President Trump touched down in Ankara, Turkey on Tuesday for a two-day NATO summit, but the mood behind closed doors is reportedly tense. European allies who denied the U.S. base access and overflight rights during Operation Epic Fury — the recent U.S. military action against Iran — are expected to face direct pressure from Trump in private meetings. The official agenda covers defense spending targets and Ukraine strategy, but the fallout from the Iran operation is expected to dominate back-channel conversations.
A weeklong preliminary hearing in Provo, Utah placed Erika Kirk in the same courtroom as Tyler Robinson, 23, for the first time since her husband's assassination. Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. Prosecutors played shooting footage in open court and are seeking the death penalty on seven felony charges.
A wave of severe weather swept through the U.S. over the holiday weekend, knocking out electricity for more than 373,000 customers as of Monday. Pennsylvania was hit hardest with over 50,000 outages, followed by Michigan, Louisiana, and New Jersey. Restoration crews are working to bring customers back online as damage assessments continue.
The newly restored Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will be partially drained this week after vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage during Fourth of July celebrations. The Interior Secretary announced the decision, citing the need to assess and repair the damage. The pool had recently completed a major restoration ahead of the America 250 festivities.
A massive six-day funeral for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28 — is underway in Tehran, with up to 20 million Iranians expected to participate. His son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has made zero public appearances since assuming power in March, fueling intense speculation that he was severely wounded in the same strike. During the procession, a performer called for the assassination of President Trump, while U.S.-Iran peace talks remain on pause.
The Chinese Communist Party fired a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, sending it approximately 6,300 kilometers across the Pacific before it splashed down near the island nation of Nauru. The missile was launched from near Taiwan and passed over multiple countries during flight. Australian Prime Minister Albanese called the test "a provocative act" that destabilizes the region, and condemnation poured in from governments around the world.
European NATO members announced major new weapons contracts at a defense industry forum in Ankara on Monday, just ahead of the summit with President Trump. Deals include surveillance drones from U.S. manufacturer Northrop Grumman and aircraft from Swedish aerospace firm Saab, as allies scramble visibly to meet defense spending targets before Trump arrives to press the issue. The move signals a markedly different posture from NATO's European members than was common just a few years ago.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has established a new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, consolidating all military drone and autonomous systems programs — previously scattered across a dozen agencies — under a single office reporting to Deputy Secretary Stephen Feinberg. The move is the centerpiece of a roughly $1 billion Drone Dominance initiative aimed at fielding more than 300,000 low-cost attack drones to U.S. forces by 2027. Officials called unmanned warfare "the most consequential battlefield innovation of this generation."
Chinese national security authorities publicly disclosed this week that an IT contractor working for a state research institution stole sensitive scientific data and handed it to a foreign intelligence agency. The announcement, published through Chinese state media on July 5, is an unusually candid admission from Beijing and highlights the security risks Chinese officials now associate with outsourcing data management. No details were released about which foreign government received the stolen information.
Team USA's home World Cup run ended in embarrassment Monday night as Belgium dismantled the host nation 4 to 1 in the Round of 16. To cap the humiliation, Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku broke out President Trump's signature campaign dance right on the pitch after scoring the fourth goal. The crowd reaction from the American fans in attendance was, by all accounts, not enthusiastic.
