Today In Issues:
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Lebanese, Israeli diplomats hold rare face-to-face meeting in Washington Israeli legal advocacy group files ICC case against Spanish PM over exports to Iran Trump says Iran talks may resume this week, but opposes enrichment compromise Ship ‘spoofing’ in Strait of Hormuz may compound confusion Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target US bases WSJ Editorial: Trump’s blockade is a crisis for Iran NYT’s Bret Stephens: How Trump can wrap up the war ‘Colossal’ pressure: How Russia is targeting university students for military recruitment US vows to unleash full ‘economic fury’ on Iran: ‘maintaining maximum pressure’ WaPo’s Carine Hajjar: Lebanon gets a second chance to do the right thing UN watchdog says North Korea is boosting nuclear weapons capacity Europe drafts postwar plan to free up Hormuz without U.S.In The News
Israel
Senior diplomats from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington on Tuesday, a rare face-to-face encounter as their host, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sought to make peace between the two states. – Washington Post
Italy is declining to renew a longstanding defense agreement with Israel, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday, a sharp reversal for her right-wing government. – New York Times
Israel’s spy chief, David Barnea, said on Tuesday that the war in Iran had delivered a severe blow to the Iranian regime but that Israel’s mission would be complete only once the regime was replaced, suggesting that Israel is still working to that end. – New York Times
The Lebanese government made it clear during U.S.-brokered talks with Israel that they no longer want to be “occupied” by Hezbollah and that there were conversations about long-term vision for clearly delineated border, Israel’s ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told reporters on Tuesday. – Reuters
Serbia will jointly make combat drones with Israel, populist President Aleksandar Vucic was reported as saying Tuesday, as the Balkan country seeks to boost its military and weapons production. – Associated Press
An Israeli advocacy group said Tuesday that it had asked the International Criminal Court to consider legal action against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for allegedly “aiding war crimes” through exports to Iran. The complaint comes in the midst of an escalating diplomatic spat between the two nations, which began with the start of the Gaza war in October 2023 and worsened after Madrid recognised a Palestinian state a year later. – Agence France-Presse
The incoming director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency believed a war with Iran could trigger the swift collapse of the regime, according to three Israeli sources familiar with internal consultations – an assessment that has failed to materialize after more than 40 days of fighting. – CNN
IDF troops from the 205th Brigade and Yahalom destroyed four underground Hamas tunnel routes in Gaza over the weekend, the IDF announced on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF and Hezbollah continued fighting on several fronts on Tuesday, with 13 IDF soldiers being wounded and one killed in separate incidents. – Jerusalem Post
A petition was filed on Tuesday at the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next director of the Mossad intelligence agency by a man who was used by Gofman when as a minor for a so-called influence operation. – Times of Israel
Israel has allowed a Russian ship carrying stolen Ukrainian grain to dock in Haifa, Ukraine alleged Tuesday, reportedly asking Israel to stop the vessel from leaving the port. – Times of Israel
Editorial: If a country’s ability to shield its civilians from attack requires justification, the boundary between offense and defense begins to collapse, driven by narratives imposed from afar rather than facts on the ground. The Iron Dome was never controversial because it did not require agreement on every aspect of Israeli policy. It required agreement on something far more basic: that civilians should not be left defenseless against indiscriminate attack. When that principle becomes negotiable, the argument is no longer about rockets or memorandums or funding lines. It is about whether the protection of civilian life can survive the pull of politics. If it cannot, the implications extend well beyond Israel. – Jerusalem Post
Itamar Marcus writes: It was his libel that “Al-Aqsa is in Danger” that triggered the massacres of Jews during the Mandate period and continues to be echoed today by PA leaders when they want to trigger another round of Palestinian terror. By teaching Palestinians that revering a Hitler ally is official Palestinian Authority policy, the PA is sending a clear message: Its ongoing practice of rewarding and glorifying Palestinian terrorist mass murderers is neither new nor superficial, but deeply embedded in its concept of Palestinian nationalism and Palestinian Islam. – Jerusalem Post
Susan Hattis Rolef writes: The only contribution the media can offer at this stage are endless speculative debates about possible developments while the general public is invited to make sense of the endless verbiage. The reason that many Israelis find the situation regarding the media reporting of the current war to be worrying is because while all the events described above have been playing out, the Israeli government is continuing its efforts to pass legislation that threatens Israel’s liberal democracy. One element of this legislation concerns limiting the freedom of the press and electronic media, especially those that are openly critical of the government. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
U.S. warships confronted six merchant vessels seen departing an Iranian port, forcing them all to turn back, in the opening hours of the Trump administration’s bid to counter Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, military officials said Tuesday. – Washington Post
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S.-Iran peace talks may resume “over the next two days” in Pakistan, but that he was not pleased with the offer of a 20-year suspension of Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program made last weekend by his chief negotiator, Vice President JD Vance. – Washington Post
Maritime intelligence experts are starting to see a new pattern of “shadow” activity in waters in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the United States naval blockade on vessels coming in and out of Iranian ports went into effect on Monday, suggesting that more ships seem to be adopting tactics to avoid detection than during the previous weeks of war. – New York Times
The United States said on Wednesday its military had completely halted trade going in and out of Iran by sea, even though President Donald Trump said talks with Tehran on ending the war could resume this week. – Reuters
A U.S. destroyer intercepted two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran on Tuesday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s blockade went into effect, and instructed them to turn around, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. – Reuters
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday there was a lot of mistrust between Washington and Tehran that cannot be resolved overnight but he added that Iranian negotiators wanted to make a deal and that he felt “very good about where we are.” – Reuters
The U.S. will not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week, and quietly let a similar waiver on sanctions on Russian oil expire over the weekend, two administration officials told Reuters on Tuesday, as the U.S. imposes a blockade on shipments from Iranian ports. – Reuters
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday the indication the United Nations had was that it was highly probable talks to end the Iran war will restart. – Reuters
Over 200 Iranian crew members from two warships who were rescued by Sri Lanka have been sent back to their homeland, a top official said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Iran secretly acquired a Chinese spy satellite that gave the Islamic republic a powerful new capability to target US military bases across the Middle East during the recent war, according to a Financial Times investigation. – Financial Times
The US warned Tuesday it will unleash full “Economic Fury” on Iran, ending a reprieve on sanctions of Tehran oil at sea and threatening to move against foreign banks that back Iran’s terror activities. – New York Post
In most of the world, being 12 years old means you cannot drive, vote, drink, marry, sign a contract, or join the military. The international community spent the better part of the 20th century constructing the legal frameworks required to protect those facts. Iran did not get the memo. – Jerusalem Post
Iran’s central bank has warned President Masoud Pezeshkian that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged economy could take more than a decade, sources familiar with internal deliberations told Iran International. – Iran International
Editorial: The currency, which has lost more than 97% of its value since 2018, would also likely suffer without the foreign exchange coming in. Iran’s regime knows all this is a threat to its survival. The regime has tried to protect itself from its own people by cutting off the internet, crushing the digital economy with it. The destruction of Iran’s productive capacity, especially in steel and petrochemicals and industries that rely on them, also portends layoffs and a spike in inflation, even without the blockade. Oh, and the regime’s latest budget calls for tax increases. This is not a pretty picture. The shame is that this pressure didn’t begin weeks ago. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Trump’s reciprocal blockade is a serious move and will be costly at least in the short term. The U.S. is a net exporter of oil and scarcely uses the strait. But many U.S. allies in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere rely on the free passage of oil, fuel, and other goods through the narrow seaway. A blockade is an escalation, but it signals that America will not be played for a sap and will take additional steps, including renewed military strikes on infrastructure, if Iran does not start being reasonable. Iran is, as always, calculating that it can play for time and outlast its nemesis. We hope that Trump makes sure this is a bad bet. He has shown that he isn’t like previous presidents. He’s shown that he’s comfortable using American military power to achieve success where previous presidents have failed. – Washington Examiner
Bret Stephens writes: Does any of that sound outrageous? Of course not. The outrage is that the regime’s current leaders would almost certainly dismiss the proposal out of hand because ideological militancy, rather than fidelity to the interests of the Iranian people, is what has defined them for the past 47 years. The moment an Iranian government, including the current one, accepts these terms, we’ll know that we are dealing with a fundamentally different regime. It would be statesmanlike of Trump to propose it — and wise of him to keep turning the screws on the regime’s leaders until they accept it. – New York Times
Michael Doran writes: It is no surprise, then, that Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran broadcast the “megalomaniacs with no strategy” storyline. What is far more disappointing is that so much of the domestic and allied opposition—large segments of the Democratic Party, the anti-Netanyahu camp in Israel, The New York Times, and much of the European press—echoes the same script almost verbatim, ignoring the fact that their own preferred policies brought about a situation that supposedly proves that force cannot work. The obvious damage done by the progressive paradigm thereby serves as its own vindication—a perfect jujitsu move. History will record the opposite: Those who recognized the threat and acted before the window closed dealt with the world as it is and protected the national interest. Those who demanded restraint until restraint was no longer an option built their policies on fantasies that endangered us all. – The Tablet
Russia and Ukraine
Russian oil revenues nearly doubled in March, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Tuesday, as higher oil prices driven by the war in Iran provided a lifeline for the Kremlin while its budget ran record deficits. – New York Times
For a time, a city of half a million people on the plains in southern Ukraine wavered on the edge of uninhabitable. Electricity blinked on and off. Orange, salty water sputtered from kitchen faucets. Out in the darkened, deserted streets, jagged ruins of bombed buildings appeared as omens of a grim future. Then came an improbable twist. The city, Mykolaiv, was adopted by the Danish government a month into the war. – New York Times
The Trump administration has extended a waiver allowing Lukoil retail service stations to operate outside of Russia until late October, a narrow allowance in sanctions the U.S. imposed last year to curb revenues supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine. – Reuters
Russia-linked hackers broke into more than 170 email accounts belonging to prosecutors and investigators across Ukraine during the last several months, according to data reviewed by Reuters, a campaign that shows how Moscow’s spies are keeping tabs on the Ukrainian officials tasked with rooting out corruption and Russian collaborators. – Reuters
Ukraine and Germany are starting work on plans for the joint production of advanced drones and other battle-tested defense systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, as Kyiv looks to scale up its more than four-year fight against Russia’s all-out invasion. – Associated Press
A public backlash over tightening internet restrictions in Russia, particularly against the popular Telegram service, is forcing a Kremlin rethink amid worries the crackdown is hurting President Vladimir Putin’s support. – Bloomberg
These are all quotes from Russian students in direct messages to CNN. We are not naming any of them, or their universities, for fear of reprisals but accounts like these, along with a growing body of open-source evidence, suggest that Russia is quietly escalating a campaign to entice and pressure students into its drone forces. – CNN
Ukraine urgently needs more air defenses but fears surging global demand for interceptors — driven by the Iran war and European rearmament — will leave it short. – Politico
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline would be operational by the end of April, but there’s a trade-off. – Politico
Lebanon
Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, and six other countries condemned the killings of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Tuesday while calling “for an urgent end to hostilities” in the country where Israeli attacks have killed over 2,000 people since March. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund and Lebanon are discussing options for providing fast-track assistance to help the country absorb the impact of the Middle East war, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg
Carine Hajjar writes: There are rarely do-overs in diplomacy, but the scheduled talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington will present a second chance for the Lebanese. The Israelis and Americans have heard enough talk — it’s time for action. The Lebanese can take some small steps toward legitimacy: Kick out the Iranian ambassador, who is reportedly still in the country, and actually confront armed Hezbollah thugs in Beirut. Coordinate with Israel in disarming the militia in the south. Until the government gets over its fear of confrontation, its chooses de facto Iranian occupation — and all the destruction that comes with it. – Washington Post
Seth Mandel writes: Yet the president will be under some pressure to do exactly that: by the French, who maintain a colonial mindset toward the Levant but take none of the responsibility for it; by some Democrats in Congress and right-wing pundits who don’t want Trump to notch any kind of political “win” related to the Iran war; perhaps by mediating states such as Pakistan that think Lebanon is useful only as a bargaining chip in the larger negotiations. The president should ignore those voices. Having the Arab states look West instead of East is a strategic boon that is worth American commitment. It’s also the right thing to do. – Commentary Magazine
Gulf States
The death in custody of a Bahraini man whom the government accused of spying for Iran has sparked outrage after his body was returned to his family with injuries suggesting he was tortured, according to three people who said they viewed it. – New York Times
When the war with Iran began in late February, customers hunting for bargains on designer wares stopped coming to the Outlet Mall Dubai and a saleswoman named Marjorie was forced to go on leave for a month. – New York Times
Major stock markets in the Gulf advanced in early trading on Wednesday, building on the previous session’s gains as optimism over renewed U.S.-Iran peace talks lifts investor sentiment. – Reuters
Saudi Arabia will provide $3 billion in additional support for Pakistan to help the South Asian nation bridge a multi-billion dollar gap in its finances linked to an upcoming debt repayment to the United Arab Emirates. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Algeria was billed as a homecoming for the first pope from the Order of St. Augustine to the place where Augustine himself, a giant of the early church, preached the Gospel. – New York Times
Forces from Libya’s east- and west-based administrations participated in U.S. special forces exercises in the central city of Sirte on Tuesday in the first such joint military event including the former civil war rivals. – Reuters
Algeria has granted BP (BP.L), a new prospecting authorization in the country’s eastern basin, the hydrocarbons regulator ALNAFT said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to boost exploration in underexplored regions. – Reuters
This year’s Jewish pilgrimage on Tunisia’s island of Djerba will welcome more worshippers after two years of scaled-down participation due to safety concerns, organizers said on Tuesday. – Agence France-Presse
War in the Middle East could wreak havoc on the world economy if it isn’t resolved soon, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday. – Politico
A young woman committed suicide in the al-Mahabsha district in Yemen’s Hajjah governorate late last week, after a court ordered that she be returned from her family home to her husband’s. This sparked national demands for legislative reforms to women’s rights, according to local media reports. – Jerusalem Post
Christopher Harvin and James Durso write: For Trump, Libya offers a rare convergence of opportunity and feasibility. Unlike Iran, it is not an entrenched adversary. Unlike Venezuela, it is not defined by ideological opposition to U.S. engagement. Instead, it is a fragmented state whose competing factions share a common incentive: restoring oil production and revenue. That shared interest creates the foundation for a pragmatic diplomatic breakthrough. Emergency reserve releases and temporary sanctions relief are stopgap measures. A successful diplomatic initiative in Libya would expand global supply, reduce long-term price volatility, and deliver a clear geopolitical win. At a moment of historic disruption driven by the Iran conflict, Libya is not simply another foreign policy challenge. It is a strategic solution hiding in plain sight. – The Hill
Korean Peninsula
South Korea has secured 273 million barrels of crude oil from the Middle East and Kazakhstan through the end of the year, with supplies routed outside the Strait of Hormuz, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said on Wednesday. – Reuters
North Korea has made “very serious” advances in its abilities to turn out nuclear weapons, with the probable addition of a new uranium enrichment facility, as it stepped up activity at a key complex, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday. – Reuters
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday a high-level Israeli official said it accepted Seoul’s explanation of President Lee Jae Myung’s social media remarks on the Holocaust and that the situation had been resolved. – Reuters
China
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, said on Tuesday that the world cannot risk reverting “to the law of the jungle,” a thinly veiled criticism of the United States, in his most direct public comments on the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. – New York Times
For much of the last two decades, China has maintained a delicate balance in its military relationship with Iran, offering often indirect assistance instead of arms sales. – New York Times
As China’s mammoth trade surplus stokes global tensions, Beijing has enacted sweeping new regulations to investigate and punish foreign companies that stop using Chinese suppliers in response to political pressure at home. – New York Times
The United States’ claims about China exerting military pressure on Taiwan are distorted, and demonstrate its “malicious intentions”, a government spokesperson in Beijing said on Wednesday. – Reuters
The founder of China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer, pleaded guilty to eight charges including misuse of funds, fundraising fraud and illegally taking public deposits, a court in China’s southern city of Shenzhen said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the stability and certainty of China-Russia relations are particularly “precious” in the face of an international landscape intertwined with change and chaos. – Associated Press
China demanded Europe’s two largest shipping companies cease operating ports on the Panama Canal, just weeks after they took over from a Hong Kong-based group that was ejected from the terminals. – Financial Times
China accused the United States on Tuesday of “dangerous and irresponsible” behavior over its blockade of Iranian ports, with President Xi Jinping vowing Beijing would play a “constructive role” in promoting peace in the Middle East. – Agence France-Presse
Filip Styczynski writes: When everyone is complicit—when Westerners themselves benefit from China’s practices—no one is to blame. Killed to Order is an important study of how today’s China is built on some of the worst crimes of our time. It explains how communism works, and explains that the West cannot change the world simply by attempting to export its lifestyle and assuming the best. It also shows how deeply the Chinese Communist Party has penetrated the United States, waging a constant war—even if we do not fully recognize it. The question is no longer what we know. Like Felix Frankfurter and Jan Karski, are we willing to believe, and act in time? – The National Interest
South Asia
Last year, India hit a milestone in its push for energy independence: After years of building solar parks and wind farms, the country said it could generate more than half of its electricity from renewable sources. – New York Times
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey from April 15 to 18, Islamabad said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with US President Donald Trump to discuss the Iran war and situation in the Strait of Hormuz, as a US blockade of the waterway risks exacerbating a global energy crisis. – Bloomberg
An explosion at a privately-owned power plant in India ’s central Chhattisgarh state on Tuesday killed at least nine workers and injured 15 others, police said. – Associated Press
Asia
Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas (IPO-PETO.KL), said on Wednesday that fuel supply at all its stations is secured until the end of June. – Reuters
Singapore’s economy grew by 4.6% in the first quarter from a year earlier, preliminary government data showed on Tuesday. – Reuters
Indonesia’s foreign ministry warned the defence ministry in an early-April letter that an American proposal to give its military “blanket” permission to fly over Indonesian territory risked entangling Jakarta in potential South China Sea conflicts, sources said. – Reuters
Japan plans to provide as much as $10 billion in financial support to nations in Southeast Asia to help them cope with soaring crude oil prices due to the war in the Middle East, according to local media reports. – Bloomberg
Taiwan’s lawmakers are due to resume talks on a massive defense bill aimed at both defending against China and placating US President Donald Trump, with the opposition emboldened by a public show of support from Xi Jinping. – Bloomberg
Europe
European countries are putting together a plan for a broad coalition of countries to help free up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, including sending mine-clearing and other military vessels. But the plan would only come after the war and may exclude one country in particular: the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach. – Wall Street Journal
King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Britain will make a four-day visit to the United States at the end of April to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary of independence, Buckingham Palace announced Tuesday. – New York Times
As prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban worked with his allies to try to change the European Union from within, to pull power away from Brussels and toward national capitals. One of their tactics was to finance research groups and academics to promote their brand of illiberal populism. – New York Times
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Europe faced a cold winter and a sudden energy crisis, and it turned to Norway as it desperately tried to shift away from its dependency on cheap Russian energy. – New York Times
After decisively losing a popular referendum last month, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been on the back foot, fighting to regain support before next year’s general election. – Bloomberg
Lithuania’s decision to allow early access to retirement cash resulted in about half a million of 1.4 million people opting out of a pension-saving scheme in the first quarter, suggesting a potential spending spree ahead. – Bloomberg
Greenland’s former prime minister, Mute B. Egede, will take over as foreign minister, placing a political heavyweight in charge of managing diplomatic relations with the US as Donald Trump maintains his desire to annex the Arctic territory. – Bloomberg
It’s not just the US President Donald Trump criticizing the British prime minister for being weak on defense. On Tuesday his own adviser George Robertson joined in, accusing Keir Starmer of a “corrosive complacency” that puts the United Kingdom “in peril.” – CNN
The French presidency refused to let investigators enter the Elysée Palace on Tuesday as part of a probe into contracts linked to memorial ceremonies, invoking the immunity enjoyed by French President Emmanuel Macron. – Politico
Ursula von der Leyen wants to modernize competition policy so that European businesses can stand their ground against global rivals, and with the appointment of Anthony Whelan she has installed a trusted adviser to make that happen. – Politico
Keir Starmer is establishing a Brexit-style “Middle East response committee” to overhaul how Britain deals with the Iran conflict. The U.K. prime minister will chair the group for the first time Tuesday in an effort to create a central structure underpinning Britain’s international and domestic response and developing policy, said a U.K. government official not authorized to speak publicly. – Politico
Africa
For Catholics, a papal visit to their country is typically a moment of joy and piety. But for the more than eight million Catholics of Cameroon, the arrival of Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday will also be a reminder of some of the biggest disparities within the church. – New York Times
Togo will ask United Nations member states to adopt a world map that more accurately reflects the true size of Africa and ditch the 16th-century Mercator projection, its foreign minister said. – Reuters
Germany will provide an additional 20 million euros ($23.58 million) to Sudan this year, with further funding commitments currently under review, the development ministry in Berlin said in a statement on Wednesday. – Reuters
Nigerian police have arrested a 33-member gang over a November attack in which 38 people were abducted from a church in central Kwara state, police said on Tuesday, as part of a nationwide crackdown on violence. – Reuters
Somalia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its armed forces and regional security forces had killed 27 al Shabaab militants in the semi-autonomous Jubbaland state in an operation with international support. – Reuters
Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Tuesday it has recorded two deaths and treated 56 wounded people following five drone attacks carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the Darfur region. – Reuters
Zambia will lose about $200 million in revenue by suspending some fuel taxes to cushion the impact of the Iran war on households and businesses, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said on Tuesday. – Reuters
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as the country’s next envoy to the US, as Pretoria seeks to steady relations with Washington after a turbulent year. – Bloomberg
Mohammed Ahmed writes: With the war in Iran spilling out into the U.A.E., the calculus has shifted. The country that fanned the flames in Sudan is suddenly preoccupied with threats at its own doorstep, a reminder that those who profit from chaos rarely get to control it for long. For Sudan, this distraction may provide some respite. No matter what, the Sudanese people — tenacious, resourceful, unbreakable — are here to stay. We remember what we lost. And we will make this rubble home again. – New York Times
Ann Curry writes: Americans who spoke out against the war in Darfur in the 2000s did not end the Janjaweed’s ethnic targeting, but they helped fund a humanitarian response and almost certainly influenced the U.S. government’s decision to tighten sanctions on those involved, which, in turn, put pressure on the Sudanese government to reach a peace deal. When we care — as individuals, as a nation — we can make things happen. This is the real source of America’s greatness. The women I met that day didn’t have the luxury of not caring. And neither do we. – New York Times
The Americas
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Tuesday called again for U.S. sanctions on the South American country to be removed and said the licenses Washington has been issuing to authorize transactions in the industry do not provide long-term legal security. – Reuters
The Trump administration issued two new Venezuela-related general licenses on Tuesday, including one that allows financial transactions involving certain Venezuelan banks and Venezuelan government individuals, according to documents posted to the U.S. Treasury Department’s website. – Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday called on former intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem, who was detained by ICE in the United States the previous day, to return to Brazil to serve a coup-plotting prison sentence. – Reuters
Peruvians will vote in a presidential runoff in two months after none of the 35 candidates secured an outright victory in the weekend election, though by Tuesday afternoon, the two contenders in the June vote were still unconfirmed. – Associated Press
The trial of seven health care professionals accused of negligence in the death of soccer great Diego Maradona resumed on Tuesday, nearly a year after the original proceedings collapsed when a presiding judge stepped down after appearing in a documentary about the case. – Associated Press
North America
Canada on Tuesday became the latest country to take measures to help consumers facing rising prices at the pump due to the war in Iran and the disruption of global energy markets. – New York Times
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would prioritize lowering the cost of living in Canada, tackling a housing shortage, and building major infrastructure projects to help make Canada’s economy more independent with his Liberal Party’s new parliamentary majority. – Reuters
The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a well-known human rights activist in Mexico who has for years levied charges of human rights abuses against the country’s Armed Forces, alleging he worked on behalf of a powerful drug cartel. – Reuters
The mayor of a commune in southern Haiti appealed for central government help on Tuesday after a gang attack left seven people dead. A police station in Seguin, in the commune of Marigot, was also set on fire in the incident overnight on Monday as armed men expand their reach into new territory. Marigot Mayor René Danneau criticized the authorities for not responding quickly enough. – Associated Press
The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody as President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies on multiple fronts. – Associated Press
Tristin Hopper writes: Quebec has a new premier. With Quebec’s ruling CAQ government continuing to go down in flames in provincial polling (they were at just nine per cent as of last week), the party has swapped out their leader in a last-minute bid to reverse the decline. Stranger things have happened, but at this point the most immediate consequence of Christine Fréchette is that she might draw votes from the Quebec Liberals, thus ensuring a victory for the Parti Québécois in a general election to be held no later than October. – National Post
United States
In a victory for Donald Trump, a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday blocked a judge from conducting an investigation into whether the Republican president’s administration willfully violated a judicial order directing them to stop deportation flights of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador. – Reuters
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday issued sanctions against three individuals and two casinos for their alleged links to Mexico’s Cartel del Noreste, one of several criminal groups designated last year as terrorist organizations by the Trump administration. – Associated Press
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, pushed back on Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the war on Iran, saying the pontiff’s remarks were not based in theological truth and that he should be “careful” with his words on the matter. – Bloomberg
More than one-quarter of Americans hold positive views of China, nearly double the proportion from a record-low three years ago, according to a new survey released by the Pew Research Center. – Bloomberg
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said his committee will be “fully prepared” to process a Supreme Court nomination if a justice retires at the end of this term, and he would recommend President Donald Trump appoint either Texas Senator Ted Cruz or Mike Lee of Utah to fill the vacancy. – Bloomberg
Chevron’s stepped-up imports of Venezuelan oil are helping ease fuel prices for U.S. consumers, according to a senior executive with the energy giant. – CBS News
William A. Galston writes: Equally significant is what Mr. Magyar didn’t do—emphasize divisive social issues or spend much time attacking his opponent as an enemy of democracy. By focusing on public discontent that crossed partisan lines, his campaign enabled former Fidesz voters to vote against Mr. Orbán without repudiating the reasons that had led them to choose him in the past. Democrats in the U.S. could learn a great deal from Mr. Magyar’s campaign. Following his lead could yield victory in the 2028 presidential campaign, even if it means less red meat for Democrats’ most ardent supporters. – Wall Street Journal
Henry Sokolski writes: Washington, though, just approved a nuclear cooperative agreement with Saudi Arabia, which may allow it to make nuclear fuel, and greenlit Seoul for similar activity. A better idea is Mr. Trump’s suggestion that South Korea buy its enriched uranium from firms operating in the U.S. Meanwhile, if Washington blocks Tehran from making a bomb, Riyadh’s stated need to get a bomb by enriching evaporates. Washington, in short, could hang tough and press NPT nations to prohibit nuclear fuel-making for all nonweapons member states that don’t yet enrich or recycle. Previous presidents lacked the courage to read the rules this tightly. Mr. Trump should break that mold. – Wall Street Journal
Sabrina Soffer and Shabbos Kestenbaum write: In practice, administrative “progress” consists of nothing more than promises without follow-through and consequences without teeth. If universities were not indifferent, they would swiftly dismantle the systems enabling this climate. They would hold faculty accountable. They would enforce their own codes. They would act. Simple. The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Harvard calls for independent oversight and structural reforms to ensure accountability and restore intellectual diversity. That approach should not be limited to one institution. It should become the enforcement standard for every university, and certainly for everyone who receives federal funding. Until universities impose real consequences on faculty, administrators, and the systems they protect, antisemitism will continue to fester, protected by choice. – Washington Examiner
Cybersecurity
The suspect in a Molotov cocktail-style attack at OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman’s California home last week faces attempted murder and arson charges, according to officials and court documents. – Wall Street Journal
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has informed participants of the federal government’s Scholarship for Service program that it has canceled this year’s summer internship programs due to the current funding issues at the Department of Homeland Security. – CyberScoop
The State Department is currently “at an exploration stage” with agentic AI that includes discussions about guardrails and how to leverage it as an executive assistant for “high-volume workflows,” a top agency tech official said Tuesday. – FedScoop
Cybercriminals are using a new ransomware strain called JanaWare to target people in Turkey, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Acronis. – The Record
Russia’s internet regulator reportedly blocked access to the social media platform Bluesky, the latest move in a widening crackdown on foreign online services. – The Record
Defense
US Special Operations Command awarded a $50 million contract to aviation technology firm Beacon AI as part of a push to give military pilots more access to artificial intelligence features. – Bloomberg
Senior military officials are reviewing all the insights and input gained from the Marine Corps’ first Generative and Agentic AI Workshop that was held in Quantico last month, according to Maj. Christopher Clark, who said the service aims to use those findings to inform integration plans and reliable tech deployments. – DefenseScoop
The Space Force intends to wrap up the reorganization of its acquisition structure within the next two months, establishing the final three of nine new Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) offices in the “June-ish time frame,” according to the head of Space Systems Command (SSC). – Breaking Defense