Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Trump’s blockade on Iran in Strait begins Two Iran-linked ships passed through Strait of Hormuz ahead of U.S. blockade US, Iranian teams could return to Islamabad for peace talks this week, five sources say WaPo’s Marc A. Thiessen: Trump flips the script in the Strait of Hormuz Ukraine says it hit fertilizer plant in northwestern Russia Officials seek to temper expectations as Israel, Lebanon envoys set to hold historic meeting North Korea tests cruise and anti-ship missiles from naval destroyer Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov arrives in China for talks on Iran and Ukraine Hungarian assets rally after opposition party’s landslide election victory WSJ Editorial: Democracy lives in Europe, after all Fugitive Bolsonaro ally, convicted in 2022 coup attempt, is detained by ICE Canada’s Carney secures majority mandate after electoral wins, political defectionsIn The News
Israel
The roads are jammed again, businesses are reopening and children have returned to school. In all but the far north of Israel, residents have emerged from their bomb shelters and safe rooms. But the 40-day war with Iran and Israel’s continuing war with Hezbollah in Lebanon have left many despairing over how little they believe the fighting accomplished compared with the objectives laid out by their leaders. – New York Times
Israeli troops launched an attack on Monday to seize a key town in south Lebanon from Hezbollah fighters holed up there, pressing the war on the Iran-backed group on the eve of rare talks between Israeli and Lebanese government envoys. – Reuters
Israeli airstrikes killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said, as mediators met leaders from Hamas to shore up a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. – Reuters
The High Court of Justice ruled on Monday that the IDF is under a legal duty to implement, as far as possible, equal opportunity for women and men in access to combat roles, and in a split operative outcome ordered the military to begin its long-delayed pilot integration of women into the maneuvering armored corps by the November 2026 draft cycle. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF killed several Hamas terrorists in Gaza this week, including one who had previously been involved in killing several dozen Israeli soldiers, the military announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
A Hezbollah rocket barrage wounded at least one woman in Nahariya, Magen David Adom said on Monday afternoon. Approximately seven rockets were launched towards the city as part of the barrage, with six being successfully intercepted. However, the seventh hit a residence, wounding the woman inside. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: The government still has a choice. It can continue to approach the matter as a coalition-management problem, trimming language here, buying time there, and hoping the contradiction can be managed a little longer. Or it can finally treat the draft crisis as what it is: a test of seriousness, fairness, and national responsibility. The court has spoken, the army has warned, and this country does not need more spin. It needs soldiers, and it needs leadership willing to act on the fact that matters. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
The U.S. imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after peace talks with Iran collapsed over the weekend, risking another shock to a global economy battered by weeks of war. President Trump warned that any Iranian fast-attack ships that came near the blockade would be destroyed. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. blockade on ships entering or exiting Iranian ports is set to drain more oil from a tight market, prolong the squeeze on other key commodities flowing through the Strait of Hormuz and inject significant uncertainty into the global economy. – Wall Street Journal
As Iran’s near-total internet blackout extends into its seventh week, Iranian businesses and academics are arguing that the shutdown not only violates citizens’ rights but further destabilizes the country’s already weakened economy. – New York Times
Hours before a U.S. naval blockade of ships from Iranian ports took effect on Monday, two Iranian-linked ships exited the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, according to Kpler, a global ship-tracking firm. – New York Times
Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Islamabad later this week, five sources said on Tuesday, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries in decades ended without a breakthrough. – Reuters
After a sleepless and at times tense night in Islamabad, Iranian and U.S. officials ended their highest-level talks in decades without a breakthrough, but 11 sources familiar with the negotiations said dialogue was still alive. – Reuters
Full efforts are still being made to resolve the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, a day after talks between the two sides, held in Islamabad, ended without agreement. – Reuters
Iranian oil sales in recent weeks have been favourable and part of the revenue will be allocated to repairing damage to industry caused by wartime attacks, Iran’s oil minister said on Tuesday. – Reuters
A Chinese tanker sanctioned by the United States passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday despite a U.S. blockade on the chokepoint, shipping data showed. – Reuters
Iran has resumed rail services on key routes after repairing sections of track damaged during the war with Israel and the United States, state media said on Monday. – Agence France-Presse
An aircraft belonging to Mahan Air was damaged during US strikes on Mashhad Airport in Iran on March 30, Iranian officials told Asian News International (ANI). – Jerusalem Post
Marc A. Thiessen writes: What’s left to do? U.S. military commanders had about two weeks’ worth of targets left when the ceasefire took effect; for Iran to be fully crippled militarily, those targets must be destroyed before the war concludes. When the ceasefire is scheduled to end in a week’s time, Trump should direct Cooper to eliminate what remains of Iran’s battered forces and defense industrial capacity. He should then either seize Kharg Island or blockade it — and use it as leverage to get Iran to hand over what the president calls its nuclear “dust.” If Iran refuses, Trump should destroy Kharg, so that the regime has no resources to rebuild with, and launch an operation to seize or otherwise establish control of the nuclear material ourselves. With these final steps, the president can bring the war to a final and decisive conclusion — and a victory even the most die-hard Trump critic cannot deny. – Washington Post
Tom Rogan writes: If President Donald Trump wants to secure a meaningful peace agreement with Iran quickly, he’ll have to maintain a tight negotiating focus on Iran’s nuclear program. All other concerns are secondary. The failure of the negotiations in Pakistan last weekend was unsurprising. Iran clearly entered those talks with the aspiration to extract one-sided concessions from an American president desperate for peace. Iran’s simultaneous refusal to abide by the terms of a two-week ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz further underlined its brinkmanship. Trump was right to walk away from the talks. He has now rightly increased the pressure on Iran by enforcing an embargo of Iranian supplied oil and gas tankers. Still, Trump needs more realistic objectives when the next round of talks occurs later this week. – Washington Examiner
Nate Swanson writes: The good news is at some point in the future, whoever emerges from Iran’s leadership vacuum will have to choose whether to replicate the failed strategy of the elder Khamenei or to prioritize stability and the well-being of ordinary Iranians. Unfortunately, Trump will not be able to dictate Iran’s timing. His best bet is to exit this war now and prepare a clear, credible, and concise vision of what the United States wants from Iran and what is prepared to offer in return, with the hopes that Iran’s next leader chooses a better path. – Foreign Affairs
Zineb Riboua writes: The degradation of Iran’s proxy architecture changes the underlying condition entirely. An Iraq reclaiming sovereignty over its own security sector, a Syria freed from Iranian entrenchment, and Gulf States that absorbed sustained attack without political fracture are better positioned to police their own territory […] The Middle East is already reordering itself around Iran’s diminishment. Washington’s opportunity is to consolidate what the region has begun. – The Free Press
Russia and Ukraine
Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Izmail port in the southern Odesa region overnight, damaging a civilian Panama-flagged vessel, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday. Several strikes were recorded across the port area, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said, adding that separate infrastructure elements and equipment were also damaged. – Reuters
The question circulating in Kyiv’s corridors of power and beyond is how far the decorated war hero — the antithesis of a pen-pushing bureaucrat — will go in wielding his new authority; whether he might one day use it as a launchpad for a political career and perhaps even seek Ukraine’s top job. – Bloomberg
Ukraine said it hit a fertilizer plant in northwestern Russia, as the military steps up strikes on industrial facilities to curb revenue for commodity exporters. – Bloomberg
Brendan Simms and Edward Siddle write: Today, a similar congressional push to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Ukraine and support its territorial integrity could provide the political pressure needed to force a shift in the Trump administration’s posture toward Russia. Congress has the political support to make such a move and precedent to follow. Sending a strong message that Congress stands with Ukraine could go a long way toward strengthening Kyiv’s hand in the peace process and mark an important step on the road to its long-term security. – Foreign Affairs
Kateryna Bondar writes: Russia’s experience in Ukraine demonstrates that autonomy will not emerge as a singular technological breakthrough. It will emerge from the systematic alignment of policy, industry, training, infrastructure, and operational adaptation. The United States retains structural advantages in talent, innovation capacity, and industrial depth. But advantage alone does not guarantee coherence. If autonomy is to shape the future force, it must be treated not as a technology program, but as a national systems project. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Hezbollah
Two IDF soldiers were moderately wounded, and six others were lightly wounded when an explosive drone fell in the area the soldiers were operating in within southern Lebanon, the military confirmed on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
In minutes during the major IDF attacks on Hezbollah on April 8, the military devastated Hezbollah, killing hundreds of its fighters and destroying dozens of its key command centers, a senior IDF intelligence official said on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its sworn enemy. – Times of Israel
Turkey
Turkey’s state-owned upstream oil and gas company TPAO will start acquiring shares in foreign companies as part of Ankara’s plans to develop international partnerships to boost its energy exploration, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday. – Reuters
A teenager opened fire at a school and wounded at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before killing himself in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa, governor Hasan Sildak told reporters on Tuesday. – Reuters
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday called for the formation of a Middle East security pact to build trust and stability in the region after the end of the Iran war. – Bloomberg
Israel “cannot live without an enemy” and its government is now trying to portray Turkey as one, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Monday, as tensions between the erstwhile allies continued to escalate. – Agence France-Presse
Speaking at a conference marking the 74th anniversary of Turkey’s entry to NATO, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler criticized the European Union’s reluctance to fully open its defense initiatives to Ankara. – Defense News
Lebanon
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a deadly strike on a Red Cross centre in the country on Monday and the death of a volunteer a day earlier. – Reuters
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter will meet with his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh in Washington on Tuesday morning, marking the most senior in-person engagement ever between the two countries, though two officials familiar with the planning for the Washington meeting told The Times of Israel that expectations should be tempered. – Times of Israel
Robert Satloff writes: Admittedly, it may require some creative diplomacy for negotiators to reach the type of agreed gameplan outlined above—namely, a joint statement that (1) affirms the common commitment of Lebanon and Israel to combat nonstate militias that threaten the sovereignty of the state, (2) notes Israel’s time-bound restraint on certain military operations, and (3) announces the convening of parallel security and diplomatic talks focused respectively on disarming Hezbollah and negotiating peace. Yet it is not impossible. – Washington Institute
Gulf States
Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table, fearing President Trump’s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes, Arab officials said. – Wall Street Journal
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for a more robust and dynamic partnership between China and the United Arab Emirates as the world undergoes unprecedented changes. – Reuters
Dr. Yaron Friedman writes: As the Arab saying goes, “A friend in time of distress is a true friend.” In practice, these alliances have fallen short, and Gulf states may now reconsider their regional partnerships. For Israel, the development is complex. On the one hand, Pakistan’s involvement could increase pressure on Iran. On the other hand, it brings Saudi Arabia closer to a country that has expressed hostile positions toward Israel. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
South Korea will begin construction of a presidential office in the administrative city of Sejong in August next year, the presidential Blue House said on Tuesday, as President Lee Jae Myung seeks to ensure the complex can be used within his term. – Reuters
North Korea conducted another test of strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles on Sunday as part of operational efficiency trials of its destroyer Choe Hyon, state media KCNA said on Tuesday. – Reuters
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung drew condemnation over the weekend from Israel’s Foreign Ministry after comparing Israeli military actions to the Holocaust in a social media post. – Times of Israel
Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Victor Cha, and Jennifer Jun write: Regardless, Pyongyang has significantly augmented its weapons arsenal since Kim Jong-un came to power and his meeting with President Donald Trump in 2019. In March 2026, the South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young estimated that “North Korea may have extracted around 100 kilograms of plutonium over the past 30 years, including 16 kg last year, an amount capable of producing some 20 nuclear weapons.” Any production of enriched uranium would significantly increase the number of nuclear weapons available. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
China
The war in the Middle East has disrupted oil and gas supplies, jolting governments around the world to confront the urgent need for power grids that can withstand future shocks. But for many countries, the push to build grids based on renewable energy is creating a new dependence on technology from China. – New York Times
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on Tuesday for talks on the wars in Ukraine and Iran as well as bilateral ties. Lavrov was shown on Russian state television arriving in Beijing where is expected to hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. – Reuters
The leaders of China and Spain on Tuesday pledged to strengthen their relations and work to safeguard multilateralism at a time when the world is being impacted by various conflicts, including the recent war in Iran, during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. – Associated Press
Vietnam’s party chief and newly appointed president, To Lam, is set to meet Xi Jinping in China this week, seeking to shore up energy security as the war in Iran raises global supply risks and pushes Hanoi to deepen cooperation with its largest trading partner. – Bloomberg
China warned that a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz threatens global trade, calling for an immediate ceasefire to the conflict with Iran. – Bloomberg
Chinese officials deny that they will provide Iran with weapons shipments and air defense systems, with the global superpower’s role in the Middle East conflict posing potential implications on an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. – Military.com
Javier Blas writes: Rather than feel compelled to help achieve a lasting ceasefire, the Chinese Communist Party can take a wait-and-see position by relying on its reserves. Considering the amount of crude it has stockpiled — perhaps preparing for a rainy-day crisis around Taiwan — Beijing can afford to go without Iranian supplies for several weeks. Even a two-month embargo would only see China depleting its emergency reserves by about 10%. In short, the oil math is skewed against the White House. The blockade has a slim chance of working. With apologies to John Maynard Keynes, Iran can remain defiant — and China unconcerned — longer than Trump can remain solvent. – Bloomberg
South Asia
Pakistan is considering Eurobonds, loans from other countries and commercial debt to replace a $3.5 billion facility from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and manage its foreign reserves, its finance minister said. – Reuters
Suspected militants opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing one of them and wounding four others before fleeing the scene, police said. Two attackers were killed when police returned fire. – Associated Press
Mihir Sharma writes: If they do well in Bengal, for example, they will feel no sense of triumph, for they know it will be on the back of a compromised voter roll. They won’t have proved to anyone’s satisfaction that their mission has genuine popular purchase in the east. Enough Indians will continue to believe that, even after decades of trying, the BJP’s project has gone as far as it conceivably can. The party wanted converts, but all they’ll get is captives. – Bloomberg
Asia
The Malaysian government announced new restrictions on imported cars. The minimum sale price of imported E.V.s is being doubled to 200,000 ringgit or about $50,000, according to Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia’s trade minister. – New York Times
The Philippines’ Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said on Tuesday that the country is asking the United States for an extension on a waiver to purchase Russian oil and petroleum products. – Reuters
An annoyed Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did a few rounds of jumping jack exercise and jogged briefly outside his office in front of journalists Monday to disprove rumors of his failing health. – Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised growing economic ties with Indonesia at Kremlin talks with President Prabowo Subianto, while noting a recent dip in trade. – Bloomberg
More than 17,000 military personnel will participate in the biggest-ever joint drills by the Philippines, the US and other nations as they rehearse warfighting skills amid tensions with China and conflicts in the Middle East. – Bloomberg
Indonesia and the US are exploring a proposal that could allow US military overflights through Indonesian airspace, with talks still at an early stage as both sides explore closer defense cooperation. – Bloomberg
David Fickling writes: Thailand is Asia’s biggest gas producer after China, Indonesia and Malaysia. It should be making money exporting to a region desperate for alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it’s paying eye-watering prices to import LNG. Solar is the answer. The government is currently working on a power plan to guide its energy sector for the next 25 years. By taking the brakes off the sector, Thailand can increase export earnings, clean up its environment, lift rural incomes, and reduce power costs for its cities and industries. It’s time for another energy revolution. – Bloomberg
Europe
Hungarian stocks rose to record highs and the forint hit a four-year high against the euro Monday after the country’s opposition Tisza party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. The end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power paves the way for closer ties between the European Union and Hungary, with the potential of unfreezing 17 billion euros ($19.93 billion) in funds from the bloc. – Wall Street Journal
Some Hungarians had feared that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party would try to block the results of Hungary’s national elections on Sunday if returns did not favor him. – New York Times
The European Union on Monday launched the critical minerals section of its energy and materials procurement platform, which aims to give more power to regional buyers and cut dependence on dominant producer China by aggregating their purchases. – Reuters
U.S. officials who met leaders of France’s far-right National Rally were underwhelmed by their economic plans, two diplomatic sources said, in a blow to the party’s efforts to present itself as a credible steward of the euro zone’s No. 2 economy before next year’s election. – Reuters
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that proposed moves to align Britain with the European Union rules would require legislation approved by parliament, rejecting criticism that it would be a “spectator” as he resets ties with the bloc. – Reuters
Hungary’s opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose party won elections on Sunday with a landslide, said on Monday that his government would not support Ukraine’s fast-track entry to the European Union. – Reuters
Hungary’s next leader Peter Magyar said he won’t stand in the way of Ukraine receiving a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan from the European Union that was blocked by the outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. – Bloomberg
Peter Magyar accused outgoing Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto of destroying documents related to European Union sanctions as he pledged to put an end to the country’s cozy ties with Russia. – Bloomberg
The Kremlin said it will seek dialogue with Hungary’s new leadership in its first comment on the election, which failed to mention Russia’s ousted ally Viktor Orban by name. – Bloomberg
France and the UK are convening a summit aimed at restoring free transit through Hormuz, even as their US ally places a fresh blockade on the strait. – Bloomberg
Ursula von der Leyen’s vision of a vastly expanded European Union that includes Ukraine is running into a hard obstacle: Many current members don’t want to talk about it. – Politico
Editorial: Magyar is almost certain to play nice with Brussels for now. The European Commission is currently withholding around $25 billion — 10 percent of the country’s output — over democratic backsliding. Expect Hungary’s veto over aid to Ukraine to be lifted. Supportive notes from President Donald Trump and a campaign rally with Vice President JD Vance proved ineffective. Just as Americans don’t want to be told who to vote for by foreigners, neither do Hungarians. – Washington Post
Editorial: Democracy has its foibles, but voters in Europe and the rest of the West aren’t eager to turn their countries over to autocrats. What they want is for leaders to provide prosperity and public order and address problems like unchecked immigration when they arise. If parties of the left don’t do so, voters will turn to the right. And vice versa. The more elites cry fascism every time a conservative party does well, the more credibility they lose with the public. Then voters may not listen when there’s a real wolf at the door. – Wall Street Journal
Walter Russell Mead writes: But Mr. Orbán was a better entertainer than builder. His widely praised pro-family policy initiatives failed to reverse the decline in Hungary’s population. Talented young Hungarians continued to emigrate to Western Europe. The economy stagnated as corruption ballooned. Hungarians were once among the wealthiest inhabitants of the former Warsaw Pact nations. Today they are poorer than Romanians. Gerrymandering and media manipulation couldn’t overcome increasing public weariness with a leadership that seemed bereft of ideas. Faced with an opponent who skilfully minimized his ideological distance from Mr. Orbán while focusing on competence and honesty, Hungary’s prime minister went down to a historic defeat. – Wall Street Journal
Harlan Ullman writes: The “special relationship” between the U.S. and the United Kingdom — so named by no less than Sir Winston Churchill himself — may not be special anymore. I attended last week’s fourth London Defence Conference, called by some the new Munich Security Conference by the Thames. Among the 800 participants were many of the most senior foreign, defense and security officials from the U.K., Europe and Japan. “Readiness” was the conference’s subject, with the question “Ready for what?” as its sub-theme. The answer: Ready for the recrudescent Russian military threat; ready for Vladimir Putin’s appetite for further aggression against the West after the war in Ukraine is finally resolved — presumably in Moscow’s favor. – The Hill
Africa
Benin’s Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni secured a landslide victory in the West African nation’s April 12 presidential election, garnering over 94% of votes, provisional results from the electoral commission showed on Monday. – Reuters
South Africa’s newly elected Democratic Alliance (DA) party leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, said on Monday he will focus on addressing a “trust deficit” among Black voters as he seeks to grow the DA into the biggest party in the country. – Reuters
Botswana’s president has clinched multiple agreements with Oman, including on mineral exploration, oil storage infrastructure and renewable power, during a visit to the Gulf nation designed to strengthen economic ties, the presidency said on Monday. – Reuters
Congo’s leading copper and cobalt producers have had some orders for key leaching chemicals cancelled or withdrawn by suppliers this month, forcing miners to cut usage and consider output reductions as Middle East-linked supply disruptions deepen, industry sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. – Reuters
The U.N. has expressed concern over violence in the strategic town of Akobo in South Sudan’ s Jonglei State, which was retaken by opposition forces after they ousted government troops. – Associated Press
A strategically important air base and port have been offered to the U.S. as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz begins and Iran-backed threats target the key Red Sea choke point of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Top U.S. military officials, including the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Gen. Dagvin Anderson, recently visited facilities being offered in Somaliland. – Fox News
The Americas
Peru is gearing up to elect its 10th president in 10 years, but another serious question weighs on this nation of 35 million people: What happens if its central-bank governor of 20 years retires this year? After all, presidents here come and go, often led away in handcuffs. Peruvian Central Bank Governor Julio Velarde is the rock that has kept this country from running off the rails through years of political chaos, economists say. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a fugitive former Brazilian intelligence chief and congressman Monday in Florida on alleged immigration violations, Brazilian authorities said, closing an international manhunt that stretched for six months across two continents. – Washington Post
Peru extended voting by a day in parts of the capital, Lima, after widespread logistical failures left tens of thousands unable to cast ballots, an extraordinary disruption that has some candidates raising questions about the conduct of the election. – New York Times
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted talks on Monday in Paris with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and both discussed a democratic transition in her country, he said in a post on X. – Reuters
The U.S. military said it carried out another strike Monday on a boat accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. – Associated Press
North America
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has secured a majority government, cementing his hold on power after electoral victories Monday night and defections to his Liberal Party caucus over the past six months. – Wall Street Journal
A younger generation of the Castro family is moving into positions of influence as Cuba confronts its deepest economic and political crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The family of Raúl Castro—the 94-year-old former president and brother of Fidel—is on the rise as Havana holds talks with the U.S. over easing tensions with President Trump. – Wall Street Journal
Authorities in Haiti have arrested seven suspects, including five police officers, after a fatal stampede killed at least 25 people at a historic mountaintop fortress over the weekend, police said Monday. – Associated Press
The mayor of the “silver capital” of Mexico, Taxco de Alarcón, was located by Mexican security forces along with his father after the two went missing. – Bloomberg
United States
It’s not just gas prices: Some U.S. water utilities are reporting the Middle East war is disrupting their ability to maintain recommended fluoride levels in the drinking water. – Associated Press
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said an executive order mandating banks to collect citizenship information from their customers is “in process,” according to news outlet Semafor. – Bloomberg
Editorial: So Mr. Raskin’s partisanship trumps national security. He ignores the record since 2024. Under current law, queries are reported annually to Congress so misuses of the program are identified. He also ignores that the most significant FISA abuse was the Barack Obama-James Comey FBI’s use of Title 1 against the 2016 Trump campaign. Requiring a warrant can delay searches in cases where acting fast is crucial. It also passes responsibility to a judge when an Administration official should be accountable. If Congress fails to reauthorize 702, the “no” voters will put the lives of Americans at risk. – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
South Korean AI chip startup DeepX said on Tuesday it is preparing to list its shares domestically, adding the firm is open to a possible U.S. listing after that. – Reuters
A Texas man was charged with hurling a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and attempting to set fire to the AI firm’s headquarters. – Reuters
A joint report from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the SANS Institute and the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) concludes that in the near term, organizations are “likely to be overwhelmed” by threat actors using AI to find and exploit vulnerabilities faster than defenders can patch them. – Cyberscoop
OpenAI updated its security certificates and is requiring all macOS users to update to the latest versions after determining its products, along with many others, were impacted by a widespread supply-chain attack that briefly infected a popular open-source library in late March, the company said in a blog post Friday. – Cyberscoop
A widely used phishing tool called W3LL was disrupted by the FBI and law enforcement agencies in Indonesia on Friday. The phishing kit allowed hackers to create fake websites that looked like legitimate login portals for just $500. – The Record
Defense
As the U.S. Navy continues to increase its presence and block passage in the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war, experts have published a report calling into question the country’s current shipbuilding strategy and recommending ways to improve its maritime industrial base. – Defense News
Robert C. O’Brien writes: Congress must seize this moment that President Trump created. With strong bipartisan support in both houses and a clear mandate from the president, it’s a serious policy to address a glaring national security gap, and the White House stands ready to execute it. But to break ground on new shipyards, weld steel, and train workers during this term, Congress should pass the SHIPS Act swiftly. This is the kind of substantive, problem-solving legislation Washington should champion. Passing the SHIPS for America Act in support of the administration’s Maritime Action Plan would signal American resolve, rebuild our industrial might, create jobs from coast to coast, and ensure we can outbuild and outlast any rival. It’s time to make American ships again. – National Interest
Paul Scharre writes: The more that military and civilian defense personnel interact with AI systems, the more they will mature their intuition for what AI can do and its limitations. Yet we also need human-human teaming between warfighters and engineers. AI presents new opportunities to bolster U.S. defense but also risks. The best way to mitigate these risks is to acknowledge them, understand them, and for the Pentagon and Silicon Valley to work together to address them. – Foreign Policy