China's PLA intercepted Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, deploying warships, corvettes, and J-16 fighters — and applying electronic jamming — to force the ship and its helicopter to leave waters Beijing claims as territorial.

The Netherlands says it was exercising lawful freedom of navigation under international law.

Russia fitted anti-drone netting across warships and submarines on all four of its fleets — from Baltic corvettes to nuclear-armed Borei submarines in Kamchatka — as a cheap countermeasure against Ukrainian drone strikes.

The improvised mesh barriers aim to tangle drone rotors or deflect small payloads.

A provision hidden in a House defense bill would formally merge US and Israeli military technology programs — including shared weapons development, joint production, and linked computer networks.

Source: Responsible Statecraft

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella says European countries must stop buying American F-35s and switch to French Rafales before they can benefit from France's nuclear umbrella.

Source: Politico

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou says he believes Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad "access agent" — used by Israeli intelligence to gather compromising material on powerful figures for blackmail.

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella:

Before asking France to extend its nuclear umbrella, our European partners must stop buying F-35s and start buying Rafales instead.

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella:

As long as Putin pursues imperial ambitions at Europe's doorstep, his presence [at the G8] will necessarily raise questions.

Japan's 2025 census recorded a population of 123 million — a drop of 3.1 million (2.5%) from 2020, the largest five-year decline since records began in 1920.

Nearly 30% of the population is now aged 65 or older, births hit a record low of 705,000, and experts project the population could fall to 87 million by 2070.

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella on Trump:

I see an American president who changes his mind regularly. With President Trump, what is true on Monday is not necessarily true on Tuesday.

France must be an ally of the United States, but not a subordinate one.

If the United States enters a conflict that does not serve French interests, France has no reason to join that conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Amb. Tom Barrack will continue to play a key role in US policy on Syria and Iraq even after his Special Envoy to Syria title expires.

Pete Hegseth jokes:

We were in a cabinet meeting just a couple of days ago and the president said, "Hey, it will be a great deal, and if Iran doesn't want to make a great deal that ensures they don't get a nuclear weapon, they can deal with the guy on my left."

And that was the only time I've ever been accused of being on the left.

Pete Hegseth:

Alliances only work when they are true partnerships. It is a two-way street.

You don't have a strong alliance unless everyone has skin in the game. No freeloading. History is not over.

Alliances are not judged by the number of flags, but by the number of formations.

We don't need more conferences. We need more combat power. I'm sorry to say this here. Less Shangri-La, more ships, more subs.

Pete Hegseth:

What we seek and what the President has constantly articulated is a genuinely stable equilibrium that works for Americans as well as our allies.

A favorable but durable balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question.

The United States seeks to preserve the conditions that have long underwritten peace and prosperity in this region. We are the power working to sustain equilibrium, not disrupt it, plain and simple.

We defend a status quo that has enabled extraordinary growth and opportunity across the region.

Pete Hegseth:

The era of the United States subsidizing the defense of wealthy nations is over.

We need partners, not protectorates. We seek alliances built on shared responsibility, not dependency.

Pete Hegseth:

You can have all the rules you want, and rules are great, but if you can't back them up with hard power, the rules are not worth the paper they are written on.

Pete Hegseth:

When we look across the region today, there is rightful alarm regarding China's historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond.

Trump is no longer expected to call Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te before deciding on a proposed U.S. arms sale to Taiwan.

The planned call had drawn attention because no sitting U.S. president has spoken directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979.

Trump had previously said he intended to speak with Lai before making a decision on the weapons package.

Source: CBS News

Trump admin is in talks to give equity/debt funding to U.S. drone companies (Unusual Machines, Neros Technologies, Performance Drone Works) to scale domestic manufacturing and hit a ~$5K/unit cost target.

It’s part of the Pentagon’s $1.1 billion “Drone Dominance” program targeting 300,000 low-cost attack drones by end of 2027.

Stocks surged 33–57% on the news.

Trump Jr. is an adviser and shareholder in Unusual Machines, raising conflict-of-interest questions.

Source: WSJ