Our number one priority is protecting our people, says Starmer, overlaid with the sound of electric guitars played by Dire Straits. Starmer refused to join the US and Israeli strikes on Iran but has since authorised defensive action.
Global X Defense Tech ETF (NYSEARCA:SHLD) is up 82% over the past year, and the conversation around defense tech investing is heating up for reasons that go well beyond quarterly earnings cycles. This ETF undoubtedly sits at the intersection of two powerful forces reshaping global military spending: Europe's historic rearmament push and an ongoing conflict involving Iran that has accelerated demand for autonomous and AI-driven weapons systems.
My favorite speaker outside the Federal Building blasted Trump for his illegal war of aggression against Iran, and noted that this destabilization of Iran and other attacks against it in the past were motivated by American oil interests. Besides not wanting war, San Franciscans don't need more oil or carbon emissions overheating the planet, especially this February, which was far too warm in San Francisco due to climate change.
Stop invoking 'rules-based international order' as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great power rivalry, where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion.
According to the text that has now been adopted, the budget deficit is to be reduced to 5% of gross domestic product. There will be higher taxes on some businesses, including an extra tax on large companies' profits, which is expected to bring in around 7.3 billion ($8.6 billion) in 2026. The plan also boosts military spending by 6.5 billion, a move the premier last week described as the "heart" of the budget.
Budget negotiations have consumed the French political class for nearly two years, after President Emmanuel Macron's 2024 snap election delivered a hung parliament just as a massive hole in public finances made belt-tightening more urgent. The budget talks have cost two prime ministers their jobs, unsettled debt markets and alarmed France's European partners. However, Lecornu whose chaotic two-stage nomination in October drew derision around the world managed to secure the support of Socialist lawmakers through costly but targeted concessions.
The U.S. Supreme Court could rule as soon as Friday on whether President Trump's tariff regime is unconstitutional. If the court strikes down his trade policies, it could jeopardize up to one-third of Trump's newly proposed military budget, according to a post by the president on social media.Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social that he wanted to increase U.S. military spending from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
Putin, confident in his strategic calculus that the West would provide only token assistance to Ukraine, which would quickly fold under the weight and violence of Russian military might, fatefully launched his attack days later with disastrous consequences for Russia. The country he leads is now even poorer, more isolated, brittle, and dependent (on China) than before. Putin grossly underestimated Ukrainian will, overestimated the competence of his own military and intelligence apparatus, and misjudged Western cohesion.
"The war of today is already being fought in space, and the war of tomorrow will begin in space," Macron said in Toulouse, France's space and aviation hub, which is home to its new space military command centre. "Space is no longer a sanctuary; it has become a battlefield," Macron said. He said that Russia in the wake of its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine was carrying out "espionage" activities in space.
"We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection, and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens," Lai said in an address during Taiwan's National Day celebrations. Taiwan's defense game plan Lai reiterated plans to strengthen the self-ruled island's defense capabilities, adding that a special defense budget would be proposed by the end of 2025.
A large crowd of close to 2,000 people marched through downtown Toronto Saturday afternoon as part of Canada-wide protests calling on the new Liberal government to prioritize the climate, Indigenous rights, migrants and workers ahead of the fall budget. Protesters' concerns included Prime Minister Mark Carney's support for new fossil fuel projects, potential public service cuts as well as other issues like Indigenous rights, anti-war activism and more.
The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) Joint Defence Council held an emergency session in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, to discuss urgent regional security measures in response to the recent Israeli strike on a Hamas office in Qatar's capital, which killed six people. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi said the attack on the State of Qatar can be considered an attack on all GCC countries.
The military-spending dilemma in Europe is mischaracterized as a choice between military and social investments; historically, it is a choice between military and taxes.
Army leaders defended the $45 million parade spending for the service’s 250th birthday, arguing it will enhance recruitment, drawing criticism for potential misallocation of funds.
