Skip to main content
Member HubJoin
Intrigue

Daily flyovers

Latest news for 23 July 2026

Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.

  1. 01

    SAUDI ARABIA

    Red Sea escalation.

    Yemen’s Houthis have made good on their blockade threats against the neighbouring Saudis, claiming hits on two Saudi oil tankers. Meanwhile, President Trump is warning he’ll hit an Iranian bridge or power plant for each Hormuz ship struck by Iran. (Al Jazeera)

    Comment: With the US and Iran still downplaying any hopes for diplomacy, and the Houthis choking off Riyadh’s main Hormuz bypass, it’s any wonder oil is now trading back above $95.

  2. 02

    UKRAINE

    Frying Russia’s Amazon.

    Kyiv’s latest long-range counter-strikes have hit logistics hubs belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer (Wildberries), leaving several dead, skies black, and chaos for businesses and consumers alike. President Zelensky argues the firm was helping supply Putin’s invasion, and warns the new strategy is about “bringing the war back home ”. (BBC)

    Comment: The last time a burning Wildberries hub made international headlines was probably back in 2024, when warehouse-workers themselves burned it down in protest at government raids to draft them into Putin’s war.

  3. 03

    INDIA

    Cockroach drama escalates.

    India’s opposition parties have shut down parliament in solidarity with the country’s ascendant new youth-led ‘cockroach’ movement, after authorities briefly detained opposition figure Rahul Gandhi when he joined a sit-in outside Prime Minister Modi’s residence. (Guardian)

    Comment: Leaving aside any 20th century déjà vu from ‘Gandhi arrested’ headlines out of India, this movement (initially sparked by an exam leak scandal) risks morphing into a broader ‘defence of democracy’ brand that might finally put a bit of wind in the opposition’s sails.

  4. 04

    VENEZUELA

    Oil windfall mystery.

    Responding to FT reporting on a gap between the ~$13B DC has collected by selling Venezuelan oil, and the single $300M transfer reportedly reaching Caracas so far, the State Department is insisting there’s careful monitoring underway to ensure the cash benefits the Venezuelan people. (FT $)

    Comment: There’s a growing bipartisan push for more transparency, but more transparency also just makes sense in a raw US interest way, lest rivals and conspiracies fill the information vacuum and erode any gains.

  5. 05

    LEBANON

    Release the jets.

    President Trump has lifted a ban on direct US commercial flights to Lebanon for the first time in more than 40 years — authorities first imposed the ban after the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. (DW)

    Comment: This is a big win for President Aoun, and delivered during the first Lebanese head-of-state visit to the White House since 2009! DC is clearly putting all its diplomatic weight behind Aoun as he attempts what’s long seemed impossible: disarm Hezbollah and thereby permanently end hostilities with Israel.

  6. 06

    SPAIN

    Automotive odd couple.

    America’s Ford and China’s Geely are finalising a landmark deal for Geely to buy assembly lines at Ford’s underutilised Valencia factory, enabling Geely to ramp up its EV production on European soil. (Bloomberg $)

    Comment: It’s a win-win born out of necessity: Ford slashes its overheads at a semi-idle plant, while Geely secures its manufacturing base inside the EU, neatly sidestepping steep tariffs getting cooked up by Brussels. Longer-term, however, the bigger ‘win’ here sits with the automaker that’s, you know, actually making autos rather than selling off assembly lines.

  7. 07

    CHILE

    $100B copper pivot.

    Santiago has announced it’s courting investors to build out an estimated $100B copper project pipeline over the next decade. The aim is to expand its own smelting and refining capacity so it can sell more finished product and diversify its current 50% reliance on raw sales to China. (mining.com)

    Comment: Chile’s parallel push for a trade pact with India suggests it is (like many others) hoping Delhi might be the one to balance Beijing here.