North Korean missiles, a German strike debate and a presidential security scare set today's agenda.
Russia's war, Europe's exposure
- Russia hit Zaporizhzhia with ballistic missiles President Zelensky says came from North Korea, killing at least six and wounding 19 — a sign Pyongyang's support for Moscow now extends to missile systems (more).
- A drone carrying explosives found at Leipzig airport reopened Germany's fight over hitting back at Russia, with CDU intelligence-panel chair Marc Henrichmann pushing to let the BND strike inside Russian territory (more).
- Austrian investigators broke up a network smuggling Western-made parts into Russian cruise missiles and fighter jets, exposing sanctions-enforcement gaps inside the EU's own borders (more).
Trump, under threat and under appeal
- Trump used a decoy plane and a catering truck to leave Turkey after NATO's summit, following intelligence on a credible Iranian threat, according to the Washington Post and the Guardian (more).
- Two US rights groups sued the Trump administration over ICC sanctions tied to a 2025 executive order, the first direct court test of Washington's campaign against the tribunal (more).
- The administration appealed a trade-court order to refund tariffs to every importer who paid them, a ruling that could undercut its broader tariff leverage if it stands (more).
Indo-Pacific and the EU
- China announced naval drills with Indonesia off Taiwan while pressing the Pacific Islands Forum to limit Taiwan's role at its Palau summit, after the forum reversed last year's exclusion (more).
- Meta and TikTok agreed to an EU-brokered mechanism routing Spain border-crossing content to Brussels-vetted fact-checkers after the deadly Ceuta rush, short of a formal Digital Services Act order (more).
Analysis: the AI race's funding gap
- Zuckerberg's US-versus-China framing plays out on three fronts — AI creeping into nuclear decision-making, a White House mandate to deploy frontier AI without delay, and a legal fight over mass license-plate surveillance — all funded mostly by industry, not government, unlike the Cold War's state-led tech races (more).