Two storylines dominate: a Middle East conflict that jumped its containment lines overnight, and a widening gap between America's shrinking military footprint in Europe and the continent's efforts to compensate.

Middle East: the pause is over

  • A surprise missile strike on US forces, US-Saudi air strikes on Iran-backed militants in Iraq, and Iranian seizure of three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz hit within days of signs the conflict was cooling — more.
  • Saudi Arabia joined US strikes on Iran's proxy network in Iraq directly for the first time, while the UK works to build a multinational naval coalition to guard Hormuz shipping — more.
  • WTI crude jumped 7% as renewed Iranian missile fire and the US-Saudi raids convinced markets the war can no longer be confined to Iran and Israel — more.

Russia, sanctions and a thinning US shield

  • The US Senate voted 86 in favor of advancing the Graham-named sanctions bill targeting Russia's war financing, after senators met Zelenskyy around Graham's funeral; a final passage vote is still pending — more.
  • The Pentagon began withdrawing roughly 5,000 troops from Europe and scrapped a planned armored-brigade rotation to Poland — the largest US force-posture revision on the continent since the Cold War — as Romania shot down three suspected Russian drones alone under a national law bypassing NATO's Article 5 — more.
  • Brussels is preparing its largest sanctions batch yet: more than 1,600 companies linked to Russia's war effort, a 50 percent jump in listed entities, though any of the 27 member states can still veto it — more.

Czechia

  • State fund PGRLF is suing 28 Agrofert subsidiaries to claw back farm subsidies totalling more than 22 million koruna, reviving the European Commission's unresolved conflict-of-interest case against PM Babiš — more.

Also worth a glance

  • Japan: the Kyushu earthquake death toll rose to at least 13 as rescuers keep searching a G7 industrial and semiconductor hub — more.
  • Analysis: from NATO's counter-drone pool to Greece's €3.5bn air-defense buy, defense industries everywhere can't build fast enough to match demand from wars already underway — more.