NATO chief Mark Rutte says the reduction of U.S. contributions to NATO’s crisis-response forces has taken effect immediately, with other allies stepping up to fill the gaps. - Reuters
Commenter’s View 🐝
Takaichi’s “isolation” is not accidental but the result of multiple converging factors. The historic depreciation of the yen has fueled market distrust.
Her limited diplomatic experience, language barriers, and weak international networks, combined with growing domestic political skepticism and an increasingly clumsy communication strategy—repetitive videos, poorly crafted messaging—have all contributed to an environment where she doesn’t just appear isolated.
The conditions make it entirely reasonable to interpret the situation as actual isolation rather than exaggeration.
It is, in many ways, a factual phenomenon.
為替チャート
【ドル円】160.630 0.00% -0.004 [15:01]
【ユーロ円】184.947 △0.11% +0.209 [15:01]
【ユーロドル】1.1514 △0.12% +0.0014 [15:01]
https://t.co/hzbzopA6Kl
Commenter’s View 🐝
G7” Takaichi’s “isolation” is not accidental but the result of multiple converging factors.
The historic depreciation of the yen has fueled market distrust.
Her limited diplomatic experience, language barriers, and weak international networks, combined with growing domestic political skepticism and an increasingly clumsy communication strategy—repetitive videos, poorly crafted messaging—have all contributed to an environment where she doesn’t just appear isolated.
The conditions make it entirely reasonable to interpret the situation as actual isolation rather than exaggeration.
It is, in many ways, a factual phenomenon.
https://t.co/SOs8ZsBcCi
Commenter’s View 🐝
Takaichi’s “isolation” is not accidental but the result of multiple converging factors. The historic depreciation of the yen has fueled market distrust.
Her limited diplomatic experience, language barriers, and weak international networks, combined with growing domestic political skepticism and an increasingly clumsy communication strategy—repetitive videos, poorly crafted messaging—have all contributed to an environment where she doesn’t just appear isolated.
The conditions make it entirely reasonable to interpret the situation as actual isolation rather than exaggeration. It is, in many ways, a factual phenomenon.
U.S. President Donald Trump:
"The Technology the World relies on was invented in America. We all remember “Intel Inside.” Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories. They forgot to protect our Industries with TARIFFS. When I won my Second Term (Third, actually!), it was clear America needed its Semiconductor Industry to come back to the U.S.A. We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW! So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America. First, we helped bring in Nvidia, and they agreed to build their first level Chips with Intel. Next, Elon agreed to build his TerraFab, the largest Chip Factory in the World, designed together with Intel’s Technology team. And, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America. We decided to help Intel in exchange for 10% of their shares. Is that too much or, too little? They were worth around 100 Billion Dollars when we made our offer. Now they are worth over 600 BILLION DOLLARS! Nine months, and they’ve increased in value over HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS. America’s stake is now over 60 Billion Dollars. When was the last time a President made America money?? Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP".
Footage of a Ukrainian attack drone hitting a storage tank at the Moscow Oil Refinery this morning, sending the tank lid perfectly soaring hundreds of feet.
MORE: Iran will likely use renewed economic access under the MoU to reconstitute members of the Axis of Resistance, particularly Hezbollah, during the 60-day negotiation period. Iran has already told Hezbollah that it will increase its funding as soon as possible once the United States unfreezes Iranian assets. Israel badly degraded Hezbollah during the October 7 War. The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria made Hezbollah’s resupply more difficult, and Iran’s competing priorities—including rebuilding its own assets without any financial relief after June 2025—made funding the reconstitution of Hezbollah and other Axis members relatively more challenging. Iran did provide Hezbollah with roughly $1 billion USD between the 2024 war and the 2026 war, but relaxing sanctions and providing Iran with greater access to revenue will provide Iran with more money it can choose to provide to Hezbollah. Clause 11 of the MoU, as reported by Bloomberg, states that the United States may unfreeze Iranian assets in response to “progress of negotiations towards a final agreement.” Lebanese and regional sources told Reuters on June 17 that Iran has promised Hezbollah that it will increase the group’s funding ”as soon as possible,” once the United States unfreezes Iranian assets as a part of the MoU. The degree to which Axis of Resistance factions remain contained or weakened after the last nearly three years of war is in large part contingent on how much funding Iran can provide to them.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah have continued to engage one another in southern Lebanon, in spite of the US-Iran MoU.
Hezbollah, Iranian officials, and Iranian media continued to claim on June 17 that the US-Iran agreement requires Israel to cease operations against Hezbollah and ultimately withdraw from southern Lebanon
3/ The Iranian factions that secured and approved the deal are trying to sell the agreement, which appears somewhat politically sensitive in Tehran.
Iranian media is also using potential, early economic benefits that Iran would receive under the MoU to argue that Iran secured tangible and irreversible benefits without abandoning its core demands.
2/ Iran also appears to believe that the MoU requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, which would help preserve Hezbollah. ⬇️
Iran is already taking positive action regarding Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz to enforce its interpretation of the MoU’s terms.