Morning Briefing: July 20, 2025

ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Sunday, including a halt to tribal fighting in Syria’s Suwayda province; Ukraine’s push for renewed peace talks with Russia; and high-stakes parliamentary elections underway in Japan.

TOP STORIES

• Syrian Interior Ministry says Suwayda cleared of tribal fighters, clashes halted in city

The Syrian Interior Ministry announced that the city of Suwayda has been cleared of tribal fighters and clashes have been halted.

“Following intensive efforts by the Ministry of Interior to implement the ceasefire agreement — after the deployment of its forces in the northern and western areas of Suwayda province — the city of Suwayda has been cleared of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city’s neighborhoods have been brought to a halt,” said ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba, according to the state-run news agency, SANA.

The Syrian presidency announced a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire in Suwayda following days of unrest in the southern province.

• Zelenskyy says Ukraine proposed new round of peace talks with Russia next week

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv proposed a new round of peace talks with Russia for next week.

“The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (Rustem) Umerov reported that he offered the Russian side another meeting next week,” Zelenskyy said in a video address.

Saying that the dynamics of the negotiations “must be increased,” Zelenskyy underlined the need for a meeting at the leaders’ level to ensure peace.

• Japan voting to elect 125 lawmakers in crucial test for Premier Ishiba's minority government

Voters in Japan are headed to polling stations to elect 125 lawmakers to the upper house of parliament, in a crucial test for the minority ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

More than 104 million Japanese are eligible to cast ballots to elect legislators in the House of Councilors from 519 candidates.

Just 75 constituency seats are contested, while the remaining 50 will be elected through proportional representation.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel group signed a deal aimed at ending fighting in eastern Congo, Al Jazeera reported.
• South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted on new charges of abuse of authority tied to his Dec. 3, 2024, imposition of martial law, according to Yonhap news.
• An Israeli drone strike killed a civilian who was repairing the roof of a house in the town of Khiam in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese news agency, NNA.
• At least 25 Palestinians were killed and more than 70 injured when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of starving civilians in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, according to medical sources.
• Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shaibani, and US Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack held trilateral talks to discuss the situation in Syria and efforts to solidify a ceasefire that was reached earlier in the day in Suwayda province.
• Armed clashes continued between Bedouin tribal fighters and local armed groups in Suwayda, Syria, even as internal security forces began deploying across the province to implement a nationwide ceasefire agreement.
• Israel’s defense minister said he does "not trust” Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, according to media reports.
• An Israeli political source familiar with negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip said Tel Aviv is, for the first time, conducting talks with Hamas on the possibility of ending the war, according to a media report.
• The UK is facing a legal challenge over its decision not to medically evacuate critically ill children from the Gaza Strip, a move lawyers said starkly contrasts with Britain’s actions in other global conflicts.
• Police intervened after clashes broke out between anti-immigrant protesters and counter-protesters chanting anti-fascist slogans during the “Stop Immigration” protests in Warsaw and other Polish cities.
• China launched construction of what is set to become the world’s largest hydropower project, located in the remote Yarlung Zangbo River gorge in the southwestern Tibet region, according to state-run media reports.
• Pakistani security forces killed at least nine militants during a targeted operation in the northwest, as authorities launched a crackdown in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.
• A French court suspended a municipal order banning burkini coverall swimsuits on public beaches in a town near Cannes, ruling that the decree violated fundamental freedoms, according to local media.
• The US Director of National Intelligence has called for the prosecution of former President Barack Obama and former senior US national security officials, accusing them of engaging in a “treasonous conspiracy” aimed at portraying President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory as the result of Russian interference.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Baghdad-Erbil oil deal revives prospects for reopening Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline

The agreement between Iraq's federal government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on oil exports has reignited expectations that crude flows through the long-idled Iraq-Türkiye pipeline may soon resume.

According to a statement from the Iraqi Prime Minister's media office, the Council of Ministers approved the new oil deal with the KRG during a July 17 meeting. Under the terms of the agreement, the KRG will transfer revenues from all oil produced in the region to Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and receive a $16 per barrel advance on deliveries.

The KRG is required to supply at least 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Baghdad, with any additional volumes contingent on output increases to be handed over to SOMO. In the event of a halt in exports, the entire production will be transferred to Iraq’s Ministry of Oil.

• US oil rig count down by 2 for week ending July 18

The oil rig count in the US decreased by two this week, according to data released by oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

The number of oil rigs, an indicator of short-term production, fell to 422 for the week ending July 18.

The number of US oil rigs dropped by 55 compared to a year ago.

The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at $68.60 per barrel at Friday's trading close, while American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was $66.