US military seizes oil tanker near Venezuela amid rising tensions The #US move marks a sharp escalation in the standoff with the #Venezuelan regime. The US military has intercepted and taken control of an oil tanker near the coast of Venezuela, according to a Bloomberg report. The operation comes as Washington increases pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s government over its continued alignment with hostile foreign actors and ongoing violations of international norms. The seizure is viewed in Washington as a necessary step to curb illicit oil shipments tied to the Maduro regime, which has deepened cooperation with anti-Western powers. The incident is expected to heighten tensions further, with Caracas already accusing the US of “aggression” while American officials emphasize the need to enforce sanctions and protect regional stability.

[URGENT] Reports of possible coup as Maher Assad builds 45,000-man force Arab media reports that Maher Assad — the powerful brother of Syrian president Bashar Assad — has assembled a striking force of roughly 45,000 fighters along the Syrian coastal plain. According to these reports, Maher, together with his influential cousin Rami Makhlouf, is pouring millions of dollars into preparing this force for what is described as a major confrontation with the Joulani regime in northern Syria. Russian military personnel are said to be directly involved in training and organizing these units along the coastal strip. These developments have raised questions inside the region about whether Syria is edging toward an internal power struggle that could reshape the country’s leadership. The reported forces, already positioned with an eye toward movement toward Damascus, suggest that Maher Assad may be preparing far more than a localized military campaign — potentially signaling a dangerous escalation inside a country already fractured by war and outside influence. Note: If these reports prove accurate, Syria may be heading into a new phase of instability — one driven not by external actors but by a potential rift inside the Assad family itself. A power struggle involving Maher Assad, backed by Russian-trained forces, could shake the entire regional balance, affect Israel’s northern front, and open new opportunities or risks in the broader Middle East.

Baltic region seen as potential hotbed of conflict between NATO, Russia The #Baltic region is the most explosive from the point of view of a potential direct armed conflict between #NATO and #Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter #Szijjarto said. "The biggest responsibility is here. The most fragile situation is here. And any mistake, erroneous decision or misunderstanding here may entail disastrous consequences for the entire world, because the biggest threat of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is always in place here. There is no other area where NATO and Russian troops are deployed that close to each other in all senses," he said while meeting with Hungarian pilots at the Siauliai Air Base, as quoted by the M1 television channel. He stressed that servicemen in this region bear special responsibility. "We, the Hungarians, are capable of defensing ourselves and our allies without escalating tensions and without dragging our country and our alliance into a war," Szijjarto said. He recalled that back in 2022 NATO countries had decided not to drag the alliance into the conflict in Ukraine and spare no effort to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia. "Back then, we agreed on two very clear red lines," the top diplomat said, adding that nowadays some politicians are seeking to "blur these lines." "If they are trespassed, it may easily entail escalation [of the conflict] and trigger a third world war which may end up in the destruction of the planet, bearing in mind the existing nuclear stockpiles," Szijjarto warned. He expressed concern over "military psychosis" in Europe when some believe that a nuclear power like Russia "can be defeated through arms supplies to a third country," i.e. Ukraine. Politicians, in his words, are wrong. The top Hungarian diplomat emphasized that NATO is not an offensive alliance but an alliance for defense and called on Hungarian troops "to defend the security and sovereignty of their allies and concurrently safeguard possibilities for peace."

Putin, Trump hold third telephone conversation in one month — Kremlin aide The escalation between Israel and Iran was one of the key topics discussed Russian and US presidents, Vladimir #Putin and Donald #Trump, held today the third telephone conversation in a month and the fifth one since the beginning of the year. The escalation between Israel and Iran was one of the key topics discussed. The parties also focused on bilateral relations, and on Ukraine. Putin congratulated Trump on his birthday, the American leader turned 79 today. Previous telephone conversations took place on May 19 and June 4, soon after the rounds of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul. Previously Putin and Trump talked on March 18. Then Putin supported Trump’s idea to impose a 30-day moratorium on attacks on energy facilities, though Kiev never joined the initiative. Whereas the first conversation after Trump’s return to the presidency took place on February 12. Concurrently, that was the first contact between Russian and US leaders in three years.

Oil price to fall to $50 per barrel, reports WSJ citing Riyadh Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has said that #oil prices may fall to $50 per barrel unless a number of OPEC+ nations adhere to agreed output limits, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing sources. This comes amid an online meeting of the #OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee aimed at estimating the current situation on the oil market, which is taking place now. Its participants intend to discuss the issue of weakening output restrictions in December, according to the publication. #Riyadh has warned a number of countries, including Iraq, against an increase in oil production, indicating that they should observe their OPEC+ commitments. The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for December delivery rose above $76 per barrel on London's ICE earlier on Wednesday for the first time since September 3, 2024. The price of oil is rising amid an escalation in the Middle East.

Kyiv prepared Putin’s assassination attempt with Western involvement, funding, reports diplomat The #Kyiv regime was preparing an #assassination attempt against Russian President Vladimir #Putin with direct participation and funding from its Anglo-Saxon masters, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova said during a briefing. "We noted the confessions of the head of Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov [included in the list of terrorists and extremists in Russia]. Speaking in an interview for a Ukrainian newspaper on July 13, he confessed to futile assassination attempts against the President of Russia. There are no doubts that such crimes were planned and funded with direct participation of the Anglo-Saxon masters of the Kiev regime," the diplomat noted. She stated her certainty that, this way, the collective West "becomes complicit in this criminal activity of the Kiev regime." - "No evil deed, no terror act against civilians, against representatives of the authorities, has never been condemned by Western countries during this period, neither in their national quality, nor collectively," Zakharova underscored. Previously, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry #Peskov said that everything necessary is being done to ensure the safety of the president "considering the international escalation of tensions in general."

NATO shouldn’t accept Ukraine due to risk of nuclear escalation with Russia #NATO shouldn't promise to welcome Ukraine into the alliance in order to de-escalate tensions with Russia, which have increased after the start of the Ukrainian conflict, The 'American Conservative' said. According to the magazine, NATO and the US in particular should agree to talks with Russia to de-escalate nuclear risks that have increased due to the #Ukrainian conflict. The magazine pointed out that this task has become even more important following the recent accession to NATO of formerly neutral #Finland and #Sweden, which has made Russia even more reliant on its nuclear arsenal. The article said that the nuclear deal between NATO and #Moscow must include commitments not to admit Ukraine to the alliance and not to deploy the bloc's troops and infrastructure on Ukrainian territory. NATO Secretary General Jens #Stoltenberg said on June 17 that the alliance's member states had begun consultations on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry #Peskov said that Stoltenberg’s statements were yet another escalation of tensions.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in an English-language video statement says Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group is "bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region." "The Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon has been escalating its attacks against Israel. Since deciding to join the war that Hamas started on October 7th, Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 rockets; anti-tank missiles, and explosive UAVs from Lebanon at Israeli families, homes, and communities," he says. "Hezbollah's increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region," Hagari continues.

Expert sees conflict between Russia, NATO in Arctic in `next couple of years’ A #Russia-#NATO conflict in the #Arctic may erupt in the next two to three years amid tensions between the two sides, a Russian military expert said. "As regards the potential timeline of this conflict, judging from all papers, delivery times and public statements being made by NATO and US military leaders, that is scheduled for 2030 or later," Alexander Stepanov, program director at the Academy of Political Sciences and senior researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), wrote. "But given how the situation has been evolving of late, the high intensity and escalation of tensions, that [#conflict] may occur there in the next three to three years," he warned.

Houthis claim responsibility for attacks on U.S., British vessels in Red Sea, Gulf of Aden #Houthis from #Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement have staged four operations against US and British vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea over the past 72 hours, the movement’s military spokesperson Yahya #Sarea said. "The naval and missile forces conducted four joint operations against four ships, including the American Maersk Saratoga in the Gulf of Aden and the APL Detroit in the Red Sea, and the British Huang Pu and Pretty Lady in the Red Sea," he said in a statement posted on his Telegram channel. In all, according to Sarea, "six military operations with the use of a large number of ballistic missiles and drones were conducted in the past 72 hours." In particular, the Houthi missile forces hit a number of targets in the city of Eilat in southern Israel. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a high-ranking Ansar Allah representative, said on Monday that since the beginning of the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Houthis have conducted a total of 38 military operations in the Red and Arabian seas, as well as in the Indian Ocean.