July 1, 2025. International news round-up / last 24 hours

The conflict in Ukraine remains at the top of the international political agenda. The offensive by Russian forces and Russia's occupation of new Ukrainian territories are the latest developments in the confrontation in which Moscow continues to suffer significant troop losses.

Iran's reluctance to engage in negotiations in the absence of an American guarantee to cease attacks on its own territory is the main benchmark of the Middle East crisis.

• The Russian army's offensive appears to be aimed at Odesa, to cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, an action with direct implications for the security of the Republic of Moldova.
• Ukraine accuses Russia of turning teenagers into suicide bombers without their knowledge.
• Russian officials are claiming control over the entire Luhansk region as well as a town in the Dnipropetrovsk region after the latest offensive actions.
• Kim Jong Un held a ceremony honoring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine, covering their coffins with the national flag.
• Russian culture minister praises "unprecedented" military-cultural cooperation with the regime in Pyongyang.

Middle East

• Iran has been blamed for rocket attacks on the airport in Kirkuk in northern Iraq that left two people wounded.
• Iranian religious leaders have issued fatwas against Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, calling them "enemies of God."
• Iran conditions the resumption of nuclear negotiations on the cessation of US attacks.

• Diplomatic tensions between Russia and Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural events linked to Russia after the deaths of ethnic Azeris in a police raid in Yekaterinburg.
• Investors are turning to Europe, seen as more stable than the US amid uncertainties over the Trump administration's tariff policies.
• Canicule hits southern Europe: record 46.6°C in Portugal, abnormal temperatures in the Balearic Islands and other Mediterranean areas.
• Four Turkish journalists have been arrested in Istanbul over a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
• Italy proposes to include the €13.5 billion bridge to Sicily project among defense spending.
• In Mexico 381 bodies have been discovered abandoned in a crematorium in Jalisco, some of which have been there for more than two years.

Top entities mentioned

1. Donald Trump
2. Iran
3. Vladimir Putin
4. Ukraine
5. Russia

*****Summary compiled using a monitoring feed provided by NewsVibe Romania. The top international topics are identified from the automated monitoring of impactful media sources in Romania, as well as from the tracking of foreign policy topics in mainstream media sources and the pages of the main influencers. The analysis, data and images presented were enhanced with the help of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools.