Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel's election will be held on October 27, coalition head says Middle East Forum director of research Jonathan Spyer: Israel’s buffer-zone military strategy U.S. and Iran trade new rounds of attacks in fight over Strait of Hormuz Aspiring to regional domination, Iran is ready to escalate over Hormuz Moscow faces second day of mass Ukrainian drone attacks Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaida: Why I’m coming to Washington WSJ Editorial: Trump, Turkey and the F-35s South China Sea joint statement says China's maritime claims have no basis On board NATO’s arctic aircraft carrier hunting for Russian threats Fears over new luxury jet forced Trump back to an old air force one after Israeli warning WSJ Editorial: Lindsey Graham’s death is a loss for global freedom US makes it easier to export Nvidia AI chips and military equipment to the UAEIn The News
Israel
Israel is set to hold a national election on October 27, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, its first since Hamas’ 2023 attack and the wars that ensued in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. – Reuters
Israeli attacks killed at least six people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a 9-year-old girl, Palestinian health officials said, as mediators held more talks to safeguard the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. – Reuters
Dozens of suspects were arrested on Monday morning for trafficking in illegal weapons and drugs, following a long-term undercover operation, the success of which hinged on “The Nomad,” the first Bedouin undercover agent handled by Israel’s Lahav 433 crime-fighting unit. – Jerusalem Post
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Chief David Zini on Sunday held his first meeting since entering his post with Opposition leader Yair Lapid. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF coordinated with the US military on several possible scenarios amidst escalations between the US and Iran, including one in which the US intensifies its response and Israel joins the strikes, a senior security official said on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
The Israel Defense Forces on Friday announced that three Hamas commanders were killed in airstrikes in Gaza, including one who raided the IDF’s Re’im base in southern Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught that sparked the subsequent war in the Strip. – Times of Israel
Four Israeli citizens from the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom were arrested and indicted over plans to carry out various terror-related activities, including a mass shooting attack at Beersheba’s central bus station, the Israel Police, Shin Bet and the State Prosecutor’s Office said Friday. – Times of Israel
Editorial: That was the deeper value of Graham’s friendship. His commitment was strong enough to withstand disagreement. Israel could trust that criticism came from someone invested in its survival, its democratic character, and its alliance with the United States. American politics will produce other supporters of Israel. Few will arrive with Graham’s record of service, his personal warmth toward the country, or his instinctive understanding that alliances require attention, defense, and occasional candor. The US has lost a senator who repeatedly assured Israelis that Congress had their back, and spent more than two decades proving that he meant it. Israel has lost a good friend. – Jerusalem Post
Jonathan Spyer writes: Israel sees the rise, the advance and the goals of these formations, and seeks barriers against them. At Beaufort, a Golani Brigade officer summed up the thinking. “Being here isn’t an option, it’s an obligation,” he said. “Between any Israeli citizen and a terrorist there needs to be a fighter of the IDF.” Critics say that leads to forever wars. But in forever wars, as in all wars, both sides get a vote. You may not want to engage in protracted conflicts, but if your enemy seeks your destruction, you should plan and act accordingly. That is the thinking behind Israel’s deployments at Beaufort Castle, and across Israel’s borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. – Wall Street Journal
Iran
The U.S. conducted multiple waves of strikes on Iranian military targets Sunday, and Iranian forces fired at commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, as the two countries’ standoff over control over the critical waterway deepens. – Wall Street Journal
For the Iranian regime, keeping a chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz has turned out to be more important than the tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief from the Trump administration. That is because Tehran is playing a long game. Iranian officials believe the country has finally emerged as a regional hegemon, after the U.S. and Israel failed to achieve their main goals in the war they unleashed in February. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration believes that a nuclear deal with Iran is growing increasingly unlikely, senior U.S. officials told reporters Friday, in a rare acknowledgment that one of the president’s core foreign-policy goals of capping Tehran’s nuclear program might not be achievable through peace talks. – Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States and Iran had agreed — once again — to continue “talks,” but he also reiterated in a social media post that the U.S. had told Tehran “in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” – Washington Post
An attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday triggered another round of U.S. strikes on targets in Iran and threatened to unsettle energy and financial markets further, after a tumultuous week of hostilities around the Persian Gulf. – New York Times
This year, amid massive anti-government protests and war with the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic has mounted a fierce crackdown on Baha’is, the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, human rights groups say. – Associated Press
President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “ at levels they’ve never seen before ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him. – Associated Press
John Bolton writes: We can face this reality now or after November’s elections. The right course is to act swiftly, reimpose the blockade and choke off Iran’s oil revenues. Continued uncertainty in the Gulf could well keep oil prices elevated before November regardless of negotiations or cease-fires. If we delay, Tehran’s hand will be stronger, having gained more time and billions of dollars in new revenue. Even if the president punts until after the elections, this remains the only intelligible path forward. In international affairs, Iran has no real government. This is a good thing. We caused it, and we should finish it. The first step is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, by force if need be. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte supports U.S. strikes against Iran and predicts European allies would also agree in time. The next move is Mr. Trump’s. – Wall Street Journal
Hal Brands writes: Yet the Iran war carries warnings for Washington, too. Trump’s foreign policy has its strengths — his lack of patience with stale orthodoxies, his willingness to use US power sharply to disrupt the status quo. But this war has revealed failings that may plague him in confrontations with resilient adversaries. Trump may not need good strategy to punch down against weaklings such as Venezuela or Cuba. Without it, he’ll struggle to deal effectively with the likes of Iran, Russia and China. Strategy isn’t optional, even for a superpower. – Bloomberg
David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team write: High resolution satellite imagery from June and early July of the Taleghan 2 site, located within the Parchin Military Complex, shows significant activities indicative of an Iranian commitment to repair and reconstruct the site. The imagery were shared with the Institute by CNN and are part of a CNN video report that aired today. While imagery from early June indicates damage assessment and clean-up, including the removal of debris and temporary covering of the three impact holes of the buried facility, the newer imagery shows renewed activity at the impact holes for more permanent sealing as well as additional concrete hardening of the site. – Institute for Science and International Security
Russia and Ukraine
The war is at a turning point—but where to isn’t clear yet. Russia, on the back foot for the first time since late 2022, might still find ways to respond to Ukraine’s current advantage in the drone war. Ukraine still has major vulnerabilities, including its lack of Patriot interceptors against the Russian ballistic missiles hitting Kyiv and other cities. The military shifts since last winter are reflected in how the war is now seen in Moscow, Kyiv and Washington. – Wall Street Journal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he planned to replace Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after only a year in office, triggering the resignation of the government. – Reuters
A Ukrainian drone struck a tanker as it was entering the Azov-Black Sea Canal, Yury Slyusar, governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said on Sunday. – Reuters
One person was killed as a result of a drone attack on four vessels, including a tanker carrying methanol, in Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov, Russian authorities said on Saturday. – Reuters
Moscow faced a second day of large-scale Ukrainian drone attacks, with officials reporting hundreds of the unmanned craft flying toward the Russian capital and three fatalities in the surrounding region. – Bloomberg
The prisoner of war from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, captured while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, says his future is in Russia and his hope is to be included in a prisoner exchange that sends him back to the country whose army he joined. – Politico
Ukraine’s military will organize a new force tasked with making incursions deep in Russian territory to degrade Moscow’s fighting capabilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday night. – Politico
Hezbollah
Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said that the IDF will only withdraw from Lebanon if Hezbollah is removed from pilot zones in the country’s south, during an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” broadcast on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
IDF troops from Division 36 operating in the Wadi Saluki area uncovered a fortified Hezbollah anti-tank missile position, the same position that fired on IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin during the Second Lebanon War, the military revealed on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
Speaking to reporters during an organized media tour of the area last week, the commander of the 36th Division, Brig. Gen. Yiftah Norkin, said the capture of the Beaufort Ridge was “critical to the defense of the Galilee Panhandle, Metula, and the surrounding communities.” – Times of Israel
Iraq
Iraq’s prime minister will visit Washington on Monday to deepen strategic ties with the United States, with oil and gas deals expected to be signed as part of a broader push for economic, trade and investment cooperation. – Reuters
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi writes: Iraqis have endured war, dictatorship and terrorism. Today, they understand that the time has come to write a new chapter in Iraq’s relationship with the world and with its strategic partners, one founded on integration into the global economic and financial system. I carry to the United States a message of confidence: that a sovereign Iraq stands apart from regional alignments and conflicts, and chooses instead the path of development, with an open hand extended to its friends. Great nations are not shaped by chance. They are built through a conscious determination that seizes the right historical moment when hope is joined to wisdom, and through leadership that chooses to build bridges to the future. That is the choice Iraqis have made. I look forward to realizing that future with our American friends. – Washington Post
Kamaran Palani writes: Iran has been here before. It lost its dominant position in Syria after years of using sectarian militias to prop up a brutal regime that left it deeply unpopular among Syrians. By pursuing its own military aims through a reluctant host and failing to read the warning signs, Iran is repeating the error in Iraq. If, for instance, the current bout of renewed fighting spreads to Iraq, Iran’s allies in Iraq could become active again and attack targets around the region. Doing so would once more expose Iraq to a war most Iraqis, including Shiites, want no part of, deepening resentment toward Iran. Iraq’s Shiite elites are increasingly putting their political and economic interests ahead of the cause of permanent resistance against the United States. Even if Iran survives the war, its position in Iraq may not. – Foreign Affairs
Turkey
Turkey has informed Canada that it will participate in the Defence Security and Resilience Bank as a founding member, a Turkish official told Reuters on Monday. – Reuters
The Turkish prosecutor has ordered the detention of 36 people, including the mayor of an Ankara district held by the main opposition, as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and tender rigging, the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said on Saturday. – Reuters
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that Turkey hopes to achieve a result on lifting U.S. sanctions and its desire to purchase F-35 fighter jets soon, adding there should be no defence industry restrictions between allies. – Reuters
“I think there is no reason to have an open conflict,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told The National on Friday, only a week after making far more critical comments on CNN Turk, decried by Israeli politicians as genocidal. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Turkey remains a patron of Hamas and Hezbollah and is moving arms into the new Syria, for which Mr. Trump’s praise may be premature. The Erdogan regime’s aggressive rhetoric is matched by its military deployments across the region, so arming it with F-35s is a head-scratcher. But if Mr. Trump wants to sell Turkey the jets so badly, at least have it play by the rules and surrender its Russian system. – Wall Street Journal
Gulf States
One Indian national is missing after an attack on the commercial vessel GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman earlier on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said. “Of the 11 Indian nationals on board, 10 have been rescued so far, while one Indian National is reportedly missing,” the ministry said, while condemning the attack. – Reuters
The crew of a container ship abandoned their vessel after military authorities reported it had sustained damage to its rear near Oman, causing a fire onboard, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Sunday. – Reuters
The growing rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two biggest Gulf economies and among the world’s deepest pools of capital, has prompted executives to work on contingency plans to counter any fallout if things get materially worse. For banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to investment firms such as BlackRock Inc., Brookfield Corp. and KKR & Co., the trajectory of the relationship is especially crucial. – Bloomberg
Iran fired three ballistic missiles at a US military base in Kuwait on Sunday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim News Agency claimed. – Jerusalem Post
Middle East & North Africa
Algeria has fully reopened its national airspace to air traffic from Mali, effective Friday, allowing all flights to and from the West African country, Algerian state media reported. – Reuters
Syria’s new parliament convened for the first time on Sunday, 19 months after rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad, a milestone in the country’s political transition despite the chamber’s current limited powers. – Reuters
James Harmon and Cornelius Queen write: Guardrails are also critical. Strict conflict-of-interest provisions and reporting requirements that keep Congress informed can help safeguard taxpayer funds without undermining the flexibility of the enterprise fund model. Enterprise funds work because they can support US foreign policy while moving with the speed and discipline of the private sector. At a time when many are questioning the costs of US military power, enterprise funds offer an investment-driven model to expand America’s playbook in the Middle East. These private sector-led funds can advance US strategic interests by building durable partnerships around shared economic interests while also turning a profit. Managed well, enterprise funds can become a core pillar of US foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond. That’s soft power that pays. – The National Interest
Korean Peninsula
The South Korean navy early on Monday morning recovered the body of a seaman who went missing at sea over the weekend near the maritime border with North Korea, the navy said in a statement. – Reuters
North Korea condemned the United States and its allies on Saturday for what it called strengthening military blocs and accelerating arms buildups after a NATO summit this week. – Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping said China’s commitment to its traditional friendship with North Korea would not change regardless of how the international situation evolves, according to letters exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and published by North Korean state media KCNA on Saturday. – Reuters
A South Korean court on Monday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison after finding him guilty of violating political funding laws, local media reported. – Reuters
South Korea said on Monday it would draw up record budget spending of more than 800 trillion won ($530.97 billion) for fiscal 2027, supported by stronger tax revenues from the booming AI chip industry. – Reuters
China
China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis, Japan, the Philippines, the United States and 11 other countries said in a joint statement on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of a landmark international tribunal ruling. – Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first appearance at the country’s flagship AI conference, signaling the growing importance Beijing attaches to the technology as its rivalry with the US intensifies. – Bloomberg
Ram Bala writes: The United States has deep and abiding advantages over Chinese tech, from its ability to attract talent to its formidable base of venture capital. The U.S. tech industry is also far more privatized than China’s state-controlled system, allowing for dollars to more easily and efficiently chase new ideas. It just needs to leverage these plusses to its benefit. Owning the world’s fastest supercomputer won’t determine who wins the AI race. Becoming the platform the rest of the world relies on will. Washington should spend less time building barriers around American innovation and more time making sure the world keeps choosing it over China. – The Hill
South Asia
Now, the Indian government wants to evict the club, which has come under increasing criticism for its British colonial-era traditions and trappings. That is kicking up a fierce debate between those who want to preserve a piece of India’s history and those who say the club reflects the snobbery and class divisions of a bygone era. – Wall Street Journal
The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN was told on Sunday by Myanmar’s foreign minister that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi was “a sister” who was in good health and would be looked after, ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar said. – Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon upgraded their nations’ diplomatic ties on Saturday, as Modi seeks to bolster New Delhi’s ties in the Asia-Pacific region. – Reuters
Bangladesh Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the next deal with the International Monetary Fund must safeguard the country’s ordinary citizens and ensure economic security, distancing his government from the terms of an earlier agreement. – Bloomberg
Vietnamese police detained Sunday the captain of a speedboat that capsized off southern Vietnam, killing 15 Indian tourists. – Associated Press
Asia
Japan is undertaking an ambitious effort to build a centralized intelligence agency for the first time since World War II, and it is turning to partners in the West for help. – New York Times
A top Indonesian prosecutor resigned on Saturday after police conducted a series of raids related to corruption investigations, including at his residence, and seized cash amounting to more than $20 million in multiple currencies and 74 kg (163 lb) of gold bars this week. – Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition suffered a crushing defeat to a key partner in a regional poll on Saturday, raising questions over the strength of the blocs’ alliance at the federal level amid talk of an early general election. – Reuters
Europe
Amid growing Russian threats in the Arctic, the U.K. Royal Navy has deployed its flagship aircraft carrier to deter Moscow’s incursions into strategic waterways. As a sign of the tension in the area, in early July, a Russian plane flew close to the carrier and dropped a large number of sonar trackers in its path, before British F-35 jets scrambled to escort the plane away. – Wall Street Journal
The British police are investigating donations worth at least 500,000 pounds, about $670,000, made to the populist right-wing party Reform U.K., according to British news reports, adding to the pressure on its leader, Nigel Farage. – New York Times
Greek counterterrorism police officers arrested three people on Friday in connection with recent bombings against members of the country’s conservative party that killed one person and injured several others, the authorities said. – New York Times
EU countries have yet to reach agreement on a broad 21st package of sanctions against Russia, but may decide on Monday to add 250 individuals and entities to their Russia sanctions list, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. – Reuters
Britain will spend over £250 million ($335 million) across the next three years to better protect its Jewish communities, the government said on Monday, following a series of recent antisemitic attacks. – Reuters
There is no evidence that the suspected murder of former British government minister Ann Widdecombe was politically motivated, police said on Sunday, adding that they were not seeking anyone else after arresting a 28-year-old man. – Reuters
Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter said, in an order that marks one of the biggest known purchases of drones for Kyiv by a Western government. – Reuters
France will summon the Russian ambassador to Paris in the coming days over an alleged cyberhacking campaign that Russia has carried out against European countries including France, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday. – Reuters
Hungarian lawmakers are set to oust the Viktor Orban-allied president as Prime Minister Peter Magyar seeks a clean break from his nationalist predecessor. – Bloomberg
French anti-terrorist prosecutors on Sunday opened an investigation after weapons were found in a car parked in a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish population. – Agence France-Presse
Germany’s far-right AfD party on Saturday unveiled a manifesto for its first 100 days in office if it wins control of an eastern region, pledging to immediately expel all undocumented immigrants. – Agence France-Presse
Businessman Vasile Tofan was nominated to be Moldova’s new prime minister on Saturday after the previous one, Alexandru Munteanu, stepped down earlier this month amid a series of scandals. – Politico
Marc Champion writes: The question for Colbridge should be how to embed the US drawdown into that process, not how this ideologically driven administration can use NATO as leverage to coerce and reward allies that it — as Vice President JD Vance has so eloquently explained — in fact considers foes in the culture wars it cares about most. The question for the rest of NATO, meanwhile, is how to ensure the alliance can transition before Russia reconstitutes, if faced with a US administration that doesn’t seem to want to leave NATO stronger, but rather just to leave it. – Bloomberg
Africa
The remnants of the Russian mercenary group Wagner have established a new foothold along the upper reaches of the Oubangui River, where they run a drug empire in the Central African Republic beyond the reach of law enforcement, or even Moscow itself. – Wall Street Journal
Congo’s AFC/M23 rebels have used a small Ebola outbreak in territory they control to showcase their ability to govern, mounting a response largely separate from authorities in Kinshasa and supported in part by neighbouring Rwanda, according to response teams and official documents. – Reuters
A U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, the U.S. CDC said on Friday. – Reuters
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said a constitutional amendment to extend his tenure by two more years was a collective decision, the Sunday Mail reported. – Bloomberg
South Africa has asked the United States to exempt it from proposed tariffs linked to a U.S. investigation into the enforcement of bans on imports of products made with forced labor in dozens of countries, arguing that it has robust laws prohibiting the practice. – Associated Press
Senegal’s top judicial body rejected a constitutional amendment aimed at expanding the role of parliament and reducing presidential powers. – Associated Press
Editorial: With the near-encirclement of El Obeid, the world must urgently take action. The Trump administration should re-engage, as should European leaders who say they want to play a bigger role in global affairs in response to President Trump’s sporadic isolationism. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should stop their shortsighted jockeying for influence in Sudan and prioritize ending the massacres. The 2020s have set a grim benchmark. Global deaths in armed conflicts have reached their highest level since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, ending a long period of relative peace. The continuing tragedy in Sudan has been among the largest contributors to the new era of bloodshed. The rest of the world should act to prevent the rising danger to civilians and to end the war in Sudan once and for all. – New York Times
Amine Ayoub writes: The superficial normalization of relations between Algeria and Mali proves that the old architecture of Algerian dominance in the Sahel has collapsed. Algiers can no longer leverage its borders to bully landlocked neighbors, nor can it use Islamist proxies to manipulate regional politics without facing severe blowback. While the July 2026 border agreement temporarily restores a basic level of communication, the deep trust deficit and the active footprint of the Africa Corps ensure that the relationship will remain highly volatile. The broader Sahel region is rapidly moving toward a multipolar future where forward-looking infrastructure partnerships, such as Morocco’s Atlantic corridor, are completely replacing the coercive, security-centric interference that has long characterized Algeria’s foreign policy. – Times of Israel
Hannah Rae Armstrong and John McIntire write: El-Ghassim Wane, a senior African Union adviser from the Sahel steeped in how good governance helps ward off conflict, noted to us that “the cost of supporting a country that has remained committed to constitutional governance and democratic principles is far lower than the cost of managing instability once it takes hold.” Debt forgiveness would help protect Senegal’s achievements; without it, the country risks falling into a debt trap for years, if not decades. And the region will lose its democratic anchor. – Foreign Affairs
Latin America
The makeshift hospital is part of a sudden expansion of medical care in quake-ravaged Venezuela, where foreign relief groups and charities have opened clinics offering treatments, tests and medicines that many Venezuelans had long been unable to access. – Wall Street Journal
The United States and a group of countries in Latin America said on Friday they had “deep concern” about statements and actions that cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral process in Colombia. – Reuters
The death toll from the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 4,333, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez told reporters on Saturday, announcing that the distribution of housing to those affected will begin next week. Meanwhile, 315 of the dead have not yet been identified, the official said. – Reuters
An off-duty member of the Chilean navy driving a private vehicle crashed into an open-air market in the coastal city of Vina del Mar Sunday, killing several people, the navy said in a statement. – Associated Press
North America
The U.S. and Canada have struck a deal that paves the way to open a new multibillion-dollar bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, resolving what turned out to be a surprise but temporary trade irritant between the neighboring countries. – Wall Street Journal
Two people were killed and at least four others injured during a shooting at a street festival in Toronto on Saturday evening, local police said. – New York Times
Cuba’s national electrical grid collapsed on Friday in the second nationwide outage this week and the fourth this year as a U.S.-imposed oil blockade has crippled the island’s already obsolete generation system. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday extended work permits for hundreds of thousands of immigrants with temporary protected status from Haiti and six other countries, hours before they were due to expire. – Reuters
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz said on Thursday night that there were no divisions within Cuba’s leadership, days after “USA Today” published an interview with the grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro in which he said he was open to negotiating with U.S. President Donald Trump. – Reuters
United States
A lack of defensive capabilities aboard President Trump’s new luxury jet led him to fly home from Turkey aboard an older Air Force One plane this week after U.S. officials received Israeli intelligence about a possible plot to kill him, according to U.S. officials. That threat was deemed not to be entirely credible, according to some of those officials. – Wall Street Journal
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a foreign-policy hawk who transformed from a fierce critic of President Trump into one of his closest allies on Capitol Hill, has died. He was 71 years old. – Wall Street Journal
A day before emergency responders arrived at Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, the South Carolina Republican made what would be his last public appearance, standing outside St. Michael’s golden-domed monastery in Kyiv. Graham, who had spent months pushing for sanctions legislation he and others believed would force Russia to finally end its four-year assault on Ukraine, described the moment as a chance to marshal support from the U.S. and other global powers to finally end the conflict. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: The District of Columbia medical examiner’s preliminary report pegged the cause of death as an aortic tear. But given that Iran, Russia and other adversaries benefit from his death, we hope officials ensure there was no foul play. An autopsy may be warranted. The Administration should not want conspiracy theories to proliferate. As Mr. Trump and many others around the world are saying, Graham was a patriot whose work on behalf of liberty will be missed. Will other Republicans pick up his fallen baton? Someone needs to. – Wall Street Journal
Fareed Zakaria writes: The genius of America’s post-1945 strategy was that it solved this problem. It made it unnecessary for European countries to think and act like traditional great powers. Under the U.S. umbrella, France and Germany did not have to balance each other. The U.S. damped down the intra-European rivalries that had produced centuries of catastrophic war. It created a system that was stable, peaceful and pro-American. We have set off a chain reaction. Over time, Americans will come to miss the old NATO — not because it was fair, but because it was the most successful security system the world has ever known, with America at its center. – Washington Post
Cybersecurity
The U.S. loosened export controls on the United Arab Emirates on Friday, making it easier to export Nvidia AI chips, military equipment, commercial satellites and spacecraft in a boost to relations between the two allies. – Reuters
Apple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging the AI company has stolen the iPhone maker’s trade secrets to develop its own yet-to-be-unveiled AI gadgets. – CNN
The European Commission says Meta must make significant changes to Facebook and Instagram to address the “addictive design” of the social media platforms. – CNN
Arthur Mensch, who runs Mistral AI, the hottest tech property of this year’s G7 host country, believes that France’s relatively cheap energy is a major competitive advantage in the AI race. – Politico
An Armenian national who was extradited from Ukraine to the United States last year pleaded guilty to participating in a series of attacks in 2019 and 2020 involving Ryuk ransomware, the Justice Department said Thursday. – Cyberscoop
Andy Jung writes: Any effort by lawmakers to build a framework without sufficient oversight is bound to fail, so they should err on the side of supervision. Industry governance of AI is promising, but the Constitution limits how much authority Congress may vest in private actors, and the judiciary is still defining exactly where those boundaries lie. No matter how nimble or innovative, AI governance can’t succeed if it is struck down in court. – Wall Street Journal
Victor Menaldo writes: The transition won’t be painless. The entry-level squeeze is real, and firms that mistake automation for strategy will do real damage on the way to improving. But the answer to a tool that is fluent, fast and frequently wrong is not to chase an AI-proof major or let the machine do the thinking. It is to become the person who knows when the machine has made an error, when it can be made better and when its output is worth putting your name on. In that, AI is like every powerful tool before it — the worker who can master it is worth more, not less. It has only raised the price of judgment. – Washington Post
Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu write: Our society has navigated and absorbed major technological upheavals before, from the Industrial Revolution to the computer age. Those transitions endured politically because reformers and lawmakers built labor protections, social insurance, public schooling and antitrust law that helped broaden technology’s gains. This time around, many Americans have no faith that the benefits of A.I. will be distributed. It is up to policymakers and the companies building A.I. to change that. A.I. must help people thrive, not merely enrich a handful of companies and leave others behind. If that doesn’t happen, the country will resist it, slow it and fight over it. That is how America loses its balance on the tightrope. – New York Times
Daniel Byman writes: At the same time, AI will strengthen state counterterrorism capabilities through improved surveillance, pattern recognition, and intelligence analysis. Ultimately, the challenge is therefore political and institutional as much as technological. Democratic societies must pursue strategies that preserve innovation while establishing credible safeguards against misuse. The goal should not be to prevent all technological adaptation by extremist actors—an impossible task—but rather to reduce catastrophic risks, strengthen societal resilience, and ensure that responses to terrorism do not undermine the democratic values they are intended to protect. – Center for Strategic and International Studies