Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) NATO allies unveiled billions in defense industry deals to buy next-generation drones and surveillance planes as allies attempt to convince President Trump that Europe is heeding his spending demands ahead of the NATO Summit. Eleven countries will buy airborne radar-detection systems from Swedish aerospace firm Saab AB, replacing a US-made Boeing Co model, in a deal worth $5 billion. Allies will invest more than $40 billion in counter-drone capabilities over the next five years, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
2) Maine Democrat Graham Platner is under pressure to end his bid for a US Senate seat following a sexual assault allegation he has denied. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called on Platner to step aside and vowed to cut off the party's funding for him if he stays on the ballot. Several Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna, have withdrawn their endorsements of Platner and urged him to leave the race, citing the "troubling and deeply serious" allegations against him.
3) Team USA’s run in the World Cup came to an end as it failed to make the quarterfinals, losing 4-1 to Belgium. Outrage over FIFA’s decision to allow striker Folarin Balogun to play continued to simmer after the organization reversed his one-game ban. The reversal sparked outrage across the world, with UEFA calling it “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and accusing FIFA of crossing “a red line."