Pakistan formally requested a $10 billion currency stabilization facility from the US Treasury, the largest such ask in the country's history.

The request follows Pakistan's elevated role mediating the US-Iran conflict, which has strengthened ties with the Trump administration.

Pakistan currently owes roughly $12.3 billion in short-term bilateral debt requiring constant rollovers from Saudi Arabia, China, and Kuwait.

The Vatican's top diplomat Archbishop Gallagher met Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Moscow, declaring:

"Let us be clear: this war must end."

The visit is the first high-level Vatican-Russia engagement since before the full-scale invasion.

Gallagher visited Ukraine in July and meets Putin's foreign policy aide Ushakov tomorrow.

Danish PM Frederiksen blasted a plastic surgeon who messaged her offering to "fix that little spot on your nose" after she returned from a wartime visit to Ukraine:

I've lost count of how many messages I've received over the years about my appearance. Especially that I have ugly teeth and thin hair.

Her response:

I'm perfectly fine with my body. I really don't need a male plastic surgeon to have an opinion about it.

She added:

If you're going to write to me, I hope you'll use your time to talk about something more meaningful. Not my nose.

NEW: Russia will seize private companies that fail to defend themselves against Ukrainian drone strikes, under a new decree by Putin.

The decree covers fuel, energy, industrial, communications, transport, and logistics facilities.

It comes after Ukraine hit six Ozon warehouses in four days, crashing its stock 30%, and struck over 20 Wildberries sites.

Germany’s Chancellor Merz:

We want to get out of the growth weakness of our economy.

Germany can compete globally and we can even be a role model.

But the state must create the necessary and right conditions for that.

Our country has great potential and there is absolutely no reason to think small.

BIG: A major fire erupted at the $10-11 billion Amur Gas Chemical Complex in Russia's Far East, a joint venture between SIBUR (60%) and China's Sinopec (40%) that was weeks away from starting production.

The blaze broke out on the pyrolysis unit, the plant's core cracking facility, covering roughly 2,000 square meters.

At least 3 workers were killed and approximately 150 injured.

The complex was designed to produce 2.7 million tonnes of polymers annually, making it one of the world's largest.

It had already faced years of delays after European partners exited post-2022.

No evidence of external attack has been presented.

The site is roughly 6,000 km from Ukraine.

Israel is reconsidering its public hostility toward US envoy Tom Barrack after he called the Abu al-Duhur airstrike an "unnecessary escalation."

A senior Israeli diplomatic source:

Barrack may not be perfect for us, but he is Trump's man and has a long-standing relationship with him.

He will not be replaced.

Instead of fighting this, we should turn the situation to our advantage.

Barrack should not be the problem, but the solution.

The recalibration may be driven by Netanyahu's desire to secure Trump's endorsement ahead of October elections.

Source: Al-Monitor

BREAKING: SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announces the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Autonomous Administration, and all affiliated military and civilian structures.

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Iran's Minister of Energy:

We have so many power plants that even if they emptied all their arsenals, they wouldn't be able to hit all our power plants or all our electrical units.

While we were fighting, we were also building power plants. Not a single one of our projects was stopped.

Chad's expanding drone fleet is backed by deep UAE military ties, including over 100 documented cargo flights to a northeast Chad airstrip that Western intelligence assessments link to weapons flows reaching Sudan's RSF.

The UAE previously forwarded Chinese FK-2000 air defense systems to Chad through a similar intermediary arrangement.

Satellite imagery shows at least 15 simultaneous ship-to-ship oil transfers happening in the Gulf of Oman today, moving roughly 25 million barrels of crude from nearly every regional producer except Iran.

The transfers are part of the workaround system that emerged after the Strait of Hormuz became restricted.

Shuttle tankers load inside the Persian Gulf, pass through the strait, and transfer cargo to larger vessels waiting in the Gulf of Oman for onward delivery to Asian markets.

Iran's Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi:

Why should we always wait for America to attack?

We can take preemptive action.

Iran's Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi:

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will only happen in exchange for ending the war on all fronts, lifting the blockade, and resolving the situation in Yemen.

We told Pakistan's Army Chief that reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on America fulfilling its commitments under the memorandum of understanding.

Iran's Ghalibaf mocks Bessent and his "economic D-Day"

Iran's Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi:

We are still in a state of war, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.

Trump envoy Tom Barrack on SDF's dissolution:

Absolutely historic.

POTUS's far-sighted leadership opened the path for the SDF's orderly integration into Syrian state institutions, transforming past division into lasting partnership.

Recognizing the Kurdish language in education and securing substantive roles for Mazloum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed within the Syrian government pays due respect to their leadership and the sacrifices of our Kurdish partners.

This is what real integration looks like: not winners and losers, but former counterparts crafting a diplomatic solution.

One army, one government, one state.

Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell:

Ambassador Tom Barrack is as close to Donald Trump as one can be. He speaks regularly to the President and isn’t a free-lancer.

His work in Türkiye is part of the larger policy that President Trump has for protecting Americans.

It is an America First policy.

Tom is doing exactly what he’s asked to do.

German AfD MP Maximilian Krah visited the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus at the invitation of Parliament Speaker Ziya Öztürkler.

His planned official visit had previously been rejected twice by a German parliamentary committee.

Krah said the difficulties faced by Turkish Cypriots should be seen firsthand and argued that some groups oppose dialogue because they do not want a solution.

“People do not want to come here, see the reality and talk,” he said.

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Andy Burnham is expected to approve tougher action against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including a trade ban on settlement-linked goods and sanctions on individuals.

Source: The Times