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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says no outside power can set the boundaries of Turkey's foreign policy, after Israeli strikes on a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border.

Elsewhere, soldiers mutinied at a military base in Niger's capital overnight, and Icelandic voters rejected restarting EU accession talks.

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1️⃣ 🇺🇸🇷🇺 CIA director John Ratcliffe reportedly on Moscow visit: US media reported that CIA director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow, his first known trip to Russia as agency chief, after Flightradar24 showed a US military C-17 fly from Joint Base Andrews to Latvia and then on to the Russian capital. The Financial Times reported that the Trump administration asked Kyiv to pause long-range strikes on major Russian cities during the visit, and neither the CIA nor the White House commented.

2️⃣ 🇮🇸🇪🇺 Iceland voters reject EU accession talks: Icelandic voters rejected restarting EU accession talks, with the No camp taking 52.8% against 47.2%, according to the official count published by public broadcaster RUV. Reykjavik was the only area to back the referendum, which the government brought forward from next year because of tension over Russia's war in Ukraine and Greenland.

3️⃣ 🇮🇱🇱🇧 Israeli forces reportedly use phosphorus shells in attacks on southern Lebanon: Lebanon's National News Agency reported that Israeli forces fired phosphorus shells and carried out air strikes and heavy artillery attacks across southern Lebanon, hitting Mansouri, Majdal Zoun and Bayt al-Sayyad. The agency said no house in Bayt al-Sayyad had been left undamaged, and the use of airburst white phosphorus over densely populated civilian areas is prohibited under international law.

4️⃣ 🇺🇸🇸🇾 US removes Syria from 'state sponsor of terrorism' list: The US removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, taking effect after a 45-day congressional review triggered when US President Donald Trump notified Congress on 8 July. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the step recognised commitments by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to distance Syria from international terrorism, and the announcement also revoked the designation of al-Nusrah Front, the group al-Sharaa once led.

5️⃣ 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America, giving the Interior Department 30 days to update the US register of geographic names. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the lake "is called Lake Ontario - today and forever", and the order follows the collapse of trade talks and new 50% US tariffs on $20bn of Canadian goods.

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🇹🇷🇸🇾 Erdogan says Turkey will not abandon Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would never abandon a friend that had placed its trust in Turkey, and that no actor other than the nation itself could set the boundaries of Turkish foreign policy.

This came in repsonse to Israeli strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria, about 70km from the Turkish border.

Israel said Ankara was preparing to deploy air defence systems there, and Israeli officials have repeatedly said Turkish use of Syrian airbases would be a "red line".

Turkey and Syria both denied the deployment claim, saying Turkish personnel were there solely to repair the runway and control tower, an account US Ambassador Tom Barrack supported.

President Erdogan did not name Israel or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said Turkey would not be used as fodder by "politically moribund, presumptuous incompetents".

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1️⃣ 🇺🇦🇷🇺 Holding election in wartime would risk destroying Ukraine, says Zelenskyy: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said wartime elections would be "a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine", responding to a call for a presidential vote from Mykhailo Fedorov, the defence minister he sacked last month. President Zelenskyy said he would back a contest if allies set conditions letting troops, front-line areas and citizens abroad vote safely.

2️⃣ 🇪🇸🇲🇦 Ceuta warns it is 'on the brink of collapse' as Spain seeks Frontex and Europol help: Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska asked the European Commission for Frontex, Europol and the EU Agency for Asylum to help screen migrants still in Ceuta, a month after at least 72,000 people crossed from Morocco. Ceuta's Assembly unanimously declared the city in an "extreme situation, on the verge of collapse", and Grande-Marlaska called for calm after residents clashed with police.

3️⃣ 🇳🇪 Gunfire, blasts in Niamey as soldiers mutiny in Niger's capital: Niger's Defence Ministry said the armed forces were progressively retaking control after mutinous soldiers fired on "sensitive sites" in Niamey overnight, including the main airport that houses Base 101 and the district holding the presidential palace. Security sources said mutineers were still at the airport, and security analyst Kabir Adamu told Al Jazeera the targets made it "clearly an attempt to overthrow the government".

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