🇺🇸🇯🇵⚡- BREAKING: Japanese outlet Nikkei Asia says Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cancelled his first visit to the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan and South Korea, citing "urgent Middle East matters".

🇺🇸🇷🇺 - Trump-Putin phone call is over, lasting 50 minutes.

🇨🇳🇵🇭⚡- The Chinese Navy announced it conducted combat readiness drills in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea.

🇷🇺🏳️⚡- Russia has officially recognized the Taliban government of Afghanistan.

🇺🇸⚡️- President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" has passed the House.

🇪🇺🇨🇳⚡- China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the European Union against 'confrontation', after EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said Beijing was undermining European security.

"Europe is facing various challenges but none were caused by China in the past, present or future," - Wang Yi.

🇷🇺🏳️⚡- The new flag of Afghanistan and the flag of the Taliban was raised over the Afghan Embassy in Moscow.

🇮🇶⚡- BREAKING: Explosions heard in Erbil, Iraq.

🇬🇧⚡️- Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Zultana are launching a new socialist political party in Britain with other independent MPs.

The party plans on fielding candidates as early as next year although the party name has not been announced yet.

🇺🇸🇮🇶⚡- Sirens at the US Consulate in Erbil, Iraq.

🇮🇶⚡- Explosion visible near the Erbil International Airport, Iraq.

🇺🇸🇮🇶⚡- Drones operating over the US Consulate in Erbil, Iraq.

🇺🇸🇮🇶⚡- Iraqi security forces have closed the road to the US Consulate in Erbil.

🇺🇸🇮🇶⚡- One of the drones allegedly struck an outpost belonging to the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces near Erbil International Airport.

🇮🇶 - The moment of impact of one of the drones in Erbil.

🇪🇺🇨🇳⚡- China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told EU's Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas that Beijing fears a Russian defeat in Ukraine, as that could shift full US focus onto China.

Yi also denied China is aiding Russia's war efforts in Ukraine, claiming if that was the case the "conflict would have ended long ago."

🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡- "We had a call, it was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran.

And we also talked about the war in Ukraine. I'm not happy about that. I didn't make any progress with him [Putin] today at all..." - President Donald Trump on his phone call with Putin earlier today.

🇺🇸🇺🇦⚡- "We haven't [paused weapons to Ukraine]. We're giving weapons. But we've given so many weapons, we are giving weapons, we're working with them [Ukraine] to try to help them. But we haven't [paused weapon supplies to Ukraine].

Biden emptied out our whole country giving them weapons. We have to make sure we have enough for ourselves," President Donald Trump.