BigBreakingWire Global Updates

🚨 BREAKING: Ship traffic through the Oman-side transit of the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply as Iran tightens control over the strategic waterway. Multiple vessels turned back over the weekend, while some rerouted via the Iran-side channel. Some tankers are reportedly conducting "dark transits" by limiting public position broadcasts. Observed Oman-route traffic fell from 13 vessels on Friday to just 1 publicly indicated transit on Saturday, according to Kpler data. No official reason has been given for the turnbacks, though Iran has previously said ships must use its authorized transit channels.

Trump said he was surprised to see Iranians crying at Ali Khamenei's funeral. He thought people hated the former supreme leader and suggested the grief might be fake. "I was surprised to see some Iranians crying. I thought people hated Khamenei... Maybe it's fake tears." Source: Axios

President Trump spoke at the Salute to America Celebration. https://www.youtube.com/live/qNhZAA7E3Ss?si=tVCi1EABnY4yyLLR

Russia said President Zelenskiy suggested meeting President Putin in Konstantinovka if the city were under Russian control. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Konstantinovka is fully under Russian control and welcomed Zelenskiy's willingness to visit. Peskov added that if Zelenskiy makes a major decision, he can travel to Moscow, Russia's capital. Putin has previously stated he is willing to meet Zelenskiy in Moscow.

State media reported two Palestinians killed by Israeli drone strikes in Gaza City and Jabalia refugee camp. Multiple strikes across northern and central Gaza wounded several others, some seriously.

🚨 INDIA HARDENS STANCE ON US TRADE DEAL India will not sign the interim trade pact unless its exports get lower tariffs than competing countries, says Piyush Goyal. The proposed framework includes the US reducing its reciprocal tariff on India to 18%, while India would purchase $500 billion worth of US goods over 5 years. India will also challenge the proposed 12.5% US forced-labour tariff at a USTR hearing next week, with the July 24 trade deal deadline approaching.

Tesla caps employee AI tool spending at $200/week starting July 6; excess needs manager approval. Spending on Musk-owned XAI's Grok is exempt. Grok has low uptake; most staff use ANTHROPIC's Claude. Several other US tech firms have similar AI spending controls.

Saudi outlets Hadath and Al Arabiya report that the US and Iran will meet in Pakistan on July 11. They will discuss sanctions, frozen Iranian funds, and nuclear issues. Iran's delegation will be chosen after Khamenei's funeral.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly played a decisive role in persuading Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to approve a ceasefire and negotiations with Washington. Pezeshkian warned that Iran's economy was nearing collapse under a U.S. naval blockade and threatened to resign if the deal was rejected. The Central Bank governor also reportedly warned that the country could run short of food and medical supplies within weeks. Khamenei ultimately authorized the talks, saying he opposed the agreement "in principle" but would support it if backed by the Supreme National Security Council, which overwhelmingly approved the plan. Source: NYT

On July 4, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that over 200 Ukrainian military drones attacked the Moscow region in the last 24 hours. Most were intercepted at a distance, while 62 were destroyed near Moscow city. Russia called this one of the largest drone attacks on the region in about two years.

$BTC - RBI Backs Tough Crypto Curbs, Ban Still Under Consideration Top RBI officials have urged a parliamentary panel to keep banks and regulated financial institutions completely insulated from crypto assets and privately issued stablecoins, supporting a prohibition-leaning approach. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance is expected to submit its report on virtual digital assets soon after holding its seventh meeting on the issue.

New York City sky turns red on the eve of America's 250th Birthday.

India and Japan expand AI ties with focus on trusted AI, infrastructure, LLMs, cybersecurity and a target to bring 500 Indian AI professionals to Japan by 2030. Read 👇🏻 https://bigbreakingwire.in/india-japan-deepen-ai-partnership-set-goal-to-build-trusted-ai-ecosystem/

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces hit oil and military sites near St. Petersburg.

Multiple fires are burning at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Kronstadt Naval Base in Leningrad Oblast, Northwestern Russia. This follows a large-scale drone attack by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces on Saturday morning targeting Russian military and port infrastructure near St. Petersburg.

India launched its first made-in-India EXIM shipping container as Maersk ordered 1,000 more units, boosting maritime manufacturing and self-reliance. Read 👇🏻 https://bigbreakingwire.in/maersk-orders-1000-more-india-made-shipping-containers/

Israel's Channel 12 reports the ceasefire committee is likely to announce that Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement.

Ukraine drones strike an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ukraine drones strike an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Important Announcement July will be the final month of our Prime Membership. Our current funding is scheduled to end on July 23. As we have not received any commitment from our investors for additional funding, we have decided to wind up the Prime Membership service. Due to rising industry costs, it is no longer commercially viable to continue providing exclusive features such as deal-side data and other premium market updates. We will also be reducing our team size as part of this transition. Our regular news updates and articles will continue, but the frequency of updates may be lower as we streamline operations. We sincerely thank all our Prime members for their trust and support throughout this journey. Thanks Team BigBreakingWire