EU adopts 21st Russia sanctions package, drops gas and tourism limits
The Council of the European Union, the body where the 27 member governments make decisions, has formally turned the bloc's 21st set of penalties on Russia into law.
#sanctions
Germany Isolated as EU Ministers Weigh Settlement Trade Curbs in Brussels
EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels as a growing group of capitals push for trade restrictions on Israeli settlement goods. Germany has emerged as the key holdout, leaving the Commission short of the qualified majority it needs to act.
USA ✳
Zelensky's Reshuffle Meets a Washington Void as Kyiv Loses Its Senate Champion
Volodymyr Zelensky's cabinet reshuffle was already reshaping Kyiv's wartime strategy. Then Lindsey Graham, the sanctions bill's chief architect in the Senate, died hours after his last visit to the Ukrainian capital.
World ✳
Nine Dead in Overnight Strikes as Russia Sanctions Bill Loses Its Chief Architect
Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson and Ukrainian drone attacks into Russia and occupied Zaporizhzhia killed nine people overnight. The exchange came as the US senator who spent a year fighting to pass a Russia sanctions bill died hours after finally securing a White House deal to move it — leaving its next steps unclear just as Kyiv called the legislation essential leverage.
USA ✳
Graham's Seat Gets Filled Twice — and Kyiv Is Watching Both Times
South Carolina's replacement machinery is now in motion: a temporary appointee, a special Republican primary, a November election. The process will decide more than one seat — it doubles as a test of where the Republican line on Ukraine goes next.
World ✳
Iran Says New US Sanctions Breach Ceasefire Memorandum, Even as Guns Fall Quiet
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says new US sanctions targeting a financier linked to Iran's Supreme Leader and Iran's shadow exchange houses violate the no-new-sanctions clause of the June 17 ceasefire memorandum, even as fighting itself has quieted since last week's strikes over Strait of Hormuz ship attacks.
World ✳
Crimea Runs Dry: Ukraine's Tanker Strikes Cut Fuel Sales to Civilians
Ukraine says it struck 21 vessels supplying occupied Crimea in three days, triggering fuel sales bans and blackouts on the peninsula — a sharper escalation than the refinery strikes and export bans already rationing fuel across Russia.
USA ✳
U.S. strikes Iran, reimposes oil sanctions after Hormuz tanker attacks
Washington hit Iran with fresh strikes and reimposed oil sanctions after attacks on three ships near the Strait of Hormuz, moves that recouple U.S. security policy and allied energy supply.