ISRAEL - Netanyahu Rejects Trump's Board of Peace 15-Point Gaza Plan: 'No Withdrawal Until Hamas Fully Disarms'. Israeli PM also vows no Palestinian state in Gaza or West Bank while he is in office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday firmly rejected a 15-point plan for Gaza put forward by President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, declaring that the Israeli military will not make “any withdrawal” from Palestinian territory until Hamas is completely and genuinely disarmed. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu made Israel's position crystal clear: "Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza document proposed by the Board of Peace. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed." As of Sunday, the path forward on Gaza remains uncertain, with Israel standing firm that Hamas must be fully stripped of its weapons before any territorial concessions.

MIDDLE EAST - Saudi Arabia turns to Turkiye and Pakistan for defence ties, raising questions over reliance on the US. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye have signed a joint defence pact. It is an alliance that analysts say highlights Riyadh’s desire to diversify its defence partnerships, expanding to Ankara and Islamabad. The pact was announced at a time of increased regional tension. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has launched a military operation against the Iran-aligned Houthis following a series of attacks, while Iran and the US have yet to reach a final deal to end the war. The trilateral Mecca pact raises questions about the effectiveness of the decades-long US military presence in the Gulf. Does this alliance offer a viable alternative to the security umbrella promised by Washington?

MIDDLE EAST - A core objective of the agreement is accelerating technological cooperation and joint manufacturing across the three nations' defence sectors. The framework provides for joint research and development, technology transfer, streamlined defence procurement, and co-production of military hardware, particularly in high-technology domains such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), naval engineering, air defence systems, and electronic warfare suites. The treaty also formalises the mechanism for continuous strategic intelligence sharing, joint operational planning, reciprocal personnel exchanges, and combined tri-service military exercises across land, sea, and air domains.

MIDDLE EAST - The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement integrates three complementary forms of military and influence, creating a potent strategic triangle across West Asia and South Asia. As the world’s leading oil exporter and the largest economy in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia provides the financial capital, infrastructure, and political authority required to sustain long-term alliance initiatives. Riyadh's central role within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the broader Islamic world gives the pact diplomatic clout. As a NATO member possessing the alliance's second-largest military force, Turkey brings sophisticated operational experience, standardised command systems, and an advanced domestic defence industrial sector. Meanwhile, Pakistan contributes one of the world's largest standing armies, decades of expeditionary training experience in the Arabian Peninsula, and its unique position as the only nuclear-armed nation in the Muslim world.

TURKEY - Turkish leaders have insisted that the new trilateral defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is not directed at Iran. Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that the pact does not identify Iran, or any other country, as a common threat. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, stating that an armed attack on one of the three countries would be considered an attack on them all. “There is no common threat that we have put in writing,” Fidan told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency, adding that countries that do not attack the signatories would not be considered targets. The alliance will also establish political and military committees, bringing together foreign and defence ministers and military chiefs, as well as a secretariat in Saudi Arabia.

CHINA - Gordan Chang says: China is broke. China’s rulers are desperate. Bad things are going to happen in that country. This is the report Gordan is referring to: Beijing is launching a wave of aggressive revenue-raising measures to fill its empty state coffers. Instead of addressing structural economic flaws, the regime’s solution is a ruthless tax dragnet targeting wealth everywhere it can find it. On top of auditing ultra-rich offshore trusts, Chinese mainland authorities have now begun enforcing a 20% personal income tax on Hong Kong insurance policies — triggering immediate panics and sharp sell-offs across Asian financial markets. Domestically, desperate local bureaus in cities like Shenzhen are using big-data tracking to force citizens to repay COVID-era unemployment benefits and pandemic allowances, while hitting businesses with corporate back-taxes dating back decades. From raiding private insurance policies to squeezing ordinary workers, Beijing is treating private assets as its own open piggy bank.

USA - A towering 50-foot bronze statue of the Greek Titan Prometheus is rising near the entrance to SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas, according to announcements from the Paris-based classical foundry Atelier Missor and reports circulating widely this weekend. The project is independent. It was not commissioned by SpaceX or Elon Musk. Atelier Missor secured landowner consent and local permits for what it describes as its own tribute to technological progress and humanity’s multiplanetary ambitions. In Greek mythology, Prometheus is the Titan who defied Zeus by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity. That act enabled technology, craft, and civilization itself. For his rebellion, Zeus bound him and condemned him to eternal torment, with an eagle devouring his liver each day only for it to regenerate. The myth has long symbolized the costly gift of knowledge, the refusal to accept imposed limits, and the drive to advance human capability.

SAUDI ARABIA - The deal was signed in the Saudi city of Mecca by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Erdogan of Turkey, and the Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. The move consolidated a growing split between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan; and India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which have drawn closer in recent months after Israel helped the UAE to repel Iranian attacks. The new alliance brings Saudi Arabia closer to Turkey, one of the region’s most advanced weapons manufacturers, and Pakistan, a nuclear power. But it is meant to replace the Saudis’ dependence on the US, which has pledged to help Saudi Arabia build a civil nuclear reactor and provides much of the kingdom’s arms. The kingdom, however, is seeking to diversify its defence relations, especially after the war with Iran, which showed the limits of American military power while strengthening a new, and more radical, regime in Tehran.

IRAN - Iran’s top national security official warned Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States “corrects its behavior,” issuing a sweeping list of demands as Vice President JD Vance said Washington remains in the “middle of the game” and is continuing to apply diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Tehran.

GERMANY - German arms maker Rheinmetall has reported a nearly 70% surge in second-quarter revenue and more than doubled its operating profit as rising European military spending continues to boost demand for weapons across the region. European arms manufacturers have prospered throughout the conflict, as Kiev’s backers have supplied its military with weapons while expanding their own defense industries. Shares in Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest defense contractor, have risen more than tenfold over the past six years. The company produces a broad range of military equipment that is supplied to Ukraine, including tanks, armored vehicles, artillery shells, and ammunition.