Today In Issues:
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The Must-Reads
EU lawmakers want Iran's Guards branded terrorist group Iran: We can threaten Suez, Hormuz, the strategic waterways of region MEI’s Marie Abdi: The Iran protests and US policy on Tehran’s nuclear program U.S. readies another massive military package for Ukraine Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko: Ukrainian victory against Russia would be great for America Analysis: Hamas sees West Bank as battleground with new Israel gov't Sullivan lands in Israel for Iran talks amid tension with new gov't Hudson Institute’s Jonathan Schachter: Netanyahu’s agenda and Biden’s opportunity WSJ Editorial: Erdogan targets a political rival in Turkey AEI’s Michael Rubin: Türkiye is not an important NATO member. Stop pretending it is. Senior Biden official visits Iraq as U.S. and Iran vie for political influence Yellen plans China trip as Washington, Beijing work to revive tiesIn The News
Iran
The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the EU to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, blaming the powerful force for the repression of protesters and the supply of drones to Russia. – Reuters
Iran warned on Thursday that the European Union would “shoot itself in the foot” by listing the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, state media said. – Reuters
Iran’s foreign ministry summoned South Korea’s ambassador to protest against South Koran President Yoon Suk-yeol’s comment that the Islamic republic is the enemy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iranian state media reported. – Reuters
Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) of its Iranian Light crude oil grade for its Asian buyers at $1.80 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average for February 2023, down $1.35 from the previous month, two industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Four young men have been executed in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted in Iran four months ago, while 18 other people have been sentenced to death. Human rights groups have said they were convicted after grossly unfair sham trials. – BBC
Iran’s pro-regime media on Wednesday said that the country’s missiles and drones now have the “strategic straits” of the region in their crosshairs. The article in Iran’s Tasnim, which reflects the IRGC’s way of thinking about the region, says that Iran can now threaten Bab el-Mandeb off Yemen, the Straits of Hormuz between Iran and the Gulf and even the Suez Canal. – Jerusalem Post
IRGC Commander-in-Chief General Hossein Salami said in a January 14, 2023 public address in which he spoke about the publication of cartoons mocking Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, that the Muslims will “sooner or later” exact revenge, like they had against author Salman Rushdie. He added: “Do not mess with the Muslims.” General Salami’s address aired on Hamoon TV (Iran). – Middle East Media Research Institute
According to a recent report by the Iranian news agency Mehr, Nasser Abu Sharif, the representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Iran, stated in a meeting with Javad Ghenaat, the governor of Iran’s South Khorasan Province, that “we, the Palestinian people, believe that [Iran’s Supreme Leader] Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei is the leader of us all.” – Middle East Media Research Institute
United States Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley met with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Saeed Iravani, at least three times in the last two months, according to a report by Iran International. – Arutz Sheva
Kitaneh Fitzpatrick, Annika Ganzeveld, Johanna Moore, Nicholas Carl, and Frederick W. Kagan write: Iran faces worsening domestic conditions amid the ongoing natural gas shortage throughout the country. At least one protest occurred in one city across one province. […]Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al Jubier made a blanket statement calling on Iran to end its nuclear program during an interview with CNBC. – Institute for the Study of War
Marie Abdi writes: Some officials in Washington might still believe they can finally convince the Islamic Republic to show flexibility over its nuclear program by not taking a strong stance against the repression of Iranian protesters. In reality, the chance of success for this approach may not be zero. – Middle East Institute
Erfan Fard writes: The EU and UK must join the branding of IRGC terrorists – the largest savage terrorist organization in the world – which is responsible for slaughtering hundreds of Americans, Israelis, and for triggering hundreds of terrorist cells in Europe, Africa, and Latin America and to the four corners of the earth. The entire world has to wake up and smell the coffee – and get the message. – Arutz Sheva
Russia & Ukraine
The dead man, 45-year-old banker Denys Kiryeyev, was killed as a traitor. The Security Service of Ukraine—the country’s primary domestic intelligence agency, known as the SBU—shot Mr. Kiryeyev because he was allegedly spying for Moscow, an agency official said. – Wall Street Journal
Germany won’t allow allies to ship German-made tanks to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia nor send its own systems unless the U.S. agrees to send American-made battle tanks, senior German officials said on Wednesday. – Wall Street Journal
Russia has failed to reach its goals in Ukraine, and the invasion has made the West more resilient and accelerated the decarbonization of its economies, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. – Wall Street Journal
The Biden administration is preparing to announce a roughly $2.5 billion military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to include dozens of Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, according to two people familiar with the decision, as the Pentagon intensifies its support ahead of an expected counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces. – Washington Post
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov drew a sharp rebuke from the White House on Wednesday for saying the United States had assembled a coalition of European countries to solve “the Russian question” in the same way that Adolf Hitler had sought a “final solution” to eradicate Europe’s Jews. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s powerful military-industrial complex was ramping up production and was one of the main reasons why his country would prevail in Ukraine. – Reuters
The United States aims to break the dynamic of grinding warfare and near-frozen front lines in Ukraine with newly announced military capabilities that it hopes will breath fresh momentum into Kyiv’s battle against Russian forces, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Canada summoned Russia’s ambassador on Wednesday over an attack in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that killed at least 45 people, including several children, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said. – Reuters
Ukraine needs a “significant increase” in weapons at a pivotal moment in Russia’s invasion and such support is the only way to a negotiated peaceful solution, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it has opened a criminal case against a United States citizen on suspicion of espionage, saying that the suspect was believed to be gathering “biological intelligence information”. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told political leaders at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos that supplies of Western weapons must come quicker than Russia’s attacks, urging the world to move faster because “tragedies are outpacing life; the tyranny is outpacing democracy.” – Associated Press
The International Atomic Energy Agency is placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of severe accidents as Russia’s war against the country rages on, agency head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday. – Associated Press
A growing belief in western capitals that they should send modern battle tanks to Ukraine marks an important change in the mindset of Kyiv’s allies. – Financial Times
It somehow took five writers to do it, but the New York Times let the cat out of the bag on Tuesday with a report that detailed how the Pentagon has been sending American military hardware stored in Israel to the Ukrainian army. It took less than a day for Russia to come out swinging, with an article in a Kremlin-linked tabloid accusing Washington of “dragging Israel” into conflict in Ukraine. That is not, in truth, what Washington is doing. – New York Sun
After facing a string of setbacks nearly a year into its war on Ukraine, Russia is planning another major offensive to make up for its losses on the ground and justify its heavy human cost at home. – The Hill
Editorial: A long and ugly stalemate in Ukraine would put Russia in position to menace its neighbors for years to come, which would be even more costly for the U.S. and Europe. President Biden is receiving plaudits for keeping the Ukraine coalition together despite the economic and military strains. But the praise will turn to harsh and deserved criticism if the war grinds on and Russia wins its war of bloody attrition. – Wall Street Journal
Vitali Klitschko writes: Just as Mr. Putin fails to grasp the determination of my countrymen, he also misreads America’s loyalty to its friends. He believed economic challenges and political division in the U.S. would stop Americans from rallying in defense of freedom and against evil. He was wrong. […]If America can step up its assistance further as this conflict nears its end, Ukraine’s reconstruction will come even sooner, and the world economy can return to solid growth. – Wall Street Journal
Salem Alketbi writes: In summary, talk of negotiations now seems to be more of a pulse-taking exercise, the purpose of which is to avoid responsibility for the continuation of the war with all its consequences for the countries, the West and Russia. This does not reflect the real intentions for dialogue, postponed until the equations of the military conflict on the ground change qualitatively. – Jerusalem Post
Riley Bailey, George Barros, Grace Mappes, Layne Philipson, and Frederick W. Kagan write: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech commemorating the siege of Leningrad continued to illustrate that Putin remains uncertain about his ability to significantly shape the Russian information space. […]Russian forces’ increasing use of incendiary munitions to conduct what appear to be otherwise routine strikes in southern Ukraine supports ISW’s recent assessment that Russian forces likely face a shortage of conventional artillery rounds. – Institute for the Study of War
Michael Rubin writes: It is now up to the White House and its European allies to convince him this is his only choice. The best way to do this is to allow Kyiv to strike where it most matters and end Russia’s offensive before it ever reaches Ukrainian soil. – 19FortyFive
Victoria Coates writes: If President Biden refuses to work closely with conservatives on Capitol Hill, he risks undermining a year of concerted U.S. support for Ukraine, allowing Putin to regroup for potential future aggression, failing to exploit the opportunity to deter China, and repeating the experience of previous Presidents who have been unable to effectively make the case for war support to the American people. All of which would be a waste of the $100 billion already committed to Ukraine. – Heritage Foundation
Eric Schlosser writes: A proper conclusion of the war in Ukraine will require many complex issues to be resolved: war crimes, reparations, prisoner-of-war exchanges, the return of children kidnapped by Russia. The Ukrainian government, not the United States or NATO, will have to decide how to proceed. – The Atlantic
Israel
Immediately after the November election that elevated a once-fringe bloc of far-right politicians to Israel’s top seats of power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on an American media blitz, aimed at reassuring his country’s most important ally. – Washington Post
Israel’s U.N. ambassador accused the Palestinians on Wednesday of stabbing a knife into any chance for reconciliation by seeking an advisory opinion from the U.N.’s highest court on Israel’s decades-old occupation — and the Palestinian U.N. envoy accused Israel’s new government of seeking to crush its people. – Associated Press
Gaza’s ruling Hamas Islamists are building ties with militant groups in the West Bank, seeking to attract support beyond the enclave by backing Palestinians involved in near daily unrest that Israel’s new hardline government has vowed to crush. – Reuters
Israel and the United States sought to smooth relations between their countries Wednesday in the allies’ first meeting since Israel’s new ultranationalist government, its most right-wing ever, assumed power. – Associated Press
The Biden administration will replenish any US weapons it recently transferred to Ukraine from an American stockpile long located in Israel, an IDF source confirmed on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday night for discussions on Iran amid tensions with Israel over the Palestinian conflict. – Jerusalem Post
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Gilad Erdan on Wednesday accused Palestinian leadership of obstructing the peace process by waging a “jihad war of multilateral terrorism” meant to “destroy the Jewish state.” – Algemeiner
The Palestinians reported on Thursday that two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops during a nighttime raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. – Ynet
Jonathan Schachter writes: The new year opens with a new Israeli government and a historic opportunity for Biden. If his remarks reflect a change in course, if he is prepared to pressure rather than placate Iran and to develop a “Plan B” to genuinely prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, he will make both a nuclear arms race and a war to prevent it less likely. […]The question is, will the president change direction in 2023 to the only practical path offering a chance for peace? If he does, he undoubtedly will find in Netanyahu a willing, capable and creative partner. – The Hill
Gershon Baskin writes: Before those elections are held, policies by Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, the region and the rest of the international community should seek to engage directly with Hamas and push forward opportunities for Hamas to demonstrate pragmatism. – Jerusalem Post
Izabella Tabarovsky writes: Will the American academic institutions that are now promoting their own contemporary version of “scientific anti-Zionism” find the courage to renounce agenda-driven pseudoscholarship and confront the consequences of their deformed conspiracy theories? Let’s hope so. What’s depressing to imagine is that Abbas might be granted a doctorate today by an American university on the basis of the same dissertation, based on the same sources, in the absence of any state compulsion. – Tablet
Hany Ghoraba writes: “We are very close to a large-scale escalation in the Palestinian arena, in a situation where the Palestinian Authority is very weak, and Hamas is very strong,” Israeli MK and former IDF Chief of General Staff and Knesset member Gadi Eizenkot told Israel’s channel 14 last week. Gearing up for its next war against Israel is all Hamas has accomplished during its 35-year history. Palestinian suffering is not a consideration. – Algemeiner
Turkey
Turkey is set to deliver an undisclosed number of armed drones to Kuwait in a contract worth $370 million, Turkish defence firm Baykar said on Wednesday. – Reuters
A senior Turkish official said he expects the US to approve his country’s purchase of F-16 fighter jets, even as divisions between the Biden administration and Congress over the deal are likely to hold up a delivery of the planes. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Public dissatisfaction with Mr. Erdoğan has grown amid soaring inflation and his increasingly authoritarian actions against the press, the rule of law, and his political opponents. Turkey is a member of NATO, which needs the country’s assent to admit Finland and Sweden as new members of the defense alliance. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. and Europe need to stay silent if the strongman tries to rig the election so only he can win. – Wall Street Journal
Robert A. Manning writes: More broadly, Turkey is a good example of the need to accept the limits of U.S. power in an increasingly multipolar world. The Turkey dilemma suggests that to successfully lead in the post-post-Cold War world emerging, the U.S. needs more humility, more diplomatic agility and a more imaginative statecraft. – The Hill
Michael Rubin writes: Simply put, Türkiye’s on-paper statistics do not translate to on-the-ground importance to NATO. The country is simply not as vital as it was during the Cold War when it was a frontline state with the Soviet Union, contributed to the Korean War, and was Western-oriented. The time has come to call Türkiye’s bluff. – 19fortyfive
Steven A. Cook writes: That said, Erdogan does want leverage, and the entire U.S./NATO-Turkey-Russia dynamic gives him an opportunity to try to manipulate Washington and Brussels. […]This kind of manipulation is only possible so long as the foreign community sees Turkey as either West or East. Erdogan does not want Turkey to become an asset to Russian foreign policy any more than he wants the country to be viewed strictly as a NATO appendage on the alliance’s southeastern flank. – Foreign Policy
Iraq
The attack came after sunset in the quiet Iraqi village of Albu Bali when Islamic State group gunmen drove into town and unleashed fire with automatic rifles. – Agence France-Presse
The Iraqi government repatriated more than 500 people who had been living in the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria this week, though it amounts to a small percentage of the Iraqis in the camp. – Washington Examiner
Brett McGurk, President Biden’s top Middle East adviser, visited Iraq this week to discuss security cooperation between the two countries with new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said. – Axios
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia signaled a shift in how it offers financial help to countries, making future aid conditional on promises to revamp their economies. – Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday progress was being made towards ending the Yemen conflict, in which Riyadh leads a military coalition, but more work was needed, including reinstating a truce and transitioning to a permanent ceasefire. – Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud urged Israel’s new government on Wednesday to engage seriously on resolving the Palestinian conflict. – Reuters
Gulf States
Qatar’s foreign minister said his country should not be dragged into a cash-for-influence corruption scandal at the European Parliament with investigations still ongoing, rejecting allegations of Doha’s involvement as having “no basis”. – Reuters
Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani urged global action regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations and in other international forums similar to the global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – Jewish Insider
South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have signed two memorandums of understanding to improve bilateral defense ties, during a visit by the South Korean president to the Gulf kingdom. – Defense News
Zvi Bar’el writes: The Emirates should be able to fill in the salary gaps needed to entice global companies to come to the country, but the question is whether it will be able to fill in the manpower gaps. Since they are already building luxury homes for the entrepreneurs expected to bring their businesses to the Gulf, it seems that at least the property developers believe in the vision. – Haaretz
Middle East & North Africa
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow was building its relations with the Arab world following the imposition of sweeping Western sanctions against it over Ukraine. – Reuters
Jihadist rebel fighters raided several Syrian army posts on Wednesday, rebels and army officials said, in a flare-up of hit-and-run attacks this year in the last opposition-held bastion in northwestern Syria. – Reuters
The rising cost of purchasing or leasing a vessel that can hold more than 1 million barrels of crude oil now in a rusting old tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen is the latest obstacle to resolving the grave threat of massive environmental damage from a possible oil spill or explosion, the U.N. said Tuesday. – Associated Press
Lebanon’s caretaker government Wednesday approved opening credit lines totaling $116 million to help fix its crippled state electricity grid. – Associated Press
A United Nations official on Monday thanked a representative of Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, for giving her a “tour d’horizon” of Lebanese issues. The statement drew condemnation from Israeli officials. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
Those who pursued Lee worked for a shadowy surveillance operation inside North Korea called the Non-Socialist Groups, which use a network of informants to crack down on a wide range of behaviors deemed “nonsocialist” or against the principles of the nation by the Kim Jong Un regime. – Washington Post
North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament has passed a budget that sustains a high level of defense spending despite economic troubles as leader Kim Jong Un pushes for an aggressive expansion of his nuclear arsenal amid stalled diplomacy. – Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Defense has asked its forces stationed in South Korea to provide equipment to help Ukraine in the war against Russia, the U.S. military said on Thursday, adding the move has “zero impact” on its operations in the Asian country. – Reuters
China
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to China soon, the Treasury Department said, a step aimed at rebuilding a U.S.-China relationship that has deteriorated in recent years. – Wall Street Journal
China’s leaders have long known that the country is nearing a demographic crossroads. Policymakers have warned that China must prepare for a slowly shrinking population and an era of fewer workers and more retirees. State media have urged young couples to seize the opportunity to have two or three children under relaxed family-size rules, to soften the looming economic crunch. – New York Times
A verdict in the espionage trial of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, detained by China since his arrest there four years ago, has been delayed until April, the seventh such delay, his supporters said on Thursday. – Reuters
China could see a sharp recovery in economic growth from the second quarter onwards based on current infection trends after the dismantling of most COVID-19 restrictions, IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday. – Reuters
China on Thursday accused “some Western media” of bias, smears and political manipulation in their coverage of China’s abrupt ending of its strict “zero-COVID” policy, as it issued a vigorous defense of actions taken to prepare for the change of strategy. – Associated Press
A former researcher who was accused of hiding work he did in China while employed by the University of Kansas, was sentenced Wednesday to time served by a federal judge who said his action did not warrant a prison sentence. – Associated Press
Charles Martinet writes: A deal will depend on the strength of US assurances. The US could encourage US chipmakers to make up for ASML’s potential lost Chinese sales, or make moves to deepen trade with allies. Otherwise, the battle over ASML will underline the deepening transatlantic digital divide over how to confront China. – Center for European Policy Analysis
South Asia
India’s foreign minister arrives in Colombo on Thursday following his country’s backing of Sri Lanka for a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, leaving China as the island’s last remaining major creditor which has yet to agree to the debt restructuring plan. – Reuters
Mark Linscott, Gopal Nadadur, and Irfan Nooruddin write: While the U.S.-India relationship is likely to continue to grow in coming years even without a commitment to an FTA, it will not meet its full potential if economic partnership lags strategic ambition. There is no better moment than now to create a bedrock partnership, when global instability threatens the strategic and economic interests of each country. – The Hill
Beth Bailey writes: The Taliban’s kill lists also signify trouble for the remainder of the populace. […]Whether the high-profile killing took place at the behest of the Taliban or due to the Taliban’s inability to establish security in the country is unknown. It is a damning sign of deteriorating security conditions as the Taliban prioritize their own vendettas over the interests of the population. – Washington Examiner
Asia
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would step down by Feb. 7 after over five years as leader, as the country grapples with the prospect of a recession stemming partly from its strict response to the Covid-19 pandemic. – Wall Street Journal
As India overtakes China as the world’s most-populous nation, an array of demographic issues such as birth rates and labor markets are emerging as key themes to watch out for in the two Asian powerhouses. – Bloomberg
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was ready to deploy troops to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border to quell tensions between the two countries, but Yerevan’s hardline position had so far prevented it. – Reuters
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has described the rise in tensions between the US and China over Taiwan as “very, very worrisome for us”, but said he expected Manila’s military ties with Washington to intensify. – Financial Times
Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected near Taiwan, defense officials said Wednesday, the latest incursion amid heightened tensions between both nations. – Fox News
Europe
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was set to meet his newly appointed German counterpart on Thursday for talks that have taken on a new urgency as Berlin has put conditions on tank deliveries to Ukraine. – Washington Post
Geopolitical rivalry, technology decoupling and protectionism have increasingly altered the world’s business and political landscape, adding new risks and threats and, for some, opportunity, say executives and officials meeting this week at the World Economic Forum. – Wall Street Journal
Within hours of being sworn into office, Germany’s new defense minister will be expected to hold talks with the U.S. defense secretary. A day later, he will represent Germany’s armed forces at a meeting with European allies awaiting critical decisions on the war in Ukraine. – New York Times
Lithuanian tech firm Teltonika aims to launch domestic semiconductor production in 2027 using Taiwanese technology, it said on Wednesday, as a minister outlined ambitions for the EU state to become a major global player in the sector. – Reuters
President Joe Biden is offering about $370 billion in subsidies and tax breaks to boost green industries and cut US greenhouse-gas emissions. But some of America’s largest trading partners — most importantly the European Union — say the measures will unfairly benefit US companies and violate World Trade Organization rules. – Bloomberg
Defense industry chiefs in Sweden, led by Saab’s chief executive Micael Johansson, are lobbying for reform of the country’s strict military materials export laws to help local companies reap maximum advantages from the unaligned Nordic state’s impending NATO membership. – Defense News
Walter Russell Mead writes: Both sides need to reflect. Years of bitter clashes over climate policy won’t advance the Davos agenda. A poisonous trans-Atlantic atmosphere won’t strengthen America’s international position, depolarize American politics, or boost American growth. – Wall Street Journal
George F. Will writes: Today, sustaining Ukraine’s punishment of Russia’s criminality will radically reduce the threat of future aggression from the only nation motivated by delusions to precipitate a large European war. Purchasing this reduction with the currency of tanks would be a historic bargain. – Washington Post
Robert Shrimsley writes: So three conditions are needed. Sunak needs the gumption to drive home a deal. Brussels must help him enough to make it worth the pain and the ultras and unionists need to accept the reality to which they were the midwives. The last may be a forlorn hope, but only once they accept there is no return to the old status quo will there be hope for a deal everyone can swallow. – Financial Times
Tom Rogan writes: But it’s not just Russia where Orban’s favor falls against U.S. interests. Even more alarming, considering the rising likelihood of a U.S.-China war, is Hungary’s support for Xi Jinping’s regime. […]It is unclear why Orban’s government is either trustworthy enough or sufficiently policy-aligned to justify Hungary’s continued inclusion in NATO. Orban certainly is no American ally. – Washington Examiner
Africa
United Arab Emirates renewable energy company Masdar and Ethiopia have signed an agreement for the joint development of a solar project with a capacity of 500 megawatts, Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Farm office FranceAgriMer on Wednesday increased for a second consecutive month its forecast of French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season, citing strong demand from North Africa. – Reuters
Mass graves containing the bodies of 49 civilians have been discovered in northeastern Congo after a series of weekend attacks blamed on a local militia, the United Nations said Wednesday. – Associated Press
Cybersecurity
India’s government will not permit social media platforms to host any information that it identifies as false, according to a draft proposal of the country’s IT rules released this week. – Reuters
Royal Mail has restarted the export of parcels from a backlog, and will accept new letters for overseas, as it tries to recover from a cyber-attack. – BBC
Researchers associated with the Ukrainian government on Tuesday confirmed that Russia has coordinated kinetic strikes and cyberattacks to inflict damage on government offices, public service organizations, media companies and communication centers. – The Record
Defense
The U.S. Navy is pursuing several efforts meant to make it easier for the East Coast fleet to deploy ships in new ways — and potentially in greater numbers — to the European theater. – Defense News
The U.S. Air Force will drop the F-22 from a communications prototyping effort closely tied to its Advanced Battle Management System, as the service works to pare down inventory of the aging aircraft. – Defense News
First the fighter, then the destroyer and finally the submarine. That’s the order the Navy is set to introduce its next three major acquisition programs in the 2030s, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said last week. – USNI News
A ship being tracked off Hawaii’s coast is believed to be a Russian intelligence vessel, the US Coast Guard said on Wednesday. – New York Post