International

Senate Democrats Block Trump's $1.15 Trillion Defense Bill Over Iran War and a Proposed US-Israel Military Merger

Background
Every year since 1961, Congress has passed a National Defense Authorization Act, the sprawling policy bill that sets the Pentagon's budget, authorizes weapons programs, and dictates everything from troop pay raises to base construction. For decades it has been one of the few reliably bipartisan pieces of…

Ceasefire in Ruins: U.S. Reimposes Hormuz Blockade and Strikes Bushehr as Trump Demands a 20% “Protection” Fee From Shippers

Background
The crisis now unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz traces back to February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched a joint air campaign against Iran codenamed Operation Epic Fury. The war's opening strikes killed Iran's longtime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, triggering a ferocious Iranian response of…

With Orban Gone, Ukraine's EU Accession Enters a New Phase as Brussels Opens a Fourth Negotiating Cluster

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The European Union's enlargement machinery, frozen for nearly two years by a single veto in Budapest, is suddenly moving again. On July 14, EU affairs ministers meeting in Brussels formally opened a fourth negotiating cluster for Ukraine's EU accession bid, covering external relations and…

Israel's Knesset Moves to Strip the Attorney General of Her Power in a Final Legislative Sprint Before Dissolution

With the Knesset days from dissolving itself ahead of an October 27 election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is racing to push through the most consequential change to Israel's system of checks and balances since the 2023 judicial overhaul: a bill that would strip the attorney general's legal opinions of their binding force on…

Federal Judge Finds Trump Acted in Bad Faith in $10 Billion IRS Suit, Sanctions DOJ Officials Over Collusive Settlement

Background
The case at the center of this week's ruling dates back to 2019-2020, when Charles E. Littlejohn, a contractor working for the IRS through the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked the tax returns of thousands of wealthy Americans to The New York Times and ProPublica. Prosecutors later said Littlejohn had…

China's First Open-Ocean Submarine Missile Launch Rattles the Indo-Pacific

Background
China has spent more than a decade building out the sea-based component of its nuclear triad, developing a fleet of Jin-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines armed with JL-2 and, more recently, the longer-range JL-3 submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Unlike the United States and Russia,…