NATO's Rutte:

I would really encourage Europeans to stop worrying about the United States and do as much as they can in implementing the commitments we made.

That makes us strong, and it anchors the United States even more into NATO.

NEW: A Russian drone approached the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle while it was docked in Malmö.

The drone reportedly took off from a nearby Russian vessel and flew toward the carrier during its visit to Sweden for a strategic exercise.

Swedish Armed Forces detected the drone and used electronic countermeasures to jam it.

The drone then disappeared. It is unclear whether it returned to the Russian ship or crashed into the sea.

Source: SVT

Armenian PM Pashinyan and Polish PM Tusk have an intimate time together.

CPJ Report Says IDF Killed More Journalists Than Any Other Military

Committee to Protect Journalists said 129 journalists were killed worldwide in 2025, a record high, with 86 deaths attributed to Israeli attacks on Palestinians, hailing IDF responsible for killing more journalists than any other military since CPJ began documentation in 1992.

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After the Supreme Court struck down his tariffs, Trump’s administration is looking for ways to keep billions in collected tariff revenue instead of quickly refunding it.

Officials are considering legal maneuvers to reclassify the tariffs, delay repayments, or discourage companies from seeking full refunds.

Businesses have begun suing, and lower courts will now decide how the refunds proceed — likely setting up a long legal fight.

Source: POLITICO

The Pentagon has sent Anthropic a “best and final offer” to secure full lawful access to its AI model, Claude, for military use before a Friday deadline set by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

If Anthropic refuses, it could lose its $200 million defense contract, be labeled a supply chain risk, and potentially face action under the Defense Production Act.

Source: CBS News

Israel carried out new airstrikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah targets.

NEW: The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to “mission-critical” staffing — fewer than 100 personnel — amid potential strikes on Iran.

Source: Fox News

Boris Johnson on Ukraine:

The greatest mistake we could all make now is simply to blame Washington for everything that’s going wrong in the Western response.

I’m not going to hide it from you — I don’t like, I’m nauseated by the moral equivalence that is drawn by the current representatives of the White House between Ukraine and Russia. It’s ridiculous.

To say that Ukraine was somehow responsible for starting this war is absolutely odious.

But the first piece of advice I’d give to everybody is: try, if you possibly can, to contain your Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Boris Johnson:

There’s a great deal of sort of “euro freakoutery” and “headless chickenism” about Trump, and I can understand that.

All I would say is: just remember what Putin wants. What Putin wants is the impression of a divided West — he wants a divided West.

And the more we seem to accept the idea that America is no longer committed to European security, or that America is no longer committed to the protection and support of Ukraine, the better for Putin and the worse for Ukraine.

Don’t fall for it.

Boris Johnson:

The United States supplies 70% of NATO’s budget, 95% of NATO’s heavy lift capacity.

And depending on whether you believe that the French force de frappe actually works or not, the United States of America supplies 100% of Europe’s nuclear deterrent.

There’s Britain, yeah, but as you know, we are technologically dependent upon the United States.

Boris Johnson:

Don’t fall for the idea that Europe can just do it on its own.

Boris Johnson:

About 12% of European oil and gas comes from Russia.

A billion dollars a month worth of European money going straight to Putin. How can that possibly be right?

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski:

I suspect Trump thought that if there were no further supplemental package, Ukraine would find itself in difficulty much faster, and the war might therefore be brought to an end because Ukraine would be forced into concessions.

I think they will eventually find that, with European support, Ukraine is not falling, and that the war cannot be ended without Ukrainian agreement and without European agreement as well, because, to use a Trumpian term, US cards are not as strong as they were.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski:

I think if the Hungarian elections were to be irregular — I hope they’re not — but if they were to be irregular, then we would have a deepening problem as regards rule of law.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski:

My bet is that this war will end not like the Second World War but like the First World War — namely when Putin runs out of resources.

He’s already spent his national reserve fund. His last big pile of resources is the gold reserve. He started with 2,200 tons. I hear it’s down to 1,700.

So this is the thing to watch, because this is how he’s funding his war.

House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, plan to force a vote next week on a war powers resolution that would block Trump from attacking Iran without congressional approval.

The vote is expected to be close in the narrowly divided House, with Republicans largely backing Trump and some Democrats opposing the resolution.

Source: POLITICO

BIG: Pro-Trump activists, who say they are coordinating with the White House, are circulating a draft executive order urging Trump to declare a national emergency over alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election.

The proposed order would expand presidential authority over elections, potentially allowing Trump to ban mail ballots and voting machines ahead of the midterms.

Source: WaPo

Zohran Mamdani made an unannounced trip to Washington on Thursday to meet with Trump at the White House.

The 1 p.m. meeting was not on the Mayor’s public schedule, and officials did not comment on the agenda.

It is expected to focus partly on housing development in New York City.

Source: NYT