"Daddy"

Hi Global Recap readers,

As promised, we're back today, diving into the details of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and we’ll also get into China’s recent moves to take away passports. 👇️ 

🌐 WORLD
Fast Scroll News

🇮🇷 Iran Executes Alleged Spies. Iran just executed three men it claims were Mossad agents who smuggled “assassination equipment” disguised as crates of alcohol used in a high-profile killing.

• Meanwhile, more than 700 others have been arrested since Israel’s June 13 strike as alleged “Israeli mercenaries.”

• Tehran’s judiciary says the men “cooperated with the Zionist regime” but gave no details about the intended target.

• Critics see this as the regime using the war with Israel to silence dissent at home.

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🇮🇱 Hamas Bomb Kills Seven. Seven Israeli soldiers were killed Tuesday when a Hamas-planted bomb struck their armored vehicle in southern Gaza. Hamas quickly claimed responsibility.

• Israel’s military death toll since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion has now reached 879.

• Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry claims that more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed or are missing since October.

• However, this figure remains disputed, as the ministry has a history of inflating or obscuring casualty figures by including Hamas terrorists in the civilian death toll.

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🇨🇳 China Takes Away Passports. China just ordered rare-earth companies to hand over lists of their top technical staff in order to keep them from leaking secrets abroad.

• Some top experts have already been told to give up their passports.

• This comes as China, which makes 90% of the world’s rare-earth magnets, uses new export licensing rules to throttle global supply.

• Rare-earth magnets power everything from EVs to fighter jets.

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🇺🇦 Ukraine, Europe Seal Tribunal. Ukraine and the Council of Europe just signed a deal to create a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression, specifically to go after top Russian officials for starting the 2022 invasion.

• It’s the first major international mechanism aimed at prosecuting senior leadership like Putin for launching the war, since the International Criminal Court (ICC) can’t touch aggression charges.

• President Zelenskyy signed the agreement in Strasbourg on June 25.

• Still, many are questioning whether such charges can actually be enforced.

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🇰🇪 Police Clash With Protesters. Kenyan police fired tear gas, beat demonstrators, and allegedly used live rounds in Nairobi as youth-led protests over corruption, police brutality, and rising living costs spread around the country.

• Reports say at least 8 people were killed and more than 80 were hospitalized today.

• The protests come one year after anti-tax rallies left 60 dead.

• Recently, a blogger died in police custody, and a police shot a protester point-blank.

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🇳🇱 NATO
Biggest Spending Hike Ever

The NATO summit 2025 just wrapped up.

Here are the key takeaways:

• NATO agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

• Despite worries, Trump commits to Article 5 (nuanced).

• NATO chief Rutte calls Trump a "daddy."

Trump Got His Wish

The whole summit felt like it was built to appease one person, and it worked.

• NATO leaders agreed to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP, up from the current 2% goal.

• Before the summit, analysts were expecting 3.5%—right between the current 2% target and the proposed 5% ask.

• Trump called it “a great victory,” adding he hoped the cash would go toward US-made hardware.

• However, the 5% target is broken into chunks:

  • 3.5%: “core defense” (weapons and personnel.)

  • 1.5%: “defense-adjacent” spending (cybersecurity, infrastructure, etc.)

Spain in the Crosshairs

However, not everyone’s playing along, and Trump isn’t hiding his frustration.

• Spanish PM Sánchez said Spain could still meet NATO commitments without hitting 5%.

• Trump blasted that approach: “I think it's terrible… That economy could be blown right out of the water.”

• He warned Spain would face harsher trade terms from the US if it didn’t comply.

• Here are the prevalent views online:

  • Critics say Spain should be booted if it can’t at least commit to the spending goal.

  • Supporters argue that pushing for a 5% target could backfire, hurting Europe’s defense autonomy by pressuring countries to buy more US-made weapons.

Macron Pushes Back—Again

The tension didn’t stop with Spain. France’s Emmanuel Macron had his own warning.

• Macron linked the spending target to Trump’s tariff threats, calling it “an aberration.”

• “We can’t say we are going to spend more and then… launch a trade war,” he said, noting he’d raised it “several times.”

• Basically, Macron sees Trump’s trade stance as undermining transatlantic unity.

Article 5: Trump Commits

As reported yesterday, Trump’s earlier mixed signals about defending NATO allies caused quite a stir (to say the least).

Now, while headlines claim he’s "reaffirmed" support for NATO’s Article 5, the reality is a lot murkier than it sounds.

• NATO’s joint statement reaffirmed the “ironclad commitment” to collective defense.

• When asked to clarify, Trump said: “I stand with it. That’s why I’m here.”

• Some people think he was being purposely vague about backing Article 5 yesterday, hoping to use that uncertainty as leverage to push for a higher defense spending goal.

Article 5

So why do I say NATO’s joint statement doesn’t actually clear much up?

Here’s what it says:

That sounds great, But here’s the key part of Article 5 itself:

The ambiguous part: “Such action as it deems necessary.”

• That basically gives every country the wiggle room to do what it wants, including something as light as sending a sternly worded letter.

• There's no hard-and-fast rule that says military force has to be used. It’s all up to each member to decide how far they’ll go.

• So yes, saying “an attack on one is an attack on all” sounds solid on paper, but in practice, how each country responds is still totally optional.

That said, let’s be real: NATO was never going to come out and say, “Touch one of us and we’ll flatten you.” This kind of cautious phrasing is as strong as a joint statement like this can get.

"Daddy"

While President Trump was likening the war between Israel and Iran to a schoolyard fight, saying you’ve got to "let them fight for about 2 or 3 minutes" before stepping in, NATO chief Mark Rutte chimed in, adding, “and then ‘daddy’ has to sometimes do strong language,” nodding to Trump dropping the F-bomb on live TV.

• Some see this as playful European humor.

• Others think Rutte was just sucking up to appease Trump.

Trump's Reaction

Later, when a Sky News reporter asked about Rutte’s “daddy” label, Trump’s reaction made it clear he was into the joke. It even had State Secretary Rubio and Defense Secretary Hegseth laughing behind him.

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