French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot:

A century after Locarno, eighty years after the United Nations, and thirty-five years after the fall of the USSR, the world is sliding into brutalization.

International law is openly flouted—in Sudan, the Great Lakes region, Gaza, and Ukraine—leaving millions of civilians facing death or exile.

Even permanent members of the Security Council now challenge the very sovereignty they are meant to protect.

This is the paradox of our time: those who built the legal international order now see advantage in violating it.

Ukraine has awarded rights to develop a major state-owned lithium deposit to a consortium that includes Ronald S. Lauder, a longtime friend of President Trump, and TechMet, a U.S.-linked energy firm.

Ukrainian officials said the bid won on technical merit, though the deal still needs cabinet approval.

Source: NYT

Ursula von der Leyen meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus.

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Israel is bombing Lebanon.

Mayor of Tehran:

They attacked hospitals and two medical centers, 26 banks, 25 mosques, Basij bases, and law-enforcement facilities to spread chaos and create a false image.

They also burned 48 fire department vehicles, including eight heavy fire engines, even targeting firefighters as they tried to put out the fires.

NEW: SDF/YPG militia refuses to leave Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud, opens fire on General Security.

Buses later left the area without evacuating militants.

SDF is carrying out field executions and threatening remaining residents who want to leave.

Pakistan is close to a $1.5 billion arms deal with Sudan, including Karakoram-8 attack aircraft, drones, air-defense systems, and possibly JF-17 fighter jets, a move that could significantly boost Sudan’s army in its war with the RSF.

Source: Reuters

The U.S. has launched an operation to detain the tanker Olina in the Caribbean, the fifth such seizure in recent weeks as Washington tightens control over Venezuelan oil exports.

The ship had been carrying Russian oil.