KYODO reports Japan's defense and foreign ministers will attend next week's NATO summit.

Germany's 2027 draft budget proposes new borrowing of more than €203 bln, above prior expectations and materially higher than 2024. Total outlays are around €555.4 bln, with investment lifted to €117.5 bln focused on transport, digitalisation and hospital upgrades. The core defence budget rises to €109.8 bln; including Ukraine aid and other security spending, total defence-related outlays reach roughly €130.1 bln. The government says it will use expanded borrowing and special funds to accelerate infrastructure and rearmament. The draft warns prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz or oil supplies would have a significant impact on the German economy. The budget is due to be submitted to parliament in September and is expected to be approved by year-end.

The New York Times, citing four people familiar with the talks, reports Iranian President Pezeshkian visited Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei during final negotiations after Khamenei hesitated to approve a preliminary U.S.-Iran ceasefire. Pezeshkian told Khamenei the U.S. maritime blockade was choking Iran’s economy and said he would resign if the deal was rejected; central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati warned in a letter of a severe budget crisis, saying key food and medical supplies would be exhausted by end‑August if the blockade continued and that Iran could not sell oil at required volumes or find alternative trade routes. Those interventions were cited as pivotal in Khamenei’s eventual support; Khamenei said he opposed the deal in principle but instructed the president to proceed if the Supreme National Security Council backed it — Pezeshkian said the council approved the agreement 12‑1.