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Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea

President cites Seoul's refusal to help denuclearize Iran and his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises. He cited their cost, Seoul’s refusal to help denuclearize Iran, and his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

ContextThe 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was expected to involve 18,000 South Korean troops. U.S. and South Korean forces planned joint operations, including live-fire training, to test their readiness against North Korean threats. Trump also halted major drills after his 2018 summit with Kim. North Korea resumed ballistic missile testing days before this year's exercise. The administration disclosed no figure for how many drills or troops would be cut.

NBC NEWS15 sources

2world

NATO jet downs unidentified drone over Romania

A Spanish F-18 intercepted the aircraft inside Romanian airspace; officials did not specify its origin.

A Spanish F-18 flying a NATO air-policing mission shot down a drone after it entered Romanian airspace early Sunday. Romanian officials did not identify the drone's origin; Moldova said it had tracked a Geran-type Shahed drone entering from Ukraine and flying toward Romania.

ContextSunday's was the fourth drone shot down over Romania this year. The previous three were downed over three days in July as Russia intensified attacks near the border; this interception was carried out by a Spanish jet on a NATO air-policing mission.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL4 sources

3us

Hurricane Lala leaves 200,000 without power at peak, at least one dead

Storm avoided direct landfall but damaged 16 transmission lines and at least 100 homes; now a tropical storm moving away from the island chain.

Lala weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm after grazing Hawaii's Big Island over the weekend without making landfall. The storm damaged at least 100 homes, 16 transmission lines and many utility towers, leaving more than 200,000 customers without power at the peak. At least one person died in a storm-related vehicle crash.

ContextBy 9:30 a.m. Sunday, fewer than 60,000 homes and businesses remained without power, down from more than 200,000 a few hours earlier. At least three hospitals were running on generators.

REUTERS13 sources

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Executive summary3 stories

News news3

  1. Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea: President cites Seoul's refusal to help denuclearize Iran and his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un.
  2. NATO jet downs unidentified drone over Romania: A Spanish F-18 intercepted the aircraft inside Romanian airspace; officials did not specify its origin.
  3. Hurricane Lala leaves 200,000 without power at peak, at least one dead: Storm avoided direct landfall but damaged 16 transmission lines and at least 100 homes; now a tropical storm moving away from the island chain.

News news3 stories

1.) NBC NEWS: Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea

President cites Seoul's refusal to help denuclearize Iran and his 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong Un.

Trump's stated reasons for the drawdown:

  • South Korea declined Trump's request to help the U.S. denuclearize Iran
  • The exercises are 'costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States'
  • The drills send an 'inappropriate and hostile' signal to North Korea

[RELATED] South Korea fires shots after border crossing

South Korea fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the demarcation line.

2.) THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: NATO jet downs unidentified drone over Romania

A Spanish F-18 intercepted the aircraft inside Romanian airspace; officials did not specify its origin.

[SEMI-RELATED] Ukraine launches major aerial attack on Russia, killing at least 6

Kyiv hit targets across Russia with drones and missiles overnight, killing at least six. The strikes reached multiple regions as both sides traded cross-border attacks.

3.) REUTERS: Hurricane Lala leaves 200,000 without power at peak, at least one dead

Storm avoided direct landfall but damaged 16 transmission lines and at least 100 homes; now a tropical storm moving away from the island chain.

Quick bites4

  1. REUTERS: DRC Ebola outbreak becomes country's deadliest

    The death toll has now passed 2,287—the total from the country's 2018–20 outbreak—according to Reuters and CNN. The virus was first identified in what is now the DRC in 1976.

  2. AP: Kushner meets Hamas in Egypt

    Jared Kushner met with Hamas leadership in Egypt Sunday in a renewed push for a Gaza ceasefire. He heads to Jerusalem Monday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejected the Trump-backed plan last week.

  3. PBS NEWSHOUR: Wildfires kill two in Greece, scorch Belgian reserve

    Two people died on a Greek island near Athens as firefighters battled blazes fueled by hot, dry conditions across southern Europe. In Belgium, a wildfire burned roughly 30 square kilometers of the High Fens nature reserve—more than twice the 14 square kilometers burned there in 2011, the country's previous record wildfire. About 600 nearby residents were ordered to evacuate. The reserve's mix of heathland and peat bogs has complicated efforts to contain the flames.

  4. FINANCIAL TIMES: US weighs sanctions on Brazilian judge

    The Trump administration is considering sanctioning Alexandre de Moraes, the Brazilian Supreme Court justice who ordered X blocked in the country last year and oversaw cases involving misinformation and election denial. Sanctioning a sitting justice would sharply escalate the dispute between Washington and Brasília.