Ursula von der Leyen:

A Danish children’s rights organization found that nearly half of the content children see on social media is advertising.

Young men are getting hooked on games that are designed to manipulate them into spending more and more money. Young women are targeted with beauty product ads the moment they untag themselves in a photo.

And these are deliberate choices by tech providers so they can profit from children’s vulnerability to cash in on their fears and moments of self-doubt.

Ursula von der Leyen:

I’m aware that many perceive the powers of major tech corporations as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree.

We do not have to accept addictive social media design. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls and women have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images.

Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide our rules, not the tech companies.

Ursula von der Leyen:

We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design. The endless scrolling, the autoplay, the push notifications, you name it.

The same applies to Meta because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13.

We launched proceedings against X for Grok’s use in creating and spreading material depicting child sexual abuse.

The U.S. Navy says its future Trump-class battleships will now be nuclear-powered — a major shift that could greatly increase both capability and cost.

The Navy plans to build 15 ships between 2028 and 2055, with each estimated to cost around $17 billion — more expensive than a Ford-class aircraft carrier.

Source: TWZ

Prof. Nathalie Tocci | European Foreign Policy Expert | Johns Hopkins SAIS, Europe:
 

European support for US adventures in the Middle East has never been unconditional. France & Germany stood firmly against the Iraq War in 2003.
 
Europeans also initiated the Iran nuclear negotiations that eventually produced the JCPOA in 2015 - an effort to restore multilateralism & international law.
 
It was never black and white. There were many shades of grey.
 
The fundamental difference between then & now: when the transatlantic relationship was real, Europeans were the weaker party - but they were a voice.
 
It was an unequal partnership, but it was still a partnership.
 
Now Trump treats European countries as would-be colonies - expecting them to toe the line no matter what it does or says, and especially no matter what it does against Europe itself.

FULL INTERVIEW

Amazon employees are reportedly using internal AI tools to automate pointless tasks just to boost their AI usage metrics.

The company introduced internal leaderboards and targets for AI adoption, leading some staff to “tokenmaxx” — generating unnecessary AI activity to appear more engaged with the tools.

Source: FT

UK Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones resigns from Keir Starmer’s government.

Prof. Nathalie Tocci | European Foreign Policy Expert | Johns Hopkins SAIS, Europe:
 

Two elements define the narrative imbalance in the US-Europe relationship.
 
First, the narrative that Americans are paying for European security.
 
Second, the US launching a war against Iran alongside Israel - without consulting European partners - then expecting them to tag along & do the washing up, particularly on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
 
Underlying both is political amnesia. The US-Europe alliance was never exclusively to the benefit of one side - otherwise it wouldn't have lasted decades. That social contract has been forgotten.
 
The result is a fundamental rethinking of the overall bargain.

 
FULL INTERVIEW

Putin:

The ‘Oreshnik’ missile system can be equipped with nuclear warheads.

Russia says it successfully tested the new nuclear-capable “Sarmat” missile and plans to place it on combat duty by the end of the year.

Putin says the missile’s range could exceed 35,000 km.

Prof. Nathalie Tocci | European Foreign Policy Expert | Johns Hopkins SAIS, Europe:
 

A structural shift is underway - not because Trump lasts forever, but because you can't put the genie back in the bottle.
 
The first Trump administration had policy disagreements with Europe - but no real betrayal. No explicit threat to annex European territory.
 
The second Trump administration has breached trust. And when trust is breached, the relationship cannot simply return to what it was.
 
Think of it like a personal relationship. If your partner betrays you, you may stay together - but it will never be the same.
 
Whatever happens in American or European domestic politics, there will be no return to the past.
 
Even if a liberal America & a liberal Europe one day decide to rebuild - it will be a fundamentally different bond.

FULL INTERVIEW

Putin:

The total power of the ‘Sarmat’ missile exceeds that of any Western equivalent by more than four times.

Putin:

Russia is developing advanced missile systems “without global equivalents.”

Pete Hegseth on Iran:

We have a plan to escalate, if necessary. We have a plan to retrograde, if necessary.

Nearly 590,000 people paid $100 deposits for Trump’s $499 gold “Made in USA” phone — totaling $59 million — but a year later, not one device has shipped, release dates keep slipping, and updated terms now say refunds and delivery aren’t guaranteed.

Lukashenko:

We will continue selectively mobilizing units in order to prepare them for war.

God willing, it can be avoided.

Over 100 Labour MPs signed a letter backing Keir Starmer.

Prof. Nathalie Tocci | European Foreign Policy Expert | Johns Hopkins SAIS, Europe:
 

A system that elects Trump twice is not a fluke. It tells us something deep & structural going on the country.
 
The first time felt like a fluke. The second time reveals the iceberg beneath - a mix of nationalist & far-right populism, a tech oligarchy, and money being funneled into far-right groups worldwide. Trump is the frontman. The operation behind him is not going away.
 
The genie being out of the bottle means this: Europeans now understand that even if Trump is defeated, the problem can come back.
 
So you cannot simply return to the past - because what is happening now may happen again, even if both sides of the Atlantic one day want to rebuild a bridge.

FULL INTERVIEW

Austria scrambled Eurofighter jets twice in two days after US military aircraft entered Austrian airspace without proper clearance.

The planes, identified as US Air Force PC12/U-28A surveillance aircraft, turned back after being intercepted.

Source: Welt

Trump:

China is strong, but we’re militarily stronger.

Israel continues exploring new ways to defend against FPV drones, with protective nets now appearing over vehicle parking areas frequently targeted by Hezbollah strikes.