🇮🇱☢️ Satellite images show intensified construction at Israel’s Dimona nuclear site, long linked to its suspected atomic weapons program.

Experts say it may be a new heavy water reactor or facility to assemble warheads, but secrecy clouds certainty. — AP

🔗 Faytuks

🇺🇸🇨🇳 Comparing the drones at this year's military parades.

Who wore it better?

🔗 Jason Smith

🇫🇷 The Fifth Republic established by Charles de Gaulle is looking increasingly ungovernable. — POLITICO

French politics are so paralyzed that the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron — an idea once only whispered in the corridors of power — is now being openly debated.

But while Macron’s departure would be an earthquake on the European diplomatic stage, there’s increasing doubt it would fix the gridlock stalling the Fifth Republic.

France’s problems appear to be deeper.

Macron is already scouting around for his fifth prime minister in less than two years, in the expectation that François Bayrou will be ousted on Monday over his unpopular measures to slash the country’s eye-watering budget deficit.

But would a new prime ministerial nominee from Macron be able to force through the billions of euros in budget tightening that the country needs to avoid a debt crisis? And would a new snap election create a workable majority? Neither outcome seems likely. And even if Macron were to resign, his successor would almost certainly face the same obstacles.

The legislature is deadlocked, budget talks are flatlining, and murmurs of social unrest are growing louder. Financial markets are jumpy, and Bayrou himself is warning that Paris faces a Greek-style scenario unless it reins in spending.

Against that backdrop, far-right National Rally President Jordan Bardella and far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose parties together account for a third of seats in the National Assembly, are openly calling for the president to go.

The broader conversation about his departure is no longer outlandish and now includes reputable political commentators and some figures from the center right.

“We’re hearing this even from voices close to the Macron camp,” said Mathieu Gallard, a pollster at Ipsos France. “The discomfort is real.”

Macron is still seen as extremely unlikely to throw in the towel, not least because his premature exit — a presidential election isn’t due until 2027 — would do nothing to resolve the mess.

Surveys show a new legislative election in the coming weeks would most likely yield another hung parliament with a few more seats for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸🇵🇷 U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd MEU), part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) which consists of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) and USS San Antonio (LPD-17), have begun amphibious landing exercises in Southern Puerto Rico, only around 500 miles north of Venezuela.

The 22nd MEU is part of the naval task force deployed by the U.S. Navy to the Southern Caribbean Sea to combat narco-terrorism emanating from Latin America, with the task force launching its first kinetic strike yesterday against a vessel linked to Tren de Aragua/Cartel de los Soles off the coast of Venezuela.

🔗 OSINT Defender

🇮🇱🤝🇺🇸❌🇵🇸 — According to Axios the US Secretary of State indicated to Israeli officials in private meetings that he does not oppose Israel's annexation of the West Bank and that the Trump administration will not stand in the way.

🇺🇸 When asked why is the Department of Justice slow-walking the release of the Epstein files and if Trump is doing that to protect his friends or donors, Trump said:

"This is a Democrat hoax that never ends.. it reminds me of the Kennedy situation. We gave them everything and more and more and nobody is ever satisfied.

From what I understand, thousand of pages of documents have been released but its really a Democrat hoax because they're trying to get people to talk about something that's irrelevant to the success we've had as a nation since I've become president.

Even if you look at DC right now, its a totally safe zone (...) you can walk down and its safe, no crime, no murders (...) we've had a lot of problems, in other places too, all run by Democrats, so what they're trying to do with the Epstein hoax is get people to talk about that instead of focusing on the tremendous success

I've ended 7 wars, seven wars, nobody's gonna talk about it, they're gonna talk about the Epstein whatever (...) we've released thousands of files and I think that's enough and we should continue talking about the success of our country (...) We are having the most successful 8 first months of any presidency in history and that's what I wanna talk about not the Epstein hoax".

@CIG_telegram