Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Iran is funding Hezbollah via suitcases stuffed with cash, Israel warns Hamas says it will release first American hostage under current deal Hamas confirms killing of its military leader, months after airstrike A chaotic hostage release in Gaza underscores high stakes of ceasefire Iran says foreign minister in Qatar to meet Hamas leaders Swedish PM says shooting of anti-Islam campaigner may be linked to foreign power Israel targets Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, accuses group of ceasefire breach IDF shoots down Hezbollah surveillance drone, in first such incident since ceasefire Trump aide insists North Korea must give up its nukes as Kim amps up rhetoric, orders more missile tests US Secretary of State Marco Rubio: An Americas First foreign policy U.S. funding freeze threatens security at ISIS camps in Syria US airstrike in Syria kills senior operative of al-Qaeda affiliateIn The News
Israel
On Thursday, Hamas released Gadi Moses, 80, Arbel Yehoud, 29, both taken from kibbutz Nir Oz, and Adam Berger 20, the last female Israeli soldier who was still in captivity. Hamas also released five Thai citizens kidnapped from agricultural communities in southern Israel. – Wall Street Journal
Israel has complained to the U.S.-led committee overseeing the cease-fire in Lebanon that Iranian diplomats and others are delivering tens of millions of dollars in cash to Hezbollah to fund the group’s revival, a U.S. defense official speaking for the committee and people familiar with the content of the complaint said. – Wall Street Journal
Hamas on Friday named the next three hostages to be freed under the Gaza cease-fire deal, including the first American to be released in the latest truce. – Wall Street Journal
A planned transfer of hostages from the Gaza Strip turned into chaos Thursday as militants drove the captives through the streets, drawing crowds of spectators who jostled for a glimpse and angering Israeli officials who briefly delayed the scheduled release of 110 Palestinian prisoners. – Washington Post
There is “almost nothing left” of Gaza and rebuilding the war-ravaged enclave could take 10 to 15 years, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios in an interview at the end of his trip to the region on Thursday. – Reuters
A small U.S. security firm is hiring nearly 100 U.S. special forces veterans to help run a checkpoint in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas truce, according to a company spokesperson and a recruitment email seen by Reuters, introducing armed American contractors into the heart of one of the world’s most violent conflict zones. – Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a delay of the release on Thursday of Palestinian detainees under the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas until the safe exit of Israeli hostages was guaranteed in the next few days, his office said in a statement. – Reuters
Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, on Thursday confirmed the killing of its military leader Mohammed Deif and deputy military commander Marwan Issa in combat. – Reuters
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday demanded that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment after meeting with U.S. doctors who said the children were at imminent risk of death in the coming weeks. – Reuters
A high-level delegation of Brazilian Congress members and diplomats visited Israel this week as part of an initiative led by the organization Nechama and Hatzalah for Israel to bolster international advocacy and combat antisemitism. – Jerusalem Post
The Israeli air force struck a gathering of armed terrorists in the Tammun area during an overnight counterterrorism operation in the West Bank, the IDF announced on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) continues its operations in the Gaza Strip despite an Israeli directive banning its activities, an official confirmed on Thursday, according to the Anadolu news agency. – Arutz Sheva
Senior Hamas official Taher Nounou stated on Thursday that the terrorist organization will continue governing the Gaza Strip until a viable Palestinian Arab alternative is established. – Arutz Sheva
A U.S. security firm overseeing inspections at the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza intercepted a Palestinian car attempting to disguise itself as a United Nations vehicle, officials said Thursday. – Ynet
Editorial: As negotiations continue for additional releases, including remaining Thai hostage Pinta Nattapong and others still in captivity, the success of future transfers – and, by extension, the ceasefire itself – will depend on Israel forcing stricter security protocols on Hamas during future exchanges and making sure they maintain order during these sensitive operations. – Jerusalem Post
Bernard-Henri Lévy writes: The same must happen in Gaza. Nothing would be more dangerous than leaving behind, as Machiavelli put it, a wounded prince. As long as Hamas retains even a fraction of its capacity to strike—or to govern—Israel can tolerate neither a “durable ceasefire,” a “peace of compromise” nor a “political solution.” Hamas must be destroyed. The survival of both peoples—Israeli and Palestinian—depends on it. Israel didn’t seek this war, but it must decisively win. – Wall Street Journal
Smadar Perry writes: This is why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first guest at the White House—Trump intends to embrace him tightly and exert pressure. American envoys, both public and behind the scenes, are not pressing Saudi Arabia for a formal agreement with Israel—not yet. First, the Palestinian issue must be addressed. According to a key Saudi source, Trump is determined not to let Egypt and Jordan off the hook. His vision includes the relocation of 1.5 million displaced Gazans. For Trump, this is a business deal. The Middle East’s small-scale, emotional politics do not concern him. – Ynet
Iran
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting Qatar on Thursday to meet leaders of Tehran-backed Palestinian terror group Hamas, a ministry statement said. – Agence France-Presse
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in 2023 that people who desecrate the Koran should face the “most severe punishment” and Sweden had “gone into battle-array for war on the Muslim world” by supporting those responsible. […] The Swedish prime minister said the shooting of an anti-Islam campaigner just hours before a trial verdict was due on Thursday over his burning the Koran might be linked to a foreign power, and police arrested five people over the killing. – Reuters
According to Iranian officials, the aim of Abbas Araghchi’s one-day visit to Kabul was to hold diplomatic talks about the tensions on the two countries’ shared 950-kilometer (590-mile) border, the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran and the use of water resources in the Helmand River, which flows from Afghanistan into Iran. – DW
Mohammad Rasoulof had crossed the Iranian border on foot into exile before the Tehran authorities got wind of his covertly shot new film The Seed of the Sacred Fig. – Financial Times
An Iranian actress featured in a film recently nominated for an Academy Award has been barred from leaving Iran and faces propaganda and immorality charges, according to US entertainment news site Deadline. – Iran International
Brian Katulis, Alex Vatanka, and Patricia Karam write: The United States and its Middle East partners should seek to shape Iran’s future transition by making moves today that impact Iran’s political economy, especially given that some of these Gulf states are critical trading partners with Iran and therefore hold real leverage. […] Iran’s future political leadership transition is very likely to be complicated and uncertain. But stepped-up engagement that seeks to leverage the current relationships Iran has in the region could help create new pathways and possibilities for the people of Iran to live in different economic and social conditions. – Middle East Institute
Russia & Ukraine
Internal political tensions in Ukraine have been rising in anticipation of a cease-fire that might lead to elections. This week, they burst into the open with a striking public rebuke of President Volodymyr Zelensky by the mayor of Kyiv. – New York Times
A British man captured fighting on the Ukrainian side in Russia’s Kursk region will face terrorism and mercenary charges that could see him jailed for years, Russian state investigators said on Thursday. – Reuters
Tetiana Kovryga, head of a Ukrainian NGO called GoGlobal, said she had to suspend the trip for the youths from the Sumy and Kharkiv regions after President Donald Trump paused development assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development. – Reuters
Russia may expand and upgrade its nuclear arsenal if the United States continues to push ahead with the development of a missile defense system, a top Russian diplomat said in an interview published on Thursday. – Newsweek
Vladimir Putin said any peace deal with Kyiv would be invalid because of a decree by Volodymyr Zelensky in comments that showed the Russian president was not interested in negotiations recognizing Ukraine as an independent state. – Newsweek
NATO has said its pledge for tens of billions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine will be fulfilled by the end of 2025. – Newsweek
General-Lieutenant Oleksandr Skipalskiy was the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence through the 1990s. The retired military chief spoke to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service about how an estimated 2,800-4,200 tactical nuclear weapons were relinquished to Russia in a move that may have changed the course of history. – Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty
Lee Hockstader writes: But that could make Ukraine Trump’s Afghanistan, multiplying the carnage, chaos and refugees. It would signal to China and other adversaries that Washington is weak. It could even prompt U.S. allies, fearing Washington has washed its hands of Europe’s security, to develop their own nuclear arms programs. If you think Europe is unstable now, think of Poland or Turkey with nukes — or Germany. Trump was smart to push Europe to step up. We’ll see if he’s smart enough to stop undercutting his own idea. – Washington Post
Martin Perryman writes: We can make Russian forces pay even more dearly for every inch they gain or (better yet) stop them in their tracks. This credible threat is the best way to convince Putin that it’s better to “declare victory and take what’s on offer” than to “keep slogging away until the Russian flag flies over Kyiv.” Sanctions have only hardened Putin’s resolve. If we want to break it, we’ll need to speak the only language he understands: force. – The Hill
Elaine McCusker writes: Not only is the U.S. safer when it is engaged, but it also saves money. The U.S. is faced with numerous national challenges. Illegal immigration, financing the national debt and an increasingly unpredictable global security environment all compete for attention and resources. But the stakes are especially high in Ukraine. Even putting aside the security and moral reasons for supporting a free Kyiv, which are immense, backing Ukraine is a financially sound decision for the United States. – The Hill
David Kirichenko writes: No one weapons system can win a war, but unmanned vehicles are very clearly now a big part of modern warfare. After the war, Ukraine will be a market leader as demand will likely soar for these battle-tested and cost-effective systems that crippled Russia’s once-proud fleet and sent its remnants scuttling for protection in ports far from where they are needed. – Centre for European Policy Analysis
Syria
Ahead of elections next month, what to do with migrants — including the nearly 1 million Syrian refugees living here — has emerged as issue No. 1 for German voters. And on Wednesday, front-runner chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz successfully pushed a parliamentary motion that, while nonbinding, signaled the kind of crackdown he would pursue. – Washington Post
The newly appointed president of Syria, Ahmed al-Shara, pledged in a speech on Thursday to create an inclusive transitional government that reflects Syria’s diversity and that will lead the country until it can hold “free and fair elections.” – New York Times
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani will attend a conference in Paris on Feb. 13 aimed at coordinating regional and international action in support of his country’s transitional process, a document sent to invitees showed. – Reuters
Nafees Hamid, Nils Mallock, Broderick McDonald, and Rahaf Aldoughli write: Misinformation is rife in Syria, and after five decades of despotic rule, Syrians have little trust in their institutions. Assad loyalists, Iran, and ISIS have tried to spoil reconciliation and reconstruction by staging attacks and spreading propaganda that portrays the new government as beholden to malign foreign interests. Other countries must not play into this perception. Instead, no-strings-attached humanitarian aid and symbolic concessions can help Syrians replace Assad with a better system. – Foreign Affairs
Turkey
Turkey is waiting for a price proposal for the possible acquisition of Eurofighter jets after submitting a list outlining its technical needs to Britain’s defence ministry, a Turkish Defence Ministry source said on Thursday. – Reuters
Turkey’s tourism revenues rose 8.3% to $61.1 billion in 2024, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed on Friday. – Reuters
What’s Turkish for “Year of the Snake”? The unloved reptile and the slithery behavior often ascribed to it could be a fitting metaphor for Turkey lately — starting with President Erdogan’s rolling out the welcome mat for a Hamas delegation on Wednesday. – New York Sun
Lebanon
Washington is pressuring top Lebanese officials not to allow Hezbollah or its allies to nominate the country’s next finance minister, five people with knowledge of the matter said, in an attempt to limit the Iran-backed group’s sway over the state. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Friday it struck several Hezbollah targets overnight in the Bekaa Valley and along the Syrian-Lebanese border. – Reuters
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it shot down a surveillance drone launched by the Hezbollah terror group toward Israel. – Times of Israel
Middle East & North Africa
Billed as a futuristic city-state with dazzling architecture including parallel 106-mile-long skyscrapers taller than the Empire State Building, Neom is the centerpiece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to transform his oil-rich country into a modern diversified economy. – Wall Street Journal
Sailors with USS Stockdale (DDG-106) used the destroyer’s five-inch gun to shoot down a Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle, the deputy commander of Central Command said Thursday. – Defense News
Mohamed Maher and Mohamed Farid write: While Egypt finds itself facing tough choices in addressing the Sudanese crisis, and despite the cautious approach it has adopted so far, decisive intervention may be necessary to protect Egyptian and regional interests. Securing Sudan’s stability is not only a humanitarian necessity but also a strategic factor for maintaining Egypt’s security and the security of the southern Red Sea amid increasing regional and international complexities. – Washington Institute
Korean Peninsula
North Korean soldiers who joined their Russian allies in battle against Ukrainian forces have been pulled off the front lines after suffering heavy casualties, according to Ukrainian and U.S. officials. – New York Times
South Korea’s information privacy watchdog plans to ask DeepSeek about how the personal information of users is managed, an agency official said on Friday. – Reuters
Passengers evacuated from an Air Busan plane that was engulfed in flames this week at a South Korean airport will have their checked baggage returned to them, after authorities on Friday deemed the jet safe for a full investigation. – Reuters
President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un appear on a collision course that looks like the opposite of the flattery they bestowed on one another before their first meeting, in Singapore in June 2018. Even though Mr. Trump says he is happy to meet Mr. Kim, he’s sticking to the long-held American policy of demanding North Korea’s “complete denuclearization.” – New York Sun
China
President Trump has announced plans to impose additional tariffs on Chinese-made goods imported to the United States. Trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies are already high. – New York Times
The European Union has re-suspended its case against China at the World Trade Organization over allegations of economic coercion targeting Lithuania, according to a filing on the WTO website. – Bloomberg
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Western nations have accused China of supplying Moscow with microchips and other critical dual-use technologies that are “powering Russia’s brutal war of aggression.” – Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty
Daniel S. Hamilton writes: The fundamental unanswered question is whether the Trump administration and European leaders believe their own bilateral disputes are more or less important than the need to adopt joint or complementary approaches to China. Does the Trump administration believe it can and should fight predatory Chinese economic practices on its own, or forge a broad coalition of countries that could impose far greater costs on China than individual efforts ever would? Are Europeans willing and able to bridge their own considerable differences over both China and Trump’s America to help lead such a coalition, or do they prefer to stand apart? – Centre for European Policy Analysis
Zineb Riboua writes: China is using Pakistan as a bridge to the Gulf while making Islamabad more dependent on Beijing. The US should recognize this as a wake-up call about China’s growing influence, strengthen its own partnerships in the region, and offer Pakistan an alternative to Beijing’s debt-laden projects. The timing is no coincidence. China is capitalizing on the West’s distractedness to cement its foothold in the Middle East. The UAE, a key US ally and strategic partner, is now squarely in Beijing’s sights. This new trade artery is a fast lane from China to America’s Gulf partners. In a region where Washington once called the shots, Beijing is rapidly gaining ground. – Hudson Institute
South Asia
Bangladesh’s largest minority rights group accused the country’s interim government on Thursday of failing to protect religious and ethnic minorities from attacks and harassment, a claim the government has denied. – Associated Press
Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest, triggering an intense shootout in which two soldiers and six militants were killed, the military said Thursday. – Associated Press
India doubled its tiger population in a little over a decade by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing communities’ living standards near tiger areas, a study published Thursday found. – Associated Press
Asia
Jewish students in Sydney returned to school on Friday with a heightened security presence, days after police said they foiled a planned antisemitic attack in the city using a trailer filled with explosives. – Reuters
The Marshall Islands has warned citizens living in the U.S. not to open the door to immigration officials without a judicial warrant, amid fears the community is being caught in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants, an official said. – Reuters
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday he would meet U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss issues including immigration, in an effort to influence policy he said could impact a large number of Filipinos in the United States. – Reuters
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered on Friday to remove a U.S. missile system from the Philippines if China halts what he called its “aggressive and coercive behavior” in the disputed South China Sea. – Associated Press
Dozens of Indonesians, angered over the fatal shooting of an Indonesian migrant worker in neighboring waters, threw eggs on Thursday at the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia’s capital. – Associated Press
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would ask US President Donald Trump for a stable supply of energy when they meet, hinting at the deals that the Japanese leader may try to strike with Trump in upcoming talks. – Bloomberg
Western countries should avoid pressuring Pacific Island nations from making a binary choice between working with China or the United States and its allies, an admiral from the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy warned, citing the massive maritime might the Chinese could bring on smaller countries. – Breaking Defense
Gearoid Reidy writes: Ishiba needs to prioritize. He already suffers from the fact that he has little diplomatic experience. And political commentators in Tokyo are dreading the potential fireworks from a meeting between Trump, who favors directness, and the prime minister who is known for his long-winded, self-deprecating style. And while I’m skeptical of how much attention, if any, Trump has paid to Japanese domestic politics, he may already have little time for Ishiba, the great rival of his friend Shinzo Abe. Ishiba asserts the importance of diplomacy precisely because China is a threat. And, of course, Japan needs to maintain good relations with its largest trading partner — and hedge its bets with Washington. – Bloomberg
Europe
The eurozone economy returned to stagnation as 2024 drew to a close, a blow to its hopes for a recovery as it braces for the possibility that U.S. President Trump will deliver a long-threatened increase in tariffs. – Wall Street Journal
As European automakers brace for a possible trade war waged by President Trump, they are working to ward off another threat on their home turf: the prospect of paying hundreds of millions of dollars to Tesla and Chinese competitors muscling in on their core markets. – New York Times
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said France should follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s hardline stance toward countries unwilling to receive deportees, citing his pressure on Colombia as a model for Paris’ dealings with Algeria. – Reuters
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government will retain a ban on asylum seekers being able to claim protections under modern slavery and other human rights laws, even as its ministers have previously criticised those measures. – Reuters
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday an investigation targeting her over the release of a Libyan war crimes suspect was bad publicity that could push away much-needed foreign investment. – Reuters
President Donald Trump’s abrupt freeze of U.S. foreign aid is sending shockwaves through Eastern Europe, leaving pro-democracy groups, independent media, civil society initiatives and local governments scrambling to make ends meet in a region often defined by rivalries between East and West. – Associated Press
Italian authorities on Thursday rejected the asylum requests of 43 asylum-seekers transferred to Albania in a speedy procedure that a non-governmental delegation observing the process said illegally deprived them of legal assistance. – Associated Press
Finland expects to see more damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea after several incidents since late 2023, President Alexander Stubb said. – Bloomberg
Sweden presented a military aid package to Ukraine worth 13.5 billion Swedish kronor ($1.2 billion), the Nordic nation’s largest pledge to the war-torn country yet. – Bloomberg
When Slovakia became one of the first NATO countries to deliver military aid to Ukraine, its defense minister faced down criticism from opposition parties. What he didn’t expect was to be investigated for abuse of power, taking bribes — and treason. – Bloomberg
The European Commission’s latest move to impose tariffs on Russian fertilizers was meant to be a triple win: Choke a revenue stream for Moscow’s war machine, help struggling European manufacturers, and avoid price hikes that could further enrage European Union farmers already on the brink of open revolt. Instead, it’s looking more like a triple miss. – Politico
Denmark is better known for LEGO bricks and leading in wind energy than for military power – a possible reason why U.S. President Donald Trump might have felt he could demand the country hand over its territory of Greenland, or else. – Defense News
Joseph C. Sternberg writes: But do give the Europeans credit for getting the first and most important decision right, so far. This is to follow along in Mr. Trump’s pro-economic-growth slipstream rather than trying to swim against the current. A continent that basked in its liberal-green virtue-signaly opposition to anything Mr. Trump did in his first term now finds it doesn’t have the luxury to do it again amid accelerating deindustrialization and the deteriorating living standards of European voters. They didn’t beat him the first time. That leaves them to try to join him the second time around. – Wall Street Journal
Marc Champion writes: Western policy should distinguish between peoples and governments to avoid accelerating the emergence of a new Iron Curtain in Europe. In Belarus, ordinary citizens and non-regime companies should be encouraged to travel to and trade with the West, to build ties and counter the effects of Lukashenko’s propaganda and re-education polices. At the same time, we need to distinguish Minsk from Moscow, understanding that their interests are not the same, at least not yet. If they were, Belarusian troops would already be fighting for Putin in Ukraine. – Bloomberg
Dan Perry writes: In countries like Romania, elections are not just about a candidate or party. They are a litmus test for the West’s ability to confront Russian interference and stand up to the authoritarian world in general, upholding the principles that underpin NATO and the European Union. As Georgescu’s fate hangs in the balance, so too does the credibility of democratic institutions in the face of foreign meddling. The stakes are too high for anything less than full-throated defense of democracy. The question, as ever, is what democracy exactly means. – Newsweek
Kristi Raik writes: Europeans will have to deal with Trump, keep NATO alive, strengthen their own agency, and build a military force to be reckoned with. Pragmatic engagement of Trump by northern Europeans, coupled with their strong defense commitments, might the most promising way to manage the transatlantic relationship in the coming years. But there is a real danger that the Trump administration will divide and rule a Europe that is too weak to stand on its own feet. – Foreign Policy
Africa
Uganda reported an outbreak of the Ebola virus in its capital on Thursday, raising concerns the deadly disease might spread through the congested East African city. – Wall Street Journal
Sibusiso, 39 and unemployed, had heard rumors that President Trump was pulling funding for the program that supported his treatment. Now, though, he learned the reality: The Trump administration had ordered a halt to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, one of America’s most consequential aid programs in Africa. – New York Times
France’s foreign minister was due in Rwanda on Thursday after talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of efforts to prevent a regional escalation following the capture of the eastern Congolese city of Goma by M23 rebels and Rwandan troops. – Reuters
Tanzania and Burundi have signed an agreement with two Chinese firms to build a railway between the two African countries for transporting metals, including battery mineral nickel, to the port city of Dar es Salaam. – Reuters
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that over 2,000 people have been wounded by fighting in and around Congo’s city of Goma and 45 people have died, citing unnamed reports. – Reuters
Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city said Thursday they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, while Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilization to resist the rebellion and his defense minister rejected calls for talks. – Associated Press
France handed over its last military base in Chad to local authorities on Thursday, two months after the former French colony in central Africa broke off its defense cooperation agreement with Paris. – Associated Press
The Americas
President Trump’s plan to carry out the biggest mass deportation in U.S. history is squeezing Mexico like no other country. Mexico’s government is rushing to raise tent cities for migrants getting deported from the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump’s advisers are considering several offramps to avoid enacting the universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada that he had pledged, according to people familiar with the matter, even as he reiterated Thursday that the tariffs are coming. – Wall Street Journal
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday said Google is wrong to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico on its Google Maps platform after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the body of water be renamed the “Gulf of America.” – Reuters
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out discussing control over the Panama Canal in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is set to visit the Central American country in his first official trip abroad this weekend. – Reuters
A U.S. Air Force jet with 80 migrants that left Texas for Guatemala on Thursday charted a path around Mexico because it couldn’t fly over the country, according to a U.S. official. The Mexican government said it never denied permission. – Associated Press
Nivia Rossana Castrellón writes: The Panama Canal’s future security may depend less on scrutinizing foreign presences and more on rekindling the kind of robust American partnership that made the canal’s success possible in the first place. This requires moving beyond oversight hearings to develop concrete policies that make American companies more competitive in global infrastructure projects and demonstrate long-term commitment to regional development. – The Hill
United States
One of Trump’s many “Unleashing American Energy” directives requires the Secretary of the Interior to instruct the director of the USGS to “consider updating the survey’s list of critical minerals, including for the potential of including uranium.” – Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday warned off BRICS member countries from replacing the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariffs threat he had made weeks after winning the November presidential elections. – Reuters
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland and retake control of the Panama Canal is driven by legitimate national security interests stemming from growing concerns about Chinese activity and influence in the Arctic and in Latin America. – Associated Press
Authorities said Thursday they believe there were no survivors in the crash between a regional American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army helicopter late Wednesday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. – Politico
A staffer’s short-lived promotion in the House of Representatives’ powerful Foreign Affairs Committee caused a stir Wednesday over his past lobbying for sanctioned Chinese drone maker DJI. – Newsweek
A bill aiming to redefine the language used to describe the disputed territories between Israel and Jordan will be reintroduced in the U.S. Congress this month. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), who led efforts earlier this year to introduce the “Recognizing Judea and Samaria Act,” confirmed last week that she plans to revive the legislation. – Ynet
Marco Rubio writes: I am confident that the countries I will soon visit will be ready partners. Like President Trump, their leaders are pragmatists who put their citizens first. And because they are pragmatists, they also know that there is much more to be gained from working with the U.S. than not. This is an approach to foreign policy based on concrete shared interests, not vague platitudes or utopian ideologies. It is representative of the approach the State Department will be taking to all its international dealings. We will extend our hand to all nations of goodwill, in the confident expectation that they will recognize what we can do together. – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
President Vladimir V. Putin has clamped down on free expression in Russia to a degree unseen since the Soviet era. Now he is taking aim at the last Western tech platform barely standing in wartime Russia: YouTube. – New York Times
The drone that tracked Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and filmed him as he lay dying in footage beamed around the world last October was made by Israeli startup Xtend, according to media reports, one of many such firms to get a boost from Israel’s war needs. – Reuters
Italy’s data protection authority on Thursday blocked access to the Chinese AI application DeepSeek to protect users’ data and announced an investigation into the companies behind the chatbot. – Associated Press
The nation’s cybersecurity agency has played a critical role in helping states shore up the defenses of their voting systems, but its election mission appears uncertain amid sustained criticism from Republicans and key figures in the Trump administration. – Associated Press
British officials are examining the national security implications of DeepSeek, whose AI model has caused panic in Silicon Valley and sparked fears China has stolen a march in the global tech race. – Politico
A security issue at Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek exposed over a million lines of sensitive internal data, including user chat histories, API secrets, and backend operational details, according to research published Wednesday by cloud security firm Wiz. – CyberScoop
Authorities in the United States and the Netherlands have dismantled a sophisticated Pakistan-based cybercrime network known as Saim Raza. – CyberScoop
Editorial: To the current occupants of the White House, this might sound like a feature, not a bug. They should remember that Democrats will eventually regain the presidency — and TikTok’s favor, if the company is still operating irregularly. In the meantime, influencers and fans will have been implicitly encouraged to build a presence on a platform that has no legal mandate to operate in the United States. They deserve better, and so does the rule of law. – Washington Post
Lionel Laurent writes: As the US prepares a forceful response to a post-DeepSeek world, the EU’s new AI regulator is bulking up with 140 staff (more than Mistral had late last year.) And what kind of signal does it send that the European Parliament, the institution that passed the AI Act, has teamed up with a US provider — Anthropic — to use AI in archive searches? Why not at least start adopting European AI in government entities, as a way to keep demand going while simultaneously embarking on all those needed reforms? In a geopolitically chillier world, with the US Navy already reportedly banning its members from using DeepSeek’s apps, it would be a small gesture to get a continent to think differently as it course corrects. And hopefully to lay the memory of egg-laying cows to rest. – Bloomberg
Ariel Beery writes: While we should have had a strategy in place years ago, it is never too late to start. Since the current government is far too distracted with problems of their own making, and has proven unable to build a strategy to save our lives, it is up to us as civil society to lead the way. Preparing ourselves for the growing integration of AI into our everyday lives should be at the top of every Jewish and Israeli institution’s agenda for 2025. We could begin in earnest by convening a global taskforce made up of the most prominent and powerful of our institutions to formulate a strategy to address the impact of AI on the lives and livelihood of the Jewish People. – Times of Israel
Seth G. Jones writes: The commercial sector has substantial capabilities that can help the U.S. military and intelligence community more effectively conduct irregular warfare. Innovative companies give the United States and its partners a significant advantage over China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other countries in such areas as battlefield awareness, unmanned systems, influence operations, placement and access, precision effects, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Defense
Russia and China have stepped up military activity in the Arctic, while NATO states in the region are reporting more acts of sabotage on energy and communications lines. President Donald Trump has recently revived U.S. claims to Greenland. – Reuters
James Stavridis writes: Additionally, working more closely with allies, partners and friends can provide some relief for the stretched-thin Coast Guard. Perhaps a joint task force in the Arctic, starting with our Canadian cousins to the north but also including North Atlantic Treaty Organization members Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. (Yes, we would have to mend fences with the Danes, who are outraged by President Donald Trump’s misguided proposal to buy or annex Greenland.) – Bloomberg
Ann Dailey writes: The defense against attacks on America’s vital interests and the pursuit of victory in warfare are things the military can do if directed to focus on them, almost certainly at a price equal to or lower than what the United States pays today for “defense” against an endless array of ill-defined threats. Aligning the military’s missions with actual military problems might even restore the American people’s common-sense belief that their hard-earned money is being spent in their interest, and to good effect. That would be a policy worth – and worthy of – the tax dollars of the American people and the commitments and sacrifices of its servicemen and women. – Defense News
John Ferrari writes: If Ukraine can produce four million drones per year, certainly, with $35 billion per year, every year starting in FY26, the United States can change the arc of its defense industrial base and boost the efforts of the non-traditional defense firms. There seems to be bipartisan agreement that more money is needed for defense. This is a once in a generation opportunity. With Wicker clearly in the driver’s seat, this $200 billion added through reconciliation will enable the nation to truly achieve “peace through strength.” It simply needs to follow the path set before it. – Breaking Defense
Matt Kaplan and Michael Brown write: In the decisive early days of a Taiwan conflict, resilient digital critical infrastructure may again prove vital, as it did in Ukraine. Securing that infrastructure for the future requires that the U.S. government act now. Leaders in Washington must recognize that, although corporate interests and national interests will not always align, commercial capabilities may be essential to national security objectives. Because of this, the government must devise a framework that allows these interests to complement each other. The United States’ continued ability to defend its allies and partners may soon depend on how well it can harness U.S. tech companies’ growing power. – Foreign Affairs
Long War
President Trump’s sweeping executive order to halt foreign aid threatens to freeze a U.S. program supporting security forces inside a notorious camp in the Syrian desert that holds tens of thousands of Islamic State members and their families, Syrian and U.S. officials said. – New York Times
Forty-five people have been arrested in west Africa over the past three months in operations targeting drugs trafficking and the financing of terrorism, said global police body Interpol on Thursday. – Reuters
The U.S. military said it killed a senior operative of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday. – Reuters
For a foreign correspondent in Mali, the assignment seemed like a dream: as Islamic extremists upended the region, Olivier Dubois, a French journalist, secured a rare interview with a leader of JNIM, an al-Qaida’s affiliate in the Sahel. – Associated Press