🇹🇭🇰🇭⚡- Thai forces have captured the Ban Nong Ri crossing, as well as the town of Ban Sam Lang in the Trat region of southern Thailand.

Thailand recaptured the town and have reached the international border, pushing Cambodian forces out of their territory. Thai troops were seen raising their flag over the town.

🇨🇾🇬🇷🇮🇱⚡- Greece, Cyprus and Israel have announced the creation of a joint rapid reaction brigade to deter Turkey.

🇦🇪🇮🇱⚡- Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems makes its largest sale ever, after securing a $2.3 billion sale to the UAE.

The mega deal includes the sale of advanced security systems, aircraft protection systems, laser technology as well as the establishment of an official branch of Elbit Systems in the Emirati nation.

🇪🇺⚡️- The European Union abandoned its key plan to require vehicle manufacturers to switch entirely to electric-vehicle production by 2035,

“The objective remains the same, the flexibilities are pragmatic realities in view of consumer buy-in, of the difficulty for manufacturers to offer 100% electric vehicles on the market by 2035.” - European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné.

The decision is being heavily contested within countries which strongly endorsed this key plan. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez denounced a "historical error" earlier today in a statement while the French Minister for Ecological Transition "regrets the flexibility opened up to combustion vehicles".

🇹🇩⚡- Chadian media reports of an attempted coup against President Deby. State media reports the coup attempt failed, with Deby still firmly in control of the country.

DW recently reported of heightened tensions in the African nation.

🇩🇪⚡️- The German Parliament just approved 50B€ in military purchases spread amongst 30 major orders.

The purchases include but are not limited to:
- 21B€ for basic equipment, mainly infantry-related.
- 4B€ for Puma IFVs.
- 3.4B€ for self-propelled howitzers.
- Several billions for air defense systems (4B€ Arrow 3, 2B€ Patriot PAC-3, and IRIS-T).
- Thousands of Eagle V APCs.
- Reconnaissance satellites for military purposes.

🇺🇸🇹🇷⚡- "Turkey is seeking to return the Russian S-400 air defense system, and in return be allowed to rejoin the US F-35 fighter jet program," - Bloomberg.

🇱🇾🇵🇰⚡- Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar received Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir in Benghazi, eastern Libya.

🇺🇸🇪🇨⚡- BREAKING: US Air Force personnel to be deployed to Ecuador's Manta Air Force Base to combat drug cartels.

Ecuadoran voters in November rejected a bid supported by President Noboa to lift the country's ban on foreign bases. However, the US Embassy in Quito says the deployment is a "temporary joint-operation" with the Ecuadorians.

🇫🇷⚡️- An African leader called Emmanuel Macron this Sunday in a panic, believing France was undergoing a coup d'Etat.

In reality, the African leader had seen an AI video of a fake reporter claiming the Elysée had been seized by an armed group led by a colonel.

Emmanuel Macron told this story to medias today, keeping the African caller anonymous, to emphasize the dangers of fake news online. The French President added "It made us laugh! 12 million views!" and formally asked Facebook to take down the video.

🇫🇷 - French medias (France24/FranceInfo) have identified the attached video as the one that fooled the African leader.

🇺🇸⚡️- A federal appeals court rules that the National Guard shall remain deployed in D.C. as of now.

The deployment of the National Guard in D.C. possesses unique legality, particularly due to D.C. being a federal district unlike a constitutional state.

The judge overseeing the case stated, “The defendants [Trump Admin] appear on this early record likely to prevail on the merits of their argument that the president possesses a unique power within the District — the seat of the federal government — to mobilize the Guard.”

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡️- Tucker Carlson says he was told members of Congress were informed of an imminent war with Venezuela. He says President Trump will announce it as part of his upcoming address to the nation at 9pm EST.

🇺🇸🇻🇪🇺🇳⚡- Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, called the UN Secretary General Guterres after President Trump announced a naval blockade of all illegal oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela.

Maduro falsely accused the US of piracy, after the USCG seized a stateless, sanctioned oil tanker in international waters, and described Trump's motives as "openly colonial."

🇺🇸🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️- US and Russian officials are scheduled to meet in Miami this weekend to further peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Witkoff and Kushner will continue to lead the peace delegation for the US.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️- "Israel examining possibility Iran involved in murder of nuclear scientist Nuno Loureiro in US." - The Jerusalem Post.

🇺🇸⚡️- Rhode Island Police and the FBI Boston Field Office have released a new photo of a person who was in proximity to the person of interest in the Brown University shooting and are asking for the public’s help in identifying them.

To be clear, this person is NOT the person of interest; they are simply being asked to come forward because they may have information about the POI.

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡- A US-sanctioned supertanker arrived in Venezuela, after spoofing on AIS to show false locations.

Trump's blockade seems nonexistent at the moment.

🇺🇸⚡️- The Senate has confirmed Jared Isaacman to lead NASA in a 67-30 vote.

“Mr. Isaacman highlighted three objectives: human space exploration of the moon, Mars and deep space; unlocking a larger space economy; and becoming a “force multiplier” for science missions, tapping into partnerships with commercial companies and academia to bring down costs.” - NYT.