Portugal has declared a state of alert starting Friday due to extreme heat and the heightened wildfire risk.

The measures include restricting access to certain forest areas, banning controlled burns and agricultural waste burning, and prohibiting the use of machinery in forests unless it is needed for firefighting.

The restrictions will remain in place while the alert is active.

Damascus explosion: 4 dead, 11 wounded on Al-Nasr Street.

World's No. 1 Energy Producer in Trouble

Russia has turned to India for seaborne gasoline imports and secured 50,000 metric tons from Kazakhstan as constant drone strikes paralyzed a third of Russian refining capacity.

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Italy Quietly Distances Itself From Palantir, Halts Expansion of Government Contracts

▪️A biometric anti-terror proposal for police rejected
▪️Minor open-source Defense contract remains active
▪️EU skepticism grows over data sovereignty

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Turkish Conglomerate IC Holding Eyes 20 Small Modular Reactors in US Pact

Turkish infrastructure group IC Holding will deploy up to 20 small modular reactors wtih U.S.-developed ARC Clean Technology across Türkiye and adjacent regions.

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Zelensky:

If our partners had delivered, on time, what they had promised, we could have saved homes and lives today.

This is a major problem.

Zelensky:

Because of Ukraine's successes in Crimea, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Putin to explain the situation to Russian society.

Zelensky says Ukraine will retaliate for Russia's massive attack on Kyiv.

Andy Burnham is expected to end the NHS's £330m contract with US tech firm Palantir if he becomes prime minister later this month.

Burnham did not award Palantir any contracts during his nine years as Greater Manchester mayor and is reviewing the Government's AI strategy.

Labour MPs and unions have long opposed Palantir over its work with the Israeli military and US immigration authorities.

The first break clause in the NHS contract falls due next March, meaning a decision would need to be made by December if the Government intends to terminate the deal.

Source: The Telegraph

Baykar Chairman and CTO Selçuk Bayraktar compares AI-powered combat drones to the computer that defeated Garry Kasparov, arguing that the comparison between human pilots and autonomous aircraft is becoming obsolete.

“There is no human in this aircraft. It can do everything a manned aircraft does — and more,” he says, emphasizing that autonomous systems are cheaper and eliminate the years of training and human risk associated with fighter pilots:

“The human is truly the most expensive element.”

The U.S. and Oman are trying to persuade Iran to stop demanding tolls for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz by offering access to billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.

Iran has rejected the offer, insisting it controls the strait and warning it will act against ships using unauthorized routes.

Iran wants to collect tolls that could generate up to $40 billion annually, but the U.S. and Gulf states oppose the idea.

Oman has proposed a voluntary international fund to pay for maritime services instead, but Iran has so far refused because it wouldn't receive direct fees.

Source: WSJ

Stephen Miller to national guard troops in Washington D.C:

All of civilization can be finally divided into two groups of people: builders and destroyers.

The people who serve, who sacrifice, who give, who care for others, who protect others — and those who only destroy, who litter, who rob, who graffiti, who deface, who degrade.

Civilization only exists because of people like you.

EU’s Kaja Kallas:

Bosnia and Herzegovina's future lies in the European Union.

Support for EU accession across the country remains well above 70%, making it an aspiration that truly unites people.

With Montenegro, we are drafting its accession treaty. Albania has opened the negotiation chapters.

Ukraine and Moldova have just begun accession negotiations — and Bosnia cannot afford to be left behind.

Sustained reforms are the fastest and most effective way to advance the accession process.

This window of opportunity for accession may not be open forever.

📸 Russian military command held a staff exercise called "Crimean Wake-Up Call" (Крымская побудка) simulating a Ukrainian amphibious assault on Crimea.

Source: The Insider

Trump:

GO OUT AND VOTE REPUBLICAN IN THE MIDTERMS, BECAUSE IF THE COMMUNISTS GET IN, YOU’LL NEVER FISH AGAIN!

Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel to Sky News:

If there is an attack, the Cuban people will respond in unity, firmness, and in defense of our sovereignty.

We don't want the war, but we're not afraid of it.

And we are getting ready so that we're not surprised or defeated.

Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel to Sky News:

Elite troops from the American army illegally abducted the president of Venezuela and his wife and extracted them from Venezuela.

There were a number of Cubans who were working for the protection of President Maduro.

Those Cubans, because of their convictions, they fought those forces. They were outnumbered, they were in a technological disadvantage, and under the surprise of the attack.

A military operation designed to take only a few minutes lasted more than 40 minutes — and 32 Cubans gave their lives in that heroic action.

Those 32 Cubans can be multiplied to millions here in Cuba.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan:

While the United States sells vast amounts of weapons and ammunition to many countries that are neither NATO members nor share such extensive strategic interests with the U.S., denying similar sales to Türkiye lacks an explainable rationale from the perspective of the Trump administration.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan:

There is no issue in U.S.–Türkiye bilateral relations that warrants the two countries being on bad terms.