Egyik 19

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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)

.5 6 30 00:40

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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)

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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

.5 6 21 21:42

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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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Europe

Spain
Thursday 19 June 2025 14:36 BST  Spain has rejected a NATO proposal to spend 5% of GDP on defense, calling it “unreasonable.” In early June, ’Sweden and the Netherlands said that they aim to meet the new target’. At next week’s NATO summit in The Hague ’most U.S. allies are on track to endorse U.S. President Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense and military needs’. European allies and Canada are keen to finalize the spending pledge before the summit, and not leave it open for any heated debate that might drag the meeting out. ’Poland and the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - have already publicly committed to 5%, and Rutte has said that most allies were ready to endorse the goal’. “For Spain, committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive, as it would move Spain away from optimal spending and it would hinder the EU’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defense ecosystem,” Sánchez wrote in a letter sent today to NATO Secretary-General Rutte. „Spain was the lowest spender in the 32-nation military alliance last year, directing less than 2% of its GDP on defense expenditure”. NATO allies agreed to spend 2% of GDP on military expenditure after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The alliance's plans for ’defending Europe and North America against a Russian attack require investments of at least 3%’. ’The aim now is to raise the bar to 3.5% for core defense spending on tanks, warplanes, air defense, missiles and hiring extra troops. A further 1.5% would be spent on things like roads, bridges, ports and airfields so armies can deploy more quickly, as well as preparing societies for possible attack’. What time-frame will get countries to reach the new spending goals? A target date of 2032 was initially floated. Rutte has said that Russia could be ready to launch an attack on NATO territory by 2030’. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

European Commission
19.06.2025  Te EU's recent decisions on security and defense have unlocked funding, with over €800 billion ($918 billion) available to support joint procurement and defense projects. The EU foreign policy chief today hailed Türkiye's role in diplomacy, saying the bloc sees Türkiye as a security player. "When it comes to role of Turkey, then Istanbul has been the place where a lot of meetings take place', Kallas told. Now Türkiye as a candidate country, also has access to SAFE loans for joint projects with the European countries, she said, On the Middle East, she expressed concern over rising tensions, particularly attacks on nuclear sites and fears of wider conflict. The risks of miscalculation are very high, and that's why 'we try to bring the tensions down, she said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Parliament
June 19, 2025  MEPs propose stricter rules on dog and cat welfare and traceability. (Source: European Parliament)

Russia
(June 19, 2025)  At a press briefing, Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said the Kremlin is particularly concerned about the safety of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which employs Russian specialists. An Israeli strike on Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant in Bushehr would cause a catastrophe on the scale of Chernobyl, Rosatom CEO Likhachev the head of Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company warned today. Bushehr sits on the coast of the Persian Gulf and is Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant. Russia helped Iran build the plant and some of its staff are Russian. An Israeli military spokesperson said today that Israel had struck the plant, but an Israeli military official soon said that this was a mistake and that he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr plant had been hit. Likhachev said that dozens of Russian specialists employed at the plant have been evacuated, RIA reported. Many Gulf Arab states and nuclear experts have been concerned about the environmental contamination that could spread across the Persian Gulf, if the plant was targeted. A strike on the Bushehr plant 'would result in the dispersal of a lot of radiation', Roecker, the vice president for Nuclear Materials Security at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, told. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

Asia

China
(June 19, 2025)  “The international community, especially major powers that have a special influence on the parties to the conflict, should make efforts to promote the cooling of the situation, not the opposite,” Chinese leader Xi said during a phone call with Russian counterpart Putin, according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry. “The parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating in turn and resolutely avoid the spillover of war,” Xi told Putin, according to the Chinese readout. Both leaders believe there is no military solution to the conflict or to Iran’s nuclear program, as they must be achieved exclusively through political and diplomatic means, the Kremlin said. “(Putin) confirmed Russia’s readiness to undertake possible mediation efforts if needed. The Chinese leader expressed support for such mediation". (Source: CNN - U.S.)

Gaza
(June 19, 2025)  Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 70 people today, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. More than 55,160 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas began on October 7, 2023, according to the health ministry, including more than 17,000 children. Attacks on civilians attempting to access food supplies continue, hospitals are overstretched and 55,000 pregnant women are facing growing health risks, according to the most recent report from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The United Nations repeated its warnings today that famine is growing increasingly likely and that there are few areas left in the territory where Palestinians are safe from bombardment. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

Iran
(June 19, 2025)  If Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility were damaged or destroyed in a strike 'by the US’, it would likely lead to a limited radiation leak in the immediate area, but it would not pose the same catastrophic consequences as bombing a nuclear reactor. Bombing a reactor is a whole different ball game, Davenport, the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, said. If bombs were able to penetrate Fordow, it would likely lead to ’some limited radiation from the uranium enriched and stored at the facility,’ but ’it’s unlikely to cause significant, widespread environmental health contamination.’ Attacking a site where uranium hexafluoride gas - the material fed into the facility’s centrifuges - is stored, ’is going to create chemical toxicities’ and ’low level alpha radiation,’ which would likely be localized to the site, she explained. Davenport said that it would likely be ’manageable if people are wearing the right protective equipment.’ Taleblu, the Iran program senior director and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), also described the potential damage as being a chemical hazard. Roecker, the Vice President for Nuclear Materials Security at NTI explained: ’There isn’t a major radiation dispersal risk at Fordow because that enriched uranium is fresh.’ It’d be localized around the site, and because it’s buried underground too, ’I don’t know you know how much of that would even be released,’ he said. Davenport said she believes it’s extremely unlikely Israel would bomb a nuclear reactor - a move that “would be a clear violation of international law.” ’You risk a reactor meltdown, widespread radiation and environmental contamination, devastating to the region,’ she said. (Source: CNN - U.S.)
by Hansler

Thursday 19 June 2025 at 8:57am  Israel attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said today. Iran reported there was “no radiation danger whatsoever" and that the facility had been already evacuated before the attack. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns. In 2019, Iran started up the heavy water reactor's secondary circuit, which at the time did not violate Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Britain at the time was helping Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14. (Source: ITW News - United Kingdom)

(June 19, 2025)  Internet connectivity across the country plummeted from 78% to just 3% yesterday afternoon, according to data from Netblocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet governance. Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said it had imposed temporary internet restrictions, citing security concerns. The Israeli military said it struck what it said was a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz, around 300 kilometers south of Tehran, which it said contained 'components and specialized equipment' used to advance a nuclear weapons development. Israel had also struck Natanz on June 13, on the first day of its attack on Israel. IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Defrin said Iran had launched more than 450 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel. Most of the drones had been launched from Iran, Defrin said, but some had come from proxies in the region. He said Israel had destroyed approximately two-thirds of Iran’s missile launchers. Still more than 100 launchers left by the IDF’s estimates and are still capable of striking Israel. Defrin said the IDF is also attacking Iran’s ballistic missile production facilities. Iran launched at least one ballistic missile at Israel today morning armed with multiple warheads, the Israeli military said. It was the first time such a warhead had landed in Israel. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

June 19 2025 08:54  Israeli Defence Minister Katz said yesterday afternoon that air force jets had 'destroyed the internal security headquarters of the Iranian regime'. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

Israel
(June 19, 2025  Israel has never acknowledged its nuclear weapons program. But it is one of nine countries known to have nuclear weapons. Israel began exploring nuclear weapons development ’before its establishment’ in 1948, then at a secret development site in 1958, near the southern town of Dimona. It has signed and ratified the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which obligates signatories not to explode a nuclear device in the atmosphere or oceans. Israel first assembled its first nuclear weapon around 1966 or 1967. In 1968, the CIA issued a report that said Israel had successfully started production of nuclear weapons. Israel has not signed the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and opposes diplomatic efforts to establish a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East. It is believed to have conducted a clandestine atmospheric nuclear test in 1979, which it denies. In an interview with CNN in May 2018 – shortly after Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archive from Tehran – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked if he was ready to acknowledge Israel’s own program. ’We’ve always said that we won’t be the first to introduce (a nuclear weapon), so we haven’t introduced it,’ he said. Israel now possesses around 90 nuclear warheads and is believed to have enough nuclear material to produce up to 300 nuclear weapons, according to the Washington, DC-based NGO, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). It is continuing to modernize its stockpile, according to SIPRI, who said that Israel conducted a test of a missile propulsion system in 2024 that could be related to its Jericho family of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. Israel also appears to be upgrading its plutonium production reactor site at Dimona, SIPRI said. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

19.06.2025 With no treaty obligations, no inspections, and strong backing from Western allies, Israel remains nuclear power without transparency or accountability, shows a recent UK House of Commons research briefing, which exposes Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal. The report outlines decades of strategic silence, lack of treaty commitments, and minimal international pressure on Israel’s undeclared arsenal. Estimates from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) suggest Israel holds 80 to 90 warheads, with fissile material stockpiled for as many as 200. At the heart of Israel’s covert nuclear effort lies the Dimona nuclear facility, originally constructed with French assistance in the late 1950s. Publicly presented as a civilian reactor, 'Dimona is thought to have produced enough plutonium for over 100 nuclear warheads,' the report said. ’Inspections by American and international officials were misled through false walls and hidden elevators’, while Israel reassured allies that its intentions were peaceful. In 1986, Vanunu, a technician at Dimona, delivered photographic evidence and detailed testimony to The Sunday Times. The information he revealed is still considered the most detailed public account of Israel’s nuclear capability, the report underlined. Kidnapped by Mossad agents in Rome, Vanunu was smuggled back to Israel, tried in secret, and imprisoned for 18 years - 11 of them in solitary confinement. Despite widespread knowledge of its capabilities, unlike India, Pakistan, or North Korea, Israel is not subject to the same level of international scrutiny as other states, it has faced little pressure from its Western allies. Israel signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996 but has not ratified it and retains the right to conduct nuclear tests. In 1979, a mysterious ’double flash’ detected over the South Atlantic raised suspicions of a clandestine Israeli nuclear test, possibly in collaboration with apartheid-era South Africa. „Efforts to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, led by Arab nations and backed by the UN, have consistently met Israeli resistance’. ’Israel has consistently voted against UN resolutions calling for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East,’ the report said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Thursday 19 June 2025 at 8:57am  A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Centre in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered extensive damage in different areas and people had been wounded in the attack. The hospital has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel's south. Iran claims it was targeting a military site next to Soroka Hospital which was accurately hit, causing damage to the hospital in the blast wave. (Source: ITW News - United Kingdom)

(June 19, 2025)  'The principal target of the attack was the vast command and intelligence base of Israel’s army (IDF C4i) and the campus of their military intelligence, located in the Gav-Yam technology park, next to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva,' Iran’s IRNA state news agency has claimed. The apparent target, Gav-Yam Negev technology park, is less than a mile from Soroka Medical Center, the Beer Sheva hospital which was damaged in the strike. The technology park’s website describes itself as “Israel’s most advanced center of research and development… adjacent to the Ben Gurion University campus and the IDF C4i Branch campus.” C4i directorate is the IDF’s elite technological unit. The website adds that the park connects “veterans of the IDF’s elite technological units, graduates of Ben Gurion University, the high-tech industry” as well as investors and academics. Iran’s latest wave of missiles struck shortly after 7 a.m. local time (00.00 ET) an area near Tel Aviv, causing damage to several high-rise buildings on a street in Ramat Gan city, around three miles from Tel Aviv city center. In Ramat Gan the missile struck shredded the facades of buildings and blew out windows in high-rise blocks. Damage to other structures surrounding the site can also be seen. Ramat Gan city has an estimated population of just over 175,000 and is home to Israel’s Diamond Exchange, one of the world’s top diamond districts. Neighboring cities Tel Aviv and Holon were also hit in the Iranian attack. Israel’s health ministry says at least 271 people were admitted to hospital this morning following Iranian strikes across the country. 'The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and against government sites in Tehran, in order to remove the threats facing the State of Israel and destabilize the Ayatollahs’ regime,' Israel’s Defense Minister Katz said, after Iran launched its latest wave of ballistic missiles at cities across Israel today. Iran fired more missiles at Israel today, the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded in the northern city of Haifa and its surroundings. ’A dictator like Khamenei, who’s heading a state like Iran, who set himself the goal of destroying the state of Israel… he can no longer continue to exist,’ Israel’s Defense Minister Katz said today, speaking to reporters in the central city of Holon, which was also targeted by Iran overnight. Iran’s foreign minister asked Israelis to avoid being near military and intelligence sites as his country continues to carry out strikes. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

19.06.2025 The Israeli army reported air raid sirens sounding today across northern Israel triggered by missile launches from Iran. Sirens warning of suspected drone infiltration sounded in Nazareth and several surrounding towns. The Israeli Air Force said earlier that it intercepted a drone launched from Iran overnight which set off air raid sirens in multiple areas of northern Israel. A second drone was intercepted shortly afterward in the Jordan Valley. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

June 19 2025 08:54  Explosions heard in Jerusalem around 7:10 am (0410 GMT). Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel known to treat soldiers wounded in Gaza was struck by Iranian missiles. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

Pakistan
June 19, 2025  US President Trump and Army Chief Field Marshal General Munir discussed regional peace, trade and Iran-Israel tensions over a luncheon at the White House. In their meeting, Trump said Pakistan has valuable insight into Iran and plays a key role in peace efforts in the region. After the successful meeting with President Trump, the Pakistani top general is expected to have follow-up meetings with US Secretary of State Rubio and Secretary of Defense Hegseth as Pakistan and the US enter a new era of strategic cooperation. (Source: Daily Ausaf - Pakistan)

Turkey
12:03 19/06/2025 Thursday   "We have had great support from Turkish authorities to make sure people can cross easily, get connecting flights from eastern part of country to international airport," in facilitating the evacuation of EU citizens from Iran, EU official Berger, director of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Crisis Response Center said today. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

North America

United States
(June 19, 2025)  During a news briefing today, White House press secretary Leavitt read a statement from President Trump saying he will decide whether to launch a US strike on Iran within the next two weeks. He wants to allow diplomatic efforts to proceed before making a final decision on US military action, according to the statement. Leavitt also said a deal with Iran must include no enrichment of uranium. After some MAGA allies criticized the administration’s consideration of increased US involvement in the conflict, Leavitt urged supporters to trust in President Trump. 'President Trump has incredible instincts, and President Trump kept America and the world safe in his first term as president in implementing a peace through strength foreign policy agenda,” Leavitt told. “And with respect to Iran, nobody should be surprised by the president’s position that Iran absolutely cannot obtain a nuclear weapon - he’s been unequivocally clear about this for decades, not just as president, not just as a presidential candidate, but also as a private citizen.' Tehran is in a very weak and vulnerable position after eight days of escalating conflict with Israel, the press secretary told. The president “has been very direct and clear: Iran can and should make a deal,” she added. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

June 19, 2025, 1:46 p.m. ET  President Trump’s Iran strategy is being influenced by a military leader who has been given authority to draw up possible plans for a US strike on Tehran’s nuclear sites, potentially with bunker-busting bombs that could eliminate underground facilities. US Central Command chief Gen. Kurilla, known as The Gorilla, has been leading strategy over Defense Secretary Hegseth, with a lot of his proposals for more military assets being approved, despite other administration officials being wary of more involvement in the Middle East. The commander, with the 'lethality look' that Trump’s Pentagon has been keen to promote, has also been getting more face time with Trump. Before Israel carried out its first strikes against Iran, Kurilla indicated that he gave the president the option to use the US military to strike Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons capability. 'President Trump has made it clear that if Iran doesn’t permanently give up its nuclear enrichment, military force by the US may be necessary,' House Armed Services Chair Rogers (R-Ala.). said at a June 10 congressional hearing. “If the president directed, is CENTCOM prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran?”, Rogers asked Kurilla. ’I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,’ Kurilla responded, later saying ’yes’ to the question. Kurilla is set to leave his post at CENTCOM in just a few months after serving since 2022, leading some to believe ’he’s grown bolder’ in his approach. The four-star Army general would be in charge of carrying out whatever strategy Trump decides on in the region in response to Iran. He has also been responsible for the US response to Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Kurilla deployed to Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan during his service, and to Germany in 2022 to oversee US troop deployment in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. Caldwell, Hegseth’s former senior adviser, indicated that reports of Kurilla being more open to aggressive policies due to his upcoming retirement from CENTCOM could be true. He takes a fundamentally different view of the importance of the Middle East than a lot of other people in the administration - Caldwell said Monday -; he believes that a military campaign against Iran will not be as costly as others. ’So, that’s his view - and I think there are a lot of folks that want to see some type of military action occur before he retires as a result of that,” Caldwell said. “He retires, I believe, in the middle of July - and I don’t think it’s a coincidence you see a lot of the pressure ramping up to do something prior to his retirement.’ (Source: The New York Post - U.S.)

6/19/2025  The president is turning to a couple of four-star generals for guidance on whether to join Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Kurilla, nicknamed The Gorilla, leads U.S. Central Command and oversees operations in the Middle East. Also advising Trump is General Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. Trump has already signed off on attack plans but has not yet given the final go-ahead to execute them, CBS News reported. (Source: MSN / The Daily Beast = U.S.)

(Thursday), June 19, 2025  If Trump wants to preserve his “no new wars” legacy, he needs to stay out of Iran. It would also give him the opportunity to be the president who finally and fully reoriented US priorities and attention to the Indo-Pacific. Since the October 7 attacks, the United States has surged ships, personnel, and other materiel to the region to protect Israel and deter Iran and its ’Axis of Resistance’ allies. In some cases, these military assets have been repositioned from the Indo-Pacific, where they are stationed in large part to deal with potential Chinese threats. In April, Washington relocated missile defense batteries, a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier from Asia to the Middle East. Before the Trump administration reached a ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis in May, US commanders expressed concern that the military would have to move long-range precision weapons stockpiles from the Indo-Pacific region to the Middle East. The US military expended massive amounts of munitions to fight a militia that couldn’t even take over one of the poorest countries in the world. What kind of resources would it have to marshal - and from where - to prosecute a war against a state like Iran with serious military capabilities? The military is further shifting resources and moving ships and other assets to the region in light of Israel’s attack on Iran and the ongoing back-and-forth between the two countries. On Monday, Reuters reported that the USS Nimitz left the South China Sea and was heading west toward the Middle East. These military assets and the roughly 40,000 American personnel in the region are now especially vulnerable to Iranian attacks. Before Israel’s attack, Tehran vowed to strike US targets in the region if its nuclear sites were targeted. Now that threat could become a reality that sucks America into a pointless war while diverting attention away from China, which the Trump administration and several previous presidents have said is that biggest threat to the United States. Every military asset moved to the Middle East is one that could be used to deter China in the Indo-Pacific. Iran is a relatively weak country halfway around the world and poses no serious threat to core US interests. If you liked the failed forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you’d love the quagmire of a war in Iran - a country of 90 million people with a significantly stronger military than those two countries. Israel appears intent on drawing the United States into this destabilizing war of choice. Because Israel can’t totally eliminate Iran’s nuclear program alone, it has urged the United States to intervene directly. A joint US-Israeli war in Iran harms American interests and would threaten American lives while draining resources and diverting strategic attention from pressing priorities. Indeed, one of the most crucial reasons why Washington needs to stay out of the war is that it serves as a distraction from more critical strategic challenges. While China’s efforts and wherewithal to dominate the Middle East are overhyped, Beijing does have considerable interests that a regional war would threaten. China relies heavily on the region for its energy supplies, with half of its imported oil coming from the Persian Gulf. Iran and China have a strong relationship, and Beijing would not like to see the destruction of the regime in Tehran. A war with Iran would offer short-term strategic benefits for China - advantage of a distracted United States by making more aggressive moves against Taiwan or in the South China Sea and a much-needed strategic breathing room in its backyard. A war with Iran would underscore Beijing’s argument that the rules-based order only applies to Washington’s adversaries. The United States called out Russia for illegally invading Ukraine. But under what pretext would the United States join a war against Iran? These kinds of double standards have driven droves of Global South countries into China’s embrace and undermined American competition with its strategic rival. President Trump often extols his record of not starting new wars during his first administration. Joining Israel’s war would certainly betray that legacy and be seen as an act of perfidy by the millions of Americans who voted for a president who promised to pursue peace. For years, Republican and Democratic presidents have pledged to pivot to Asia and prioritize competition with China, America’s only near-peer competitor. The new Trump administration came into office making the same promises. Yet nearly all these presidents have entangled America’s attention and resources in the Middle East, a region of declining strategic significance to US interests. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

(February 19, 2025)  The United States yesterday said that new norms had been framed and it will restart its student visa appointment process soon but added that all applicants will need to unlock their social media profiles to allow them to be reviewed. The Trump administration had on May 27 told its embassies worldwide to pause scheduling student visa interviews until further guidance”was issued. More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US universities during the academic year 2023-’24, accounting for 6% of those pursuing higher education in the country. India sent the highest number of students, followed by China. The Department of State said that every visa adjudication is a national security decision. (Source: Scroll - India)

Oceania

Cook Islands
June 19, 2025 at 10:55 JST  New Zealand, the Cook Islands’ biggest funder, halts money to the Pacific nation over its China ties until the relationship improves. Cook Islands is self-governing but shares a military and passports with New Zealand. (Source: The Asahi Shímbun - Japan / The Associated Press - U.S.)

.5 6 19 18:27

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Europe

European Commission
17.06.2025  Addressing the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, the EU foreign policy chief today warned of the ’extremely dangerous’ situation marked by civilian casualties and the risk of radioactive fallout amid ongoing escalation between Israel and Iran. She reiterated the EU's position that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, emphasizing diplomacy as the preferred path forward. ’Europe stands ready to play its part in brokering a deal regarding the immediate fallout of the conflicts,’ Kallas added. Touching upon Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, she said Israel's use of force in Gaza, Tel Aviv’s military campaign ’the continuing deaths of civilians and the targeting of civilian infrastructure’ go beyond self-defense, cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law. She highlighted the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, noting that while aid warehouses have opened, ’only one remains operational to accept new deliveries amid relentless military aggression’. At the last Foreign Affairs Council meeting last month, Kallas noted that the majority of member states supported opening a review of Israel's compliance with Article Two of the Association Agreement, which requires all parties to uphold binding human rights obligations. She confirmed that this review is currently underway and announced that she will present its findings to the foreign ministers on June 23. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Strait of Hormuz
June 17, 2025 6:01 PM GMT+2  Two oil tankers collided and caught fire today near the Strait of Hormuz. There were no injuries to crew or spillage reported. With Iran and Israel firing missiles at each other,’ electronic interference has disrupted navigation systems’ near the waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil. The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf to the northwest with the Gulf of Oman to the southeast and the Arabian Sea beyond. Between the start of 2022 and last month, roughly 17.8 million to 20.8 million barrels of crude, condensate and fuels flowed through daily, according to data from Vortexa. The multinational, U.S.-led Combined Maritime Force's JMIC information centre said in an advisory this week that it had received reports of electronic interference stemming from the vicinity of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, on the north shore of the strait, and other areas in the Gulf region. The United Arab Emirates coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from one of the ships, Adalynn, to the port of Khor Fakkan after the crash 24 nautical miles off its eastern coast. The Adalynn, a Suezmax-class tanker owned by India-based Global Shipping Holding Ltd, had no cargo and was sailing towards the Suez Canal in Egypt, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com. Personnel on the second tanker, the Front Eagle, were reported safe with no pollution seen after a fire on its deck, according to its owner, the Oslo-listed company Frontline (FRO.OL), which later told there was no suggestion of outside interference. The Front Eagle was loaded with 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil and was en route to Zhoushan in China, the monitoring service said. TankerTrackers.com said on X that the Front Eagle was moving southbound at a speed of 13.1 knots when it "executed a starboard (right) turn, resulting in a collision with the port quarter (aft port side)" of the Adalynn, which was proceeding southeast at 4.8 knots. Iran has in the past threatened to close the strait to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States ’might join it’. Dozens of tankers have dropped anchor in major port hubs in the Gulf close to the Strait of Hormuz around Fujairah and Khor Fakkan and Sharjah on the Emirati side, today. Some shipping companies have decided to pause their voyages due to the heightened tensions. Others were awaiting charter hires due to uncertainty. War risk insurance costs for ships heading to Israeli ports have soared in recent days, the costs so far remain stable for voyages through the Gulf, insurance industry sources said today. Rates, for the time being, remain stable with no noticeable increases since the latest hostilities between Israel and Iran. This position could change dramatically depending on any further escalation or general conflagration in the area. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

North America

United States
June 17, 2025  Chief Israel planner at Pentagon, Col. McCormack, the Levant and Egypt branch chief at the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate, has referred publicly to Netanyahu ’and his Judeo-supremacist cronies,’ to Washington having ’overwhelmingly’ enabled Israel’s ’bad behavior’ and pro-Israel activists in the United States prioritizing support for Israel over „our actual foreign interests.” The Army’s social-media guide bars “showing contempt for public officials, releasing sensitive information or posting unprofessional material that is prejudicial to good order and discipline under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” The Pentagon’s social-media guide also tells soldiers to “avoid use of Department of Defense titles, insignia, uniforms or symbols in a way that could imply DoD sanction or endorsement of content on your personal page.” “Also avoid misrepresenting yourself as an official DoD spokesperson on your personal account,” it adds. On Monday afternoon, McCormack wrote about himself as part of the official defense community to endorse the casualty numbers put forward by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. “Along with the World Health Organization and United Nations, we (Department of Defense, Department of State and the U.S. Intelligence Community) consider the Gaza Health Ministry figures to be generally reliable (though not precise),” he wrote, ’but probably less so now than they were originally due to the general destruction and chaos in Gaza.’ (Source: Jewish News Syndicate - U.S)

.5 6 19 01:48

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Asia

Iran
(16 june 2025)  Israel said its strikes had hit dozens of targets in Tehran. Iranian media, quoting the health ministry, said 224 Iranians had been killed and 1,277 injured as of Sunday evening. Iran later confirmed the head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit, Kazemi, had been killed, alongside a deputy and another commander. Report from inside Iran, making it to assess the damage caused by Israel's offensive is difficult, due to restrictions by the country's government. Iran's state TV said the country attacked Tel Aviv, Haifa and other cities with tens of Iranian missiles and drones. Tehran's oil ministry said the Shahran oil depot in the capital was hit by Israeli strikes overnight. Israel's military said fighter jets struck more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight, including the Iranian Ministry of Defense and additional targets where the Iranian regime hid the nuclear archive. An aerial refuelling aircraft was also struck at an airport in the north-east city Mashhad. The Iranian former crown prince Pahlavi - the son of Iran's former Shah who was overthrown in the country's 1979 Islamic revolution - has told the BBC people who oppose the country's government have been re-energised by Israel's attacks, which killed senior Iranian military leaders. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Israel
June 16, 2025, 10:21 PM  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News today that targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei would end, not escalate, the ongoing fight between Israel and Iran that erupted late last week. ’We've had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that terrorizes everyone in the Middle East; has bombed the Aramco oil fields in Saudi Arabia; is spreading terrorism and subversion and sabotage everywhere,’ Netanyahu said. ’The forever war is what Iran wants, and they're bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. In fact, what Israel is doing is preventing this, bringing an end to this aggression, and we can only do so by standing up to the forces of evil.’ Asked if Israel would target the supreme leader, Netanyahu said that Israel was ’doing what we need to do.’ ’I'm not going to get into the details, but we've targeted their top nuclear scientists,’ Netanyahu said. ’It's basically Hitler's nuclear team.’ Netanyahu said it in America's interest to support Israel as it seeks to eliminate Iran's nuclear program. ’Today, it's Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, it's New York. Look, I understand 'America First'. I don't understand 'America Dead'. That's what these people want. They chant 'Death to America.' So we're doing something that is in the service of mankind, of humanity, and it's a battle of good against evil. America does, should, and does stand with the good. That's what President Trump is doing, And I deeply appreciate his support,’ he told. Israel's prime minister dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that Iran has been urgently signaling that it is wants to end hostilities and resume negotiations over its nuclear program. ’I'm not surprised. I mean, they want to continue to have these fake talks in which they lie, they cheat, they string the U.S. along’. We have very solid Intel on that, he said. ’They want to keep on building their nuclear weapons and building their mass ballistic missile arsenal, which they're firing at our people. They want to continue to create the two existential threats against Israel while they're talking. That's not going to happen.’ Asked to respond to some Republicans opposed to America's military support for Israel's strikes against Iran, including commentator Carlson, Netanyahu said Iran is a threat to the entire world. In his Friday newsletter, Carlson wrote that the United States should let Israel fight their own wars - the United States should not at any level participate in a war with Iran: No funding, no American weapons, no troops on the ground. „We're not just fighting our enemy. We're fighting your enemy. For God's sake, they chant, ’death to Israel, death to America.’ We're simply on their way. And this could reach America soon,’ Netanyahu said. "We're taking the action. America is supporting us in defense. Deeply, deeply appreciated. But this is a threat to the entire world,’ Netanyahu said. "It's a threat to Israel; as I said - to our Arab neighbors; to Europe; to America. They chant 'Death to America.' It's though - 'This is not your business'? This is not myopia. This is utter blindness.’ ’Sometimes you have to take a stand against evil. And that's what the American people instinctively understand. Most of them, I have to say. And that's what President Trump understands. We cannot let that happen,’ he added. In an updated travel advisory today, the State Department appears to have classified all of Israel and the West Bank as Level 4: Do Not Travel -  its highest advisory level. Would he stop bombing if Trump requested him to do so and to resume diplomatic talks, Netanyahu was asked. President Trump has been a great leader and a great friend of Israel, and he put forward the terms very clearly in the negotiations, Netanyahu said. "He said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and in order for it not to have a nuclear weapon, it cannot have the capacity to enrich uranium, which is the prerequisite for nuclear weapons.' He later added that the Iranians do not want to continue negotiations in good faith and are stringing the U.S. along as they keep building up their weapons. ’They don't want a seat at the table - they want to blow up the table. Specifically, they want to blow up Israel and purchase time,’ Netanyahu said. He praised the American defenses helping Israel against drones and missiles, but added: As far as what else America will do - that's up to President Trump. „He will do what's in the best interest of the United States, but it's important to understand that we deeply appreciate his help and the help and the support of the great majority of the American people, because they understand what we're fighting against a regime that hates us both, that is trying to assassinate us both, that there is trying to bring death and destruction throughout the Middle East and to the world. And sometimes you have to take a stand. You take a stand with the good against evil. And that's precisely what America is doing under President Trump,' Netanyahu said. Trump, in Canada today at the Group of Seven summit, was asked what it would take for the United States to get involved militarily in the conflict; he replied, “I don't want to talk about that." The death toll in Iran was 224 as of early today, according to the head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health. In Israel, 24 have been killed and 592 injured, according to a release from the Prime Minister's office today morning. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told a meeting of ambassadors in Tehran yesterday that Israel's ongoing attacks on the country could not have happened without the agreement and support of the United States. Araghchi called on the international community to condemn Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. 'This is perhaps the last red line of international law that the Israeli regime has crossed, and if the international community is indifferent to these red lines, it will certainly have consequences for all other countries,’ Araghchi said. (Source: ABC News - U.S.)

North America

United States
Jun 16, 2025 4:01 PM EDT  About a broader U.S. military buildup in the Middle East. Over two dozen U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers from across the United States appeared on flight-tracking software yesterday evening, taking off from their bases and heading east over the Atlantic. Such a large, mysterious near-simultaneous migration of the jets at a time of extreme crisis in the Middle East could signal a major contingency being put in place or even a change in U.S. policy on the Iran-Israel war. These are precisely the assets that would be needed if the United States were going to change its support of Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, or if there were urgent concerns that the conflict is about to widen significantly.     Israel lacks robust aerial refueling capabilities, with just a handful of aging 707 tankers (around seven operational) available to support hundreds of fighter aircraft. As Israel gains air superiority further east over Iran, aerial tanking becomes even more important. Aerial refueling will enable much better effectiveness when it comes to hunting for and interdicting Iran’s theater ballistic missiles before they can be launched. Gaining more aerial refueling capacity will enhance just about every facet of Israel’s tactical jet operations, multiplying the available force to a significant degree. The U.S. can provide exactly this support at scale. This would mean the U.S. would enter the air war directly, or is preparing to be more capable of executing that option. This would be a massive shift in U.S. policy, and it could have cascading effects throughout the region, especially in terms of the likelihood that Iran would start targeting American installations. This scenario could also work in reverse if Iran targeted American interests in the region, with the U.S. then entering the direct conflict. Having the tankers pre-positioned for such a contingency would be very helpful.     If preparing to deal with Iran attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz were to occur, U.S. and likely Arab gulf state military aircraft would leap into action in an attempt to curtail the operation. It would require a massive operation that includes SEAD/DEAD and persistent surveillance aircraft sorties. It also means having to hunt for highly mobile shore-based anti-ship missile launchers on a grand scale. This would demand large amounts of continuous tanker support.     American B-2s are the only known conventional assets that have the potential capability of badly disabling or destroying Iran’s deepest underground components of its nuclear program. Pre-positioning a tanker bridge spanning the Atlantic to the Middle East would be needed to support those heavily-laden B-2 operations.     This same bridge can also help American assets get out of the region if the United States evacuates its sprawling bases there out of fears of massive Iranian bombardment.    It’s worth noting that other assets also appear to be moving in Iran’s direction, including a U.S. carrier strike group heading into the Indian Ocean from the South China Sea. (Source: TWZ - U.S.)
By Rogoway, founder and editor-in-chief

Jun 16th, 2025, 1:20 pm  Carlson warned today that U.S. involvement in the escalating Israel-Iran conflict could bring down President Trump and mark the collapse of America’s global influence. In an appearance on Bannon’s WarRoom, Carlson argued a full-scale war in the Middle East could derail Trump’s second term and devastate the country’s standing globally. “I actually really love Trump. I think he’s a deeply humane, kind person,” Carlson said. “But I’m really afraid that my country’s gonna be further weakened by this. I think we’re gonna see the end of the American empire. He added, ’But it’s also going to end, I believe, Trump’s presidency and effectively end it.’ The comments follow a series of attacks Carlson has launched in recent days against Trump, Fox News hosts, and other conservative establishment figures for backing U.S. support of Israeli military action against Iran. Last week, he accused Trump of betraying “America First” by fueling conflict abroad, prompting a rare rebuke from the former president. ’I’m the one that decides that,’ Trump fired back in an interview. Carlson also attacked Fox News hosts Hannity and Levin, as well as its founder, Murdoch, as warmongers. He wrote that they will all have to answer for this in a newsletter in which he called US support for Israel’s bombing campaign in Iran complicity in what could become a ground war. On WarRoom, Carlson expressed doubt and warned of overreach. “The second you get enmeshed in a real war - not a fake, ‘let’s go bomb the villagers’ - you’re in trouble. We don’t even have a good track record [on that]’. he said. ’Why are the Houthis still there?’ He concluded, “How prepared is the U.S. military for a real conflict? The answer is totally unprepared. Scary unprepared. I don’t think people understand that.’ (Source: Mediaite - U.S.)

.5 6 16 21:41

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Europe

European Commission
17/06/2025  The European Commission today set out the legislation ’needed to end the bloc’s reliance on pipeline and liquefied natural gas supplies from Moscow’, starting by prohibiting new deals from next year. The proposed ban sets the stage for heated debate. Supplies under existing contracts shorter than one year will be stopped from June 17, 2026 at the latest. A ban on shipments under existing longer-term deals would take effect by the end of 2027. ’We have taken clear steps to turn off the tap and end the era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe for good’, European Commission President der Leyen said. While no longer the bloc’s biggest supplier, Russia still accounts for almost a fifth of European demand. The government in Madrid has asked that the commission consider a mechanism to compensate companies if they incur fines for terminating their contracts. Some member states are nervous it will boost energy prices especially when the EU is struggling to keep its industries globally competitive and cost companies millions of euros in legal fees. and are unsure about the feasibility of the proposal. The commission has argued that alternative supply sources are available and the ban will have a limited impact on prices. To enforce the ban, the commission wants to oblige importers to provide more transport details such as origin of production, the identity of parties or the port of first loading for LNG imports. The decision on whether the gas is of Russian origin will be taken by customs authorities, who will cooperate with the commission and European energy regulators. The bloc’s rules for ending its nuclear reliance on Russia will be proposed at a later date. The European Commission decided not to use sanctions on gas as that would require unanimity from all 27 member states. Instead, it proposed a measure based on weighted majority support that would allow it to bypass the objections from Hungary and Slovakia. The EU proposal would put central Europe in a “serious situation of dependence” by restricting the sources of energy imports, Foreign Minister Szijjártó said at a conference in Budapest today. “Energy policy is a national competence & this endangers our sovereignty & energy security,” Szijjártó had said earlier on X. “We will not let this happen.” Austria warned the rules could stretch EU gas infrastructure and wanted to explore the possibility to reassess the rules should a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia be reached. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)

Ukraine
(17 June 2025)  Russia has carried out a mass missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 100 others, officials say. There were also two fatalities in Odesa. The strikes on Kyiv lasted more than nine hours, from before midnight until after sunrise. Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted Ukraine's military-industrial complexes and that all its targets had been hit. Kyiv's officials said a ballistic missile hit a nine-storey apartment building in one district, with a total of 27 locations in the city coming under fire. Mayor Klitschko accused Russia of firing cluster bomblets filled with ball bearings. People were still under the rubble by late afternoon. Direct talks between the warring sides failed to secure a ceasefire or significant breakthrough. A reported 147 Ukrainian drones were shot down over nine Russian regions overnight, Russian news agencies said. Zelensky and his administration had been hoping to secure US support on the sidelines of the G7 for Ukraine's strategic and military goals speaking with US President Trump at the summit today, but Trump cut short his stay amid the escalating crisis in the Middle East. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Asia

China
5:42 PM GMT+2  Chinese President Xi said he was deeply concerned about Israel’s military actions against Iran. The conflict has 'sharply intensified tensions in the Middle East,' he said in a meeting today with Uzbek President Mirziyoyev. “We oppose any actions that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries,” Xi said. 'Military conflict is not the solution to problems, and escalaling regional tensions does not serve the common interests of the international community.' Encouraging all parties to work to de-escalate the conflict, he added that China was willing to work with them “to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East.” (Source: NBC News - U.S.) 

Gaza
Tuesday 17 June 2025 11:34, UK  Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Hundreds of others have been injured. The Israel Defence Forces said it was 'aware of reports regarding a number of injured individuals from IDF fire following the crowd's approach' - and said details of the incident were under review. It added: 'The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimise harm as much as possible to them while maintaining the safety of our troops.' The statement claimed that a gathering had been identified near an aid distribution truck that was stuck in the area - near where IDF soldiers were operating. The incident took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city. Witnesses said Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before firing at least two shells toward the crowd. Gargavanis, a trauma surgeon and emergency officer at the World Health Organisation, said: 'There's a constant correlation with the positions of the four announced food distribution sites and the mass casualty incidents.' On Monday, Gaza's health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres. According to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - which operates these aid centres - more than three million meals have been distributed without incident. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)

Iran
17 June 2025  The Iranian Health Ministry reported that over a 65-hour period, Israeli airstrikes resulted in more than 1,400 casualties, with over 90% being civilians. The strikes targeted not only military and nuclear sites but also public infrastructure, residential areas, and medical facilities. Israeli airstrikes on June 16 and 17, 2025, targeted Iran's state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran and hospitals in Tehran and Kermanshah, resulting in civilian casualties. The attack on IRIB occurred during a live broadcast. Israeli forces reportedly bombed Hakim Children's Hospital in southern Tehran and Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah. The strikes caused significant damage to the facilities and injured patients and staff. Iranian officials condemned these attacks as violations of international law, emphasising that hospitals are protected sites under international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, prohibits attacks on civilian objects, including medical facilities and media organisations, unless they are being used for military purposes. Even in such cases, the principles of distinction and proportionality must be upheld to minimise harm to civilians. The recent Israeli airstrikes have prompted calls for investigations into potential violations of these legal standards. Israel has committed similar war crimes in Gaza for over a year with total impunity as western governments close their eyes and hesitate to condemn Israel for crimes committed against civilian populations in Gaza, Lebanon or now Iran. (Source: Helsinki Times - Finland)

(June 17, 2025) 8:44 PM GMT+2  The Israeli military said it has completed a wave of strikes on missile launch and storage sites in the heart of Iran. Meantime: 'Residents of the occupied territories especially Tel Aviv and Haifa are warned to leave these areas in order to preserve their lives,' Iran's new army chief, Gen. Mousavi, said in televised statements. Mousavi was appointed the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces after the Israelis killed his predecessor, Gen. Bagheri, last week. Huge, continuous and loud explosions are being heard in western Tehran.     Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility has been directly impacted by Israeli airstrikes, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency said today. The agency 'did not say' if this resulted in any radiological changes in the area.     Israel’s air force has conducted a series of airstrikes on western Iran today. A number of sites and dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers were struck, the Israel Defense Forces said, adding that it also conducted intelligence-based strikes on surface-to-air missile launch sites and radars embedded in western Iran.     Like Lebanon, where Israel killed a large number of leaders from the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, Israel's military appears willing to take out targets if and when they see them. In Iran, the regime is the real government, Israel appears to be talking about effectively decapitating the country's leadership along with the Revolutionary Guard - a significant military force with influence reaching deep into Iran’s power structure. This will certainly mean a different kind of government if Israel can operate there at will militarily and that is regime change.     3:00 PM GMT+2 While Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called on residents of Tehran to evacuate, leaving the city might prove more difficult. Iran's capital for more than 200 years, the city is home to around 9.5 million, although there are more than 14 million people in the metro area. 11:40 AM GMT+2 Most of those who intended to leave the Iranian capital to avoid Israeli missile strikes have already done so after spending hours stuck in traffic. Many have headed north, where they have homes or places along the Caspian Sea. For a nation of nearly 90 million people, life has shifted rapidly and visibly.     11:31 AM GMT+2 An Israeli airstrike targeted the Farabi Hospital in the western city of Kermanshah, badly damaging its facilities, the Iranian Red Crescent said. A specialized ward and the hospital’s intensive care unit were severely damaged. Yesterday, Israel attacked the Tehran headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster while it was live on air, calling it a propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority for the Iranian government.     9:36 AM GMT+2 Israel’s military said it had killed Maj. Gen. Shadmani, Iran’s most senior military commander, in an overnight strike on a staffed command center in the heart of Tehran, days after killing his predecessor. Shadmani commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian army, and was the closest figure to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

June 17, 2025 6:25 pm CET  Iran’s cyber command ordered top officials and their security teams to avoid IT equipment connected to telecom networks in a sign they fear digital disruption from Israel. Both Israel and Iran have powerful cybersecurity capabilities. While Iran is considered a major rival power to Western countries, its cyber operations are primarily focused on espionage rather than disruption. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

Israel
(Tuesday), Jun 17, 2025  Stopping Iran from firing missiles is a top priority for the IDF. It has tried to target launch sites since Friday and officials have said that roughly a third - or 120 - of them have been taken out. Iran still has thousands of missiles left that can reach Israel, national security adviser Hanegbi told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday. That’s more than the figure of 2,000 suggested by comments from many Israeli officials in recent weeks. There is also the steep expense of the interceptions. Each of Israel’s Arrow interceptor missiles, the ones typically needed to shoot down long-range projectiles, cost around $2 million to $3 million. Often, more than one is launched toward a ballistic missile to increase the chances of it being hit. In April last year, Bloomberg reported that it probably cost Israel - as well as the American, British, French and Jordanian air forces - around $1.1 billion to foil Iran’s attack. That was for a few hours’ work. This conflict has already lasted much longer. And there’s little sign of a let up yet. (Source: Japan Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)

17.06.2025 Israel denies possessing nuclear weapons. Founded in 1934, ’damaged in Iran's missile attacks’, Weizmann Institute, linked to nuclear research and military projects hosts technological hub of Israeli nuclear research, spearheads Israeli nuclear development. Israel's official stance is to deny possessing nuclear weapons capabilities. Weizmann, one of the leading figures of the Zionist movement, was the founder of the institute and Israel's first president. Described by the Israeli press as the country's “technological backbone” and “strategic base,” the institute is known for its research in fundamental sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology. In the US-based Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control and the Institute for Middle East Policy Studies, the Weizmann Institute is associated with the nuclear research center located near Dimona in the Negev Desert. Israeli scientist Bergmann is recognized as the “father of Israel's nuclear program.” In a 2014 joint study by the University of Cincinnati in the US and Tel Aviv University in Israel, Bergmann's influence on Israel's policies was evaluated as a mentor to the institute's fundamental research. Bergmann, who was the first chairman of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission in 1952, emphasized the importance of training Israeli scientists with a background in nuclear physics as the foundation for Israel's steps toward developing nuclear weapons. Bergmann was one of the founders of the nuclear research center in Dimona. He utilized the research infrastructure and human resources at the Weizmann Institute to launch and develop the country's nuclear program. After the US government of the time published the Smyth Report on atomic bombs, he reached an agreement with former President Weizmann to send institute personnel to France and Sweden to receive training in nuclear chemistry. Thanks to the intensive efforts of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in 1994 the US administration approved the sale of a total of nine supercomputers to industries related to nuclear and missile programs, including the Technion University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, as well as the Weizmann Institute. According the Weizmann Institute's official website, the institution is Israel's most important scientific research facility. The institute plays an important role in advanced weapons and military technology research and development. The Weizmann Institute of Science collaborates with leading companies such as the Israeli army and the Israel-based defense company Elbit Systems on advanced technology development. The institute also contributes to the development of Israel's drone technology, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

10:40 PM GMT+2  At a bus depot north of Tel Aviv, an Iranian ballistic missile exploded, burned-out vehicles. An Iranian missile attack destroyed a three-story building in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, killing four. Israel's Arab minority is about 20% of the country's population. Descendants of Palestinians who stayed in the country after 1948, they are Israeli citizens, but many identify with the Palestinian cause. Israel’s Health Ministry said 154 people were hospitalized overnight - all of them injured getting to shelters or suffering with anxiety. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

Jordan
2:00 PM GMT+2  Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Israel’s strikes on Iran are a threat to people everywhere and show that there is no telling where the borders of this battleground will end. “Today, that world is in moral decline,' Abdullah said in an address to European Union lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. 'A shameful version of our humanity is unfolding before our eyes in real time, and our global values are unraveling at a shocking pace with devastating consequences. Nowhere is that clearer than in Gaza.' “If our global community fails to act decisively, we become complicit in rewriting what it means to be human,” he said. Palestinians make up half of his population of 11.5 million. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

North America

Canada
Tuesday 17 June 2025 21:01 BST  Zelensky met Canadian PM Mark Carney, who pledged US$3.15bn in new military assistance and loans as well as new financial sanctions. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

17/06/2025 - 18:50  The United States blocked a joint call to pressure Russia saying it wanted to preserve its role as a mediator with President Putin. G7 leaders, however, managed unity today on a joint statement on the Iran conflict that backed Israel but also called broadly for de-escalation, despite Trump contemplating greater US military involvement. The Group of Seven powers pledged their support for Zelensky today as the US president left the G7 summit early to return to Washington to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict. Zelensky met the remaining leaders at a remote lodge in the Canadian Rockies. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed Zelensky and announced Can$2 billion ($1.47bn) of military support, including drones and helicopters, for Ukraine. (Source: France 24)

(Tuesday), 5:32 AM CEST, June 17, 2025  World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of global pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Cancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni held an hourlong informal meeting soon after arriving at the summit late Sunday to discuss the widening conflict in the Mideast. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran four days ago. So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able’ to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility’. The site is buried deep underground - and to eliminate it, ’Israel may need the 14,000-kilogram GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the U.S. bunker-busting bomb that uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets. The penetrator is currently delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber. Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it. Merz told reporters that Germany was planning to draw up a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict that will stress that Iran must under no circumstances be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons-capable material. Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, France’s President Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President’ Trump participate in a session of the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. Canada’s leader Mark Carney formally opens the G7 summit saying: ’The world looks to this table for leadership.’ It’s unclear how much Trump values the perspective of other members of the G7. He immediately criticized the group while meeting with Carney. He said it was a mistake to remove Russia from the summit’s membership in 2014 and doing so had destabilized the world. He also suggested he was open to adding China to the G7. As the news media was escorted from the summit’s opening session, Carney could be heard as he turned to Trump and referenced how the U.S. leader’s remarks about the Middle East, Russia and China had already drawn attention to the summit. “Mr. President, I think you’ve answered a lot of questions already,” Carney said. Going into the summit, there was no plan for a joint statement this year. At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran needs to curb its nuclear program before it’s too late. He said Iranian leaders would like to talk but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said. Trump, for his part, said Iran is not winning this war. „And they should talk and they should talk immediately before it’s too late.’ Trump seemed willing to push back against his own supporters who believe the U.S. should embrace a more isolationist approach to world affairs. Asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said today morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.“ By today afternoon, Trump warned ominously on social media, ’Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!’ Shortly after that, President Trump decided to leave the summit. As Trump posed for a picture today evening with the other G7 leaders, he said simply, “I have to be back, very important.” He abruptly left the Group of Seven summit today, skip a series of tomorrow meetings that would address the ongoing war in Ukraine and global trade issues, departing a day early as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensified. The sudden departure only heightened the drama of a world that seems on verge of several firestorms. Trump already has hit several dozen nations with severe tariffs that risk a global economic slowdown. There has been little progress on settling the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. President Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer say they are signing a trade deal to ease tariffs between goods from the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The deal does not include tariffs on steel, an especially important piece of bilateral trade. Beyond Carney and Starmer, Trump had bilateral meetings or pull-aside conversations with Merz, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and European Commission President der Leyen. He talked with Macron, according to Macron spokesperson Ladois. In a deeper sense, Trump saw a better path in the United States taking solitary action, rather than in building a consensus with the other G7 nations. Tomorrow, Trump had been scheduled before his departure to meet with Mexican President Sheinbaum and Zelenskyy. One of the topics for discussion would be a ’defense package’ that Ukraine is ready to purchase from the U.S. as part of the ongoing war with Russia, Zelenskyy said - a package whose status might now be uncertain. The G7 leaders all signed a joint statement Monday night saying Iran can never have a nuclear weapon as they urged a “broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.” (Source: Associated Press - U.S.)

United States
June 17, 2025 8:54 pm CET  Does Grandmaster beat Deal Maker? Trump doesn’t play chess, a game requiring patience and method. Trump came into his second term pledging to stop the wars currently raging around the world - he’d end the war in Ukraine in a day, strike a nuclear deal with Iran. He’d be the world’s peacemaker, a Nobel Peace Prize candidate. His loyal America First advisers, too, have been openly and emphatically skeptical of any open-ended adventurism that may risk entangling Washington - which, for example, bombing Iran could well entail. The skeptics include Vice President Vance, whose suspicion of foreign entanglements predates even his MAGA conversion, having its origins in his time as a U.S. Marine in Iraq, where he became disillusioned with America’s ill-fated 'forever wars' in the region. Netanyahu is described as methodical and relentless, armed with back-up schemes and a willingness to switch tactics to secure his overarching strategic aim when obstacles arise, trying to ensure he can adapt and is anticipating twists and turns while keeping his eye firmly on the prize. The 2019 parliamentary elections - one of Netanyahu’s most spectacular turnarounds in a long political career full of remarkable and unexpected comebacks - has earned him the nickname Bibi the Magician. Maybe more appropriate would be to dub him Bibi the Chess Hustler, a skilled player whose deceptive tactics gain him an edge over less seasoned and tenacious players, exploiting and anticipating the impulsive and improvised dealmaker’s reactions to maneuver him to where he wants him. Trump toured last month the Gulf, where the Arab leaders pressed him to secure another Gaza ceasefire and to press on with the negotiations with Iran. Netanyahu offered no complaint that a trip to Israel wasn’t included. Trump lifted sanctions on Syria. Netanyahu opposed, he kept quiet too, hoping to tempt Trump into endorsing his ambition of humbling Tehran’s clerical leaders. Having less exposure in the Middle East has been a theme that others in Trump’s national security team have highlighted since November - they want the focus on China and, of course, on the enemies within. But here Trump is dispatching more warships and hardware to the region and partnered with an Israeli leader who for three decades has ruminated about how to collapse the theocratic regime in Tehran, a diehard adversary of Israel. In the past 48 hours he’s sounded more aggressive, more like Israel’s formal partner. Netanyahu has been firmly fixed on his main Mr. Iran goal. For Bibi, Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been stepping stones for the big confrontation with Ayatollah Khamenei’s Iran. Humbling and wrecking Iran’s proxies so they can do little to distract from the main objective. Netanyahu will have at least two plans in mind - to change the regime, not necessarily directly by war; the subordinate one to stop Iran’s nuclear program and to open the way to Saudi Arabia signing on to the Abraham Accords. And yesterday, Netanyahu said killing Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei, would end the conflict. He and his closest aides knew a reelected Trump wouldn’t hand them a blank check. Trump harbored residual distrust of Netanyahu and he was unlikely to endorse everything he might want. Now some Trump loyalists are shaping a narrative: Netanyahu and Trump together outfoxed Iran and lulled the mullahs into thinking the dealmaker would restrain Netanyahu. (Source: Politico - U.S., owned by a German company)

(June 17, 2025) 10:50 PM GMT+2  Trump is considering a range of options when it comes to Iran, including a possible U.S. strike on the country, administration officials said after he met with his national security team. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

7:35 PM GMT+2  Rep. Massie, R-Ky., has teamed with congressional Democrats and introduced a bipartisan resolution today "to prohibit United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The Massie-Khanna Iran War Powers Resolution is co-sponsored by Democrats who often disagree with Massie on domestic issues. "The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States,” Massie said in a statement. “Congress has the sole power to declare war against Iran. The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.” (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

(July 17, 2025) 6:13 PM GMT+2  In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said, 'We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.' Minutes later, Trump posted again, saying he knows where Iran's leader Ayatollah Khamenei 'is hiding.' 'He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' Trump wrote. "But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.' (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

17.06.2025  In a post shared on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump rejected Macron’s reported assertion that the US president had left the G7 summit to return to Washington, D.C., in order to work on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. 'Publicity seeking President Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran,' Trump wrote. Wrong! he added. 'He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.' Without providing further details, Trump added: “Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!' (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

NATO

June 17, 2025 3:35 pm (EST)  'Executive summary': This year’s NATO Summit - to be held from June 24 to June 26 in The Hague - comes at a critical moment for the transatlantic alliance. NATO allies are cautiously optimistic leading up to the summit and hope it will be a businesslike meeting without major disruptions. 'Most NATO allies are committed to pledging 5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense spending, as demanded by the Trump administration'. Tensions remain, however, over Ukraine’s role in the alliance, the U.S. force posture in Europe, and potential troop withdrawals, as well as the long-term future of the alliance. President Trump’s personal unpredictability notwithstanding, the United States and Europe have to develop a new transatlantic security bargain as the main threat for the United States will be in the Indo-Pacific region. This means transitioning to a European-led NATO, without creating capability or deterrence gaps in the interim. 'Europe has little choice but to invest in growing its defense capabilities and to muster the political will and domestic support for such efforts'. (Source: Council on Foreign Relations - U.S.)
by Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR); Lissner, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR.

.5 6 18 12:37

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Europe

Germany
16.06.2025  Over the weekend, social media posts alleged that a German A400M tanker was visible on flight tracking websites when it accidentally activated its transponder over Jordan during suspected refueling operations with Israeli fighter jets. The aircraft's transponder then went offline shortly after. The Defense Ministry dismisses social media claims that German aircraft refueled Israeli fighter jets over Jordan. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia, 
15 June 2025, 8:45pm  In the wake of the Israeli strikes, Putin was the only world leader to speak by phone to Netanyahu, Iranian President Pezeshkian and Trump. Years of two-track diplomacy have allowed Putin to position himself both as a friend to Israel’s Prime Minister and to the Iranian leadership. That will make Russia an indispensable partner for the US once it embarks on the long process of patching up the new political realities of the Middle East in the wake of this war. Though Israeli planes have so far carefully avoided striking Iran’s oil export infrastructure, the war has inevitably spooked markets and boosted sagging crude oil prices – and with them, Putin’s war chest. Back in the 1990s, Moscow helped Iran build its first Shehab long-range ballistic missiles and constructed Iran’s first civilian nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which became operational in 2013. Russia and Iran pooled efforts to shore up Assad’s government in Syria, with Russia deploying warplanes in 2015. Moscow also supplied S-300 air defence missile systems and has been importing thousands of Shahed drones, which it has fired at Ukraine. At the same time, Moscow was a signatory of the US-brokered Iran nuclear deal in 2015, which was scrapped by Trump two years later. This year, Moscow has offered to handle the enrichment of Iran’s nuclear fuel as part of a possible updated nuclear deal. That arrangement could allow Iran to maintain a civilian nuclear energy programme while depriving it of any excuse to enrich uranium to weapons-grade. Russia was selling Iran advanced Su-35 fighter jets that might be a match for Israeli jets in the air. Israeli warplanes have reportedly blown up Iran’s Shahed drone factory in Isfahan just days after Ukrainian long-range drones damaged Russia’s plant for producing their own Shahed clones, known as Geran, in Yelabuga. In the immediate aftermath of Israel’s attack, oil prices jumped from under $60 to $75 a barrel as nervous traders feared disruption to Iran’s ability to export crude. But it soon emerged that Israeli warplanes had not hit key infrastructure at the biggest Iranian oil terminal at Kharg Island, and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf appeared normal. Instead, Israel attacked Iran’s domestic energy industry, including gas processing plants and petrol depots across the country – perhaps in an effort to spark price hikes that have spurred anti-regime protests in the past. Washington will be urging Israel to hold off attacking Kharg ’to avoid catastrophic damage to the economy of Iran’s main customer’, China. At the same time, Israel is keeping the option of escalating against oil infrastructure as it negotiates with both enemies and allies. Kremlin was facing the prospect of falling oil prices pushing up deficits and stretching budgets. And with every new conflict - especially a major Middle Eastern conflagration - the importance of the Ukraine war to the West fades a little. ’A war between Israel and Iran will help the Russian army’s success in Ukraine.’ tweeted Kremlin-aligned analyst Markov. And the more opportunity Putin has to leverage Russia’s diplomatic weight and help Washington and Beijing solve the world’s problems, the further he moves away from being a warmonger and towards his coveted role as senior international statesman. Has he always had the devil’s own luck? Washington now faces a multi-dimensional challenge as it simultaneously tries to prevent a global oil price shock, ’a bilateral war between Iran and Saudi Arabia’, and blowback against US military and civilian targets by Iranian agents or proxies. (Source: The Spectator - United Kingdom)
by Matthews, the author of Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin’s war on Ukraine.

June 16, 2025  Overnight, on June 11, Russia launched 85 drones, 40 of which Ukraine intercepted. Kyiv targeted a gunpowder plant known to be a major supplier of explosives to the Russian military in Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast, located approximately 550 km northeast of Kharkiv. Russia has maintained that the strike resulted in no casualties. Ukraine also attacked a factory in Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

June 16, 2025  Before 2014, Russia contributed to the modernization of China’s armed forces by selling various types of weaponry, while Beijing was a lucrative market for Russia’s military-industrial complex. The annexation of Crimea left Russia with China as the sole remaining major source of much-needed imported military technology and components. In exchange, China has received access to advanced Russian missile, air defense, and electronic warfare technology. Deepening cooperation has also been demonstrated by the growing frequency of joint military exercises. While Russia and China share a strong anti-US stance, Beijing is unwilling making any commitment to Russia that would lead to an open conflict with the West or the introduction of sanctions. Beijing refuse to officially recognize any Russian territorial gains since 2014. Limited trust is also reflected in the joint Russian-Sino military exercises, as these maneuvers are more about demonstrating the will of cooperation to the outside world than improving interoperability between Russian and Chinese armed forces. While military cooperation along shared interests will continue, it is extremely unlikely that it will develop into any functioning, institutionalized alliance. (Source: Center for European Policy Analysis - U.S.)

United Kingdom
16.06.2025  UK government sidesteps questions on possible evacuation plans for Britons in Israel. The Foreign Office is currently advising against all travel to Israel. with Israeli airspace now closed due to the conflict, those already in the country are facing increasing difficulties returning to the UK. ((Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

Iran
16 June 2025, 7:02am  The war may be a huge event for diplomats, for military strategists, and for the fate of the region. The markets don’t care much about Israel and Iran, investors, at least for now, appear indifferent They are assuming that Israel has already won. We rely far less on Middle Eastern oil and gas than we used to. Fracking has turned the United States into the largest oil and gas producer in the world, and there is plenty more to be developed. Even the Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, a fierce opponent of fossil fuels when he ran the Bank of England, is increasing production. At the same time, green energy may be more expensive than its champions predicted, and may require bigger subsidies, but there is starting to be a lot of it. The wind turbines in the North Sea generate 30 per cent of the UK’s electricity. In Spain solar contributes 20 per cent of the total, while wind contributes another 20 per cent. The result? Investors have other things to worry about. (Source: The Spectator – United Kingdom)
by Lynn, a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

(Monday), Jun 16, 2025  The Iranian death toll in four days of Israeli strikes had reached at least 224, with 90% of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said, adding that more than 1,200 had been wounded. Iranian media said an Israeli strike hit police headquarters in the city center on Sunday. The intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said. (Source: The Japan Times / Reuters (United Kingdom), AFP (France), JIJI (Japan)

Israel
6/16/2025  The US Embassy in Israel's capital Tel Aviv suffered minor damage during an Iranian missile attack overnight, envoy Huckabee confirmed today. No US diplomat or other staff members were injured in the incident. The minor damage to property were from the shock waves (i.e. 'concussions') from the nearby blast, in an X post the envoy said. (Source: MSN - U.S. / India Blooms News Service)

(16 june 2025)  In overnight strikes on Saturday, ten people, including two children, were killed and more than 100 injured in Israel, authorities said. Overnight strikes into Sunday morning, hit homes in northern Arab town of Tamra and a10-storey block of flats in Bat Yam. On Sunday evening, there were explosions in the sky above Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as Israel's defence system shot down missiles fired from Iran. Israeli police confirmed a weapon hit "one of the settlements" in the northern coastal port city of Haifa, where footage showed thick columns of smoke rising into the night sky. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

16 June 2025 The destruction in Tel Aviv and Tehran signals the onset of an all-out war between Israel and Iran. The death toll in both countries continues to grow as their forces trade missiles. Army bases, energy infrastructure and residential blocks all appear to be fair game. The hostilities show no signs of dissipating. Israel was quick to characterise its attack as “pre-emptive”, saying it had no choice but to act in defence of its citizens as Iran advances towards a nuclear weapon. Yet such a claim is without basis in international law. Moreover, the attack has only disrupted planned talks between Iran and the United States aimed at achieving a deal that would restrict the former’s nuclear programme. Israel even assassinated one of Iran’s key negotiators over the weekend. It attacked out of hubris: it seeks to decisively weaken its strongest enemy in the region - already at a cost of hundreds of civilian lives - ’and knows it can do so’ with impunity. At least 20 Israelis have already paid with their lives and hundreds more have been wounded as the country’s air defences struggle to intercept every Iranian projectile. There is also a chance that ’carefully calibrated hostilities’ could quickly spiral out of control, dragging the entire region into conflagration. Now, as it bombs its sixth neighbouring state or occupied territory in less than two years, there should be no doubt that impunity is the lifeblood of Israel’s ’far-right’ government, and the fuel driving its spiralling aggression. Until it runs up against firm international resistance, it will not cease in its campaign’ to militarily re-engineer the entire region’. The death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza since the Hamas attacks of 7 October has surpassed 55,000. Researchers believe the true figure could be twice as high. Israel’s leaders have made plain their ambition to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip and raze everything in it to the ground, and the army is dutifully obliging: in some cities, the extent of the devastation is greater than in the aftermath of the atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many of the enclave’s two million inhabitants are homeless and starving. If Israel’s government has its way, Gazans may soon be pushed out of the Strip for good. And the war with Iran won’t disrupt this agenda; it will only provide a smokescreen allowing Israel to operate with even less scrutiny. It’s not just Gaza. Israel has also used the cover of war to rapidly accelerate its takeover of the West Bank, where settlers armed by the state have succeeded in wiping scores of Palestinian communities off the map through threatening and administering brutal violence. In the West Bank’s urban centres, the largest Israeli military operation in 20 years has forcibly displaced 40,000 people from several refugee camps, destroying hundreds of homes in the process. The Israeli government additionally announced plans last month to build 22 new illegal settlements in the West Bank. It has also initiated a large-scale land registration process that rights groups have described as a significant leap towards formalising Israeli sovereignty in the occupied territory. This, too, will continue unabated as the world’s attention shifts to war with Iran, and simply imposing sanctions on a pair of outspoken ministers. US President Trump described the attack as excellent, and had reportedly sent Israel a shipment of 300 Hellfire missiles only days earlier despite maintaining that the US was uninvolved in the operation. Keir Starmer’s government has duly followed suit, calling for restraint while simultaneously moving military assets to the Middle East and suggesting the UK could support Israel in the war. Israel’s allies in the region have already helped shoot down Iranian missiles. We can be certain that Western governments will come readily to Israel’s defence - both rhetorically and materially - ensuring it can continue its attacks. The chances of de-escalation in the short term appear slim with Israeli leaders hinting at a loftier goal of bringing about regime change in Iran, This is the overwhelming lesson Israel has drawn from the past 20 months amid its intensifying onslaught on Gaza: there is no limit to what the world will let it get away with. Starmer continues to authorise arms exports to Israel worth hundreds of millions of dollars - including components of F-35 warplanes used to drop bombs. If the UK wants to avoid being dragged into a war that will further destabilise the region, cause countless civilian deaths in Israel and Iran, enable the continuation of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank - not to mention almost certainly lead to more attacks on Israelis and Jews around the world - it must act immediately to force Israel down. Measures are long overdue, popular with the British public, and will end the impunity that Israel has enjoyed for far too long. (Source: New Statesman - United Kingdom)
by Reiff

Jun 16, 2025  Israel has multilayered air defenses against hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and suicide drones fired at Israel since Friday. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the defensive umbrella had an "80 or 90% success rate," meaning that some Iranian missiles were breaking through the shield. Israeli combat helicopters and fighter jets have fired air-to-air missiles to destroy drones that were heading to Israel, military officials have said. The long-range Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors, developed by Israel are designed to engage incoming targets both in and outside the atmosphere respectively. They operate at an altitude that allows for safe dispersal of any nonconventional warheads. State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is the project's main contractor while Boeing is involved in producing the interceptors. The midrange David's Sling system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles fired from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers away. Developed and manufactured jointly by Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and RTX, a U.S. company previously known as Raytheon, it is also designed to intercept aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with U.S. backing, the short-range Iron Dome air defense system was built to intercept the kind of rockets fired by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza. It became operational in 2011. Iron Dome was originally billed as providing city coverage against rockets with ranges of between 4 km and 70 km, but experts say this has since been expanded. Each truck-towed unit fires radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats such as rockets, mortars and drones in midair. A naval version, to protect ships and sea-based assets, was deployed in 2017. The system determines whether a rocket is on course to hit a populated area. If not, the rocket is ignored and allowed to land harmlessly. Last October, the U.S. military said that it had sent the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Israel. THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in their terminal phase of flight. The U.S. military helped to shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel on Friday, using ground-based systems, one U.S. official said. A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean also helped to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, Israeli media has reported. Jordan’s air force also intercepted missiles and drones entering its airspace Friday, its state news agency said. (Source: The Japan Times / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Jun 16, 2025  Iranian missiles struck Israel's Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa today, destroying homes. The alerts came in shortly after 4 a.m.in Tel Aviv. Video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem. The predawn missiles struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular market in Tel Aviv. A residential street in nearby Petach Tikva and a school in ultra-Orthodox Jewish city Bnei Brak were also hit. Several residential buildings in a densely populated neighborhood of Tel Aviv were destroyed in a strike that blew out the windows of hotels and other nearby homes just a few hundred meters from a U.S. Embassy premises in the city. Israel's national emergency service said three people were killed in the country's center, while dozens more were wounded in the overnight strikes. In Haifa around 30 people were wounded. Fires were seen burning at a power plant near the port. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel's multilayered defense systems to target each other. (Source: The Japan Times / Reuters (United Kingdom), AFP (France), JIJI (Japan)

Jun 16, 2025 10:42 IST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Iran's Islamic regime had plotted to assassinate US President Trump, labelling him as enemy number one. (Source: India Today)

Pakistan
Jun 16, 2025 12:20 IST  ’Pakistan has told us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, then Pakistan will also attack Israel with a nuclear bomb,’ General Rezaei, an IRGC commander and member of Iran's National Security Council, said on Iranian state television. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Asif dismissed the claim, saying Islamabad had made no such commitment. Later in a post on X, Asif cautioned that Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal, amid the current volatile situation, could embolden it to act more aggressively - raising the risk of a wider regional conflict. Islamabad has expressed open support for Iran in the broader confrontation with Israel. Following the attack on Tehran, Pakistan had vowed to stand behind Iran, calling for Muslim unity against Israel, a Jewish country. On June 14, Asif told the National Assembly that Muslim nations should unite against Israel or risk meeting the same fate as Iran and Palestine. ’Israel has targeted Iran, Yemen, and Palestine. If Muslim nations don't unite now, each will face the same fate,’ Turkiye Today quoted him as saying. Asif also urged Muslim nations with diplomatic ties to Israel to sever relations and called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene a meeting to form a joint strategy against the Jewish nation. Western powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have raised concerns over Iran’s uranium enrichment levels, ballistic missile development, and lack of transparency in past nuclear activities -- suggesting possible military dimensions to its program. Iran officially maintains that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, such as energy production and medical research. It is also a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has consistently claimed it does not seek nuclear weapons. Despite the official silence, the Jewish nation is widely believed to have developed a nuclear arsenal and a doctrine focused on deterrence and counter-proliferation, aimed at preventing adversaries from acquiring similar capabilities. (Source: India Today)

Saudi Arabia
Monday - 16 June 2025  The Israeli defense minister declared that Tehran will burn if it continued to target civilians, meanwhile the Iranians watched as their facilities went up in flames and were turned to rubble. We aren’t just being confronted by two countries with no shared borders trading strikes. Following the deadly blows the Israeli army dealt in recent months in Gaza and Lebanon, the Israelis were deluded into believing that they were living in a fortified fortress. Te walls of the fortress are riddled with holes and the Iranian missiles can infiltrate them. After decades of expanding in the region, the Iranians believed that they were living in a fortified fortress and that the wars in the region were always going to be waged in other people’s countries. Their fortress is weak, with holes so large they allowed Israel to control their skies and the Mossad to infiltrate their land and homes. It wasn’t easy on October 7, 2023, to inform Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Yehya al-Sinwar's attack. On June 13, it wasn’t easy at all to inform the Iranian supreme leader about what had happened to the military commanders and nuclear scientists. The Israeli attack on Iran launched a mutually destructive operation. Iran doesn’t have the ability to stop the Israeli raids. Israel cannot stop the barrage of Iranian rockets. It is more dangerous than all the wars the Middle East has seen in half a century given the arsenals involved and the expected repercussions. Was Iran wrong to ignore his 60-day deadline and the severe consequences of failing to make a deal? Should it have sensed the danger when Iranian advisors fled Syria? Was it wrong when it failed to assure the International Atomic Energy Agency? Did it underestimate the dangerousness of a dangerous player and gambler called Benjamin Netanyahu and the growing hostility of Israel’s military and security institutions in wake of the Al-Aqsa Flood? It will be difficult for the world to live for a long time at the beat of the destructive blows between Israel and Iran. It won’t be long before it urges Netanyahu and the supreme leader to consider their options. Israeli fighter jets violate regional countries to pounce on targets in Iran. The Iranian rockets and drones violate the skies of regional countries to attack targets in Israel. Expanding the conflict by attacking American bases will only deepen its crisis and so will the closure of the Hormuz Strait. The only solution lies in returning to Trump’s table, perhaps with Russian and Chinese help. Trump’s table means abandoning the nuclear dream and opening the door to Iran normalizing ties with the US, the West and the world. This means changing Iran without changing its regime. The fight between Israel and Iran has taken the spotlight from the horrors in Gaza and crises elsewhere. The Middle East needs countries to respect the borders and sovereignty of others and to recognize people’s rights. It needs to know the borders of a country called Israel and the limits of Iran’s role in the region. It needs Israel to adopt a different policy. And for Iran to seek different options. The fight is costly, and Trump is looking at his watch. He seems confident that Israel won’t be able to achieve peace without US support. And Iran has no other choice than taking the path laid out by the ’Great Satan.’ Trump holds the keys. He alone can sway the battle in Israel’s favor. He alone can summon Netanyahu to the negotiating table. He alone can save Iran from Israeli strikes. However, the holder of the keys is not a charity, and Iran will pay a price in negotiations he is sponsoring. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - hedquarters in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of Saudi royal family)
by Charbel, Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper

North America

Canada
June 16, 2025 8:41 PM CET  During a working session at the G7, the U.S. leader claimed Moscow wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if it hadn’t been banned from the forum. “The G7 used to be the G8,” Trump mused after a bilateral meeting with host Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies. 'Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in. And I would say that was a mistake because you wouldn’t have a war right now,' he said about Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Trump also told his Canadian audience that it was not a bad idea to have China as part of the G7. Zelensky will attend the G7 meeting as a guest tomorrow. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

United States
16.06.25, 06:42 AM  The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei. After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move. Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters. The US president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to make" after the two countries' recent cross-border confrontation. Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia. The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel's military operation aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear programme from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region. There's a divide in Trump world about how far the president should go in backing Israel. Rep. Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Turning Point USA founder Kirk, former Fox News host Carlson are among the prominent backers of Trump who have argued voters backed Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts. In an interview aired on CBS, GOP South Carolina Sen. Graham said he preferred diplomatic efforts, but if diplomacy doesn't work Trump should 'go all in' on destroying Iran's nuclear program. 'If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,' he said. 'If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.' GOP Kentucky Sen. Paul praised Trump for having shown restraint and said he hoped the president's instincts will prevail. "And it's not the U.S.'s job to be involved in this war.” (Source: The Telegraph - India)

(Monday, 16 june 2025)  On Sunday, Trump told ABC News he is open to Russia's Putin becoming a mediator between the two sides. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Jun 16, 2025  By the traditional temporal approach to imminency, Operation Rising Lion did not fulfill the preconditions for anticipatory self-defense. But that rigid standard has been supplanted by an interpretation more attuned to contemporary threats, one that allows States to use force anticipatorily when an adversary is committed to an armed attack using capabilities it wields, and the targeted State must act now lest it forfeit its ability to defend itself effectively. A colorable argument can be made that these criteria were satisfied on June 13, but such an argument requires a somewhat liberal interpretation of each. The nuclear (inter alia) nature of the threat Israel reasonably believes it is facing also bears on the appropriateness of such an interpretation. And if the operation was lawful, U.S. actions to defend against Iran’s retaliation are a lawful exercise of the right of collective self-defense. Yet, a colorable argument also can be made that the situation Israel faced on June 13 fell short on one or more of the criteria, especially that allowing for action only when the defending State is liable to lose the opportunity to mount an effective defense. If so, Operation Rising Lion was, therefore, a use of force in violation of the prohibition resident in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and customary law (see, e.g., Milanovic). This interpretation would raise the question of the United States’ operation in defense of Israel. There is generally no right, individual or collective, to defend against actions undertaken pursuant to the jus ad bellum right of self-defense. Nevertheless, if reports that Iran is targeting population centers in addition to military targets are accurate, the United States is entitled to help Israel defend against them, for unlawful actions (targeting civilians and civilian objects in violation of LOAC) do not satisfy the necessity criterion of self-defense and therefore are themselves unlawful uses of force (armed attacks) triggering the right of individual and collective self-defense. Obviously, the analysis of the current situation is highly fact dependent. That Iran represents a significant threat to Israel is beyond doubt. The fact that the threat is nuclear renders it existential. It is not a threat that Israel can ignore, and, in my opinion, the severity of the threat affords Israel greater leeway under the jus ad bellum than would be the case with a lesser threat. But whether Operation Rising Lion comports with the right of anticipatory self-defense, even in light of the greater leeway merited by the nuclear factor and using the last window of opportunity test as the standard of assessment, is a question that will ultimately be judged against facts that likely will be long contested. For me, a claim that the operation was lawful is colorable, but not incontestable. (Source: The Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare at West Point - U.S.)
Schmitt is the G. Norman Lieber Distinguished Scholar at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is also Professor of Public International Law at the University of Reading and Professor Emeritus and Charles H. Stockton Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the United States Naval War College.

June 16, 2025  American Foreign Policy in an Age of Unrestrained Executive Power. The last decade of scholarship has made clear the very real differences among authoritarian regimes and the implications for their foreign policy and national security choices. In matters of foreign policy and national security, the presidency now has the characteristics of a personalist dictatorship. Without constraints, even from elites in the leader’s inner circle, personalist dictators are prone to military misadventures, erratic decisions, and self-defeating policies. A United States that can change policy daily, treat those who serve its government with cruelty, and take reckless actions that compromise its basic systems and leave shared secrets and assets vulnerable is not one to be trusted. Moreover, if American institutions, especially Congress, are not functional then U.S. foreign policy is fully at the mercy of the whims of each newly elected president. The American presidency has long been imperial. But not until Trump’s second term has a president truly tried to act as an emperor. Since the 9/11 attacks, Congress has granted the presidency more and more power over foreign affairs and declined to take any of it back, and the Supreme Court has been reluctant to provide any meaningful restraints. In July 2024, the Supreme Court, never inclined to check presidential power in foreign affairs and especially deferential on national security matters, gave a literal get-out-of-jail-free card in ruling that the president enjoyed substantial immunity from prosecution for virtually any action related to his official duties. The ruling not only stopped the federal prosecutions of Trump but also made it highly unlikely that Trump will ever be held accountable for violating federal law and the Constitution. Trump inherited an ever-expanding national security apparatus that operates with little oversight. Trump governs today in the wake of the near-complete dismantling of checks and balances on the executive branch, at least in the foreign policy and national security realm. It is worth cataloging three broad categories of damage that add up to one conclusion: Trump has decimated U.S. diplomacy. Trump has also eroded trust in and goodwill toward the United States - and he has done so on live television. with visiting leaders Zelensky,and South African President Ramaphosa. Another blow to U.S. diplomacy - also televised - came on April 2, when Trump dropped a tariff bomb on the global economy. Rebuilding the expertise and experience of the federal bureaucracy ’will be the work of a generation, not an administration’ *. (Source: Foreign Affairs - U.S.)
by Saunders
* Note: Why is not the work of this administration?

Jun 16, 2025  The U.S. president has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb. The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack. In Washington, two U.S. officials said that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. When asked about the report, Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that." We do what we need to do, he told Fox's "Special Report. (Source: The Japan Times / Reuters (United Kingdom), AFP (France), JIJI (Japan)

Globalization

June 16, 2025 7:25 PM CET  For years, an annual decrease in the global inventory of nuclear weapons combined with the disarmament of retired warheads by the U.S. and Russia has outstripped the number of new warheads. But a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found this trend will be reversed in the coming years as dismantlement slows while the deployment of new nuclear weapons increases. China, India, Israel and Pakistan are among those increasing their nuclear muscle. Out of the nine nuclear-armed states - the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea - all are upgrading existing weapons and adding new versions to their stockpiles. China is leading the pack, with its nuclear arsenal having grown by 20 percent in just one year to an estimated 600 warheads. An estimated 12,241 nuclear warheads existed worldwide as of January. Of those, approximately 9,614 are held in military stockpiles ready for potential use, with more than 2,100 kept on high alert - primarily by the United States and Russia. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

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Europe

Russia
Jun 15, 2025  Russian President Putin told his U.S. counterpart, Trump, yesterday that Moscow was ready to hold a fresh round of peace talks with Kyiv after June 22, once the sides complete exchanging prisoners and soldiers' bodies. Putin and Trump held a call for the fifth time since the Republican took office and sought to reset relations with Moscow. "Both leaders expressed satisfaction with their personal relations" during the call, in which they also discussed the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, the Kremlin said. It added that the presidents "communicate in a businesslike manner and seek solutions to pressing issues on the bilateral and international agenda, no matter how complex these issues may be." Zelenskyy urged the United States to ’shift tone’ in its dialogue with Russia, saying it was "too warm" and would ’not’ help to end the fighting. Washington might relocate resources at its expense, to beef up the defense of its close ally Israel which unleashed a large-scale attack on Iran on Friday. Zelenskyy meanwhile did not mention whether Ukraine would agree to the next round of talks, only saying that the exchanges will be completed and the parties will discuss the next step. Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine and Russia swapped prisoners in the fourth such exchange last week. It is part of a large-scale plan to bring back 1,000 wounded prisoners from each side and return bodies of killed soldiers. As part of the Istanbul agreements, Kyiv also said it had received another 1,200 ’unidentified’ bodies from Russia. Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia. Russia intensified its advances along the front line, especially on the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy, where it seeks to establish a buffer zone, to protect its bordering region of Kursk, previously partly occupied by Ukraine. Zelenskyy said Russia's advance on Sumy was stopped and that Kyiv's forces had managed to retake one village. He said 53,000 Russian soldiers were involved in the Sumy operation. Russia has demanded Ukraine cede territory and renounce Western military support if it wants peace. (Source: The Japan Times / AFP (France)-JIJI (Japan))

Asia

Iran
(Sunday), 15 June 2025 - 09:25  Israel and Iran strike at each other overnight into Sunday. Iran has said 78 people were killed there on the first day of Israel's campaign on Friday, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack. A fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital. Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's defence ministry building, causing minor damage, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said today. In the first apparent attack to hit Iran's energy infrastructure, Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at South Pars, the world's biggest gas field, after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday. The South Pars field, offshore in Iran's southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran. Fears about potential disruption to the region's oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9% on Friday even though Israel spared Iran's oil and gas on the first day of its attacks. An Iranian general, Kosari, said on Saturday Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers. (Times Live – South Africa / Reuters - United Kingdom)

15 Jun 2025 - 08:01 am  In Iran's capital, AFP journalists heard a series of blasts at around 2:30 am. Iranian authorities have not provided an updated toll as of early Sunday. (Source: The Peninsula – Qatar)

Israel
15/06/2025 - 9:42 GMT+2  'Israel military warns Iran to evacuate nuclear sites'. The Israeli military has warned Iran on Sunday to immediately evacuate 'military weapons production factories', likely signalling new strikes. Col. Adraee, a military spokesperson, posted the warning on the social platform X in Farsi. The warning follows a statement by the Iranian minister of foreign affairs Araghchi saying Tehran would stop its attacks on Israel if Israel would stop theirs. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France, „With AP” - U.S.)

15 Jun 2025 - 08:01 am  Air raid sirens and explosions were heard by AFP journalists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Sunday. Israel's emergency services said at least eight people, including children, were killed in the overnight strikes, and around 200 were wounded. In Bat Yam, outside of Tel Aviv, two women, aged 69 and 80, a girl and a 10-year-old boy were killed, while about 100 others were wounded, according to a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA). In Shfela region, west of Jerusalem, another 37 people were wounded, the MDA spokesperson added. In the north of Israel, in the Western Galilee, rescuers said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building, killing three women. A woman in her 20s also died after an Iranian missile hit a home in the Haifa region, leaving about a dozen people wounded, MDA said. An MDA spokesman told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that around 200 people were wounded in the overnight missile strikes fired by Iran. (Source: The Peninsula – Qatar)

Yemen
15.06.2025  Today, Yemen’s Houthis claim striking ‘sensitive Israeli targets’ in Yaffa, central Israel, with hypersonic ballistic missiles, in coordination with the Iranian army, at various times in the last 24 hours. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

North America

United States
15.06.2025 A US official, according to Axios, confirmed that Israel asked Washington to join the military operation, but said currently the administration is not considering it. Washington has repeatedly said that Israel acted alone in its recent military actions against Iran. Citing American and Israeli sources, the news outlet said Israel lacks the capability to destroy Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is buried deep within a mountain, and needs US assistance to target it ’effectively’. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

June 15, 2025  People from 12 countries are already banned from entering the United States – and now Trump is said to be thinking of adding another 36 countries to the list. An internal memo about it reportedly says these countries have 60 days to meet new requirements, or face restrictions too. They include 25 countries in Africa, four in Asia, four in the Carribbean, and three in Oceania), and include strategic US partners Egypt and Djibouti. The Washington Post said that concerns varied for each country, but were things such as lack of reliable ID documents, lack of a ‘competent or cooperative central government authority’, a high number of citizens who previously overstayed their visas, or claims of antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States by their citizens. But the paper reported it said that if a country was willing to accept foreign nationals deported from the US in a ‘safe third country’ agreement, they could reconsider the ban even if other reported issues were not resolved. (Source: Metro – United Kingdom)

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