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In Mexico, President Sheinbaum firmly dismissed President Trump’s threat of possible US military strikes on drug cartels, while in the Sahel, Mali’s army and allied militias stand accused of targeting civilians. In Europe, Denmark’s prime minister conceded significant losses for the Social Democrats in local elections, including the party’s historic defeat in Copenhagen.

Today’s lead story returns to Washington, where Saudi Arabia, United States unveil sweeping investment deals.

Read more below ⤵️

Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇺🇳 🇵🇸 UNSC endorses Trump-led Gaza plan: The UN Security Council has approved President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza plan, authorising the creation of an international stabilisation force and a transitional "board of peace" — chaired by Trump — to administer Gaza for two years. Critics and legal experts say the plan falls far short of Palestinian demands and imposes a form of international trusteeship.

2️⃣ 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇷🇺 Washington signals Ukraine must accept draft peace plan: Several media reports say Washington has presented Kyiv with a proposed peace framework, reportedly developed with input from Russian officials, that would require Ukraine to cede remaining territory in Donbas, cut its armed forces in half, scale back military capabilities, and grant official status to the Russian language and the Russian Orthodox Church. Ukrainian officials have described the plan as heavily skewed towards Moscow’s terms.

3️⃣ 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇷🇺 Airbus chair urges joint European tactical nuclear deterrent: Airbus board chair René Obermann has called for Germany, France, the UK and other willing European states to establish a shared tactical nuclear deterrence strategy, warning that Russia’s deployment of more than 500 tactical warheads along NATO’s eastern flank exposes a critical gap in Europe’s defence posture. 

4️⃣ 🇱🇾 Libyan rival chambers agree to unify development spending: Libya’s eastern House of Representatives and western High State Council have signed a joint development programme aimed at unifying financial spending for the first time in more than a decade. Although political legitimacy remains contested, the deal signals rare cooperation between rival administrations in Tripoli and Benghazi.

5️⃣ 🇲🇲 🇹🇭 Myanmar junta intensifies crackdown on cyber scam hubs: Myanmar’s military has launched a second major raid on industrial-scale cyber scam centres, detaining 346 foreign nationals near the Thai border. The operation follows last month’s high-profile raid, part of a broader campaign to dismantle online fraud networks responsible for billions in global losses, though critics argue the crackdown targets low-level workers while leaving the masterminds untouched. 

Major Story

🇺🇸 🇸🇦 TRILLION DOLLAR AMBITIONS: SAUDI ARABIA, UNITED STATES UNVEIL SWEEPING INVESTMENT DEALS

President Donald Trump announced that the US and Saudi Arabia had signed $270bn in new investments, while Saudi state media claimed a much larger $557bn figure. In Washington, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman leveraged his centralised control of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth to fast-track a slew of high-profile deals, with Trump publicly urging him to increase existing pledges to $1 trillion—and even floated $1.5 trillion.

Technology and AI: The Core of the New Partnership

Saudi Arabia’s state-backed AI firm Humain unveiled major partnerships, including:

• A joint venture with Elon Musk’s xAI to build a 500-megawatt AI data centre in Saudi Arabia.

• A $900m investment in AI video firm Luma.

• A collaboration with AMD and Cisco to deliver one gigawatt of data centre capacity.

• Expanded cooperation with Amazon to deploy 150,000 AI accelerators in Riyadh’s “AI Zone.”

With energy costs up to 50% cheaper than global averages, the kingdom is positioning itself as a global AI infrastructure hub. Although no AI chip sale has yet been confirmed, Washington signalled movement, signing a “Strategic AI Partnership” that explicitly includes semiconductor supply.

Critical Minerals and Energy Expansion

A landmark deal between MP Materials and Saudi mining company Maaden will establish a rare earth refinery in the kingdom—an area where China maintains global dominance. Despite US claims of major investment, the agreement is being financed by the US Department of War and may not contribute to Trump’s headline figures. Saudi Aramco also signed 17 preliminary agreements with US firms worth more than $30bn, expanding earlier commitments in energy, LNG, and advanced materials manufacturing.

Flash and Reality

The conference produced a flurry of high-profile announcements. But as with previous Saudi investment spectacles, many pledges lack clarity on actual cash commitments. Even so, the momentum marks a major strategic shift in US-Saudi ties, with AI, minerals, and energy now at the heart of their economic relationship.

Other News

1️⃣ 🇲🇽 🇺🇸 Sheinbaum rebuffs President Trump’s threat of US military strikes in Mexico: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum firmly rejected President Trump’s latest threat to authorise military strikes against drug cartels on Mexican soil, insisting: “It’s not going to happen.” She emphasised that Mexico would never request or permit foreign intervention, pointing to the historical precedent of US military involvement in the 19th century, which resulted in Mexico losing half its territory. 

2️⃣ 🇲🇱 🇺🇳 Mali and allied militias accused of executing civilians: Malian soldiers and allied Dozo militias allegedly executed dozens of civilians and burned homes in two villages in Segou region, according to eyewitness accounts gathered by Human Rights Watch. Rights groups and the UN urged impartial investigations, warning that the army’s failure to distinguish civilians from insurgents risks deepening Mali’s cycle of impunity, conflict and regional instability.

3️⃣ 🇩🇰 Danish PM acknowledges steep Social Democrat losses in local elections: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen conceded that her Social Democrats suffered a deeper-than-expected setback in nationwide municipal elections, losing more than five percentage points and relinquishing control of Copenhagen for the first time in over a century. 

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