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The Pentagon wants another $70 billion to replenish weapons depleted by the Iran conflict, while Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced Ukraine's top army commander after protests over battlefield setbacks.

We'll also cover the White House's Medicaid funding freeze, France's social media crackdown for children, and Google's newest Gemini AI models.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine will appear before Senate appropriators today to ask for another $70 billion to fund the Iran conflict and refill weapons stockpiles that have been drawn down hard. The request lands as lawmakers in both parties start asking out loud how a campaign originally sold as a limited strike keeps growing.

Much of the money would replace precision munitions and interceptors burned through in the war's opening months. The vote will be the clearest test yet of whether Congress's appetite for the war still matches what the Pentagon is spending.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed his army commander and named Mykhailo Drapatyi as replacement, announcing the shakeup on social media after days of public protests over battlefield setbacks. It's one of the most consequential military reshuffles since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Drapatyi inherits a force stretched thin along the eastern front and a president under mounting pressure at home. The move signals Zelenskyy is willing to burn political capital inside his own command to quiet the streets.

The Trump administration is freezing roughly $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, alleging fraud in the two states' public health insurance programs. Both governors called the accusations baseless and promised legal action.

The freeze is the largest federal Medicaid clawback attempted in years and would blow immediate holes in state budgets already stretched by enrollment growth. A court fight looks inevitable, with billions in patient care riding on the outcome.

France enacted the first European law barring children under 15 from holding certain social media accounts, joining Australia and a growing list of countries putting age walls around the feed. Platforms face steep fines if they don't verify user ages.

The Lebanese army began deploying to a southern pilot zone under a U.S.-brokered security plan that envisions phased Israeli withdrawals and greater state control in areas where Hezbollah has operated. The rollout is an early test of whether the framework can reduce border tensions and pave the way for broader implementation.

At least 23 people are dead and dozens still missing after flash floods tore through a city in Afghanistan's remote eastern province of Nuristan. Aid access is limited by both the geography and the Taliban government's strained ties with international relief groups.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill said a 2023 Motor Vehicle Commission software error registered roughly 6,600 noncitizens to vote, and about 400 of them cast ballots during the Murphy administration. The disclosure hands Republicans fresh ammunition in the fight over voter-roll integrity.

Roger Rogoff filed the first lawsuit of its kind arguing the Trump administration can't remove him as a U.S. attorney without first getting a Senate-confirmed successor in place. The case could reshape how much control any president has over Senate-confirmed prosecutors mid-term.

A House subcommittee questioned the director of the National Museum of American History after a White House report called its exhibits insufficiently patriotic. The hearing is an escalation of the administration's push to reshape federally funded cultural institutions.

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Goldman Sachs rolled out a new alternative investments platform letting wealthy clients and family offices buy direct stakes in private companies like SpaceX and Stripe. Wall Street keeps pushing to sell pre-IPO access as retail hunger for private tech grows.

Novo Nordisk filed suit against Eli Lilly, accusing its U.S. rival of running "false and materially misleading" ads that lean on outdated trial data to make Lilly's GLP-1 drugs look more effective than Ozempic. It opens a new legal front in the $100-billion-plus obesity drug race.

One strategist argues strong earnings numbers will keep the bull market intact and says investors should stay overweight tech and the AI trade. The pitch: valuations only look stretched if you ignore what the biggest companies are actually earning.

Google unveiled three new Gemini models, including its most powerful flagship yet and a version tuned specifically for cybersecurity work. The release sharpens the fight with OpenAI and Anthropic for enterprise AI budgets.

Researchers at Pittsburgh and Chicago restored a sense of touch in five people with spinal cord injuries using precisely targeted electrical brain stimulation. An early but real step toward prosthetics that let paralyzed patients actually feel what they're holding.

MIT engineers built a tiny flying robot that mimics insect speed and agility, aimed at squeezing through earthquake debris where bulkier rescue drones can't reach. The kind of small-machine advance that changes what search-and-rescue looks like within a decade.

Georgia running back Dante Dowdell suffered serious injuries in an ATV accident, with head coach Kirby Smart unsure of a return timeline. Dowdell transferred to Athens after finishing as Kentucky's second-leading rusher in 2025.

The PGA Tour, European tour, and Asian Tour announced a three-way alliance that will likely unwind the Asian Tour's existing partnership with LIV Golf. It's the sharpest setback yet for the Saudi-backed circuit's push to embed itself in the global game.

The Utah Mammoth locked up defenseman John Marino with an eight-year, $54 million extension. The deal cements Marino as a long-term anchor for the franchise's blue line.

Kaylee Hottle, the deaf teenage actress who played Jia in "Godzilla vs. Kong" and "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," died in a car accident. Her performances made her one of the most visible young deaf actresses in Hollywood.

Plas Johnson, whose studio-improvised solo became the sound of Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther" theme, has died at 94. He also backed Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand across a session career that shaped mid-century pop.

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" opened to $264.1 million worldwide and has kicked off a surge of young listeners streaming audiobook editions of the ancient poem. Homer, improbably, is trending.

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What it is: A growing anti-immigrant movement in South Africa is taking the law into its own hands, targeting Black African migrants from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and beyond as immigration numbers climb across the country. Although xenophobic violence has flared periodically for decades, organizers say the latest campaign is broader, more coordinated, and increasingly aimed at pressuring authorities to adopt tougher immigration policies.

The detail: Activist groups have blocked migrants from hospitals, schools, and workplaces, filming the confrontations and posting them online to build political pressure. Vigilante-style patrols check IDs on street corners. Clinics have been picketed to keep foreign nationals from getting care. Government officials have at times echoed the rhetoric even as courts try to rein in the most aggressive tactics. Human rights organizations warn that migrants, including many with legal status, are increasingly afraid to seek medical treatment or report crimes for fear of being targeted.

Why it matters: South Africa is the continent's most industrialized economy and has long been a magnet for workers from across southern Africa. The country's post-apartheid identity was built partly on solidarity with neighbors who once sheltered exiled ANC leaders, and the current backlash marks a sharp break from that history. Rising unemployment, a struggling public health system, and slow growth have all sharpened resentment. With immigration becoming a central political issue ahead of future elections, the debate is likely to shape both domestic policy and regional relations.

What to watch: Whether the ruling coalition cracks down on vigilante groups or keeps accommodating the movement's demands, and whether neighboring governments push back diplomatically as their citizens are pushed out. A wider regional rupture would test the African Union's authority on free movement and could reshape labor flows across southern Africa for a generation. As pressure mounts, any shift in government policy could influence migration patterns and political debates well beyond South Africa's borders.

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—The Five Minute Daily Team