One week, one city, two wars: Washington's calendar this week ties Ukraine, Iran and Israel together, while an earthquake in Japan and a new EU rule on AI content round out the day.

Washington's convergence

  • The Pentagon is extending Ukraine aid planning through 2029 ahead of Trump's meeting with Zelensky, signalling Washington is budgeting for a long war rather than an exit — more.
  • Trump hosts Netanyahu on Tuesday for their first meeting since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, against a backdrop of unusually blunt Trump criticism and softening US public support for Israel — more.
  • Zelensky heads to Washington and then to Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral, as the Wall Street Journal reports Trump may be privately warming to Kyiv after a year of telling advisers the war was lost — more.
  • A bipartisan Senate deal, driven for months by Graham, would extend sanctions to buyers of Russian and Iranian oil, not just the two countries themselves — more.

Disaster in Japan

  • A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan and triggered a tsunami alert, with people reported trapped in a Kumamoto shopping mall and unconfirmed reports of an explosion at the site — more.

European Union

  • The EU's AI Act now requires disclosure of AI-generated chatbot text, images and video across all 27 member states, but experts warn the lack of shared labelling standards could let much synthetic content go unmarked — more.

Analysis: China's simultaneous rise

  • Four separate reports this month show China gaining on the US at once — in global public opinion, trade surplus once gold imports are counted, biotech drug-trial speed, and military doctrine that now folds disinformation into Taiwan war planning — more.