🇺🇸🇺🇦🇷🇺⚡️ — Ukraine has halted drone strikes on oil tankers using Russia’s Novorossiysk port after U.S. Vice President JD Vance asked President Zelensky to stop the attacks during a July 31 call, FT reports.

Kyiv agreed not to target Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) infrastructure or non-Russian vessels unless they were sanctioned by Ukraine or carrying Russian oil or cargo.

Washington was concerned the strikes were disrupting global oil markets and affecting U.S. companies Chevron and ExxonMobil, which have major stakes in the Kazakhstan-linked CPC route.

🇷🇺🇯🇵🇺🇦⚡️ — Russian President Putin on Japan:

Japan, under the pretext of events in Ukraine, without delving into the causes of this conflict, imposed sanctions against Russia that were unprovoked on our part.

🇷🇺🇯🇵⚡️ — Russian President Putin on Japan:

We are not threatening Japan. We have absolutely no claims against it. On the contrary, Japan has territorial claims against our country. I mean the problem of the Kuril Islands.

🇾🇪❌🇾🇪 — Ibrahim Al-Akwa, an Ansarallah/Houthis commander, was killed following clashes with the Saudi-backed PLC forces on the Marib front.

🇺🇦🇷🇺⚡️ — Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) says Russia has stockpiled more than 6,200 Geran drones ahead of winter.

During this buildup period, Russian forces are launching around 150–200 drones per attack, while large-scale strikes could involve 600–1,000 drones at once.

GUR estimates production of Geran-4/5 drones alone at around 3,000 per month.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇹🇷⚡️ — The Iranian threat that prompted President Trump’s secret Air Force One swap last month emerged as he was heading into his last day at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, on July 8, NYT reports.

U.S. intelligence received multiple streams of information indicating a specific surface-to-air missile threat against Air Force One, regardless of which aircraft was carrying the president.

A person near the NATO summit was also spotted with a shoulder-fired missile, while Iranian operatives knew exactly where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the floor of the building.

🇪🇹⚡️ — The EDNF is deploying additional reinforcements, including armored vehicles, in the town of Gilgel Belles in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia following an offensive by the Gumuz Force Unity Front (GFUF) rebel force group, who briefly captured the city before being driven out.

📝The GFUF is an ethnic Gumuz rebel faction operating alongside other groups in the Benishangul-Gumuz region against the federal government due to ethnic tension and economic discrimination caused by the Ethiopian government.

🇺🇦🇰🇷⚡️ — South Korea says it will continue limiting its support for Ukraine to humanitarian assistance and has no plans to provide lethal weapons or air defence systems, despite requests from Ukrainian President Zelensky.

🇸🇦🇪🇬🇹🇷🇵🇰⚡️ — Saudi Arabia opposed Egypt joining the new defence pact with Türkiye and Pakistan despite Ankara pushing for Cairo’s inclusion, according to the Middle East Eye.

Riyadh has grown increasingly frustrated with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government, questioning both Egypt’s reliability as a strategic partner and what its military could contribute to the alliance. Saudi concerns include Cairo’s close alignment with the UAE, its limited role during the Yemen conflict, and its response to the US-Israel war with Iran.

Saudi Arabia itself opposed Cairo’s participation “at least for now.” Riyadh views Türkiye and Pakistan as offering greater military value through their defence industries, weapons production, and combat capabilities.

Saudi officials could reconsider Egypt’s inclusion in the future if relations improve, while Kuwait is more interested in potentially joining the pact.

🇦🇿🇺🇸⚡️ — Azerbaijan is seeking U.S. assistance with advanced demining technologies as it works to clear large areas contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance following decades of conflict with Armenia, Axios reports.

Azerbaijan is among the world’s most mine-contaminated countries per capita and hopes to cooperate with Washington on new technologies and techniques to accelerate clearance efforts.

🇪🇹⚡️ — ETHIOPIAN CONFLICT SUMMARY:

The Ethiopian military (ENDF) has been actively fighting the AFNM since 2023, a coalition of ethnic Amhara FANO militias in the Amhara region who control a large part of the region.

The ENDF is fighting an insurgency against the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) separatist rebels in the Oromo region.

The Benishangul-Gumuz region's various rebel organizations that made peace with the federal government in 2022 are reemerging following a failed attempt to capture the town of Gilgel Belles.

The EDNF and the ethnic Tigray defense forces, the armed wing of the anti-federal TPLF, are both preparing for further confrontation in the Tigray region following the recent armed clash near the border with Eritrea.

🇨🇳🇹🇼⚡️ — Suspected Chinese hackers used publicly available AI tools to breach Taiwanese government systems in what researchers described as a first-of-its-kind autonomous cyberattack, according to FT.

Over four days in July, the system deployed up to eight AI agents simultaneously to map 21 government systems, identify vulnerabilities and automatically change tactics when attempts were blocked.

The operation compromised at least 85 government accounts and extracted more than 2,500 personnel records before expanding to Taiwan’s nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies.

🇮🇷🇧🇷 — Iran is set to join the BRICS-backed New Development Bank (NDB), Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said.

🇺🇦❌🇷🇺 — Two of Russia’s largest grain terminals at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk have suspended operations after being damaged in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, Reuters reports.

The Novorossiysk Grain Terminal, which can export around 8.5 million tonnes annually, halted operations while damage assessments were underway. The nearby NKHP terminal, with an annual export capacity of roughly 7.1 million tonnes, was also damaged and suspended operations.

🇦🇪🇮🇶⚡️ — The UAE's ADNOC is offering to shuttle Iraqi crude through the Strait of Hormuz using the same “dark transit” methods it has used to move Emirati oil through the waterway, Bloomberg reports.

The strategy involves tankers making short shuttle voyages, often with their transponders switched off, before transferring Basrah and other Iraqi crude to vessels outside the Persian Gulf for onward delivery to Asian refiners.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran and Washington are not discussing an extension of the ceasefire, adding that from Iran’s perspective there was never a formal start date and therefore nothing to extend.

The Iranian source accused the U.S. of violating the MoU just 48 hours after it was reached and said current negotiations instead focus on Washington returning to the agreement and establishing a timeframe for fulfilling its commitments.

🇾🇪❌🇾🇪 — The Houthis (Ansarallah) targeted the port of Mokha, PLC-controlled Yemen, with ballistic missiles earlier today.