🇬🇷🇪🇺🇷🇺⚡️ — Greece is holding up the EU’s latest sanctions package against Russia, objecting to a proposed ban on transporting Russian LNG to third countries that Athens says would severely harm Dynagas, a Greek company specializing in Arctic LNG shipping, FT reports.

➡️ Greek officials argue that the firm’s highly specialized ice-class LNG carriers cannot easily be repurposed, while other EU states insist economic sacrifices are necessary to maintain pressure on Moscow.

🇮🇱🇺🇸⚡️ — The memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham appears to have been postponed until the end of the month, meaning Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will no longer travel to the U.S. next week, i24NEWS reports.

🇺🇦⚡️ — Ukraine’s pro-government UNITED24 Media has suspended publishing for the day as staff join nationwide protests against President Zelensky’s dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

🇺🇦⚡️ — The Ukrainian Parliament has approved Serhii Koretsky, the current CEO of state energy company Naftogaz, as the country’s new Prime Minister.

🇺🇦⚡️ — Ukraine’s outgoing Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov criticized Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi, saying that instead of finding ways to “asymmetrically defeat Russia,” Syrskyi had “figured out how to split the country.”

➡️ Fedorov said Ukraine must “change the Commander-in-Chief and Chief of the General Staff” to defeat Russia with “minimal losses,” while acknowledging that Syrskyi “saved the country with the Kyiv operation” in 2022.

➡️ He added that the war has since changed and accused Syrskyi of blocking new initiatives and avoiding direct discussions about problems.

➡️ Fedorov also said President Zelensky offered him a position as an adviser, but he refused.

🇮🇶⚡️ — An oil tanker was hit by a drone at the Basra oil terminal in Iraq, though no damage or fire was reported after the strike, Reuters reports.

➡️ Oil loading operations at the Port of Basra have been temporarily suspended as authorities investigate the incident and assess the situation.

➡️ The origin of the drone remains unknown.

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️ — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there are currently “no prospects” for a quick return to peace negotiations over Ukraine.

➡️ He added that it is not important who heads Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, saying the main issue is whether there is someone in Kyiv “capable of making a decision that would allow for a resolution to the conflict.”

🇮🇷❌🇰🇼 — Kuwait's army says it is currently repelling a drone attack.

🇸🇩❌🇸🇩 — The pro-government Darfur Joint Forces militia reportedly retook the Orshi area of north Darfur from the UAE-backed RSF rebels.

The captured area is home to the strategic Orshi reservoir, which is considered a key water source in the region.

🇮🇷❌🇺🇸 — WATCH: Iran’s IRGC released footage of the overnight ballistic missile launches towards U.S. bases in the region.

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️ — Russia and Ukraine have carried out an exchange of fallen soldiers’ bodies, with 501 bodies transferred to Ukraine and 31 returned to Russia.

🇲🇽⚡️ — Sicarios of the CJNG-affiliated Dos Aguas armed group used a drone to bomb the position of the R5 cartel in an unknown location of the Michoacán state of Mexico.

🇮🇷🇾🇪❌🇺🇸 — NEW: Iran has asked the Houthis (Ansarallah) to be ready to block Red Sea oil shipping routes if the US attacks the Iranian power network, according to Reuters.

➡️ The Houthis got the request recently. However, it is unclear how it was transmitted or if it was related to President Trump's recent warning against Iranian energy facilities.

🇲🇲⚡️ — More than 500 people are feared dead after two boats carrying members of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority reportedly capsized in the Bay of Bengal, according to AP.

➡️ The boats departed Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late June carrying mostly Rohingya passengers, including refugees from camps in Bangladesh.

➡️ One vessel carrying around 250 people lost contact shortly after departure, while another carrying about 280 people is believed to have sunk off Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady coast on July 8.

🇺🇦⚡️ — Ukrainian President Zelensky on Fedorov:

During wartime, the president should not be making choices in such a situation. I would very much like to see unity.

The parties haven't found it, and the problem is not only with the parties, but also with me.

I am not absolving myself of responsibility.

Fedorov will remain in my team, but the exact role he will hold will be announced later.

🇺🇦⚡️ — Ukrainian President Zelensky:

I understand, I hear, and I respond to what society is saying.

We are fighting for freedom and democracy. People have the right to do what they want.

If they wanted to come out and protest, then they were right to do so.

🇬🇧⚡️ — A government watchdog has found that MI5 provided “false evidence” based on “lies” to three courts while defending a violent neo-Nazi informant known as Agent X, BBC reports.

The report by Sir John Goldring found serious failures within MI5, including a senior officer who repeatedly lied and another who misled colleagues, allowing a false account about the agency’s secrecy policy to continue. The findings confirm earlier BBC reporting that MI5 misled courts about whether it had revealed the informant’s status.

Agent X, a neo-Nazi extremist, used his role as an MI5 informant to abuse his partner, including attacking her with a machete. MI5 had argued in court that it had followed its “neither confirm nor deny” policy, but the investigation found that the policy had been breached and that evidence showing this was ignored.

The report concluded there were “serious and systemic failures” in MI5’s handling of the case. MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum acknowledged the failures and apologized, while the findings could lead to contempt of court proceedings or a criminal investigation.

🇮🇶🇦🇪🌞⚡️ — UAE-based DanaGas announced earlier today that it decided to suspend all operations at its Khor Mor giant gas field in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, citing "credible threats" and escalating regional tensions.

🇺🇸⚡️ — President Trump is expected to announce “really big news” on election security in a primetime speech, but some Republicans are concerned he may revisit his disputed claims about the 2020 election, POLITICO reports.

➡️ A former Trump administration official said some Republicans are “scared” about what additional claims Trump may add beyond the prepared remarks.

➡️ Trump’s supporters, however, believe the speech could energize the Republican base and help advance the SAVE America Act.