Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at heavy European sanctions against Russia, renewed sectarian violence in Syria, and U.S. President Donald Trump approving massive foreign aid cuts.
Stemming Moscow’s War Chest
The European Union issued one of its toughest rounds of wartime sanctions against Russia on Friday, fulfilling a monthslong promise in an effort to force Moscow to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine. In conjunction with the United Kingdom, the sanctions package targets Russia’s energy and banking sectors; shadow fleet of aging oil tankers; and military intelligence service, known as the GRU, among others.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at heavy European sanctions against Russia, renewed sectarian violence in Syria, and U.S. President Donald Trump approving massive foreign aid cuts.
Stemming Moscow’s War Chest
The European Union issued one of its toughest rounds of wartime sanctions against Russia on Friday, fulfilling a monthslong promise in an effort to force Moscow to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine. In conjunction with the United Kingdom, the sanctions package targets Russia’s energy and banking sectors; shadow fleet of aging oil tankers; and military intelligence service, known as the GRU, among others.
“The U.K. and its EU allies are turning the screw on the Kremlin’s war chest by stemming the most valuable funding stream of its illegal war in Ukraine even further,” British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said on Friday.
As part of the sanctions package, Europe will target Russian oil exports, which are key to financing Moscow’s war machine. Beginning early September, the price cap on Russian oil will decrease for the first time from $60 to $47.60 per barrel, lower than current market price. The sanctions will also block 105 more ships from accessing European ports, locks, and ship-to-ship transfers, bringing the total number of sanctioned vessels to more than 400. And it will aim to restrict any efforts to revive the now-destroyed Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky championed the new measures as “timely and necessary,” particularly given Russia’s intensified aerial strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks. And he vowed to synchronize Kyiv’s own sanctions against Moscow with the rest of Europe’s. But the Kremlin was quick to brush off the measures. “We consider such unilateral restrictions unlawful,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
This is the 18th round of EU sanctions against Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the last raft of measures, imposed on May 20, targeting almost 200 ships in Russia’s shadow fleet. “The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine,” EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday. “The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war.”
However, with each new round of sanctions, consensus among EU member states is becoming harder to achieve. Slovakia stalled the latest round of sanctions for weeks, citing concerns about proposals to stop Russian gas supplies, which Bratislava is reliant on. Ultimately, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico dropped the country’s veto after reportedly receiving “guarantees” that the EU would help contain the fallout of reducing Russian gas.
Friday’s sanction announcement comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose his own “very severe” tariffs on Russia’s trading partners if the Kremlin does not agree to a peace deal with Kyiv within 50 days. These 100 percent “secondary tariffs” would target nations that purchase Russian exports, particularly India and China, the two main buyers of Russian oil.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Renewed sectarian violence. Fighting reignited between Syria’s Druze religious minority and Bedouin tribes on Friday in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. The renewed conflict comes just one day after Syrian security forces withdrew from the area as part of conditions outlined under a Wednesday cease-fire deal. The country’s Interior Ministry has denied reports that state forces have returned to Suwayda.
Deadly clashes first erupted between Druze and Bedouin fighters on Sunday; the two sides have a long history of animosity. However, the conflict escalated when Syrian forces deployed to Suwayda to try to quell the violence, with state troops instead joining the fray. On Wednesday, Israel (which has its own significant Druze population) launched strikes at Damascus’s government and military infrastructure to urge Syrian forces to leave the area, and within hours, Syrian and Druze leaders had struck a cease-fire deal to prevent further devastation.
With renewed fighting, though, the death toll in Suwayda is expected to rise. Already, more than 300 people have been killed and at least 570 others wounded since clashes began on Sunday, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights and Syrian Emergency Response Minister Raed al-Saleh.
U.S. foreign aid cuts. Trump issued his final stamp of approval on Friday for legislation that will cut nearly $8 billion in foreign aid and around $1.1 billion for public broadcasting. “THIS IS BIG!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social prior to the signing, with House Speaker Mike Johnson adding, “This isn’t the end, it’s the beginning.”
After getting through the Senate by a 51-48 vote on Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the legislation early Friday largely along party lines, marking the first time in decades that the White House has successfully submitted such a rescissions request.
Among the foreign aid cuts, the bill will slash $4.15 billion for efforts to boost economies and democratic institutions in developing nations; $800 million for a program that provides shelter, water, and family reunification for refugees; and $496 million for food, water, and health care services for countries hit by natural disasters and conflicts.
The Trump administration has argued that the cuts will help incentivize other nations to shoulder more of the responsibility for responding to humanitarian crises, relieving the American taxpayer. But Democratic lawmakers maintain that the ensuing power vacuum will bolster U.S. adversaries’ influence in the global south. “This is not an America first bill. It’s a China first bill because of the void that’s being created all across the world,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Meanwhile, rights activists warned that the legislation will further hurt those suffering from poverty and conflict. “These canceled resources would have been a lifeline to the most vulnerable and served as a bulwark against instability in fragile places,” said Kate Phillips-Barrasso, the vice president of global policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps.
Strategic military victory. Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, recaptured a strategic town from rebel forces on Wednesday, state media reported on Thursday. The town of Nawnghkio sits on a major highway trading route that links central Myanmar to China and was initially seized last July by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a militant group in the Three Brotherhood Alliance. The Three Brotherhood Alliance is loosely allied with the People’s Defense Force, a pro-democracy organization that opposes Myanmar’s military dictatorship, which seized power in February 2021.
Throughout much of Myanmar’s yearslong civil war, the Tatmadaw has fought on the defensive against the country’s many ethnic rebel groups. However, this week’s military victory—culminating a nearly 11-month operation—marked a rare shift in the country’s northeast region, which militant forces have largely controlled since late 2023.
According to local media, state forces are now removing land mines, restoring local government institutions, and seizing the rebels’ ammunition supplies. At least 171 members of the TNLA and its allies were killed in the fighting.
What in the World?
What did Brazilian authorities order former President Jair Bolsonaro to do on Friday?
A. Turn over all social media accounts
B. Wear an ankle monitor
C. Move out of the country
D. Resign from his role in the Liberal Party
Odds and Ends
A new K-pop group is joining the music scene. Meet 1VERSE, pronounced “universe,” which launched their global debut on Friday with their first EP, The 1st Verse, featuring three tracks. The five-member boy band includes two North Korean defectors who composed a song, titled “Shattered,” about the consequences of escaping one of the world’s most authoritarian countries.
And the Answer Is…
B. Wear an ankle monitor
Trump threatened a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods if Bolsonaro’s criminal case is not dropped—a move that could backfire for Brazilian conservatives and the former president, Andre Pagliarini argues.
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