Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Trump urges Hamas to accept 'final proposal' for 60-day Gaza ceasefire Israel's defence chief threatens to retaliate for Houthi missiles Israeli military says it captured 'terrorist cell operated by Iran' in southern Syria Iranian authorities make sweeping arrests in wake of war with Israel Exclusive: Iran made preparations to mine the Strait of Hormuz, US sources say Iran warns against 'destructive approach' of European countries in call with EU foreign policy chief Iran shuts out nuclear monitors in tactics echoing cold war Institute for Corean-American Studies’s Joseph Bosco: Trump must not waste his golden opportunity with Iran U.S. halts key weapons for Ukraine in new sign of weakening support for Kyiv Macron and Putin discuss Iran and Ukraine in rare call Lebanon drafts reply to US demand for Hezbollah to disarm, sources say Iran suspected of scouting Jewish targets in EuropeIn The News
Israel
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran-backed Hamas militants on Tuesday to agree to what he called a “final proposal” for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza that will be delivered by mediating officials from Qatar and Egypt. – Reuters
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to retaliate against Iran-aligned Houthis after his country’s military intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory. – Reuters
Israeli planes and tanks struck heavily in north and south Gaza on Tuesday, destroying clusters of homes, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s confidant was in Washington, expected to discuss a possible ceasefire. – Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he expects to travel to the United States next week for meetings with President Donald Trump, after a “great victory” in a 12-day war with Iran last month. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had captured a “terrorist cell operated by Iran” in an operation in southern Syria. – Reuters
Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees humanitarian and civil efforts in Gaza, released two revealing conversations between Gaza residents and officers from the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza. – Fox News
The Red Cross said it was deeply worried Tuesday as Israel’s military expanded its operations in Gaza, warning that the Palestinian territory’s few remaining functional medical facilities were already overwhelmed. – Agence-France Presse
Israel urged China to use its economic and political sway to rein in Iran’s military and nuclear ambitions. “China is the only one capable of influencing Iran,” Ravit Baer, Israel’s consul general in Shanghai, told reporters on Tuesday in the city. “Iran would collapse if China didn’t buy its oil.” – Bloomberg
The Trump administration has called on the United Nations to remove Francesca Albanese, the UN rapporteur on Palestinian rights, alleging “virulent antisemitism and support for terrorism,” according to a letter obtained by The Washington Free Beacon. – Times of Israel
Israel’s Mossad intensified its online campaign against Tehran on Tuesday, seizing on a Tasnim News Agency report that the Islamic Republic would not reveal the name of the newly appointed commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters and declaring on its Persian-language X account. – Jerusalem Post
During the Iran War and in its aftermath, Israel pulled off and is pulling off multiple revolutions, regarding drones and regarding using robots to speed up air defense interceptor production, the Defense Ministry revealed on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Acting on precise intelligence provided by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), undercover Border Police officers from the Judea and Samaria unit and IDF soldiers from the Menashe Brigade this morning (Tuesday) arrested a terror cell operating in the Jenin area. – Arutz Sheva
The Finance Ministry, Housing Ministry, and Tax Authority issued a joint statement on Tuesday announcing the launch of “Renovations in Unity,” a project that aims to rebuild and compensate citizens who lost their homes in the Iranian ballistic missile attacks. – Jerusalem Post
Zina Rakhamilova writes: That future depends on our leaders – in the West, in Israel and in the Arab world – to make the brave and bold choice of cracking down on Hamas and forcing it to disarm. There is no future for Gaza – no freedom, no peace – while Hamas remains in power. If the world truly wants to help the embattled coastal enclave, then it must finally confront the truth: liberation for Palestinians begins with the defeat of Hamas. Only then can Israelis and Palestinians alike begin to heal from the trauma of war and move toward a shared, sustainable peace. – Jerusalem Post
Amb. Danny Danon writes: Iran is unlikely to abandon its ambitions entirely. Hezbollah still poses a threat. And bad actors will seek to undermine any progress. But for now, Israel has reasserted its deterrence, safeguarded its citizens and defended the values of democracy and freedom in a region too often defined by terror. This is not just a military story. It is a moral one. In defeating those who seek to destroy it, Israel has cleared a path not just for survival, but for peace. The “Ring of Fire” has been pierced. Now is the time to forge a “Ring of Hope.” – Arutz Sheva
Iran
Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed half a dozen in a sweeping security crackdown that analysts say is aimed at exerting control after a brief but punishing war with Israel exposed Iran’s deep infiltration by Israeli intelligence. – Washington Post
A senior Iranian official and adviser to Iran’s supreme leader who had been presumed killed in an Israeli attack last month was seen walking with a cane at a funeral service for military commanders over the weekend in Tehran. – New York Times
The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf last month, a move that intensified concerns in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following Israel’s strikes on sites across Iran, according to two U.S. officials. – Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas against what he called the “destructive approach” of several European countries, he said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday. – Reuters
The EU’s top diplomat told Iran’s foreign minister Tuesday that Brussels is willing to facilitate a return to negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program after US and Israeli strikes. – Agence-France Presse
Iran is said to be cutting off communication with key United Nations watchdog officials, deepening uncertainty over the status of its nuclear program and introducing additional ambiguity to the diplomatic showdown with Washington. – Bloomberg
Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi announced on Tuesday that he will “convene a summit of national cooperation” on Iran sometime “in the coming weeks.” – Jerusalem Post
Joseph Bosco writes: The destruction of Iran’s ominous nuclear program re-opens the door to peaceful political transformation that Trump, in his quest for international recognition, should be loath to ignore — even if his erstwhile friend, Putin, is an early target of Trump’s peace through strength endeavor. – The Hill
Michael Singh writes: In any post-conflict negotiation with Iran, time will be of the essence, for two reasons. First, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will have little or no access to Iranian nuclear sites for the time being, so Washington’s visibility into the movements of any residual program elements will be limited. […] Second, the UN snapback mechanism effectively expires in September (technically it expires in October, but Russia is scheduled to chair the UN Security Council that month and could interfere with any effort to trigger the mechanism). The E3 and the United States must therefore make clear to Iran that snapback will occur if a deal is not concluded expeditiously. – Washington Institute
Russia and Ukraine
The U.S. has stopped the delivery of air-defense interceptors and other weapons intended for Ukraine and is using them instead to beef up Pentagon stocks, a Trump administration official and two congressional aides said Tuesday. – Wall Street Journal
A top Russian general was convicted of embezzlement and jailed on Tuesday, state news media reported, in one of the highest-profile cases from a monthslong Kremlin campaign to root out military corruption amid the war in Ukraine. – New York Times
In their first call in almost three years, President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia appeared on Tuesday to find some common ground on Iran, but they continued to be at loggerheads over the war in Ukraine. – New York Times
The Kremlin on Tuesday denied claims by U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine that Russia was stalling in peace talks, adding that Moscow had fulfilled all the agreements reached so far in the negotiations. – Reuters
An emboldened Russia has ramped up military offensives on two fronts in Ukraine, scattering Kyiv’s precious reserve troops and threatening to expand the fighting to a new Ukrainian region as each side seeks an advantage before the fighting season wanes in the autumn. – Associated Press
A Ukrainian drone struck a Russian industrial plant some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from Ukraine, a local official said Tuesday, after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prioritized the weapon’s development and Russia pounded Ukraine with a monthly record of drones in June. – Associated Press
French President Emmanuel Macron has reached out to Volodomyr Zelenskiy to brief him about his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg
Turkey
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned as a “vile provocation” a cartoon in a satirical magazine that appeared to depict Prophets Mohammad and Moses, amplifying an outcry by religious conservatives after the arrest of four cartoonists. – Reuters
Turkish authorities detained 109 people, including opposition party members and a former mayor, on Tuesday in Izmir, the Anadolu state news agency said, expanding a months-long legal crackdown on the opposition that had been focused on Istanbul. – Reuters
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could start handing over its weapons within days, a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling AK Party said on Tuesday, the clearest sign yet that efforts to secure the outlawed group’s disarmament may be nearing a breakthrough. – Reuters
Turkish drone firm Baykar has said it will produce its Akinci and TB2 platforms in Italy at Piaggio Aerospace, for which acquisition proceedings began in December. – Defense News
Middle East & North Africa
After a coalition of rebels ousted the dictator Bashar al-Assad, the Trump administration mostly ignored Syria for months. Then, President Trump flipped the script. – New York Times
An appeals court in Algeria on Tuesday upheld a five-year sentence for an Algerian French writer who has been accused of undermining Algeria’s national unity and security. The case has strained relations with France, which was once Algeria’s colonial ruler. – New York Times
Lebanese officials were drafting a response on Tuesday to U.S. demands for armed group Hezbollah to relinquish its weapons across the country by November in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations, two sources briefed on the matter said. – Reuters
Kuwait has strengthened its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law, which will impose tougher penalties for violators, as it seeks to avoid falling foul of a global financial crime watchdog. – Reuters
The IMF may merge its fifth and sixth reviews of Egypt’s $8 billion support programme because of slow progress on structural reforms, possibly delaying a new disbursement by half a year, three people with knowledge of discussions said on Tuesday. – Reuters
At least four people died when a vessel capsized while being towed in the Gulf of Suez, one of Egypt’s prominent Red Sea oil production sites, the vessel operator’s Saudi Arabian owner, ADES Holding Company, said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Qatar has submitted a mediation proposal to both Israel and Hamas based on the Witkoff framework, with minor adjustments and additions, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. – Jerusalem Post
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) writes: Finally, Congress should establish a Congressional Commission on Middle East Peace. This would be a standing, bipartisan and bicameral effort. We need ongoing and focused leadership in Congress to tackle an issue as complex as this one. This will be hard. But since that September day in 1993, the destination has always been peace, and the past two weeks have brought us closer to that goal. – The Hill
Naser Alsayed and John Calabrese write: In contrast, the cost of fragmented, unilateral approaches is rising — from duplicated investments and inconsistent crisis responses to missed opportunities for technological innovation. Without regional cooperation, the Gulf states remain more exposed to conflict, nuclear risks, and disruptions to already scarce water supplies. Collective action offers a more secure path forward. In a region facing mounting climate pressures and water-related risks, the price of going it alone is simply too high. Now is the time for Gulf countries to overcome legacy barriers and commit to a forward-looking model of cooperation. The future of water security in the region depends on it. – Middle East Institute
Korean Peninsula
North Koreans swam, rode water park slides and enjoyed other water activities at a newly opened mammoth beach resort, state media reported Wednesday, as the country largely maintains a ban on the entry of foreign tourists. – Associated Press
The Bank of Korea remains concerned at the tariff impact on economic expansion rather than inflation and is judging how to keep cutting interest rates while weighing stability risks, according to Governor Rhee Chang-yong. – Bloomberg
Ji-Yeon Yuh writes: If history is any guide, US pressures are likely to win out. However, South Korean leaders, such as Kim Dae-jung, made bold moves with the Sunshine Policy, which steered the two Koreas toward cooperation. It can happen again with clear-eyed leadership focused on peace. With the US at war in the Middle East, North Korean troops in Ukraine, and numerous other war zones across the globe, the need for peace in northeast Asia is greater now than ever before. – National Interest
Edward Kwon writes: Additionally, Washington expects more robust cooperation from Seoul in advancing its Indo-Pacific strategy, particularly in efforts to counterbalance China, which places South Korea in a strategically sensitive position. Meanwhile, North Korea’s deepening military cooperation with Russia as a means to circumvent UNSC sanctions, along with Kim Jong-un’s increasingly hostile stance toward South Korea, underscores the challenges President Lee faces in persuading Kim Jong-un to return to a reciprocal and constructive inter-Korean relationship. – National Interest
China
Travelers in China have been caught off guard in recent days when they arrived at airports to be told they could not bring certain portable batteries aboard their flights. – New York Times
The Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that a non-profit that he has founded will have the sole authority to recognise his future reincarnation, countering China’s insistence that it will choose the successor of the Tibetan spiritual leader. – Reuters
U.S. prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals with acting as agents of China’s security service, accusing them of gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy bases and trying to identify Navy members willing to spy for Beijing, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. – Reuters
A prominent Chinese Communist Party publication called for a crackdown on forms of competition that fuel price wars and squeeze profits in various industries, criticising big firms and local governments for unfair practices. – Reuters
China’s ruling Communist Party has appointed the head of an ethnic affairs panel as its new party secretary in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday. – Reuters
China is ready to have discussions about trade policies, including tariffs and subsidies, that Washington has identified as obstacles to reforming the World Trade Organization, a senior delegate at China’s mission to the WTO said. – Reuters
China’s foreign ministry described the country’s territorial dispute with India as “complicated” following last week’s meeting between the two countries’ defense chiefs. – Newsweek
Robert C. O’Brien writes: China has made its lack of environmental enforcement a core domain of the U.S.-China competition. Its pollution fuels its economic and geopolitical ascent, undermining America’s strategic interests and polluting our air and water. The U.S. must seize this moment to lead, ensuring that its economic, technological and geopolitical dominance endures in a cleaner, more secure world. – The Hill
South Asia
The Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia called on Tuesday for the perpetrators of an Islamist militant attack that killed 26 in India-administered Kashmir to be brought to justice without delay. – Reuters
The Dalai Lama will meet 11 senior Buddhist monks on Wednesday morning before delivering a written statement that will “most probably” talk about his eventual succession as the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists, an official said. – Reuters
India has dispatched a team of geologists to Zambia to explore copper and cobalt deposits, two Indian government sources said, as New Delhi steps up efforts to secure critical mineral supplies essential to its energy transition. – Reuters
Robert S. Burrell and Chris Mason write: Bold revisions of US foreign policy are difficult to imagine until they become a reality, as was the case, for example, with Bangladesh, Yugoslavia, and East Timor. It is better to lead change than to chase it. The door to rebalancing the global strategic rare earths dilemma in the US’s favor is open. The time is now to bring lasting peace to Myanmar and ensure reliable global access to rare earths by supporting a free and independent Kachin nation. – National Interest
Asia
After failing to cut a trade deal with Japan following weeks of talks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer decided to turn up the pressure. – Wall Street Journal
Asia factory activity ended the second quarter on a weak note, as U.S. tariff uncertainty weighed on orders and production across much of the region. – Wall Street Journal
The United States announced the launch of a critical minerals initiative with Australia, India and Japan on Tuesday as part of efforts to counter China, although ties between the partners have been strained by trade frictions and other disagreements. – Reuters
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will become caretaker premier after a court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty on Tuesday, Tourism Minister Sorawong Thienthong told Reuters. – Reuters
Tuvalu, a tiny Pacific nation that scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, said it is seeking written assurance from the United States that its citizens will not be barred from entry after being apparently mistakenly included in a list of 36 countries facing visa bans. – Reuters
Fiji is opposed to China setting up a military base in the Pacific Islands, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday, adding that it did not need such a base to project power, as shown by an intercontinental ballistic missile test. – Reuters
Post-mortems on two Azerbaijani brothers who died in Russian police custody have shown that they were beaten to death, authorities in the South Caucasus country said on Tuesday as tensions rose sharply between Moscow and Baku. – Reuters
Seven people linked to a Kremlin-funded media outlet in Azerbaijan’s capital have been detained after a raid on its office, the Interior Ministry was quoted by local media as saying Tuesday, in the latest sign of the rift between Moscow and Baku over the deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russian custody. – Associated Press
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a “30% or 35%” tariff on Japan if a deal between the two countries is not reached before a deadline next week. – BBC
Andrew Nachemson writes: In recent days, the border dispute has escalated beyond saber-rattling. On June 24, Thailand closed border crossings to Cambodia, affecting millions of tourists and migrant workers. Cambodia has banned imports of Thai fuel and gasoline, valued at nearly $1.5 billion last year, as well as fruits and vegetables. What could have been a win-win for the Thai and Cambodian leaders has only become a losing issue for all involved—with ordinary people increasingly caught in the middle. – Foreign Policy
Europe
Iran is suspected of collecting information on Jewish targets in Berlin to prepare for possible attacks, German authorities said Tuesday following the arrest of an alleged spy working for Tehran. – Wall Street Journal
Norway’s KLP fund said it excluded the U.S.’s Oshkosh and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp from its portfolio, citing their sales of weapons to the Israeli military as the war in Gaza continues. – Wall Street Journal
Women in Denmark who have turned 18 became eligible for military conscription on Tuesday, as the Nordic country moved to expand its armed forces to prepare for a possible threat from Russia and to meet American expectations of NATO members. – New York Times
Italy limited work outdoors, France shut schools and Turkey battled wildfires on Tuesday in a European heatwave that meteorologists said was “exceptional” for striking so early this year. – Reuters
A Canadian teenager sentenced in Poland last year to 20 months in prison for spying for Russia could be released early under certain conditions, a Polish court said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The European Commission will on Wednesday propose an EU climate target for 2040 that for the first time will allow countries to use carbon credits from developing nations to meet a limited share of their emissions goal, a draft of the proposal showed. – Reuters
Poland will introduce temporary controls along borders with Germany and Lithuania on July 7, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, echoing several other European Union countries in reimposing frontier checks to stem illegal migration. – Reuters
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived his latest no-confidence motion in parliament on Tuesday, after far-right National Rally (RN) lawmakers refrained from backing a measure brought by his opponents on the left. – Reuters
The European Union ’s commissioner for migration says Europe will take a “firm” approach with authorities in Libya following a spike in illegal migration across the Mediterranean. – Associated Press
Iran’s ambassador to Germany was summoned by the foreign ministry on Tuesday after the arrest in Denmark of a man suspected of spying on Jewish targets in Berlin for Tehran. – Agence-France Presse
The U.K. and Germany are preparing to sign a wide-ranging treaty that includes a mutual assistance clause in the case of a threat to either nation, according to five people with knowledge of the process. – Politico
Ireland’s Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade opened two days of hearings on Tuesday for the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025, the government-backed measure that would criminalize imports from West Bank settlements judged illegal under international law. – Jerusalem Post
Competition is heating up for Norway’s envisioned Arctic-capable, long-range maritime drones, as two American manufacturers have entered the race. – Defense News
Editorial: Ms. von der Leyen spent her first term trying to ride this liberal tiger with a splashy “green deal” package. Don’t pity her too much if she pays a political price for falling off now. But do pity Europe’s businesses and consumers if Brussels refuses to ditch climate plans voters no longer want. – Wall Street Journal
Africa
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration cancelled a major contract to supply emergency kits for rape survivors in Congo as violence surged in the east this year, leaving thousands without access to life-saving medication, the United Nations and aid groups said. – Reuters
Food aid to help Sudanese refugees in four neighbouring countries could end within the next couple of months without an urgent injection of new funding, a World Food Programme official said on Tuesday, warning of rising malnutrition levels. – Reuters
Mali’s armed forces have killed 80 militants in response to a series of simultaneous and coordinated attacks on military posts across the country, according to a video statement released by the army on Tuesday. – Reuters
South Africa has asked for more time to negotiate a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration before his higher tariff regime goes into effect on July 9, Pretoria’s trade ministry said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The African Development Bank will give South Africa a $474.6 million loan to upgrade its transport and energy infrastructure, the bank said on Tuesday, the second big infrastructure loan the country has been promised in weeks. – Reuters
For the governments of West Africa’s Sahel region, the stakes are even higher. Gold is a lifeline for the military juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, who are beleaguered by jihadist insurgencies, regional isolation, and the ravages of climate change. “Because gold prices have been at a historic high… the military governments are hoping that they will be able to benefit directly,” Beverly Ochieng, a senior researcher at global consultancy firm Control Risks, told the BBC. – BBC
Liberia’s former President William Tolbert has had a symbolic reburial, 45 years after he was murdered during a coup and his body was believed to have been dumped in a mass grave. – BBC
Alec Birnbach and Benjamin Fogel write: In short, recognizing Somaliland would not only reward a people long denied justice, but also strategically reposition America along a pivotal maritime choke point. The Trump administration has an opportunity to supplant the stagnant status quo with a bold investment in a new strategic relationship. Somaliland stands ready to be a willing and capable partner that can help advance U.S. regional interests at a time when the Horn of Africa and its surrounding waters are growing more important and more volatile. – National Interest
The Americas
A federal court on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from cutting short the temporary protected status designation for Haiti, days after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem announced the designation preventing some Haitian immigrants from being deported would end in September. – Washington Post
Venezuela’s government-allied National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously declared United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk persona non grata, after Turk publicly decried what he said were arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and other human rights violations in the South American country. – Reuters
Costa Rica’s highest court on Tuesday asked the country’s legislature to strip President Rodrigo Chaves of his immunity from prosecution so he can stand trial on corruption charges. – Reuters
Chile’s congress approved long-awaited legislation to speed up the permitting process for investment projects in the country on Tuesday. – Reuters
South American bloc Mercosur has concluded talks for a free-trade agreement with a group of four European nations known as EFTA, sources from the Brazilian government said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Brazil’s government filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging Congress’ decision to overturn a tax hike on financial transactions, heating up tensions between the branches of power as the administration seeks ways to meet fiscal goals. – Reuters
Stephen Marche writes: If recent months are any indication, the debate that most Canadians will have this July 1—between fireworks, beside the water—won’t be about Canada. It will be about the United States: Is Trump the one driving America off the cliff, or is it the American people? The more hopeful among us will argue that it’s Trump, and that at some point in the future, the alliance between our two countries might return to some semblance of normalcy. But for now, Canada has to figure out what to do with its terrible new freedom. We must make ourselves into something, or disappear. – The Atlantic
United States
The feud between President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk reignited this week, with the billionaire Tesla chief executive attacking Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” and pledging to start a new political party, and Trump threatening to use the power of the federal government to punish his former adviser. – Wall Street Journal
Zohran Mamdani cemented his win over Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, notching a 12-point victory in ranked-choice voting results released Tuesday. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. State Department revoked visas to the United States for the British rap-punk duo Bob Vylan, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Monday, after the group’s lead singer chanted, “Death, death to the IDF,” referring to the Israeli military, at a musical festival over the weekend. – Washington Post
Funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by the Trump administration could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally over the next five years, according to a new study, as the toll of the government’s dismantling of one of the largest aid agencies worldwide unfolds. – Washington Post
The US foreign aid agency formally closed down Tuesday, with President Donald Trump’s administration trumpeting the end of the “charity-based model” despite predictions that millions of lives will be lost. – Agence-France Presse
Cybersecurity
Chinese artificial-intelligence companies are loosening the U.S.’s global stranglehold on AI, challenging American superiority and setting the stage for a global arms race in the technology. – Wall Street Journal
Italy’s Leonardo will buy a 24.55% stake in Finland’s SSH, to expand its cybersecurity business, the companies said on Tuesday, in a sign of some progress in European defence consolidation and cooperation. – Reuters
Qantas is contacting customers after a cyber attack targeted their third-party customer service platform. – BBC
U.S. Cyber Command is requesting a hefty increase of funds compared to previous plans to support Indo-Pacific Command’s network sensing and defense, data feeds and analytic resources, among other capabilities, according to newly released fiscal 2026 budget documents. – Defensescoop
Federal authorities levied sanctions Tuesday on Aeza Group, a bulletproof hosting service provider based in Russia, for allegedly supporting a broad swath of ransomware, malware and infostealer operators. – Cyberscoop
A Russian hosting provider allegedly involved in a recent cyberattack against independent media organizations in the country is reportedly connected to a state-affiliated research center sanctioned by the U.S., according to new research. – The Record
Pat Toomey writes: Other countries, such as the U.K. and Australia, already have adopted such frameworks for crypto. By passing both stablecoin and market-structure frameworks, Congress can ensure U.S. technological leadership while bolstering innovation and consumer protections. – Wall Street Journal
Mohammed Soliman writes: In this area, China has outpaced Western firms, building a global network that offers its stack with no strings attached. Chinese 5G hardware, renewable technologies, electric vehicles, and other mass-produced technologies have already won the global race. The choice, then, is not between trusting autocracies or preserving democratic values; it is between leading the global diffusion of U.S. AI infrastructure or standing idle as the Chinese stack becomes the default. – Foreign Policy
Defense
The Pentagon is set to shift funds from the US’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program to refit a jet gifted to the US and President Donald Trump by Qatar. – Business Insider
The Senate passed a massive party-line spending package Tuesday, including a one-time surge in defense spending the Pentagon is counting on for its upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget. – Defense News
The Missile Defense Agency issued Lockheed Martin a sole source contract worth up to $2.97 billion to upgrade the Aegis ballistic missile defense combat system, according to a Tuesday Pentagon contract announcement. – USNI News
Ryan Pallas writes: While sifting through piles of articles and documents decades old is cumbersome, it is necessary to assess history properly. Having done that spade work over the last few years, it is clear to me that contemporary force design decisions rely upon decades of iterative efforts guided by lawmaker direction. As Vandegrift noted, it is Congress who decides the Marine Corps’ future, an enduring dictum. If Connable’s argument begins with labeling Force Design as ill-informed, at a minimum he should engage with the research presented here overcoming the decisions made not just by one commandant, but at least five others. – War on the Rocks
Bilal Y. Saab writes: With their control of the Senate and majority status in the House, the Trump-led Republicans have a clear mandate to make big changes in government, and taking a critical eye at security sector assistance spending fits perfectly into President Trump’s agenda. Let’s keep finding savings at the Pentagon. Security cooperation is a key area where Hegseth should spend his time and energy. – Breaking Defense