🗺📊🔫 — 📰 ZeroHedge | Visualizing Europe's Biggest Armies | September 24, 2025:

"Europe’s military landscape is rapidly evolving, shaped by both historical rivalries and modern-day conflicts. As tensions persist—particularly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—military spending and troop numbers have surged across the continent.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, breaks down the estimated size of military forces across Europe in 2025. It covers both active personnel and total military strength, which includes reserves and paramilitary units. The data for this visualization comes from GlobalFirepower. Countries are also categorized by NATO membership."

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🇭🇺🇺🇦Ukraine is not a sovereign country and will "disappear" if the West stops providing assistance, Orbán said.

"Ukraine is not a sovereign state. It is supported by the West. We give it weapons. Ukraine should not behave as if it is sovereign. Ukraine has lost a fifth of its territory in the war with the Russians. Sovereignty ended there. If the West decides not to give a single penny, Ukraine will shut down, disappear," Orbán said.

He also said that "2-3 Hungarian drones are not something Ukraine should worry about, they are not its enemies here," referring to Zelensky's accusations of Hungarian UAVs violating Ukraine's airspace.

🇷🇺🇺🇦The oil refinery in Samara, Russia, has been covered with protective structures and anti-UAV nets.

🇻🇪🇺🇸Venezuela is preparing for war

The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has signed a decree granting him additional powers in the event of war, Vice President Delsi Rodriguez reported.

According to the document, in the event of war, Nicolas Maduro will be able to mobilize the armed forces, restrict constitutional rights of citizens, and partially or fully change laws.

🇺🇸🇻🇪 Top Trump Aides Push for Ousting Maduro From Power in Venezuela

The push by top aides to President Trump to remove Nicolás Maduro as the leader of Venezuela has intensified in recent days, with administration officials discussing a broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force him out, U.S. officials say.

It is being led by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser. Mr. Rubio argues that Mr. Maduro is an illegitimate leader who oversees the export of drugs to the United States, which he says poses an “imminent threat.”

In recent weeks, the U.S. military has launched lethal attacks on civilian boats that the administration said were smuggling drugs for Venezuelan gangs. But Mr. Rubio is shaping a more aggressive strategy, using intelligence provided by the C.I.A., the officials said. The Pentagon has built up a force of more than 6,500 troops in the region.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/us/politics/maduro-venezuela-trump-rubio.html

https://archive.ph/kSMmP

Sahel 🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪 MAP: The situation in the Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin as of September 2025.

The security situation in the Sahel has been bad for years and was complicated further with the string of military coups in 🇲🇱🇧🇫🇳🇪.

But the situation has alarmingly worsened in recent weeks.

In Mali 🇲🇱 the capital Bamako is now under a de-facto fuel blockade by JNIM, as jihadists have started capturing major military bases like Farabougou

In Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 the. junta controls less then 50% of the country, with JNIM and IS advancing on Ouagadougou from the west, north and east

In Niger 🇳🇪: IS and JNIM are becoming more aggressive, mass attacks in which dozens of Nigerien soldiers are killed take place more often.

🔗 Thomas van Linge

🇹🇷⛵️🇵🇸🇮🇱 The Turkish Navy has actually deployed some considerable assets in escorting and guarding the Gaza Flotilla. This is just one of several actions over the last few weeks showing an increasingly confrontational attitude by Turkey towards Israel.

🔗 Carolina Lion

🇮🇱🇺🇸🇵🇸 Trump on "eternal peace" in the Middle East: "If Hamas rejects the deal, which is always possible... as you know, Bibi, you'd have our full backing to do what you would have to do."

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🇸🇾🛢 SDF control of oil fields delays Syria's reconstruction efforts

After almost 14 years of war, Syrians are in desperate need of rebuilding their homes. Once reconstruction begins, millions of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be able to return home, reviving the Syrian economy. However, the SDF is not only stalling the implementation of the March 10 agreement for Syria’s territorial integrity but also delaying the country’s reconstruction. As a result, the Syrian people are still unable to benefit from their own oil resources.

The cost of reconstructing Syria is estimated at between $250 billion and $400 billion. According to Gulfsands CEO John Bell, Syria could generate up to $15 billion annually from its oil production. For Syria, this would represent a critically needed source of funding.

Without oil revenues, the Syrian government lacks financing and remains entirely dependent on foreign aid. Although the international community has pledged investments in Syria, these commitments have yet to materialize. And even if they do, they will not address the main problem facing ordinary Syrians: housing.

Syrian donations: Positive but not sufficient

To rebuild homes and start reconstruction projects, the Syrian government needs reliable funding. In an attempt to raise at least some funding, Syrians launched a fundraising campaign across various governorates to collect private donations for reconstruction.

While the donation campaign is a positive step, it has so far generated little funding. The largest contribution by far came from the governorate of Idlib, amounting to $180 million. Other governorates have only managed to raise significantly smaller amounts.

Syria’s natural resources as funding

If the Syrian government were to expand its control over all Arab-majority areas and thereby gain access to all of Syria’s oil fields, several energy companies would be interested in investing in production. Yet the SDF continues to block the integration process, depriving Syrians of these much-needed resources.

Since January 2017, the SDF has deprived Syria of an estimated $3.85 billion in revenues from Block 26 alone. In total [including all oil fields], using outdated and unsophisticated methods, the SDF currently produces about 80,000 barrels a day. With modernized equipment and methods, however, Syria could produce as much as 500,000 barrels a day.

If Damascus were to regain control of all oil fields and secure proper investment, Syrian oil production could yield up to $15 billion per year.

The SDF’s stalling thus prolongs the dire financial situation of Syrians after years of destruction, preventing them from rebuilding their own country with their own resources.

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/opinion/sdf-control-of-oil-fields-delays-syrias-reconstruction-efforts-3207694

🇺🇸🇨🇳 Philip Pilkington on X: As investors start to realise that there is a massive AI bubble in the US - caused by companies creating artificial demand for their chips - Huawei ramps up production for tangible domestic demand caused by US chip sanctions. It’s getting hard to watch.

🔗 Philip Pilkington

🇮🇷🇮🇱 Patricia Marins on X: Iran doesn't waste time, and Israel is aware of this.

During the 12-day conflict, I pointed out that Iran would have over 20,000 missiles with the range to target Israel. This arsenal has been built over 20 years and includes more than 15 different models of ballistic and cruise missiles.

Then someone says, "But I read that Iran only has 2,000 to 3,000 missiles."

Look, that information comes from the same guys who told us about Russian missiles in 2022—what a surprise!

There’s no way a military industry like Iran’s would take 20 years to produce only 2,000-3,000 missiles.

We are talking about a defense industry entirely focused on missiles, three times larger than North Korea’s, and one of the biggest missile industries in the world.

So, where are these missiles? I estimate that most of them are cruise missiles, with around 5,000 to 8,000 ballistic missiles.

However, these missiles need to be reconditioned every 5-8 years. This is likely what Iran has been ramping up at this moment.

Large arsenals often do not perform these reconditioning cycles, especially when the industry is announcing new missile models. Reconditioning involves replacing the fuel and, often, the explosive payload. For cruise missiles, this process is a bit simpler but also costly.

As a result, the fuel that would be used for new models is instead spent reconditioning older missiles. In a vast arsenal, this impacts costs and the logistics of chemical supplies.

Iran cannot prioritize reconditioning cruise missiles because their ability to cross the Gulf states and reach Israel without being targeted has become limited. Iran is focusing on ballistic missiles, and Israel and the United States are aware of this.

In addition to this process, there's another underway: the expansion of rotational silos, which are vital for maintaining Iran’s retaliatory capacity.

All of this takes time, but Iran is carrying out work at various facilities quickly, monitored by Western satellites.

The war could happen at any moment, but no one knows exactly when.

🔗 Patricia Marins