Germany's Chancellor Merz:

There is no reason for pessimism or doom-and-gloom about our country's future.

Germany’s best years are not behind us; very good years are ahead of us—in East Germany, in West Germany, in Germany as a whole, and in Europe.

Germany's Chancellor Merz:

People tell me: "Why don't you work together with the AfD? They agree with you on many issues. You would have a majority in the German Bundestag."

I will not do that. And there is a very simple reason. This party wants to take Germany back to the time before Adenauer.

With Adenauer, we left the age of nationalism behind us in Germany. And I will not lead the Federal Republic of Germany—and I will not lead my party—back behind the era of Adenauer.

Germany's Chancellor Merz:

We are 450 million consumers in the European Union.

The European Union has 100 million more consumers than the United States of America. We must not make ourselves smaller than we are.

A Chinese technical briefing slide claims the PL-16 next-generation air-to-air missile will reach 300+ km range using a variable-thrust rocket motor.

It also features an AESA radar seeker and two-way data link.

For comparison: PL-15 domestic ~200km, US AIM-120D ~180km.

Hackers took over high-profile Instagram accounts — including the Obama White House account, a Space Force general, and Sephora — by simply asking Meta's AI support chatbot to change the email address on the target account.

The bot complied.

Meta had rolled out AI support with account recovery powers to all users in March, billing it as "solutions, not just suggestions."

Source: 404 Media

Former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes, in a new interview, confirms the US was prepared to go to war for the Baltic states in 2014, but not for Ukraine.

"We were worried they were going to do a little green men play in the Baltic states. We would have sent troops. That was the message of the speech."

On Crimea, he says the White House was caught completely off guard:

"The briefing is: the Russians had taken Crimea. It's happened. We did not have advanced warning."

On Ukraine never being Obama's red line:

"Ukraine was not that line."

Putin exploited it — and Rhodes admits Obama's later decision not to arm Ukraine after Donbas was also a mistake he personally disagreed with.

Source: LRT

Polish opposition politician Krzysztof Bosak (Konfederacja) is demanding Ukraine's EU accession be blocked and Polish Starlink funding halted after Zelensky named a Ukrainian special forces unit after UPA fighters — the militia responsible for the Volhynia massacre of tens of thousands of Polish civilians in 1943-45.

Bosak called it a deliberate insult while Poland continues financing Ukraine's war effort.

Separately, Poland is backing EU-level discussions to restrict temporary protection benefits for conscription-age Ukrainian men abroad, though full deportations remain legally blocked under EU rules.

Major Polish benefit reductions for Ukrainian refugees already took effect in March 2026.

Hungary's PM Péter Magyar:

Viktor Orbán lied to the Hungarian people for years — that the EU was Hungary's enemy, that Hungary's job was to stop Brussels.

In reality, Orbán did not stop Brussels.

He stopped Hungary's development — successfully, for long years.

John Bolton:

Iran believes it can outlast Trump — that it has more patience than he does because he's so desperate to get the price of oil down.

John Bolton on Trump:

When somebody says 'I don't care' three times, maybe it means they really do care.

If Trump weren't worried, he wouldn't have called Netanyahu to try and get a ceasefire in Lebanon.

John Bolton on Trump & Iran War:

I think he's desperate for a deal.

Prof. John Mearsheimer :

A number of European leaders have basically said we should fight to the last Ukrainian, which I find morally sickening.

The Ukrainians are going to lose this war. They should have quit a long time ago for their own good.

Ukraine is in a demographic death spiral, and we're encouraging them to throw bodies into the meat grinder when they're going to lose anyway.

The British, French, and German leaders are really enthusiastic about continuing the war, but that's because their people are not dying.

Serbian President Vučić on why he trusts China's Xi:

For more than four years I was seeking, searching, asking, begging all over the world to start taking care of our steel mill.

Because we were losing 12 million US dollars monthly. Everything was unsuccessful.

President Xi accepted to go not only to Belgrade but to that smaller place, Smederevo — an hour and a half away.

He addressed the workers and promised them China will solve this problem.

In politics there is nothing that lasts less than gratitude. But that is not the case with us.

I will never forget it. He saved us at that particular moment.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been spotted at the Kempinski hotel in Moscow, per German broadcaster ntv.

No official explanation for the visit.

The timing is notable: Putin publicly named Schröder as his preferred European mediator in Ukraine peace talks just weeks ago — a proposal the German government flatly rejected as part of Russia's hybrid strategy.

Türkiye expects Trump to attend the NATO summit in Ankara next month.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Trump indicated during several recent calls with President Erdoğan that he plans to attend.

The fourth meeting between Israeli and Lebanese representatives has begun in Washington.

Trump:

I am appointing the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, William J. Pulte, to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.

William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago.

During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!

Iran's Fars:

An informed source says Iran and the U.S. are not currently exchanging messages, and talks aimed at reaching an initial understanding have reportedly been paused for several days.

This contradicts Trump's recent claim that negotiations are moving quickly.

The source added that Iran's last message to Washington concerned Lebanon.

UAE President MbZ’s Advisor Anwar Gargash:

From the Arabian Gulf to Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq, we are all paying the price for Iran's inflated regional ambitions.

No state in the region can play a role at the expense of shared security, stability, and prosperity.