Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel’s military says its tank fire killed a U.N. worker in Gaza Captain (res.) at IDF's Military Intelligence research department Alex Grinberg: Netanyahu's expected visit to Baku sends shockwaves through Tehran China, Russia and Iran jointly discuss Iran's nuclear programme with IAEA, reports Xinhua Iran, France signal readiness for nuclear talks amid US negotiations CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce Duvi Honig: Iran: A Western challenge, not solely Israel’s Russian attack on Kyiv kills 12, prompting Trump to rebuke Putin WSJ Editorial: A moment of truth in Ukraine Lebanon reprimands Iran envoy over comments on Hezbollah disarmament U.S. says blast in Yemen was caused by Houthi Missile, not U.S. strike Exclusive: Trump poised to offer Saudi Arabia over $100 billion arms package, sources say WSJ Editorial: China menaces Taiwan’s outlying islands Russia deepens its Taliban ties with eye on shared adversary ISISIn The News
Israel
Israel’s military said its troops were responsible for a March 19 strike on a United Nations facility in central Gaza that killed one of the organization’s staff members, reversing its earlier position that the military hadn’t carried out the attack. – Wall Street Journal
That hours-long session, meant to reinvigorate U.S.-Israeli relations, had been requested by Dermer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most senior and trusted adviser, and also drew Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who would soon play a central role as the new Middle East envoy, according to three current and former Israeli officials briefed on the meeting. – Washington Post
An Israeli airstrike hit a police station in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 10 people, local health authorities said, and Israel’s military said it had struck a command centre of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad groups. – Reuters
The Palestinian leadership approved the creation of the position of vice president of Mahmoud Abbas, and possibly his successor, on Thursday, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership. – Reuters
Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday ordered a lower panel to reconsider Israel’s objections to the court’s jurisdiction over arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders last year. – Reuters
Israel is deeply concerned that the US is closing in on a “bad deal” with Iran that will not meet Jerusalem’s stated essential conditions for ensuring the regime cannot attain nuclear weapons, a report said Thursday. – Times of Israel
An Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the military announced. – Times of Israel
Mossad head David Barnea traveled on Thursday to Qatar, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel, possibly marking the spy chief’s return to the hostage negotiating table after being demoted from the role two months ago. – Times of Israel
Three hundred and sixteen soldiers were killed during their military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, according to figures released by the Defense Ministry on Friday, highlighting the devastating toll of the wars fought in Gaza and Lebanon over the last year. – Times of Israel
Alex Grinberg writes: As the U.S. and Israel deepen their ties with Baku, Tehran is likely to respond through proxy escalation and further regional entrenchment. In this shifting landscape, Azerbaijan’s rise as a mediator between Israel and Turkey—and its prospective role in the Abraham Accords—signals a profound and dangerous change for Tehran. With Baku on the ascent and Syria slipping from its grasp, Iran’s long-held regional ambitions are being challenged like never before. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
China, Russia and Iran jointly met with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said on Friday. – Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday he was ready to travel to Europe for talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with France indicating European powers were also ready for dialogue if Tehran showed it was seriously engaged. – Reuters
Iran’s ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned on Thursday after the Dutch intelligence agency said it suspected Tehran of being behind two assassination attempts in Europe, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. – Reuters
“None of your business” is the Islamic Republic’s response to a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors to visit a suspected undeclared nuclear installation, putting into question the utility of an American-Iranian deal. – New York Sun
Cheap and false propaganda. Iranian state television broadcast a video in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was involved in a car accident, disappeared, and was later found in Iranian captivity. – Arutz Sheva
Duvi Honig writes: The world must recognize Israel’s role as a key ally fighting its battles. Acknowledging and supporting Israel’s actions in the region as part of a broader defense of Western values and security is not only strategically sound but also preserves vital Western interests. It’s a symbiotic relationship that saves American and European lives, bridging the interests of a safer global community. In understanding this, the West must openly support Israel’s actions against threats like Iran, promoting and recognizing the true reality in which Israel acts not as a solitary force but as a key protector of global peace and stability. – Arutz Sheva
Michael Eisner and Saeid Dehghan write: The Trump administration would make a grave mistake to bail out the Iranian regime while allowing them to consolidate control by crushing popular resistance. In order to forge a truly historic agreement, Trump should seek not only to disarm Iran but also to defend and empower the Iranian people who will and have fought bravely to change the nature of the Iranian regime. – The Hill
Henry Sokolski writes: This puts us in a pickle. If Team Trump fails to get Iran to dismantle its enrichment plants (which is almost certain) but allows MBS to do so, the latter becomes the new normal, supercharging nuclear proliferation globally. On the other hand, if Trump allows Iran to continue to enrich, it is a foregone conclusion that Washington must allow MBS to do the same. – National Interest
Russia and Ukraine
In a direct response to the biggest and deadliest aerial barrage on Kyiv by Moscow’s forces this year, President Trump made a personal appeal to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop attacks on Ukraine and agree to a peace deal. – Wall Street Journal
Russia is presenting itself as potentially open to a U.S.-sponsored peace deal — even one that doesn’t meet all of its maximalist conditions — as a way to ingratiate itself with President Donald Trump and lay a political trap for Ukraine, Western officials and Russian analysts say. – Washington Post
Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile for the deadly overnight strike that hit a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, citing preliminary information. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia is not holding talks with Europe or the United States about Russian gas supplies via Ukraine. – Reuters
Ukraine and the United States still have issues to resolve before signing a critical minerals agreement, but Kyiv officials are working to seal a deal “as fast as we can,” Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko told Reuters on Thursday. – Reuters
Ukraine said on Thursday it identified the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who had died in Russian captivity, and a forensic medical examination revealed signs of torture and ill-treatment. – Reuters
Three people, including a child, were killed and eight more were wounded in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, the regional governor said on Friday. – Reuters
Russia is prepared to resume talks on nuclear arms control with the US, two years after suspending the last accord limiting their atomic arsenals, a top security official said. – Bloomberg
In a search for new economic and military partners, Russia has turned its focus to Gulf countries, as Moscow carries on its three-year war against Ukraine. – Defense News
Editorial: This reveals the Administration’s cardinal error. As Korean War historian T.R. Fehrenbach put it, there are tigers in the world. And you can’t deal with a tiger by soliciting his perspective on his hunger. Mr. Trump can’t want his legacy to be handing Ukraine to Mr. Putin, and there’s still an opening to start dealing with the Russian as the tiger who ignores the President’s entreaties and shoots missiles at apartment buildings. – Wall Street Journal
David Ignatius writes: I take Trump at his word when he says he wants to stop the “horrible bloodbath” in Ukraine. In September, in his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he pledged to “negotiate a deal” and “stop all of these human lives from being destroyed.” The challenge for Trump has been how to couple this hunger for a ceasefire with security guarantees for Ukraine that are strong and credible enough to stop Putin from invading again. Trump isn’t there yet, but he’s getting closer. – Washington Post
Pavel Luzin and Evgeny Roshchin write: In brief, Russian military thinkers have realized that the current Russian armed forces are far from what they should be for modern warfare. This contradiction between theory and reality will define political discussions and the efforts of Russian political and military leadership toward adaptation and/or reform of the armed forces and military-industrial complex in the coming years. None of the players below the level of the Russian president, however, appear empowered to decide or even propose how the inevitable political and material tradeoffs necessary for a step-change in Russian military capability might be resolved. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Syria
Britain on Thursday lifted sanctions that had been imposed on several Syrian government agencies during the rule of the now-deposed president, Bashar al-Assad, in the latest sign of Western engagement with the country’s new leaders. – New York Times
The International Monetary Fund plans to work with Syria to help it reintegrate into the global economy, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday, citing a meeting on the war-scarred nation held this week. – Reuters
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is open to normalizing relations with Israel, a Republican congressman who recently visited Syria told The Jerusalem Post. – Jerusalem Post
Lebanon
Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday passed a new banking secrecy law allowing authorised entities to access records from the last decade, a long-awaited measure demanded by the International Monetary Fund to set the country’s shattered economy on track. – Reuters
Lebanon’s foreign ministry reprimanded Tehran’s ambassador to Beirut on Thursday over comments alleging that plans to disarm Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah were a “conspiracy”. – Reuters
The World Bank has granted Lebanon a $250 million loan aimed at helping alleviate persistent power cuts worsened by last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, the country’s finance ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
Yemen
A deadly blast on Sunday near a UNESCO world heritage site in Yemen’s capital was caused by a Houthi missile, not a U.S. airstrike, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command said on Thursday. – New York Times
Three Senate Democrats called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday to account for the scores of civilians reportedly killed in recent U.S. military strikes meant to target Houthi militants in Yemen. – Washington Post
Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven U.S. Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than $200 million in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against the Iran-backed militants. – Associated Press
Amid Yemen’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, Saudi Arabia’s Project Masam has emerged as a critical force in combating the devastating legacy of land mines strewn across the country. – Jerusalem Post
Middle East & North Africa
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom in May. – Reuters
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI gave the go-ahead on Thursday for a rail expansion plan worth 96 billion dirhams ($10.3 billion), including the construction of a high-speed line to Marrakesh, the country’s main tourist hub, by 2030, state media reported. – Reuters
Shoshana Bryen writes: The Abraham Accords of 2020 split the region. There remain those like Lebanese Sunni Islamic scholar Aboubaker Zahabi, who, during a protest in Beirut, declared: “To the sons of Zion, our religion is the religion of jihad. We will come to you and slaughter you.” […] As the President prepares for his trip, more Khalifas and Mohameds — and fewer Aboubakers — means more possibility that the region’s upheaval will ultimately result in peace. Good luck, President Trump. – Algemeiner
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s former president Moon Jae-in said on Friday that prosecutors were becoming political and abusing their power and that his indictment on bribery charges was a good example. – Reuters
South Korea and the United States agreed to craft a trade package aimed at removing new U.S. tariffs before the pause on reciprocal tariffs is lifted in July, Seoul’s delegation in Washington said after a first round of trade talks. – Reuters
David Albright, Spencer Faragasso, and Sarah Burkhard write: Whatever the reality of a third enrichment plant, North Korea is releasing these images to assert that it has a significant capability to make WGU and also additional enriched uranium for the LWR and a nuclear-powered submarine. However, the operational performance of the centrifuges is not discussed in either statement. […] It may also mean that North Korea will not be able to build as many nuclear weapons as it wants its enemies to believe. – Institute for Science and International Security
China
President Trump’s apparent softening on tariffs against China in recent days has buoyed markets and raised hopes for a detente between the world’s two largest economies. For Chinese leaders, it only strengthens their resolve that Trump will eventually cave if they wait him out. – Wall Street Journal
China sent three astronauts to its permanently inhabited Tiangong space station on Thursday in its 15th crewed spaceflight and 20th overall in its Shenzhou program, which started more than three decades ago. – Reuters
China’s military said on Thursday that it had dispatched naval and air forces to monitor and warn a U.S. guided missile destroyer that sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, the second such mission since Donald Trump became U.S. president. – Reuters
Editorial: The question is what the U.S. will do if China decides to make its move. President Trump in the past has suggested that the threat of stiff trade sanctions against China would be his primary tool to deter Beijing’s aggression. The rapid failure—economically and perhaps politically—of his 145% tariffs on Chinese imports suggests he’ll need a new plan. Accelerating U.S. military investments would help, as would a return to alliance-building with partners in the region and further afield. Beijing is providing ample warning about what a failure of deterrence would mean. – Wall Street Journal
South Asia
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated sharply on Thursday, as the Pakistani government said it would consider it “an act of war” if India followed through on a threat to block the flow of crucial rivers as punishment for a deadly militant attack in Kashmir. – New York Times
India’s army chief will review security arrangements on Friday and visit the site of a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir earlier this week, with fears of fresh tensions with long-time rival and neighbour Pakistan spooking markets. – Reuters
Pakistan closed its air space for Indian airlines and rejected New Delhi’s suspension of a critical water sharing treaty on Thursday in retaliation for India’s response to a deadly Islamist militant attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir. – Reuters
The US and India have been edging closer for years. Washington sees India as a key regional counterweight against a more assertive China, while for New Delhi, the US has become an increasingly important source of foreign investment and a partner for trade and security. – Bloomberg
India’s navy posted an aerial image of an aircraft carrier and escorts heading in the direction of Pakistan amid mounting tensions between the two nuclear rivals following the killing of at least 26 tourists in Kashmir. – Newsweek
Mihir Sharma writes: Yet it is unclear what New Delhi’s decision to hold the water-sharing treaty “in abeyance” is actually meant to achieve. In the short term, India could perhaps inject some uncertainty into Pakistan’s water management and make life harder for its marginal farmers. But experts agree that making a real dent in Pakistan’s water supply would be a gigantic task. It would involve building new dams or barrages, since most of those that currently exist are smaller, designed to manage the flow of water instead of storing or diverting it. India has not built big dams in decades. – Bloomberg
Daniel Markey and David Brostoff write: U.S. policymakers need to appreciate both the floor and the ceiling of Russo-Indian relations. Their ties are complex and reflect specific bilateral dynamics. […] That Russia continues arming India is evidence. After all, Moscow is arming New Delhi against its “no limits” friend in Beijing. China and Russia will continue to deepen their relationship for the foreseeable future. All the while, China and India will remain bitter competitors. Despite the apparent contradictions, this triangle is durable. The three powers have found an equilibrium. – War on the Rocks
Asia
Officials in the United States are urging Japan and South Korea to make a formal commitment within the next few weeks to a $44 billion natural gas project in Alaska. – New York Times
Thousands gathered across Australia and New Zealand on Friday for Anzac Day, a public holiday commemorating military service members who fought and died during wartime. – Reuters
Malaysia is open to negotiate with the United States on non-tariff barriers and reducing its trade deficit and will explore a bilateral trade agreement, its trade ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
The Philippine Navy said a Chinese aircraft carrier battle group had passed near its northern maritime boundaries in the run-up to a six-day maritime exercise with the U.S. that began on Thursday as part of their annual Balikatan military drills. – Reuters
Europe
The European Commission banned officials from meeting with lobbyists acting on behalf of Chinese tech group Huawei Technologies after a bribery scandal rocked Brussels this year. – Wall Street Journal
Britain is edging towards a new defence agreement with the European Union that officials on both sides hope will help to improve post-Brexit ties following U.S. President Donald Trump’s upending of security and trade alliances. – Reuters
The Spanish government has unilaterally cancelled a contract to purchase ammunition rounds for its police force from an Israeli firm, a government source said on Thursday, ceding to pressure from its hard-left junior coalition partner Sumar. – Reuters
The EU said on Thursday it would provide 20 million euros ($22.74 million) worth of aid to help modernise air defences in Moldova, a country which has complained of drone incursions from Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. – Reuters
Ireland will contribute about 141.4 million euros ($161 million)to the World Bank’s latest replenishment of its fund for the poorest countries, a 33.5% increase over the country’s previous contribution, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Thursday. – Reuters
Poland is likely to ask the European Commission next week for an exemption from European Union borrowing limits to keep up large defence spending in coming years without breaking EU rules, but is worried that others won’t do so, Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said on Thursday. – Reuters
The United States wants a tariff solution with Switzerland, the Swiss president said in a Friday interview after meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr will meet Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto in Budapest on Friday, Hungary’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday urged the 32 member nations to devote more funds, equipment and political energy to the world’s biggest military alliance, as the United States steps back from its leading security role in Europe. – Associated Press
The Polish and Israeli presidents joined thousands of Israeli youth and others in an annual march Thursday at the former Auschwitz death camp on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. – Associated Press
US President Donald Trump expressed confidence he would be able to reach an agreement on trade with Norway during a meeting with visiting Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, but stopped short of offering to roll back his “reciprocal” tariffs without concessions. – Bloomberg
Romania’s electoral authorities are looking into the finances of the country’s far-right presidential frontrunner days before a key vote, after details emerged of an alleged contract between his party and a US lobbying firm. – Bloomberg
The Netherlands plans to buy a torpedo-killing torpedo as early as 2029, replace the armed forces’ standard assault rifle starting this decade and equip its heavy infantry brigade with tracked armored general-purpose vehicles, as part of 17 equipment projects for the coming years. – Defense News
Ben Hodges and Dan Rice write: If Europe truly believes Moscow’s imperial project should be stopped, then it must re‑embrace cluster munitions and modern landmines. Under disciplined allied control, they are the simplest, quickest, and cheapest way to achieve that goal. The sooner we admit that, the less likely we are to need them. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Bryan Quinn, Bobby Sickler, and David Wiltse write: The imperative to modernize is clear, and the tools to do so are finally available. U.S. European Command’s Decision Advantage Environment has laid the groundwork for digital modernization. […] To bridge the gap between the Department of Defense’s current modernization efforts and the system needed to support the full range of decisions commanders make, the Department must build on the work already underway at the combatant commands and expand adoption of advanced software tools. – War on the Rocks
Africa
U.S. officials have interviewed white South Africans seeking refugee status about their troubles with land disputes, crime and perceived racism, while refugees from other countries are being deported or barred from the United States. – Reuters
Police in Tanzania detained two senior opposition figures on Thursday as the men drove to a court hearing for their leader Tundu Lissu, who has been charged with treason, their party said. – Reuters
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a visit by Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday that peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow should start without preconditions such as Ukraine ceding land to Russia. – Reuters
Senegal’s top court has rejected a move by lawmakers to revise an amnesty law that would have paved the way for possible prosecutions over the deaths of dozens of protesters during anti-government demonstrations between 2021 and 2024. – Reuters
The Americas
The Canadian economy faces short-term turbulence due to the fallout from President Trump’s trade policy, including the risk of tariff-fueled inflation, the country’s finance minister said Thursday. – Wall Street Journal
A Trump administration publicity campaign aimed at discouraging illegal migration is off to a rocky start, with Mexico’s government calling for the ads to be pulled and promising to ban such foreign “propaganda” in the future. – Washington Post
Donald Trump re-emerged as a factor in Canada’s election campaign on Thursday, days before a vote that Prime Minister Mark Carney says will determine how Ottawa can best stand up to the U.S. President. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that Argentina should not “derail the will for change” in the upcoming midterm elections, in a rare comment on local politics from the global lender. – Reuters
Ecuador’s elections body on Thursday denied a request from the leftist opposition to recount presidential votes from thousands of ballot boxes, narrowing the possibilities for the Citizens’ Revolution party to continue to contest incumbent President Daniel Noboa’s win. – Reuters
A federal judge has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to facilitate the return of a second man sent to a prison in El Salvador back to the United States, saying his deportation violated a court settlement. – Reuters
President Donald Trump’s administration moved a Venezuelan man who had worked in construction in Philadelphia to Texas for possible deportation after a federal judge had issued an order blocking his removal from Pennsylvania or the United States, according to court records. – Reuters
Gangs trying to seize full control of Haiti ‘s capital have killed at least four soldiers and four armed civilians who worked with law enforcement to protect their communities, an official said Thursday. – Associated Press
United States
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the mining of the deep sea as part of a broader effort by the White House to secure critical minerals for the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was rattled. Word had leaked that he was planning a classified briefing for Elon Musk on China, a revelation that infuriated President Trump and raised alarms inside the Pentagon given Musk’s business ties to Beijing. – Wall Street Journal
US President Donald Trump on Thursday bashed Harvard as an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution,” as the prestigious university battles his administration’s funding freeze in court. – Agence Presse-France
Ruth R. Wisse writes: There are still good people and programs at Harvard, and I am grateful for my time there. In an ideal world the government wouldn’t micromanage universities. But if Harvard shirks its responsibility to shore up the foundations of America and allows itself to be hijacked by an Islamist-inspired grievance coalition, why would it expect any support from the government? – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
North Korean cyber spies created two businesses in the U.S., in violation of Treasury sanctions, to infect developers working in the cryptocurrency industry with malicious software, according to cybersecurity researchers and documents reviewed by Reuters. – Reuters
Two federal cybersecurity officials said Thursday that they’re using — or contemplating using — artificial intelligence to conduct tasks that speed up the work of human analysts. – Cyberscoop
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will soon have a new second-in-command. Madhu Gottumukkala has been named deputy director. – Cyberscoop
The British government announced on Thursday it is banning all exports of video game controllers to Russia to prevent them from being used to pilot drones on the frontlines in Ukraine. – The Record
Defense
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to reinstate its ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, the latest in a string of emergency appeals that seek to save White House initiatives after losses in the lower courts. – Wall Street Journal
The costs of operating and modernizing America’s nuclear forces through 2034 are projected to soar to $946 billion, 25% higher than a 2023 estimate, a report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday. – Reuters
The Defense Innovation Unit is launching three more outposts across the U.S. to help the Pentagon connect with a broader swath of technology companies. – Defense News
Defense firms with exposure to the commercial aerospace market indicated they could see hundreds of millions in added costs from the Trump tariffs this year, but the defense sector as a whole remains largely shielded from the tariffs’ impact, executives from the top six US defense primes said in earnings calls this week. – Breaking Defense
A key US Air Force officer suggested today that the price tag and attributes of future drone wingmen may come in on the “low end,” potentially upending some expectations that forthcoming tranches of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) could consist of more costly and capable designs. – Breaking Defense
The Defense Department is getting ready to release a request for prototype proposals as the military prepares to integrate future wireless, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into its networks. The upcoming RPP will be for the open centralized unit distributed unit (OCUDU) project. – Defensescoop
Long War
Al Shabaab fighters battled Somali troops and allied forces for control of a strategic army base in central Somalia on Thursday, the government and a military official said, as the al Qaeda-linked militants tried to extend recent gains in the region. – Reuters
An attack by Islamic militants on military posts in northern Benin last week left at least 54 soldiers dead, the West African country’s government said. – Associated Press
Nearly a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin called Afghanistan’s Taliban an “ally” in countering terrorism, Moscow lifted a two-decade-old ban on the group, aiming to bolster ties with Kabul to crush a joint enemy — the Islamic State. – Bloomberg