Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Netanyahu eyeing potential visit to Azerbaijan, 'Post' learns New York Sun Editorial: Mahmoud Abbas airs his ire at Hamas U.S. offers Iran civilian nuclear program in possible compromise with Tehran Iran fortifying buried nuclear sites as talks with US continue, report says Iran says new US energy sanctions show 'lack of goodwill' in Iran-US talks Top Russian official says Moscow has right to use nuclear weapons if attacked by West, TASS reports Zelenskyy cuts short South African trip after massive Russian strike on Kyiv kills 9 WSJ Editorial: Trump’s Ukraine ultimatum WINEP’s David Schenker: There is no better time to disarm Hezbollah Jordan cracks down on Muslim Brotherhood AEI’s Michael Rubin: Will Qatar add Bangladesh to its “String of Misbaha?” India takes aim at Pakistan after slaughter of civilians in KashmirIn The News
Israel
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas on Wednesday to lay down arms and hand the running of Gaza to his Palestinian Authority, part of efforts to answer international doubts over the authority’s role at a key moment for the region. – Reuters
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a missile towards Israel on Wednesday, which Israel said it intercepted after alarms sounded in several areas. – Reuters
Senior Palestinian officials loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas are meeting to vote on the creation of a vice presidency and could choose a possible successor to the unpopular 89-year-old. – Associated Press
Hamas’s armed wing released a video on Wednesday showing an Israeli Hungarian hostage walking through a tunnel in Gaza and lighting a candle to mark his birthday. – Agence France-Presse
Israeli police evacuated several towns near Jerusalem on Wednesday as rapidly spreading bushfires tore through the area, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consider appealing to Greece for emergency assistance. – Agence France-Presse
For Holocaust survivor Michael Kupershtein, the harrowing wait for news of his grandson — held hostage by Hamas in Gaza — feels like he is reliving a nightmare. – Times of Israel
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Florida on Monday as part of his first official tour in the United States. During his time in South Florida, he met with local community leaders, toured correctional and police facilities, and engaged with supporters. – Jerusalem Post
An Israeli delegation is expected to depart in the coming days for talks aimed at advancing a hostage deal, a source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
A group of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists operating in a command and control center was struck by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the military announced on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Talks are underway for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Azerbaijan, which has been serving as a mediator between Israel and Turkey, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday compared Hamas to the Nazis during the official state ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, vowing that no international pressure would stop Israel from “settling the score” with the terror group following the October 7 attacks. – Ynet
Editorial: In reality, payments to killers of Israelis and the killers’ families were handed over to a Ramallah-financed company. If the Palestinian Authority has “one penny left, it is for the prisoners and Martyrs,” Mr. Abbas told Fatah leaders. No wonder Palestinian Arabs, Israelis, Mideasterners, Americans, even the Europeans, no longer take him seriously. To paraphrase an old Washington saw, since Mr. Abbas has no friends left, perhaps he should get a pooch. – New York Sun
David Jablinowitz writes: Do we not think that we can win this war on our own terms? Those terms should mean the hostages come home, and then when the world complains that we’ve resumed the fight, we stand up for our just cause. In 1967, Israel preempted when its neighbors wanted to destroy it. In 2025, the threat is still there. The Israeli mindset in response should be the same. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
The Trump administration is prepared to allow Iran to have a civil nuclear program that relies exclusively on imported nuclear fuel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, outlining a possible compromise with Tehran aimed at preventing it from building a nuclear weapon. – Wall Street Journal
Iran is ringing two deeply buried tunnel complexes with a massive security perimeter linked to its main nuclear complex, a report said Wednesday, amid U.S. and Israeli threats of attack. – Reuters
China supports Iran holding talks on its nuclear program with the United States and opposes the use of force and “illegal” unilateral sanctions to try to resolve the issue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday. – Reuters
New U.S. sanctions against Iran’s energy sector point to Washington’s “lack of goodwill and seriousness” over dialogue with Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday ahead of Iran-U.S. nuclear talks this weekend. – Reuters
Western governments should create a “strike fund” to support a wave of industrial action across Iran that will paralyze the state and hasten the end of the regime, according to the son of the country’s former leader. – Politico
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to pay a rare visit to Azerbaijan next week, state media reported Wednesday, in the latest sign of warming relations between the neighboring countries. – Agence France-Presse
Iran has agreed to let in an International Atomic Energy Agency technical team in the coming days to discuss restoring camera surveillance at nuclear sites, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday, calling it an encouraging signal of Iran’s attitude toward nuclear talks with the United States. – Times of Israel
Melanie Phillips writes: If Trump doesn’t bomb Iran’s nuclear program, he will become a busted flush. Former president Joe Biden advertised American weakness and as a result made the world an infinitely more dangerous place. Now the grandmasters of Tehran are sizing up the man who replaced him in the White House and are rubbing their hands over making a fool of him too. – New York Post
Russia and Ukraine
Talks to end the war in Ukraine are stalled, leaving President Trump increasingly frustrated and blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to accept a U.S. peace plan. – Wall Street Journal
Ukraine remains committed to working with the United States to put an end to Russia’s three-year war, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said after talks on Wednesday with European and U.S. representatives in London. – Reuters
Ukraine is ready to negotiate but not to surrender, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Wednesday as details emerged in media reports of a U.S. proposal for a deal which would see Ukraine give up almost all territory currently occupied by Russia. – Reuters
Russia’s armed forces are still short of certain weapons, including drones, despite a big increase in production, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. Putin told a meeting of the state Military-Industrial Commission that almost all defence enterprises had met their orders in full last year. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that countries involved in peace talks around Ukraine still needed to narrow their differences and that there were “a lot of nuances” that needed to be worked out before any deal could be reached. – Reuters
Russian forces destroyed an energy facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson early on Wednesday, the regional governor said. Oleksandr Prokudin said the facility, which provided the city of Kherson with electricity, had come under Russian artillery and drone attacks for more than 24 hours. – Reuters
Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event it faces aggression by Western countries, Moscow’s top security official, Sergei Shoigu, was quoted as saying in an interview with the TASS state news agency on Thursday. – Reuters
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday he is cutting short his official trip to South Africa and returning home after a Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv killed at least nine people and injured more than 70. – Associated Press
Editorial: A U.S. flag officer told Congress recently that China has provided 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the legacy chips that have allowed Russia to rebuild its war machine, and that’s a testament to how the world’s problems are now intertwined. Mr. Trump can still salvage a deal in Ukraine, but the current “final” settlement offer looks like it would set up Mr. Putin to win the war now or later. The world’s rogues will notice, and Mr. Trump’s headaches will have only begun. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: The speed of the push, the public repudiations of Zelensky and Steven Witkoff’s mission to Moscow all suggest the White House is racing to cross off a campaign promise before the 100-day mark — and it has every sign of proving to be a failure. For Ukraine, Europe, Russians, Americans and, yes, Trump’s own reputation. – New York Post
Michael Allen writes: Mr. Trump rightly describes the Afghanistan debacle as one of the most ignominious moments in U.S. history. Mr. Biden never recovered from it: His approval ratings tanked, and it left a stain on his presidency. Mr. Trump is also correct that in many ways the Russia-Ukraine conflict is “Biden’s war.” But if he hastily cuts off assistance to Ukraine, and Russia advances westward, Mr. Trump will go down in history for making the same reckless mistakes as his predecessor. – Wall Street Journal
Alexis Mrachek writes: These children cannot be forgotten, especially as the war might be drawing to a close. If the return of all Ukrainian children is not included in the final deal garnered between Russia and Ukraine, then their return would likely never occur. Their return must be the priority of every lawmaker and politician involved in the negotiations. – The Hill
Hezbollah
Colonel (res.) Dr. Moshe Elad, an expert on Lebanon and lecturer at the Western Galilee College, discussed Lebanon’s complex reality with Maariv, saying Lebanon has reached its “moment of truth.” A country torn between hope for national reconstruction and the fear of Hezbollah’s forces erupting again. – Jerusalem Post
Yossi Yehoshua writes: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is interested in disarming Hezbollah and integrating its forces into the Lebanese army. While elements within Hezbollah oppose this demand, they are forced to tread carefully, especially as the influence of the Iranian axis has diminished. It seems that Hezbollah is also closely watching the ongoing talks between the United States and the Iranian regime. A nuclear agreement, if signed, could provide the terrorist organization with renewed momentum, which Israel has worked to strip away. – Ynet
David Schenker writes: No doubt, Hezbollah will try to delay its demilitarisation in hopes of maintaining a residual capability, and should the government persist and broaden its efforts against the group, there could be violent clashes. Despite the risks, however, there will never be a more favourable time to disarm Hezbollah—with or without its consent—than now. – Al Majalla
Syria
When Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara sat at the helm of a small, rebel-held enclave in the country’s northwest, his alliances were simpler. Turkey was a supporter, while the Assad regime and Iran were his main enemies. – New York Times
The International Monetary Fund has appointed Ron van Rooden as head of its mission to Syria, Syria’s Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said in a written statement, making him the first country mission chief since war erupted there 14 years ago. – Reuters
An official invitation to new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to attend the upcoming Arab League summit in Baghdad has triggered sharp political divisions within Iraq. – Associated Press
US Congressman Cory Mills said he held talks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on conditions for the removal of economic sanctions and peace between the war-ravaged nation and Israel. – Bloomberg
Turkey
A powerful earthquake shook Istanbul on Wednesday, sending residents of Turkey’s most populous city pouring into the streets as buildings swayed and onlookers screamed. – New York Times
Turkey’s deputy central bank governor, Hatice Karahan, said on Wednesday that monetary policy tightness will be the main risk management tool to overcome the current volatility. – Reuters
Ozgur Ozkan writes: In the worst-case scenario, if protests swell and Erdogan clings to power at all costs, Turkey may veer toward the paths of Syria or Libya—protracted internal conflict and chaos—and not Egypt or Saudi Arabia. Erdogan may yet seek to use the armed forces to silence dissent. But as both Turkey’s history and that of the broader region suggest, the more that autocrats lean on their militaries for repression, the more likely they are to lose control of them. – Foreign Policy
Middle East & North Africa
Jordan’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it would enforce a widespread ban on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that has been outlawed in several other Arab countries. – New York Times
Saudi Arabia and India agreed to boost cooperation in supplies of crude and liquefied petroleum gas, according to a joint statement reported by the Saudi state news agency on Wednesday following a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. – Reuters
A Tunisian anti-terrorism judge ordered on Wednesday the detention of prominent lawyer Ahmed Souab, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, lawyers said, two days after his arrest for comments about the judiciary. – Reuters
France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Iraq should not be pulled into conflicts in a turbulent Middle East during his first visit to the country, which has suffered from decades of instability. – Agence France-Presse
As America’s escalated bombing campaign and economic sanctions hit Yemen hard, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Washington’s crosshairs are trying to mine the situation for propaganda and recruitment, analysts have said. – Times of Israel
Michael Rubin writes: Qatar is pushing forward with its effort to transform countries from Turkey to Somalia and now Bangladesh from traditional Sufism and moderation into far more conservative Islamist societies in which the Muslim Brotherhood and their Deobandi compadres can grow a new generation to promote and Islamist vision and perhaps fund if not staff an expansion of Islamism across Central Asia, Africa, and now South Asia. Qatar may be small, but its ambitions are outsized. By capturing Bangladesh while the West sleeps, the Persian Gulf’s richest gas giant is slowly reshaping the trajectory of a region. – Middle East Forum Observer
Korean Peninsula
South Korea expressed deep concern” over China erecting a sea structure off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula during a maritime dialogue with Beijing in Seoul on Wednesday, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said. – Reuters
South Korean prosecutors have indicted former president Moon Jae-in for alleged bribery, a prosecution office spokesperson said on Thursday, in a case related to the appointment of his former son-in-law at a Thai airline. – Reuters
South Korea’s data protection authority said on Thursday that Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek transferred user information and prompts without permission when the service was still available for download in the country’s app market. – Reuters
Philip Luck and Erin L. Murphy write: To seize this moment, policymakers in both capitals must resist zero-sum framing and instead double down on sectors where mutual investment creates shared resilience. A renewed Korea Free Trade Agreement framework should be the platform for this rebalancing—not as a transactional trade agreement, but as a strategic economic partnership built for a world defined by geopolitical competition, technological disruption, and alliance-based supply chains. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
China
As President Trump tries to play hardball in his trade war with Xi Jinping, he faces an adversary who has armed China to play a long and potentially painful game in its contest with the U.S. In the weeks since the U.S. president first slapped sky-high tariffs on China, Beijing has responded with defiance. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is considering slashing its steep tariffs on Chinese imports—in some cases by more than half—in a bid to de-escalate tensions with Beijing that have roiled global trade and investment, according to people familiar with the matter. – Wall Street Journal
China and the United States accused each other of unfair trade practices at an informal United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday, seeking to portray each other as global bullies amid their escalating trade war. – Reuters
China’s actions to address climate change will not slow down despite global political developments, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency. – Reuters
The chief designer of China’s lunar exploration programme accused the United States on Wednesday of interfering in Beijing’s attempts to cooperate with Europe and other foreign partners in space programmes. – Reuters
South Asia
One day after militants killed 26 people in a tourist group in Kashmir, the Indian government on Wednesday pointed a finger at its archnemesis, Pakistan, announcing a series of punitive actions against its neighbor and hinting at further retaliation. – New York Times
Images and videos of gunshots ringing out in a meadow, bloodied bodies lying on the ground, and people fleeing across a dry river bed have shattered Kashmir’s emergence as India’s new tourism hotspot. – Reuters
India has summoned the top Pakistani diplomat in New Delhi, local media reported on Thursday, a day after it announced measures to downgrade ties with Islamabad as relations between the nuclear-armed rivals plummeted following a deadly militant attack in Kashmir. – Reuters
Sadanand Dhume writes: Finally, emigration plays a role in India’s closer ties with the U.S. In a phone interview, Ashok Malik, head of the Indian branch of the Washington consulting firm The Asia Group, points to the success of the 5.2 million strong Indian-American diaspora as an important factor in diminishing Indian America-bashing. “The fact is that Indians like America,” says Mr. Malik. “All of us have a third cousin in America who has done well, and we believe the American system has been fair to him or her. For Indians, America as the land of opportunity is not just some abstraction.” – Wall Street Journal
Karishma Vaswani writes: Modi may be tempted to allow anti-Muslim sentiment to continue running unchecked in mainstream and social media. Again, that would be unwise — he should act as a leader for all Indians and issue a call for restraint. Instead, India has vowed to retaliate, with Shah saying the country won’t “bend to terror.” Cooler heads should prevail. – Bloomberg
Ron MacCammon writes: We missed our chance to shape how the war ended. Let’s not miss the chance to shape what comes next. Open a quiet line. Put a real offer on the table — targeted, conditional and strategic. And above all, send a new generation of envoys who are not tied to the ghosts of Kabul’s past. There are no guarantees. But there’s also no excuse for missing the moment. – The Hill
Asia
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Wednesday that he will meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Thursday, and hoped to hold talks with the understanding of the need for close coordination. – Reuters
Australia’s ruling centre-left Labor government on Thursday pledged an initial investment of A$1.2 billion ($763 million) to set up a strategic reserve of critical minerals as it looks to create a separate supply chain in a market dominated by China. – Reuters
The Philippines is set to receive its second batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles from India, its defence secretary said on Wednesday, which should bolster the country’s coastal defence capabilities amid escalating tensions with China. – Reuters
Taiwan’s premier on Thursday proposed another $10 billion in spending as a special budget to help the economy deal with the impact of U.S. tariffs. – Reuters
Kyrgyz security services have detained four people, including an employee of a Russian government agency, on suspicion of recruiting Kyrgyz citizens to fight in the Russian army, officials said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Singapore on Wednesday finalised contestants for its May 3 general election, with the ruling People’s Action Party fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest-ever refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. – Reuters
Thailand’s parliament is set to hold a special session next month to discuss a 3.78 trillion baht ($113 billion) spending plan for next fiscal year as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government draws up plans to minimize the hit from US tariffs. – Bloomberg
Andreas Kluth writes: But Trump canceled the Pax Americana in the name of America First, abandoning international order for anarchy and probably chaos. In this brave new world, pure idealism (thinking in terms of democracies against autocracies, say) is no longer a viable national strategy. Nor is rote allegiance to the US. The world under Trump is likely to get tempestuous, and your best bet of staying rooted and upright is to become bamboo. – Bloomberg
Europe
Britain will not rush into a trade deal with the United States or change its food or car safety standards, Rachel Reeves, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, said in Washington on Wednesday. – New York Times
Latin chants resounded and bells tolled as Pope Francis’ coffin was carried in a procession on Wednesday from the Vatican to St. Peter’s Square, where crowds waited under the warm Roman sun to say a goodbye to the pontiff. – New York Times
A decision by Spain’s Socialist government to backtrack on a promise to cancel a contract to buy bullets from an Israeli firm drew a rebuke on Wednesday from its junior coalition partners, with some allies threatening to withdraw support. – Reuters
Bosnia’s state police, SIPA, on Wednesday tried to arrest Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik who is wanted for attacking the constitutional order but were stopped by his armed police forces, a SIPA spokeswoman said. – Reuters
Denmark’s King Frederik will visit Greenland next week, the royal palace said on Wednesday, in a show of solidarity with the semi-autonomous Danish territory that U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to control. – Reuters
France on Wednesday criticised the lengthy sentences handed down by a Tunisian court against opposition leaders and businessmen on conspiracy charges on the weekend, saying the conditions for a fair trial were not met. – Reuters
Estonia plans to build a military base in the city of Narva, in the Baltic nation’s latest move to bolster security along its sensitive border with Russia. – Bloomberg
Portugal will ask the European Commission to use an escape clause allowing an exception to the European Union’s fiscal rules so that countries can accommodate an increase in defense spending. – Bloomberg
Lionel Laurent writes: Her own institution is rising to the challenge of relaxing monetary policy to spur demand; it’s high time governments started knocking down their own barriers to growth, which Draghi, Lagarde’s predecessor, equates to a 45% tariff on goods and a 110% levy on services. If that means addressing another taboo — the need for more qualified majority voting among the 27 EU nations — so be it. It would be another welcome, if painful, jolt delivered by Trump’s antics. – Bloomberg
Christian D. Orr writes: In other words, these dual NATO/EU membership holders are trying to have it both ways, i.e., putting on airs of standing up to China militarily whilst concurrently expanding trade ties with Beijing. Contrast that with the approach that the United States has taken since Donald Trump returned to the White House: continuing to bolster America’s defensive capabilities against China and standing up to China economically via heavy sanctions. Time will tell if NATO’s and the EU’s senior leadership figure out how to reconcile that military vs. economic disconnect. – National Interest
Africa
Ivory Coast opposition leader Tidjane Thiam said on Wednesday he would fight on to run in the West African nation’s presidential election due in October despite having been removed from the electoral roll. – Reuters
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels on Wednesday pledged in statements released after talks in Qatar to work towards peace after violence flared in January, raising fears of a wider regional war. – Reuters
China and Kenya announced they had upgraded ties to a “new level” on Thursday during a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Kenyan President William Ruto in Beijing, as they both pledged to create an “all weather” China-Africa community. – Reuters
Rwanda said on Wednesday it was in talks with the U.S. over a potential minerals deal, a development that follows similar ongoing talks between Washington and Rwanda’s neighbour Democratic Republic of Congo. – Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron started a two-day visit to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar on Wednesday and spoke of the need for his country to find new markets and boost economic cooperation in the region. – Associated Press
The Americas
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, riding high in polls, looked for support on Wednesday in British Columbia, one of a few fiercely competitive areas that will help determine the outcome of Monday’s national election. – Reuters
Costa Rica granted 85 migrants, who were deported in February by the Trump administration, a special status that will allow them to freely move within the country, the country’s immigration director, Omar Badilla, said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered the dismissal of the head of the social security agency, INSS, as he faces investigation for alleged corruption, the government said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Guatemalan police on Wednesday detained Luis Pacheco, the nation’s deputy energy minister and a former Indigenous leader accused of terrorism and illicit association. – Reuters
The owner of the Jet Set nightclub in the Dominican Republic that was the scene of a fatal roof collapse earlier this month told local media on Wednesday that he had had no warning of a structural problem with the roof. – Reuters
Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Wednesday that the Andean American country will not respond to global trade tensions with “loud” declarations or retaliation, but rather through deeper regional integration. – Reuters
United States
Members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet will likely move to limit the influence of Department of Government Efficiency employees and reassert control over budgets and staffing once Elon Musk steps back from DOGE, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. – Reuters
U.S. Vice President JD Vance played down political differences between the Trump administration and the late Pope Francis and said he felt lucky to have held one of the last meetings with the Catholic pontiff before he died. – Reuters
The U.S. on Wednesday added terrorism-related charges to its criminal case against an alleged high-ranking member of Tren de Aragua, the first time U.S. authorities have used those charges against the Venezuelan street gang. – Reuters
President Donald Trump will sign around a half-dozen executive actions aimed to overhauling higher education, expanding the administration’s efforts to put its imprint on colleges and universities across the US. – Bloomberg
Editorial: But if the President is looking for political advice, he could do worse than check out the polling cited nearby by Mark Penn and Andrew Stein. It shows that the public largely opposes his tariffs, whose damage poses the single biggest threat to his Presidency. Better to heed the polls and the verdict of Adam Smith, and take the Mitterrand path to political survival. – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
European Union watchdogs fined Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros Wednesday as they stepped up enforcement of the 27-nation bloc’s digital competition rules. – Associated Press
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday questioned Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on his discussions with the Trump administration ahead of the president’s retreat on tariffs covering crucial Apple products built in China. – Bloomberg
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) on Wednesday said it had received nearly 860,000 complaints in the last year and recorded a “staggering” $16.6 billion in losses to businesses and individuals, the highest for both figures since the hub’s establishment in 2000. – The Record
The operators behind the DragonForce and Anubis ransomware-as-a-service schemes are launching new business models to attract affiliates, according to research published Wednesday. – The Record
Governments around the world have appeared to ease off from using internet shutdowns to silence protesters and control access to information, according to new data from internet infrastructure company Cloudflare. – The Record
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned that these groups were engaged in a host of massive intrusions, ranging from infiltrating telecommunications networks and sensitive law enforcement communication platforms in order to preposition themselves on critical infrastructure networks to destroy or disrupt services. – CyberScoop
Robert C. O’Brien writes: The punitive dismantling of American tech leadership is not the 1970s breakup of Bell that FTC bureaucrats want to go back to. Instead, it is a flawed strategy that will lead to America losing the tech race to our greatest adversary. The United States must preserve the ability of our greatest tech companies to compete globally. For the sake of national security, economic vitality, and Trump’s America-first agenda, the FTC must abandon its breakup crusade. U.S. tech leadership is America’s strength—let’s not squander it. – National Interest
Defense
Northrop Grumman reported a $477 million loss on the B-21 Raider in the first quarter of 2025, as higher manufacturing and materials costs for making the sixth-generation stealth bomber squeeze the company. – Defense News
The United States Army and General Dynamics have opened a new facility to load, assemble and pack 155mm high-explosive artillery munitions in Camden, Arkansas. – Defense News
Marine Corps Combat Logistics Battalions in Japan and the United States have been employing logistics supply drones inspired by drug-smuggling narco subs in recent exercises and tests. – USNI News