Wearing sunglasses indoors, Macron meets representatives of Syrian civil society in Damascus Again wearing sunglasses indoors, France’s President Emmanuel Macron attends a breakfast in Damascus with representatives of Syrian civil society. Macron wore the aviators inside at the Davos conference in January, with officials explaining the French president had a minor medical issue. Macron landed in Syria yesterday, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The visit underlines Syria’s geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Europe starts learning how to become third world country, says President Trump European nations are starting to learn how the transformation into a third-world country takes place because of the migration policy, US President Donald Trump said. "Europe is learning that when you take in Third World criminals, you become a Third World Country. It happens quickly, in just a blink of the eye. I was elected just in time," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump repeatedly criticized European allies of Washington for too soft migration policy.

Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1 A meeting of the US-led Board of Peace overseeing postwar Gaza reconstruction will be held in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1, English-language news portal In-Cyprus quoted Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis as saying. "What I can tell you is that the Peace Council has been established for the implementation of the reconstruction plan for Gaza under UN Resolution 2803, which we not only welcomed as the Republic of Cyprus but supported from the very first moment," Letymbiotis said, adding the board will meet in Cyprus on June 30 and July 1. According to him, the forum will include representatives of the Board of Peace Council, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and the office of the High Representative of the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov. Some officials attending have already requested meetings with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, he added. The story does not mention the location of the forum or the level of its representation. An In-Cyprus diplomatic source said that although the meeting will be held in the Republic of Cyprus, the country is neither the organizer nor co-organizer of the event. On Tuesday, The Times of Israel quoted sources as saying that the Board of Peace Council will meet next week in a Cypriot resort. The Cyprus News Agency later picked it up, while the Cyprus Mail newspaper checked the news and contacted Letymbiotis, who said he was unaware of plans to hold the forum on the island.

NATO says it’s working with US to understand details of troop reduction in Germany #NATO is working with the United States to understand the details of the US decision for a planned drawdown of US troops from Germany, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart says. “We are working with the US to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany. This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defence and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security – where we’re already seeing progress since Allies agreed to invest 5% of GDP at the NATO Summit in The Hague last year,” writes Hart on X. “We remain confident in our ability to provide for our deterrence and defence as this shift towards a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues,” she adds.

Gunfire and blasts rock Mali’s capital and other cities, in apparent coordinated assault Gunmen attacked several locations in #Mali’s capital and other cities early today in a possible coordinated assault, residents and authorities say. Mali’s army says in a statement that “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks” in Bamako and that soldiers were “engaged in eliminating the attackers.” In another statement later, it says the situation was brought under control. Mali has been plagued by insurgencies fought by affiliates of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the north. An Associated Press journalist in Bamako reports hearing sustained heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire coming from Modibo Keïta International Airport, around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center, and saw a helicopter over nearby neighborhoods. The airport is adjacent to an air base used by Mali’s air force. A resident living near the airport also reports gunfire and three helicopters patrolling overhead.

Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in December Eligible men will automatically be registered into the #military draft pool by December as part of an effort to streamline the previous process of self-registration and save money. Most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The U.S. has not had a draft since the Vietnam War, with military service being voluntary since 1973. But former President Jimmy Carter in 1980 reinstated the Selective Service in the event of a “national emergency,” where the registry could be used to “provide personnel to the Department of War and alternative service for conscientious objectors, if authorized by the President and Congress.” Many have questioned whether a U.S. military draft could take place amid the war in Iran, which is currently in a tenuous two-week ceasefire. Under the new rule, men will be registered automatically within 30 days of their 18th birthdays. Women are still ineligible for the draft, even as lawmakers in the past few years have attempted to attach provisions adding women to the draft as part of the annual defense policy bill. The measures have all been stripped out before a final vote on the legislation.

Europe Out of Order...! Spain, Switzerland, Italy and now France have closed either fully or partially their airspace to American military aircraft that are being used in the 3rd Gulf War, a sign displaying the growing rift between Europe and the U.S. If countries in Central Europe start following the example set by Spain, each sortie from England will cost the USAF more jet fuel as then number of flight corridors is reduced and travel time is increased.

Explosion takes place in Amsterdam, Jewish school likely target An explosion occurred in Amsterdam, Reuters said, citing Dutch media. Reports indicate that a Jewish school may have been targeted in the incident. The ANP news agency quoted the mayor of Amsterdam, who did not rule out the possibility that the blast was "a deliberate attack against the Jewish community." No further details were yet provided. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcSDptKbRg

Oil prices swing wildly amid mixed messages over Iran war Crude #oil prices fall sharply as energy markets remain on tenterhooks over effective closure of the Strait of #Hormuz. Oil prices are seeing dramatic swings as traders struggle to make sense of mixed messages about the impact of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran. Brent crude, the international benchmark, on Tuesday plunged 17 percent to fall below $80 a barrel, then rebounded to near $90 after US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright posted on the X platform – but then quickly deleted – a claim that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later told reporters that there had been no armed escort through the strait, which has been effectively closed to shipping in the region due to Iranian threats.

Paris to use Cold War uranium, plutonium reserves for new warheads, says top defense official France intends to use radioactive materials left over from the dismantling of Cold War warheads to produce new nuclear warheads, Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin said. "We have preserved fissile materials - uranium and plutonium - obtained from nuclear warheads dismantled after the Cold War. Thanks to this, we have sufficient reserves to produce new nuclear warheads, as announced by President Emmanuel Macron," the top defense official told the Le Dauphine Libere newspaper. Vautrin added that the expansion of France's nuclear arsenal is already included in the budget. "Thirteen percent of the 57-billion-euro military budget is allocated to nuclear deterrence," she said. Earlier, Macron announced France's intention to adopt the concept of "advanced deterrence" which involves joint exercises with partner countries, as well as the deployment of elements of France's strategic forces on the territory of other countries on the European continent. The French leader also announced plans to increase the country’s nuclear arsenal and said that Paris no longer intends to disclose the exact number of warheads. In 2020, Macron said that France's nuclear arsenal had fewer than 300 warheads.