Niger: EIGS militants stormed the Garbougna gendarmerie post on the Terra–Niamey axis, killing 17 soldiers in a coordinated assault.

Sudan: Army and joint forces hit UAE-backed RSF hard west of El-Obeid, inflicting heavy losses around Jebel Abu Sunun, El-Tine, El-Numeyr, Abu Qud and Abu Haraz.

Trump signed a bill forcing the DOJ to release its Jeffrey Epstein investigation files within 30 days.

President Trump and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will meet at the White House on Friday.

Trump has approved a 28-point peace plan aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The proposal was developed by top administration figures — including Steve Witkoff, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner — in discussions with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, though Ukraine was not involved in shaping it.

U.S. officials say the plan focuses on security guarantees for both sides, but details remain undisclosed and still negotiable.

Source: NBC News

The U.S. has approved a $93 million sale to India of Javelin anti-tank missile systems and Excalibur guided artillery shells.

The deal includes up to 100 Javelin units and 216 Excalibur projectiles.

Source: Reuters

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says Lebanon is ready to negotiate with Israel and will seek US help to push Israel into talks.

Source: Bloomberg

Marco Rubio:

Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas.

And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions.

That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.

Japan is preparing a ¥21.3 trillion ($135B) stimulus—the biggest since the pandemic—to ease the impact of persistent inflation.

The plan includes tax cuts, child payments, and gasoline tax reductions, plus major funding for price relief, consumption boosts, and economic security sectors.

Source: Reuters

Trump on Jimmy Kimmel:

Get the bum off the air!!!

Sudan: The Sovereignty Council said it is ready to work with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to advance peace efforts in the country.

The U.S. will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia, but they’ll be downgraded compared to Israel’s aircraft due to a U.S. law that ensures Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”

Saudi jets will lack Israel’s advanced weapons, electronic warfare systems, and next-gen AIM-260 missiles.

Israel—already operating F-35s for eight years and with more jets in service—still opposes the sale.

Source: Reuters

Kenya: Two border patrol officers were killed in an al-Shabaab IED blast near the Somalia frontier.

Elon Musk:

AI and humanoid robots will actually eliminate poverty.

In 10-20 years work will be optional.

Money will stop being relevant.

The EU is preparing a unified request asking the U.S. to exempt several key exports — including medical devices, alcohol (wine, spirits, beer), and pasta — from President Trump’s broad tariffs.

Source: POLITICO

WATCH: Türkiye’s first unmanned fighter jet, BAYRAKTAR KIZILELMA, detected and locked onto an F-16 from 30 miles using the MURAD AESA radar, scoring a perfect simulated hit with the GÖKDOĞAN air-to-air missile.

It also flew in formation with F-16s and successfully validated its radar, missile, and data-link integration.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas:

Europe has always supported efforts for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine.

But for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board.

This is very clear.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas:

We have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim.

We haven't heard of any concessions on the Russian side.

If Russia really wanted peace, it could have had agreed to unconditional ceasefire already some time ago.

Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou:

The reason Trump decided to bomb Iran was that the Israelis said, “If you don’t bomb Iran to take out the bunkers, we will use nuclear weapons.”

They had never threatened that before, so Trump thought that bombing Iran might actually save us from WW3 if it kept the Israelis from using nuclear weapons.

Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou:

The Israeli policy is: if they want to kill you and you’re in an apartment block, they’ll take the entire city block out and kill 2,000 people if they think they can get you.

Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou:

The Israelis recruited thousands of Afghan refugees as informants… guys who had nothing, who’d do anything for $100.