News Trump on a $250 Bill Is Not Just Strange. It Runs Into the Law. Trump administration officials have reportedly pushed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare designs for a new $250 bill featuring Donald Trump’s portrait for America’s 250th anniversary. There is one immediate problem: current federal law prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency. Treasury Secretary Scott By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Pentagon’s $9.7 Billion Microsoft-Dell Deal: Follow the Infrastructure, Then Follow the Money The Department of Defense awarded Dell Federal Systems a five-year agreement valued at about $9.7 billion to provide Microsoft software licenses, cloud subscriptions, secure communications, collaboration tools, and productivity technologies across the military, intelligence community, and Coast Guard. Officially, this is about modernization: Microsoft 365, cloud access, zero-trust infrastructure, By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News China Is No Longer an Abstraction — While the U.S. Leaves Diplomatic Chairs Empty China is no longer experienced only through headlines about tariffs, Taiwan, or military competition. It is increasingly experienced through logistics networks, payment systems, AI tools, scholarships, e-commerce platforms, industrial supply chains, cyber infrastructure, and digital ecosystems woven into daily life around the world. That is the core takeaway from a By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Advisor – Commissioner of the President for Sanctions Policy held a meeting with ambassadors of European countries. Photo: Zelenskyy Office News Russian Missiles Still Run on Foreign Parts Ukraine showed European ambassadors components from Russian Zircon, Kalibr, and Kh-101 missiles, as well as Geran-2 drones used in Russia’s May 24 attack. The finding is blunt: Russia’s war machine is still getting access to foreign-made technology. According to Ukraine’s presidential office, some components came from Switzerland, By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen escort President Zelenskyy’s aircraft | Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy X News Ukraine’s Gripen Deal Changes the Air War — But Not Overnight Ukraine and Sweden have moved from political promise to defense architecture. In Uppsala, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson initiated a major agreement for Ukraine to acquire up to 20 new Gripen E/F fighter jets, financed with €2.5 billion from the EU-backed Ukraine Support Loan. By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Britain and Poland Are Building a Post-Brexit Security Bridge The United Kingdom and Poland are signing a new defence and security treaty designed to strengthen cooperation on Russia, border security, organized crime, cyber threats, and European defence. The treaty follows similar UK agreements with France and Germany, and it is part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s broader effort By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
Image shared on X by Ambassador Gor News The Quad’s Critical Minerals Push Is About China — Even When It Doesn’t Say China The United States, Japan, Australia, and India have announced a Quad Critical Minerals Initiative aimed at building more secure and diversified supply chains for minerals needed for advanced technology, industrial production, and defense. The framework says the four partners intend to mobilize up to $20 billion in public and private By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Canada’s GlobalEye Decision Is About Defense — and Sovereignty Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada has entered negotiations to procure Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft, built around the Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500 platform. The aircraft would give Canada long-range air, sea, and land surveillance capability, including the ability to track objects and signals up By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
News The White House Builds a UFC Arena While Asking Federal Workers to Sign NDAs Two stories out of Washington today belong together. On one side, construction is underway on the White House South Lawn for a temporary UFC arena tied to President Trump’s 80th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The event is planned for June 14, with a scaled-down 5,000-seat By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News The Hormuz Deal Is Not a Deal Yet A possible U.S.-Iran framework over the Strait of Hormuz is now being floated through Iranian state media — but Washington is already pushing back. By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
News The UK Just Broke Its May Heat Record Twice The United Kingdom just broke its May heat record twice in two days. On May 25, Kew Gardens reached 34.8°C, breaking the country’s previous May temperature record of 32.8°C, set in 1922 and matched in 1944. On May 26, the record was broken again, with By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Hungary’s New Leader Cuts His Salary. The Real Test Is Corruption Reform. Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar is moving quickly to signal a break from the Viktor Orbán era. His government has pledged investigations into alleged corruption and abuse of power under Orbán, including six investigative committees, possible constitutional reforms, an eight-year prime ministerial term limit, and the dismantling of By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
