Trump Arrives in Ankara to Reshape NATO With Defense Spending as New Currency

🎖️ ANKARA — Trump is using NATO to rank allies by wallet, not loyalty. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Defense spending as political weight turns Italy's 1.5% GDP into a liability Meloni must defend while domestic austerity constrains any new pledge. First Trump-Meloni meeting since their clash: she needs US goodwill for Hormuz-linked energy security but can't absorb a public rebuke before budget season. NATO's southern flank is her only leverage.

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Iraqi PM Heads to Washington for Oil Deals as Region Burns

🛢️ BAGHDAD — Iraq signs oil deals with Washington while Iran fires through its sky. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Baghdad hosts US bases and tolerates Iranian missile overflight simultaneously — that balance is now under pressure. Energy contracts give Sudani political cover to tilt Washington without a public security declaration. Tehran will read Iraqi-American

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Jordan Condemns Iranian Strikes, Having Absorbed Missiles on Its Own Soil

🕌 AMMAN — Jordan was struck by Iran; now it says so out loud. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Amman's condemnation carries more weight than Doha's — Jordan absorbed confirmed missile impacts at Muwaffaq Salti, making this a victim state going on record. That closes Jordan's traditional ambiguity on Iran

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US Military Confirms Southern Hormuz Bypass Route Open for Commercial Traffic

🚢 HORMUZ — Washington is routing ships around Iran's closure, not through it. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: JMIC formalizing the Omani corridor is the US operational answer to Iran's closure declaration — bypass it rather than force it. This undermines Tehran's strategic leverage: if traffic moves south, the closure

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Qatar Publicly Condemns Iranian Attacks, Threatening Its Own Mediation Role

🇶🇦 DOHA — Qatar condemns Iran publicly while its envoy is still in Tehran. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: Doha hosts Al Udeid and has an envoy physically in Tehran. A public condemnation strips Qatar of the neutrality mediation requires — Tehran can't treat a state that just condemned it as a safe interlocutor.

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Iraqi PM Heads to Washington for Oil Deals as Region Burns

Jordan Condemns Iranian Strikes, Having Absorbed Missiles on Its Own Soil

US Military Confirms Southern Hormuz Bypass Route Open for Commercial Traffic

Qatar Publicly Condemns Iranian Attacks, Threatening Its Own Mediation Role