Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel and Lebanon meet to advance peace talks, as broader truce unravels Hamas said to demand increased financial, diplomatic support from Iran Netanyahu planning Washington visit next week following recent call with Trump Trump reverses 20% Strait of Hormuz toll, as U.S. restarts blockade of Iran's ports Iran threatens to block more vital seaways as Trump orders renewed Iran blockade US sanctions Iran oil network, crypto as ceasefire collapses WaPo’s David Ignatius: Trump pushed the reset button. This is ‘Iran Fiasco 2.0.’ Ukraine wants to make its own antimissile system, not just Patriots Putin’s next move will be Baltic incursion, warns top Russian dissident NYT’s Serge Schmemann: The Ukraine-Russia war reaches a new phase China aggressively patrols disputed waters. Now the U.S. Coast Guard is moving in. White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro: America can break China's choke hold on critical mineralsIn The News
Israel
Israeli and Lebanese officials met for a new round of U.S.-mediated talks on Tuesday in an effort to advance a fragile cease-fire and pave the way for Israel to withdraw from the south of the country, even as prospects of a breakthrough remain limited. – New York Times
Israel’s parliament has approved laws that effectively halt the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men in the country’s military in a last-ditch effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to woo religious political parties ahead of elections in the fall. – Associated Press
A controversial United Nations agency is being investigated by U.S. officials for alleged ties to terrorism. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the U.N. organization for Palestinian refugees, has more than 1,500 employees being probed for links to terrorism. – Fox News
Despite the ongoing construction of a new border security fence between Israel and Jordan, local residents are fearful that a Jordanian attack could face little in the way of defenses, N12 News reported on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
The government is expected on Tuesday to discuss diverting some NIS 568 million from the five-year plan for developing Israel’s Arab society to fund Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) activity and the work of the police and other enforcement bodies against organized crime. – Jerusalem Post
Israel has extended the ban on flights to Dubai until the end of October, as many international airlines continue to suspend operations or reduce service to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the security situation in the Middle East. – Jerusalem Post
The US said Tuesday that it was halting the planned removal of its aerial refueling tankers from Ben Gurion Airport amid the mounting escalation with Iran, prompting Israel to warn that it would cap the number of such planes allowed to stay at the country’s main airport in order to avert disruptions of commercial flight operations. – Times of Israel
A delegation of top Hamas officials recently presented Tehran with a list of demands for increased diplomatic and financial support, according to a report Tuesday, as the ruling Gaza terror group seeks to strengthen its position amid an ongoing push by mediators to demilitarize the Palestinian enclave in accordance with a US-backed peace plan. – Times of Israel
Iran
President Trump abruptly reversed course Tuesday when he announced the end of a plan to charge a 20% fee for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, hours before the U.S. reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports. – Wall Street Journal
With the U.S. and Iran slugging it out over the Strait of Hormuz again, each nation is running out of time to achieve its goals. The question is whose clock expires first. President Trump would prefer a resolution before the November midterm elections and before oil prices surge back to painful levels for Americans. – Wall Street Journal
Iran’s attacks on commercial ships are turning off a lifeline for the global energy market—a stream of tankers ferrying crude through the hazardous Strait of Hormuz. The barrage of missiles and drones hit ships that specialize in short voyages in and out of the Persian Gulf known as “shuttle runs.” – Wall Street Journal
The number of vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz ticked up on Tuesday, with most of them linked to Iranian trade, before a U.S. blockade took effect on Wednesday, shipping data showed. – Reuters
The U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran was a significant blow to civilians in the region that risked severe disruption to the flow of food, medicines, and other essentials. – Reuters
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other export corridors that benefit the U.S. and its allies”, Iranian media reported, after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. – Reuters
Two members of the Islamic State group were executed after they were convicted of armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic, Iranian state television reported Tuesday. – Associated Press
The US ramped up economic sanctions on Iran and resumed a military blockade against the country after negotiations between the two nations broke down following renewed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. – Bloomberg
Iran’s parliament has begun work on a bill on the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the security committee said on Tuesday, as fighting flared between Washington and Tehran over the strategic waterway. – Agence France-Presse
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Tuesday against launching future attacks on Israel, saying Tehran would face a far harsher response than in previous confrontations. – Jerusalem Post
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. writes: The concessions they’ve been avoiding—on their nuclear program, proxy allies, missile and drone programs? These are concessions on things beloved by the regime but of negative value to the Iranian people. Its stance won’t be sustainable by a regime rationally interested in its own survival under conditions where most of its revenues and imports are cut off. All good things follow. The regime’s strategic and ideological self-importance will necessarily dwindle. So will its domestic authority. The oil curse will lay less heavily on its people, as it already has its neighbors—oil-rich governments once typically didn’t need to care whether their subjects were enterprising, productive and educated. In fact, it seemed better for rulers if they weren’t. When that ends, suddenly the world becomes a much better place. – Wall Street Journal
David Ignatius writes: The Iranians need to think realistically about their options and resolve their internal differences. Meanwhile, a U.S.-led coalition will continue to squeeze their economy, even as it seeks to reopen the strait. […] Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life.” A genuine peace with Iran “will come in two weeks, or two months, or two years,” as one U.S. negotiator puts it. Trying to rush that timetable hasn’t worked. But I think the Iranian regime is still on a one-way street to an eventual demise, however long that takes. Open the strait. And then, hard as it is for Trump to keep his mouth shut, it’s time for what wise negotiators sometimes call “dynamic silence.” – Washington Post
Tom Rogan writes: Indeed, the Sunni monarchies have well-equipped militaries designed to integrate seamlessly with U.S. forces. And while their navies are in desperate need of increased funding and more warships, a small but significant Franco-British naval task force has been established to help keep the strait open. […] Trump wants to make clear both to allies and adversaries alike that they cannot expect America to shoulder a solitary burden of countering Iranian attacks on global interests. And that if they want to avoid tolls on their transiting cargo, they ought to immediately and significantly do one of two things. Either join U.S. efforts to forcibly defend international shipping or put far greater pressure on Iran to stop its attacks and accept concessions at the negotiating table. – Washington Examiner
David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team write: All of these connections to the outside present vulnerabilities that the U.S. and Israel would seem to be able to exploit. The site, in its present condition, would be more suitable for ground forces to attack or sabotage like the destruction of the advanced centrifuge assembly center, which reportedly involved explosives that were brought into the facility during its construction. […] These would be best identified in facility schematics. Schematics for the Pickaxe Mountain facility have not been seen publicly, however, schematics for two other prominent Iranian nuclear tunnel sites, Fordow and Shahid Boroujerdi, have been. These are two tunnel facilities built by Iran’s Amad nuclear weapons program and attacked in June 2025 and March 2026, respectively; both schematics showed ventilation shafts, and both facilities had ventilation shafts directly targeted in aerial attacks, a weak point that allowed greater internal access for earth penetrating weapons. – Institute for Science and International Security
Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine said one of its naval drones on Tuesday sank a Russian patrol ship docked in the Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik, close to a luxurious compound allegedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. – Wall Street Journal
With the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was widely viewed in Moscow as the toughest voice against Russia in U.S. politics, some pro-Kremlin officials and commentators are now hoping to gain new advantage in Washington and especially in the Trump White House. – Washington Post
When President Trump announced last week that he would allow Ukraine to begin production of Patriot ballistic missile interceptors, at least one Ukrainian company had a head start on producing its own version of a desperately needed air-defense system. – New York Times
Ukraine’s parliament accepted the resignation on Tuesday of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after just a year in office, despite complaints from lawmakers that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had failed to explain the point of his reshuffle. – Reuters
Russia on Tuesday accused Ukraine of terrorism over its escalating attacks on shipping in the Sea of Azov, a route that handles about a quarter of its grain exports. Ukrainian drones hit 11 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov overnight, Kyiv’s drone forces commander said. – Reuters
Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s big Salavat petrochemical complex in the Urals region, the local governor said, but he predicted it would return to normal output within days. Ukraine’s military said it had carried out overnight attacks on Salavat and on the Afipsky refinery in southern Russia overnight – part of an intensified set of strikes on Russian energy infrastructure aimed at undermining Moscow’s ability to wage the war. – Reuters
An anti-war Russian politician who wants to run for parliament has accused the authorities of trying to sabotage his campaign, after he was designated a “foreign agent” and questioned by police. – Reuters
Vladimir Putin has no intention of striking a peace deal with Ukraine and is more likely to instead escalate his war after Moscow’s parliamentary election in September, according to Russian opposition activist Garry Kasparov. – Politico
Serge Schmemann writes: In the meantime, it is imperative for the United States and Europe to do what they can to help Ukraine protect itself. In his last undertaking before his death, Senator Lindsey Graham had traveled to Ukraine. From there, he said he had reached agreement with the White House on a bipartisan bill to sanction buyers of Russian oil. That bill should be quickly advanced. Mr. Trump also should urgently act on his pledge to grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriots, and also to accelerate production at home and in Europe. Europeans, too, should share as many air-defense missiles as they can and redouble their efforts to help Ukraine develop new systems. That may not block Russian missiles right away, but it would be a powerful message to Mr. Putin that his time is fast running out. – New York Times
David W. Wang writes: But the stark, unyielding truth in this case is that Russia is being defeated by Force Majeure — by the unbending laws of history, and by the collective will of modern civilization. When facing this level of defeat, the rules of geopolitical pride no longer apply. The only truly wise choice left is to accept it and surrender to that force majeure. Any continuous fighting from this point onward becomes entirely meaningless, yielding nothing but empty slaughter and domestic ruin. Putin’s only logical path to prevent a sudden, violent collapse of his entire is to bend to an “as is” ceasefire immediately. It is an option that allows Russia to halt its bleeding before the damage becomes completely irreversible. Accepting a ceasefire now is not a confession of weakness to the West; it is a necessary submission to reality. – Washington Examiner
Leon Aron writes: There shall not be “any military activity” by NATO anywhere on the territory of the former Soviet Union and no large-scale military exercises in the proximity to the Russian borders. Will Putin roll the dice to extricate himself from the quagmire of the unwinnable war, luxuriate in immense popularity at home and, in one fell swoop, cement a place in history with a feat that even his beloved Soviet Union couldn’t pull off: humiliating and perhaps fatally degrading the West’s armor? And will NATO consider such a choice “far-fetched” and “speculative,” or start preparing for it today? We may not have to wait long for answers. – The Hill
Iraq
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Tuesday that Iraq needed a fair share within OPEC after he was asked by reporters whether he was considering leaving the oil producer group. – Reuters
President Donald Trump gave Iraq’s new prime minister an effusive welcome at the White House on Tuesday, promoting the “tremendous chemistry” between him and a fellow wealthy businessman who arrived at the seat of governmental power without any prior political experience. – Associated Press
Abdullah Hayek writes: If Prime Minister al-Zaidi is serious about change, the standard is clear and unavoidable. It is not enough to detain mid-level officials or peripheral actors. It is not enough to produce televised spectacles of enforcement. Real accountability in Iraq would require confronting the most powerful individuals in the system; those who shaped it, sustained it, and continue to benefit from it. That would mean pursuing cases against figures like al-Maliki and others with comparable influence. It would mean dismantling the networks that link political parties, militias, and economic interests. It would mean exposing not just isolated acts of corruption, but the architecture that enables them. Anything less is not reform. It is theater. And Iraq has had more than enough of that. – The National Interest
Gulf States
The United Arab Emirates has gained expanded access from the U.S. to coveted artificial-intelligence chips after aiding America in recent months by carrying out dozens of airstrikes against Iran, intercepting hundreds of missiles and keeping oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz. – Wall Street Journal
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Tuesday reinstated and toughened its warning to airlines operating in the Middle East, telling them to avoid the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and over the Gulf of Oman as the U.S.-Iran war flared up again. – Reuters
Fifty-five Iranian fishermen have been freed from custody in the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s embassy there said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday. The fishermen were detained by the UAE’s coast guard in recent months due to “special conditions” in the region, the embassy added, in a likely reference to the Iran war. The process to send them home had started, the embassy said. – Reuters
Four Kuwaiti navy personnel were injured in the latest wave of attacks on the Gulf state, which remains a key target for Iran as the US blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas resumes and regional tensions escalate. – Bloomberg
Jose Lev Alvarez writes: Extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles and high-altitude platforms, integrated with Emirati and Saudi networks, would provide persistent surveillance of the strait. Congress should preauthorize jamming, mine neutralization, and interdiction in response to confirmed efforts to impose segmented control or passage fees. This program would protect U.S. logistics, Gulf forces, and regional allies without a large new manned footprint that could suggest Washington was reversing course. Above all, this initiative would show regional partners that the United States will secure the Strait of Hormuz rather than cede it, denying Iran and Oman the power to turn geography into a veto over energy security and alliance cohesion. Hormuz must remain a global passageway, not an Iranian-Omani veto over security. – Washington Examiner
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt’s parliament gave final approval on Tuesday to a law that formalises the rapid expansion of the military-linked Future of Egypt Authority into the country’s most powerful economic body and places it under direct presidential oversight. – Reuters
A truce that ended nearly a decade of war in Yemen has mostly held since 2022. It is being severely tested four years later, as tensions tied to the war in Iran risk spilling over. – Associated Press
Mahmoud Shuaib, a Shi’ite critic of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, and Dr. Alfred Riachi, secretary-general of the Permanent Federal Congress, are both facing legal action from the Lebanese judiciary after Hezbollah-affiliated lawyers filed complaints over comments they made that were deemed critical of the terror group and supportive of normalization with Israel, according to public statements made by the pair and Lebanese media reports. – Jerusalem Post
China
China’s economic growth cooled more than expected in the second quarter of the year despite robust exports, as local governments and households pulled back spending. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. Coast Guard ships previously deployed in the Middle East are now operating out of Singapore and the Philippines to help challenge China’s assertion of power in the Pacific. The six 154-foot fast-response cutters are part of the Coast Guard’s reimagined “expeditionary cutter squadron,” which can be sent anywhere in the world. – Wall Street Journal
China “has no geopolitical intentions and does not seek a so-called ‘sphere of influence'” in its dealings with Pacific island nations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his counterpart from the Solomon Islands in Beijing on Tuesday. – Reuters
New Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Tuesday the 2021 decision to allow Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy in the country was “maybe too brave” as he sought to repair relations with China on his first day in the job. – Reuters
Peter Navarro writes: Beijing has tried to use its control over critical materials to bully the West, but its plan has backfired. It has only managed to encourage the free world’s decoupling from the Chinese economy. China built its leverage by making the world believe it was the sole supplier. America’s task is to work with our free-world allies to make sure there is an alternative—cleaner, cheaper and faster. America’s formula is to back breakthrough technologies, pair small innovators with large industrial partners and scale China-free strategic supply chains at the Pentagon’s “speed of relevance”—fast enough to gain a competitive advantage. – Wall Street Journal
William Nye writes: With Washington’s attention absorbed elsewhere, China is in an even stronger position to pressure the Pacific island countries that Australia is trying to bring into its security network. The U.S. needs to push back harder on Beijing’s expanding military presence, and Trump needs to draw a clear line on tests like this one. This tactic isn’t new for China — what’s new is the form it’s taking. Where Beijing once relied primarily on economic ambiguity, it is now backing that same playbook with military signaling. And without a firmer response from Washington, there is little reason to think Beijing won’t do it again. – Washington Examiner
South Asia
India sharply criticized Iran on Tuesday and called for de-escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after an attack on an oil tanker killed an Indian sailor and injured dozens more, as the United States and Iran reignited their war and fight for control of the waterway. – New York Times
India and Bangladesh share one of the longest borders in the world, through which impoverished Bangladeshis often slip unnoticed in search of jobs and smugglers ferry goods as varied as cattle, gold and raisins. – New York Times
On a Saturday evening this month, an 11-year-old girl left her home for a friend’s birthday party in a small town in eastern India. […] The assault was the latest example of the brutal sexual violence that is endemic across India, with over 80 rapes reported to police every day, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau. Many more assaults go unreported because of victim blaming and shaming, activists say. – Reuters
A court in Nepal jailed two former government ministers after they were found guilty of forging documents to enable Nepali nationals to be resettled in the U.S. as Bhutanese refugees, a court document and lawyers said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Clashes between security forces and supporters of a banned protest group in Pakistan-administered Kashmir killed nine people on Tuesday, officials said, a day before the group planned a march against controversial electoral arrangements ahead of regional elections later this month. – Reuters
ASEAN’s special envoy on Myanmar held talks with ethnic minority rebel groups and a government-backed negotiation committee in an effort to tackle a civil war, with both sides expressing openness to dialogue, the Philippines said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Asia
One exit was blocked by beer crates and employees’ lockers. The low ceiling was covered in flammable foam used to soundproof the venue. And there were no sprinklers. These apparent lapses, described by fire safety experts and witnesses, likely contributed to the deaths of at least 30 people at the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar in Bangkok on Sunday night. – New York Times
The lead investor in a South Korean aluminum company that has challenged Commerce Department penalties on certain exports from South Korea to the United States made a $2 million payment last year to President Trump’s holding company. – New York Times
Australia will create an office at the heart of the government to manage the development of artificial intelligence standards and force data centres to be net producers of energy and limit their water usage, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Malaysia’s Home Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday it was investigating a co-living community for “digital nomads” founded by former Coinbase chief technology officer and U.S. investor Balaji Srinivasan, following claims it included Israelis in violation of immigration laws. Malaysia is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. – Reuters
Two Singapore ministers won a defamation case against Bloomberg LP over the contents of a December 2024 news article about the island nation’s property market. Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng had argued the piece implied they hid the details of two separate property transactions to avoid scrutiny for money laundering. They also said Bloomberg did this maliciously. – Bloomberg
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto came to office pledging an uncompromising fight against corruption, repeatedly warning officials to “clean themselves up” before law-enforcement agencies did it for them. – Bloomberg
Europe
At Tuesday’s Bastille Day parade, French President Emmanuel Macron choreographed a celebration of European unity and military might after nearly a decade in office prodding the continent’s powers to cooperate on defense and rely less on the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
Six people were killed when a fire broke out at a construction site in central Brussels on Tuesday, according to the law enforcement authorities investigating the cause of the blaze. – New York Times
The British counterterrorism police on Tuesday said that Ann Widdecombe, a right-wing politician who was killed last week, had been the victim of a “targeted attack.” Ms. Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in Haytor, in Devon, southwestern England, on Thursday, having sustained serious injuries. – New York Times
Britain on Tuesday summoned Iran’s most senior diplomat in London over what the UK government said was Iran’s role in directing proxy groups to carry out attacks across Europe in recent months. – Reuters
Britain’s approval for China to build a vast embassy in London was challenged in court on Tuesday, as a group of local residents argue that officials failed to consider the impact on protests and potential targeting of dissidents. – Reuters
David Sanchez, the brother of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, was convicted of administrative misconduct on Tuesday and banned from holding public office for nine years over his appointment to a cultural post by the provincial government of Badajoz in 2017. – Reuters
Britain and the European Union formally signed a treaty on the status of Gibraltar on Tuesday, following an agreement struck last year aimed at easing border crossings and ending years of political uncertainty over the British overseas territory. – Reuters
Lithuania has intelligence that Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure, and security around energy and transport sites will be tightened as a precaution, President Gitanas Nauseda said in an interview published on Wednesday. – Reuters
Four countries hoping to join the European Union took important steps forward on their membership quests Tuesday, in one of the bloc’s biggest enlargement moves in more than 20 years. – Associated Press
Advisers to incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham are in disagreement over who he should appoint as Chancellor of the Exchequer, illustrating early strains on his premiership less than a week before he’s due to enter office. – Bloomberg
Italy’s parliament rejected an amendment to an electoral reform bill, in a surprise setback for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The lower house rejected a proposal on voter preferences and gender parity by one vote in a secret ballot on Tuesday, according to lawmakers. The amendment was part of a broader reform package being championed by the premier. – Bloomberg
Bulgaria will no longer be a part of the so-called coalition of the willing, a group of nations that support Ukraine against Russian aggression, according to Prime Minister Rumen Radev. – Bloomberg
French President Emmanuel Macron presented U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer with one of France’s highest honors — the Légion d’honneur — in recognition of his contribution to Europe’s security. – Politico
Editorial: Germany shut down its final nuclear power station three years ago. Chancellor Friedrich Merz correctly describes the decision as a “huge mistake.” Although coal’s share of the country’s energy production has declined since 2022, calls are mounting to bring more coal-fired generation capacity online amid the war in Iran. It’s embarrassing and dangerous that the E.U. remains so dependent on energy from an enemy. But after years of pretending that sustainable and reliable energy could be conjured out of thin air, the bloc’s precarious position is unsurprising. – Washington Post
Editorial: Finally, he needs a larger vision for Britain’s place in Europe — not out of misplaced nostalgia, but as a practical growth strategy. Without closer economic ties, the UK will struggle to generate the sustained growth it needs. A pending UK-European Union summit should provide an opening to pursue a more ambitious agenda on trade, security, youth mobility and other areas. Burnham should speak to the country as he spoke to Manchester: plainly, and about trade-offs rather than scapegoats. Calls to end neoliberalism may energize parts of the Labour Party, but they don’t amount to a governing philosophy. He’ll arrive with advantages Starmer never possessed. For the country’s sake, he can’t afford to squander them. – Bloomberg
Nasser Razii writes: Britain’s decision, therefore, carries significance beyond the legal consequences of terrorist designation. It reflects a growing international recognition that the Guard is not merely another branch of the Iranian state but the central pillar of a system responsible for domestic repression, regional destabilization, and transnational security threats. […] For years, victims of repression, families of political prisoners, human rights defenders, and democratic activists insisted that the Guard should be judged not by their official title, but by their actions. Britain has now reached the same conclusion. Its decision did not happen overnight. It was the result of years of accumulated evidence, persistent parliamentary engagement, changing security realities, and sustained by many voices, among them the organized Iranian Resistance, which remained one of the earliest, most consistent, and most determined. – Washington Examiner
Jovita Neliupšienė writes: Europe has become very good, our defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius recently argued, at producing “haute couture missiles” – highly sophisticated and expensive systems. The next challenge is to combine that excellence and attention to detail with the ability to produce “good enough” capabilities at scale, including drones and other rapidly deployable systems. In other words, I am reminded of the English idiom “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” Later this year, the EU will formulate its vision for securing the region in our new European Security Strategy. It will help shape the next chapter of Europe’s defense transformation. Stay tuned – we are just getting started. – Defense News
Africa
Nigeria plans to take on a bigger role in coordinating humanitarian responses inside the country, as it shifts away from a system led largely by international donors and U.N. agencies, officials said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Cameroon’s main port of Douala has resumed operations, its transport minister said on Tuesday, after a collision between two cargo vessels at the weekend temporarily obstructed the navigation channel. – Reuters
Sudan risks sliding backwards into deeper hunger as conflict, aid funding cuts and rising agricultural costs driven by disruption linked to the Iran war threaten to reverse gains made after famine took hold in parts of the country, a senior World Food Programme official said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Former Senegalese President Macky Sall will travel to Senegal on Friday, his first public visit to the country since leaving office as he campaigns for the post of U.N. secretary-general. Sall remains a divisive figure in Senegal following his unsuccessful attempt to postpone the 2024 presidential election, a move that triggered deadly protests and was ultimately struck down by the Constitutional Council. – Reuters
G7 foreign ministers and the European Union’s foreign policy chief on Wednesday urged Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied armed groups to stop all actions that could lead to further atrocities or endanger civilians in El-Obeid. – Reuters
Ethiopia will begin a month-long national dialogue on Wednesday aimed at addressing the country’s deep political polarization and divisions to help steer it toward lasting peace and stability. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on Tuesday, the energy ministry said, marking the third major blackout in nine days on the island of about 10 million people. “There has been a total disconnection of the electrical system,” the ministry said on social media. – Reuters
The death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela last month has risen to 4,734, according to figures released by top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez on Tuesday. The number of injured in the June 24 quakes was unchanged at 16,740, while 17,907 people remained homeless. – Reuters
Brazilian planemaker Embraer, said on Tuesday it had launched the Phenom 300EV, the newest version of its light business jet, featuring safety and performance upgrades. – Reuters
Colombia’s incoming government tapped electricity industry insider María Nohemí Arboleda as mines and energy minister as dry weather raises the risk of power blackouts in the coming months. – Bloomberg
United States
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, told fellow House Democrats on Tuesday that he plans to oppose a measure to eliminate United States aid to Israel but called for a “major reset” between the two nations, weighing in on a debate that has bitterly divided his party. – New York Times
A key cooperating witness in the U.S. government’s criminal investigation into Turkish state-run lender Halkbank’s alleged role in helping Iran evade sanctions avoided prison time at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he thought Iran and Hezbollah will be added to the Russia sanctions bill currently under consideration by Congress. Trump said that adding secondary sanctions to China and India had not been discussed. – Reuters
U.S. senators on Tuesday unveiled an updated version of the Russia sanctions bill, championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, which eases the original proposal’s tariff threat on China, India and other importers of Russian oil and gas. – Reuters
The Department of Justice said on Tuesday it is creating a new global trade enforcement section of its National Fraud Division to investigate and prosecute criminal import, trade and customs fraud offenses. – Reuters
U.S. lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill on Tuesday to increase penalties for foreign government agents who threaten people on U.S. soil, a move aimed at countering the rise of what officials call “transnational repression” by countries such as China and Iran. – Reuters
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has ordered its officers to suspend most vehicle stops around the country, after agents fatally shot two men six days apart during traffic stops in Texas and Maine, officials said on Tuesday. – Reuters
President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm elections. – Associated Press
President Trump held a Situation Room meeting Tuesday to discuss a massive offensive in Iran that will be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, three sources with knowledge said. – Axios
Editorial: The State Department says it is considering “urging” allies to quit the ICC, increasing “scrutiny” of those that won’t, and escalating U.S. sanctions against the ICC. There isn’t time to take these steps in sequence. Until Mr. Rubio sanctions the ICC as a whole and punishes states that back it, U.S. partners will cling to the status quo. Japan, a U.S. ally, is also the ICC’s largest funder. Will it stand by the court as it exceeds its bounds and threatens U.S. sovereignty? How about the pro-U.S. leaders in Latin America? The ICC’s strength is tied to its claim to represent entire regional blocs. The worsening politicization, abuse of the law and ethical collapse underscore the ICC threat to America. Mr. Rubio is right to seek the court’s downfall. – Wall Street Journal
Bret Stephens writes: In Kyiv in 2023, he walked side by side with the Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, united, if nothing else, in their shared commitment to the defense and freedom of Ukraine. That image, a rare moment of agreement between Trump’s closest Senate friend and two of his bitterest Senate opponents, may be the right capstone for Graham’s consequential and colorful career. He believed in big things, many of them important and true, and he didn’t let his moral or intellectual self-respect get in the way of advancing them. There’s a nobility in that, too. – New York Times
Cybersecurity
Action regulating artificial intelligence and semiconductors is coming, a U.S. Commerce Department official who oversees export controls said at a hearing on Tuesday. The official, Jeffrey Kessler, made the remarks while noting that the Trump administration does not plan to replace the Biden era AI diffusion rule, which set up a global regime capping AI chip shipments certain countries could receive. – Reuters
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is weighing raising new funds one month after closing its first round and has begun preparations for an initial public offering, according to media reports on Tuesday. – Reuters
The Trump administration is moving to strengthen coordination on artificial intelligence cybersecurity through a new industry clearinghouse to improve the detection and patching of network vulnerabilities, especially in open-source software. – Bloomberg
The Treasury Department is slapping sanctions on First VPN and its administrator for allegedly selling services to ransomware operators, as well as another person aiding ransomware gangs. – Cyberscoop
Russian state-backed hackers are systematically compromising internet-connected security cameras across Europe and Ukraine to gather intelligence on NATO military logistics and identify Ukrainian troops for battlefield targeting, Dutch intelligence agencies warned. – The Record
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against three Russians associated with a bulletproof hosting provider sanctioned by the U.S. and two allies in November. The U.S. government also posted a reward of up to $10 million for information in the case. – The Record
Finnish police have reportedly issued a wanted notice for convicted hacker Aleksanteri Kivimäki after the country’s Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal, paving the way for authorities to return him to prison in one of Finland’s most high-profile cybercrime cases. – The Record
Defense
President Donald Trump is headlining a defense summit at the U.S. Army War College on Wednesday, planning to tout major investments in battlefield technology at a time when the war in Iran has reduced the U.S. supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot and THAAD interceptors. – Associated Press
Senate Democrats blocked a $1 trillion annual defense bill Tuesday, refusing to advance the bipartisan package that would substantially increase Pentagon spending, including a pay raise for the troops, in protest of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. – Associated Press
The U.S. military’s official tally of deaths in the Iran war has risen to 14 service members, with the death of a Navy pilot in a helicopter crash in early July in the Arabian Sea. – Associated Press
Manufacturing problems are dashing the U.S. Army’s plans to boost production of urgently needed 155-mm howitzer shells, a Pentagon watchdog warned. – Defense News
John Phelan writes: The Bab el-Mandeb, bordering Yemen (home to Iran’s Houthi allies) and Djibouti, controls flows to and from the Red Sea. China’s influence over the Suez and Panama canals has grown, and the Taiwan Strait, through which roughly half the world’s container ships pass, could become the flash point for conflict. It was no accident that before any mention of land forces, the U.S. Constitution required Congress to “provide and maintain a Navy.” What we need now is not any navy, but a robust, modern deterrent and fighting force that can keep the seas open, allowing America to remain safe, free and thriving in a world more dangerous than Mahan could ever have conceived. – Washington Post