US spending on nuclear weapons rose by 22% in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to a report published by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

Washington spent $69.2 billion on its nuclear arsenal during the year, a figure that exceeded the combined nuclear weapons expenditures of all other nuclear-armed states.

The world’s nine nuclear powers — the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — increased total spending on their arsenals by 19%, reaching a record $119 billion.

China ranked second in spending with $13.5 billion. The United Kingdom spent $12.6 billion, overtaking Russia to become the third-largest spender. France’s nuclear weapons expenditure reached $7.7 billion.

According to data cited in the ICAN report, nuclear-armed states have spent a combined $471 billion on their arsenals over the past five years.

The report emphasized that the amount spent on nuclear weapons in a single day during 2025 would have been sufficient to provide food for 2 million people for a year, while total annual spending could fund the United Nations’ regular budget for 32 years.

Before those developments, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Andrey Belousov commented on the issue.

Belousov said Russia continues to insist on the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Europe and the dismantling of all infrastructure established in the region to support their deployment.

Under its nuclear-sharing programme, the United States has stationed nuclear weapons in NATO countries across Europe since the 1950s.

Today, US-made B61 nuclear bombs are stored at military bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Türkiye.

Although NATO does not possess its own nuclear weapons, operational control over those weapons remains with Washington.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that the United States was considering expanding its nuclear presence in Europe beyond the countries currently participating in the nuclear-sharing programme.

According to the newspaper, Poland and the Baltic states had expressed interest in hosting US nuclear weapons.

Sources cited by the Financial Times linked those discussions to concerns among European allies that the United States could reduce its military presence in the region.

Cryptocurrency projects linked to US President Donald Trump and his family have generated roughly $2.3 billion in gains for the family since Trump’s return to the White House, while investors have collectively lost about the same amount, according to a Reuters investigation.

The review examined four major projects associated with Trump and his family: the TRUMP memecoin, World Liberty Financial, American Bitcoin and AI Financial Corp.

According to Reuters, the value of shares or assets tied to those projects has fallen by dozens of percentage points, despite the ventures following a similar operating model.

The investigation found that the Trump family provided branding, promotional support and political visibility to the projects.

Reuters reported that the family either contributed very limited capital to the ventures or, in some cases, made no investment at all.

Investors, meanwhile, committed substantial funds to the projects on the expectation that Trump’s political position and his support for the cryptocurrency industry would generate long-term returns, the report said.

However, Reuters found that while the value of the underlying assets declined sharply over time, the Trump family continued to generate income from capital supplied by investors.

Some individuals interviewed by Reuters argued that investors entered the projects voluntarily and should have been aware of the risks involved.

Wilbur Ross, who served as commerce secretary during Trump’s first administration, said: “If people are buying something speculative, they should understand the risk. If they decided to hold on in the hope of further gains, that was their choice.”

As an example of how the model operated, Reuters cited the experience of investor Fatima Elrgadawi.

Elrgadawi invested $2,000 in the TRUMP memecoin, saying she trusted the “Trump brand.” By the end of May, however, the value of her investment had fallen to just $120.

Reflecting on the experience, Elrgadawi said she believed investors had been exposed to what is commonly known as a “pump and dump” scheme, in which prices are artificially inflated before large-scale selling triggers a sharp decline.

The obstacles imposed by the United States government on African and Middle Eastern referees and football players designated to work at the World Cup are drawing widespread scrutiny.

In the latest development, a World Cup referee from Somalia was denied entry into the United States. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated on Monday that Omar Artan was turned away over the weekend upon landing in Miami on a flight from Istanbul.

CBP did not disclose the specific reason the referee was barred from entry, but Somalia is among approximately 40 countries subjected to enhanced screening or travel restrictions under policies enacted by President Donald Trump.

“Following inspection, it was determined that the passenger, a FIFA World Cup referee, was inadmissible due to security screening, and admission to the United States was denied,” CBP said.

FIFA confirmed it was aware of the US decision to block Artan’s entry and indicated that his status would not change for the time being.

“As has been the case with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately decides who receives a visa and who is admitted into the country,” the governing body said in a statement.

While this is the first known instance of a World Cup referee being barred from entry by US immigration authorities, several players, coaching staff, and numerous fans have previously encountered difficulties entering the country.

The US State Department said it is working in coordination with the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and FIFA to support visa processing for World Cup participants, but emphasized that it must simultaneously enforce US laws and administration policies.

“The administration will never compromise on applying US law and the highest standards of national security and public safety in the administration of the visa process,” the State Department said in a statement.

Artan, a former football player who transitioned to refereeing due to injuries, was set to become the first individual from his country to officiate at a World Cup.

In an interview with Al Jazeera prior to the tournament, Artan spoke about the challenges he faced in his home country. “You cannot give up. If you want to reach a place like the World Cup, you have to fight,” he said.

Somalia is one of 12 nations whose citizens were effectively banned from entering the US by Trump in December 2025, with the administration citing terrorism risks.

Trump has repeatedly demonstrated open hostility toward the East African nation, previously describing the country as “smelly” and labeling individuals originating from there as “garbage.”

The administration has also revoked temporary visas for thousands of Somali citizens residing in the US and accused members of the Somali diaspora in Minnesota of fraud.

Beyond entry denials, the treatment of participating teams has sparked significant backlash. Members of the Senegal national team were subjected to exhaustive baggage searches directly on the airport tarmac in San Antonio.

Separately, players from the Uzbekistan national team reportedly faced drug-detection dogs and metal-detector sweeps upon arriving at their training facilities in New York.

Footage and photographs of these security checks rapidly circulated on social media, triggering anger among football fans.

Many observers accused American authorities of treating international footballers “like criminals” rather than guests attending one of the world’s premier sporting events.

The controversy intensified further following reports that Iraqi forward Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Additionally, the photographer for the Iraqi national team was reportedly denied entry into the country after undergoing a security screening that lasted approximately 10 hours.