# dollars and sense (news sources) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover dollars and sense. Page: Feed: --- ## [Trump Just Pulled Off a Strategic Master Stroke in the Middle East — and Iran’s Fragile Economy May Never Be the Same](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-just-pulled-off-a-strategic-master-stroke-in-the-middle-east-and-irans-fragile-economy-may-never-be-the-same/) _2026-08-26 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ Georgia Gilholy reports on Iran's deepening economic crisis — a record-low rial, gasoline lines, and soaring staple prices — as Washington's new sanctions campaign begins, Beijing pushes back, and cracks appear at the top in Tehran over how long the war can go on. ## [Putin Can’t Hide This: Russia Has Lost 1.5 Million Personnel Since Launching Its Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-cant-hide-this-russia-has-lost-1-5-million-personnel-since-launching-its-full-scale-invasion-of-ukraine/) _2026-08-26 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ One US-based think tank described the figures as historically exceptional, concluding: "No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II." ## [Russia Just Got Handed a Three-Step Peace Plan on Ukraine, and Its Own Demands Could Sink the Deal Before Talks Even Begin](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/russia-just-got-handed-a-three-step-peace-plan-on-ukraine-and-its-own-demands-could-sink-the-deal-before-talks-even-begin/) _2026-08-26 · Reuben Johnson · National Security Journal_ Reuben F. Johnson reports on the newly drafted three-step framework for ending the war in Ukraine — a ceasefire, mutual withdrawals, and a buffer zone — the Witkoff and Kushner consultations behind it, Moscow's maximalist demands, and intelligence warnings that Putin will drag the talks toward the next American election. ## [Forget the Tank-Is-Dead Verdict: Ukraine Is Showing the World What Armor Must Become to Survive and Russia Doesn’t Like It](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/forget-the-tank-is-dead-verdict-ukraine-is-showing-the-world-what-armor-must-become-to-survive-and-russia-doesnt-like-it/) _2026-08-26 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby examines New York Times reporting on Ukraine's idled Western tanks, the crews retraining as drone operators, Russia's experimental tank shield and its limits, and why the war's drone-driven transformation is a live experiment the world's militaries are watching closely. ## [American Farmers Just Got Tossed a Lifeline With a Big Catch: It Is Tied to the Iran War That Is Squeezing Them](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/american-farmers-just-got-tossed-a-lifeline-with-a-big-catch-it-is-tied-to-the-iran-war-that-is-squeezing-them/) _2026-08-26 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby examines Washington's emergency rescue package for American farmers, the political catch that ties relief to new Iran war funding, projected crop losses that could dwarf the bailout, and why another check may keep farms running for a year without fixing what is broken. ## [Trump Just Got Hit with a New Problem: The World Has Burned Through Hundreds of Millions of Barrels of Reserve Oil Since the War With Iran](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-just-got-hit-with-a-new-problem-the-world-has-burned-through-hundreds-of-millions-of-barrels-of-reserve-oil-since-the-war-with-iran/) _2026-08-26 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby examines how the global energy system has absorbed the largest oil supply disruption on record — drained strategic reserves, rerouted exports, and falling demand — and why those buffers are nearly exhausted, with fuel rationing already visible in Russia and the same risks approaching the West. ## [Forget Bombing Iran: Donald Trump Is Betting Economic Pain Can Achieve What Thousands of Strikes Could Not](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/forget-bombing-iran-donald-trump-is-betting-economic-pain-can-achieve-what-thousands-of-strikes-could-not/) _2026-08-26 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby analyzes Washington's pivot from strikes to economic warfare against Iran, the new sanctions operation aimed at isolating Tehran, Beijing's blunt refusal to comply, and the risks of a strategy that could hurt the United States while leaving the regime more entrenched than before. ## [Russia Accuses a NATO Member of “Participating in the War” and “Pouring fuel on the Fire”](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/russia-accuses-a-nato-member-of-participating-in-the-war-and-pouring-fuel-on-the-fire/) _2026-08-26 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Stephen Silver reports on the new British prime minister's first foreign trip, a landmark deal letting Ukraine manufacture Storm Shadow cruise missiles on its own soil, the Kremlin's angry response, and a Putin adviser's televised warning that the British factories arming Kyiv could be attacked by forces nobody will claim. ## [The Ukraine War Has Been a Disaster for Russia: Now Putin Can’t Get the Soldiers He Needs for A New Offensive](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-ukraine-war-has-been-a-disaster-for-russia-now-putin-cant-get-the-soldiers-he-needs-for-a-new-offensive/) _2026-08-26 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Stephen Silver reports on mounting signs that Russia is straining to fill its ranks, from alleged press-ganging in one Russian town to Ukrainian intelligence assessments of a recruiting slowdown and Wall Street Journal reporting that Moscow is testing readiness for a new round of mobilization ahead of an expected winter offensive. ## [Something Was Urgent Enough to Put America’s Spy Chief on a Plane to Moscow: This Might Have Been a Mission That Could Not Wait](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/something-was-urgent-enough-to-put-americas-spy-chief-on-a-plane-to-moscow-this-might-have-been-a-mission-that-could-not-wait/) _2026-08-26 · Reuben Johnson · National Security Journal_ Reuben F. Johnson reports on CIA Director John Ratcliffe's unannounced Moscow visit, tracing the aircraft's route through the base that serves America's most senior officials, the Kremlin's refusal to confirm any meetings, and the urgent scenarios — from a warned attack on NATO to darker possibilities — that may have prompted the trip. ## [Reach prospects with real signals (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/kdkvGq1HYnMc) _2026-08-26 · **Sponsored**_ Find prospects talking about your problem and get context-backed moments to engage ## [Putin Conceded Ukraine’s Strikes ‘Are Certainly Harming Us,’ Even as He Insisted They Cannot Bring Critical Consequences](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-conceded-ukraines-strikes-are-certainly-harming-us-even-as-he-insisted-they-cannot-bring-critical-consequences/) _2026-08-23 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby breaks down the weekend's deep strikes: FP-1 drones hit a Rosneft refinery and reach Ozon, seven of Wildberries' ten biggest hubs sit idle, and Putin orders warehouses rebuilt while conceding the campaign is harming Russia even as he dismisses critical consequences. ## [Putin Warned Ukraine Has Opened a ‘Pandora’s Box’ and Promised to Retaliate Against Its Economy: ‘You’ll Get Them](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-warned-ukraine-has-opened-a-pandoras-box-and-promised-to-retaliate-against-its-economy-youll-get-them/) _2026-08-23 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby covers a violent weekend turn: Putin warns Kyiv has opened a Pandora's box and vows countermeasures against Ukraine's economy, a second drone reportedly struck a Kryvyi Rih shopping center as rescuers worked, and Ukraine's campaign reaches an Ozon logistics hub deep in Russia. ## [Bessent Says Washington Will Impose the ‘Toughest Sanctions in History’ as Trump Hands Him the War’s Economic Front](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/bessent-says-washington-will-impose-the-toughest-sanctions-in-history-as-trump-hands-him-the-wars-economic-front/) _2026-08-23 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby examines the job Trump has handed Scott Bessent: enforcing history's toughest sanctions against an Iran built to survive them, with China refusing to cooperate, a Treasury thinned by departures, and early signs the squeeze is working before the new measures even land. ## [Donald Trump Just Got Handed the Signal He Has Been Waiting For: Iran’s President Says It Is Time to End the War](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/donald-trump-just-got-handed-the-signal-he-has-been-waiting-for-irans-president-says-it-is-time-to-end-the-war/) _2026-08-22 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby reports on a split screen from Tehran: President Pezeshkian calls for ending the war while Iran holds leverage, the armed forces chief promises devastating responses, Araghchi shrugs off new sanctions, and Trump says Iran is not yet ready to make the right deal. ## [China Thinks They Have a ‘Secret Weapon’ to Destroy F-22 and F-35 Stealth Fighters](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/china-thinks-they-have-a-secret-weapon-to-destroy-f-22-and-f-35-stealth-fighters/) _2026-08-21 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ While America’s F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II are both stealth fighters, they are not completely invisible. ## [Trump Needs to Forget About Iran For a Sec: Russia and North Korea are Getting Closer and That Means Ukraine War Trouble](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-needs-to-forget-about-iran-for-a-sec-russia-and-north-korea-are-getting-closer-and-that-means-ukraine-war-trouble/) _2026-08-21 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Pyongyang's earlier deployments went into the fighting and took heavy losses. This one is meant to free Russian troops for offensive operations, and to put North Korean crews behind the controls of drones aimed at Ukrainian targets. ## [‘We Didn’t Plan for This War’: Nuclear Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Has a Message for the US Navy](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/we-didnt-plan-for-this-war-nuclear-aircraft-carrier-uss-abraham-lincoln-has-a-message-for-the-us-navy/) _2026-08-21 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ The report said the 5,000 people on the aircraft carrier “went without basic supplies,” including toothpaste, deodorant, and soap, for long stretches of its deployment. ## [Iran Is an Oil State That Now Burns More Fuel at Home Than It Actually Manages to Produce for Itself](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/iran-is-an-oil-state-that-now-burns-more-fuel-at-home-than-it-actually-manages-to-produce-for-itself/) _2026-08-21 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ Beijing has now answered publicly, saying pressure is not the solution. One American commissioner argues China has already upgraded the old trade war into something wider, and warns Washington to expect a response in kind. ## [Trump Making Them Sweat: The US Navy Blockade Is Costing Iran Roughly Four Hundred Million Dollars a Single Day](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-making-them-sweat-the-us-navy-blockade-is-costing-iran-roughly-four-hundred-million-dollars-a-single-day/) _2026-08-21 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ The Emirates has cut every commercial and financial tie. Chinese refiners are buying Brazilian and Iraqi crude instead. Iran's president said on Friday that it would be better to end the war now, while the country can call it a position of power. ## [Shoot the Archer: Unable to Shoot Down the Missiles, Ukraine Now Wants to Destroy the Launchers Before They Ever Fire](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/shoot-the-archer-unable-to-shoot-down-the-missiles-ukraine-now-wants-to-destroy-the-launchers-before-they-ever-fire/) _2026-08-21 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ It would place a private American company openly on Ukraine's side and potentially in Russia's sights. Zelensky has said Ukraine is not asking for gifts and is willing to buy what it needs, and that the decisions required are political ones in Washington. ## [Follow Releases, Get Reminders (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/G0qvKKkjSqJv) _2026-08-21 · **Sponsored**_ Follow a genre or a name and receive reminders on release day — free. ## [Trump Is Said to Fear That Oman and the Other Gulf States Could Cut a Side Deal That Leaves America Out of It](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-is-said-to-fear-that-oman-and-the-other-gulf-states-could-cut-a-side-deal-that-leaves-america-out-of-it/) _2026-08-21 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ The threat against Oman looks different once you know what Washington reportedly fears: that Muscat and other Gulf capitals might open the strait themselves, in a deal that cuts America out of the arrangement entirely. ## [The Walls are Closing In on JD Vance](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-walls-are-closing-in-on-jd-vance/) _2026-08-21 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ With Trump term-limited, the vice president is the likeliest nominee — and the war is the thing he can neither run toward nor away from. Distancing himself risks the loyalists and the hawks at once; embracing it means owning an unpopular conflict into a general election. ## [NATO Has a Problem: More Russian Drones Have Crossed Into Romania This Year Than in the Whole of the Previous Four Years Combined](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/nato-has-a-problem-more-russian-drones-have-crossed-into-romania-this-year-than-in-the-whole-of-the-previous-four-years-combined/) _2026-08-21 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ Drones or fragments have been recovered on Romanian soil more times this year than in all the years since the invasion began. Allied jets are flying air-policing missions at a record rate, and a maritime drone came within a few hundred yards of gas workers. ## [Iran’s Own President Suggested on Friday That the Regime Should Look to End the War From a Position of Power](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/irans-own-president-suggested-on-friday-that-the-regime-should-look-to-end-the-war-from-a-position-of-power/) _2026-08-21 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Seven commodity vessels crossed the strait on Thursday, none of them supertankers or gas carriers. Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb dropped as well. Chinese buyers, Iran's most important customers, are sourcing crude from Brazil and Iraq instead. ## [Trump Might Have Cracked the Code and Found a Way to Get the Strait of Hormuz Reopened But Iran Isn’t Giving Up](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/trump-might-have-cracked-the-code-and-found-a-way-to-get-the-strait-of-hormuz-reopened-but-iran-isnt-giving-up/) _2026-08-20 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Going dark hides tankers from Iranian targeting and from the commercial trackers at the same time, which is why public counts show a trickle while officials describe a steady nightly flow. Central Command puts the total assisted at more than a thousand ships. ## [Russia Combined Hypersonics, North Korean Missiles and Iranian-Designed Drones in a Single Overnight Attack](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/russia-combined-hypersonics-north-korean-missiles-and-iranian-designed-drones-in-a-single-overnight-attack/) _2026-08-20 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ Ukraine's air force says the barrage mixed Kinzhal and Zircon hypersonics, Iskanders, North Korean ballistic missiles, sea-launched cruise missiles and Shahed drones. Zelensky argues that until Kyiv can stop the fast ones, Moscow will not negotiate seriously. ## [Ukraine’s Average Soldier Is Now in His Late Forties, Which Is Why the Draft Age Went Down and Not Upward](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/ukraines-average-soldier-is-now-in-his-late-forties-which-is-why-the-draft-age-went-down-and-not-upward/) _2026-08-20 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Ukraine's own parliamentary human rights commissioner has called the violations tied to mobilization systematic and large-scale, and investigators are pursuing officials accused of assaulting civilians and falsifying records. Trust in enlistment officers had already fallen below one in four. ## [Putin Has a Residence in Sochi and a Palace Down the Coast, and He Has Not Been Seen at Either One This Year](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-has-a-residence-in-sochi-and-a-palace-down-the-coast-and-he-has-not-been-seen-at-either-one-this-year/) _2026-08-20 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Most Russians have never traveled abroad and visas grew harder to get after the invasion, so they holiday at home — on a coastline that also carries refineries and tanker terminals. Air-raid sirens and petrol queues have become part of the season. ## [Refining Output Is Now Shrinking Faster Than the Demand for Fuel, Which Is Exactly Why Margins Keep Climbing](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/refining-output-is-now-shrinking-faster-than-the-demand-for-fuel-which-is-exactly-why-margins-keep-climbing/) _2026-08-20 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ The West went into this crisis with less refining capacity than it once had and is scheduled to lose more. Global processing has fallen further than demand, which is why margins are at records and why reopening the strait would not fix the pumps. ## [We Might Now Have a Date for When the Iran War Could Start Back Up Again](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/we-might-now-have-a-date-for-when-the-iran-war-could-start-back-up-again/) _2026-08-20 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ China takes the great majority of Iran's shipped oil, much of it through non-state refiners. Turkey buys a significant share of its natural gas from Iran. Iraq pays billions a year for Iranian gas and hosts American forces. All of them are now in the blast radius. ## [ThreatCrush on GitHub (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/buY1z4DMtaBX) _2026-08-20 · **Sponsored**_ View the ThreatCrush listing on the GitHub Marketplace. ## [Russians Are Now Being Fined and Detained for Complaining in Public About the Shortage of Petrol at All](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/russians-are-now-being-fined-and-detained-for-complaining-in-public-about-the-shortage-of-petrol-at-all/) _2026-08-20 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Russia has unbanned low-grade petrol it had previously outlawed, brought in fuel by rail from Kazakhstan, Belarus and Morocco, and taken a shipment from India. Some of it is stranded at Murmansk because suppliers will not sell at the price the regulator allows. ## [Moscow Is Being Kept Supplied With Fuel Redistributed Away From Russia’s Own More Rural Regions Instead Now](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/moscow-is-being-kept-supplied-with-fuel-redistributed-away-from-russias-own-more-rural-regions-instead-now/) _2026-08-20 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Refineries are diverting aromatic hydrocarbons into lower-octane gasoline, which is now producing shortages of motor oil and squeezing the same feedstocks used for synthetic materials, rubber and polymers. Putin conceded this week that growth has slowed. ## [Ukraine Stopped Nearly Everything That Russia Fired Overnight Except the One Weapon It Cannot Intercept Anymore](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/ukraine-stopped-nearly-everything-that-russia-fired-overnight-except-the-one-weapon-it-cannot-intercept-anymore/) _2026-08-20 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Zelensky says Ukraine has far fewer interceptors than it did last year while Russia fires roughly twice as many ballistic missiles a month, and that Kyiv receives only a small fraction of what it needs. Meanwhile Ukrainian drones hit a refinery in Tatarstan and an oil terminal on the Black Sea. ## [Asked About the Israeli Strike He Had Already Been Briefed On, Trump Told a Reporter He Could Not Talk About It](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/asked-about-the-israeli-strike-he-had-already-been-briefed-on-trump-told-a-reporter-he-could-not-talk-about-it/) _2026-08-20 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Damascus says the work at the base was civil war repair and that Turkish personnel were there for training. Netanyahu's office says Syria was breaching a security status quo. Washington's own envoy called the strike an unnecessary escalation. ## [Moscow Is Under Attack Night After Night and Putin Doesn’t Seem to Want to Stay Home](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/moscow-is-under-attack-night-after-night-and-putin-doesnt-seem-to-want-to-stay-home/) _2026-08-19 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Moscow has already been forced to acknowledge “certain problems” caused by Ukrainian strikes, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, and a series of other officials now routinely talking about the damage and how to mitigate it. ## [Decades of Building Bases Close to Iran Made Them Useful, and That Same Closeness Now Makes Them Easy Target](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/decades-of-building-bases-close-to-iran-made-them-useful-and-that-same-closeness-now-makes-them-easy-target/) _2026-08-19 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Bahrain holds the Fifth Fleet headquarters, Qatar and Kuwait the major air and ground facilities. Hundreds of American structures have been damaged since February. Defending them burns interceptors Washington is already short of. ## [Dubai Was the Back Door That Iranian Companies Used to Buy Foreign Goods Despite All of the American Sanctions](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/dubai-was-the-back-door-that-iranian-companies-used-to-buy-foreign-goods-despite-all-of-the-american-sanctions/) _2026-08-19 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Abu Dhabi spent years shielding its commercial relationship with Tehran while keeping a close security partnership with Washington. Dubai's re-export and finance trade was how Iranian firms reached the global economy around sanctions. That route is now closed. ## [Donald Trump Keep Declaring the Strait of Hormuz Open But No One Believes Him Anymore](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/donald-trump-keep-declaring-the-strait-of-hormuz-open-but-no-one-believes-him-anymore/) _2026-08-19 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ Last week, Aramco, the state-owned Saudi oil firm, resumed oil loadings from terminals in the Strait of Hormuz. It had previously halted operations due to attacks on its tankers. ## [The Walls Are Closing In on Donald Trump Fast](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/the-walls-are-closing-in-on-donald-trump-fast/) _2026-08-19 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Trump told a rally he would never apologize for high gas prices. His own Speaker concedes the war drove them up. A Republican strategist describes the position as a balancing act on the thinnest of wires. ## [Donald Trump Has No Intention of Ending the Iran War Anytime Soon](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/donald-trump-has-no-intention-of-ending-the-iran-war-anytime-soon/) _2026-08-19 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ The big question now is how the United States intends to ensure traffic continues to flow through the Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s newly reshuffled military leadership promises to escalate. ## [MAGA Crash: AOC and the Democrats Could Win Big Thanks to Trump’s War with Iran](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/maga-crash-aoc-and-the-democrats-could-win-big-thanks-to-trumps-war-with-iran/) _2026-08-19 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Donald Trump was elected in 2024 by a unique coalition of groups that seemed unlikely to stay together long-term. Trump earned the support of podcast bros and also the Christian Right. He did better than usual with pro-Israel Jews and also with Muslim-Americans in Michigan, as well as a half-dozen other similar dynamics. In 2024, \[…\] ## [Donald Trump’s Poll Numbers Just Hit Rock Bottom and He Can Thank the Iran War](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/donald-trumps-poll-numbers-just-hit-rock-bottom-and-he-can-thank-the-iran-war/) _2026-08-19 · Stephen Silver · National Security Journal_ Even more worrying for Trump, with the status of the Strait of Hormuz still uncertain, he doesn’t have any easy way out of the Iran conflict. ## [Putin Has A New Ukraine Crisis That Just Dropped: Gas Stations in Moscow Are Now Forced to Ration Gas and Some Have No Fuel](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/putin-has-a-new-ukraine-crisis-that-just-dropped-gas-stations-in-moscow-are-now-forced-to-ration-gas-and-some-have-no-fuel/) _2026-08-19 · Georgia Gilholy · National Security Journal_ A crowdsourced tracker found fuel at fewer than three in ten Russian stations on August 16, down from about four in ten a week earlier. One driver leaving northeastern Moscow said he passed no station with gasoline at all. ## [Zelensky Fired a Deputy Head of His Office Hours After Investigators Searched Her Home in a Money-Laundering Case](https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/zelensky-fired-a-deputy-head-of-his-office-hours-after-investigators-searched-her-home-in-a-money-laundering-case/) _2026-08-19 · Jack Buckby · National Security Journal_ Jack Buckby reports from a turbulent day in Kyiv: Zelensky fired deputy office chief Iryna Mudra hours after anti-corruption raids, investigators unveiled 'Operation Forrest Gump,' the ousted Fedorov pressed his public challenge, and parliament confirmed a new defense minister amid ongoing protests.