🇮🇱🇺🇸⚡️ — Israel has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen U.S. support for the Iran war and improve its international image, WSJ reports.

➡️ Israel also allocated $45 million for a lobbying contract with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.

🇺🇸⚡️ — A CNN investigation found that President Trump promoted more than 20 companies on Truth Social just days after purchasing shares in them, in some cases announcing government actions that could benefit businesses in which he had recently invested.

🇺🇦⚡️ — During a briefing, outgoing Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said he identified 11 major problems related to the management of the Ukrainian military during his first months of service:

1. Ukraine's Armed Forces are fighting at the tactical level, although increasingly at the operational level too. Still, fundamentally, "we are still fighting tactically."

2. The corps system has not yet fully taken shape. "We have corps that are successful, that advance every month and do not lose territory. And we have corps where the commander is replaced every month. There are corps that have developed their own school of thought and philosophy, and there are corps where we do not even know how many brigades they have or what is happening inside them. Everything depends on organization, but there are corps that do not distribute all their resources internally."

3. Brigades and corps have been fragmented. "There are brigades that cannot even determine how many battalions they have. A battalion is pulled out of one brigade and thrown into another. It is impossible to build a management system under conditions like these.

4. No one is held accountable for anything. "Responsibility is always pushed down the chain. Someone else is always made to carry the blame; there is always talk of an investigation and of 'finding out who is guilty."

5. Supplies are not routed through the corps. Fedorov said the supply problem is "fundamental": "Over the past five months, we have bought more drones than in the whole of last year, but most units have not felt the impact, because everything is distributed manually: if you are loyal, you get something; if you are not, you don't... That is why we launched this system. It was four months of hell, because it took us four months to agree on a simple project for baseline drone provision to brigades."

6. Constant replacement of commanders.

7. Isolation and toxic treatment of those who deliver results. "If you succeed, you become a star, and then you hit a dead end. [General Mykhailo] Drapatyi received his third reprimand; goodbye. Sorry, Drapatyi, I think after this speech there will be a fourth reprimand for you. I wouldn't want that to happen, but we have no choice left but to talk about it.

8. It is impossible to carry out any systemic project. "Because you constantly run into the same questions: 'But why?' and 'But how?'"

9. Human capital is being worn down without proper analysis. Fedorov said they had carried out "a great deal of work," including analyzing losses. "But decisions about who should be supported, who should not, who should be reinforced and who should not are not based on data. They are based on loyalty."

10. The blocking of initiatives and the "bureaucratic crossfire." "In six months at the Defense Ministry, we have not been able to change the organizational structure because the General Staff refuses to approve it: the name is supposedly wrong, something else is not right, or there is allegedly no need to bring in new people."

11. Constant dishonesty. "This applies to me too: claims that I ordered the investigation into Skelia, that I launched a media campaign, that I did this or that."

🇧🇷⚡️ — WATCH: Member of the infamous Brazilian criminal organization Comando Vermelho used a drone to attack a vehicle belonging to a rival faction in Rio de Janeiro, causing damage to the vehicle and injuring the nearby gang and bystanders.

🇺🇸⚡️ — Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

Here in the United States, the share of left-wing terrorist attacks and plots has risen to levels not seen in decades.

🇾🇪❌🇸🇦 — Houthi (Ansarallah) leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi warned that Saudi oil installations and other key infrastructure could be targeted with missiles if Riyadh participates in a “comprehensive aggression” and further escalates its role in the conflict with Yemen.

He also reiterated threats against Saudi airports and ports, declaring, "The real equation is Sana’a Airport for Riyadh Airport… airports for airports, ports for ports, and blockade for blockade,” adding that the Houthis “will not accept the continuation of the blockade” when Saudi Arabia “acts arrogantly and moves toward full escalation.”

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧 — The Israeli military has begun building permanent military positions within the so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon, according to Maariv.

🇺🇸⚡️ — President Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, is under investigation for allegedly using advance knowledge of Trump’s speeches to place bets on the prediction market Kalshi, according to ABC News.

➡️ Federal investigators found that Perez may have earned more than $100,000 by betting on the outcomes of Trump’s State of the Union address and other speeches.

➡️ Perez is in settlement talks with regulators. Kalshi flagged the trades and referred the matter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — U.S. airstrikes struck near Qeshm Island, southern Iran, this evening, according to Mehr News Agency.

🇸🇾🇱🇧⚡️ — Hezbollah denied operating throughout Syrian territory, calling Syrian government claims that a recently seized weapons shipment was linked to the group “completely false.”

➡️ The group says the allegations are aimed at damaging its reputation and supporting U.S.-Israeli plans in the region.

🇸🇦🇺🇸⚡️ — Saudi Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Fayyadh Al-Ruwaili met with CENTCOM Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Patrick Frank to discuss military cooperation on Wednesday.

➡️ The talks focused on “developing cooperation in military fields” to advance shared interests between the two countries, without providing further details.

🇮🇷⚡️ — Explosions in Behbahan, southwestern Iran.

UPD: Not an attack.

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡️ — The U.S. is preparing a transition plan for Venezuela that would combine reconstruction after the June 24 earthquakes with preparations for democratic elections, ABC reports.

➡️ The unapproved proposal includes around 3,000 U.S. personnel and nearly $3 billion in initial funding.

➡️ The plan would focus on rebuilding infrastructure and coordinating aid rather than military occupation. U.S. engineers and civilian experts would help restore roads, ports, energy systems, water supplies, and public services.

➡️ Washington is considering a temporary supervisory administration to manage reconstruction and prevent Chavista institutions from controlling the entire transition. The plan would not involve annexing Venezuela but would give the U.S. a central role in overseeing the country’s recovery.

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — U.S. airstrikes targeted areas near Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, this evening, according to Fars News Agency.

🇺🇸⚡️ — Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression, so long as they served a left-wing cause.

🇺🇸⚡️ — Secretary of State Marco Rubio:

Under President Trump, for the first time, the United States is building the infrastructure, the partnerships, and the strategy to defeat the scourge of far-left terror.