Africa is building a gas pipeline to Europe to replace Russian gas

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Mykhailo Drapaty as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He will replace Oleksandr Syrskyi once the personnel decisions have been formally finalised.

The Hungarian party Fidesz has stated that the public prosecutor’s office carried out searches at the office where its servers are housed. The party has accused the government of attempting to obstruct its activities.

Kesh Patel, Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, may visit Russia this autumn. According to Politico, the trip is currently being planned, and the details are still subject to change.

The Vatican is prepared to host a summit that could help bring an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The date of the talks and the list of participants have not yet been agreed.

NATO countries are facing an acute shortage of cotton, which is needed to manufacture explosives for artillery munitions.

"Ukrnafta", in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is preparing to build a modern combined-cycle gas-fired combined heat and power plant with a capacity of around 250 MW.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has completed the first review of the four-year Extended Fund Facility programme for Ukraine. The decision paves the way for the immediate release of approximately $690 million.

The real cost of living in Ukraine should be at least 11,000–12,000 hryvnias per month. However, there are currently no plans to raise it to this level in the near future due to the constraints on the state budget.

From 1 August 2026, the electricity tariff for households will remain unchanged. Household consumers will continue to pay 4.32 hryvnias per kilowatt-hour, regardless of their monthly consumption.

Between 13 and 17 July, the National Bank sold 1.074 billion dollars on the interbank foreign exchange market. This is 203.09 million dollars, or almost a quarter, more than the previous week.

In Stavropol, Russia, a sanitaryware manufacturer ran a promotional campaign that caused quite a stir on social media. Visitors to one of the shopping centres were invited to drink a soft drink from the new toilet bowls, and then take part in another unusual challenge

In the town of Argos-Orestiko in northern Greece, a 52-year-old man was arrested after he drove his car into the main entrance to a military base. According to preliminary reports, the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

The President of Hungary, Tamás Szujók, has signed a constitutional amendment providing for the early termination of his term of office. The document marked the final stage of a political process that had lasted several months following an initiative by Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s government

Israel approached the United States with a proposal to join military action against Iran, but the US administration did not support this initiative

The Moldovan Ministry of Defence plans to procure modern air target detection systems, as well as equipment for intercepting drones. Funding will be provided by the European Union