Jul 29, 2026, 08:00 PM UTC

US President Donald Trump has agreed to issue licenses enabling Ukraine to produce Patriot air-defense interceptors, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced following a White House meeting. Zelenskyy also observed a US Senate procedural vote, where lawmakers voted 86–12 to advance comprehensive sanctions against Russia's energy sector.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian long-range strikes hit targets inside Russia. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported air defenses downed over 390 drones, though media reports indicate an industrial steel mill near the capital sustained damage. Recent attacks on logistics centers for retailer Wildberries reportedly caused up to $1.3 billion in damage.

Additionally, Zelenskyy warned that Moscow plans to deploy 30,000 North Korean troops to the Voronezh region and acquire new ballistic missile launchers from Pyongyang.

Sources: DW, Hartpunkt, ORF, Sweden Herald.

Search and rescue operations continue in Japan's Kumamoto prefecture following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that killed at least 13 people and displaced more than 9,000 residents. Emergency personnel remain focused on locating missing individuals at a collapsed shopping mall in Kashima and a destroyed paper mill, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirming severe structural and infrastructure damage.

Simultaneously, uncontrolled wildfires are expanding across southern Europe. Severe blazes near Madrid have contributed to what authorities describe as the largest wildfire in Spain's history. In France, officials deployed military aircraft and distributed 1.5 million FFP2 masks as flames advanced toward Bordeaux, prompting 140,000 evacuations in the Gironde region. High winds in Greece also forced preventive evacuations across nine villages on the island of Paros. Outlets report total European displacement between 260,000 and 300,000 people. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that "the priority is saving lives."

Sources: Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero.

German law enforcement officers have shot and killed the suspect in a fatal vehicle attack during Berlin's Christopher Street Day parade. Authorities identified the individual as Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese origin. Police killed Ballout in the western borough of Spandau after he confronted officers with a knife during a citywide search.

The operation followed an incident on Saturday evening near Tiergarten park, where a white van crashed into parade attendees around 22:00 local time. The ramming resulted in one woman's death and left 16 other people injured.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that evidence points to an "Islamist attack." Federal and local agencies are continuing their investigation into potential extremist motives and possible accomplices.

Sources: BBC News, Die Zeit, Koha, Tagesschau.

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened a crisis meeting as extreme wildfires continue to advance across southwestern France and Spain. Emergency services report that over 42,000 hectares have been destroyed in the Gironde region alone, pushing total burned land in France this year to 115,000 hectares.

Firefighters cautioned that containment efforts remain hampered by severe heat, gusty winds, and an "unprecedented" pyrocumulonimbus cloud that generates localized lightning and storm-force winds. Meanwhile, Spain has declared a national state of emergency as blazes spread across the border.

Displacement figures continue to vary among sources. Local French reports place Gironde evacuations at 220,000, while international outlets estimate total displaced persons across both countries between 250,000 and more than 325,000.

Sources: BBC News, Der Standard, France24, Helsingin Sanomat, Le Figaro.

The Federal Reserve voted 9-3 to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged between 3.5% and 3.75%. Three committee members dissented, advocating for a quarter-percentage-point rate increase to further curb price pressures.

Following the decision, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh stated that the effort to lower inflation is ongoing. He emphasized the central bank's firm commitment to its official target, asserting that "there is no soft inflation target, there is no soft implicit target, not on this committee’s watch," and reiterated that the goal remains strictly 2%. Warsh added that the fight to bring down inflation has just begun despite holding rates steady during this meeting.

Sources: Bloomberg.