On Tuesday morning, a US military transport appeared on every flight-tracker in the world, entered Russian airspace, and touched down at Vnukovo as Ukraine's drones fell silent. A US motorcade then sliced through the capital, idled downtown, then sped back out to the tarmac. And like that (💨) the C-17 was gone.
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SWEDEN
The Swedish armed forces have reportedly asked their government to expropriate a mansion owned by a Russian oligarch. They argue the Aleshchenko family has Putin links, and the waterfront plot is near a strategic naval base. (Sweden Herald)Comment: Cue the claims of Russophobia, but it’s the only adjacent plot the military doesn’t control, and the elevated position is perfect for anti-drone systems defending against the only hostile power now routinely droning Europe.
CHINA
Xi Jinping will this week touch down in Kyrgyzstan for the next Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, before paying his first visit to Egypt in a decade. (AA)
NIGERIA
President Tinubu has ordered an immediate military rescue after an armed group attacked a mosque in northern Nigeria during Friday prayers, taking a reported 600 folks. (BBC)
TAIWAN
Taiwanese prosecutors have indicted a senior Nvidia manager and two Super Micro Computer execs for smuggling restricted AI servers to China. (Bloomberg $)
COLOMBIA
Colombia’s newly inaugurated right-populist leader ‘El Tigre’ de la Espriella has announced plans to detain and deport unlawful migrants, warning raids will start as early as this week. (AP)Comment: He didn’t name-drop a nationality, but it’s clearly aimed at the millions of Venezuelans who’ve sought local refuge amid their home country’s own political and economic collapse last decade. Something like 90% of migrants in Colombia hail from Venezuela. This is partly about delivering on a campaign commitment, and partly a Trump-aligned response to Venezuela’s post-Maduro stabilisation.
PHILIPPINES
The Philippine army has announced it’ll ramp up its drone capabilities as part of its $810M modernisation effort. (Defence Post)Comment: It’s easy to gloss over endless (if overdue) drone announcements, but it’s worth reflecting on the logic here: unable to match Beijing’s South China Sea presence ship-for-ship, Manila is leaning more into asymmetric systems — a politically, financially, and operationally easier way to monitor and expose expansionism without risking clashes.
RUSSIA
A fire at the almost-finished Amur Gas Chemical Complex near Russia’s far-east border with China has left at least six Chinese nationals dead and another 100 workers injured. (Moscow Times)
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