Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Why Israel needs more than Iron Dome to thwart an Iranian attack Hamas’s Gaza Chief Yahya Sinwar to take place of killed political leader WSJ Editorial: The U.N. contribution to Hamas Washington Institute’s Devorah Margolin: Retreating from Legitimacy: Hamas's engagement in and disengagement from governance Iran executes another protester after trial condemned by rights groups Institute for Science and International Security’s David Albright and Sarah Burkhard: We need a new discussion about Iran’s nuclear weapons work Ukraine diverts more funding towards missile programme, Zelenskiy says Heritage Foundation’s Andrew Harding: Four Americans are coming home, but don’t forget those left behind Hezbollah pledges to respond alone or with allies to Israeli killing of commander North Korea says German entry into UN monitoring force is bid to create Asian NATO Chinese American scholar convicted of spying on dissidents for Beijing US imposes sanctions on Paraguayan cigarette producer for allegedly enriching the former presidentIn The News
Israel
Israel is preparing for a coordinated attack from Iran and its allies that will present the biggest test yet for a multilayered air defense system that has had to expand far beyond the country’s vaunted Iron Dome system. – Wall Street Journal
When air-raid sirens sound, Israelis all know where to go—a system of bomb shelters dating back five decades that are built to withstand most conventional missiles. – Wall Street Journal
Hamas said Tuesday it had selected Yahya Sinwar, the group’s leader in Gaza and architect of the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, to succeed the former head of its political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last week in Tehran. – Wall Street Journal
The Biden administration is racing to avert an explosion of violence across the Middle East, a high-stakes moment that threatens to derail a long-awaited cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip and underscores the limits of American influence over Israel, its closest ally in the region. – Washington Post
As Israel braces for the retaliation that Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran have sworn is coming, more airlines are canceling flights to the Middle East. On Tuesday, Tel Aviv’s airport saw cancellation after cancellation — and, in some cases, families desperate to flee. – Washington Post
Some Israelis say they want to see military action that would permanently distance Hezbollah forces from the border. But like some others here, Mr. Shelef seemed ambivalent about the need for an all-out conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which would likely be devastating for both countries. – New York Times
Israeli forces killed 45 Palestinian fighters in Gaza over the past day, the military said on Tuesday, after heavy fighting in which militant group Hamas said it destroyed two armoured personnel carriers during an ambush near the city of Rafah. – Reuters
Israeli forces backed by drone strikes killed at least 11 Palestinians in clashes around the volatile West Bank city of Jenin, the military and Palestinian health authorities said, after large scale operations by troops and police. – Reuters
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters broke into an Israeli army base near Tel Aviv on Tuesday, the military said, as demonstrations against call up orders for religious Jews previously exempt from conscription continued to flare. – Reuters
A United Nations expert on Tuesday condemned Israel’s killing last week of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul and cameraman Ramy El Rify in Gaza and urged that the deaths be prosecuted as a war crime. – Reuters
Israel’s Olympic team said some athletes have received threats as they compete in Paris amid larger tensions over Palestinian deaths during the war in Gaza and the threat of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East. – Associated Press
Deep under the northern Israeli city of Haifa, there’s a vast underground hospital. Hundreds and hundreds of beds are lined up within its concrete walls. There are operating theatres, a maternity ward, and medical supplies stacked up in corners. But there are no patients – yet. – BBC
Benny Gantz, chairman of the National Unity Party, called for a dramatic escalation in military pressure on Lebanon on Tuesday, including targeting its infrastructure, in response to recent terrorist attacks and escalating tensions along Israel’s northern border. Gantz delivered his remarks at a tribute conference for the Druze community in Tel Aviv. – Jerusalem Post
In light of developments in the Middle East and the potential Iranian attack on Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Tel Nof airbase, while Intelligence head Aharon Haliva was briefed by soldiers of the Intelligence Directorate on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
A substantial barrage of phishing attacks against large Israeli companies shows Iran’s targeting of Israel is not limited to the battlefield but rather encompasses never ending attempts in cyberspace as well. – Jerusalem Post
19 Israelis were wounded on Tuesday by Hezbollah’s drone attacks, according to the Galilee Medical Center in Safed. Besides those attacks, Hezbollah also launched around 30 rockets into northern Israel, portions toward the Golan and portions toward the Galilee. – Jerusalem Post
IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned Gazan civilians in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza, including those in the Manshiyya and Sheikh Zayed neighborhoods and those currently residing in shelters in the vicinity, to evacuate the area in a post to X, formerly Twitter, early Wednesday morning. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF Home Front Command moved the search and rescue forces of the Ram Battalion—the rescue battalion—to Tel Aviv, the IDF confirmed on Tuesday, as part of the efforts to prepare for a potential Iranian and Hezbollah attack. – Jerusalem Post
Israel’s negotiating team suffers from a lack of credibility in the indirect talks with Hamas for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, three officials from mediating countries told The Times of Israel this week. – Times of Israel
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday temporarily closed a route leading from the Kerem Shalom border crossing to the humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, used to deliver aid to Palestinians, after five soldiers were wounded by Hamas fire in the area earlier in the day. – Times of Israel
A Palestinian man stabbed a female Border Police officer at the Tunnels Checkpoint near Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, police said, while security forces were questioning passengers to ensure they had valid entry permits. – Times of Israel
Officials in the US-led multinational coalition that is reportedly preparing to assist in repelling an expected Iranian attack have preemptively warned Israel not to respond too strongly to such an assault, according to a Tuesday report. – Times of Israel
Residents in many cities and towns in the North, were instructed on Tuesday afternoon, to limit activities and stay near safe areas, due to IDF activity in Lebanon. – Arutz Sheva
Editorial: Unrwa has lost control of its employees and properties. It should admit this, but it trusts that Europeans, who have resumed most funding to the agency, will turn a blind eye. The core issue is that Unrwa itself is a violation of neutrality. No other refugee agency resists resettlement, keeping refugees indoctrinated and dependent in camps for three or four generations in wait for the destruction of Israel “from the river to the sea.” – Wall Street Journal
Eugene Kontorovich writes: Because the administration affords even U.S. citizens no due process before imposing sanctions, if Mr. Abramowitz, who is not subject to sanctions, is ambushed again, he must choose between his safety and the possibility of financial ruin. Palestinians face no such threat. No Palestinian terrorists have been sanctioned under this order. The White House is putting the lives of American Jews living in the West Bank at risk and denying them the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the laws. Soon they will get their day in court. – Wall Street Journal
David Ignatius writes: But with the guns of August dangerously close to a full-scale barrage, Biden has decided that the best way to prevent disaster is through a combination of deterrence and diplomacy. For all Biden’s past frustration with Netanyahu, the White House message Tuesday was that there was “no daylight” between America and Israel. – Washington Post
Gil Troy writes: Ours isn’t an Orwellian world where war means peace. But when democrats fight dictators, history’s lessons are clear. The more resolute we seem, the more likely they are to back down. So those who squeal for peace, telegraphing weakness, delight the dictators – and bring us closer to war. Meanwhile, those who threaten war strategically, telegraphing strength, daunt the dictators – bringing us closer to a true, lasting, peace – after victory, what we need and deserve. – Jerusalem Post
Devorah Margolin writes: Governance itself forced Hamas’s hand in an ideological crisis, caught between governing and serving the needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza and its goals of violently destroying Israel through force—and the group chose the latter. Hamas used its role as a governing actor to entrench itself in a system of control, while never relinquishing its ultimate goal of Israel’s destruction. Hamas has remained committed to its original goal throughout its entire existence: violent struggle against Israel by any and all means necessary, with itself at the helm of Palestinian leadership. While the repercussions of Hamas’s attack on October 7 persist, and will continue to for some time, the attack makes astoundingly clear that any illusions surrounding Hamas’s legitimacy as a governing actor have been shattered. – Washington Institute
Iran
The Iranian authorities executed a 34-year-old man on Tuesday who was arrested during nationwide protests that shook the country in 2022 and who had been sentenced to death in a trial that rights groups condemned as unfair. – New York Times
The United States has communicated to Iran and Israel that conflict in the Middle East must not escalate, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, even as the Pentagon warned that it would not tolerate attacks against its forces in the region. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a restrained response to Israel’s suspected killing of the leader of Hamas, advising against attacks on Israeli civilians, two senior Iranian sources said. – Reuters
Iran faces a dilemma over how to deliver a meaningful blow to Israel without prompting a war that could engulf the Middle East. That challenge appears to be delaying an attack widely thought to be imminent days ago. – Bloomberg
Iran has yet to make any arrests linked to the suspected Israeli killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary said Tuesday. – Agence France Presse
Mordechai Kedar writes: Iran is already involved in a regional war, directly and through its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza, against Israel, which represents the West in the Middle East. The money that Iran will receive from Armenia will not go to promote the welfare of the citizens of Iran, but will probably be used to finance terrorism in the Middle East and in Western countries as well. – Jerusalem Post
David Albright and Sarah Burkhard write: We need it so the U.S. administration can start acting accordingly. The discussions between U.S. and Israeli intelligence on potentially weaponization related activities being conducted in Iran have to take place. They cannot become casualties of other events, be delayed, or undermined by secret U.S.-Iran correspondence. So when Iran comes to the negotiation table, it knows the U.S. officials have their eyes wide open; their eyes on the prize: An end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program as it stands, verified by the IAEA. And if Iran doesn’t come to the table, decides to go for the bomb, and Israel, likely with U.S. support, has to strike – at least the public at home and abroad will understand why. – Institute for Science and International Security
Arman Mahmoudian writes: In this context, Iran must be cautious. Any reckless employment of proxies could lead to a severe response that jeopardizes the proxy network it has spent four decades building. This would not only harm Iran but also its main international partners, China and Russia. Continued conflict in the Red Sea would increase the cost of trade for China, which has already been complaining to Iran. Additionally, the use of proxies in Syria could provoke a major strike against the Assad regime, endangering Russia’s efforts and gains in Syria. This may be one of the reasons behind Russian National Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu’s sudden visit to Tehran. In this context, it is safe to say that whether or not the fifty-eight-mile strip between the West Bank and Gaza is Israel’s Achilles heel, a reckless strike could expose Iran’s soft underbelly. – National Interest
Russia & Ukraine
Among Russians who oppose Vladimir V. Putin and his brutal Ukraine invasion, hopes are high that the Russian dissidents freed last week as part of a prisoner exchange with the West will breathe new life into a fragmented opposition force. – New York Times
Ukraine has “made a lot of progress” on battling corruption, “but there’s work to do” before its economy can achieve its full potential, Penny Pritzker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery, said on Monday. – New York Times
Roughly 500 high-level current and former athletes and coaches have died in the fighting, according to Ukraine’s sports ministry and Olympic committee. At least 518 stadiums and training centers have been damaged or destroyed. Tens of thousands — or more — young athletes of various levels have been displaced inside and outside Ukraine. – New York Times
Kyiv kept up air attacks on Russia’s Kursk border region on Wednesday, with defence systems destroying four drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said, a day after Moscow accused Ukraine of targeting the area with an armoured assault. – Reuters
Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Kursk region is another ‘terrorist’ attack against civilians, the RIA state news agency cited Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Wednesday. – Reuters
At least one person was killed and 12 others, including an eight-month old baby, were injured on Tuesday when a Russian missile struck a residential area of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. – Reuters
Ukraine has put additional funding towards its domestic missile programme, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday, as it tries to narrow a gap in capabilities with Russia, which has an array of long-range weapons. – Reuters
A top Russian official told Ukraine on Tuesday that the longer it waited to enter peace talks, the tougher the terms would be for its people. – Reuters
An Italian man has been detained in Moscow after flying a drone near the Kremlin, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, citing law enforcement sources. – Reuters
Shipments of Russian liquified natural gas to France more than doubled the first half of this year, according to new analyses of trade data, at a time when Europe has tried to pull back from energy purchases that help finance the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. – Associated Press
Russian authorities claimed that a Ukrainian force launched an incursion on Tuesday into Russia’s Kursk region but was being beaten back by troops and local border guards. – Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for the government to develop a program for overseas promotion of “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” a theme that the Kremlin has increasingly sounded in recent years. – Associated Press
Three people have been killed in an explosion at a state-owned arms manufacturing site in Russia, reports say. The blast occurred on Monday when a repair crew was dismantling a pipeline at a workshop in the Avangard site in the city of Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan, around 900 miles east of Moscow, Russian news outlet RBC reported. – Newsweek
The United States and European powers have expressed concern in recent days over Russia’s growing involvement in the Middle East conflict, especially Moscow’s cooperation with Iran and assistance it is providing the Houthis in Yemen. – Haaretz
Andrew Harding writes: Russia and China continue to seize Western citizens, including academics, tourists and journalists, to use as bargaining leverage for political objectives and to secure their own prisoners. The U.S. government must continue to make the safe return of Americans wrongfully detained back to the homeland a top priority. Every administration has an obligation to secure and protect the rights of Americans, especially those unjustly held overseas. – Fox News
Hezbollah
The leader of Hezbollah on Tuesday pledged a “strong and effective” response to the killing of its military commander by Israel last week no matter the consequences and said Hezbollah would act either alone or with its regional allies. – Reuters
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier three times over Beirut in less than 30 minutes on Tuesday, leading to loud booms that sent people in the city running for cover just ahead of a speech by the head of the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah. – Reuters
Hezbollah and Israeli forces again exchanged fire on Tuesday as tensions rise with the Lebanese militant group and its sponsor Iran threatening to attack the Jewish state more forcefully. – Bloomberg
Matthew Levitt writes: This approach has entrenched Hezbollah in many of Lebanon’s key state institutions, afforded it considerable influence in parliament, and allowed it to use the cover of official action to protect its members from political pressure or judicial investigation. The group’s social welfare activities have resulted in a vast network of support from the Lebanese “shadow citizenry” that benefits from Hezbollah’s healthcare, educational, and civil services. Hezbollah serves its and Iran’s interests first and the Lebanese people’s second, further exemplifying the degree to which the group has undermined the state and its institutions, weakened the rule of law, and prevented the Lebanese government from serving the population that put it in power. – Washington Institute
Matthew Levitt writes: Across the country and its political spectrum, Israelis agree that they can no longer live with a gun to their heads, not from the south or from the north. The idea that enemies sworn to destroy them can be allowed to amass massive arsenals on their borders is no longer tenable. That means that Israel will ultimately have to address both Hezbollah’s rocket stockpile and its 30,000-strong standing militia. And it’s the latter that’s more likely to drag Israel into a war that most Israelis and Lebanese don’t want. – Washington Institute
Middle East & North Africa
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the leaders of Qatar and Egypt on Tuesday to discuss efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region and bring a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the White House said. – Reuters
Lebanon is working to ensure any response to the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut does not trigger total war in the Middle East, its Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have rebuffed requests to contribute troops to a postwar peacekeeping force in Gaza, an Arab official and a second source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. – Times of Israel
Tom Rogan writes: The U.S. must put Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei back in his box — threatening to destroy his oil industry if he continues to threaten Israel and U.S. forces should do the trick — Israel must balance deterrence of Hezbollah alongside the avoidance of a regional conflagration, and the president, Congress, and the Pentagon must take whatever steps are necessary to get the Navy up to size. – Washington Examiner
Grace Yetter writes: Directly helping Saudi Arabia develop its nuclear program threatens to further inflame tensions between Tehran and Riyadh, and could easily prompt a regional arms race as nervous Gulf neighbors scramble to catch up. At the same time, restraining U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabia may increase Riyadh’s doubts about U.S. commitment to its security, in turn fueling its pursuit of nuclear technology from China. Fortunately, a Saudi nuclear program is not inevitable. Riyadh still places enormous value on its partnership with the U.S., and firmer guarantees of cooperation and coordination may help to blunt Riyadh’s current nuclear drive. That, however, requires Washington to step up and demonstrate concretely to Riyadh why it doesn’t need to go nuclear. – American Foreign Policy Council
Dennis Ross writes: This is the moment to change the region’s trajectory. Peace won’t come overnight, but the Biden administration can chart a different course. No one can undo the tragedy of the last nine months. But a better approach, one that emphasizes rights and responsibilities for all parties, can start a new chapter for the Middle East. In his remaining days in office, Biden should seize the moment. – Foreign Affairs
Korean Peninsula
North Korea said Germany’s entry into a U.S.-led U.N. border monitoring force on the Korean peninsula would raise tensions, accusing Washington of creating an Asian version of NATO, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday. – Reuters
Youngjun Kim writes: North Korea considers its version of the K-defense industry to be an engine for economic development. From the North’s point of view, Russia is just the beginning, as other potential customers could follow suit […]Kim’s ambition has grown beyond selling access to the Wonsan spa resort. Now, North Korea is seeking its own version of the K-defense industry. – Defense News
Markus Garlauskas and Matthew Kroenig write: Once this hard work has been completed, Washington should clearly communicate its increased preparedness in order to strengthen deterrence against China and North Korea and reassure regional allies. No one wants a simultaneous war with China and North Korea, but failing to prepare visibly and properly for this very real possibility is the surest way to bring it about. – Foreign Policy
China
A scholar with deep roots in New York’s dissident Chinese community was convicted Tuesday of acting as a foreign agent and faces up to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of working on behalf of Beijing’s national intelligence agency to gather information on U.S.-based activists. – Washington Post
China’s military organised a joint combat patrol on Wednesday over the sea and airspace near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the Southern Theatre Command said in a post on the WeChat app. – Reuters
China says it launched a rocket Tuesday carrying a constellation of a reported 18 satellites as part of efforts to assert its presence in space. The satellites were carried aboard a Long March-6 carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province early on Tuesday afternoon. – Associated Press
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is considering making a visit to China, according to people familiar with the matter, as part of the new Labour government’s efforts to recalibrate the UK’s relationship with Beijing. – Bloomberg
Minxin Pei writes: But those hoping that economic self-interests would make China lean on Iran to exercise restraint should think again. Chinese influence is likely insufficient to sway Tehran in the current crisis. Even more crucially, Beijing may choose to do little to defuse the crisis as long as it believes that a potential conflagration in the Middle East would yield more long-term strategic upsides for China than for the US. – Bloomberg
South Asia
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, a widely respected microcredit pioneer, was chosen Tuesday to lead Bangladesh’s caretaker government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned following weeks of violent protests and fled the country. – Wall Street Journal
As protests flared over government jobs in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina turned to a familiar playbook—the country’s liberation war of 1971 and its legacy of divisions between freedom fighters and traitors that the leader has often evoked. – Wall Street Journal
The night before long-time leader Sheikh Hasina abruptly fled Bangladesh amid deadly protests, her army chief held a meeting with his generals and decided that troops would not open fire on civilians to enforce a curfew, two serving army officers with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund said it remained “fully committed to Bangladesh and its people” after protests ousted the prime minister. – Reuters
After Ms Hasina fled the country, social media was flooded with reports of Hindu properties and temples being attacked. India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told parliament on Tuesday: “What was particularly worrying was that minorities, their businesses and temples also came under attack at multiple locations. The full extent of this is still not clear.” – BBC
Aaron Y. Zelin writes: Eighty countries have shown some level of engagement with Taliban authorities, and de facto recognition—acknowledging a new regime via noncommittal acts, without making it eligible for a seat at the United Nations—has become an accepted reality. Therefore, the Islamic Emirate’s diplomatic efforts have allowed for a level of normalization within the international system even though it has yet to provide basic rights to women or to grapple with its past and current support for other jihadist actors internationally (al-Qaeda) or regionally (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan). Thus, while fighting may have helped the Islamic Emirate win its country back, diplomacy has allowed it to be an accepted international actor, even if it remains to be recognized officially. – Washington Institute
Asia
The Philippines, Canada, United States and Australia kicked off their first joint military exercise on Wednesday in the South China Sea to enhance inter-operability among their forces, the four countries’ military said. – Reuters
A court in Thailand will decide on Wednesday the fate of the progressive opposition party, Move Forward, in a case that has compounded fears of a re-igniting of a power struggle between influential conservatives and popularly elected parties. – Reuters
Japan’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens not to visit Israel in a travel alert on Tuesday, citing rising tensions in the Middle East. – Reuters
Indonesian security forces on Tuesday recovered the body of a New Zealand pilot who was killed in an alleged separatist attack in the restive Papua region, officials said. – Associated Press
The Philippines and Vietnam have launched their first-ever joint coast guard training exercises in the South China Sea where the countries share territorial disputes with each other as well as China. On Monday, the Vietnamese coast guard patrol ship CSB 8002, with 80 crew members aboard, arrived in Manila ahead of the scheduled drills set to begin Friday. – Newsweek
Jonathan D. Caverley writes: But if China truly wants to eclipse the United States as the world’s most dominant country, it will need to be able to coerce Japan and the Philippines and project power worldwide. It will need to control, or at least contest, the global commons. China probably believes that the absorption of Taiwan is the necessary first step. Yet when push comes to shove, it may decide otherwise. And even if Beijing’s assessment is right, it does not mean that defending Taiwan is the most important way for the United States to stymie China’s larger agenda. Washington should invest in military tools that can defend Taiwan, but only if they also enable the American military to continue the fight elsewhere. – Foreign Affairs
Europe
The British government, trying to tamp down the worst social unrest in a decade following a series of anti-immigration protests that were turbocharged by online misinformation, is now struggling to contain another agitator: Elon Musk. – Wall Street Journal
A German court ruled on Tuesday that a protester who shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at a rally in Berlin in October had condoned criminal acts — the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel — and gave her a fine of 600 euros, about $650. – New York Times
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said sufficient police would be on the streets to handle anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots in the coming days as he sought to reassure communities braced for more violent protests on Wednesday. – Reuters
The parliament of Spain’s Catalonia region is set to elect a new leader this week, although the event may be upstaged by the return of its former leader from self-imposed exile, despite a pending warrant for his arrest. – Reuters
The trial of a Polish man accused of punching Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the shoulder in June began Tuesday, with Frederiksen not expected to appear in court. – Associated Press
Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said Tuesday that he will boycott the Paris Olympics ’ closing ceremony due to a “scandalous situation” that cost a Romanian gymnast a bronze medal. – Associated Press
Africa
The U.S. said on Wednesday it would provide nearly $414 million in humanitarian assistance for the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 25 million people need such aid, nearly a quarter of the country’s population. – Reuters
Nigeria has detained some tailors for making Russian flags that were waved during anti-government protests this week in northern states, the state secret police said, in a move that underscores concerns about increased Russian activity in western Africa. – Reuters
Senior United Nations officials appealed to the Security Council on Tuesday for help in getting humanitarian aid access in Sudan “across borders, across battle lines, by air, by land” to fight famine that has taken hold in at least one site in North Darfur. – Reuters
Niger’s junta on Tuesday cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine over remarks from officials it said showed Ukraine’s support for groups involved in fighting in neighbouring Mali that killed dozens of soldiers and Russian Wagner fighters in July. – Reuters
Chad’s military was responsible for the deaths of several detainees arrested following protests in October 2022, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. At least four people died en route to Koro Toro prison and six others died there, and it was not clear where another man died, the group said in its report, adding that the real toll was likely much higher. – Associated Press
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi accused former leader Joseph Kabila of backing a U.S.-sanctioned coalition of rebel groups during an interview with a private radio station on Tuesday. – Associated Press
Latin America
For the Venezuelan government, everything seemed to be falling in place. Francisco Torrealba, a senior ruling party official, described being in an electoral command center in the country’s capital, Caracas, on Election Day last month, watching the computer monitors with confidence as the presidential vote neared its close. – New York Times
An extensive police operation in Costa Rica on Tuesday resulted in the arrests of 21 people suspected of links to an international human-trafficking network operating between Ecuador and the United States, police said. – Reuters
Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Tuesday reaffirmed the military’s “absolute loyalty” to President Nicolas Maduro, amid an ongoing dispute over the country’s contested presidential election results. – Reuters
Colombian leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) will not attack the country’s military even after its ceasefire with the government expired, it said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Mexico has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Oct. 1 inauguration of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, Russia’s Izvestia newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing Mexico’s embassy to Russia. – Reuters
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said on Tuesday he wants to host a summit of 17 Latin American presidents to discuss the political situation in Venezuela and support democracy in the country following its contested election late last month. – Reuters
Since Venezuela’s disputed presidential election nine days ago, officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant contact with representatives of both Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González, seeking a solution to the country’s political crisis. – Associated Press
More federal law enforcement officers are being sent to Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state after clashes over land between Indigenous peoples and farmers over the weekend, the Ministry of Justice said Monday. – Associated Press
The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a Paraguayan tobacco company for allegedly enriching the country’s controversial former president, a cigarette tycoon sanctioned last year by the White House for corruption. – Associated Press
Francisco Rodriguez writes: Venezuela must avert a descent into what could be the country’s darkest period of authoritarianism. Let us hope that Edmundo González, Mr. Maduro’s opponent for the presidency, and María Corina Machado, the charismatic leader of the opposition movement, have the temperance and vision to understand the compromises that need to be made to turn Venezuelans’ dreams of democracy into reality. – New York Times
United States
A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been charged with plotting assassinations of former President Donald Trump and other politicians, law-enforcement officials said Tuesday. – Wall Street Journal
A New York City journalist was arrested Tuesday on charges that he accompanied a group of pro-Palestinian protesters as they hurled red paint at the homes of top leaders at the Brooklyn Museum earlier this summer. – Associated Press
US Representative Cori Bush lost a bitter primary battle driven by Democratic divisions over Israel, further shrinking the “squad” of US House progressives. – Bloomberg
Bret Stephens writes: Signals of weakness or strength that the next administration sends in its first weeks or months in office will shape fundamental decisions by our increasingly united and willful adversaries — as well as by our increasingly skittish allies. The MAGA people who think we should abandon Ukraine for the sake of confronting China should ask themselves how abandoning one ally in the West somehow won’t embolden an adversary in the East. The progressives who say we spend too much on defense might ask how much it might cost to restore peace once it’s been lost. – New York Times
Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell write: The Department of State was one of the first cabinet offices created. Thomas Jefferson was the first secretary of state. For two hundred years, the department played the dominant role in conducting American foreign policy. That is no longer the case. While Foreign Service professionals remain patriots committed to advancing American interests abroad, they have seen their prestige eroded and their influence in Washington decline. Reversing this trend and strengthening our diplomatic corps is in the interest of all Americas. Reform, however, will require a secretary of state who understands the problems and is committed to changing the Foreign Service’s bureaucratic organization, personnel policies and ideological orientation. – Newsweek
Paul Larkin writes: But the Colonists who rebelled against the British did not commit the horrors that Hamas committed on October 7—and, in the case of the hostages it took, have continued to commit since then. Sometimes, American Presidents have drawn a so-called red line past which no one may cross, but when precisely that happened, our Presidents lacked the stomach to enforce it. Remember President Barack Obama’s red line on Syria’s use of chemical weapons. This time, however, we need to do just that. The protests that have taken over many of America’s sites of higher education bring familiar images to mind, not all of them good. – Heritage Foundation
Eli Lake writes: That’s certainly how some in Trump’s orbit see it. In Shapiro they see a guy who could prove the Democrats were breaking from the radicalism of 2020. In Walz, they see a hard-left progressive who is on the fringe when it comes to gender, taxes, and public order. As Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway tweeted upon hearing the news, “Tim Walz? What a relief.” In other words, it’s not just the radical Democrats who are celebrating. So is Team Trump. – The Free Press
Cybersecurity
A ransomware attack has targeted the central data systems of Paris’ Grand Palais and other museums in the Réunion des Musées Nationaux network, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday. Some venues in the network are hosting competitions for the Summer Olympics. – Associated Press
Businessman Elon Musk is declaring “war” on a marketing industry trade group that he claims, in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed on Tuesday, was behind a discriminatory ad boycott of his social media platform, X. “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” Mr. Musk wrote on X, sharing an announcement of the lawsuit posted by X Corp.’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. – New York Sun
The company hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) back in August 2022 is facing a data protection fine of over £6 million ($7.6 million) for failing to protect the personal information of tens of thousands of people. – The Record
Mobile Guardian, a company that specializes in providing security software for devices in education institutions, announced on Monday it suffered a “security incident” over the weekend which involved “unauthorized access” to those devices. – The Record
Brianna Rosen writes: The future of military AI governance hinges on collaborative policy efforts rather than legal regulation. The Political Declaration marks a significant stride toward establishing international norms, but it must go beyond common myths and misconceptions surrounding military AI to be effective. As the next Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit approaches, policymakers should focus on clarifying how the law applies to specific AI applications, identifying policy tools to fill legal gaps in protection, and building capacity to implement governance standards within and outside of traditional alliance structures. In the current geopolitical climate, this is the most viable path for mitigating the risks of military AI, leveraging its opportunities, and upholding global security. – War on the Rocks
Defense
The United States and Australia kicked off high-level talks on Tuesday that will focus on China’s “coercive behaviour”, as well as the AUKUS nuclear submarine project and mounting tensions in the Middle East, officials said. – Reuters
Australia will begin co-manufacturing guided weapons with the US next year to boost supply for allies in the Indo Pacific and increase a US military presence in the country, including bomber aircraft, the two nations said after annual defence talks. – Reuters
Boeing announced on Monday it has delivered the first production MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter to the U.S. Air Force. The helicopter will be stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, Boeing said, where airmen will use it to patrol the sprawling Minuteman III nuclear missile fields surrounding the base. – Defense News
The Pentagon is about to launch one of the biggest tests yet of its joint, all-domain command and control, or JADC2, concept, this time seeking to bring multiple nations together to test how well the Defense Department can rapidly share very sensitive information with foreign militaries that aren’t traditional partners, DOD CIO Daniel Holtzman said Tuesday during the Defense One Cloud Workshop. – Defense One
Several U.S. defense companies are considering joint production inside Ukraine, but questions remain about the safety of doing business in a war zone, the persistence of corruption, and the long-term business case. – Defense One
Gregory C. Allen and Isaac Goldston write: For the DOD, this means that there is no time to waste. When it comes to CCA, the Air Force should keep its foot on the accelerator in terms of cost, schedule, and performance. It must also provide the competitive and financial incentives required to ensure companies do not grow complacent. Air Force leaders should also push companies to make the right choice for the program and for national security, even when it is politically inconvenient. This will require leaders in the DOD and Congress to show some courage. To borrow a phrase from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown, the DOD and its partners in Congress and industry must “Accelerate Change or Lose.” – Center for Strategic and International Studies