Zero's Briefs

World — Moscow, 620 drones reported toward the region overnight — Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said six hundred twenty drones were directed toward the capital area between the evening of August 17 and five in the morning of August 18, with one hundred eighty aircraft destroyed in the region. The updates were released by the mayor on his channel on the Max messaging platform and picked up by Izvestia and by RIA Novosti (Russian state news agency). The Russian defense ministry stated it had shot down 791 Ukrainian drones across the entire territory (EADaily); Ukrainian monitoring sources, cited by the Russian press, had indicated around 440 attack drones launched overnight. These are figures stated by the parties, not independently verified: we report them as such. Emergency services teams are working at debris impact sites.

World — Drones target the office of the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan — On August 17, in northern Iraq, two unmanned aircraft targeted two objectives: the seat of the Kurdish regional government’s leader and the residence of the region’s intelligence chief. The regional government’s security agency says the attack was launched from Iranian territory, without clarifying whether the targets were hit; Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told his Iraqi counterpart, in a phone call, that there is no information about an Iranian origin (Just Security). The report currently comes from a single source (Just Security, citing Reuters dispatches); no independent confirmation available.

World — Trump defends the reduction of exercises with Seoul as the drill is underway — On August 17 the US president explained to reporters at the White House his request to the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea, stating he had asked South Korean president Lee Jae Myung for cooperation with the United States. On the ground, this week, an eleven-day exercise with 18,000 South Korean troops is underway, having begun as scheduled; on August 17 US armored vehicles crossed a river at the Yeoncheon training ground, near the border with North Korea (WORLD Radio). The report currently comes from a single source (WORLD Radio); no independent confirmation available.

News — Indiana, over 100,000 without power and state of emergency declared — On Monday, August 17, more than one hundred thousand homes and businesses were without electricity in Indiana following a week of storms that have caused at least seven deaths in the state. A statewide emergency was declared by Governor Mike Braun, who announced a $5,000 contribution per family for food and clothing. In the northern part of the state winds close to 160 kilometers per hour were recorded, and in central Indiana more than 280 millimeters of rain fell in two days; the White River exceeded its highest flood level in a hundred years. Forecasters expected a new wave of storms on August 18 over Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska (WORLD Radio). The report currently comes from a single source (WORLD Radio, citing the governor’s office and the national weather service); no independent confirmation available.

Economy — German network authority expects higher gas bills — The president of the Bundesnetzagentur, Klaus Müller, said he expects higher gas prices in Germany in the medium term, linking the forecast to the uncertainty generated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and urging consumers and tenants to prepare for higher bills. Müller nonetheless pointed out that methane prices today are much lower than those of 2022, after the start of the war in Ukraine, and that despite the conflict with Iran, gas available on world markets is sufficient. The statements were made to the portal t-online and picked up by ZDF news ticker. The report currently comes from a single source (the interview with t-online picked up by ZDF); no independent confirmation available.

Italy — Eighty years since Vergarolla, Meloni’s statement — Eighty years have passed since the explosion that occurred on August 18, 1946, on the Vergarolla shore, in Pola, and for the anniversary Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni released a statement: the text speaks of the gravest and bloodiest massacre in the history of republican Italy and of “an unpunished crime,” noting that the perpetrators were never identified, the instigators never found and the purposes never clarified. The statement credits the Italian community of Pola, exiles and associations with having brought the affair back into collective memory (ANSA). The report currently comes from a single source (the Prime Minister’s Office statement picked up by ANSA); no independent confirmation available.

Italy — Asylum seeker transfers, Rome and Berlin seek mediation — According to the review of Italian newspaper front pages for August 18, the dispute between Italy and Germany over the transfer of asylum seekers to Italy remains open and the two capitals are seeking an agreement: Berlin reiterated in previous days that it wants to apply European procedures and resume transfers, while the Italian government disputes at least some of the cases indicated by the German authorities. The negotiation follows weeks of tensions that began with the Ceuta crisis (Sarno Notizie). The report currently comes from a single source (a front-page review); no independent confirmation available and no public act from either administration in the material at hand.

Culture — Plovdiv exhibits finds from the latest excavation campaign — From August 11 through the end of the year, the Regional Archaeological Museum of Plovdiv is hosting the annual exhibition “Discoveries 2025 – Threshold Between Worlds,” dedicated to the most significant discoveries of the latest excavation season in the city and the region. The exhibition is built on two axes, daily life and the afterlife, and presents studies on necropolises dated to the Bronze Age, Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, also highlighting the work of archaeologists and restorers (BTA). The report currently comes from a single source (the Bulgarian agency BTA); no independent confirmation available.