Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
U.S. bans 14 Iraqi banks in crackdown on Iran dollar trade Iran does outreach to Russia, Egypt CNAS’s Arona Baigal and Kiana Alirezaie: Biden needs to deal with China’s ever-closer ties to Iran Israeli president calls for 'forceful' pressure against Iran, vows to support judiciary in House speech Putin, facing war crimes arrest, will skip BRICS summit in S. Africa Israel to allow Palestinian Americans entry in bid for US visa-free access Iraq to summon US ambassador over remarks about Christian leader JPost’s Seth J. Frantzman: Six years after ISIS, what’s next for Iraq’s Mosul No word from North Korea on US soldier who fled across military border US suspends federal funding to Wuhan lab over non-compliance WSJ’s Editorial: John Kerry’s cool Chinese reception Britain’s spy master says Putin cut deal with Wagner mercenary chiefIn The News
Iran
The U.S. has barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions, U.S. officials said, part of a sweeping crackdown on the siphoning of U.S. currency to Iran and other sanctioned Middle East countries. – Wall Street Journal
A court in Iran has given a prominent actress a suspended two-year prison sentence for failing to wear the compulsory hijab headscarf in public, local media reported on Wednesday. – Agence France-Presse
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the U.S. to act “forcefully” against Iran’s efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon and reaffirmed his support for the independence of Israel’s judiciary on Wednesday. – Fox News
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in remarks at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday that his country is taking a hard line against Iran, touting new sanctions in response to attempted Iranian attacks within the U.K. and other provocations. – Jewish Insider
Iranian pro-regime media Mehr news reported on Wednesday that “India and Iran plan to step up the operationalization of the International North-South Transportation Corridor in a move to boost trade with Russia,” according to Mohammad Miri, an advisor to the Chabahar Free Zone in Iran. – Jerusalem Post
Recent reports in Iranian pro-regime media say the regime has had important phone calls with Russia’s Foreign Minister and also with with the Egyptian foreign ministry. The Russian foreign ministry confirmed the discussion that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had in a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on July 18. Russia says that the Iranians made the initiative. – Jerusalem Post
Arona Baigal and Kiana Alirezaie write: Iran and China’s growing relationship is no longer a “what-if,” but a “what-do-we-do-now.” U.S. strategy for Iran cannot be kept in an isolated box, focused exclusively on limiting its nuclear threat capabilities. If the main U.S. priority is to keep up with the current “pacing challenge” of China, then the conversation needs to include Iran. – The Hill
Mordechai Kedar writes: According to Chalabi, “The nations under Iran’s occupation, including the Arab population of Al-Ahwaz, and the people of southern Azerbaijan and the region – and the world – need to break free from Iran’s nurturing of terrorism. Therefore, regional and global powers must support the national movements of South Azerbaijan, Al-Ahwaz, and other oppressed nations under Iran’s rule to curb Iran’s audacity.” – Jerusalem Post
Anthony Avice Du Buisson writes: The case for a revolution in Iran is evident. The Ayatollah regime is a destabilizing force not only inside Iran but also outside the country. Supporting popular protests and aiding the transition away from the regime towards a more stable and, hopefully, more democratic multiethnic country is preferable. The Ayatollah regime poses not only a local threat but also an international threat that perpetuates suffering and instability wherever it operates. – Jerusalem Post
Amin Soltani, Ashka Jhaveri, and Annika Ganzeveld write: Iran and Russia are amplifying rumors of International Coalition attacks into Syrian regime territory likely as part of a campaign to expel US forces from Syria. – Institute for the Study of War
Russia & Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will not attend next month’s summit of the BRICS group of nations in South Africa “by mutual agreement,” South Africa’s presidential administration said Wednesday. – Washington Post
The Ukrainian soldiers set off in pitch black, stealing through shell-cratered fields to carry out one of the most important tasks of the counteroffensive—and one of the most dangerous. – Wall Street Journal
The head of the U.K.’s Secret Intelligence Service said Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure as fissures in his inner circle appear and his forces have little chance of regaining momentum in Ukraine. – Wall Street Journal
The United States will send $1.3 billion in financial assistance to Kyiv in order to purchase a host of new military equipment and ammunition, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The new security support followed several U.S. announcements of humanitarian and other aid, and brought the total new U.S. commitment to Ukraine this week alone to $2.3 billion. – New York Times
The White House warned on Wednesday that Russia may expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks against civilian shipping in the Black Sea. – Reuters
At least 18 people were wounded by a Russian strike on the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Thursday, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said, while authorities in Odesa reported fresh strikes on the region. – Reuters
A Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk damaged grain export infrastructure and destroyed thousands of tons of stored grain, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said on Wednesday. – Reuters
A video released Wednesday appears to show Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time since he led a short-lived rebellion last month, and he is seen telling his troops they will spend some time in Belarus training its military before deploying to Africa. – Associated Press
Russia took in millions of dollars worth of equipment from American firms in the year following its invasion of Ukraine, according to a report from the Associated Press. – Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin could lose his grip on power within months, according to a prominent international relations theorist and a top analyst of Russia’s security networks. – Washington Examiner
Russia’s plans to introduce a digital ruble are gaining momentum as it turns to increasingly unorthodox strategies to revitalize its struggling economy. – Business Insider
Russia has laid sea mines in the Black Sea that could interfere with Ukrainian grain exports, the White House announced Wednesday. – USNI News
Leon Aron writes: Unable to derail Ukraine’s progress, Putin has already failed to reach his war’s key objective. A heavy blow to his regime’s legitimacy, the choice made by Ukrainian Russians will be an inspiration for Russia’s own transition to a post-Putin future. – Boston Globe
David Kirichenko writes: Ukraine’s IT sector has displayed extraordinary resilience to adversity. It has helped the country defend itself. But once the hostilities end, the big unanswered question is whether it can leverage this success to protect and rebuild the shattered country. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Simon Sebag Montefiore writes: Few autocrats can be Peter or Stalin, but Putin dreams of such victories. His dilemma—a tsar’s inability to balance his roles as military commander and political survivor—is also Ukraine’s tragedy. When dictators aspire to empire, many innocents bleed; when they fail, they take whole, innocent peoples down with them. – Foreign Policy
Lynne O’Donnell writes: “I think every donor has a right to know specifically how their money is being spent. I think it behooves these international organizations if they remember that it’s not their money, it’s the donors’ money, and they have a fiduciary duty, and part of that is to tell the donors how their money is being spent,” Sopko said. “I personally think that without accountability, government doesn’t work.” – Foreign Policy
Israel
Since Israel’s founding, mandatory military service for Jewish Israelis has been widely embraced as a unifying force in a divided society. Now the issue threatens to tear the country apart. Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews, a fast-growing and potent political bloc, have long shunned military duty along with other aspects of secular society. – Wall Street Journal
Israel said it will begin on Thursday allowing entry to all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans living in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in a policy change it hopes will secure visa-free access for Israelis to the United States. – Reuters
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday he welcomed criticism, especially from American friends, but said it must not cross the line into negation of Israel’s right to exist. That, he said, was antisemitism. – Reuters
Hundreds of Israeli reservists marched in Tel Aviv on Wednesday threatening to refuse their volunteer service if the government presses ahead with its controversial plan to curb the power of the Supreme Court. – Reuters
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen urged France to help prevent a military conflict with Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border in Lebanon during a one-day trip he took to Paris on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
The Palestinian Authority does not have plans to crack down on the Jenin Battalion, whose members are affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other armed groups in Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday. The PA, however, won’t tolerate scenes of anarchy and lawlessness and won’t allow gunmen to run wild in any part of the West Bank, the officials said. – Jerusalem Post
Standing alongside a visiting President Isaac Herzog, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new joint five-year initiative between the US and Israel in which each country will invest up to $35 million “to support climate-smart agriculture through innovative technologies and improved capture, storage, use, and protection of critical water resources in the Middle East and Africa.” – Times of Israel
A cabinet member of the European Commission, a body within the executive of the European Union, has expressed support for suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if its leaders continue refusing to remove antisemitic and violent themes from schoolchildren’s textbooks. – Algemeiner
Editorial: During its first 75 years, Israel has faced challenges far more daunting than finding a compromise on a legal matter. This should not be that difficult. What is needed is for the leaders on both sides of this issue to muster the courage to withstand political pressure and finally put an end to the current self-destructive madness. – Jerusalem Post
Sherwin Pomerantz writes: It is time to target the coalition members with a conscience and a love for Israel that is greater than their desire for personal power: Nir Barkat, Danny Danon, Avi Dichter, Yuli Edelstein, and Yoav Gallant to be specific. All efforts must now be made to convince them to vote their consciences, even if it means political suicide. – Jerusalem Post
Rafael Castro writes: Jerusalem, with its historical and symbolic significance to all three Abrahamic faiths, presents an ideal venue for an international peace conference, providing an opportunity for Israel to enhance its international prestige and influence in the region. It is crucial for Israeli policy makers to rethink and refine Israel’s current approach to the Caucasus, ensuring it genuinely advances the middle- and long-term interests of the Jewish State. – Arutz Sheva
Iraq
Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday morning, scaling its walls and setting it on fire in protest against the expected burning of a Koran in Sweden. – Reuters
Iraq’s president said late on Wednesday he would summon the United States ambassador to Baghdad over critical remarks by a U.S. State Department spokesperson regarding the Iraqi government’s treatment of a top Iraqi Christian leader. – Reuters
Seth J. Frantzman writes: Even though Ankara claims to be fighting “terrorists” its drones almost always target minorities in Iraq. Ankara’s actions even affect the functioning of airports in Erbil and Sulimaniyeh. Iraq wants to invest in the area of Mosul and build a new train line and do other agreements. It will be difficult to do this if Ankara and others are not responsible players. In addition Iraq continues to harass minorities, with the Chaldean Patriarch Sako, who has had to leave Baghdad recently. – Jerusalem Post
Bilal Wahab and Dennis Ross write: But U.S. officials should still use their leverage to work out an agreed game plan for weaning Iraq off Iranian gas, including clear milestones and, perhaps, shorter waiver periods (e.g., back to the 60- or 30-day periods granted under the Trump administration). Yes, figuring out this timeline will be difficult. But unless the new barter arrangements are aligned with a larger strategy for increasing the Iraqi government’s freedom of action from Iran, Baghdad and its international partners will repeatedly find themselves in a crisis footing that benefits Tehran. – Washington Institute
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt announced presidential pardons for two of its most prominent political prisoners on Wednesday, including one researcher who had been sentenced to three years behind bars just the day before. – Washington Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday received an invitation from King Mohammed VI to visit Morocco, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said, laying the ground for the first such high-level visit since the two countries normalized relations in late 2020 and heralding a possible deepening of diplomatic and security ties. – New York Times
The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it will reduce cash assistance to nearly 120,000 Syrian refugees in Jordanian camps, saying the move is “unavoidable as funds run precariously low.” – Agence France-Presse
The United Arab Emirates and Turkey inked on Wednesday several deals estimated to be worth $50.7 billion during a visit by President Tayyip Erdogan to Abu Dhabi as he toured wealthy Gulf Arab nations for investment and funds. – Reuters
Ahead of the meeting, Syrian President Bashar Assad agreed that 1,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan would be allowed to safely return home — a test case for the repatriation of far greater numbers. Jordan’s top diplomat spoke only of voluntary returns. But panic spread through working-class east Amman, where Dabdoob and many other Syrians have built new lives in multistory, cement-block buildings. – Associated Press
In a new resolution, a group of bipartisan lawmakers from the Senate and House is urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. – Jewish Insider
Seth J. Frantzman writes: The article sees the UAE as part of the “Asian century.” This is in contrast to western reports that see Saudi Arabia and the UAE at odds and try to portray these countries as facing numerous hurdles. While the countries in question may have issues between each other, the overall sense of these visits with the GCC and Turkey, is how united the region is. – Jerusalem Post
Seth J. Frantzman writes: All this adds up and it is clear that most countries are now aware not only of the drone threat but are putting a lot of technology in the field to deal with the threat. These innovations matter and they will continue to be important in the Middle East. This is despite the fact there is a new diplomatic era in the region and many countries are seeking to tone down the conflicts that divided the region over the last decades. – Jerusalem Post
Baraa Sabri writes: Fifth, the leadership of this region of Syria should be encouraged to strengthen its economy, governance, democratic principles, and diverse representation within its administration. It should also be pressed to avoid becoming involved in any kind of raids that could give Turkey a pretext to engage in dangerous activity in this region. – Washington Institute
Korean Peninsula
The U.S. soldier being held in North Korea had faced assault allegations in South Korea last year and spent nearly seven weeks in a detention facility, according to U.S. officials, as new details emerged about the legal issues faced by an American who crossed the Korean border. – Wall Street Journal
North Korea remained silent on Thursday about a U.S. soldier who split from a tour group and made a dash across the heavily fortified border two days earlier, landing Washington in a new diplomatic quandary amid an already tense military standoff. – Reuters
The United States is actively engaged in ensuring the return of an American soldier who had crossed into North Korea, a U.S. official said on Thursday, ahead of a trilateral meeting with Japan and South Korea on countering North Korean threats. – Reuters
China
Intrigue is intensifying around the whereabouts of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s handpicked foreign minister, with Beijing assuring Washington the recent thaw in high-level contacts will continue despite the diplomat’s absence from public view. – Wall Street Journal
John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, concluded talks in China that pushed forward the two powers’ tentative effort to reset fraught ties and tested Beijing’s willingness to find common ground on fighting climate change. – Wall Street Journal
A few years ago, this small town on the border with China was a few dusty lanes surrounded by tropical forests. Now, a nearly $6 billion Chinese-built railroad cuts through it—and a city is rising. – Wall Street Journal
Chinese leaders rebuffed attempts by John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, to persuade them to commit to tougher climate action during three days of talks in Beijing, a response that suggested that tensions between the countries are making it difficult to work together on a crisis that threatens the planet. – New York Times
It is China’s “priority” to stop Taiwan’s vice president and presidential frontrunner William Lai from visiting the United States next month, the country’s ambassador in Washington said on Wednesday, as Beijing steps up its warnings against the trip. – Reuters
China’s appointment of a top intelligence official to run Hong Kong’s national security regime underscores its determination to tighten its grip on the financial hub, according to diplomats and analysts. – Reuters
China’s latest pledges to rebuild a shattered private sector fell flat with investors, underscoring the damage two years of crackdowns and pandemic controls have had on confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. – Bloomberg
A US congressional committee is investigating four venture capital firms for their investment in Chinese technology companies, the latest sign of Washington’s increasing scrutiny of American funds suspected of helping develop sensitive industries in China. – Bloomberg
The U.S. has suspended federal funding to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for failing to provide documentation related to concerns over biosafety protocol violations at the facility that has faced questions for years over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. – Reuters
China is importing record volumes of oil despite a weak economy as it takes advantage of cheap Russian crude to build stockpiles and export refined products. – Financial Times
Editorial: The Chinese summary said Mr. Wang mentioned how Beijing wants the U.S. to “pursue a rational, pragmatic, and positive policy toward China” and “properly handle the Taiwan issue,” among other things. China wants concessions on economics and security from President Biden in exchange for green promises that China isn’t likely to keep. It’s not a good trade for U.S. interests. – Wall Street Journal
South Asia
Pakistan will open criminal proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of exposing official secrets, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of cases the former premier has been facing. – Reuters
Sri Lanka’s parliament approved an anti-corruption bill on Wednesday, aimed at improving governance in the crisis-hit country and meeting requirements linked to a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). – Reuters
Dozens of Afghan women protested a beauty salon ban on Wednesday after the Taliban ordered their closure nationwide. Security forces used fire hoses, tasers and shot their guns into the air to break up the protest. – Associated Press
Pakistani Taliban shot and killed two police officers and wounded two others in a gun attack at a roadside checkpoint in the city of Peshawar, police said Thursday, the latest violence in the restive northwestern region bordering Afghanistan. – Associated Press
Adam Weinstein writes: While Afghanistan may be regarded as the “heart of Asia” in the celebrated prose of the revered poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal, its geopolitical importance is limited. But this does not mean Washington should abandon the inroads it made with the Afghan people over two decades and the Taliban over the last several years. The United Kingdom and European Union have sent their diplomats to meet with Taliban figures inside Afghanistan, and India is taking steps to reopen its embassy. Why not the country that invested the most resources and lives? – Foreign Policy
Michael Kugelman writes: India can afford to go a step further by ramping up humanitarian aid and providing more assistance to those in Myanmar displaced by the junta’s violence. This could bolster Myanmar’s democratic forces, including the parallel National Unity Government, which includes elected lawmakers ousted by the military in 2021. It would also show that India is willing to go beyond platitudes in efforts to restore democracy in Myanmar. – Foreign Policy
Asia
At least two people were killed and five others injured after a gunman stormed a building under construction with a shotgun in Auckland, New Zealand, early Thursday, hours before the first soccer match of the Women’s World Cup was scheduled to begin in the city. – New York Times
Protests erupted in Bangkok on Wednesday, hours after Thailand’s conservative establishment suspended a progressive leader and lawmakers denied him the chance to stand for a second parliamentary vote for prime minister. – New York Times
Schools and workplaces on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru will close and areas will be evacuated on Thursday while Australian army sappers try to defuse a 500-pound (227 kg) “armed and dangerous” World War Two-era bomb. – Reuters
The threat of China invading Taiwan is something U.S. military ally the Philippines is monitoring on a daily basis as part of Manila’s contingency plans for possible conflict in the region, its defence chief said on Thursday. – Reuters
Thailand’s parliament will hold another vote for a prime minister next week which cannot include the leader of election winners Move Forward, a deputy speaker said on Thursday, after his re-nomination was blocked. – Reuters
The re-election of longtime Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday is not in doubt in a process in which all opposition parties have been barred but the candidacy of his eldest son offers a glimpse of Cambodia’s future. – Reuters
US officials have asked Taiwan to clarify the presidential front-runner’s contentious remarks about White House visits, highlighting doubts over his approach to relations with China if he secures victory in January’s poll. – Financial Times
Europe
The chief of Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, said on Wednesday that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had “cut a deal” with Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, during Mr. Prigozhin’s failed rebellion last month. – New York Times
A Kosovo court has sentenced the country’s former secret service chief to four years and eight months in prison for the arrest and extradition to Turkey of six Turkish nationals over a failed 2016 coup attempt. – Reuters
Poland and four other EU member states asked Brussels on Wednesday to extend trade curbs on Ukrainian grain amid concerns that Russia’s blockage of Black Sea shipments could put further pressure on their domestic markets. – Financial Times
The Czech Parliament gave its expected approval Wednesday to a defense treaty signed with the United States in May that would deepen military cooperation and make it easier to deploy U.S. troops on Czech territory. – Associated Press
Omar G. Encarnación writes: None of this is good for democracy — in fact, it’s downright perilous. In 2017 Catalan separatists plunged Spain into its most serious political crisis since Franco’s death by holding an illegal referendum on independence. That the country managed to weather the crisis — largely thanks to Mr. Sánchez’s skilled leadership — showed the world that Spanish democracy, though fractured, can still more than function. But it also served as a warning that one of the greatest dangers in a democratic society, even one as successful as Spain, is to take democracy for granted. – New York Times
Katelyn Greer writes: A lot could change between now and a possible future referendum, which may cause the UK to recalculate its desire to be a part of the EU. Another war might convince wavering Brits to rejoin. Or climate-related chaos might devastate economies and convince them to stay out. One day Brexit may well be reversed. But that is a long way away, if at all.What we do know is that Brits are stuck with Brexit … for now. – The Hill
Africa
Several people were shot in Kenya, some possibly fatally, as security forces clashed with demonstrators across the country protesting high costs of living and tax hikes, a hospital official and local media said on Wednesday. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board on Wednesday approved $43 million in economic relief to the Democratic Republic of Congo. – Reuters
Wheat normally requires heat, but in the last three years, farmers in Nigeria’s far north, part of Africa’s Sahel region that largely produces the country’s homegrown food, have seen an “alarming” increase in heat — much more than required, said Salisu, a local leader of wheat farmers in Kaita, Katsina State. Plus, rain is irregular. – Associated Press
Alessandro Arduino writes: While Beijing counts more than 8,000 PSCs in mainland and several hundred registered companies abroad, the Chinese Communist Party controls the trigger. While there are several leading Chinese PSCs operating in Africa, there is, by design, no single, dominant force. – Foreign Policy
Robbie Gramer writes: “Russia has made it clear that the arrest of its sitting president would be tantamount to a declaration of war,” Ramaphosa wrote in an affidavit to a South African court, published Tuesday, before his government announced Putin wouldn’t attend the summit in person. “It would be inconsistent with our constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia.” – Foreign Policy
Latin America
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he wants to resume the “good and fruitful” relations his country used to have with Africa when he was in office for the first time in the 2000s. – Reuters
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Peru on Wednesday in marches organized by groups opposed to President Dina Boluarte, while police took anti-riot measures against some demonstrators, arresting at least six. – Reuters
The U.S. State Department added nearly 40 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, including former presidents and judges, to a list published on Wednesday of “corrupt and undemocratic actors.” – Reuters
Colombia’s Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Velez has resigned, according to a letter shared by her ministry on Wednesday, after two state bodies opened investigations against her. – Reuters
Argentina’s state-run energy company refused to accept a cargo of liquefied Russian natural gas it had agreed to buy, forcing the tanker back out to sea. – Bloomberg
Cybersecurity
China does not want a trade or tech war but will definitely respond if the United States imposes more curbs on its chip sector, China’s ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Short-video app TikTok on Thursday opened up its research software to researchers in Europe ahead of new EU rules requiring Big Tech to do more to police online content. – Reuters
The European Union was well on its way to finalising a first-of-its-kind AI Act that would have controlled, or even banned, supposedly “high-risk” AI systems — such as those used to make decisions on job or loan applications or health treatments. Then ChatGPT mania exploded — the huge public interest in OpenAI’s freely-available generative AI chatbot. – Financial Times
Microsoft will begin offering more customers access to an expanded set of logs at no additional charge, the company said Wednesday, following revelations earlier this month that hackers based in China exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft cloud infrastructure to nab email data from multiple U.S. government agencies and officials. – CyberScoop
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger defended his effort to continue selling advanced semiconductor chips to China. – Washington Examiner
China is striking deals with other countries that are allowing Beijing to capture data on foreign citizens and national projects, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service warned on Wednesday. – The Record
The hardware and software required for the Russian telecommunications sector to maintain the country’s electronic surveillance system, known as the System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM), are increasingly unavailable, significantly undermining the Russian government’s Orwellian domestic spying system, according to a new report. – The Record
Defense
The Senate on Wednesday passed a provision to the annual defense bill that would make it more difficult for a U.S. president to withdraw from NATO, a precautionary measure against former President Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House. – Defense News
A key senator is refusing to lift his longstanding hold on the sale of 40 Block 70 F-16 fighter jets to Turkey despite the Biden administration’s announcement last week that it wants to move forward with the deal. The $20 billion potential sale also includes 80 modernization kits. – Defense News
Problems with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s newest upgrades will cause the aircraft’s manufacturer to miss its 2023 delivery goal by up to roughly 50 jets, Lockheed Martin officials said Tuesday. – Defense News
The French Navy has taken delivery of the LSS Jacques Chevallier, the first of a new class of supply ships meant to replace the service’s aging fleet tankers. – Defense News