The Lebanon escalation: Netanyahu is betting Trump can’t stop him
As Israel expands the war in Lebanon, Washington’s influence over its closest ally looks increasingly limited
Trump-friendly anti-woke crusader leads in first round of Colombia’s presidential race
Lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella will face left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda in a runoff in three weeks
China restricts travel for AI talent – Bloomberg
Beijing reportedly wants its top tech talent to seek permission before traveling abroad
Five NATO countries block plan for mandatory Ukraine funding – Telegraph
The UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada “aren’t very enthusiastic about the idea,” a source within the bloc has told the paper
Italian deputy PM wants to swap migrants for children
Fixing the acute demographic crisis would lessen the country’s dependence on a foreign workforce, Italian Deputy PM Antonio Tajani believes
Hungary restores sensitive anti-Ukraine ban
The Orban-era ban on Ukrainian food imports was introduced in 2023 to protect Hungarian farmers from cheap Ukrainian imports flooding the markets
Trump gifts Polish president 5,000 more US troops
The announcement follows confusion over a delayed troop rotation to Poland and a planned drawdown from Germany
Dispatches from ground zero of the woke reich
The epicenter of wokeism is crumbling, but the alphabet empire and its enablers are still clinging to life
OpenAI defeats Musk in court
A jury has rejected the tech mogul’s claims that CEO Sam Altman orchestrated an unlawful shift of the artificial intelligence firm to a for-profit model
Why Trump’s China trip signifies the end of American primacy
Washington is no longer confronting Beijing from a position of unquestioned domination
Iran to sue US and Israel over attacks on cultural sites
More than 149 historical landmarks and museums have been damaged in the strikes, Tehran has said
Largest US children’s hospital to launch ‘detransition clinic’
The Houston-based center will also sack five doctors who provided gender-affirming treatments to youth, the Texas Attorney General has said
Merz and Trump weaponize each other’s problems
As ties fray, Berlin and Washington are trading barbs over their decline, using each other’s crises to dodge their own mounting failures
‘Surrender not an option’ for Palestine – Iranian envoy
The Islamic Republic’s ambassador to the United Nations has urged the world to do more to counter Israel’s “expansionist” policies
US no longer ‘land of opportunity’ – Merz
The German chancellor, long seen as pro-American, has said he no longer recommends the country for study or work
Beijing can no longer treat Moscow as a junior partner
Why the West still misunderstands the Russia-China relationship