the end of 2024, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the previous year, official data shows. That compares with 1.2 per cent growth in 2023 and 1.4 per cent in 2022. The rate of membership growth has continued to slow, with one insider attributing this to stricter screening by the Central Organisation Department (COD), the party’s top personnel office, resulting in more rejections and longer probation periods. China’s ruling party continues to be the world’s No 2 political party by membership strength, after India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party – which claimed to have crossed 140 million members last week. As of September 2024, the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States had 45.1 million and 36 million registered voters. Communist Party members in China are subjected to tighter regulations. This includes membership fees of up to 2 per cent of their monthly pay, which goes into the party funds, and regular attendance at party meetings and basic organisational “cell” activities. “[Investigations by] the anti-corruption agency show many corrupt officials had wrong motives when they joined the party. The organisation department at all levels has been instructed to weed out those who show early signs of little conviction and could easily fall prey to temptation,” an official said. Membership is still widely regarded as a prerequisite for a meaningful political career. By the end of 2024, there were 21.42 million applicants waiting in line, an increase of 440,000 applicants over 2023. Nearly 58 per cent are holding a college degree or higher in the 2024 data. Members are also getting markedly older, with the number of those aged 35 or below falling by 2.4 per cent to 23.04 million in 2024. Those above 61 years of age totalled 28.97 million, making up 29 per cent of the total membership and marking a 4 per cent increase, more than double the increase recorded in 2023, when their total number was 27.87 million. (Source: South China Morning Post)

South Korea
2025Jun30  Managing decline? NATO’s uneasy future after the 2025 Summit. South Korea and NATO agreed to establish a Defense Industry Consultative Group, led at the director-general level. This Issue Brief examines what the 2025 NATO Summit reveals about the trajectory of the alliance as well as its implications for South Korea’s approach to alliance burden-sharing with the United States and its relationship with NATO more broadly. (Source: Center for Foreign Policy and National Security – based in Seoul, South Korea)
by Dr. Kim,  an associate research fellow in the Center for Foreign Policy and National Security at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Her research focuses on South Korea-Europe relations, multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and middle power diplomacy. She was previously a resident fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and a resident fellow at Pacific Forum International.

Syria
Jun 30, 2025  Alawite women snatched from streets of Syria. (Source: Japan Times / Reuters - United Kingdom)

North America

United States
Jun 30, 2025  Polls: Americans don't support Trump's unprovoked, broadly unpopular war on Iran. The president tapped into mass distrust of the Military Industrial Complex to win re-election, which remains true in recent surveys. “I will expel the warmongers from our national security state and carry out a much needed clean-up of the Military Industrial Complex to stop the war profiteering and to always put America first,” he promised during a speech in Wisconsin in September. 'We have these people, they want to go to war all the time,' he said of people embedded in the Military Industrial Complex. “You know why? Missiles are $2 million apiece. That’s why. They love to drop missiles all over the place.' After the election an overwhelming majority of the country - 77% - agreed with Trump that 'war profiteers' and 'war profiteering' are a problem in the U.S., according to a nationally representative online poll conducted by ReThink Media. After winning, Trump doubled down: “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” he promised in his victory speech. Nationwide, people understand that another in a long series of endless wars will primarily benefit weapons makers, Pentagon contractors, and other parts of the Military Industrial Complex while harming Iranians, Israelis, and, potentially, untold Americans. People understand all too well that when bombs start dropping, ordinary people suffer while war profiteers get rich. (Source: Responsible Statecraft - U.S.)
by Vine, a political anthropologist and the author of a trilogy of books about war and peace, including "The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State.'

Jun 30, 2025  According to a lengthy report by the New York Times, President Trump’s decision on June 22 to authorize airstrikes at nuclear sites across Iran was influenced in part by Fox News. The president watched a lot of Fox News, which was dominated by defense contractor voices advocating US strikes. The pro-war onslaught on Fox throughout the war was relentless, with prominent right-wing dissenters such as Bannon and Carlson nowhere to be found. Carlson said it “feels like Fox is playing a central role in the pro-war push,' calling his former employer 'warmongers.' (Source: Responsible Statecraft - U.S.)
by Cleveland-Stout, a Research Associate in the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute.

.5 6 30 17:33

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Europe

Magyarország - Hungary
2025. VI. 29. Pride /Video/ (Source: YouTube / Mandiner)
14 923 megtekintés / views

29/06/2025  Hundreds of thousands of people from across Europe (including Luxembourg) marched through Budapest yesterday, joining the city’s Pride parade. The capital's municipality organised this march ’in a move to circumvent a law’ that allows police to ban LGBTQ marches. Hungarians and visitors from across Europe ’flouted’ a government ban on the event that drew many first-time participants. Among the participants were at least 70 MPs from 33 countries. Angel (LSAP) with EU and rainbow flags and Metz (Déi Gréng), both members of the LGBTIQ+ intergroup of the EU Parliament, travelled to the hungarian capital from Luxembourg. “I have never been to Pride but I came precisely because the government wanted to ban this event,’ said István, a 72-year-old pensioner. Nationalist groups went on to blockade Liberty Bridge, forcing Pride participants to alter their route and cross the Danube river via a different bridge. Paraders crossed Elizabeth Bridge - one of the capital’s widest - for more than an hour. Budapest’s opposition mayor, Karácsony, co-organized the Hungarian capital’s 30th iteration of the parade. under the banner of celebrating freedom. Police blocked the event under a law passed in April by lawmakers aligned with Orbán that cast LGBTQ-themed public gatherings as potential threats to children. Orbán’s lawmakers changed the constitution earlier this year to be able to ban the event. Critics say it ’was an attempt to ramp up his culture war and reverse his fading political fortunes before elections next year’. A constitutional amendment has since empowered authorities to restrict such events, even at the expense of curtailing freedom of assembly. One notable absentee from the parade is Magyar, a 'former Orbán ally. He has described the banning of Pride as a “political trap” designed to distract voters and rally conservatives ’against his surging movement, newly formed Tisza party’. European Commission President der Leyen in a statement late Wednesday was ’calling on Hungarian authorities’ to allow people to take part. Organizers and participants will face legal consequences, most likely fines, Orbán said Friday, adding that police wouldn’t use force to break up the march. The embassies of France, Germany and the UK were among 33 to sign a joint statement supporting ’the right’ to stage the parade. Diplomats, lawmakers and government officials from around Europe ’were expected’ to take part. Hungary’s supreme court has taken a critical stance against excessive police restrictions on public assemblies. On Friday, the court annulled - for a second time - a police ban on an LGBTQ equality march, a separate event scheduled to coincide with yesterday’s Pride celebrations. “Order must always be established and then it must be kept,” Orbán told graduating police cadets yesterday, without making a specific reference to Pride. (Source: Luxembourg Times)

Ukraine
June 29, 2025 11:00 pm ET  Russian forces are just 12 miles from the northern Ukrainian regional capital of Sumy, a new target for Moscow, as the Kremlin presses its manpower advantage at a growing number of places along the front. With 50,000 troops in the area, they outnumber the Ukrainians roughly 3-to-1, according to soldiers fighting there. Over the past year, the front line has grown by more than 100 miles and now stretches more than 750 miles in an arc from the northeast to the south, Gen. Syrskiy, Ukraine’s top military commander said. Earlier this month, Ukraine sent elite commando units from its military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, to help stabilize the situation. Since then, the Russian advances in Sumy have been largely stopped. Ukrainian forces are outnumbered nearly everywhere across the front. Soldiers in the area say that holding Sumy is coming at a greater human cost than necessary. After a chaotic and costly retreat from Kursk, they found outdated trenches, with no overhead cover from drones. The soldiers are now digging their own positions under drone fire in some cases. They also complained that areas that the Russians are now advancing across weren’t mined. (Source: WSJ - U.S.)

June 29, 2025 'Zelenskyy is begging Trump for more Patriot missile batteries'. Can he deliver? After a 24-hour delay caused by the Middle East crisis, President Trump and his foreign policy team traveled to the NATO conference in The Hague, Netherlands, where Zelenskyy also made an appearance - in a suit, no less! Ukraine is not a member of NATO, however, Zelenskyy has regularly appeared at the bloc’s annual conference in order to meet with American and European leaders, rally support for Ukraine’s defense, and ask for further military aid. This time around, the embattled leader needs American Patriot missile batteries. Before the conference, the Americans needed Patriot missiles in the Middle East. Whether the Americans would, in fact, be handing the America’s finite arsenal of Patriot missile batteries over to the Ukrainians? The Russians have proven capable of targeting warehouses in Ukraine where sensitive US military equipment is stored, and can destroy those vital US systems before Ukraine can even deploy them. Patriot missiles are highly effective, featuring an AN/MPQ-53 or -65 phased-array radar that tracks up to 100 targets at ranges over 93 miles, distinguishing between friendly and hostile launches. Patriot missile batteries are truck-mounted, each holding four interceptors (PAC-2 or PAC-3 missiles). They possess command-and-control stations that coordinate the targeting of incoming enemies along with the missile launches. The missiles used to intercept incoming drones and missiles are known as PAC-2 and PAC-3. The former uses proximity detonation to destroy targets, effective against aircraft and older missiles. The PAC-3, however, is a hit-to-kill interceptor optimized for ballistic missiles, with higher precision but fewer missiles per launcher. A single Patriot battery costs around $1 billion, with each launcher costing around $10 million. PAC-3 interceptors cost around $4 million each. This high cost limits the Patriot system’s use to high-value targets, as using a $4 million missile against a $50,000 Iranian-made drone is extremely uneconomical. As of May 2025, Ukraine has eight Patriot systems, with six operational and two under refurbishment. The United States, Germany, and the Netherlands have supplied batteries, with deliveries starting in April 2023. In January 2025, around 90 Patriot interceptor rockets from Israel (decommissioned by the IDF) were transferred to Ukraine via the United States, boosting Kyiv’s missile stocks. The Zelenskyy government in Kyiv has called for at least seven additional Patriot systems to protect major cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv, which are subjected to intense Russian attacks. Such a request, however, is highly unlikely to be met. After all, in total, the United States only has around 14 Patriot batteries globally. Allies like Germany, Poland, and Greece have more, but are understandably reluctant to put their own national security at risk by donating theirs. Raytheon is expanding production of the launchers, but demand will continue to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future. Frankly, there are so few Patriots available that, even if the Americans acceded to Kyiv’s request, it would make little difference - there is no leverage to be gained. No amount of military aid will negate the massive advantages Russia has amassed over the last three years of fighting. Only peaceful negotiations can save Ukraine from Russia’s wrath. But the country’s leaders have yet to realize this - and the hour is late. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
By Weichert. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

29 Jun 2025 at 13:48  Russia used hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles to attack western, southern and central Ukraine overnight. Sounds of explosions were heard in Lviv, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions. The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types to Ukraine overnight while Ukrainian forces destroyed 211 drones and 38 missiles. It said 225 drones were lost - in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them - or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads. Industrial facilities were hit in the southern Ukrainian Mykolaiv and central Dnipropetrovsk regions The governor of the Lviv region said the attack targeted critical infrastructure. A Ukrainian pilot was killed and his F-16 fighter jet lost while repelling a large-scale Russian nighttime missile and drone attack. It was the third such loss of an F-16 of the war. (Source: Bangkok Post - Thailand)

Asia

Gaza
29.06.2025  Israeli army orders mass evacuation, warns of expanded attacks in at least 17 areas across northern Gaza as death toll surpasses 60 yesterday alone. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Iran
29/06/2025 - 08:49  At least 71 people were killed in an Israeli air offensive on Monday, June 13 that struck the Evin prison, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, where numerous political prisoners and foreign nationals were held, Iran's judiciary said today. According to judiciary spokesman Jahangir, Evin's medical centre and visiting rooms had been targeted. The victims at Evin included administrative staff, guards, prisoners and visiting relatives as well as people living nearby. The inmates at Evin have included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammadi as well as several French nationals and other foreigners. (Source: France 24 "with AFP" = France)

North America

United States
29 June 2025  In a rare Saturday vote, the US Senate narrowly passed Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ as the July 4 deadline approaches. The bill was passed by a 51-49 vote, after Vice-President Vance broke the tie by casting his vote at the Capitol. It is a tax break package which includes spending cuts and bolstered deportation funds. An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office showed that the House-passed version of Trump's tax bill would cost around 10.9 million more people their healthcare, and at least 3 million their food aid. Top income-earners would see about a $12,000 tax cut under the House bill, while the package would cost the poorest Americans $1,600, the CBO said. In the latest 940-page version of the bill, if all the existing tax breaks are kept and the new ones are added. Some of the other changes in the bill include an increased proportion of tax deductions for older Americans under Social Security taxes, increasing the deduction limit for state and local taxes (SALT). Money from the cuts would go for hiring 10,000 new ICE, aka Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 signing bonuses and a surge of Border Patrol officers. The goal is to deport some 1 million people per year. The bill is expected to cost $3.8 trillion over the decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in one of its analyses. The CBO further estimates that the House-passed package would add $2.4 trillion to the nation’s deficits over the next decade. North Carolina Senator Tillis said he is concerned about the fundamentals of the package and will not support the procedural motion to begin debate. Kentucky Senator Paul opposes the measure to raise the nation's debt limit by $5 trillion. Wisconsin Senator Johnson is pushing for deeper cuts and said he needed to see the final legislative text. Montana Senator Sheehy said he would agree to proceeding to the bill only after being assured a provision for public lands sales he opposes would be taken out with an amendment. All of these senators belong to the Republican Party. Musk stands as the forerunner of voicing his dissent for the Big Beautiful Bill, once again renewing his stance on X, stating: "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country.' (Source: Outlook - India)

International Atomic Energy Agency

(Sunday, 29 June 2025)  Iran has the capacity to start enriching uranium again - for a possible bomb - in ’a matter of months', Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said. He told CBS News the US strikes on three Iranian sites last weekend had caused severe but not total damage, contradicting Trump's claim that Iran's nuclear facilities were ’totally obliterated’. Earlier this week, a Pentagon intelligence assessment found the US strikes only set the programme back by months. In a speech on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the strikes had achieved nothing significant. Its foreign minister Araghchi, however, said excessive and serious damage was done. On Wednesday, Iran’s parliament moved to suspend cooperation with the atomic watchdog, accusing the IAEA of siding with Israel and the US. The two countries attacked Iran after the UN body last month found Tehran to be in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years. Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran was not permitted to enrich uranium above 3.67% purity - the level required for fuel for commercial nuclear power plants - and was not allowed to carry out any enrichment at its Fordo plant for 15 years. Iran resumed enrichment at Fordo in 2021 and had amassed enough 60%-enriched uranium to potentially make nine nuclear bombs, according to the IAEA. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

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Europe

Hungary
28/06/2025 - 22:11  Record numbers of people marched in the Budapest Pride parade today - organisers estimated up to 200,000 people took part. The governing coalition amended its laws and the constitution this year to prohibit the annual celebration, citing "child protection." Hungary is the first EU nation to ban a Pride march. The opposition-run Budapest city hall ’decided to co-host the march so it could go ahead’. It was held ’in a festive atmosphere’ and came in spite of a police ban imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government. Orbán said yesterday that while police would not break up the Pride march, those who took part should be aware of "legal consequences". Parade organisers risk up to a year in prison, and attendees can face fines up to 500 euros ($590). ’Dozens’ of European lawmakers also attended in defiance of the ban. Earlier this week, EU chief ’der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities’ to reverse the ban. A woman who gave only her first name, Katalin, told AFP she agreed with the ban though she hoped there would be no clashes. "Disgusting... it's become a fad to show off ourselves,' she said. Hungarian government spokesman Kovács in a post on X after the march claimed the opposition staged the parade at Brussels' command. ’With Pride, the opposition incited against laws they don't like, mocked Hungary's sovereignty, and - with foreign backing - tried to force woke culture onto us,’ he wrote. (Source: France 24 / AFP = France)

(Saturday), 28/06/2025 - 17:06  Despite a police ban imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government, with rainbow flags flying high tens of thousands marched in Budapest today, defying a new law by PM’s ruling coalition that bans Hungary's annual Pride celebrations. Since Orbán's return to power in 2010, the country of 9.6 million people has been steadily rolling back LGBTQ rights. Orbán's governing coalition amended laws and the constitution this year to prohibit the annual celebration, justifying his years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights on "child protection" grounds. The latest legal changes also empower the authorities to use facial-recognition technology to identify those who take part, and newly installed cameras have appeared on lamp posts along the parade route. Earlier this week, EU chief der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban. EU equalities commissioner Lahbib travelled to Hungary and spoke in support of the parade yesterday. Parade organisers risk up to a year in prison, and attendees can face fines up to 500 euros ($590). Orbán said yesterday that while police would not break up the Pride march, those who took part should be aware of legal consequences. Dozens of European lawmakers attended in defiance of the ban. Budapest's opposition mayor Karácsony has insisted that no attendee should face any reprisals 'as the march is a municipal event that does not require police approval'. Thirty-three nations, including most EU countries, have also released a statement in support of the march. Orbán is employing a tried-and-tested recipe ahead of next year's election by generating a conflict, political analyst Mikecz told AFP, saying that Orbán was polarising society. AFP journalists saw the festive crowd filling squares and streets along the route. A woman who gave only her first name, Katalin, told AFP she agreed with the ban though she hoped there would be no clashes. "Disgusting... it's become a fad to show off ourselves,' she said. Some people holding religious books and a cross adorned with protest messages also gathered along the route to protest against LGBTQ rights at the urging of ’far-right’ groups. (Source: France 24 „with AFP”)

Saturday 28 June 2025 11:39 BST  Tens of thousands to march in Hungarian capital in defiance of Pride ban. Making the march a key topic of political discourse has allowed the Orbán government to take the initiative back from the opposition to mobilise its voter base. The crackdown is unfolding ahead of a crucial general election next year, where Mr Orbán faces an opposition challenge. In the past 15 years, Fidesz decided what topics dominated the political world. Under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary has systematically curtailed the rights of its LGBTQ+ community. A law passed in March further empowered authorities to ban Pride events, to "protect children" – a justification ’widely seen by critics as a pretext for a broader assault on democratic liberties’. Opponents view the government's actions against the LGBTQ+ community as part of a wider erosion of democratic norms, with the Pride march serving as a focal point for resistance. More than 30 embassies have expressed support for the march and European Commission President der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead. Organisers anticipate a massive turnout, with participants travelling from 30 different countries to show ’solidarity’. Among the attendees expected are European Commissioner for Equality Lahbib and approximately 70 members of the European Parliament. Seventy Hungarian civil society groups, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Commission, published an open letter yesterday in support of the march, saying the law that led to the police ban 'serves to intimidate' the entire society. Budapest Mayor Karácsony ’tried to circumvent the law by organising the march' as a municipal event, which he said does not need a permit. Police however banned the event, arguing that "it fell under the scope of the child protection law". Mr Orbán, whose government promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, provided some clues yesterday about what participants can expect when he warned of legal consequences for organising and attending the march. Earlier this week Justice Minister Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organising a prohibited event is punishable by one year in jail, while attending counts as a misdemeanour. The law that allows for the ban of Pride lets police impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. When asked about the threat of a one-year jail term, Mr Karácsony said at a press briefing yesterday that such a sentence ’would only boost his popularity’. 'But I cannot take it seriously', he said. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
by’ Komuves’

Danube
Sat, 28 June 2025  Revealing a lesser known stretch of the Danube. / Photo/ (Source: The West Australian – newspaper, published in Perth, Western Australia)
by de Moeller

United Kingdom
June 28, 2025  UK’s announcement of its plan to purchase approximately 12 F-35A nuclear-capable aircraft from the United States is a crucial step in deterrence messaging. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo
Jun 28, 2025  Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement yesterday in Washington. The agreement comes after the M23, an ethnic Tutsi rebel force linked to Rwanda, sprinted across the mineral-rich east of the DRC earlier this year, seizing vast territory including the key city of Goma. The deal calls for Rwanda to end ’defensive measures’ it has taken. It does not explicitly address the gains of the M23 in the area torn by decades of on-off war. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The agreement calls for the ’neutralization’ of the FDLR, with Rwandan Foreign Minister Nduhungirehe saying the irreversible and verifiable end to state support to the Hutu militants should be the first order of business. His Congolese counterpart, Kayikwamba Wagner, highlighted the agreement's call for respecting state sovereignty. The agreement sets up a joint security coordination body to monitor progress and calls vaguely for a regional economic integration framework within three months. Trump has’ trumpeted’ the diplomacy that led to the deal, and started his White House event by bringing up a journalist who said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Earlier yesterday, Trump said the United States will be able to secure „a lot of mineral rights from the Congo’. Lithium and cobalt are vital in electric vehicles and other advanced technologies. U.S. rival China now is a key player in securing the resources. Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC's epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm about the agreement, saying it effectively benefited Rwanda and the United States. The deal ’would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimizing the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace,’ he said in a statement ahead of the agreement’s signing. (Source: The Japan Times / AFP - France; JIJI - Japan)

Asia

Gaza
June 28, 2025 | 10:09 AM  ’At least 39 Palestinians were martyred tonight, and dozens were injured, as a result of intensive airstrikes and shelling carried out by the Israeli occupation forces on several areas in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip’. (Source: Gulf Times – Qatar)

Iran
June 28, 2025 5:39 PM CET  Iran decided to ban the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency from its nuclear facilities and to remove surveillance cameras from them, claiming it discovered Israel’s government obtained sensitive facility data. The vice speaker of the Iranian parliament, Haji Babaei, announced the decision during funerals of top military officials and nuclear scientists killed by recent Israeli strikes, Mehr news agency reported today. Iran previously allowed the IAEA to access and inspect its nuclear plants and use sophisticated surveillance devices as a crucial commitment within the nuclear deal Tehran signed with France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., Germany and the European Union in 2015 to keep its nuclear program under control. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

North America

United States
Sat June 28, 2025  The US military did not use bunker-buster bombs on one of Iran’s largest nuclear sites last weekend. The site is so deep that the bombs likely would not have been effective, the US’ top general told senators during a briefing on Thursday. The comment by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Caine is the first known explanation given for why the US military did not use the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb against the Isfahan site in central Iran. US officials believe Isfahan’s underground structures house nearly 60% of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which Iran would need in order to ever produce a nuclear weapon. US B2 bombers dropped over a dozen bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites. But Isfahan was only struck by Tomahawk missiles launched from a US submarine. During the briefing, Ratcliffe told lawmakers that the US intelligence community assesses that the majority of Iran’s enriched nuclear material is buried at Isfahan and Fordow. An early assessment produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency in the day after the US strikes said the attack did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program, including its enriched uranium, and likely only set the program back by months, CNN has reported. It also said Iran may have moved some of the enriched uranium out of the sites before they were attacked. The Trump officials who briefed lawmakers this week sidestepped questions about the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of already-enriched uranium. President Trump again claimed today that nothing was moved from the three Iranian sites before the US military operation. But Republican lawmakers emerged from the classified briefings on Thursday acknowledging that the US military strikes may not have eliminated all of Iran’s nuclear materials. They argued that doing so was not part of the military’s mission. 'The purpose of the mission was to eliminate certain particular aspects of their nuclear program. Those were eliminated. To get rid of the nuclear material was not part of the mission,” GOP Rep. Murphy told CNN. 'The program was obliterated at those three sites. But they still have ambitions,' said Republican Sen. Graham of South Carolina. “I don’t know where the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium exists. But it wasn’t part of the targets there.” '(The sites) were obliterated. Nobody can use them anytime soon,' Graham also said. “There were a moderate number of vehicles present at Isfahan on June 26 and at least one of the tunnel entrances was cleared of obstructions by mid-morning June 27,” weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies Lewis said. Additional satellite imagery captured on June 27 by Planet Labs show the entrance to the tunnels were open at the time, according to Lewis. The preliminary DIA assessment noted that the nuclear sites’ above ground structures were moderately to severely damaged, CNN has reported. That damage could make it a lot harder for Iran to access any enriched uranium that does remain underground. 'Iran still has the know-how to put back together a nuclear program. And if they still have that enriched material, and if they still have centrifuges, and if they still have the capability to very quickly move those centrifuges into what we call a cascade, we have not set back that program by years. We have set it back by months', Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat, told on Thursday night. Caine and Hegseth on Thursday said the military operation against Fordow went exactly as planned but did not mention the impacts to Isfahan and Natanz. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

(Saturday), 28 June 2025  Speaking at a press conference at the White House yesterday, the US President told reporters he would consider ’without question’ attacking Iran again if intelligence reports conclude Iran could enrich uranium to concerning levels. Mr Trump reiterated his claim that Iranian nuclear sites had been ’obliterated’ in the attacks. In a speech on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader said the US president had exaggerated the damage to the nuclear facilities and that the strikes did not accomplish anything significant. Iran's foreign minister Araghchi admitted on Thursday evening that ’excessive and serious’ damage was done to the country's nuclear facilities by the US strikes. (Source: LBC – United Kingdom)

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Europe

Hungary
June 27, 2025  Dozens of ’prominent’ European politicians - more than 70 members of the European Parliament - are heading to Hungary for Pride. Hungary is making clear the foreign dignitaries will be breaking the law. The country’s conservative government insists the parade is illegal. Brussels is attacking Hungary again: European Commission President der Leyen backed the celebrations in a video statement on Wednesday. ’To the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary and beyond: I will always be your ally.’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hit back on social media and urged der Leyen “to refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs of member states.” In a letter addressed to several embassies this week, Justice Minister Tuzson insists the parade is banned. He reiterated that organizers could be imprisoned and that the celebrations are illegal. “Kindly ensure that your co-workers and colleagues are duly informed of these facts, in order to maintain clarity,” Tuzson wrote. “The legal situation is clear: The Pride parade is a legally banned assembly, organising or announcing which qualifies as a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to one year under Hungarian law … Those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction.” The letter was prompted by a joint statement from dozens of Budapest-based ambassadors, mostly from EU countries, backing the event and its organizers. During a press briefing yesterday, Orbán said he was calling on people not to attend but noted the use of force was not planned. “Hungary is a civilized country. We do not hurt each other,” he added. Budapest mayor Karácsony - calling for the city council to organize the march - effectively freed event organizers from having to obtain a police permit - which they were always unlikely to get. Hungary, with its ’far-right’ government led by Fidesz, has led the charge against the continent’s liberal approach to sexual and gender freedoms. In recent years, Orbán has adopted rhetoric styled after the conservative MAGA movement in the U.S., becoming the European firebrand of a global charge against gender ideology and ’woke’ culture. Hungary,after Orbán came to power in 2010, banned same-sex marriage and adoption. In 2021 his government passed a child protection law that allowed authorities to ban content for children portraying or promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment. This past March, Orbán’s government passed legislation prohibiting public assemblies that promote or display the LGBTQ+ community, under the pretext of protecting children, effectively banning Pride celebrations nationwide. (Source: Politico – based in U.S., owned by a German company)

Denmark
Fri 27 Jun 2025  Denmark is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice. The department of culture plans to submit the amendment in the autumn. It defines a deepfake as a very realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice. “Human beings can be run through the digital copy machine and be misused for all sorts of purposes and I’m not willing to accept that,” the Danish culture minister, Engel-Schmidt, said. The changes to Danish copyright law will, once approved, theoretically give people in Denmark the right to demand that online platforms remove such content if it is shared without consent. Violation of the proposed rules could result in compensation for those affected. The government said the new rules would not affect parodies and satire, which would still be permitted. Engel-Schmidt plans to use Denmark’s forthcoming EU presidency to share its plans with his European counterparts. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom)

European Council
Fri Jun 27 2025 - 19:59  Splits have emerged between European governments over talks to avert crippling tariffs on trade. Ireland, Germany, Italy and others are keen to land a quick deal with the Trump administration, while the French government is concerned about the European Union giving too many concessions. Mr Trump has threatened to put tariffs of 50 per cent on imports sold into the US from the EU, unless the two sides agree a trade deal by July 9th. Near-blanket tariffs of 10 per cent have been charged on EU goods since early April, with cars and steel subject to higher 25 per cent duties. Germany and Italy want the commission to make sure it agrees some type of deal, or the broad strokes of an agreement that heads off steeper tariffs. French president Macron has said that if some US tariffs became permanent, the EU would have to consider putting similar duties on goods coming from the US. Negotiators from the European Commission, that leads on trade policy, have been putting more pressure on US counterparts, to get some form of tariff deal over the line before the July 9th deadline. European Commission president der Leyen briefed EU leaders at a summit in Brussels late yesterday about the ’progress’ of talks. Officials have largely accepted that any deal will not remove Mr Trump’s 10 per cent “liberation day” tariffs, which apply to nearly all trade except pharmaceutical products and computer chips, which he has promised to hit with separate levies. EU trade commissioner Šefčovič said he is continuing to work towards a negotiated solution, after a phone call with US trade representative Greer today afternoon. The commission is preparing a package of retaliatory tariffs as leverage to levy on US trade if negotiations stall. It has proposed targeting Boeing and other aircraft manufacturers. The EU’s retaliatory package would only affect €25 billion worth of US trade, rather than €95 billion, if the EU was to remove from the tariff list every product member states want off, the commission recently told diplomats in a closed-door meeting.automobile industry and a host of other US products and sectors. Dublin and other capitals are eager to land at least a preliminary agreement, rather than extend the US tariff deadline beyond July 9th. There is concern in Government that existing tariffs will become the new 'baseline'. Cementing tariffs at that rate would still have a significant economic impact, given the huge amount the Republic exports to the US. The Government has asked the commission to reconsider putting counter tariffs on aircraft, medical devices, bourbon and agricultural products, to shield Ryanair, Irish whiskey distillers and the medtech sector from US crossfire in the event of a full-blown trade war. (Source: The Irish Times Ireland)

27/06/2025 - 15:50  "European Union leaders considered new US trade proposals ahead of the July 9 deadline for US President Trump's tariffs at a Brussels summit yesterday. They also addressed the Mercosur trade agreement, Russia sanctions, and restructuring the World Trade Organization'. (Source: France 24)

Russia
(June 27, 2025)  Putin signed a decree that reduces the scope of classified information accessible to government ministries. The decree removes the Ministry of Internal Affairs' access to information concerning operational activities around mobilization and individuals who confidentially cooperate with counter-terrorism agencies. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Development loses its access to data related to the quantity and combat readiness of troops, the import and export of armaments and military-technical assistance provided to other nations. (Source: Conflict Intelligence Team - Georgia)

(June 27, 2025)  Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Medvedev announced that more than 800 participants in the war will represent the ruling United Russia [Putin’s ruling party] in elections at various levels on the country’s Single Voting Day. (Source: Conflict Intelligence Team - Georgia)

(June 27, 2025)  Court in Perm region [Russia’s federal subject] sentenced photographer Skvortsov to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason. According to investigators, the photographer gave a book about Soviet bunkers titled "Secret Bunkers: Urban Special Fortifications of the 1930s–1960s" to an American journalist. The book is freely available for sale in stores. Skvortsov was arrested in November 2023. (Source: Conflict Intelligence Team - relocated to Georgia since 2022 )

Asia

Azerbaijan
June 27, 2025  Iran’s President Pezeshkian urged Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev during a call on June 26 to “investigate and verify” reports that Israeli drones, including micro-drones, may have entered Iranian air space via Azerbaijani territory. According to the official Iranian readout of the conversation, Aliyev denied the claims and insisted that his government would not allow Azerbaijan’s territory to be used against Iran. However, there is no mention of this exchange in the official Azerbaijani account of the call. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Israeli-made weapons constituted approximately 69 percent of all major conventional arms imported by Azerbaijan between 2016 and 2020. (Source: RFE/RL - U.S.)

China
June 27, 2025  China's top legislature has voted to remove senior military official Miao, 69, the former political ideology chief of the People's Liberation Army from the Central Military Commission, its highest-level military command body and suspended him from his post. He was also removed from China's national legislature on March 14, for "serious violations of discipline and law,’ according to a communique released by the legislature last month. Miao was put under investigation for "serious violations of discipline" in November. The move marks another stage in President Xi’s ongoing anti-corruption purge of China's military, in which over a dozen PLA generals and a handful of defence industry executives have been implicated. Miao was stationed in the coastal province of Fujian when Xi worked there as a local official. Xi personally elevated Miao to the Central Military Commission. Another senior military official, Vice Admiral Li, was stripped of his parliamentary delegate status today. He was chief of staff of the PLA Navy and its third-ranking officer. Another Central Military Commission member and China's second-ranking general, He, has not been seen in public since the March 11 closing ceremony of the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing. He is the third-most powerful commander of the People's Liberation Army and is considered a close associate of President Xi, the army's commander-in-chief. Two former Chinese defence ministers have been removed from the Communist Party for corruption. One of them, Li, was suspected of corruption in military procurement. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

India
27.06.25  On the sidelines of the meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao, Indian Defence Minister Singh told his Chinese counterpart Dong today, that the two countries should seek a "permanent solution" to their decades-old border dispute. Singh stressed on solving issues between the countries through a structured roadmap. Singh also stressed on border management and to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue, the India's defence ministry statement said. Beijing says the border dispute should not affect the larger relationship and differences should be managed properly until a mutually acceptable solution is found through dialogue. The world's two most populous nations - both nuclear powers - share a 3,800 km, largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas and have gone to war over it in 2020, resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. The clash led to a four-year military standoff with both armies deploying tens of thousands of troops in the mountains until they reached a pact in October to step back. The defence ministers agreed to continue consultations to achieve progress on "disengagement, de-escalation, border management and eventual de-limitation", the statement added. Beijing and New Delhi said this month that they have agreed to expedite the resumption of direct air services, which were suspended after the 2020 clash, and step up communication. SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Their defence ministers' meeting was held as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders set for the autumn. The SCO defence ministers were unable to adopt a joint statement at the end of their meeting due to a lack of consensus on referring to ’terrorism’, India said yesterday. (Source: The Telegraph – India)

Asia
June 27, 2025  Iran war highlights Asia's vulnerability. According to our analysis, Asia would be the region most severely impacted if the strait were to be shut down. Roughly 80% of the crude oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz -- which narrows to just over 30 kilometers at its tightest point - is destined for Asia. Major economies like China and India are expected to face particularly severe consequences in the event of a disruption. Crude oil prices surged following the U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. However, just a few days later, President Trump unilaterally declared a ceasefire between Israel and Iran via Truth Social. His statement sent oil prices tumbling and Asian stocks soaring. A shaky ceasefire has since taken hold. Whether this marks the end of the latest crisis remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: Any conflict that spreads globally will have a profound impact on Asia. (Source: Nikkei /Jiji = Japan)
by Tanaka, Nikkei Asia's editor

North America

Canada
27 Jun 2025  Separatist sentiments have been energised in Alberta, the western Canadian province that is the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US and has always considered itself a little bit different than the rest of Canada. Its independence movement poses a threat to Prime Minister Carney’s push for national unity and his ability to respond to the economic threats unleashed by Trump, the US president. This turmoil has been amplified by premier Smith, the 54-year-old United Conservative party leader who regularly rails against Ottawa and has opened the door to an independence referendum. Smith said she was against separating from Canada or Trump’s idea of joining the US. The day after Carney won the national election in April, she introduced a law that lowers the threshold to hold a provincial vote on whether Alberta should breakaway from Canada. From next month, only 177,000 signatures are needed for a referendum petition, down from 600,000. Only 29 per cent of Albertans support the idea of Alberta becoming its own country, according to a May Leger public opinion survey(. The Angus Reid Institute reported that at least 36 per cent of Albertans wanted a vote to leave Canada while highlighting similar tensions exist in neighbouring Saskatchewan. On Monday, the separatist Republican Party of Alberta came third in a by-election dominated by Smith’s United Conservative party. Canada is no stranger to an identity crisis. French-speaking Quebec in the country’s east held unsuccessful votes for independence in 1980 and 1995. Now, it is the west that is voicing its frustration, particularly over how their abundant oil reserves pay for less prosperous provinces. But even if a “Yes” vote wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, independence could only happen after long negotiations with Ottawa and other provinces. It also has to contend with First Nations groups that are fiercely against the idea. Smith said the anger today is the result of a decade of Liberal party rule under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose climate-focused agenda, such as the carbon tax, was devastating to families and stifled industry. Smith met Trump in January at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in a bid to promote Alberta’s energy abundance. Smith was the first premier Carney visited after becoming prime minister. His election promise to make Canada an “energy superpower” with the “strongest economy in the G7” heavily relies on Alberta’s support. Smith’s inner circle includes figures such as chief of staff Anderson, an author of the Free Alberta Strategy, a manifesto urging the province “to assert its sovereignty, (and) offload the burden of Ottawa’s tyrannical economic policies”. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)

United States
June 27, 2025  Parents with religious objections to storybooks with L.G.B.T.Q. themes may withdraw their children from public schools when the L.G.B.T.Q. Storybooks are discussed, the Supreme Court ruled on today. Maryland parents have a religious right to withdraw their children from classes on days that stories with gay and transgender themes are discussed, the court ruled. The logic of Justice Alito’s majority opinion in the 6-to-3 decision seemed to sweep quite broadly, allowing parents with religious objections to demand that their children not be instructed about gay and transgender themes but also about many other topics. Some legal scholars said the ruling would have broad consequences for the ability of public schools to manage their curriculums. Justice Sotomayor announced her written dissent. She wrote that public schools offer to children of all faiths and backgrounds an education and an opportunity to practice living ’in our multicultural society.’ ’That experience,’ she added, ’is critical to our nation’s civic vitality’. A lawyer for the parents, Baxter of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, welcomed the decision. “This is a historic victory for parental rights in Maryland and across America,” he said. “Kids shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades or gender transitions without their parents’ permission.” (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

June 27, 2025  Since the late ’70s Hezbollah has maintained a well-documented presence in the U.S., mainly for terror fundraising, but these so-called sleeper units can instantly morph into violent and lethal operational cells. In Iran's 'forever war' against the US, Hezbollah is the most prolific and capable terrorist organization in the world. The misguided prioritization of the FBI during the Biden administration on "white supremacist' organizations diverted precious resources away from the greatest threat in its mission portfolio. The Biden administration’s reckless open-border policies created an unprecedented opportunity for a host of additional international terror cells and individual fanatics to infiltrate into the U.S. A June 2022 study by the George Washington University program on extremism identified 128 individual examples of Hezbollah activity in the US. Border Czar Homan reported that Biden’s policies resulted in the capture and release of over 1,272 Iranian nationals who have melted into this country unvetted and unmonitored. In addition, there were over 2 million got-aways. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
by Swecker, who served 24 years in FBI as Special Agent. He retired from the Bureau as Assistant Director with responsibility over all FBI Criminal Investigations.

International Atomic Energy Agency

27.06.2025  UN nuclear watchdog says radiation levels in Gulf remain normal after Iran's nuke sites hit by Israel, US. Today, IAEA Director General Grossi said data from the International Radiation Monitoring System, which includes 48 countries, showed no significant radioactive release from Iran's nuclear facilities. “From a nuclear safety perspective, Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor represented our main concern, as any strike affecting those facilities - including their off-site power lines - could have caused a radiological accident with potential consequences in Iran as well as beyond its borders in the case of the Bushehr plant. It did not happen, and the worst nuclear safety scenario was thereby avoided,” Grossi said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

.5 6 28 11:32

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Europe

France
26.06.2025 Speaking during a parliamentary debate on the Middle East yesterday evening, French Defense Minister Lecornu confirmed that the country's military forces intercepted multiple Iranian drones aimed at Israel during the recent conflict between the two countries. He said fewer than 10 drones were brought down by French forces as part of self-defense measures. “Our armies did not participate in the strikes on Iran. But we are protecting our bases in the region, in self-defense. Our deployed ground-to-air defense systems and Rafale aircraft intercepted several Iranian drones whose trajectory towards Israel was flying over our areas,” he said on X, referring to his remarks in the National Assembly. The minister also said that approximately 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones were launched by Iran against Israel during the 12-day war. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Spain
26.06.2025  Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez today responded to US President Trump’s threats to raise tariffs on Spain for refusing to spend 5% of its GDP on defense. “Europe and the world are already suffering from a trade war being waged by the US, with tariff measures that we believe are unfair and unilateral,' Sanchez told reporters in Brussels when asked about Trump’s remarks the day prior. Yesterday, Trump said he would negotiate “directly” with Sanchez on trade, saying: ’We’re going to make them pay twice as much,’ in terms of tariffs. „In the case of Spain, it’s double the lie because we have a trade deficit – not surplus – with the United States,’ Sanchez added. He pointed out that the EU is negotiating trade with the US on behalf of all member states. Individual nations are not carving out their own trade deals. “Spain is committed to members of the alliance, but is also sovereign,” said Sanchez. In the Hague Summit Declaration signed yesterday, allies commit to investing 5% of GDP on core defense requirements and security by 2035. However, Spain has said it secured a deal to allow for some exemptions. “Spain’s Ministry of Defense says that the capacities agreed upon … represent 2.1% of our GDP, and that’s what we are going to do,” said Sanchez, who has argued that spending 5% on defense would entail massive tax increases and cuts to Spain’s welfare state. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Council
26.06.2025  EU heads of state and government gathered in Brussels today for the final summit of the regular term and the conclusion of Poland's six-month presidency of the Council focusing on Europe's strategic competitiveness, defense readiness, and external relations amid ongoing crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. The meeting follows the NATO summit in The Hague, with NATO allies EU members who are expected to align efforts on readiness and industrial capacity. Amid growing concerns about economic fragmentation and global trade tensions, in light of recent geopolitical tensions affecting global markets, leaders are expected to address Europe's industrial resilience strengthening the EU's strategic autonomy, bolstering critical supply chains, and maintaining a level playing field in global trade. Trump's threatened tariffs are putting pressure on the EU, which handles trade negotiations for all 27 member states.  The US, under Trump, currently maintains a 10% tariff on most EU goods, on top of higher sector-specific rates (25% on cars and 50% on steel/aluminum), implemented since April 2025. Yesterday, he criticized Spain for ’insufficient’ defense spending and hinted at additional tariffs. France's president pushed back, accusing Trump of launching a trade war against traditional allies. A looming deadline of July 9 approaches: Trump has threatened to raise reciprocal tariffs to 50% if a deal isn't reached by then. Brussels has offered concessions such as aligning self-driving car regulations and increasing gas/arms purchases to seek relief on steel, cars, semiconductors, and pharma. However, European Commission President der Leyen has emphasized the EU will not compromise its regulatory autonomy, particularly regarding digital standards and environmental norms. Leaders will explore options to increase pressure on Russia, debating an 18th package of sanctions and the future of the price cap on Russian oil - measures some countries resist over concerns ’they could drive up energy costs’. ’EU leaders are expected to reiterate their unwavering support for Ukraine, with discussions set to include Ukraine’s path toward EU membership and military support’. Zelenskyy is scheduled to join the summit via video conference. The summit will also address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and the risk of further regional escalation. EU leaders are expected to underline the need for de-escalation, humanitarian access, and support for a two-state solution. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told he plans to raise the revision of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and sanctions on Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank - topics that are also expected to be part of the discussions. Leaders will also review the bloc's ability to counter hybrid threats and reinforce internal security structures. In response to recent crises and emerging threats, leaders will also discuss strengthening the EU's overall preparedness, including civil protection, crisis management, and resilience against hybrid activities. Migration remains a key issue, with leaders set ’to follow up on implementation of previous agreements’ and assess progress on securing external borders. ’The European Commission is expected to provide input on operational measures and long-term migration management’. The summit will end with a statement of conclusions that will shape the EU’s agenda for the next four months. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

United Kingdom
26 June 2025  Underlining the Britain’s commitment to the US and the alliance, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed the country would purchase US jets – capable of carrying US-owned and controlled tactical nuclear weapons. The US allowed NATO to refer to the 'long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security' in the communique. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

Asia

Gaza
26.06.2025  At least 47 Palestinian civilians were killed and dozens injured in new Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip today, medics said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Iran
June 26, 2025, 8:46 AM  Iran says it captured 700 'mercenaries' working for Israel during war. Tehran intensifies a crackdown based on public reports and intelligence operations on what it has labelled ’espionage and sabotage networks’. It came after Israel's military chief said ground commando units had operated secretly inside Iran during the conflict, with Israel's spy chief hailing assistance from US intelligence. Iranian media said a number of Mossad operatives had also been arrested in Iran during the war. Fars said arrests were made in Kermanshah, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Fars and Lorestan provinces. Yesterday, Iran said it executed three men accused of spying for Israel. Human rights groups have accused Iran of carrying out sham trials and issuing sentences for spying without credible evidence in an effort to crack down on dissent. (Source: The National – United Arab Emirates)

Pakistan
Jun 26th, 2025  The deterrence doctrines are eroding and arms control collapsing in a way that is reshaping the nuclear rules of engagement. A broader analysis of global nuclear risks published in a new article in Foreign Affairs suggested Pakistan’s strategic ambitions may be expanding far beyond its neighborhood. U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan could be seeking to deter not just New Delhi, but is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States. The move, if confirmed, could redefine geopolitics. The authors, MIT nuclear security experts Narang and Vaddi, both held senior U.S. defense roles recently. Islamabad insists its nuclear program is solely aimed at deterring India., But according to the influential policy journal, the country’s hope is an ICBM threat might dissuade the U.S. from attempting to preemptively eliminate Pakistan’s arsenal or intervene in the event of another India-Pakistan conflict. 'If Pakistan acquires an ICBM,' the report notes, 'Washington will have no choice but to treat the country as a nuclear adversary – no other country with ICBMs that can target the United States is considered a friend.' (Source: Mediaite - U.S.)

North America

United States
6/26/2025  Investors, unnerved by fresh signs of an erosion in U.S. central bank independence, waste no time in pushing the greenback back to its lowest levels against a basket of other major currencies in over three years, erasing a brief respite provided by safe-haven flows related to Middle East tensions earlier in the week. Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noted that the dollar had not benefited as much as expected in the past two weeks from heightened Middle East tensions, a sign the dollar's safe-haven role had been hurt. In recent years, the currency has risen when oil rallies, but it gained just 0.7% last week. The dollar, the world's No.1 reserve currency, has come under fire this year from erratic U.S. policy making that has exacerbated economic uncertainty and put the notion of U.S. exceptionalism into doubt. Down 10% so far this year and set for its worst year since 2003, the dollar was expected to weaken further as renewed concern about Fed independence comes amid increased expectations for rate cuts and a looming July 9 deadline for trade agreements. Respect for independent institutions such as central banks has long been viewed as a key attraction of major economies, helping anchor economic stability and provide policy certainty. Concern about Fed independence adds to the damage, investors said. President Trump yesterday called Federal Reserve Chair Powell "terrible" in his latest attack on the Fed chief and said he has three or four people in mind as contenders for the top Fed job. The leading contenders for next Fed chief reportedly include former Fed Governor Warsh, National Economic Council head Hassett, current Fed Governor Waller, and Treasury Secretary Bessent. Trump's confrontations with longstanding allies over trade and security, and his attacks on the Fed, have revived questions in Germany around its holdings of central bank gold, some of which is stored at the New York Fed. And European Central Bank supervisors are asking some of the region's lenders to assess their need for dollars in times of stress, gaming out scenarios in which they cannot rely on tapping the Fed under the Trump administration, Reuters reported last month. "Talk about having the next Fed chair announced within the next couple of months, that would be fairly disruptive,' said Shah. 'It brings up the whole concern about the credibility and reliability of U.S. institutions again, which is typically something that people don't like'. (Source: MSN - U.S.)

June 19, 2025  More Americans than ever, including many who voted for President Trump, are seeing through the lie that the only way we can be safe is to surrender our liberty to politicians, bureaucrats, and crony capitalism. On March 20, President Trump signed an executive order “Eliminating Information Silos.” The order directed heads of federal agencies to make sure officials designated by the president “have full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems.” It was more recently revealed that the administration was working with tech company Palantir to create a database containing all information collected by all federal agencies on all US citizens. A database consisting of all the information of American citizens collected by the various federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Pentagon would be a major step in creating a total surveillance state. This database could come in handy to future Dr. Faucis seeking to enforce mask and vaccine mandates. Those with access to this database could see personal health records, education records, and tax returns. They may even be able to see how many firearms individuals have purchased and if they were associated with any organizations the government had labeled ’extremist.’ Some commentators and ’influencers’ who would normally oppose, or at least be skeptical of, expansion of the surveillance state are supporting it because they believe it will be used to locate illegal immigrants. Some conservatives are supporting this proposal because it will help identify students who have publicly opposed the U.S. government’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. The abandonment of liberty because fear drives people to trust government promises of safety is a phenomenon we have witnessed several times this century. An obvious example is the way many former friends of freedom supported the PATRIOT Act and other infringements on liberty following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. We also saw it during the covid hysteria when many embraced mask and vaccine mandates. Palantir, founded in 2003, is one of the first companies to see the potential in the surveillance-industrial complex that developed following 9-11 and the PATRIOT Act. Palantir is literally the creation of the surveillance state since one of its early investors was In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm controlled by the CIA. (Source: The Orange County Register - U.S.)
by Paul, a former member of the House of Representatives. The piece was published by the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

June 26, 2025  In a letter to The Times, a personal lawyer for the president Trump yesterday threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN for publishing articles about a preliminary intelligence report that said the American attack on Iran had set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months. He said the newspaper’s article had damaged Mr. Trump’s reputation and demanded that the news organization retract and apologize for the piece, which the letter described as false, defamatory and “unpatriotic.” The Times, in a response today, rejected Mr. Trump’s demands, noting that Trump administration officials had subsequently confirmed the existence of the report, issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency, and its findings. No retraction is needed, the paper’s lawyer, McCraw, wrote in a letter. No apology will be forthcoming, he added. We told the truth to the best of our ability. „We will continue to do so.” (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

26.06.25  Mamdani's victory - who won 43.5 per cent of the votes with 90 per cent of the ballots counted at the New York City's mayoral primary election - hasn't gone down well with US President Trump. Mamdani has repeatedly said he is not antisemitic. Referred to him as a '100% communist lunatic' by the US President, Trump went on to write: 'We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous. He looks terrible, his voice is grating, he's not very smart, he's got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!" Mamdani, born in Uganda to Indian parents, would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor. (Source: Telegraph India "with inputs from Reuters")

NATO

Jun 27, 2025  NATO has just handed Ukraine over to Putin. The alliance has not condemned Russia for its full-scale aggression, and has also made no mention of Ukraine joining the pact. Even the presence of Zelensky did not hide the fact that the alliance is tired of Ukraine. US President Trump continues to signal that he is not willing to provide military assistance. Arms supplies to Kiev may be further reduced. As Russia steps up its drone and missile strikes, Ukraine is prioritizing air defense systems, including the “Patriot“, and is abandoning previous requests for more sophisticated offensive weapons. The prospect of the US handing over “Tomahawk“ cruise missiles or aircraft capable of completely neutralizing the Russian Su-35 fighters are not realistic. Ukraine can only count ’on help’ from its European allies. At the NATO summit, Britain announced plans to fund joint drone production initiatives with Ukraine and Germany. Such promises, however, are not a panacea for Ukraine's weapons problems. Ukraine's defense industry cannot develop fast enough to neutralize ’Russia's military assistance from North Korea’. Moscow is not interested in de-escalating the war. „In the final communiqué, the lack of mention of Ukraine's future membership in NATO, as well as the ignoring of a full-scale Russian invasion, sent clear signals - Ukraine had been betrayed’. (Source: The Telegraph - United Kingdom)

26 June 2025 Taking credit for a 'fantastic' outcome that “no one really thought possible” after NATO’s 32 members agreed to his headline target of 5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence spending, Trump described the spending hike as "a monumental win for the United States', according to AFP. Trump said it was 'terrible” that Spain would not commit to meeting the target by 2035. "The economy is [doing] very well. And that economy could be blown right out of the water with something bad happening,' he said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Madrid considered current defence spending of 2 per cent of GDP as “sufficient, realistic and compatible with the welfare state”. He also reportedly thanked NATO allies for “respecting Spain’s sovereignty”. 'So, they want a little bit of a free ride but they will have to pay it back to us on trade because I am not going to let that happen. It’s unfair,' Trump said. The US leader was visibly delighted at the red carpet welcome and the praise lavished on him by Rutte among others. 'Without the United States, they couldn’t really have NATO. Wouldn’t work,' Trump said. 'It will in the future, because now they’re paying much more money.' (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

.5 6 26 16:09

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Europe

Hungary
25.06.2025  Speaking ahead of NATO leaders meeting in The Hague, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today called for a revision of the EU's budget regulation framework, warning that no member state would be able to meet NATO’s 5% of GDP defense spending target under the current rules. Orbán said the biggest threat Europe faces today is not military, but economic. "The real threat is not security wise, it's economic and losing our competitiveness on the global trade." "I think Russia is not strong enough to represent a real threat to us. We are far stronger," he added. On Ukraine, he said: "NATO has no business in Ukraine. Ukraine is not member of NATO, neither Russia. My job is to keep it as it is." (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Ukraine
25/06/2025 - 13:40  Russian missile strikes killed at least 26, injured over 200 on the city of Dnipro yesterday. (Source: France 24)

United Kingdom
25.06.2025  In a statement, the UK government said 350 ASRAAM air defense missiles will be provided to Ukraine using £70 million (approximately $95.2 million) raised from interest on seized Russian assets. The move comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Defense Secretary Healey travel to The Hague, the Netherlands, for an annual NATO leaders' summit. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Gaza
Jun 25, 2025 11:36 AM EDT  7 Israeli troops were killed in Gaza bombing as Palestinian officials say Israeli attacks kill 79. Over 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. Gaza health authorities had announced yesterday that the number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen above 56,000. (Source: PBS / AP = U.S.)

Iran, Israel
2:40 a.m. CEST June 25  Israel and Iran claim victory as cease-fire takes hold. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

Turkey
25.06.2025  Turkish President Erdogan, Trump discuss regional, bilateral issues at NATO summit in The Hague. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

North America

United States
25.06.2025  US President Trump said today that NATO allies' commitment to defense spending equal to 5% of member state’s gross domestic product will add 'more than $1 trillion a year' 'to collective defense'. ​​​​​​​Trump said the achievement represents dramatic progress from the previous 2% target, crediting his direct pressure on allies. "A couple of them came up to me, one in particular, said we've been trying to get it up to 3% for 20 years, we haven't been able, and you got it up to 5%,' he said. Trump identified Spain as "just about the only one" not committed to the 5% target, calling them "the most hostile" toward the increase. 'I'm going to negotiate directly with Spain. I'm going to do it myself. They're going to pay,' he said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

25 June 2025  Yet it appears that, early in his second term, Trump came under pressure from both the Israeli government and the neocons in his administration, who convinced him that he could take a middle route: smashing this long-term adversary while avoiding another extended military debacle; assisting Israel without indulging its desire for sustained conflict. The goal, it seems, was a limited mission that would procure Iran’s ’unconditional surrender’, winding down its nuclear programme and further weakening its regional position. This policy was forced through over the objections of less interventionist Republicans in the president’s inner circle. Trump’s ceasefire deal was announced on 23 June as evidence that his approach has succeeded: hobbling Iran while containing a wider conflagration. Yet his declaration of “peace” turned out to be premature. While the US was desperate to broker this short-term solution, Israel remains set on its long-term objective of an all-out war that would draw in the hegemon. Even if Tel Aviv accepts a temporary pause in the hostilities (which can hardly be taken for granted, given its flouting of similar agreements in Gaza and Lebanon), it nonetheless sees the past two weeks as a significant stride towards meeting this ambition: a test-case which suggests that, when push comes to shove, America will intervene on Israel’s side, even if this threatens to undermine its own geopolitical priorities. Secure in this knowledge, Israel can wait until the moment is right to manufacture another crisis and force a further reckoning. In the meantime, it can simply deploy the same tactics it has used against Hezbollah, launching semi-regular strikes to keep Iran in check and prevent any rebuilding of its defensive capability. Where is Europe in the equation? Since the eruption of conflict in Ukraine and Gaza, the fantasy of European ’strategic autonomy’ has been exposed as precisely that. The EU and UK have reaffirmed their subservience to American power, at the cost of both their energy security and moral credibility, while embarking on a frenzied armament drive to bolster „the West’ against its civilisational enemies. More than ever, the continent has been reduced to an enclave of empire. (Source: The New Statesman - United Kingdom)
by Eagleton

(June 25, 2025) 15:57  Closed-door meeting between U.S. President Trump and Zelensky at the NATO summit lasted 50 minutes. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

2:09 AM CEST, June 25, 2025  Early report says US strikes only set Iran’s nuclear program back months. (Source: AP - U.S.)

(June 25, 2025) Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245bn of gold home from US. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)

NATO

(June 25, 2025)  Nato leaders meeting in The Hague have agreed to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2025, following months of pressure from US President Trump. The commitment to raise defence spending over 10 years involves at least 3.5% of each member state's GDP on defence expenditure by 2035, plus up to 1.5% on a broadly defined series of investments loosely connected to security infrastructure. In a statement they said they were united against profound security threats and challenges, ’in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security’ and the persistent threat of terrorism. Secretary General Rutte said ’decisions made today would include continued support for Ukraine’ while pushing for peace. The leaders also said they were reaffirming their ironclad commitment to collective defence. The Hague summit, was due to last only two and a half hours, with a short communique agreed at the end. In their final communique, Nato member states stressed their commitments to providing support for Ukraine, ’whose security contributes to ours’, adding that direct contributions to Kyiv's defence and its defence industry would be included in assessment of allies' defence spending. Trump was due to meet Zelensky on the sidelines afterwards. The US president was more keen to talk about conflict in the Middle East than the war in Ukraine, when he spoke to reporters today. "He's got a little difficulty, Zelensky, a nice guy’, said Trump. "I've spoken to Putin a lot... he volunteered help on Iran. I said do me a favour, help us on Russia, not Iran." (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Pacific Ocean

Wednesday, June 25, 2025  The leaders of the three key U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific did not join President Trump at this year’s NATO summit in the Netherlands - a reversal of their previous stances. Australia, Japan and South Korea are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but their leaders have attended the annual summits by special invitation since 2022. None accepted NATO’s invitation this year. Each nation offered different reasons for its non-attendance, but foreign policy experts are pointing to Washington’s America First agenda as the common cause. In Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese turned down the NATO summit as he was unable to secure a bilateral meeting with Mr. Trump. Defense Secretary Hegseth urged Australia to raise its defense spending from 2% of GDP to 3.5%, Mr. Albanese shot back, “We’ll determine our defense policy.” Bilateral tensions hang over the most expensive defense program in Australian history, the $239 billion AUKUS - the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The deal will see the U.K. and the U.S. supply Australia with nuclear attack submarines. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was unable to win any concessions on U.S. tariffs at the unhappy meeting with Mr. Trump early last week at the Group of Seven summit in Canada. 25% U.S. tariffs set to apply to Japanese goods on July 8. On Friday, Japan canceled a meeting between its and the U.S.’ senior defense and foreign affairs officials in Tokyo. The issue: U.S. demands that Japan raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP. Japan pledged to double defense spending to 2% in 2022. NATO also has irked Japan. Japanese media reported that the opening of a NATO liaison office in Japan - a plan supported by Mr. Ishiba - had been shelved for unclear reasons. South Korean President Lee took office on June 4. As an opposition politician, Mr. Lee had criticized U.S. troops in Korea as an occupying force and stood accused of being anti-Japan and pro-China and pro-North Korea. Mr. Lee has never been pro-NATO or pro-Ukraine. In February 2022, Mr. Lee said: “In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash.” On June 15, 2025, his administration said no new aid for Ukraine was planned. (Source: The Washington Times - U.S.)

.5 6 25 17:08

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United States
June 24, 2025 / July/August 2025  Beware the Europe you wish for - The downsides and dangers of independence of United States’ allies in Europe. II.    The EU is adopting new rules to standardize planning and purchasing. A 2023 provision incentivizes and facilitates joint defense procurement and production. Right now, Europe is plagued by redundancy and poor interoperability, largely because each state is responsible for its own procurement. The changes resulted in the signing last year of a $5.6 billion contract by Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Sweden to procure Patriot missiles. European states are also stepping up in terms of leadership. Since 2017, NATO has established nine battle groups, one for each of its nine ’frontline countries’. The alliance has adopted a distributed leadership approach for these groups; only in Poland does the United States lead. In Finland, Sweden is the leader. In Estonia, it is the United Kingdom. Canada is leading in Latvia. Germany leads in Lithuania, Spain in Slovakia, France in Romania, and Italy in Bulgaria. Hungary has taken leadership of its own battle group. European forces within the NATO alliance, with Finland and Sweden as NATO members, has forces that can better manage challenges from China and Russia in the Arctic. To counter Russia’s use of the Black Sea as a platform for striking Ukraine, NATO’s European members are developing new coastal defense forces and autonomous vehicles that can enhance ’U.S. operations’ in the Mediterranean’. The United States will need its European friends, with their newfound strength, ’to help it handle aggressors in multiple regions’.’ across the globe’. Americans overcorrected in their quest to get Europe to do more. Europe has seemingly decided to buy fewer goods from American defense manufacturers. Countries drawing from the EU’s new $163.5 billion defense procurement loan pool must spend the funds only for purchases from European defense companies. Purchases from U.S. defense companies might qualify if their products are manufactured in Europe. The contracts will require employing European workers and paying European taxes. Europe’s newfound autonomy is also causing strategic difficulties. For instance, the United States wants to put a quick stop to the war in Ukraine, and it has therefore argued for lifting sanctions on Russia in step-by-step peace negotiations. The continent has declared that it will not lift sanctions until Ukraine is ready to settle. Europe holds two-thirds of the $330 billion of the Russian assets that U.S. allies agreed to freeze in 2022 to deny Moscow access to financing for its war in Ukraine. The White House cannot dangle this carrot before Putin without European permission. Europe is also home to SWIFT, the payments mechanism that is keeping Russian banks from gaining access to the global financial system. Unlike the United States, the vast majority of European countries will not concede that Russia should be able to dictate whether Ukraine can be a member of NATO - not least because Putin has stated that a peace settlement with Kyiv should also revisit previous rounds of NATO’s enlargement. If a sense of a common transatlantic purpose continues to fray, Europe might wind up undermining Washington’s objectives elsewhere in the world. Should the United States decide to conduct a major military campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, for example, it will want to use its military bases in Europe. This would require seeking permission from European countries. Many European countries might refuse. Washington would then either have to start its offensive from far-off bases in the United States - or from partner bases in the Middle East, which are easier for Iran to hit than bases in Europe. European countries may no longer trust that Washington will defend them should the need arise. European leaders are seriously discussing whether the continent should acquire its own credible nuclear deterrent. France and the United Kingdom both have nuclear weapons, but neither currently has the number of warheads and the variety in delivery vehicles that the U.S. arsenal does, or the strategic depth. There is, of course, another force splitting Washington and Europe: Trump. In a poll of 18,000 Europeans conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations just after Trump’s victory in November, more than half of respondents considered the United States merely a ’necessary partner” rather than an “ally,” a term that just 22 percent were willing to apply. Relations have deteriorated. Washington’s NATO policy seems to change every day. During his first term, Trump had advisers and cabinet members who supported the transatlantic relationship and restrained some of his worst impulses. European officials, for their part, now speak of relations with the United States using a term that they once reserved for China: “de-risking.” This time around, those in his administration are far more in sync with Trump’s deep-seated antagonism toward Europe. Now, European countries are considering enhanced trade with China to mitigate their vulnerability to the United States after Trump slapped sudden, massive tariffs on almost all the continent’s exports. Even if Trump is followed by a string of committed transatlanticist presidents, U.S.-European relations will probably never return to what they were. But the two sides need each other to cope with a challenging Beijing, a destructive Moscow, a dangerous Tehran, and a wildcard Pyongyang. To repair relations, Washington will have to recalibrate its approach to Europe, accepting, that the world now has multiple poles and that the continent is one of them. Generations of American officials have gotten used to European concessions to U.S. priorities. Now, they will have to get better at dealmaking and compromise. The key will be returning to the fundamentals of defense diplomacy. As Washington considers reducing its military posture in Europe, it will need to spend more to compete for the continent’s defense contracts. The United States will likely have to listen to European arguments about balancing the continent’s wariness of Chinese influence with the need for Chinese trade, investment, and technology - just as the United States heeds the needs of its partners in the Middle East, who are developing strong ties with China out of economic necessity. The United States will also have to accept that NATO allies hosting U.S. military bases might have strong views on how Washington can prevent Iranian nuclear proliferation. It certainly will have to acknowledge that the European Union is a powerful economic force essential to NATO’s success. A new transatlantic relationship „respects Europe’s interests”, or it can lose the world order to ’a triumvirate of autocracies: Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran’. Beijing is the primary challenge to American security, so U.S. officials want to prioritize it over Moscow. Now, they can. If the United States can maintain its partnership with Europe, it will have an advantage not available to China or Russia in a multipolar world. U.S. officials now have to make a choice. They can spurn Europe and face a more dangerous world alone and depleted. Or they can forge a new, more accommodating transatlantic relationship. The two parties have nearly a century of shared experience. Their friendship can prevail. (Source: Foreign Affairs)
by Wallander, Executive Director of Penn Washington and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. She was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and oversaw U.S. military assistance to Ukraine during the Biden administration.
(Foreign Affairs)

 .5 6 25 17:09

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Europe

Ukraine
(June 24, 2025) 06:30  Russian drones and missiles killed at least 14 civilians and injured several dozen others in Ukraine in overnight attacks, local officials said yesterday, with nine deaths reported in the capital, Kyiv, where an apartment building partially collapsed. The attacks came as Zelensky began a visit to Britain, where he met privately with King Charles. (Source: Irish Independent - Ireland)

Asia

Gaza
June 24, 2025  49 people were killed in Gaza at different locations while they were trying to get food aid today, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said. /Video/ (Source: ABC News)

North America

United States
June 24, 2025 / July/August 2025  Beware the Europe you wish for - The downsides and dangers of independence of United States’ allies in Europe. I.     By the NATO’s 2024 summit in Washington, twenty-three of NATO’s 32 members were spending two percent of their GDP on defense - up from six members in 2021. U.S. president Trump’s rhetoric, broadly critical of European defense spending during his first presidential term and now his second, has played a role in the uptick. But for over a decade, NATO allies have been focused on the elevated threat that Russia poses to European security, with Russian President Putin’s naked aggression against Ukraine as a harbinger. Washington paid less attention to their region, more to Asia. Trump’s reelection has only helped underscore the continent’s burgeoning independence. Europeans now see a fundamentally changed United States, and ’they are no longer confident that investing in U.S. leadership will secure their interests’. Thanks to the continent’s increased strength, Washington can now focus on China first and Russia second. But growing European power means the era of comfortable U.S. leadership is over. It might deny the United States the right to use American military bases in Europe for operations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. And the continent is already holding up Washington’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The changing balance of power means that the United States now has to earn Europe’s partnership. During the Cold War, in the 1970s, preventing Moscow from controlling western Europe when it already occupied eastern Europe was the necessary condition for American global security and prosperity. The imbalance of defense spending in the alliance, was still a source of friction for the most powerful player, the U.S. leadership, but contributing the lion’s share was perfectly rational, ultimately in Washington’s own interest. ’The most concrete benefit: the more than 30 military bases the United States has set up across Europe’. The legal status of these bases is established in bilateral - ’access, basing, and overflight,’ or ABO- agreements that dictate how, when, and whether the U.S. military can operate from both the bases themselves and the airspace and waterways that allow access to them. Typically, the terms are quite generous, allowing the United States to use the bases not only ’to defend Europe’ but to support American interests across the globe. The United States had a hegemonic advantage to preserve U.S. ’leadership’: NATO allies often supported ’American priorities’, even when they disagreed with them. In 2001, multiple European allies granted Washington permission to use its bases ’for operations in Afghanistan’, as well as the right to fly military planes through European airspace. „Several NATO allies that opposed the 2003 U.S. war against Iraq” nonetheless allowed Washington to use bases in Europe for the invasion - or at least permitted U.S. military aircraft to transit their territory. When France did not, it was criticized by some members for causing NATO disunity. The benefits of the United States’ NATO hegemony continue to this day. Washington’s 2024 defense of Israel against Iranian air attacks depended on American military aircraft and ships based in Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. European basing and overflight enabled the United States to destroy strike and command facilities operated by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. And European bases support U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa. These bases help the United States protect itself. To reach the northern Atlantic Ocean, Russian submarines must first travel from a naval and air base on the Arctic Ocean through a chokepoint known as the GIUK Gap (for Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom). The Pentagon is typically able to track these submarines through the gap, but only because of the many U.S. naval and air assets it has stationed in Europe. Washington is helped in this task by patrols from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The United States benefits from NATO leadership in ways that go beyond basing. For the alliance to function properly, its members need to be able to jointly plan, patrol, and carry out operations. They must use similar sets of weapons. NATO states in practice, very often buy U.S.-made ones. Norwegian and U.S. NATO patrols in the GIUK Gap, for instance, train on the same systems, especially the Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Poland and the Baltic states have prioritized the purchase of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, to ensure round-the-clock coverage of NATO’s ’eastern frontline’. By equipping European forces with American weapons, ’eastern allies can encourage Washington to keep its military in the region’. American defense contractors are typically capable of providing decades’ worth of maintenance, parts, and upgrades. The reliability of the U.S. defense industrial base and the scale of the Pentagon’s long-term contracts offer additional incentives to use American weapons. This reliability is one reason why European countries have inked contracts for fifth-generation F-35 aircraft despite the high prices and torturous timelines. The F-35 alone is worth billions of dollars to U.S. defense companies. Europe’s purchases help the United States maintain a strong defense industrial base. Since 2020, European NATO allies have more than doubled the number of weapons they import and increased the proportion they buy from the United States from 54 percent to 64 percent. From 2022 to 2024, European countries purchased $61 billion worth of U.S. defense systems, accounting for 34 percent of all their defense contract procurement, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The United States has long enjoyed its own benefits from this predominance. Washington pays more for defense than Europe does. If the United States’ share of global GDP were significantly larger than Europe’s, Washington might still be spending far more on NATO than its transatlantic counterparts do, even as Europe begins to spend a similar share of GDP on defense. In 2024, European members spent an average of 2.2 percent of GDP on defense, whereas the United States spent under 3.4 percent. By 2025, the United States made up 14.8 percent of global GDP, whereas European countries (the EU, along with Norway and the United Kingdom) made up 17.5 percent. After Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, nearly all NATO countries began spending more on buying and maintaining military equipment. 'In 2024 alone, NATO’s non-U.S. members increased their expenditures on equipment by 37 percent', while U.S. spending for equipment grew 15 percent. European NATO allies allocated the vast majority of their defense spending to the continent. The United States, by contrast, has military forces spanning the globe. The (European) union is making changes in procurement and in overall military spending to expand defense industrial production. It changed its stringent deficit spending restrictions. Members can budget up to 1.5 percent more of individual GDP on defense. ’They could spend more than $700 billion more on defense through 2030 than is currently earmarked’. Germany long highly averse to both defense and deficit spending changed its constitution so ’it could borrow money for military purposes’. The country’s new government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has signaled plans to expand defense procurement through at least 2030. ’Committed to increasing spending’, Belgium, Italy, and Spain have all announced that they will reach NATO’s two percent goal in 2025. The EU has also proposed setting aside a $163.5 billion pool of money for long-term low-interest loans for procuring military goods. Should all these trends continue, Europe will not only match U.S. regional defense spending but also exceed it. The heavy burden that Washington bore for collective ’defense’ is being lightened ’by Europe’s response to Russia’.  (Source: Foreign Affairs)
by Wallander, Executive Director of Penn Washington and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. She was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and oversaw U.S. military assistance to Ukraine during the Biden administration.

NATO

24/06/2025 - 23:18  From The Netherlands, as NATO leaders meet. /Video/ (Source: France 24)

24.06.2025  What to expect at NATO's pivotal summit: Defense spending, Ukraine, Iran fallout. NATO leaders will debate ’a US-backed plan for members to spend 5% of GDP on defense’, a proposal facing pushbacks. Rutte has justified the 5% goal largely on the basis of 'growing threats from Russia'. Currently, European allies spend an average of 1.9% of GDP on defense. Canada allocates around 1.4%, while the US spends approximately 3.5%. The initial aim is to reach the target by 2032. No unanimous support among allies. Threat perception varies across the alliance, and many governments face domestic resistance to increased military spending due to rising national debt and public skepticism. Spain has emerged as the clearest opponent of the proposed target. Sanchez argued that the 5% goal does not align with Spain's strategic vision and is not necessary for fulfilling NATO obligations. Today, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico joined Spain's calls, arguing that Bratislava can fulfill its NATO commitments without hitting the 5% mark. Zelenskyy's invitation is being interpreted as a symbolic gesture of support. US President Trump previously said that Ukraine’s NATO membership will never happen and claimed the issue was the root cause of the war with Russia. The summit declaration is expected to include a reference to NATO's sovereign commitments to Ukraine's security. Leaders from Asia-Pacific partners such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan will be present at a dinner hosted by the Dutch King. Summit comes amid rising US-Iran tensions - the geopolitical fallout from recent US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and Iran's counterattack targeting US bases in Qatar and Iraq. The crisis has prompted renewed discussions about missile defense and counterterrorism, which are expected to be on the agenda alongside defense spending. Experts note that the Iran issue represents an unpredictable and potentially destabilizing factor for the summit. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

24/06/2025 - 06:03  Trump and his NATO counterparts are due to meet today in The Hague for a high-stakes summit amid discord over defence spending and Ukraine. The summit will cover topics such as a proposed 5% GDP target and questions about Kyiv's role at the table. Spain rejected the new NATO target for each country to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on defence ’needs’, calling it “unreasonable". The alliance operates on a consensus that requires the backing of all 32 members. The following day, Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government. He also criticised Canada as ’a low payer’. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the NATO allies agreed to make 2% of GDP the minimum spending level. Last year, 22 countries were expected to hit that target, up from only three a decade ago. Spain was the lowest spender in the alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defence expenditure, while Canada was spending 1.45%. In The Hague, the allies were expected to up the ante to 3.5%, plus a further 1.5% for things like improving roads, bridges, ports and airfields or preparing societies to deal with future conflicts. Then Trump ordered the bombing of nuclear installations in Iran. In 2003, the US-led war on Iraq deeply divided NATO, as France and Germany led opposition to the attack, while Britain and Spain joined the coalition. Ukraine's role at the summit is unclear. ’European allies and Canada want Ukraine to be at the top of the summit agenda’, but they are wary that Trump might not want Zelensky to steal the limelight. Zelensky has been invited, but it's unclear whether he will have a seat at NATO’s table. He may take part in Tuesday's dinner. Europeans provided 60% of the military support that Ukraine received in 2024. NATO coordinates those weapons deliveries via a hub on the Polish border and helps organise training for Ukrainian troops. The two-day summit in The Hague involves an informal dinner Tuesday and one working session Wednesday morning. A very short summit statement has been drafted to ensure the meeting is not derailed by fights over details and wording. The US nuclear arsenal provides strategic deterrence against would-be adversaries. A key part of the commitment for allies to defend one another is to deter Russia, or any other adversary. Under NATO’s new military plans, 300,000 military personnel would be deployed within 30 days to counter any attack, whether it be on land, at sea, by air ’or in cyberspace’. Experts doubt whether the allies could muster the troop numbers. Trump’s threats against US allies – including imposing tariffs on them – has weakened the deterrence. (Source: France 24 „with AP” - U.S.)

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Europe

Hungary
23 Jun (2025), 14:00  Hungary and Slovakia opposed the adoption of an 18th package of sanctions against Russia at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Szijjártó said. The European Commission’s (EC) proposal is aimed at undermining Hungary’s energy security 'as it will intensify our reliance on certain sources of energy, as well as increase Hungarian households' utility bills,' he said. Hungary and Slovakia decided to block the sanctions package in response to plans announced by the EC to phase out Russian energy imports by the beginning of 2028. „We did this because, in this case, EU countries, including Hungary and Slovakia, would be prohibited from purchasing Russian natural gas and cheap Russian crude oil,' he said. The military conflict between the US and Israel with Iran could push global energy prices up sharply, the minister noted. The global energy market is unstable, and if someone introduces any kind of ban on the purchase of energy resources now it would cause enormous damage, he concluded. (Source: TASS - Russia)

Russia
June 23 (2025)  Russian soldiers today are fighting for the country’s future, just as they did during the Great Patriotic War, Russian President Putin said at a meeting with top military graduates in the Kremlin. The president noted that the ceremony’s participants had gathered in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. "This majestic pantheon of Russian military glory reminds us of legendary battles and heroes of 1812, serving as an inspiring example of strength and unyielding spirit for many generations of the Motherland’s defenders," Putin described. (Source: TASS - Russia)

23.06.2025  Russian President Putin said today that the bolstering of combat capabilities is an urgent task. Addressing a meeting with graduates of military universities at the Kremlin - defining the technical modernization of the army and navy as one of the priority areas - Putin said it was part of the new large-scale and long-term State Armament Program for 2027–2036. He reminded that a separate branch of the army dealing with drone warfare was being formed. Russia will pay special attention to its nuclear triad, adding that the Strategic Rocket Forces will be supplied with modern Yars missile systems, and that the aviation component of its strategic nuclear forces will be replenished with modernized Tu-160M strategic bombers this year. Serial production of the latest medium-range missile system Oreshnik, which has proven itself very well in combat conditions, is underway, Putin said. And the navy will include new ships and submarines equipped with the latest generation of high-precision weapons. He argued the West plans to announce the start of a large-scale program to further increase NATO’s capabilities during the upcoming summit of the alliance this month. The military budgets of member states will be increased to implement this, provoking global militarization and the arms race he said, denying the idea of ’some kind of possible invasion of Europe’ by Russia. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Ukraine
23 Jun (2025), 15:15  'Last night, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike by precision weapons and attack unmanned aerial vehicles on enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in the Kiev Region, the infrastructure of a military airfield and the Ukrainian Navy’s mine and torpedo armament arsenal. The goals of the strike were achieved. All the designated targets were struck,' Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The Ukrainian army lost more than 1,215 troops in battles with Russian forces in all the frontline areas over the past 24 hours, according to the latest data on the special military operation in Ukraine released by Russia’s Defense Ministry. (Source: TASS - Russia)

June 23, 2025  At least 7 dead after Russian strikes on Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said direct hits were reported in six locations, with falling debris was reported in 25 locations. (Source: ABC News - U.S.)

Asia

China
23.06.2025  China today reiterated its call for the political settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war, noting that diplomacy remains the only option for an end to the conflict. China always believes that dialogue is the only viable way out of the crisis, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo said. He emphasized that China is prepared to collaborate with the international community and maintain a constructive role in resolving the crisis and achieving lasting peace. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Iran, Israel
Jun 23, 2025 9:12 AM EDT  Iran described its today attack on Israel as as a new wave of its Operation True Promise 3, saying it was targeting the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state television. Israel hit Iranian government targets in Tehran today, the Evin Prison in the Iranian capital, the security headquarters of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards and roads around Iran’s Fordo enrichment facility to obstruct access to the site. (Source: PBS - U.S.)

Israel
23 Jun, 21:42  A few hours ago the IDF has completed the largest wave of attacks it has carried out so far on Tehran with Israel focusing on attacks on the headquarters of the Iranian regime’s internal security apparatus and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, official representative of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Defrin said. As part of this series of attacks, 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets dropped more than 100 munitions on military installations of the Iranian regime. This was done on the basis of high-quality and accurate intelligence, he added. According to him, ’the Israeli army has many more plans to attack’ military installations on Iranian territory. ’We will continue to strike at every element and stratum of the regime that poses a threat to the state of Israel," Defrin concluded. (Source: TASS - Russia)

Monday 23 June 2025 10:04 BST  As it attacks Iran's nuclear program, Israel maintains ambiguity about its own. After it opened, Israel kept the work at Dimona hidden for a decade, telling United States’ officials it was a textile factory, according to a 2022 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an academic journal, authored by Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists, and Korda, a researcher at the same organization. Experts estimate Israel has between 80 and 200 nuclear warheads, although they say the lower end of that range is more likely. Israel also has stockpiled as much as 1,110 kilograms of plutonium, potentially enough to make 277 nuclear weapons, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a global security organization. It has six submarines believed to be capable of launching nuclear cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles believed to be capable of launching a nuclear warhead up to 6,500 kilometers, the organization says. Germany has supplied all of the submarines to Israel, which are docked in the northern city of Haifa, according to the article by Kristensen and Korda. Israel is one of just five countries that aren’t party to a global nuclear nonproliferation treaty. That relieves it of international pressure to disarm, or even to allow inspectors to scrutinize its facilities. Three countries other than Israel have refused to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: India, Pakistan and South Sudan. North Korea has withdrawn. Iran has signed the treaty, but it was censured last week, shortly before Israel launched its operation, by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog - a day before Israel attacked - for violating its obligations. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Qatar
23 Jun (2025), 19:50  'The number of missiles used during this successful operation was the same as the number of bombs used by the United States to attack Iranian nuclear facilities and the base that was attacked by Iranian forces was located far from cities and dwelling neighborhoods in Qatar,' says the statement of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The operation posed no threat to Qatar and Tehran wants to preserve warm and friendly relations with Doha. (Source: TASS - Russia)

North America

United States
June 23, 2025 11:30 AM ET  "I spent millions of my own money and traveled the entire country campaigning for President Trump and his MAGA agenda and his promises," Greene said today. "And Trump's MAGA agenda included these key promises: No more foreign wars. No more regime change. World peace." And this is what the people voted for, she continued. "Only 6 months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and world war 3.' "It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates.' Minutes later, the post had been removed from her personal X account. Over the weekend, Greene came out against Trump's strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. 'America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American.' (Source: Raw Story - U.S.)

Monday 23 June 2025 11:03 EDT  An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose war with Iran and a plurality say that President Trump’s strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities makes the United States less safe, according to a new poll conducted by YouGov on Sunday. 85 percent of American adults said they do not want war with Iran, including 92 percent of all Democrats, 83 percent of independents and 80 percent of Republicans in opposition. A slight majority of American adults also disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, with 43 percent of Americans strongly disapproving of the way the president has managed the crisis and 10 percent somewhat disapproving. Only 35 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

NATO

(June 23, 2025)  Could this be the most significant Nato summit since the Cold War? This will be Trump's first Nato meeting since being re-elected. In the past, he's made angry comments about alliance members freeloading off US security guarantees. European allies are 'desperate' to prove him wrong. Nato's secretary general Rutte designed this summit around Trump. He aimed to flatter him by agreeing 'massive hikes in defence spending'. Rutte also hoped that by keeping the meeting narrowly focused on money, he'd avoid any potential clashes or outbursts between Trump and his allies. That carefully-laid plan could be crumbling. Spain claimed on Sunday that it had secured "an opt-out from the new spending plan" - something Rutte later denied. Other allies in Europe that are struggling to find the extra cash are bristling too. Now that Iran has launched missiles at US airbases in Qatar and Iraq in response to Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear sites, the US commander-in-chief may decide to remain in the Situation Room in Washington. European allies advocated diplomacy over bombing when it came to Iran. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

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Europe

The Netherlands
Sunday, June 22, 2025  "No social cuts for war profits'. Banners, flags as hundreds of people protested today in The Hague against NATO, military spending and against a possible conflict with Iran, days before the Dutch city hosts the NATO summit that is seeking to increase allies’ defense budgets. The Netherlands is hosting the annual meeting of the 32-nation alliance starting Tuesday, with leaders scheduled to meet Wednesday. U.S. allies have ramped up defense spending ’since Russian President Putin' ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, but almost a third of them still don’t meet NATO’s current target of at least 2% of their gross domestic product. The heads of government ’want’ to hammer out an agreement on a hike in defense spending 'demanded by U.S. President Trump'. The deal appeared largely done last week, until Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote to NATO Secretary General Rutte that committing Madrid to spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defense “would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive.” Spain rejects NATO's 5% defense spending proposal. The NATO summit could be ’historic’ or divided. “Let’s invest in peace and sustainable energy,” Belgian politician d’Haese told the crowd at a park not far from the summit venue. Although billed as a demonstration against NATO and the war in Gaza, protesters were joined by Iranians who held up banners saying “No Iran War,' the day after the United States launched attacks against three of Iran’s nuclear sites. “We are opposed to war. People want to live a peaceful life,” said 74-year-old Hamadani, an Iranian who lives in the Netherlands. Look at the environment. 'Things are not good. So why do we spend money on war?” he added. The summit is being protected by the biggest ever Dutch security operation, code named Orange Shield, involving thousands of police and military personnel, drones, no-fly zones and cybersecurity experts. Trump heads to the NATO summit on the heels of possible Israel-Iran ceasefire. A puppet of U.S. President Trump was held up during the demonstration. (Source: Associated Press – U.S.)

European Commission
22.06.2025  We will have a Security College on Wednesday, focused on the escalating situation in the Middle East and its effects on Europe, European Commission President der Leyen announced today on X. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

22.06.2025  EU foreign policy chief Kallas today called on all parties involved in the Iran nuclear issue to de-escalate tensions, resume diplomatic negotiations and stressed that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue during the Foreign Affairs Council on July 23. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Council
22.06.2025  I call on all parties to show restraint and respect for international law and nuclear safety, European Council President Costa wrote on X today. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
Jun 22, 2025 00:33  During a press conference over the weekend, when asked why Moscow refuses to provide direct military assistance to Iran, Russian President Putin gave a blunt answer: Israel. "Nearly two million Russian speakers live in Israel," he said. "It’s almost a Russian-speaking country." He added that Russia maintains strong and friendly ties with the Arab world, but that each conflict must be judged separately. While Moscow may support Iran’s right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it is not willing to go to war for it. Putin’s remarks are not a show of support for Israel. They are a quiet admission of geopolitical reality. Even Russia knows there is a red line - and that line is Israeli sovereignty and security. In a world addicted to diplomacy and delay, Israel is rewriting the rules. And the message is clear: No terrorist is beyond reach. No regime is too far. And no one - not even Iran’s closest allies - is willing to stand in Israel’s way. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

United Kingdom
22.06.2025  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer today urged Iran to resume nuclear talks amid US involvement. He noted that the UK did not participate in these strikes that targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities. 'Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat,' Starmer said on X. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Iran
(June 22, 2025) 03:58  Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization issued a formal statement following the pre-dawn strikes on its nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan: “In the early hours of the morning, the nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were attacked in a barbaric act that violates international law, particularly the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The American enemy has taken responsibility for the attacks. We will not allow the path to the development of this national industry - born from the blood of our martyrs - to be halted. The Organization is taking the necessary steps, including legal action, to defend the rights of the Iranian nation.” (Source: JFeed - Israel)

3:24 a.m. CEST, June 22, 2025  The US has struck three key nuclear sites in Iran: Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.   Fordow is located close to the holy city of Qom and buried deep in a group of mountains. A good chunk of what we do know comes from a trove of Iranian documents stolen years ago by Israeli intelligence. The main halls are an estimated 80 to 90 meters beneath the ground. Recent IAEA reports suggested Iran had ramped up production of enriched uranium to a level of 60% at Fordow. The facility now contains 2,700 centrifuges, 'according to experts and the IAEA'.   Isfahan, in central Iran, is home to the country’s largest nuclear research complex. The facility was built with support from China and opened in 1984. According to NTI, 3,000 scientists are employed at Isfahan, and the site is suspected of being the center of Iran’s nuclear program. It operates "three small Chinese-supplied research reactors", as well as a “conversion facility, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant, and other facilities and laboratories,” the NTI says.   The Natanz nuclear complex, about 250 kilometers south of the capital Tehran, is considered Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility. It is used to develop and assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a key technology that turns uranium into nuclear fuel. Natanz has six above-ground buildings and three underground structures, two of which can hold 50,000 centrifuges, according to the non-profit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity at its above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

(June 22, 2025) 03:21 -  Iranian TV: Every American citizen or military member is a legitimate target for us.    03:19  Iranian state television showed a map highlighting U.S. military bases across the Middle East, accompanied by a chilling message directed at President Trump: 'You started this - we will finish it.'    03:09  President Trump told Reuters: 'It was an amazing success tonight. They must make peace immediately. They need to do it now - and if they don’t, they will be hit again.'    3:08 a.m.  Iran had evacuated the three nuclear sites the US says it struck some time ago, according to the news director of Iranian state media IRIB, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.    03:08  Fox News reports that the United States deployed six MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) bunker-busting bombs in the strike on the Fordow nuclear facility. In parallel, 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched at nuclear targets in Natanz and Isfahan, marking one of the most powerful and coordinated American strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure to date.    02:50  'Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize - For bombing Iran'. In a world where Nobel Prizes are too often handed out for empty gestures, it was Trump - by halting Iran’s nuclear bomb and averting global war - who 'truly earned the title of peacemaker'.    02:46  Following the massive strike on the Fordow nuclear site, the French news agency AFP reports that residents in the nearby city of Qom have begun evacuating their homes. The exodus comes amid fears of aftershocks, radiation, or further military action in the area. The situation on the ground remains tense and fluid.    02:46  Iranian state television reports that no radiation leak is expected following the strike on nuclear facilities, stating that all three targeted sites had been cleared of enriched uranium prior to the attack. The claim appears aimed at calming public fears, though its accuracy remains unverified.    02:38  According to The New York Times, the U.S. and Israel dropped an estimated 30 tons of explosives on the Fordow nuclear site during the overnight strike.    01:33  Reports from inside Iran indicate significant GPS interference affecting several areas across the country. The cause of the disruption is unclear, but it comes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and heightened military activity.    01:29  According to The New York Times, Israel’s latest wave of airstrikes across Iran in recent hours was designed to neutralize potential threats that could endanger American fighter jets in the event of a U.S.-led strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility.    01:28  In the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force has carried out a sweeping series of strikes across 18 different locations in Iran, targeting military, nuclear, and strategic infrastructure. Reported strike zones include: Shiraz, Kermanshah, Karaj, Qom, Isfahan, Narmak, Lorestan, Tehran, Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province (multiple sites), Behbahan, Baqestan, Mamakān, Mashhad (oil infrastructure), Tabriz, Lenjan, Bandar Abbas (naval base), and Shahroud. This marks one of the most extensive and geographically widespread military operations against Iran in a single day.    01:26  At 2:10 AM, residents in the Kashan area of Isfahan Province reported hearing six powerful explosions. 'We suspect the Natanz nuclear facility may have been struck,' one resident said.        00:33  Last night, the IDF announced a joint operation between Israeli Air Force units and Military Intelligence that resulted in the elimination of Izadi - one of Iran’s top terror architects. Izadi, commander of the IRGC’s "Palestine Corps," was killed in a safehouse deep in the city of Qom. According to Israeli sources, he was the central point of contact between the Iranian regime and Hamas leadership, including Sinwar and Deif. Izadi was behind the financial lifeline from Tehran to Gaza and played a critical role in rebuilding Hamas’s military capabilities after previous defeats. He also directed Iran’s influence campaigns in Lebanon, Syria, and Judea and Samaria. In a separate strike, Israel also eliminated Shahriari, head of Quds Force’s weapons smuggling unit. Shahriari was responsible for transferring advanced weaponry and hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxies across the region through a complex network of shell companies and underground financial channels. It’s a campaign of decisive, surgical action. While the international community debates, Israel neutralizes.     - (June 22, 2025), 12:51 a.m. CEST  Air defense systems are heavily engaged over the Iranian cities of Tehran and Tabriz in the early hours of Sunday morning local time, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency. The sounds of explosions could be heard in Tabriz and eastern Tehran, state-affiliated outlet Nour News reported. (Sources: CNN, JFeed)

Iraq
(June 22, 2025) 03:20  According to The Washington Post, Iraqi security forces have been deployed around the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad in anticipation of possible attacks by pro-Iranian militias. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

Israel
(June 22, 2025) 04:35 - Greater than Napoleon or Alexander: For the next thousand years, every second Jewish boy should be named Trump.    4:08 a.m. CEST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement: 'Congratulations President Trump, your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history. In Operation Rising Lion, Israel has done truly amazing things. But in tonight’s action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on earth could do. History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime, the world’s most dangerous weapons. His leadership today has created a pivot of history that can help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace. President Trump and I often say “peace through strength'. First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight President Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength. President Trump, I thank you. The people of Israel thank you. The forces of civilization thank you. God bless America. God bless Israel and may God bless our unshakeable alliance, our unbreakable faith'.    - (June 22, 2025) 01:31  For the first time since the beginning of the conflict, no missiles have been launched from Iranian territory toward Israel in the past 24 hours. (Sources: CNN - U.S., JFeed - Israel)

Persian Gulf
(June 22, 2025) 02:19  U.S. bases across West Asia placed on high alert. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

Saudi Arabia
5:33 a.m. CEST, June 22, 2025  “No radioactive effects were detected on the environment of the Kingdom, and the Arab Gulf states as a result of the US military targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities,' the Saudi Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority said in a post on X. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

Strait of Hormuz
(June 22, 2025) 04:51  Roughly 50 large oil tankers are currently attempting to exit the Strait of Hormuz. The oil industry appears to fear that this vital waterway could soon be closed - a move that would likely send global oil prices skyrocketing. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

 North America

United States
7:17 AM CEST, June 22, 2025 -  U.S. President Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, hours after the U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear and military sites. Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio and Defense Secretary Hegseth listen.  /Video/    05:02 Ocasio-Cortez Calls for impeachment proceedings against President Trump.    5:45 a.m. CEST  “President Trump must provide the American people and Congress clear answers on the actions taken tonight and their implications for the safety of Americans,' Senate Minority Leader Schumer said in a statement. “No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy.' “We must enforce the War Powers Act and I’m urging (Senate Majority) Leader Thune to put it on the Senate floor immediately,” Schumer said. The Democrat added: “Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity. The danger of wider, longer, and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.'    3:44 a.m. CEST  House GOP leaders praise Trump's strike on Iran as "America First policy in action'. 'The military operations in Iran should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says. The President gave Iran’s leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement,' House Speaker Johnson said in a post on X. House Majority Whip Emmer echoed Trump’s statement announcing the strikes in a social media post. Now is the time of peace. 'A nuclear Iran posed a threat to the Middle East and to the world. @POTUS has been consistent that this dangerous regime should never possess a nuclear weapon,' Emmer wrote on X.    02:11  Trump amplifies post declaring 'Fordow is gone'.    01:51  President Trump has officially confirmed: 'We just completed a very successful strike on Iran’s three nuclear sites - Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. All our aircraft are now out of Iranian airspace. A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.' This marks a dramatic escalation and the first confirmed U.S. military strike directly targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in this conflict.    2:03 a.m. CEST  Trump announces air strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.    - (June 22, 2025) 00:17  U.S. defense sources report that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has arrived in the Middle East in recent hours, joining the USS Carl Vinson, which is already operating in the region. (Sources: AP, CNN = U.S.; JFeed - Israel)

South America

5:59 a.m. CEST, June 22, 2025  Latin American countries - Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico - condemn US strike and urge dialogue. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

International Atomic Energy Agency

(June 22, 2025) 00:04  According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Israel’s recent strike in Isfahan targeted not only the previously reported centrifuge production facility but also six additional nuclear-related sites. These include a uranium metal production plant, a facility for manufacturing nuclear fuel rods, a laboratory and storage site for nuclear materials, another laboratory, a workshop for handling contaminated equipment, and an administrative office building. The strike dealt a significant blow to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, damaging both core production and support components. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

Space

(June 22, 2025) 03:59  Roughly two hours ago, NASA’s FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) detected thermal anomalies consistent with a significant fire at the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility in Iran - one of the primary targets of the recent Israeli-American strikes. (Source: JFeed - Israel)

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Europe

Russia
June 21, 2025  Russian President Putin told Sky News Arabia that "Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and we are ready to provide the necessary support". "I would like to remind you that Iran has adopted a fatwa [religious ruling] prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons, and this is extremely significant." Mr Putin also called for flexibility from Iran and Israel as a means to resolving the conflict. (Source: The National News - United Arab Emirates)

Asia

Iran
(June 21, 2025) 23:36  Multiple U.S. MQ-9 drones spotted over Baghdad. Reports indicate that several American MQ-9 Reaper drones have been observed flying over Baghdad in recent hours. (Source: JFeed - based in Iersusalem, Israel)

(June 21, 2025) 23:17  Yes, we’re aware of the reports about possible ground-based strikes near the Fordow nuclear facility. (Source: JFeed - based in Iersusalem, Israel)

(June 21, 2025) 23:12  Mystery strike in Bandar Abbas. After reports of a major explosion damaging an Iranian naval vessel in the port of Bandar Abbas, Israeli sources are distancing themselves from the incident, stating unequivocally: “This wasn’t us.” So who was behind the strike? (Source: JFeed - based in Iersusalem, Israel)

21 June 2025 4:17 pm  AP reported that on early today, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, where a local official said Israel had twice attacked the nuclear research facility. The strikes on Isfahan was the second attack on the site. (Source: Outlook - India)

21/06/2025 - 12:30  Facing heavy missile strikes from Tel Aviv, Iranians are fleeing the country, notably from Tehran. Lines have begun to form at Iran's border with Turkey. (Source: France 24)

11:45 a.m. CEST, June 21, 2025  In a statement today, Israeli military has said it 'eliminated' Izadi, rcommander responsible for operations outside Iran of the elite Iranian Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). (Source: CNN - U.S.)

June 21, 2025, 9:54 a.m. ET  Israel’s military said it had killed Shahriyari, a commander in Iran’s Quds Force, which oversees and supports proxy militias around the Middle East, the head of the force’s weapons transfer unit. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

Persian Gulf
June 21, 2025, 10:57 a.m. ET  Ambassadors from countries that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, met with Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. They expressed growing concern over the safety of nuclear facilities near their borders. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

Turkey
June 21, 2025  The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s foreign ministers are holding a 2-day meeting in Turkey, in which Israeli aggression against Iran is at the top of the agenda. Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi is participating. Turkish President Erdogan has said that Netanyahu wants to push the entire region towards destruction, so the unity of Muslims is the need of the hour, and it is time to put aside their differences and unite. (Source: Daily Ausaf - Pakistan)

North America

United States
Jun 21, 2025  Pakistan government has announced that it will formally nominate US president Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do,' in response, President Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, listing his involvement in conflicts across India-Pakistan, Russia-Ukraine, Serbia-Kosovo, the Middle East, Congo and Rwanda. (Source: Eastern Eye - United Kingdom)

(21 June 2025)  Gabbard now says Iran could produce nuclear weapon 'within weeks'. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Global

June 21, 2025  Academics worldwide demand: Stop the war on Iran - For peace, justice, and democracy. (Source: Radio Zamaneh, a Persian language media organisation in exile based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
952 academic signatories + 360 non-academic supporters

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Europe

Russia
Friday, June 20, 2025  Putin - who earlier this year signed the Russian-Iranian Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Pezeshkian, with both leaders describing their countries as allied - sought to limit the damage done to Russia’s reputation as an ally. In an interview this week, Putin claimed that the January 2025 treaty contained “no clauses pertaining to defense cooperation,” and that Russia had proposed to Iran cooperation in air defense systems, but Iran “showed limited interest, and the matter concluded there.” On balance, one acceptable outcome of the conflict for Putin would be an Iran that has been durably denied the capability to produce nuclear weapons while still ruled by a Kremlin-friendly regime. It is doubtful, however, that Israel and its main ally, the U.S., which are both interested in not only denying Iran nuclear weapons, but also in regime change, would agree to both parts of this outcome. Putin told a June 20 plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: 'They [the Ukrainian Armed Forces] got into our Kursk region, committed crimes. We drove them out. And now we are forced to create a security zone along the border," Putin said. "We do not have the task of taking Sumy. But in principle, I do not rule it out." When asked if Ukraine could drop a dirty bomb on Russia, Russian President Putin told: “Firstly, it would be a colossal mistake on the part of [Ukrainian authorities]... Perhaps it would be their last mistake. Because in our nuclear doctrine - both common sense and the practice of our actions - they always say that we always respond to all threats that are created for us, in a mirror-like manner. We always respond and always in a mirror-like manner. Therefore, our response will be very harsh and, most likely, catastrophic for both the [Kyiv] ... regime and, unfortunately, for Ukraine itself. I hope that they will never come to this.” Putin told: "I have already said that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.” He also said: “There is an old rule. Wherever the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours'. There should be five main directions of structural changes in the Russian economy, Putin told: "a change in the nature of employment and consumption structure; a new quality of the investment climate; Russia’s economy must become more technologically advanced; a new quality of foreign trade: both exports and imports and fundamental changes… in the field of defense and security… the fifth direction of structural transformation of the economy.” He declared that stagnation and recession in the economy would not be allowed after experts and high-ranking officials warned of a slowdown. “Some specialists and experts point to the risks of stagnation and even recession. This, of course, should not be allowed in any case,” he said. Over the past four years, the number of employed people in Russia has grown by 2.4 million. “We have achieved the lowest level of poverty in the history of the Russian Federation. By the end of last year, it stood at 7.2%... In 2000, the poverty rate in Russia was 29 %, with 42.3 million people living in - let’s be honest - a humiliating situation; by the end of 2024, that figure is no longer 29%, but 7.2%, and no longer 42.3 million people - it's 10.5 million.” Russia’s economy expanded just 1.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 - its slowest pace in two years. The Russian ruble has become the dominant currency in the country’s export payments for the first time since the West imposed sweeping sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, according to new data released by the Central Bank. The ruble accounted for 52.3% of export transactions in April, while the share of currencies from what the Kremlin designates as unfriendly countries - including the United States and other Western allies - fell to a historic low of 14.1%. (Source: Russia Matters - Harward Kennedy School Belfer Center, U.S.)

Asia

China
Jun 20, 2025 04:30  China is reportedly stepping up its military support for the Iranian regime. Reports indicate that just last night, three Chinese military transport aircraft landed in Iran. This development comes alongside continued Russian assistance at the Bushehr nuclear facility and adds to China’s ongoing supply of advanced dual-use fuels and technologies in recent months - materials believed to be critical to Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear development programs. China and Iran are bound by a long-term strategic partnership, anchored in a 25-year investment agreement signed in recent years, valued at approximately $400 billion. (Source: JFeed - based in Jerusalem, Israel)

(Friday), 11:14 a.m. CEST, June 20, 2025  China and Russia are positioning themselves as voices of reason, calling for de-escalation of a conflict the United States is contemplating entering - these are the optics Xi and Putin sought to project in a phone call on Thursday. As US President Trump weighs joining Israel in attacking Iran, the fast-spiralling conflict between two sworn enemies in the Middle East has presented Beijing and Moscow another opportunity to cast themselves as an alternative to US power. Putin and Xi strongly condemned Israel’s actions, calling them a breach of the UN Charter and other norms of international law, according to the Kremlin. (The elephant in the room, of course, is Russia’s own violations of international law in its ongoing war against Ukraine, which Beijing has consistently refused to condemn.) In Beijing’s readout, Xi struck a more measured tone and stopped short of explicitly condemning Israel - unlike his foreign minister, who did just that in a call with his Iranian counterpart last week. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

Iran
21:03 ET, Jun 20 2025  A strong earthquake of 5.1 magnitude has struck northern Iran. The quake struck some 22 miles away from Iran's Semnan region at 9:19pm local time and was also felt in Tehran's Qom region. Semnan is home to the Semnan Missile Complex operated by Iran's military as well as the Semnan Space Centre. (Source: The Sun - United Kingdom)

(June 20, 2025) 8:20 PM GMT+2  A 5.2-magnitude earthquake was reported in central Iran this evening. The earthquake struck about 22 miles southwest of Semnan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake was felt in Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Sorkheh and Damavand. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

8:02 p.m. CEST, June 20, 2025  Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammadi called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Iran and Israel in an exclusive video message shared with CNN. She was awarded the 2023 prize for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her promotion of human rights. Mohammadi has served more than 10 years behind bars. She is currently on a sentence suspension from the notorious Evin Prison and has been given two official orders to return. “Residential homes, infrastructure and critical facilities of the people in these cities and countries are being bombed and destroyed,' she said. “In the days that I was in Tehran, we didn’t even have a shelter to go to. Even at night when we wanted to go to the metro (station), the doors of the metros were closed,' she added. “Tehran is not a city where you can prevent the killing of people who have nowhere to shelter with one evacuation order,' Mohammadi said. She stressed that people in the city 'economically do not have the possibility to move.” Mohammadi also appealed directly to US President Trump in the message, asking him to “not join this war” and to pursue a ceasefire instead. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

(Friday), June 20, 2025 / 7:53 PM EDT  French Foreign Minister Barrot, German Foreign Minister Wadephul, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and the top European Union diplomat, Kallas attended the Geneva meeting with Aragchi. Lammy had met with Secretary of State Rubio and Middle East envoy Witkoff at the White House Thursday. The Geneva meeting lasted nearly four hours. There would be further talks. Iran supported continuing discussions. (Source: CBS News - U.S.)

Friday 20 June 2025 17:14 BST  Iran’s top diplomat accused Israel of committing war crimes by bombing Tehran’s nuclear facilities as he arrived for negotiations with the UK and European Union in the Swiss city of Geneva focused on addressing allegations that Iran is enriching uranium at a dangerous level. An Israeli government official said their intelligence showed that three months ago 'the Iranians had the equivalent for six nuclear bombs', but that figure had now increased to nine. US estimates about how close Iran is to producing weapons-grade uranium appear to be more conservative. In Geneva, Araghchi was having already said prior to his arrival that he was opposed to negotiations. He added that he expected the Switzerland talks to focus only on Iran's nuclear program, and that Iran's missile capabilities were for defending the country and not up for discussion. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Israel
June 20, 2025  Arching into the night sky over Tehran on Wednesday night a Khorramshahr-4 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) has been shown leaving Iranian airspace and heading toward Tel Aviv. The Israeli defense industrial base as well as those of its allies, are strained and unable to keep up with current production demands for more Iron Dome-type air defenses and the ammunition that feeds them. With a major regional war on, this defense industrial capacity is incredibly strained. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

North America

United States
Friday, June 20, 2025  “If the U.S. won’t help one of its strongest and most loyal allies finish the job of eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat in uncontested air space, the message to China will be that there is no chance the U.S. will defend Taiwan. Everyone will see it - from the Kremlin’s commissars to the Communist bosses in Beidaihe,” so far, so Journal. Did the Wall Street Journal just prevent a war? Trump hates feeling led and nurses a number of understandable grudges over how he’s been treated these past 10 years. (Source: The Spectator - U.S.)

Jun 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM EDT  Carlson is leading new anti-war movement. Strange political coalitions are forming amid Iran-Israel war - a deeper divide over what "America First" means in 2025. Carlson, the former Fox News host grilled Senator Cruz over U.S. involvement in Israel's war on Iran in part of a now-viral two-hour interview. It redefined Carlson's role in the current landscape - not just as a conservative firebrand, but as one of the leading critics of Trump-era foreign policy. He is now one of the most vocal anti-interventionists on the American right. He holds similar views on the war in Ukraine. His opposition to military action in Iran isn't particularly surprising for those who have followed him from his perch at Fox News to his role as a podcast host and independent content creator. Carlson's interview and opposition to intervention has found support beyond his usual base – all praised him for confronting Cruz in ways mainstream media often do not. With Democrats currently lacking clear direction, many outlets are reluctant to take the lead themselves; major outlets like CNN, The New York Times, and MSNBC rarely press Republican politicians with such direct, confrontational questions. Carlson's not beholden to the traditional media structure, and he's not scared of Trump like many others are. According to the report by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025, Americans - especially younger, conservative-leaning men - are increasingly turning away from traditional outlets in favor of personality-driven voices across digital platforms. 54 percent of U.S. adults now primarily access news through social media and video networks, with trust in conventional journalism continuing to erode. The authors noted that "right-leaning audiences now dominate the conversation on platforms like X," with Carlson cited as one of the most influential figures in the new fragmented media environment. Tucker is speaking directly to a segment of the Trump base that's skeptical of endless war and not particularly attached to the old neocon worldview. As The Independent's Hall observed of Carlson: "He knows the ways of the neocons - their secrets, their tricks, their dodges - because he was once one of them." Carlson's transformation from a cheerleader of the Iraq War to one of its fiercest critics on the right is what makes his case against Iran so potent - and so politically disruptive. (Source: Newsweek - U.S.)

June 20, 2025  Carlson and Sen. Cruz get into a heated debate about foreign governments' influence on U.S. politics. Cruz struggles to respond. /Video/ (Source: TuckerCarlson.com - U.S.)

International Atomic Energy Agency

(Friday), 5:59 a.m. CEST, June 20, 2025  Grossi this week rebuffed Iranian claims the IAEA has presented a 'misleading narrative' over its nuclear program and said the organization stood ready to closely monitor and assess the situation regarding the Israeli attacks on nuclear sites. Evidence gathered on Iran’s nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency can 'hardly be a basis for any military action,' the organization’s head said Thursday. “Military action, from wherever it comes, is a political decision that has nothing to do with what we’re saying,' Grossi told. After launching its first wave of strikes on Iran, Israel pointed to a recent IAEA report that acknowledged Iran is enriching uranium to a higher level than other countries without nuclear weapons programs, in violation of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. But Grossi told there was no indication of a systematic program in Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

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Europe

Estonia
June 20, 2025 5:24 pm CET  Estonia’s social affairs minister, Joller, who is also a doctor, is profoundly dismayed at WHO's Europe regional director Kluge's meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, who had discussed from the pandemic deal to HIV prevention, as well as the obligation not to attack health care facilities. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

Latvia
June 20, 2025 4:12 pm CET  The Latvian parliament voted yesterday to bar Russian and Belarusian citizens from buying real estate in the country. (Source: Politico - U.S.) 

Russia
June 20, 2025 11:26 am (EST)  Putin’s war in Ukraine is not just about territory  -  it’s a calculated move rooted in history to reclaim Russia's global influence and potentially redraw Europe’s borders. To safeguard European security, the West must revive its proven strategy: build a strong deterrent while pursuing dialogue to ensure long-term stability. In broad terms, NATO countries should pursue four measures: ’Enhance deterrence’ to stabilize the Russia-West frontier; Aim for domestic consolidation to reduce the scope for Russian meddling; Support the preservation of a sovereign Ukrainian nation-state to tame Russia’s expansionist impulse; Begin a dialogue with Russia about coexistence to lay the foundation for a more secure and peaceful future. Even as the West seeks to counter Putin’s territorial ambitions, it should propose a discussion on how to manage relations responsibly in the years ahead. No matter how the Russia-Ukraine war ends, Russia is going to remain a rival power on the European continent, certainly under Putin and likely under his immediate successors. As during the Cold War, the dialogue should focus on lessening the costs of maintaining stability along the Russia-West frontier and reducing the risks of conflict. Coexistence with a nuclear-armed Russia remains a geopolitical imperative. Making that point a central element of the West’s public presentation of its Russia policy would have the added benefit of reassuring parts of the Russian political elites that there is a way forward from today’s tense adversarial relationship to a less fraught one in which their interests will be properly considered. Although the immediate benefits should not be exaggerated, such an approach could also elevate the domestic pressure on Putin to negotiate in earnest a settlement to his war against Ukraine. In the long run, it will almost certainly lead to a more secure and peaceful future for Europe. (Source: The Council on Foreign Relations - U.S.)
by Graham, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His book, Getting Russia Right, was published in September, 2023

Asia

Iran
June 20, 2025, 4:00 PM GMT+2  What could happen if President Trump does decide to use the United States' largest conventional bomb to destroy Iran’s fortresslike Fordo nuclear enrichment facility. (Source: NBC News  - U.S.)

Persian Gulf
(June 20, 2025)  Gulf monarchies hold rival Iran close as Israel conflict rages. Gulf rulers have strong relations with Trump, and his visit to the region last month was considered a success. The US president drew applause in Riyadh when he chastised past US “nation-builders' and neocons for their failed Middle East interventions. Since Israel launched its offensive last week, the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - the region’s biggest economies - have spoken with Iranian President Pezeshkian to express solidarity, and repeatedly condemned Israel’s attacks. Arab monarchies are seeking to stay close to their regional rival Tehran as they frantically try to avoid being engulfed in the war on the other side of the Gulf and to head off potential Iranian missile attacks. They fear US involvement would put Gulf states that host American bases in the line of fire, and could even strangle their oil and gas exports if Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz. They have been highly critical of Israel’s conduct of its 20-month war against Hamas in Gaza, and its strikes in Syria as a new government seeks to stabilise the country. (Source: The Financial Times - United Kingdom)

Qatar
(June 20, 2025) 3:11 PM GMT+2  Satellite images captured yesterday, provided by Planet Labs, which operates a fleet of Earth-imaging satellites indicate the removal of U.S. warplanes from Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, one of the main U.S. military bases in the Middle East. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

Turkey
(Friday), 20 Jun 2025 - 11:53 pm  An emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers began today in Istanbul, Turkiye, with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan. The emergency Arab meeting is being held on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which begins Saturday, in Istanbul and continues until Sunday. (Source: The Peninsula – Qatar)

North America

United States
June 20, 2025  Within the last week, Trump quietly ordered the movement of the US Air Force’s key B-2 Spirit bombers from California into the Pacific. Their final destination is not yet known, but is almost certainly the US airbase at Diego Garcia, America’s military redoubt in the Indian Ocean that lies within striking distance of Iran. The B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bomber is the best plane in the American arsenal for deploying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) gravity bombs. These bombs can supposedly collapse the hardened bunkers of Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility. Israel was managing to repeatedly strike suspected nuclear weapons development facilities with 3,000 and 5,000-pound bunker busting bombs. It has been apparently unable to destroy hardened facilities such as Fordow. Israeli war planners rightly fear that they will soon be unable to reliably penetrate Iranian airspace and continue striking the hardened Iranian nuclear weapons sites. The Israelis will need the Americans to do this for them. The president has moved the bulk of America’s midair refueling tankers into the Middle East, as well as massive numbers of warplanes. Now, he is positioning an unusual number of warships into the area. 'America’s B-2s, escorted by the Super Hornets and Growlers, will fly into Iran from Diego Garcia. The Growlers will conduct sweeping electronic disruption attacks against the Iranian air defense networks. Meanwhile, the Super Hornets will cover the bombers from any potential enemy fighters or from incoming air defense fire. Floating just across the border from Iran in Saudi Arabia or Iraq, pickets of F-22s and F-35s will be shadowing the B-2s, preparing to enter the fray if they encounter heavier-than-expected resistance. Once in Iran’s airspace, the B-2s will proceed to Fordow and drop their GBU-57 MOP bombs. Once dropped, the B-2s will high-tail it out of the contested Iranian airspace, moving swiftly northward toward the Mediterranean. At some point, these planes will be topped off by US refuelers positioned throughout the region, as the B-2s make their way back to Whitman Air Force Base in the United States via the European air route. This is likely how it will go down this weekend'. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower; Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life; The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book: A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

United Nations

20 June 2025  “The Non-Proliferation Treaty is a cornerstone of international security,” United Nations Secretary-General Guterres said. “Iran must respect it. But the only way to bridge the trust gap is through diplomacy – not destruction.” IAEA Director General warned the Security Council that Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities are degrading critical safety systems and placing millions at potential radiological risk. At Natanz, the destruction of electricity infrastructure and direct strikes on enrichment halls have led to internal contamination. While no radiological release has been detected outside the facility, uranium compounds now pose significant health hazards within. At Isfahan, multiple buildings – including a uranium conversion plant and a metal processing facility – were hit. At Arak’s Khondab reactor site, damage was sustained, though the facility was not operational. The greatest risk, however, is the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which remains operational. A direct strike could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment.” Even disruption of its external power supply could lead to a core meltdown. In the worst-case scenario, radiation would affect populations hundreds of kilometres away and require mass evacuations. Mr. Grossi also warned against any attack on the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor, which could endanger millions in the capital. He pledged that the IAEA would continue to monitor and report on nuclear safety conditions in Iran and reiterated his readiness to mediate. Mr. Grossi stressed the agency can guarantee, through a watertight inspections system, that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran, urging dialogue. (Source: UN News - New York)

NATO

June 20, 202 5  'But to preserve the peace, we must prepare for war. That is precisely what we are doing at our next summit in The Hague'. (Source: Foreign Affairs - U.S.)
by Rutte

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