Trump-Rutte meeting. Trump voiced his frustration with NATO countries over Iran in a meeting with Rutte at the White House yesterday, Rutte told CNN. He declined to answer whether Trump discussed a potential U.S. withdrawal or scaledown from NATO, though Leavitt had earlier said Trump would likely raise the matter. Trump criticized NATO in a social media post after the meeting but did not announce a reduction in U.S. participation.
Madagascar’s energy emergency. The Indian Ocean country declared a two-week state of emergency due to a fuel crunch caused by the Iran war. Last year, power shortages in Madagascar triggered mass protests, resulting in military takeover. The government said the emergency declaration gave it the authority to manage energy consumption; local media reported fuel rationing at some gas stations.
North Korean missile tests. Pyongyang test-fired one missile Tuesday and multiple missiles yesterday, South Korea’s military said. Though South Korea has said it seeks to dialogue with North Korea on security matters, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official said Tuesday that Seoul would always be Pyongyang’s “most hostile enemy state.”
Greece social media restrictions. Greece will introduce legislation banning Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat for people under the age of fifteen, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said yesterday. His party controls the legislature, which is expected to vote on the measure in the coming months. If passed, the ban would take effect January 1. Government officials cited social media’s effects on anxiety, sleep, and addictive behavior as the basis for their support of the measure.
U.S. Army chatbot. The army is building its own chatbot that aims to help soldiers with tasks like configuring weapons systems, its chief technology officer told WIRED. The chatbot has been trained on information gleaned from previous military missions. A prototype includes a forum similar to Reddit and a chatbot called VictorBot.
Report on falling aid. Rich countries’ development assistance in 2025 likely fell to lows last seen during the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Network on Debt and Development said yesterday. It estimated that only three of the thirty-four members and associates of an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) group of donors met their 0.7 percent of GDP development aid target.
Crossing Canada’s aisle. Marilyn Gladu yesterday became the fifth lawmaker in Canada’s Conservative Party in recent months to defect to the ruling Liberal Party. The move increased the possibility that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals could soon have a parliamentary majority, with the party leading polls for two special elections Monday. Gladu said she believes Carney can address the “uncertainty” caused by U.S. tariffs.
Classifying Cuba’s prisoner release. Cuban authorities did not appear to include any political prisoners in their release of more than two thousand inmates last week, Human Rights Watch said yesterday. The release, which Havana described as a “humanitarian gesture,” came against the backdrop of ongoing talks with Washington over political liberalization. Cuban human rights groups say more than seven hundred political prisoners remain jailed in the country.
