JD Vance invited Pope Leo XIV to attend America’s July 4, 2026, 250th anniversary celebrations, delivering a formal letter at the Vatican.

The pope declined and instead announced he will spend July 4 in Lampedusa, Italy, focusing on migrants.

Source: TIME

Satellite images show the U.S. has surged dozens of fighter jets to bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, building one of its largest Middle East deployments since 2003 as Trump threatens strikes on Iran.

The buildup includes F-35s, F-15s, A-10s, support aircraft, two carrier strike groups, 16 warships, and about 40,000 troops.

Source: FT

NEW: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait protest Iraq’s recent submission of new maritime boundary coordinates to the UN, saying the claims infringe on Kuwaiti sovereignty and affect the jointly owned Saudi-Kuwaiti divided zone.

Kuwait formally objected and summoned Iraq’s envoy, while Saudi Arabia expressed “great concern” and urged Baghdad to respect existing border agreements and UN resolutions.

Other Gulf states have voiced support for Kuwait, reviving tensions over longstanding maritime disputes.

Zelensky on WW3:

I believe Putin has already started it.

The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him.

We are preventing it from becoming a broad, full-scale Third World War.

Zelensky on Trump calling him dictator:

I’m not a dictator and I didn’t start the war. That’s it.

Zelensky on withdrawing from Donbas:

I see it as abandoning, weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there.

That is how I see it. And I am sure that this withdrawal would divide our society.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Tucker Carlson:

I don’t know that anyone in Israel is trying to kill Tucker Carlson, but I can tell you there are people around the world who really are trying to kill the Jews of Israel.

Zelensky:

Today the issue is air defense. This is the most difficult problem.

Unfortunately, our partners still do not grant licenses for us to produce systems ourselves, for example, Patriot systems, or even missiles for the systems we already have.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on "what happened to Tucker Carlson":

I wish I knew. I don’t recognize the Tucker Carlson of today compared to the one I knew then.

In our interview, I noticed how combative and contentious he was.

I don’t hate Tucker. I like him. I don’t have any animosity toward him, but I’m confused by him.

Trump reposted a clip of Mark Levin calling for regime change in Iran.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko gave an awkward pause when asked whether he trusts President Trump:

I try to trust him.

Sometimes I do not clearly understand his messages regarding peace in Ukraine.

Peace in Ukraine must not be capitulation.

FBI Director Kash Patel celebrated with the US men’s hockey team in Milan after their 2-1 overtime win over Canada secured their first Olympic gold in 46 years.

Video shows Patel chugging a beer, spraying it in the locker room and singing with players, who draped a gold medal around his neck.

He later said he was “extremely humbled” to be invited.

Senator Graham:

Israel can’t occupy the Gaza Strip successfully.

It’s going to take Arab countries — the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — with their capabilities and resources to come in and help build a new Gaza, to teach children tolerance instead of hatred.

I think the key is for MBZ, who is a tremendous ally of Israel, to help make Gaza more like the UAE.

The most radicalized people on the planet are in Gaza.

Senator Graham on Iran:

Can they hit our bases? Yes. Is the risk worth it? Yes.

As for the soldiers taking this risk, they’ll be the first to tell you, “Let’s do it.”

Zelensky:

As of today, 300 kilometers have been liberated.

On their maps, this is territory they control. But to be honest, it is no longer so.

Few people know what is happening. That’s the truth.

Zelensky on Starlink:

The problems with the Russians' Starlink connection are definitely being exploited by our forces today.

Zelensky:

On average, since December, we have been destroying about 30–35 thousand enemy personnel per month.

They have been mobilizing 40–44 thousand per month until recently, and losing 30–35 thousand.

Right now, we are observing an average net loss of 8–10 thousand personnel per month in the Russian contingent fighting on Ukrainian territory.

We have calculated that one kilometer of their advance costs them roughly 157 dead Russian soldiers.

We are now losing less territory on average this year. Last year, we lost about 4,200 square kilometers overall.

This year, January and February show completely different figures, because we have regained around 300 square kilometers.

Zelensky:

The Americans do provide us with information. They have always given us a lot of information, but not all of the information that our Ukrainian Armed Forces wanted.

We cannot blame them for anything regarding attacks on us, warnings about any missiles, ballistics, drones, etc. We receive information from our partners, both European and American.

We had requests regarding long-range targets. I cannot compare this now with what it was like before, because we did not have such weapons of our own production before.

We did not always receive everything we needed for certain targets. That is true. But I do not want this to sound like an accusation.

Zelensky:

Unfortunately, no. I don’t go to the movies, I don’t go to the theater.

I don’t go to stores, and I haven’t been to a café once in all the years of the war.

Q: There was some interesting information in The Economist about the Ukrainian negotiators being divided... Is this true?

Zelensky: No. What The Economist says sounds quite offensive. I am doing everything I can to ensure that the various channels of communication between Ukrainians and Americans, or even between Russians and Ukrainians, are all in the same format.

The Economist, however, is repeating the Russian narrative that they are divided within the negotiation process.

Zelensky:

Both the Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas. It's true, that's what they say.

And if you want the war to end tomorrow, forget about the station. The station is not just about money and energy, it's about territorial integrity.