Latest Updates

Kremlin promoting the Far East as major investment frontier in Russia’s pivot to Asia

The Kremlin is pushing the Far East as a major investment opportunity thanks to a sanctions-driven surge in trade with China and a broader wave of investment from across the continent and the Global South.

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KYIV BLOG: Government reshuffle and Ukraine’s Battle of Britain moment

Ukraine is likely to get a new Prime Minister today and a much more pragmatic government as a result of the surprise reshuffle that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy triggered by asking the current Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko to quit.

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Ukraine's Coalition of the Willing launch a new Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition at Paris summit

President Zelenskiy was in Paris on July 13 for a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, which launched a new Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition to counter the escalating missile war playing out between Russia and Ukraine.

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Russian refining down to record lows, LNG exports to Europe at record highs

Russia’s crude output declined to the lowest in at least two and a half years in June as Ukraine attacked the nation’s oil infrastructure on an almost daily basis. But LNG production remains untouched and exports to Europe are at record highs.

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Turkish Black Sea villager takes washed-up Russian drone home after “AI safety check”

Reassured UAV contains no explosives, scrap hunter, wife and grandchild grab it by the wings.

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Bangladesh should strengthen nuclear expertise before investing in SMRs

As Bangladesh gets close to attaining the status of a nuclear power-generating country, policymakers have begun weighing the option of setting up Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) or adding two more large reactors to the energy portfolio.

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The super El Nino is here

The planet’s seas are on their way to being as warm as bath water as the predicted super El Niño arrives. It is already clear that this year’s oceanic heating event will be the most powerful on record.

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Hungarian MPs push through constitutional amendment removing President Tamas Sulyok

Constitutional overhaul backed by Tisza Party's supermajority is central to PM Peter Magyar's pledge to roll back the institutional legacy of Victor Orban's 16-year rule.

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Strong El Niño threatens Latin American inflation and rate cuts, UBS warns

Trump warns US will "take care" of Iranian drones stockpiled in Cuba

EU population to decline from 2029, east-west demographic divide widens

Strong El Niño threatens Latin American inflation and rate cuts, UBS warns

Latin American economies face renewed inflationary pressure and possible delays to interest rate cuts if a strong El Niño weather pattern disrupts food production, electricity generation and infrastructure this year, Swiss bank UBS said in a note.

Trump warns US will "take care" of Iranian drones stockpiled in Cuba

US President Donald Trump said on July 13 that his administration was investigating claims that Iran has stored drones in Cuba, warning that Washington would respond if the presence of such weaponry on the island were confirmed.

Latest Updates

News

Ship-tracking data shows tankers clustering at anchorages off Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and Sohar rather than transiting the Strait of Hormuz, as a US cargo levy, Iranian tolls and mining claims turn the waterway into a contested chokepoint.

Iran's parliament has formally tabled a bill to entrench Tehran's control over the Strait of Hormuz, with the chamber's national security chief claiming US drones were downed overnight and warning that further measures are coming.

Two supertankers were hit and disabled after transiting a mined corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, hours after Washington declared a blockade on Iranian shipping and a 20% cargo levy.

Ukraine has lost about half of its electricity generation capacity since the war began in February 2022, with flexible generating facilities among the hardest hit.

Honorary chairman of the anti-green Motorists for Themselves party Filip Turek becomes target of online mockery after collision at crossroads.

Tech

Trinidad and Tobago is pursuing AI-driven investment through major US-backed data centre projects, but concerns over water scarcity, electricity demand and environmental sustainability are emerging alongside promises of jobs and diversification.

Belgrade is seeking to position itself as a regional hub for advanced technology.

Robust cybersecurity capabilities and comprehensive skills transfer two aspects of deal.

The Latvian government is preparing for one of the country's largest corporate transactions in more than 15 years: the sale of Telia's stakes in mobile operator LMT and telecommunications provider Tet.

Poland’s budding offshore wind sector could supply the electricity needed for energy-intensive artificial AI and data centres, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

Opinion

The rising costs of the Ukraine war have forced the Russian government to increase spending, causing the federal budget deficit to expand further. High spending growth is making it hard for the CBR to cut rates and revive the economy.

Iran’s central bank is squeezing liquidity to defend the rial, meeting under a fifth of banks’ funding demand as inflation hits 57.7% and money supply growth tops 53% after the war with the US and Israel.

Trump has broken with the paradigm of the rules based international order and is causing chaos with his “America first” approach. But actually he has four approaches to reforming international bodies: retreat, rebel, replace and reform.

The minerals are there but the planned scale of production requires a dozen or more new processing plants.

The two countries have long been on a collision course over their differing interpretations of WWII history, but why did the clash happen now?

Data

Despite the monthly easing, annual inflation remained elevated, with transport, energy and several food categories continuing to drive price pressures.

Move comes amid declining market yields, giving the debt manager room to reduce returns offered to households while preserving the attractiveness of retail government bonds.

The figures leave inflation poised for a sharp decline in the coming months as favourable base effects begin to take hold.

Paper falls sharply following announcement. Third coupon payment scheduled for November 13.

The US dollar's share of global foreign exchange reserves has fallen to its lowest level this century, underlining a slow-moving long-term de-dollarisation by central banks to diversify away from the world's dominant reserve currency.

Features

Social challenge could have long-term consequences for the country's post-war recovery if vulnerable groups are not reintegrated into society quickly, said the Depaul Ukraine charity.

Civilian deaths in Ukraine hit a record monthly high in May, driven by a shortage of Ukrainian air-defence interceptors rather than a shift in Russian targeting, officials say. What is Russia actually targeting with its missile strikes?

The prime minister “has sold our country” one protester tells IntelliNews, as protest movement grows far beyond its environmental origins.

The US-Iran conflict has become a war of probabilities, with both sides deliberately randomising. The theory behind it runs from Schelling's Nobel-winning deterrence work to Nixon's madman doctrine, and it carries a flaw.

Most Nato summits end with a communiqué. This one ended with customs problems. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan each each visiting head of state with an engraved Turkish-made gun complete with live ammo.

Blogs

‘Flamingo revolution’ protesters take to the streets of Tirana nightly, but government officials dismiss them as ‘crows’ and ‘ravens’.

Brussels’ South Caucasus policy has shifted as it seeks to secure regional stability, expand transport corridors and reduce Russian influence.

A bomber targeted Ukrainian real estate mogul and online scammer yesterday in Monaco, the principality’s first ever terror attack, in the latest of a string of alleged SBU assassinations overseas.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić has confirmed he will resign within weeks, signalling the start of an election campaign that could reshape the country's political landscape.

The efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end have stalled in the face of an escalating exchange of drone and missiles and the stalemated EU efforts to mediate.

bneGREEN

Polish scientists have urged lawmakers to hold an urgent parliamentary debate on the climate crisis and accelerate both emissions reductions and adaptation measures.

Croatia's government has proposed new legislation aimed at simplifying the management of energy resources, including geothermal waters.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration has issued a land warning for Typhoon Bavi, which is expected to bring up to 900 mm of rain to northern mountain areas by Sunday July 12, and generate waves of more than six metres along the coast.

Air conditioner exports to Europe climbed 41.3% year-on-year to $130.1mn in May. Shipments during the first five months of the year rose 16.5% to $696.8mn.

Uzbekistan faces mounting environmental pressures linked to climate change, water scarcity and land degradation.

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Nato General Secretary Mark Rutte warned that the West needs to prepare of the possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping will ....

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