RTX and Lockeed Martin exceed Wall Street expectations for latest quarter amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine “Exceptionally strong” demand boosted sales at two US defense giants, the companies announced on Tuesday as geopolitical tensions flare in the Middle East and Ukraine Russia’s invasion. RTX and Lockheed Martin exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for the latest quarter as conflicts including Israel’s war on Gaza prompted countries to bolster arms spending, both by striking new deals and accelerating established contracts ..read more

Ukraine needs western munitions badly but it remains unclear how much more artillery the UK is prepared to produce UK politics – latest updates Two years and two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started the biggest war in Europe since 1945, and Rishi Sunak has announced that the UK’s own defence industry should be placed “on a war footing”. Speaking on a trip to Poland, the prime minister noted that one of the central lessons of the Ukraine conflict was the need for deeper stockpiles and for the arms industry to “replenish them more quickly”. Ukraine’s leaders will be too polite to ..read more

House passed bills last week after delays, to rush funding to allies while approving proposal that could lead to US TikTok ban The US Senate on Tuesday was preparing to give final approval to a $95bn wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with a bipartisan coalition eager to send the long-stalled package to Joe Biden’s desk for signature. After months of delays and setbacks, the House last week passed four bills to rush funding to three American allies while approving a conservative proposal that could lead to a nationwide ban of the social media platform TikTok. The measures were combine ..read more

Regional armed forces admit ‘difficult situation’ as Kyiv awaits western military aid Russian forces have made significant advances in a narrow corridor in eastern Ukraine as an offensive by Moscow to take territory before western military aid arrives appears to be gathering pace. Footage posted by Kremlin military bloggers shows a Russian tricolour flying above the shattered village of Ocheretyne. Russian troops reportedly entered the territory on Sunday, north-west of the town of Avdiivka, after advancing about 5km in 10 days ..read more

The embattled ex-president offered surprising words of praise to Mike Johnson, who shepherded aid package opposed by Trump Mike Johnson is a “good person” and is “trying very hard”, Donald Trump said, after the US House speaker oversaw passage of military aid to Ukraine, long opposed by Trump, in the face of fierce opposition from the right of the Republican party. “Well, look, we have a majority of one, OK?” Trump said in a radio interview on Monday night, after a day in court in his New York hush-money trial ..read more

Legislation expected to pass but amendments on Israel and Ukraine could stall progress Good morning, US politics blog readers. The long and winding road of Joe Biden’s proposal to send tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and other US allies may finally reach its conclusion today. Beginning at 1pm ET, the Senate is set to vote on a bill approved by the House of Representatives last week that authorizes the assistance – and forces TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest from the social media app in a year, or face a nationwide ban. The legislation is expected to pas ..read more

Polish director Besaleel’s film will feature an AI-rendered Russian president and footage shot by Ukrainian film-makers during the Russian invasion The “world premiere” of a new biopic of Russian president Vladimir Putin featuring an AI-rendered central character, has been announced for 26 September. In a statement released via PR Leap, Polish studio AIO said the film, titled Putin, will be released in 35 countries, and describes itself as “up close and personal with the Kremlin leader’s story”. First announced in May 2022, Putin is the English-language debut of Polish director Besaleel, also ..read more

Russian attack shears Kharkiv TV tower in half; EU ministers urge no complacency after US steps up with aid. What we know on day 790 Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, said legislation passed by the US House of Representatives and awaiting Senate approval had clarified that Ukraine would be receiving the longer-range version of Atacms (Army Tactical Missile Systems) that it has long sought. Atacms is highly prized by the Ukrainian army for its firepower, speed of deployment and accuracy, but Ukraine has so far been restricted to a version that can only fire 165km (102 miles). Newer vers ..read more

PM pledges equipment including 400 vehicles, 1,600 weapons and 4m rounds of ammunition, plus £500m in funding Ukraine war – live updates Rishi Sunak has promised the UK’s largest ever military support package for Ukraine as he warned that Vladimir Putin would “not stop at the Polish border” if Russia won the war. The prime minister will visit Poland on Tuesday to discuss European security and the threat from Russia with the Polish leader, Donald Tusk, and the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, before travelling to Germany to meet the chancellor, Olaf Scholz ..read more

While Donald Trump is in court, House Republicans rejected their presidential nominee’s bad land-for-peace deal in Ukraine In chaos theory, the flapping of butterfly wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. This weekend, Ukraine experienced a butterfly moment. Donald Trump’s efforts to conceal the fact that he bought the silence of a porn star before the 2016 election landed him in court, facing charges that preoccupy him enough for congressional Republicans to reject his policy of prematurely ceding territory to Russia in return for peace in Ukraine. Kyiv will now get billi ..read more