July 23, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1952, the Free Officers, a nationalistic military group organized by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, led a coup that overthrew King Farouk I of Egypt, ending the monarchy and making Major General Muhammad Naguib the country’s notional leader.
QotD: "If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
ENERGY/HOUTHIS – Oil surges over $100 as Houthis target tankers.
U.S. President Donald Trump promised on Thursday "major military punishment" for Iran and its Houthi allies, after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint.
The prospect that disruption could widen to a second sea sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war. Brent crude rose more than 6%, breaking through $100 a barrel for the first time since May.
After the Houthis said they had struck the two tankers, Trump said he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters. The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, said this week they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil per day by pipeline to the Red Sea to get around Iran's blockade of Gulf oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
"If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
MORE/CONGRESS – House again passes resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran as some Republicans defect.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-congress-war-powers-resolution-vote-0ba2387a476fe08de0bfd6281adb9639
The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Donald Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain.
The 214-208 vote requiring congressional approval for the war comes as the Senate is expected to consider a similar resolution later Thursday morning. Though the votes forced by Democrats are largely symbolic, they are meant as a strong signal to the Republican president that his support on Capitol Hill is chipping away as the war drags on and lawmakers in both parties have questioned his administration’s endgame.
The war has had “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal,” said Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who led the resolution on the House floor.
The resolution narrowly passed after a handful of Republicans voted with Democrats to end the war. But the vast majority of Republicans voted to back the war and cede congressional war powers to Trump.
US/SAUDI/NUCLEAR DEAL/ISRAEL – Trump says Saudi Arabia’s nuclear deal hinges on the kingdom normalizing Israel ties.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/23/nx-s1-5904327/us-saudi-arabia-iran
President Trump said on Thursday that a deal for U.S. companies to start a nuclear energy program in Saudi Arabia will require the Arab kingdom to normalize relations with Israel. That marked an unexpected turn — the day after the administration announced the signing of the agreement without mentioning that precondition.
President Trump said in an online post that the deal "will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords," referring to U.S.-brokered agreements between Israel and some countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. He said the agreement pertains only to a civil, non-military nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the latest condition, and it was unclear how this might affect the initial deal signed Wednesday. The Saudi kingdom has long insisted it would not normalize relations with Israel until there was a clear pathway to establish a Palestinian state.
Israel's government swiftly reacted to Trump's new social media post. "Saudi Arabia's joining of the Abraham Accords would be an historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East. Peace through Strength," the Israeli prime minister's office said in an online statement.
US/RUS/UKR/MIL – Rubio says US committed to helping end Ukraine war after meeting Lavrov.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the United States remains prepared to play a "constructive role" in helping bring an end to the war in Ukraine, following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Manila.
Speaking after the meeting, Rubio said President Donald Trump had made clear that the United States was prepared to help facilitate an end to a "senseless war" if the opportunity arose. He said Washington had conveyed that message to Moscow while declining to characterize Russia's position during the talks.
"We had a good conversation, a frank conversation," Rubio said of his meeting with his Russian counterpart. He said he would not go into specifics about what was discussed.
"The United States, the president's been clear that ... we are prepared to play a constructive role in bringing about an end to a senseless war, and we're ready to do that," Rubio said.
Lavrov, for his part, "reaffirmed Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict," the Russian ministry's statement said, and told Rubio that Moscow remained committed to proposals put forward by Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin at their August 2025 meeting in Alaska.
RUS/EU/SANCTIONS – EU agrees on new round of sanction against Russia.
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-agrees-on-new-round-of-sanctions-against-russia/a-78081102
Members of the European Union on Thursday agreed to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine after weeks of negotiations.
The 21st round of the package was held up by lots of objections by member states to various proposed elements.
The agreement was reached after weeks of debates, with some members expressing concern that certain restrictions could cause greater harm to the EU economy than to the Russian economy.
The deadlock was overcome after Greece was granted an exemption allowing one of its shipping firms to carry on transporting Russian liquefied natural gas from the Arctic.
The new package also targets Moscow's financial and crypto sector.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the package adds 32 Russian banks, crypto firms and oil trading platforms to the EU's transaction ban list.
ROK/DPRK – South Korea shifting to ‘peace first’ North Korea policy, retains denuclearization goal.
South Korea is abandoning a "denuclearisation first" policy in favour of a "peace first" approach towards North Korea, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Thursday, while retaining the eventual goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
"The ultimate goal of denuclearisation has not been abandoned, but denuclearisation first has," Chung was quoted as saying by his ministry at a press briefing.
He said Seoul had replaced that approach with one prioritising an initial halt to North Korea's nuclear activities.
South Korea is developing a strategy that would initially seek to freeze North Korea's nuclear programme, Chung said, arguing that continued delays would allow Pyongyang to expand its nuclear arsenal.
North Korea is still operating centrifuges at underground uranium-enrichment facilities and a plutonium-producing reactor at a facility in Yongbyon, while its capacity to produce nuclear warheads continues to increase, he said.
THAILAND/SEC – 5 soldiers killed in attack on security checkpoint.
https://www.dw.com/en/thailand-narathiwat-attack-checkpoint/a-78082955
The incident took place on Wednesday when around 10 people opened fire at the security checkpoint and threw pipe bombs at soldiers from the Thai Rangers auxiliary force, before fleeing the scene.
Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command said the attackers stole three AK-47 rifles, three bullet proof vests and three mobile phones from the soldiers.
Their vehicle was later found abandoned and set on fire 21 kilometers (13 miles) away from the scene.
A low-level conflict has simmered since 2004 in Thailand's southernmost provinces, with rebels in the Muslim-majority area fighting for greater autonomy in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
SWEDEN/CHINA/MINERALS – Sweden declares mining national security interest to counter dependence on China.
Sweden's government declared mining of critical metals and rare earth minerals a national security interest on Thursday, saying a new mining strategy was needed to counter the dependence on China.
China dominates both mining and refining of rare earth minerals essential for clean energy generation, defence and electric vehicle production, and export controls have served Beijing as a powerful lever in its trade war with Washington and other disputes.
Sweden also has large mineral resources and the Per Geijer find, located near LKAB's existing Kiruna mine, is one of the European Union's flagship projects in its efforts to reduce reliance on China. With 1.2 billion tons of total mineral resources, of which 2.2 million tons are rare earth oxides, Per Geijer is critical to Europe's interests.
Ebba Busch, Enterprise Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, said making mining a national security interest would speed up planning and permissions, helping attract investment.
"We believe that this can contribute significantly to both Sweden's, EU's and NATO's defence capabilities," she told a news conference, calling European industry's dependence on China a "systemic risk."
US/JUSTICE – US judge sets Maduro trial date for June 2027.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-judge-sets-maduro-trial-date-for-june-2027/a-78077318
A US judge on Wednesday set a date for Venezuelan former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to go on trial in New York, where they will face charges of drug trafficking.
The two have been detained since early January, when US forces entered Venezuela and seized them from their Caracas home.
The unprecedented middle-of-the-night raid was hailed by US President Donald Trump as a "surgical law enforcement operation" in a criminal case, which had been brought against the couple six years ago.
Maduro has maintained his innocence, calling himself a prisoner of war and referring to his capture as a kidnapping.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein set June 1, 2027, as the trial date for Maduro and his wife, following a joint request from prosecutors and defense counsel.
Hellerstein also scheduled an upcoming hearing for November 17 to discuss defense motions, including a challenge to the legality of how Maduro and Flores were captured and brought to the United States.
GHANA/SOUTH AFRICA/IMMIGRATION – Ghana’s president asks for AU debate on South Africa’s ‘escalating xenophobic attacks’.
Ghana's President John Mahama Thursday doubled down on his call for the African Union to address recent waves of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa, which he said was "escalating".
Two Ghanaians have meantime petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate "repeated xenophobic attacks" in South Africa, a move Pretoria has dismissed as "opportunistic".
South Africa, which has long drawn documented and undocumented African workers, has been rocked by weeks of protests and unrest targeting immigrants, who are accused of taking jobs and resources.
More than 160,000 foreign nationals have left the country and several have died over the past two months as local groups increased violent hostility against undocumented migrants, putting Pretoria's relations with other African governments under strain.