French Foreign Intelligence Service Delegation (DGSE) Visited Minsk In July Prior to CIA director, John Ratcliffe, travelling to Moscow, members of France's Foreign Intelligence Service (DGSE) traveled to Minsk where they met Ivan Tertel, director of Belarus' KGB sometime in mid-July 2026. The meeting followed up on a telephone call between French president, Emmanuel Macron and Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko earlier in May. Macron allegedly warned against involving Belarus into the Russo-Ukrainian War and urged the Belarusian president to distance himself from Russia. It is worth noting that, according to the Nasha Niva publication, in April 2026 a former French army officer named Boris was arrested in Belarus. His family appealed to the Élysée Palace, France’s foreign and interior ministries, senators, MPs, diplomatic missions and non-governmental organizations.

Everyone Talks About U.S. Debt But Europe May Be in Worse TroubleAmerica’s debt problem is impossible to miss. Federal debt has crossed $40.08T, another $1.9T deficit is expected this fiscal year and the 30-year Treasury yield is around 5.25%, its highest since 2007. Yet the next Western debt crisis may begin across the Atlantic. Washington has advantages that buy it time. The United States issues the world’s principal reserve currency, collects taxes through one federal government and sells debt through one enormous Treasury market. It can attract foreign capital and push part of the cost abroad. That does not make $40T harmless, but it can delay the reckoning. The eurozone has no comparable safety valve. It has one currency and one central bank, but 20 governments issuing their own debt, running separate budgets and answering to different voters. The ECB must set one monetary policy for economies with very different debts and growth rates. France shows why this is dangerous. Its 10-year bond yield has risen to about 4.15%, its highest since 2008 and now slightly above Italy’s. The European Commission expects a 5.1% French deficit this year and public debt near 120% of GDP by 2027. The problem can no longer be blamed on Greece or another small southern economy. France is the eurozone’s second-largest economy and one of the states meant to support rescue mechanisms for everyone else. If its debt starts trading like the old European “periphery,” the line between rescuers and rescued begins to disappear. Germany offers little comfort. Its 10-year yield is near 3.3%, a 15-year high, while its industry remains weak. Europe’s two central powers are paying more to borrow just as Brussels prepares another spending surge. The EU plans to mobilize up to €800B for rearmament. Member states must also finance ageing populations, expensive energy, social programs and support for Ukraine. Budget cuts provoke resistance. More borrowing raises yields. ECB intervention places more national debt risk onto the shared monetary system. The United States can abuse the dollar’s global role for longer. Europe may hit the wall first because it carries heavy debts without a genuine federal state standing behind them. One central bank cannot reconcile every national budget forever. So yes, America’s debt matters. But the louder surprise may come from a European Union that spent years presenting itself as the responsible alternative. Washington has a dangerous debt problem. Europe has the same problem inside a system poorly designed to survive it. No sympathy is required. Both created this predicament through wars, sanctions, subsidies and promises they can no longer finance cheaply. Now we get to see which model breaks first.

⚡️🇳🇪- The Nigerien government appears to have lost control over a significant portion of the armed forces amid an ongoing military mutiny. ▶️ Both loyalist and mutinous forces are reportedly contacting military units across the country, attempting to rally them to their respective sides and calling troops back toward the capital, Niamey. ▶️ Notably, the National Gendarmerie has reportedly remained inside its barracks and has yet to clearly align itself with either side. The reason for its apparent inaction remains unclear. ▶️ The situation is increasingly becoming a race to secure the loyalty of the bulk of Niger’s armed forces, although developments in Niamey could determine the outcome before reinforcements arrive. ▶️ The unrest points to significant discontent within sections of the Nigerien military.

Aug. 25 - US military transport plane lands in Moscow An American Boeing C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft has reportedly landed in Moscow, according to online air traffic monitoring systems. According to available data, the aircraft, which departed from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, made a stop in Riga before arriving in Moscow around 7:00 a.m. UTC A source within EU air traffic control authorities reported that the plane, having originally flown from Andrews Air Force Base to Latvia, had indeed continued its journey toward the Russian border. The source confirmed that the aircraft proceeded toward Russia's border after its stop in Riga. Additionally, the source noted that prior to this, the plane had also visited Charleston Airport.

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia over civil war atrocities A Syrian court sentences former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” during the country’s civil war. The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia. The court also sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib, who was arrested in January last year, to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising. The court convicted Najib, a cousin of ousted ruler Assad, of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and “torture leading to death.”

Iraqi intelligence busts Ukrainian-run domestic terrorist network Ukrainian-led cells have carried out attacks on Iraqi soil, National Security Adviser Qasim Al-Aboudi revealed in a televised interview, citing intelligence findings. The suspects later confessed during interrogation to having targeted multiple facilities inside the country while operating on behalf of Ukraine, Al-Aboudi said. 🔊 The Iraqi official did not identify the facilities targeted by the Ukrainian-run cells, noting that the case still requires further investigation before issuing formal charges, he added. Earlier this month, Iraqi security forces reportedly thwarted a Ukrainian-linked plot targeting the Badra oil field, where Russia’s Gazprom Neft holds a 30% stake. 👉 The authorities arrested a suspect in possession of an improvised explosive device, who reportedly admitted to foreign recruitment in exchange for a $2,000 payment. Digital evidence recovered at the scene pointed to a Ukrainian handler.

Nigel Farage is resigning as Member of UK Parliament to force a by-election "Today I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clacton, thereby forcing a by-election, which would happen, I hope, in short order." "This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment, to frankly tell them where to go. And that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election, I will fight to win, I will fight to continue the political revolution that reform has started." - "If I win, you win, because if I lose, they win, and we will never, with the two old parties, get the type of fundamental change that we need to fix Broken Britain." 📝 Jill Lawless: "Farage is facing a probe by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. On Sunday an opposition politician asked the watchdog to open another investigation over donations from a convicted fraudster."

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.

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.