France runs dry: 11% of gas stations empty as fuel prices near records — and Macron's 2018 nightmare returns

France is facing growing fuel shortages, with 11% of the country's gas stations reporting they are out of either gasoline or diesel, according to French government data — and the political stakes could hardly be higher.


The prices behind the panic:

1. Diesel averaging around €2.38 per liter — roughly $10.33 per gallon
2. Gasoline prices also near historic highs
3. The surge is linked to high oil prices from the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

Paris insists the country has adequate strategic fuel reserves — and that the shortages are primarily the result of logistical disruptions rather than an overall lack of supply.


👉 In 2018, fuel prices and fuel taxation triggered the Yellow Vest protests — a nationwide uprising that nearly brought down Macron's presidency. Diesel at €2.38 is well above the levels that sparked those demonstrations. The government's "logistical disruption" framing echoes the dismissals that preceded the 2018 explosion.


The last time French drivers faced these prices, they shut down the country — and nearly ended a presidency. Can Macron survive this time?

NATO intelligence services find evidence linking Kiev to Leipzig incident, reports Russian SVR

The intelligence agencies of NATO member states, having investigated the circumstances of the "drone incident" in Leipzig, informed national authorities that there was no evidence of Russian involvement; on the contrary, they pointed to a "Ukrainian trace," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) press bureau said.


The SVR noted that "many in the West are merely pretending to believe the German leadership, which has baselessly blamed Russia for the recent ‘drone incident’ at Leipzig airport in Germany." - "According to reliable information available to the SVR, NATO member states' intelligence services informed their national authorities that there was not even the slightest evidence of Russian involvement. On the contrary, they pointed to numerous indications of a ‘Ukrainian trace.’ Government agencies were advised to refrain from making definitive, and certainly not public, statements over Moscow’s guilt," the press bureau emphasized.

French Foreign Intelligence Service Delegation (DGSE) Visited Minsk In July

Prior to CIA director, John Ratcliffe, travelling to Moscow, members of France's Foreign Intelligence Service (DGSE) traveled to Minsk where they met Ivan Tertel, director of Belarus' KGB sometime in mid-July 2026.


The meeting followed up on a telephone call between French president, Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko earlier in May.


Macron allegedly warned against involving Belarus into the Russo-Ukrainian War and urged the Belarusian president to distance himself from Russia.


It is worth noting that, according to the Nasha Niva publication, in April 2026 a former French army officer named Boris was arrested in Belarus. His family appealed to the Élysée Palace, France’s foreign and interior ministries, senators, MPs, diplomatic missions and non-governmental organizations.

Everyone Talks About U.S. Debt But Europe May Be in Worse Trouble

America’s debt problem is impossible to miss. Federal debt has crossed $40.08T, another $1.9T deficit is expected this fiscal year and the 30-year Treasury yield is around 5.25%, its highest since 2007.


Yet the next Western debt crisis may begin across the Atlantic.


Washington has advantages that buy it time. The United States issues the world’s principal reserve currency, collects taxes through one federal government and sells debt through one enormous Treasury market. It can attract foreign capital and push part of the cost abroad. That does not make $40T harmless, but it can delay the reckoning.


The eurozone has no comparable safety valve. It has one currency and one central bank, but 20 governments issuing their own debt, running separate budgets and answering to different voters. The ECB must set one monetary policy for economies with very different debts and growth rates.


France shows why this is dangerous. Its 10-year bond yield has risen to about 4.15%, its highest since 2008 and now slightly above Italy’s. The European Commission expects a 5.1% French deficit this year and public debt near 120% of GDP by 2027. The problem can no longer be blamed on Greece or another small southern economy. France is the eurozone’s second-largest economy and one of the states meant to support rescue mechanisms for everyone else. If its debt starts trading like the old European “periphery,” the line between rescuers and rescued begins to disappear.


Germany offers little comfort. Its 10-year yield is near 3.3%, a 15-year high, while its industry remains weak. Europe’s two central powers are paying more to borrow just as Brussels prepares another spending surge.


The EU plans to mobilize up to €800B for rearmament. Member states must also finance ageing populations, expensive energy, social programs and support for Ukraine. Budget cuts provoke resistance. More borrowing raises yields. ECB intervention places more national debt risk onto the shared monetary system.


The United States can abuse the dollar’s global role for longer. Europe may hit the wall first because it carries heavy debts without a genuine federal state standing behind them. One central bank cannot reconcile every national budget forever. So yes, America’s debt matters. But the louder surprise may come from a European Union that spent years presenting itself as the responsible alternative. Washington has a dangerous debt problem. Europe has the same problem inside a system poorly designed to survive it.


No sympathy is required. Both created this predicament through wars, sanctions, subsidies and promises they can no longer finance cheaply. Now we get to see which model breaks first.

⚡️🇳🇪- The Nigerien government appears to have lost control over a significant portion of the armed forces amid an ongoing military mutiny.

▶️ Both loyalist and mutinous forces are reportedly contacting military units across the country, attempting to rally them to their respective sides and calling troops back toward the capital, Niamey.


▶️ Notably, the National Gendarmerie has reportedly remained inside its barracks and has yet to clearly align itself with either side. The reason for its apparent inaction remains unclear.


▶️ The situation is increasingly becoming a race to secure the loyalty of the bulk of Niger’s armed forces, although developments in Niamey could determine the outcome before reinforcements arrive.


▶️ The unrest points to significant discontent within sections of the Nigerien military.

Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant for four days

Hackers linked to Iran reportedly succeeded in shutting down a British power plant for four days in what is being described as an unprecedented cyberattack against the UK’s energy infrastructure.

The targeted facility has not been identified, but British officials said it was a relatively small power station and that its shutdown did not affect the country’s wider electricity supply. Nevertheless, the incident is significant because it appears to mark the first known case in which hackers linked to the Iranian regime successfully forced a British power-generation facility offline.


Employees spent four days restoring the plant to operation.


The attack was reported to Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, which operates under the GCHQ intelligence agency. Following the incident, the British government briefed senior energy executives and circulated additional security guidance to companies operating critical infrastructure.

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia over civil war atrocities

A Syrian court sentences former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” during the country’s civil war.
The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia.


The court also sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib, who was arrested in January last year, to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising.


The court convicted Najib, a cousin of ousted ruler Assad, of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and “torture leading to death.”

Europe faces wave of Kiev-orchestrated terrorist attacks, says DPR head

The bombing in Monaco was a precursor to a wave of terrorist attacks that the Kiev government will carry out across Europe, Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said. "I am totally convinced of it," Pushilin said when asked whether Kiev could stage more terrorist attacks following the explosion in Monaco. "Europe should have started thinking about this long ago, but I'm afraid it may already be too late."


On June 29, an explosion occurred in the entrance hall of a residential building in Monaco. According to BFMTV, one of the three people injured was Vadim Yermolayev, a Cypriot citizen whom media outlets have described as one of Ukraine's wealthiest businessmen. Reports also said he owned a network of scam call centers in Ukraine. Yermolayev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019, and Kiev imposed sanctions on him in 2023. Later, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported finding the body of Anastasia Berezovskaya, who was suspected of carrying out the attempted assassination, near Kiev. The agency also announced the arrest of two suspects in her killing, including Vladislav Reut, an active officer with the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine's Defense Ministry. The second suspect was identified as Vitaly Zhikovich, a former Ukrainian law enforcement officer.


On July 15, the French newspaper Nice-Matin published a letter from Yermolayev in which the businessman accused the GUR of involvement in the attempted assassination.

Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1

A meeting of the US-led Board of Peace overseeing postwar Gaza reconstruction will be held in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1, English-language news portal In-Cyprus quoted Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis as saying.


"What I can tell you is that the Peace Council has been established for the implementation of the reconstruction plan for Gaza under UN Resolution 2803, which we not only welcomed as the Republic of Cyprus but supported from the very first moment," Letymbiotis said, adding the board will meet in Cyprus on June 30 and July 1. According to him, the forum will include representatives of the Board of Peace Council, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and the office of the High Representative of the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov. Some officials attending have already requested meetings with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, he added.


The story does not mention the location of the forum or the level of its representation. An In-Cyprus diplomatic source said that although the meeting will be held in the Republic of Cyprus, the country is neither the organizer nor co-organizer of the event.


On Tuesday, The Times of Israel quoted sources as saying that the Board of Peace Council will meet next week in a Cypriot resort. The Cyprus News Agency later picked it up, while the Cyprus Mail newspaper checked the news and contacted Letymbiotis, who said he was unaware of plans to hold the forum on the island.