US looks to soften Europe troop drawdown at NATO summit in Ankara
As questions about the future of the NATO alliance swirl ahead of a key summit in Ankara next week, Washington is expected to use the event to present a series of initiatives to soften the political impact of a reduced US footprint in Europe, Euractiv learned. The United States recently followed through on plans to review its troop presence in Europe, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth advocating for what he has described as NATO 3.0. However, leading US defence contractors are expected to jointly announce a range of defence projects in Turkey on Tuesday, to be carried out in Europe in collaboration with the US government.
“No longer a peaceful rear”: Ukraine reports 1,150% increase in deep strikes as drones continue hitting Russia’s war machine far from the front lines
Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) said they have increased successful strikes deep inside Russian-held territory by 1,150% since the beginning of 2026, as Kyiv continues expanding its long-range drone campaign against Russia’s military and industrial infrastructure. According to the force’s June operational summary, Ukrainian drone operators carried out 2,359 deep-strike missions targeting sites ‘It is a crisis’: 500-2,000 kilometers behind the front line,
Putin under increasing pressure from Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin is coming under rare public criticism at home, a significant signal of how the pressures from the more than four-year war in Ukraine are hurting the country. Fuel shortages and rising inflation, high-profile attacks against Russian energy infrastructure and cities, and mounting military casualties are prompting prominent figures to start pinning the blame on Putin. “It is a crisis,” said Vladimir Milov, a Russian economist in exile who served as deputy minister of energy in 2002. “What we are seeing right now is an extreme acceleration of public admissions that we are in trouble.”
Russia Has Now Lost More Troops in Ukraine Than in Every War Since World War II Combined, New Analysis Finds
By any historical measure, the human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered unprecedented territory. Now, a new analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that Russia has suffered roughly 1.4 million battlefield casualties, including as many as 450,000 deaths, since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. If accurate, those losses not only dwarf those sustained by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and Russia’s wars in Chechnya—they exceed the combined military fatalities Russia and the Soviet Union suffered in every conflict since the end of the Second World War.
Kremlin says Putin spoke with Trump by phone about Ukraine ahead of NATO summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump on Saturday, the Kremlin said. They reportedly discussed the situation in Ukraine ahead of an upcoming NATO summit in Ankara. “The presidents, of course, discussed the issue of an agreement in Ukraine,” Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The conversation lasted 85 minutes, and they also talked about Iran and the Middle East, according to Ushakov.
Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 2,954, with thousands still missing
The death toll from the earthquakes in Venezuela at the end of June has risen to 2,954, according to official figures released on Saturday, … In addition, around 16,000 people are now reported to be registered as injured, up from around 12,600 on Friday. The devastation is extensive after the two earthquakes on June 24, and thousands of people are still missing.
Michael Dell celebrates America’s 250th birthday with gift to seed the American Dream for millions of kids
In an Independence Day announcement, tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife Susan unveiled a “public-private partnership” aimed at giving millions of young Americans a direct financial stake in the nation’s economy. The Dell Technologies CEO took to X on Saturday to announce they are giving $250 each to the first 25 million qualifying American children who sign up for “Trump Accounts.” “This makes every child a shareholder in the greatest prosperity-creating engine the world has ever known — American capitalism,” Dell wrote in an X post.
Trump extols America and rails at communism in U.S. 250th celebration
U.S. President Donald Trump called on Americans to protect the freedoms the nation’s founders envisioned 250 years ago against what he has portrayed as the “communist” threat posed by progressive Democrats, speaking on the eve of Independence Day at Mount Rushmore. “We stand beneath the monument of these heroes, a true group of unbelievable people, and we rededicate ourselves to being a nation as big, bold, noble, and as great as these American giants, and that’s not easy to do, but we’re going to do it,” Trump said at the granite mountain in South Dakota where the heads of four American presidents are carved. “There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success,” he said. “We’re not going to let this happen.”
First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax “Must Not Stop At Billionaires”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) “The tax should not stop at billionaires, it must reach centimillionaires,” Khanna writes, before spelling out exactly what that means: every fortune of $50 million and up, hit with a 2% federal levy on wealth above that line – every year, forever, on top of everything else you already pay. The vehicle is Elizabeth Warren’s Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, which Khanna notes he has cosponsored every single year it’s been introduced. And before anyone reaches for the estate planner: Khanna wants the levy to pierce irrevocable trusts,
Houthis Say Forces ‘Repelled’ Saudi Warplanes From Threatening Iranian Civilian Airliner
Yemen’s Houthis announced Friday that they had “repelled” an attempt by Saudi warplanes to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at Sanaa airport. Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that Saudi warplanes violating Yemeni airspace were targeted with several air-defense missiles, forcing them to withdraw. “We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country. Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,”
RFK Jr rejects Israel ‘genocide’ claims in one of his most forceful defenses of Jewish state
For years, despite being a key part of the Trump Administration, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has occupied a political space that often overlaps with progressives who have become increasingly critical of Israel. But this week, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services delivered one of the strongest public defenses of the Jewish state by any member of the Trump administration, forcefully rejecting accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Appearing on Fox News, Kennedy didn’t hedge his words. “If Israel wanted to commit a genocide against Palestinians, they could do it in a minute,” Kennedy said. “It’s doing the opposite.” He’s absolutely right. Truthfully, if Israel’s goal was a genocide, they’re doing a horrible job at it.
Iran caught building underground nuclear facility while negotiating with US
The project could provide Tehran with a fallback option should diplomatic efforts collapse.
Continued activity at Iran’s underground Pickaxe Mountain complex is fueling new concerns over Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear agreement with the United States, with a Washington-based nuclear watchdog citing fresh satellite imagery and the continued absence of international inspections at the site. The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never been permitted to inspect the facility, which is buried deep within Iran’s Zagros Mountains.
Satellite photos show scope of damage to Iran
Roughly 250,000 high-resolution satellite images released by Planet Labs offer a detailed look at the damage inflicted on Iranian military infrastructure following Israeli and U.S. strikes, revealing destruction across nearly 800 military sites. According to the analysis, the strikes hit a wide range of military assets, including ballistic missile storage facilities, ammunition depots, naval bases, ground-to-ground missile sites, and other strategic infrastructure. Many locations in Bushehr – including facilities operated by the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – appear to have been destroyed or heavily damaged. …
IDF Paratroopers Brigade conducts heavy equipment drill with transport aircraft into combat zone
Soldiers from the IDF Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion carried out a drill this week in which the battalion, together with its equipment, was transported on Karnaf and Shimshon transport aircraft to a combat zone. Since the beginning of the war two and a half years ago, the Paratroopers Brigade had not practiced landing a paratrooper force with its heavy equipment in a combat zone using transport aircraft.
Can We Still Ask God To Bless America When So Much Of The Culture Is In Open Opposition To Him?
When I was growing up, my church had a huge Fourth of July celebration. The church service featured hymns like “God Bless America,” honoring service members, and a sermon about how our founders created a nation like no other based on their belief in God. I felt truly blessed to be in a nation where we were free, unlike so many others. But today, it’s easy to feel more ambivalent about such celebrations. Can we really ask God to bless America when so much of the culture is in open opposition to the Bible? Can we sing “God Bless America” mere days after the end of “Pride Month”?
Texas Town of 35,000 Gets 5-Acre Mosque for 1,000 Worshippers Linked to Network Pushing Islamic Infiltration of America
A small Islamic congregation in suburban Texas is building a permanent 5-acre mosque complex for 1,000 worshippers in a town of just 35,000, driven by Islamic end-times theology and tied to networks that openly promote Muslim infiltration of American institutions to advance Sharia influence.
First the Invitation, Then Slaughter: The Truth About Dawah America Is Refusing to Face
While Americans celebrated their independence this holiday weekend, Muslims were openly conducting dawah in the heart of Chicago — the Islamic invitation to submit that, according to their own doctrine, must come before jihad and subjugation.
Syrian FM: Damascus open to meet Hezbollah after Trump said it should fight group
Asaad al-Shaibani met Lebanese gov’t leaders, including President Aoun and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. It was Shaibani’s first visit there since President Trump last month raised the possibility of Syrian forces combating Hezbollah in Lebanon.
125 ill in Princess cruise ship norovirus outbreak.
The Ruby Princess was on a 20-day voyage along western North America when 102 passengers and 23 crew members on board reported gastrointestinal illness during the outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
Trump says Netanyahu ‘knows who the boss is,’ as leaders discuss possible White House visit
US President Trump said he has a good relationship with PM Netanyahu, but the Israeli leader knows who’s in charge. “We get along very good. [Netanyahu] knows who the boss is,” Trump told Axios on Saturday. The report comes as Trump and Netanyahu hinted at a possible meeting at the White House soon.
As America Marks Its 250th Anniversary, Debates Rage Over National Identity
Glubb’s pattern warns that internal moral and cultural erosion…precedes collapse more certainly than even external conquest…. As fireworks light the skies, we must ask if this banner anniversary will reaffirm a nation of people with a definable heritage, or accelerate…into borderless chaos. The fidelity to constitutional principles will decide.
Iran’s Regime: ‘No Choice but to Build the Nuclear Bomb’
Iran’s goal seems to be to outlast the current US administration and then openly march toward nuclear bombs. The focus must be on finishing the job: unrelenting pressure and denying the regime any tools that might threaten the world. Anything less perpetuates an Iran openly bent on destruction.
Israel Accuses Turkey of Incitement to Genocide After FM Describes Jewish State as a ‘Burden Humanity Can No Longer Bear’
Sa’ar described Fidan’s remarks as “sickening.” “Dehumanizing the Jewish people as an ‘unbearable burden’ is the classic, horrific language of history’s worst eliminationist regimes,” Sa’ar wrote on X. “The civilized world and Turkey’s NATO allies must unequivocally condemn this explicit call for the erasure of Israel,” he added.
Massachusetts principal apologizes to Arab students after lesson on Holocaust
CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, said in a press release, “It should be common sense that Holocaust education is not an affront to any student’s identity, and it is not something for which a school should apologize.”