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January 30, 2025 Trump’s Return Pushes Iran Into a Defensive Posture Increasingly fearful of their loosening grip on power, the Islamic Republic’s rulers are recalibrating their foreign policy, at least temporarily, to gauge the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the... January 30, 2025 ‘AI’s Sputnik Moment’: Chinese AI Model DeepSeek-R1 Reportedly Surpasses Leading U.S. AI Models Chinese AI firm DeepSeek released its latest model, R1, on January 20. According to the company, R1 performs favorably compared to leading Western models on key benchmarking tests despite having been allegedly developed at a fraction of the cost and employing a fraction of the computing power. Silicon Valley venture capitalist and White House advisor Marc Andreessen referred to DeepSeek’s announcement as “AI’s Sputnik moment,” comparing the development to the Soviet Union’s launch of the first satellite. January 29, 2025 Qatar Seeks Nobel Peace Prize for Gaza Mediation Despite Enabling Hamas A Qatari diplomat recently suggested that the emir of Qatar deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the war in Gaza that Doha effectively abetted. In a statement to The Jerusalem Post, Qatar’s... January 28, 2025 Syrian Government Uses Islamic Teaching to Recruit, Train New Security Forces Syria’s new leaders insist they are committed to religious tolerance, yet they are employing their preferred variant of Sunni Islamic beliefs to recruit and train the country’s new security forces.... January 23, 2025 U.S. Coast Guard Issues Landmark Cybersecurity Rule to Protect Maritime Infrastructure The U.S. Coast Guard issued a final rule on January 17 establishing minimum cybersecurity requirements for U.S.-flagged vessels and other regulated facilities. The landmark rule aims to strengthen the... January 23, 2025 Attempted Bombing Attack on South African Jewish Community Center Remains Unsolved The bomb in Cape Town may have failed to detonate on December 5, but it has sparked an independent investigation. South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein announced in mid-January that an independent... January 22, 2025 Russia Touts Illicit Nuclear Work in Iran Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted about Russian civil nuclear work in Iran that runs afoul of U.S. law, but which the Biden administration failed to penalize, at a press conference in Moscow on... January 22, 2025 Russia Exploits LA Fires to Sow Discord and Promote False Claims Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, leveled the false claim that U.S. prison inmates were being used as forced labor to fight the Los Angeles wildfires. Her comments were part... January 21, 2025 New U.S. Export Controls Seek to Prevent China From Weaponizing Biotech The United States wants to prevent China from acquiring commercial biotechnologies that could boost its military power, not just its economic growth. The U.S. Department of Commerce released an interim... January 17, 2025 PowerSchool Breach Highlights Growing Cybersecurity Risks in America’s Schools PowerSchool, a cloud-based software provider for K-12 schools, confirmed on January 7 that hackers breached its systems late last year, affecting thousands of school districts across the United States... January 16, 2025 Alawite Fears Ignite Syria’s Coastal Chaos Violence is spreading in Syria’s Mediterranean coastal region, home to the country’s largest concentration of Alawites, the religious minority whose members include the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad.... January 16, 2025 ‘The Cruelty of Forced Labor’: U.S. Bans Imports from 37 Chinese Firms Implicated in Uyghur Genocide The United States has extended its efforts to punish Chinese firms suspected of using forced labor from the country’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority is facing... January 15, 2025 New U.S. Sanctions on Leadership of Russian Nuclear Corporation Are Positive — But Should Be Just a Start The State Department sanctioned senior officials of Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation, on Friday, including its CEO, Alexei Likhachev. These sanctions are long overdue and reflect the Biden... January 14, 2025 ‘Safeguard the Most Advanced AI Technology’: Biden Administration Launches New Export Control Regime Targeting China The United States has expanded its efforts to block China’s access to cutting-edge U.S. technology. In a proposed rule introduced on January 13, the Commerce Department unveiled a series of export restrictions... January 14, 2025 Trump Needs Timely Congressional Action to Support His Ukraine Agenda The United States unveiled a new security assistance package for Ukraine on January 9, expected to be the last under President Joe Biden. President-elect Donald Trump stands to inherit enough aid authority... January 10, 2025 Israel Announces Plans for New Domestic Production of Air-Launched Munitions Israel is creating an additional domestic production capacity for air-launched munitions and an associated raw materials plant after the Biden administration delayed the delivery of some munitions following... January 10, 2025 Treasury Authorization in Syria Invites Terror Finance Risks The Treasury Department issued a broad, six-month license on Monday for doing business with “governing institutions in Syria,” including transactions with Syria’s interim government led by Hayat... January 10, 2025 State Department Calls Out Genocide in Sudan, Heightening Urgency for U.S. Strategy Change In the most significant U.S. statement on Sudan since the country’s renewed civil war broke out in 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared on January 7 that members of the Rapid Support Forces... January 8, 2025 MSCI Continues Anti-Israel ESG Ratings as Morningstar Removes Its Own The reliability of the New York-based investment research firm MSCI’s environmental, social, governance (ESG) ratings for thousands of U.S. and international enterprises is undergoing critical scrutiny... January 8, 2025 Syria’s New Authorities Vow to Shutter Captagon Trade Narcotraffickers who attempted to flood Jordan with over 27 million illicit captagon pills in 2024 may now be out of business. “When it comes to captagon and drug smuggling, we promise it is over and... January 7, 2025 Department of Defense Designates Over 50 Top Chinese Corporations as ‘Military Companies’ The United States has broadened its efforts to stymie corporate support for China’s military modernization. On January 6, the Department of Defense (DoD) released an update to its list of Chinese military... January 7, 2025 In Verified Footage, New Syrian Justice Minister Presided Over Woman’s 2015 Execution The woman kneels on the pavement, waiting for a bullet to the back of her head. She has been convicted of “corruption and prostitution.” Standing behind her is Shadi al-Waisi, who currently serves... January 3, 2025 Chinese-Linked Hackers Accused of Infiltrating U.S. Treasury Department China is accelerating its efforts to compromise U.S. government systems through cyberattacks. In a letter to Congress on December 30, the Treasury Department revealed that hackers linked to Beijing had... January 3, 2025 Palestinian Authority Bans Al Jazeera, Escalating Row with Qatari-Owned Network The Palestinian Authority (PA) rang in the new year with a crackdown on Al Jazeera, ordering the Qatari network to suspend its West Bank operations until it “resolves its legal status.” The Palestinian... January 3, 2025 World Bowls Tour Allows Israeli Participation, Reversing Previous Discriminatory Decision The World Bowls Tour (WBT) on December 31 reversed its decision to bar three Israeli athletes from competing in the World Indoor Bowls Championships to be held in England in mid-January... January 2, 2025 Struggling with Inflation, Egypt to Get Infusion of Funds from IMF In the midst of Egypt’s prolonged economic strains, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has granted Cairo initial approval for an additional disbursement of $1.2 billion following a review of its initial loan agreement. The funding will be made available to Cairo following approval by the IMF Executive Board... December 30, 2024 U.S. Launches Trade Investigation into Chinese Semiconductor Industry The United States is intensifying its crackdown on China’s rapidly expanding semiconductor industry. The Biden administration announced on December 23 the launch of a formal trade investigation into Beijing’s support for China’s semiconductor industry due to its alleged harm to U.S. commerce and national security. December 23, 2024 Can Syria’s New Leader Unite Armed Factions Into One Army? Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa – who also uses the nom-de-guerre Abu Mohammad al Jolani — has pledged to dissolve existing armed factions and integrate their fighters into a newly formed... December 23, 2024 New North Korea Sanctions Will Produce Mixed Results The Biden administration issued three sets of sanctions last week on individuals and entities providing military or financial support to North Korea. However, the sanctions will probably produce mixed... December 20, 2024 New Department of Defense Report Highlights China’s Growing Military Power The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 2024 Chinese Military Power Report (CMPR), released on December 18, emphasizes China’s expanded efforts to gain military superiority over the United States. The... December 19, 2024 New Scientific Agreement Between U.S. and China Could Spur Unintended Chinese Military Development The United States will continue to facilitate collaboration between American scientists and their Chinese counterparts despite U.S. concerns over China’s growing technological prowess. Washington and... December 18, 2024 Meta Dismantles Iranian and Hezbollah Influence Operations Targeting Israel Meta’s Threat Disruption Center two weeks ago exposed influence operations backed by Iran and Hezbollah that targeted Israel, taking down several accounts on the company’s Instagram and Facebook platforms.... December 17, 2024 Egypt Revises School Textbooks to Expunge Antisemitic Content Egypt has made significant strides in purging school textbooks of antisemitic and anti-Christian content, with approximately 80 percent of Egyptian students in elementary and preparatory education now... December 17, 2024 Expect Turkey To Be the Decisive Foreign Player in Post-Assad Syria The ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other rebel groups have created an opening for Turkey to assert itself as the primary external... December 16, 2024 China Conducts Major Military Exercises Around Taiwan In its largest military exercise in nearly three decades, China demonstrated its growing capacity to blockade Taiwan and project power throughout the First Island Chain of Pacific archipelagos that run... December 11, 2024 Assad’s Downfall Sets Back China’s Middle East Strategy Bashar al-Assad’s stunning fall from power has deprived China of a valued partner in the Middle East, exposing the limits of its broader strategy to damage the United States’ regional standing via... December 9, 2024 Federal Appeals Court Upholds TikTok Ban in Serious Setback for Chinese Influence Operations A federal appeals court has upheld a law forcing the TikTok social media platform — a conduit for Chinese influence operations and information harvesting — to be sold by its Chinese parent company... December 9, 2024 Al Jazeera Allegedly Using Bots to Spread Propaganda While Skirting U.S. Law A network of fake profiles is allegedly promoting antisemitic and anti-American propaganda on social media accounts associated with Qatar-owned Al Jazeera. The Combat Antisemitism Movement — a nonprofit... December 5, 2024 Egyptian Satirist Jailed Over Political Cartoons, Spotlighting Cairo’s Abuse of Pretrial Detention The case of Egyptian translator and political cartoonist Ashraf Omar casts a spotlight on Egypt’s abuse of pretrial detention laws, which enable the state to incarcerate detainees without evidence or... December 4, 2024 Qatari Emir Receives Royal Treatment During State Visit to United Kingdom After rolling out the red carpet for Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Tamim Al Thani, the UK government announced plans to double joint UK-Qatar humanitarian assistance with a $100 million fund intended to... December 4, 2024 China Retaliates Against U.S. Semiconductor Restrictions by Banning Critical Mineral Exports In the latest sign of its growing efforts to cut off American access to crucial inputs for advanced technologies, China introduced new export controls on several critical minerals used in both civilian... December 3, 2024 Jihadi Rebel Surge Disrupts White House Plans for Syria The Syrian civil war has cost half a million lives while forcing millions to seek refuge abroad, yet the Biden administration has continually sought to ease American pressure on the regime in Damascus... December 3, 2024 Biden Administration Hits China With New Limits on Access to Advanced U.S. Semiconductors In a bid to block China from acquiring cutting-edge technology that would accelerate Beijing’s military modernization, the Biden administration imposed further limits on the export of semiconductors... November 27, 2024 House Select Committee Shines Light on Hong Kong’s Role in Sanctions Evasion U.S. legislators are increasingly concerned that Hong Kong is becoming a key hub for bypassing sanctions against Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, and other authoritarian regimes. Accordingly, the House... November 27, 2024 Security Cooperation With Jordan: Key to Protecting Israel’s Eastern Front Israel’s longest border, shared with Jordan, has faced persistent challenges of infiltration and smuggling led by Iran and its proxies, threats that have escalated significantly since the Hamas-led attack... November 22, 2024 State Department Warns Turkey Against Hosting Hamas Headquarters U.S. discomfort over Turkish support for Hamas has reached a new threshold in the wake of reports that the Iran-backed terrorist organization is moving its headquarters from Qatar to Turkey, which is a... November 22, 2024 U.S. Sanctions Key Russian Banks, Yet Financial System Remains Accessible The United States on Thursday sanctioned Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank, the last major financial institution in the country that has escaped designation from Washington until now. While this... November 22, 2024 Israeli Military Action is Key to Stopping Iran’s Proxies in Iraq Iranian-backed militias in Iraq continue to launch drone and missile attacks against Israel in a show of solidarity with their allies in Gaza and Lebanon. Although many claims remain unverified, some attacks... November 21, 2024 Amid Grim Reports on Iran’s Nuclear Advances, IAEA Member States Vote to Censure Tehran In the wake of concerns reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following its recent interactions with Iran and inspections of Tehran’s nuclear sites, the nuclear watchdog’s 35-member... November 21, 2024 Eyeing Turkey, Greece Seeks Deal With Israel to Develop Iron Dome-like Air Defenses Israeli military technology has showcased its effectiveness during more than a year of conflict, and other countries have taken notice. On November 14, Greek officials revealed that Athens was seeking...

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