Trump:

China tariffs will go up if we can't make a deal.

Trump:

We are telling Ukraine they have valuable rare earths, I want Ukraine to give us rare earths.

China's UN Security Council representative:

The accusation against us regarding the Panama Canal is false and we did not participate in its management or operation.

There is no winner in any trade war and we hope Washington will find useful solutions to its own problems.

We strongly oppose unjustified US tariffs and may have to take countermeasures.

Trump:

I have no guarantees that Gaza ceasefire will hold.

Trump:

We will impose heavy tariffs on many countries if they do not make deals with us.

Trump:

Europeans have taken advantage of the United States for years, now they want to make deals with us.

Trump:

I would like to see Canada become our 51st state, we don't need them for anything.

State of Qatar condemns the Manbij car bombing carried out by the SDF/YPG/PKK terror group.

Nigel Farage's Reform UK is now leading in the polls for the first time.

One in five Tory voters at the last election would now vote for Reform UK.

Source: Sky News/YouGov

NEW: France begins troop withdrawal from Senegal.

France has handed over Maréchal, Saint-Exupéry, and Contre-Amiral Protet bases to Senegalese forces.

The withdrawal is expected to be complete by September.

Trump administration has informally notified Congress of a proposed $1 billion arms sale to Israel, including 4,500 x BLU-110 and 200 x Mk 83 bombs ($700M) and Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers ($300M).

Source: WSJ

U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine were briefly paused but resumed over the weekend as the Trump administration reviewed its Kyiv policy.

The White House backed off its initial plan to halt all aid to Ukraine.

Source: Reuters

China announced 15% tariffs on coal and LNG and 10% on oil and agricultural equipment from the US.

China also announced an investigation into Google.

Source: Bloomberg

Syrian Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Murhaf Abu Qasra:

"The region (YPG/PKK-occupied area) will be liberated, inshallah. But the population must be patient. Resolving this issue peacefully is better.”

“On the issue of foreign fighters in our ranks, first of all, there are few of them; they took part in the fight against the regime, and they have a right.”

Source: New Arab

Arab nations reject Gaza displacement

Foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE & a senior Palestinian official sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposing Trump’s January proposal.

Source: Reuters

Canada's PM Trudeau announces that President Trump agreed to postpone the 25% tariff on Canadian goods for at least 30 days.

In return, Canada will boost border security, deploying 10,000 personnel and investing about $1 billion in technology to combat drug trafficking.

New intelligence suggests Iran is exploring a faster, less sophisticated path to nuclear weaponization, should its leadership choose to proceed.

Initially gathered in Biden’s final months and later shared with Trump’s team, the assessment indicates Iranian scientists aim to weaponize their nuclear stockpile within months instead of 1–2 years.

While Khamenei has not formally approved bomb development, Iran is reportedly considering nuclear deterrence due to:

• Weakened proxy forces like Hezbollah and Hamas.
• Failed missile strikes against U.S. and Israeli defenses.
• Israeli airstrikes targeting its missile and nuclear sites.

Though Iran has enough 60%-enriched uranium for four bombs, it lacks a functional warhead.

Intel suggests Iran could accelerate its program by opting for simpler, non-miniaturized designs instead of advanced warheads.

Source: NYT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the United States, through USAID, financed the Maidan in 2014.

‘The United States spent $5 billion on the protests in Kyiv, which led to a coup d'état against the first democratically elected government of Ukraine’

Earlier, he stated that US biolabs operate in Ukraine to create ethnic bioweapons.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele offers to detain deported criminals, including American citizens, in his country’s prisons.

El Salvador would accept deported criminals of any nationality, including dangerous convicts in U.S. prisons.

The U.S. would pay a “relatively low” fee, which Bukele says would support El Salvador’s prison system.

Inmates would be housed in El Salvador’s mega-prison, a 40,000-capacity facility criticized for overcrowding and human rights concerns.

Ukraine should be able to use its own resources for post-conflict recovery, says German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Scholz called using Ukrainian resources to fund defense support “very selfish and egocentric.”

The ongoing Canada-U.S. trade dispute has put Canada’s F-35 fighter jet deal under scrutiny, with officials now considering alternatives.

Canada finalized a deal in 2023 to acquire 88 x F-35A jets, with deliveries starting in 2026. However, escalating tensions have led officials to reassess options, including Sweden’s Saab Gripen E.

British Columbia Premier David Eby warned:

“If the U.S. expects Canada to increase defense spending while imposing tariffs, we may be forced to procure from other countries.”

Leaving the F-35 program would be complex, as Canada has invested $613 million since 1997, securing $1.3 billion in contracts for over 100 Canadian firms supplying key aircraft components.

Source: TWZ