MIDDLE EAST - Tehran’s response to Trump’s growing armada risks disruption in global oil chokepoint. Iran has launched military drills in the Strait of Hormuz to cement control over the critical waterway following the deployment of a second US aircraft carrier to the region. The exercises aimed to establish “smart control” over the Strait through “plans and scenarios for reciprocal military action” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the face of “potential security and military threats in the Strait of Hormuz region”, the IRGC said. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the IRGC commander, is overseeing the exercises, which will test operational forces’ “rapid, decisive and comprehensive reaction”. Satellite images showed the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was deployed to the Gulf last month, was south-east of the Strait on Sunday, 150 miles from the coast of Oman. Any closure would send oil prices soaring and inflict severe global economic damage.

EUROPE - Unusually direct criticism reflects increasingly fractious alliance at heart of EU. Germany has criticised France for insufficient defence spending in a public rebuke to its most important EU ally. The German foreign minister accused Emmanuel Macron of failing to make the hard financial choices at home needed to match his calls for Europe to reduce its reliance on the US for defence. Johann Wadephul said on Monday that the French president “repeatedly and correctly refers to our pursuit of European sovereignty” but added that “anyone who talks about it needs to act accordingly in their own country”. In unusually direct language, Mr Wadephul said that Paris must be ready to take “difficult decisions”, including welfare cuts, to create the “breathing space needed” and increase defence spending.

POLAND - Poland should begin developing nuclear weapons to guard against Russia, the country’s president has said. Karol Nawrocki, who was elected last year, said he was a “great supporter of Poland joining the nuclear project”, which he said could underpin the country’s security strategy. “This path, with respect for all international regulations, is the path we should take,” he said in an interview with Polsat television on Sunday. “We must work towards this goal so that we can begin the work. We are a country right on the border of an armed conflict. The aggressive, imperial attitude of Russia towards Poland is well known.” European discussions about developing a nuclear umbrella also came after warnings that Vladimir Putin was moving nuclear missiles to the border of the European Union.

USA - Donald Trump has reversed a key scientific ruling that determined that greenhouse gases posed a threat to public health. The “endangerment finding”, implemented by Barack Obama in 2009, served as the legal foundation for a range of federal actions on limiting emissions. The US president told reporters at the White House on Thursday: “We are officially terminating the so-called endangerment finding, a disastrous Obama-era policy that severely damaged the American auto industry, and massively drove up prices for American consumers. This action will eliminate over $1.3 trillion (£950 million) of regulatory cost and help bring car prices tumbling down dramatically.” The White House described the reversal as the “largest deregulation in American history”, claiming it would make cars cheaper by bringing down manufacturing costs by $2,400 per vehicle.

ISRAEL - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "very skeptical" about any future deal with Iran and that he raised concerns with US President Donald Trump that "the Iranians are lying." Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ 51st Annual National Leadership Mission in Jerusalem on Sunday, Netanyahu said he just returned from the US, where he held "a very important meeting" with Trump focused on Iran. The conference, which began on Sunday, is set to run through Thursday. According to Netanyahu, Trump believes as though "Tehran feels like it missed a chance to reach a deal last time and wants to reach one this time." He stressed, however, that he had his doubts. "Iran is reliable on one thing, that they lie and they cheat."

ISRAEL - Jerusalem Police complete Ramadan preparations, vow to maintain status quo on Temple Mount. Jerusalem District Commander Avshalom Peled said ahead of Ramadan that the district remains “committed to safeguarding freedom of worship for members of all religions and communities in the city.” Jerusalem Police have completed operational preparations for Ramadan 2026, which begins this week, deploying hundreds of officers across the capital with a particular focus on the Old City and the Temple Mount, officials said on Monday. The stated goal is to enable freedom of worship while preserving security and public order, a balance that in past years has proven delicate, especially amid broader regional tensions. Ramadan in Jerusalem has repeatedly coincided with heightened tensions in recent years.

GERMANY - The idea of obtaining nuclear weapons is no longer taboo for German politicians and the military, Russian envoy to Berlin Sergey Nechaev has told RIA Novosti, calling the growing discussions highly concerning. Berlin is in the process of a massive military buildup, planning to spend $582 billion on defense over the next four years, citing the supposed ‘Russian threat’. German officials have set 2029 as the deadline for the armed forces to be “war-ready” for a potential conflict with Russia – which Moscow has dismissed as “nonsense.” Berlin is explicitly barred from developing, producing, or acquiring its own nuclear weapons under the Two Plus Four Treaty which allowed reunification in 1990, as well as the 1969 Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, it hosts dozens of US nuclear weapons on its territory as part of NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements.

GERMANY - German leaders are pursuing policies reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s objectives of dominating Europe and inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. Germany’s military buildup and ambitions go beyond defense, Lavrov told a press conference following his address to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on Saturday. The foreign minister accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz of seeking to transform Germany back into “the main military machine of Europe,” citing his increasingly militaristic rhetoric. Merz vowed to turn the Bundeswehr into the “strongest conventional army in Europe” in a speech delivered less than a week after the world marked the 80th anniversary of the fall of the Third Reich in May.

GERMANY - German Chancellor Merz has rejected French President Macron’s request for the European Union to issue bonds to pay for stuff France cannot afford. Germany doesn’t want to pay for free stuff for the French government which is deeply in debt. Debt to GDP: Germany 65% - France 120%.

GERMANY - Germany will ban a leader of the AfD party, Björn Höcke, from speaking publicly in a German city. As Sentinel reported in July, Germany’s left-wing leaders were considering a speaking ban on the right-wing AfD party, which is gaining popularity. It is coming to pass. German courts are currently deliberating whether leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Björn Höcke could be hit with a “speaking ban” during a campaign event in the city of Lindenberg im Allgäu. They have freedom of speech in Germany, and everyone can say what they want unless they decide to support extreme right-wing positions. The AfD party is not a Nazi party. They want to close the borders. The German politicians in power are authoritarians and will not let anyone take their power away. In Germany, you have free speech as long as they agree with what you are saying.