The main events by the morning: August 2

• The European Commission recommended Hungary and Slovakia to look for alternative sources of oil to replace the Russian one. This was a response to complaints from these countries about Ukraine's decision to ban oil supplies through the «Druzhba» pipeline. According to the Financial Times, the European Commissioner's letter emphasizes the need to diversify and abandon Russian fossil fuels.

• Russian banks have begun to raise interest rates on deposits following an increase in the Central Bank's key interest rate. In a number of credit institutions, the yield on deposits reached 18% per annum. For example, Alfa-Bank has increased the deposit rate to 19.5% per annum, and savings accounts to 19%. Sovcombank offers deposit rates of 19.35%. A similar rate of 19% per annum can be obtained from savings accounts in Ozone Bank.

• Iran may launch a large-scale attack on Israel within the next 72 hours. CNN reports that on August 1, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken conveyed to Iran a request to refrain from retaliating against the incident with the assassination of the head of the Hamas politburo, Ismail Haniyeh. However, the incident only strengthened the resolve to resist Israel, and the Supreme Leader of Iran ordered a retaliatory attack.

• Thanks to the new law on cryptocurrencies, Russia will be able to potentially make settlements in digital currencies with most countries of the world. According to RIA Novosti, cryptocurrencies are banned in only two dozen countries, and in El Salvador, bitcoin is even recognized as the official currency.

• The United States did not recognize Maduro's victory in the presidential elections in Venezuela. Moreover, US Secretary of State Blinken said that the states consider the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez to be the winner, and they congratulated him on this.