U.S. tells #Canada, #Europe to boost #NATO air and naval forces as Washington steps back.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN - The U.S. expects European NATO allies and Canada to swiftly increase the number of manned and unmanned aircraft and ships they contribute to the alliance’s defence plans as Washington steps back in these areas, a top U.S. general said on Wednesday.

The statement by U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top commander and the head of U.S. forces in Europe, followed a decision by the Trump administration to shrink the pool of U.S. military capabilities available to NATO in a crisis.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO and told its European members they will have to take over primary responsibility for the conventional defence of the continent.

The U.S. told allies last month of its decision to reduce its contribution to a framework known as the #NATO Force Model, which includes a pool of forces that could be activated during a crisis.

The U.S. did not publicly disclose details of the planned reductions. But they include cuts across a broad range of capabilities, including refueling aircraft, fighter jets, drones and navy ships, according to figures provided to Reuters by a military source.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. had not specified when the assets would no longer be available to NATO.

But Grynkewich’s statement, issued after a meeting of NATO military planners on Wednesday, was the first public indication of what areas the U.S. plans to cut first and where it expects allies to step in.

Manned and unmanned aircraft and naval vessels are two areas where Canada and European allies “can step up now and in the near term - as the United States reduces forces ‘sourced’ to the NATO Force Model in Europe and refocuses them elsewhere,” he said.

“There has been an unhealthy co-dependence in the NATO Force Model on U.S. forces,” Grynkewich said in his written statement. “President Trump, (Defense) Secretary (Pete) Hegseth and others have been clear that this needs to change, and it will change. The potential reality of simultaneous conflict in multiple theaters demands it.”

#Canada made new and detailed proposals on trade to the US based on negotiating progress in recent weeks, said Canadian cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc.

The #Trump administration is seeking public comment on its plans to create a Board of Trade to manage economic ties with #China, moving ahead with the formal process to create the new mechanism

#GlobalNews: The International Fencing Union (FIE) has scrapped all previously imposed restrictions on Russian and Belarusian national fencers, allowing them to compete in international tournaments under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem, the FIE said in a statement on Tuesday.

Russian athletes are now allowed to participate under the colors and national symbols of their country at the 2026 FIE World Championships in China’s Hong Kong on July 22-30.

The next international fencing competition, however, is the 2026 European Fencing Championships in France on June 16-21, and the European Fencing Confederation is yet to make a decision regarding the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in that event.

"In December 2025, the FIE was one of the first international Olympic sports federations to allow Russian juniors and cadets to participate in its tournaments without restrictions," Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev stated on his Telegram channel.

"Exactly at that time, our fencers began showing decent results at the junior stages of the World Cup - the flag was raised many times and the anthem of the Russian Federation was played," he continued.

"Later on, our women's junior sabre fencing team won the gold at the World Championships in team competitions in Brazil, and then at the European Championships in Tbilisi [Georgia], the Russian team performed under the national flag and finished in the top of the overall medals standings," Degtyarev added.

Fencers from Russia and Belarus were previously barred from all FIE competitions due to the developments in Ukraine starting in 2022. In March 2024, the FIE allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international competitions under a neutral status and in line with recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In December 2025, the FIE allowed Russian youth fencers to compete in international tournaments under the national flag and to the tune of the country’s anthem.

In December 2025, the IOC Executive Board issued recommendations that allowed athletes in international federations from Russia and Belarus to participate in youth disciplines under the national flags and anthems. This recommendation applied to both individual and team sports. Numerous international sports federations followed the proposal.

#Trump wants to formalize Iran's nuclear program concessions in memorandum — TV.

According to the TV channel, Iranian negotiators verbally assured the United States that the Islamic Republic would eventually agree to a number of conditions regarding its nuclear program, but Donald Trump considered these guarantees insufficient.

US President Donald Trump is seeking written concessions from Iran in the nuclear sphere as part of a preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran, ABC News reported citing sources.

According to their information, Iranian negotiators verbally assured the United States that the Islamic Republic would eventually agree to a number of conditions regarding its nuclear program. However, the US President, during a meeting in the White House Situation Room on May 29, considered the guarantees received from Tehran insufficient.

ABC News recalls that the subject of negotiations between the US and Iran is a memorandum of understanding that would officially extend the ceasefire, ensure the gradual opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and establish a timeframe for further negotiations on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Last week, Iranian and US negotiators agreed on a draft agreement that they believed would satisfy both the Trump administration and the Iranian authorities, the television channel adds. As noted, this version included a written commitment from Iran not to seek nuclear weapons but did not contain specific commitments regarding the nuclear program as a whole.

Earlier, The New York Times, citing sources, reported that Trump had toughened the terms of the draft agreement on resolving the conflict with Iran and sent new proposals to #Tehran for consideration.

The #Iranian authorities have repeatedly stated that the Islamic Republic's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful in nature and that #Tehran has never wanted to possess an atomic bomb.

#Mexico arrests suspected cartel hitman over Canadian mining murders.

MEXICO CITY — Mexico on Tuesday announced the capture of a suspect in the kidnapping and murder in January of 10 workers from a Canadian mining company in the violence-plagued state of Sinaloa.

The security ministry said the suspect, identified as Gabriel N., alias Gabito, was a hitman for a faction of the fearsome Sinaloa drug cartel.

The workers, all Mexicans, were kidnapped at gunpoint on January 23 from a silver mining project belonging to Vancouver-based Vizsla Silver in the country’s northwest.

The bodies of the 10 men, two of whom were engineers and one a geologist, were later found buried in clandestine graves.

Abductions by armed groups are common in Mexico, where more than 120,000 people have vanished since the 1950s, many of them abducted and killed by drug cartels.

It is rare, however, for international companies to be targeted.

The government said the workers were mistaken for members of a rival faction of the Sinaloa cartel, which has been ripped apart by internecine fighting since September 2024.

The security ministry said Gabriel N worked for a faction controlled by the sons of jailed druglord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in the United States.

The ministry added that he was being investigated for kidnapping, extortion, homicide and drug-related offenses and that was found in possession of weapons, ammunition, drugs, cash and a vehicle.

The Sinaloa cartel has been designated a terrorist organization by Washington.

AFP

#Iraqi national pleads not guilty in 18 attacks in #Europe, calling himself a 'prisoner of war'.

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi finally was persuaded to sit down in Manhattan federal court as two marshals approached him at a judge’s urging. One marshal put his hand on his shoulder to guide him into his seat.

Al-Saadi did not appear to be trying to be disruptive as he commented beyond his response to the charges. The charges say he conspired to provide material support to Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militant group, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“I’m not guilty in a war situation,” Al-Saadi responded, before adding through an Arabic translator: “I’m a prisoner of war. I’m not a threat. Children and women are being killed by your rockets.”

Judge Colleen McMahon responded by saying: “The defendant will be seated please,” which prompted the marshals behind Al-Saadi to move up to where he was seated.

Both Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. have been designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. prosecutors say Al-Saadi was a Kata’ib Hizballah commander.

But his lawyer, Andrew Dalack, told the judge that his client worked for the Iraqi government, though he did not specify what position.

The lawyer said Al-Saadi was held at an underground Turkish prison for two weeks before he was turned over to the FBI.

“I’m sure it was unpleasant, to say the least,” the judge said.

Dalack said Al-Saadi has been held in solitary confinement at a federal lockup in Brooklyn but was hoping to communicate with a diplomatic counsel from Iraq and his mother and siblings, although he expects the U.S. government to severely limit his communications.

Last month when the charges against Al-Saadi were announced, Dalack told reporters that his client believed he was being persecuted for his relationship with Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.

Among the 18 attacks in Europe, Al-Saadi is charged in the firebombing of a bank in Amsterdam and with stabbing Jewish men in London.

Federal authorities also said in court papers that he sought to attack a New York City synagogue last month and provided an undercover law enforcement officer with photos and maps of Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, that he planned to target.

Al-Saadi is also accused of involvement in two recent attacks in Canada: an attack on a synagogue and a shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto in March. U.S. prosecutors said he directed and urged other people to attack U.S. and Israeli interests, including by killing Americans and Jews.

Al-Saadi posted about the attacks on Snapchat and Telegram and spoke about them in phone calls recorded by an FBI informant whose help he solicited in planning attacks in the U.S., according to court papers.

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press

#Britain will not have to pay #Rwanda tens of millions of pounds over a canceled asylum deal, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said on Monday.

In a joint statement on Sunday night, the #WHO and the Congolese government acknowledged it was "a challenging time" and that they were working to improve surveillance, testing and care for patients.

The Ukrainian army carried out a drone attack on apartment buildings in the city of Genichesk, Kherson Region, killing a child and leaving another 11 civilians injured.

TASS has gathered the key information about the strike.
Consequences of attack

- The Ukrainian armed forces carried out a drone attack on apartment buildings on Kovalenko Brothers Street in Genichesk late on May 31, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo wrote on Russia’s national messenger Max.

- A child born in 2020 was killed.

- According to the latest reports, 11 people were injured.

- The injured are in fair condition, Saldo specified.

- Doctors are providing them with the necessary medical assistance.

- Four residential buildings and up to eight cars were damaged in the attack, Genichesk District Administration Head Yulia Semyakina told #TASS.

- The #Ukrainian drone attacks caused power shortages in the Kherson Region, Saldo pointed out.

- Eleven municipalities were left without power, a spokesperson for the Khersonenergo, a branch of the Southwestern electric grid company, said.

- According to the company, efforts are underway to restore electricity supplies as soon as possible.
Reaction

- District Administration Head Yulia Semyakina told TASS that a temporary accommodation center with a capacity of 30 beds had been set up for those affected by the enemy strike.

- The official stressed that the child had been killed on the eve of International Children's Day.

- According to Semyakina, the Kiev regime continues attempts to intimidate local residents.

- Authorities in the Kherson Region have cancelled all events marking International Children’s Day due to Ukrainian attacks, the governor’s Spokesman Vladimir Vasilenko announced.

- The Kherson Region’s Central TV channel will take entertainment shows off the air on International Children’s Day following the Ukrainian attack on Genichesk.