NATO Leaders Open Ankara Summit as Trump Prepares to Meet Zelenskyy

China Test-Fires a Submarine Missile Into the Pacific, Alarming U.S. Allies

Accused Assassin of Charlie Kirk Faces Court as Prosecutors Seek the Death Penalty

Kyiv Runs Out of Interceptors as Ukraine Sets Russia's Largest Refinery Ablaze

Belgium Eliminates US From World Cup With 4-1 Win

NATO Leaders Open Ankara Summit as Trump Prepares to Meet Zelenskyy

Leaders of NATO's 32 member states opened a two-day summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7, 2026, the alliance's first gathering in Turkey since 2004. President Donald Trump attended after months of feuding with European allies, having publicly questioned the value of the alliance and even suggested the United States could abandon its mutual-defense pact; on the summit's sidelines he planned a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to press his vision for ending the war with Russia. Zelenskyy was expected to ask for additional U.S. Patriot air-defense systems as Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities intensify, and Trump said he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone after the summit. To show they are meeting Washington's demands, allies reaffirmed a pledge to raise defense spending toward 5% of economic output by 2035 and to provide roughly 70 billion euros (about $80 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2026, with draft summit language still affirming an "ironclad commitment" to collective defense. The Netherlands used the occasion to unveil more than $3 billion in new defense contracts. The stakes reach beyond the summit itself: after more than 75 years as the cornerstone of Western security, the alliance faces open doubt from its most powerful member, recalibrating the calculus for allies who depend on U.S. protection and for adversaries such as Russia.

Al Jazeera / CNBC / NPR / Euromaidan Press

China Test-Fires a Submarine Missile Into the Pacific, Alarming U.S. Allies

China's navy carried out its first publicly acknowledged test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the open Pacific Ocean on July 6, 2026, firing a missile tipped with a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered submarine. State news agency Xinhua said regional governments were notified in advance, but the launch drew swift criticism: the U.S. State Department condemned it, and Australia and New Zealand protested that the missile landed inside the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga. Defense analysts described the test as a milestone in Beijing's shift from a small, retaliation-only nuclear force toward a larger and more survivable arsenal spread across land, air and sea — what militaries call a nuclear triad. The launch came a day before NATO leaders gathered in Ankara and as Pacific nations such as Japan and Australia deepen their defense ties with Washington. The Pentagon has estimated China's nuclear stockpile could exceed 1,000 warheads by 2030, and a sea-based deterrent capable of reaching the United States would harden an already entrenched rivalry, raising the stakes of any future confrontation over Taiwan or the western Pacific.

CNN / NBC News / State Department / ABC News

Accused Assassin of Charlie Kirk Faces Court as Prosecutors Seek the Death Penalty

A preliminary hearing opened July 6, 2026, in Utah for Tyler James Robinson, 23, the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk, to determine whether the case will proceed to trial. Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of the youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while addressing a crowd of about 3,000 people at Utah Valley University; the hearing marked the first time his widow, Erika Kirk, and his parents saw Robinson in person. Prosecutors, who said they will seek the death penalty, laid out evidence including a "sniper pad" found on a nearby rooftop, a bolt-action rifle recovered wrapped in a towel with engraved cartridges, and DNA they said matched Robinson on the weapon and a spent casing. Graphic videos of the shooting were entered into evidence but not played publicly, and the hearing is expected to run up to five days. Charging documents quote Robinson as saying Kirk "spreads too much hate." The proceedings carry weight beyond the courtroom: Kirk was among the most prominent voices in the conservative youth movement and an ally of the president, and his killing has become a flashpoint in a country already unsettled by rising political violence.

CNN / ABC News / KUER

Kyiv Runs Out of Interceptors as Ukraine Sets Russia's Largest Refinery Ablaze

Russia launched its second mass missile and drone attack on Kyiv in four days early July 6, 2026, killing at least 26 people in the capital and surrounding region and injuring dozens more, hours before NATO leaders convened in Ankara. Ukraine's air force said the barrage comprised 23 ballistic missiles, six Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missiles, 39 cruise missiles and 351 attack drones; defenses downed 37 cruise missiles and stopped 326 drones, but all 29 ballistic and hypersonic missiles struck the city and surrounding oblast. Ukrainian officials attributed the failure to an exhausted supply of U.S.-made Patriot PAC-3 interceptors, the only munitions in Ukraine's arsenal capable of engaging ballistic missiles; "We simply don't have the missiles," said Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister. The Kyiv Independent reported that the war in the Persian Gulf has stretched global PAC-3 supplies thin and diverted stocks once earmarked for Ukraine to the U.S. military and its Gulf allies, while a Ukrainian-built anti-ballistic system under development remains months from initial operating capability. President Zelenskyy, who blamed the insufficient interceptor supply for the toll, pressed allies for additional air defenses at the summit.

The same night, Ukraine demonstrated the reach of its own long-range strike campaign, hitting the Omsk oil refinery nearly 2,500 kilometers — about 1,550 miles — from its border overnight, according to Ukraine's General Staff. Omsk is Russia's largest refinery by capacity, processing more than 21 million metric tons of crude oil per year and supplying the Russian military, and it was the last of Russia's 11 biggest gasoline producers to be hit; the General Staff said a primary refining unit was struck and a fire broke out, with damage still being assessed. Ukrainian drones also struck the Yaroslavl refinery, an oil terminal at the port of Vysotsk in Leningrad Oblast, a refinery in Kaluga Oblast and two tankers in the Sea of Azov carrying roughly 7,000 metric tons of fuel to occupied Crimea, where authorities suspended fuel sales entirely on June 21 amid worsening shortages. The exchange underscored the war's current asymmetry: Ukraine cannot stop Russia's fastest missiles over its own capital, but it is reaching ever deeper into the oil industry that sustains Russia's war effort.

CNN / Kyiv Independent

Overnight, Ukrainian attack drones carried out one of the deepest raids of the war, hitting Russia’s Omsk oil refinery over 1,500 miles (2,400 km) behind the frontline. pic.twitter.com/fEC8e6jPsW

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 6, 2026

Belgium Eliminates US From World Cup With 4-1 Win

Belgium defeated the United States 4-1 on July 6, 2026, in a World Cup round-of-16 match, ending the host nation's run in the tournament. Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and added an assist; Malik Tillman briefly equalized for the US with a first-half free kick before Belgium pulled away. Belgium advanced to a quarterfinal against Spain, scheduled in four days at Los Angeles Stadium. The result eliminated the US men's team from the World Cup it is co-hosting.

NBC News

JULY 7 1930: PRELIMINARY WORK BEGINS ON HOOVER DAM

Preliminary construction on the Hoover Dam site started on July 7, 1930, launching one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in U.S. history. Built on the Colorado River, the dam would tame destructive floods, power rapidly growing cities, and make large-scale irrigation possible across the arid Southwest. This single project helped unlock the modern American West, supplying water and electricity that enabled new industries, booming populations, and a more integrated regional economy.

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Sources

1. Al Jazeera / CNBC / NPR / Euromaidan Press
2. CNN / NBC News / State Department / ABC News
3. CNN / ABC News / KUER
4. CNN / Kyiv Independent / Kyiv Independent
5. NBC News