Ukraine's General Staff says that the overnight drone and missile attack on the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk damaged four Russian warships: the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, a Buyan-M-class corvette, and the Vasily Bykov.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump, in a post earlier on TruthSocial, stated that the United States has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz while claiming that the ongoing naval blockade of Iran is being called, “A WALL OF STEEL.” Trump continues by stating Iran has “No Navy… No Air Force… No Money” before closing with, “Praise be to Allah!”

New reporting sheds more light on why Trump was secretly removed from Air Force One in Ankara last month. U.S. intelligence reportedly picked up multiple streams of information indicating a specific surface to air missile threat against the aircraft carrying Trump. Someone near the NATO summit was also reportedly observed with a shoulder-fired missile. Even more concerning is that U.S. officials say Iranian intelligence knew where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the floor of the building. The threat was considered credible enough to trigger an extraordinary deception. Trump publicly boarded the legacy VC-25A 'Air Force One', was secretly removed in a catering container, and departed Turkey aboard a C-32A. The VC-25A then flew on with senior officials, staff and reporters aboard, creating the appearance that Trump was still onboard. There is no public evidence Iran actually attempted to attack the aircraft. But the combination of a potential missile threat and highly specific knowledge of Trump's location was apparently serious enough for the U.S. to treat the threat as real. The biggest unanswered question may be how Iran obtained such detailed information about the president's movements and lodging.

Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were onboard the decoy flight posing as Air Force One last month when President Trump secretly took a different plane from the NATO Summit in Turkey, following the possible threat posed by surface-to-air missiles, according to CBS News. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on the secret flight with President Trump out of Turkey, in addition to White House aides Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta and Dan Scavino. Onboard Air Force One with Rubio and Bessent, who were reportedly aware that Trump had been moved to a secret plane, were White House aides Stephen Miller, Will Scharf, Steven Cheung, Mike Needham, Ross Worthington and Monica Crowley.

According to the New York Times, the threat in Ankara was considered serious enough for the Secret Service to secretly move Trump off Air Force One in a catering container and onto another military aircraft. Air Force One then departed for Britain with senior officials, military personnel and journalists aboard, while those passengers were apparently unaware that the presidential aircraft itself was considered at risk. The operation was intended to conceal Trump's movements and prevent an adversary from knowing which aircraft he was actually aboard. The unusual aspect is that the deception potentially shifted the risk from the president to other passengers without their knowledge. The article also notes that this differs from previous presidential deception operations. During Bill Clinton's 1999/2000 Pakistan trip, for example, journalists were at least partially informed of the deception, and the details were publicly disclosed after the president was safe. The White House has defended the decision, with Trump saying he followed Secret Service advice. Former officials interviewed by the NYT are divided: some argue that protecting the president necessarily takes precedence, while others contend that knowingly placing uninformed civilians in a potentially targeted aircraft crosses an important line.

Cockpit view from a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 Fulcrum as it engages and shoots down a Russian drone using an R-73 AAM.

Speaking to reporters yesterday night, President Donald J. Trump seemingly confirmed reports that he was secretly moved off Air Force One and onto a military plane while returning from the NATO Summit last month in Turkey. Asked why the situation was dangerous enough for him to be transferred to another aircraft but members of his Cabinet, senior officials, and reporters were left on Air Force One, Trump responded: “Well, I don't know. I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk... Because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

The NGO Human Rights Watch has demanded that Congress block the massive sale of Turkish artillery to Ukraine as it includes cluster munitions.

Additional footage of Russia's Orsk Oil Refinery burning this morning after a Ukrainian drone strike. Ukrainian attack drones reportedly hit a valuable processing unit, setting it ablaze.

Yalda Moayeri, the award-winning Iranian photojournalist known for her images of Iran's protests, was sentenced Saturday to 15 years in prison under the country's espionage law. She says the charges stem from interviews given to outlets Tehran calls "hostile" and photos passed to groups tied to the U.S. and Israel. - Reuters

Palestinian sources told Qatari-owned Al-Arabi Al-Jadid that mediators informed Hamas the U.S. administration is serious about a Gaza solution "even if it angers Netanyahu." The mediators also told Hamas that Netanyahu's opposition to the roadmap for phase two of Trump's plan is "only a statement," and the agreement will be implemented without changes.

U.S. President Donald Trump: "I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane... I do what they say... I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats."

Video reportedly shows Russian air defenses firing heavily as they attempt to intercept Ukrainian drones targeting Novorossiysk last night. Novorossiysk is Russia’s primary Black Sea Fleet base and a major oil and grain export hub.

Widespread outages hit areas south of Zawiya in western Libya after an FPV drone struck and destroyed the South Zawiya 30/11 kV substation, triggering a major fire. The attack, still unclaimed, adds to a recent wave of drone strikes on the region's power and oil sites.

Overnight, the Defense Forces executed a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk, eliminating enemy forces using "Palyanytsia" jet drones, Neptunes, and USVs.

Trump: “I don't trust Iran. Why? Are you saying I trust Iran? I'm the last person that trusts Iran. They've lied to me constantly. We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now. They don't have control. We have total control. But we right now, we're in a very good position. We have a country that has been the bully of the Middle East for 50 years. It's been saying 47 for four years. And they're no longer the bully of the Middle East."

Iran is adapting its tactics to wear down U.S. air defenses, and exploit dwindling interceptor stocks, according to new reporting from The New York Times. During five days of attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan last month, Iran combined drones with maneuvering ballistic missiles to overwhelm defensive systems. On July 17, one missile penetrated the defenses at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, killing 3 U.S. soldiers and wounding more than 100. The scale of the expenditure is becoming increasingly important: the U.S. has fired more than 1,500 Patriot interceptors during the war and reportedly has fewer than 1,700 remaining, while producing only about 600 Patriots in all of 2025. On one day during the Jordan attacks, U.S. forces reportedly fired around 50 Patriots, at roughly $4 million each. Iran has also demonstrated other adaptations, including using drones to provide targeting data that helped shoot down a U.S. F-15E in April and expanding attacks through partners such as the Houthis to force U.S. forces to defend against threats from multiple directions. The Pentagon continues to publicly deny that the U.S. has a munitions shortage.

Multiple drone attacks, with at least five reported since Saturday, have targeted oil facilities in Zawiya, Libya. Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) has warned that it could declare force majeure if attacks against the city’s energy infrastructure continue. Such a declaration would allow the NOC to potentially suspend oil production or exports without being held contractually liable for failing to meet its delivery obligations.

Spokane (WA) International Airport has entered a ground stop as the Air Traffic Control facility is evacuating due to a nearby fire. Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) is assuming the airspace.

A telecom failure contributed to last week’s near-miss between Marine One and a departing passenger jet at Reagan National Airport, prompting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to work with the FAA and White House on a fix. The incident is especially significant because mixed helicopter and commercial jet traffic around Reagan was restricted after the January 2025 midair collision that killed 67 people. Duffy said the problem involved communications systems and has now been “elevated” for action. The FAA is already spending billions to replace aging air-traffic-control telecommunications and radar infrastructure following a series of outages and failures.