Ghislaine Maxwell claims that in the 1990s she joined Jeffrey Epstein and RFK Jr. on a “dinosaur bone hunting” trip in the Dakotas.

Ghislaine Maxwell asserts that she never saw Jeffrey Epstein engage in sex or receive oral sex from anyone, nor did she ever instruct anyone on how to “please” him.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has dismissed Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), citing a “loss of confidence” in his leadership — a phrase the Trump administration and Hegseth have frequently used in removing dozens of senior defense, intelligence, and military officials since January. Kruse’s removal comes after a June DIA assessment concluded that U.S. Air Force and Navy strikes on three of Iran’s primary nuclear sites had only delayed the country’s nuclear program by several months, a finding that drew sharp backlash from the Trump administration after being reported by CNN and The New York Times.

According to Suspilne, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, with plans to finalize the framework next week. The talks cover military aid, intelligence sharing, and the potential deployment of allied troops following a ceasefire.

Ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on Sunday, the EU has delivered a major aid package worth €4.05 billion. Of that, €3 billion is allocated to projects under the Ukraine Facility, while another €1 billion comes from the proceeds of seized Russian assets.

Full video from North Korean state television shows the ceremony for the return of some of the bodies of North Korean soldiers killed while fighting in Ukraine. The bodies arrived on a Russian cargo plane and represent only a small fraction, displayed with such pomp purely for state propaganda, while the thousands of other dead soldiers are being repatriated routinely by train. From the initial force of 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers, it is estimated that around 40–50% have been killed or wounded in the war. South Korean intelligence sources report that a new contingent of up to 30,000 North Koreans is expected to be sent to Russia in the coming months.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed that National Guard Airmen and Soldiers patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. be armed starting Friday. Around 2,000 troops from several Republican-led states, along with the District of Columbia, are currently deployed in the city. The Pentagon has not provided details or a reason for the change.

CBS News reports that on July 20, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a directive requiring all U.S. intelligence on peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to be classified as “NOFORN” — meaning no foreign dissemination. This designation prevents the information from being shared with the Five Eyes (FVEY) intelligence alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have released footage of another strike today on the Unecha Oil Pumping Station in Bryansk Oblast, western Russia. Unecha, the second pumping station on the Druzhba Oil Pipeline—which carries oil from Russia to Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, and several other Eastern European countries—is the second such facility to be targeted by Ukraine within the past week.

The FBI raided the Maryland home of John Bolton today, the former National Security Advisor under President Donald J. Trump and a vocal critic of him since. According to an official who spoke with NBC News, the raid was part of a “national security investigation seeking classified records.”