A Canadian woman of Chinese origin who was an intern at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium has been arrested on spying charges, Belgian prosecutors said Saturday.
“She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization,” the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
h/t Ontario John
Why do so many Americans oppose the war against Iran?
The biggest reason is that they do not believe Iran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. If Iran was nowhere near a bomb, President Donald Trump’s decision to use military force looks unnecessary, even reckless. But if Iran was close, as Trump claims, the debate changes dramatically.
That is why NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s recent assessment should have been a major news story.
The number of young men applying to be conscientious objectors and refuse armed military service in Germany has risen sharply this year, undermining a drive by Berlin to create Europe’s strongest conventional army and deter the Russian threat.
More people had applied to exclude themselves from service on religious or moral grounds in the first half of 2026 than in the whole of last year, according to figures provided by the government on Tuesday.
Canada leaves this week’s NATO Summit in Ankara with good reason for cautious optimism. After years of debating defence budgets and delayed procurements, the Alliance has reached an important turning point. The discussion is no longer about promises. It is about military capability. That is precisely where Canada’s focus must remain.
For years, NATO measured commitment by the percentage of GDP devoted to defence. That benchmark still matters, but it is no longer sufficient. The true measure of national security is whether those dollars produce soldiers, ships, submarines, aircraft, armoured vehicles and ammunition that can fight. Capability deters aggression. Announcements do not.
EU militaries continue to rely heavily on US weaponry. This was again evident at July’s NATO summit in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, which also included the high-level Defense Industry Forum, at which US companies were able to secure lucrative contracts.
It was also decided that European governments would play a bigger role in producing and maintaining the missiles that are so crucial to the continent’s defense. Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly produce ATACMS missiles in Germany. This is one step towards increasing stockpiles without upsetting the United States, but in the long term Europe is aiming for greater independence.
NATO countries are bolstering their militaries after U.S. President Donald Trump “won the argument” on defence spending, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday.
Trump has long said allies don’t spend enough on defence and that the U.S. has carried more than its fair share of NATO’s defence spending burden.
Carney told reporters in Turkey on the last day of the summit that Trump is looking to shift that burden – something former U.S. president Barack Obama had sought as well.
🚨 UPDATE: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has just stunned the world, telling all allies to "ADMIT TRUMP WAS RIGHT"
"The alliance that has leaned TOO HEAVILY on U.S. muscle is building its own — and buying American."
GOOD! No more free rides, Trump called it 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VHPnguiVmy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 7, 2026
h/t Hermes
Canada will help lead a NATO defence force along the Arctic “front” as part of the military alliance’s efforts to expand security and protect against Russia in the High North.
But the announcement, by Prime Minister Mark Carney, comes as the fate of another ice-covered territory — Greenland — is once again cast into doubt by U.S. President Donald Trump.
We have a lot of announcements, that should get us to Moscow I bet.
President Trump unleashed his fury on European NATO allies Tuesday at a summit in Turkey, declaring that the Iran war had served as a test of their resolve, and they had failed spectacularly.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. President Trump just OBLITERATED NATO, basically calling them freeloaders who barely deserve his presence if it weren't for Turkey
"ITALY turned us down. GERMANY turned us down. FRANCE turned us down."
"We WEREN'T TREATED WELL."
"I was VERY disappointed with… pic.twitter.com/cESu8wIrw3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 7, 2026
Trump is 100% correct to walk into the NATO summit and immediately demand Greenland.
There is ZERO reason or justification for Denmark to control it other than ego.
Setting the tone. The free ride is over. pic.twitter.com/hhwIynPBjG
— Mike Crispi (@MikeCrispi) July 7, 2026
NATO has made it official, announcing Tuesday that it intends to acquire up to 10 Saab-manufactured GlobalEye early warning surveillance aircraft in a plan that has important implications for Canada.
Secretary General Mark Rutte said at the outset of this year’s leader’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, that the Western military alliance will open formal negotiations with the Swedish company in order to secure the planes.
The alliance had previously signalled it was looking at the high-tech jet as a replacement for NATO’s existing fleet of aging Boeing E-3 AWACs.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Turkey this week with a message that Canada is now pulling its weight in the alliance and ready to do what it takes to get to its ambitious spending target set for 2035.
But Canada’s increased defence spending will without a doubt be overshadowed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s musings in Ankara, whether they are about Iran, Greenland, or leaving NATO altogether.
It was almost midnight in Brussels and the leaders of Europe were locked in their fifth hour of an emergency meeting with a single theme for discussion: how to manage a breakup with America.
The new year was only three weeks old and President Trump, after removing Venezuela’s autocratic strongman, had briefly threatened to seize Greenland from Denmark. Around a circular table in the European Council headquarters known as “The Space Egg,” heads of government were venting so emotionally about the 47th president that some of the nearly 30 leaders present would later call the session “therapy night.” There were no cameras or recordings and each of the presidents and prime ministers was told to come alone, no phones allowed, for a moment to speak candidly.
Good for Europe! All the best in your future dealings with Russia and China.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Since he started work as NATO secretary-general almost two years ago, Mark Rutte has spent much of his time trying to keep the United States anchored to the world’s biggest military alliance, employing outright flattery to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from acting on threats to abandon it.
But the goalposts keep shifting, raising the stakes ahead of this week’s summit in Turkey.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to leave for Ankara on Monday to attend the annual NATO summit — the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkey since 2015.
Turkey’s capital will make up the first leg of Carney’s week-long sojourn to the Middle East, which will conclude with a short stay in Saudi Arabia aimed at deepening trade and investment ties.
Good luck weasels!
WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was planning to head to Brussels last month to deliver what would be a bombshell announcement in a meeting with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top military chiefs.
The U.S., he planned to say, was preparing additional cuts to its forces in Europe that would go beyond the canceled deployment of an armored brigade to Poland and the earlier withdrawal of an infantry brigade from Romania, people familiar with the matter said. But Hegseth’s proposal was nixed after it was shared with Marco Rubio—President Trump’s national-security adviser—and other senior officials, the people said.
Or Russia’s plans for Poland were revealed.
Russia is planning an armed “provocation” on Polish soil to test Nato’s resolve, the United States has warned.
Polish critical infrastructure could be targeted by missiles and drones or Russian soldiers could cross the border into Nato territory.
Washington has issued several warnings to Warsaw about the plot, sources close to Karol Nawrocki, the Polish president, told Onet, the Polish news outlet, which, along with The Telegraph, is owned by Axel Springer and is part of its Global Reporters Network.
