Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
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Israel to receive more US refuelling planes as Iran attacks intensify, Israeli officials say Hours after Iranian shrapnel lands in Israel, Zamir says IDF ready to strike back JPost Editorial: Winning the war is not enough to permanently secure Israel's survival and security What we know about Trump’s pickaxe Iran target Iran's Baghaei confirms mediators continue push for peace, says US had 'no excuse' to violate MoU Zelensky seeks to quell growing discontent over ouster of defense minister U.S. servicemember killed in Iraq as troop death toll in Jordan likely to rise ISIS poised to exploit historic US Iraq exit, terror group 'actively waiting in the gaps,' expert warns Lebanon's Aoun to meet Trump at White House, hoping to generate pressure on Israel Taiwan says Chinese vessel activity jumps, raising fears for Pacific supply routes Mamdani says he is looking into whether he can order Netanyahu’s arrest WSJ Editorial: Trump, Iran’s assassins and John BoltonIn The News
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bracing for a fight to stay in power as he heads toward his first election since a Hamas-led attack shocked the country and plunged it into nearly three years of war. – Wall Street Journal
“How do you think the U.S. and Israel’s peace talks with Iran will impact global security?” they ask. Millions of similar texts have flooded American cellphones in recent months. They are written with artificial intelligence, pushed by a longtime Trump adviser’s firm—and paid for by the Israeli government. – Wall Street Journal
Israeli authorities have long been warning through public awareness campaigns that Iranian intelligence agents are recruiting informers and operatives inside Israel. – New York Times
Israel is preparing to receive more U.S. refuelling aircraft, an Israeli military official said on Sunday, as attacks launched by the United States and Iran have escalated over the past week. – Reuters
Hamas has repeatedly attacked food distribution points in the Gaza Strip, hijacking aid and threatening locals, Palestinians told The Telegraph in a report published on Saturday. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF has killed at least around 420 Gazan terrorists since the October 2025 ceasefire, The Jerusalem Post has learned. – Jerusalem Post
Hours after shrapnel from an Iranian ballistic missile, which had been fired at Jordan, ultimately landed in Israel just north of Eilat, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir threatened the Islamic Republic with a potential harsh counterstrike if the regime gets any closer to the Jewish state. – Jerusalem Post
The US State Department on Sunday accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to “dupe” the international community into believing it ended a welfare system that incentivized attacks on Israelis, dismissing an external audit that suggested otherwise. – Times of Israel
The Israeli government’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide, approved last month, was not brought to a Knesset vote due to pressure from Azerbaijan on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli source told Haaretz. – Haaretz
Editorial: That cooperation should become permanent. Integrated missile defense, intelligence sharing, and coordinated deterrence can form the basis of a regional security architecture capable of confronting Iran and its proxies over the long term. Israel has spent years responding to crises. This moment offers an opportunity to shape the region. The soldiers of the IDF have created a strategic opening. The task of Israel’s political leadership is to ensure that their achievements are not exchanged for vague promises, temporary quiet, or another unenforced agreement. Winning the war is indispensable. Preventing Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas from rebuilding is the harder task and the true measure of victory. – Jerusalem Post
Ariel Harkham writes: The proposal will be attacked as too ambitious for a small state. That objection has things backward: Israel’s small size is precisely why it cannot afford to absorb war indefinitely on its own territory. Geographic narrowness demands operational reach. October 7 demonstrated the bankruptcy of a doctrine built around warning, walls, and interception. Israel now faces a region in which Iran can regenerate, Turkey can project power, and maritime routes can be disrupted by actors thousands of kilometers away. The answer is not another layer on the fence, more helicopters, or another tank division. It is the capacity to move, sustain, disrupt, and withdraw. Israel does not need an expeditionary command because it seeks distant wars. It needs one because distant wars have already adapted to how to reach Israel. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
Fighting between the U.S. and Iran has expanded, with the American military striking a broader range of targets and moving jet fighters into the Middle East while Tehran launches attacks across the Persian Gulf. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump has said he is considering attacking the Pickaxe site in Iran, which is buried in a mountain and could be a future home to any Iranian covert nuclear program. – Wall Street Journal
Starting in late June, about 20 Iranian tankers began arriving in the waters off the east coast of Malaysia, their hulls heavy with oil. The U.S. had lifted its blockade of Iranian ships about 10 days earlier, and Tehran was determined to get its pent-up oil supplies out of the country. – Wall Street Journal
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the United States remained open to diplomacy with Iran, even as U.S. forces intensified their military campaign with a ninth consecutive night of strikes in the country. – New York Times
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written statement on Saturday that repeated U.S. breaches of a memorandum of understanding signed by the presidents of Iran and the United States had shown that President Donald Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.” – Reuters
A confidential report prepared for Iran’s presidency is raising a consequential question for Washington and its allies: Do extraordinary levels of public anger and support for systemic change justify reassessing whether the Islamic Republic may be more vulnerable to regime change than previously believed? – Fox News
Mediators between Iran and the United States have proposed new ideas, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed at a press conference on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
Iran’s judiciary has opened files against 300 Iranians accused of speaking with Iran International, the Manoto Network, or individuals affiliated with the two diaspora media sites, the judiciary reported on Saturday. – Jerusalem Post
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Sunday that two ships were involved in an “accident” after attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via an “unsafe route,” while two other vessels abandoned that route, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. – Al Arabiya News
Erfan Fard writes: The decisive moment will emerge only when sustained military pressure, economic insolvency, nationwide public mobilization, fragmentation within the security establishment, and the central government’s diminishing ability to command and enforce authority converge. At that point, the Islamic Republic may still appear intact from the outside, while, in strategic terms, it will already have ceased to function as a viable governing system. – Jerusalem Post
Dennis Ross writes: None of this will be easy. The essence of good statecraft is marrying objectives and means, and doing so is impossible when the objectives are muddled. Smart statecraft would involve using all tools—political, economic, diplomatic, military, intelligence—to isolate Iran and raise the costs of running the strait. Trump wants to end this war with Iran weaker and not in control of Hormuz. Force alone will not produce that endgame—but diplomacy that is integrated with the use of force and tied to increasing economic pressure just might allow him to shape a deal to end his war. – Washington Institute
Arash Azizi writes: Aware of this, government officials are scrambling to pay lip service to their love of the south. On X, President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed the region as a “symbol of anti-colonial resistance” and pledged to stand by its residents. “Iran’s south is the beating heart of this land,” his spokesperson posted. Other officials have made similar gestures. But the southerners I spoke with wanted an end to the war, not paeans to their region’s virtues. “Looks like both sides have an interest in war,” Narges said. “But for us, it only means stress and lack of sleep, water, and electricity.” – The Atlantic
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to defuse growing discontent over his abrupt dismissal of the country’s popular defense minister, as Russia launched one of the largest ballistic-missile attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war. – Wall Street Journal
Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer killed at least eight people and injured dozens Saturday, expanding Kyiv’s bombing campaign and sparking a ferocious Russian response. – Wall Street Journal
Protesters who have taken to the streets this week in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, over a shake-up in military leadership have begun to focus their anger on one man in particular: Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the army’s top commander. – New York Times
A nationwide fuel crisis – the result of months of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries – has caused a spike in the price of the diesel they need for their tractors and harvesters. And their workers, Vladimir says, are “queuing for half a day” just to fill up their cars so they can get to the farm. – Reuters
Botswana’s Ministry of International Relations said a rising number of citizens are being coerced into fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine. – Bloomberg
Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s former deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, has been named as Kyiv’s new ambassador to the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday. – Politico
Ukraine struck 12 vessels belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea on Thursday night, the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, announced on Telegram. – Politico
Russian recruits arriving on the front lines in Ukraine survive an estimated 20 to 30 minutes before they are killed or wounded, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe said Wednesday, marking the first time a senior American intelligence official has confirmed how deadly the war has become for Moscow. – Defense News
Peter E. Harrell writes: Countries around the world are working to build trade and payment channels insulated from Washington’s reach, but American sanctions can still have real clout. Mandatory sanctions on large-volume purchasers of Russian energy, backed by rigorous enforcement and the resources to sustain it, would cut into Russia’s export earnings much more effectively than tariffs. And they would be far harder for the president to repurpose as leverage in an unrelated trade fight. Graham’s colleagues are right that passing a Russia sanctions bill would be a fitting tribute to the senator, a longtime Russia hawk. But the tribute should be a bill that puts pressure on Moscow without handing the president a new tariff weapon to aim at everyone else. – Wall Street Journal
Andrew Chakhoyan writes: A predatory continent-size, eleven time zones, Goliath is attempting to strangle a smaller neighbor for the oldest reason in every aggressor’s book: because it believes it can. Ukraine, the David in this fight, has found its stride. America, which once knew how to speak softly and carry a big stick, is struggling to find the wisdom and resolve to pick it up. On July 4, Kyiv lit its most iconic monument, the Mother Ukraine statue, in the stars and stripes to honor America’s 250th birthday. Ukrainians recognize America’s founding story. The question is whether Americans still do. – The Hill
Syria
Iran struck eastern Syria on Friday, Iranian state media and a Syrian military source said, in the first known attack by Tehran on Syrian territory since a regional war erupted earlier this year. – Reuters
Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara has appointed Abdulqader Al Tahhan as head of the country’s General Intelligence Directorate, as part of a broader reshuffle of senior security positions. – The National
Ibrahim al-Assil writes: None of that would make Syria a democracy. It would make the parliament a habit, an address where power is argued over, not merely announced. At the end of the first session, the newly elected secretary of the assembly rose to speak. “History will not record who won today,” he told the members. “It will record how this session was managed, how Syrians gathered again under the parliament’s dome. The parliaments that come after us will follow our steps. If we are weak, they will be weak. If we are strong, they will be strong.” It was the truest thing said in the chamber all day. – Foreign Policy
Iraq
An American servicemember died in northern Iraq on Saturday during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone, according to U.S. Central Command, adding to what has already been one of the deadliest weeks for U.S. forces in the Iran war. – Wall Street Journal
Western energy companies on Friday signed dozens of agreements with Iraqi officials on oil and gas and pipelines as the OPEC member seeks to deepen relations with the U.S. and develop alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz for getting its energy to global markets. – Reuters
Iraq is using a vast fleet of trucks to carry fuel oil through Syria and reroute flows away from the Strait of Hormuz, rapidly transforming its neighbor into the Middle East’s top export hub. – Bloomberg
The Islamic State is quietly rebuilding as the United States prepares to complete its withdrawal from Iraq, raising fears the terror group could exploit a security vacuum, a regional security expert warned Sunday. – Fox News
Lebanon
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will make his first trip to the White House this week to present a plan to U.S. President Donald Trump on how to disarm Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. – Reuters
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has proposed replacing the expiring UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon with an EU-mandated force to prevent a security vacuum, he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. – Reuters
The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah cell near Tebnit in southern Lebanon on Saturday after soldiers identified a Hezbollah drone in the area. – Reuters
A Lebanese soldier was killed and an officer and another soldier were wounded when a suspicious object exploded in an army vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri, the Lebanese army said on Saturday […] A review found the device did not belong to the Israeli military and was most likely placed there by Hezbollah. – Reuters
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s efforts to disarm the Hezbollah terror group during their meeting in Washington, DC, on Sunday. – Agence France-Presse
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed the implementation of the trilateral framework agreement between the US, Lebanon, and Israel during Aoun’s visit to Washington on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
A pilot program under which Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) troops will enter designated areas in southern Lebanon to verify they have been cleared of Hezbollah operatives and weapons is expected to begin in the near future, two sources familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Anchal Vohra writes: The key conundrum for any UNIFIL replacement is this: If it doesn’t take on Hezbollah directly, it will be of limited use in achieving the key goal of restoring state monopoly over weapons. If it does, there will be casualties and it will get mired in a theatre far away from home, perhaps even in the middle of a civil war. Israel understands all of this and is likely to just sit back and watch. As long as Hezbollah holds its weapons, Israel has indicated that it will hold Lebanon’s territory. – Foreign Policy
Amal Chmouny writes: The Lebanese president’s White House visit is a moment of reckoning for Lebanon and a test for U.S. policy. If the summit delivers progress on Hezbollah’s disarmament, U.S. military support, and reconstruction, it could lay the groundwork for peace and a more sustainable partnership between Washington and Beirut. But the risks are grave, and any failure to confront Hezbollah’s veto will only deepen Lebanon’s crisis. In a region where old certainties are fading, this summit may well shape the next chapter of Middle Eastern security and determine whether Lebanon can finally reclaim its sovereignty from Hezbollah’s shadow. – This is Beirut
Gulf States
Jonny Gannon had one final mission […] His assignment: Find out whether the “spy sheikh” could be trusted with some of America’s most cutting-edge technology. – Wall Street Journal
A vessel under sanctions for moving Russian fuel is likely leaking oil in a protected marine area off the coast of Oman, according to analysis of satellite imagery and experts. – Reuters
Qatar’s defence ministry said its armed forces thwarted an Iranian missile attack early on Friday, while the interior ministry said a child has been injured by shrapnel resulting from interception operations. – Reuters
Pakistan has been negotiating an expanded defence pact with Kuwait in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, according to five sources with knowledge of the talks. – Reuters
Iranian strikes on Friday hit a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait, damaging one of the key sources of drinking water in the small desert nation. – Associated Press
Jordan
Iran has been stepping up its missile and drone attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan as it seeks to produce American casualties and deter Washington from escalating its test of wills with Tehran, current and former officials say. – Wall Street Journal
Jordan, which hosts major U.S. air bases, grew in importance in the run-up to and the early days of the war, as the Pentagon shifted a number of troops from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to relatively more secure locations in Jordan and Israel. – New York Times
Jordanian authorities have not issued any decision on Sunday to evacuate the airport or seaport in Aqaba, the government’s spokesperson told Reuters, after the U.S. embassy in Amman said they had been evacuated due to a credible threat. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
Turkey is in talks to transfer a sophisticated Russian air-defense system to the United Arab Emirates in hopes of clearing American objections to its purchase of advanced F-35 warplanes, U.S. and regional officials familiar with the matter said. – Wall Street Journal
Growing hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia are raising the threat to a crucial oil-export route that the kingdom has been using to work around the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz. – Wall Street Journal
Armed assailants boarded the chemical tanker Asana off the southern coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden on Friday and are in control of the vessel, maritime security officials said. – Reuters
Reza Parchizadeh writes: The Middle East is therefore not returning to its previous pattern of proxy warfare interrupted by occasional crises. It is entering an era of recurring direct confrontation, punctuated by negotiated pauses that manage rather than resolve the conflict. The Iran war did more than alter deterrence calculations. It changed how the Islamic Republic perceives its own resilience, how the United States is prepared to employ force, and how the wider strategic competition among major powers increasingly shapes the Middle East.As such, the region is no longer waiting for the next war. It has entered an era in which war and diplomacy coexist, and in which open conflict-in different forms and at varying levels of intensity-is becoming the norm rather than the exception. – Arutz Sheva
David Ben-Basat writes: It must combine public diplomacy, research, traditional diplomacy, partnerships with the democratic world, and an uncompromising campaign against terrorism and those who finance it. The time has come for the West to stop judging countries in the region only by the investments they make or the economic assets they control. The truly important questions are what values these countries promote, which forces they strengthen, and whether they contribute to regional stability or undermine it. Every country, without exception, must be judged by that standard. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui an the Kremlin on Sunday, thanking her for help in what Moscow calls the special military operation, the Kremlin said. – Reuters
South Korea’s decision to fine e-commerce firm Coupang over a data leak has drawn criticism from Washington and raised questions about the country’s openness to American tech, raising worries the matter is impacting Seoul’s relations with the U.S. – Reuters
South Korea laid out a detailed plan to make the won freely tradable among foreigners, its boldest step yet to liberalize the foreign-exchange market. – Bloomberg
China
Chinese officials have pushed African allies to block Taiwan’s president from flying through their airspace and revoked entry visas for officials trying to attend global conferences, according to Taipei. – Wall Street Journal
China’s leader on Friday laid out his nation’s bid to shape the path of artificial intelligence, casting China as a champion of an open approach to the technology and a trusted ally of developing nations in advancing A.I. – New York Times
The United States on Friday partially removed Hong Kong-related sanctions and trade restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump in 2020 over China’s security crackdown on the territory, but did not restore its autonomous status, the U.S. State and Treasury departments said. – Reuters
The former president of the China Development Bank, Ouyang Weimin, has been put under investigation on suspicion of serious disciplinary and legal violations, China’s anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said on Sunday. – Reuters
China’s industry ministry on Friday called on automakers to resist “irrational competition” and ensure the safety of cars, car parts and assisted and autonomous driving systems, a statement from the ministry showed. – Reuters
China will impose a consumption tax on some previously tax-exempted battery products, including lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic cells, a finance ministry statement said on Friday. – Reuters
Fareed Zakaria writes: This is Beijing’s preferred approach: no dramatic confrontations but rather the steady accumulation of influence. Over the last 25 years, the United States has exhausted itself in three major military adventures in the greater Middle East while China has accumulated manufacturing power, technological capacity and diplomatic relationships. Washington acts; Beijing waits. China has paid costs for this war — higher energy prices, disrupted supply chains and weaker global demand. But power is always relative. Measured against the damage to America’s goals, alliances and credibility, China has come out ahead. – Washington Post
South Asia
Police in India have denied permission for a march on parliament by supporters of the youth-led “Cockroach” movement on Monday, risking a standoff as calls grow for the sacking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s education minister over exam paper leaks. – Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the country’s first hydrogen-powered train on Friday, making it one of a handful of nations to use the zero-emission, clean fuel technology. – Reuters
Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched the country’s first privately developed orbital rocket, a key test of national efforts to compete for a bigger share of the global commercial launch market. – Reuters
Relatives of the five crew members aboard a Boeing 737 cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea off Pakistan last week are urging an international search effort to find the flight recorders to determine the cause. – Reuters
Asia
Taiwan detected a sharp rise in Chinese coast guard and research vessel activity around the island in June, prompting Taipei to plan drills simulating Chinese escalations off its Pacific coast, according to Taiwan Coast Guard data and officials. – Reuters
The United States is “deeply concerned” by reports that Papua New Guinea has ordered the closure of Taiwan’s representative office in the country, the State Department said on Friday, adding it was part of Beijing’s intimidation campaign. – Reuters
An Indonesian parliamentary panel on Monday agreed with the government on key provisions in a bill for the foundation of international financial centres aimed at drawing in foreign financial investment. – Reuters
Singapore’s Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim has resigned from office over his interactions with a woman, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in a statement on Monday. – Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads this weekend to meetings of Asia-Pacific countries in Manila, where he is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart to prepare a possible September summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. – Reuters
Southeast Asia’s top diplomats will express alarm over renewed hostilities in the Middle East when they gather in the Philippine capital Tuesday for talks to be joined by Western and Asian counterparts, including from the United States, China, Russia and the European Union. – Associated Press
Thailand has lodged concerns with China over the latter’s recent delivery of tanks to Cambodia, citing the fragility of a ceasefire between the Southeast Asian neighbors following last year’s deadly border clashes. – Bloomberg
Top diplomats from China and the Philippines are set to meet this week for the first time in two years, as their rift widens from the South China Sea to include Japan and Taiwan. – Bloomberg
Europe
Britain is on the threshold of its sixth prime minister in seven years, as Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street having executed an understated coup while mayor of Manchester to become the leader of the ruling Labour Party. – Wall Street Journal
The European Union wants to further relax its landmark carbon-pricing system to give the bloc’s heavy industry more breathing space to decarbonize. – Wall Street Journal
Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday that he would ask Judit Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest female chess player of all time, to take up the largely ceremonial role of Hungary’s next President. – Reuters
Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok has signed a constitutional amendment passed by Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s ruling Tisza party that ends his term as head of state, Sulyok said in a statement on Saturday. – Reuters
A few hundred people in Venice protested on Friday against U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta as he arrived in the lagoon city aboard his superyacht, drawing criticism of President Donald Trump’s policies. – Reuters
Greece, which objected to the terms of a sanctions package against Russia this week, warned the EU that a ban on transferring Russian gas to third countries could result in a loss of market share to non-EU rivals, two Greek government officials said on Friday. – Reuters
Cyprus marked the 52-year anniversary of Turkey’s 1974 invasion on Monday as the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities prepared for a renewed effort from the United Nations to break years of deadlock in peace talks. – Reuters
German police have detained a 37-year-old Moldovan man on suspicion of flying a drone over the site of a German arms company, suspecting him of filming defence facilities for a foreign entity or banned group, officials said on Friday. – Reuters
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the departure of the conservative bloc’s parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn has opened up the possibility of a broader government reshuffle. – Bloomberg
Germany raised its threat level over the risk of terrorist attacks, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in an interview, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government prepares to expand the operational powers of the country’s intelligence agencies. – Bloomberg
The resumption of US strikes against Iran has thrust incoming UK prime minister Andy Burnham into a potential day one decision on how much to support Britain’s closest ally in its controversial military campaign. – Bloomberg
The Spanish Navy has assumed command of NATO’s naval force dedicated to patrolling the North Atlantic and will lead the force for the next year, NATO announced Tuesday. – USNI News
Martin Wolf writes: It is, no doubt, rather naive to expect a plan that builds on the foundation of stability and goes on to deliver coherent reform, particularly when this parliament has no more than three years. But the previous government has started some good things — planning reform, for example. With some things you desire added and a willingness to reform tax and spending, you could still do a great deal. But, above all, do not forget the UK’s fiscal credibility. This, as we know too well, can be ruined in a very few days. – Financial Times
Africa
Seven American aid workers who were in the Democratic Republic of Congo recently are being quarantined at a U.S. Ebola facility in Kenya, their employer said on Friday. – New York Times
The transport of Ebola victims’ bodies between different areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, often for funerals in their home communities, risks further spreading the virus, the U.N. migration agency said on Friday. – Reuters
The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions on leaders of armed groups operating in eastern Congo including Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebels and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which fights alongside the Congolese army. – Reuters
Member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signed an intergovernmental agreement on Sunday in Freetown backing the Nigeria-Morocco Atlantic gas pipeline, according to a Moroccan and Nigerian statement. – Reuters
Sao Tome and Principe is voting in a presidential election on Sunday, with incumbent Carlos Vila Nova seeking a new five-year term in the small, cocoa-producing island nation despite recently falling out with its most powerful political party. – Reuters
Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy said on Saturday it was investigating a cybersecurity incident that affected the official website of the president, adding that there was no evidence so far of unauthorised access to sensitive data or loss of information. – Reuters
Zimbabwe’s sole lithium sulphate plant, owned by China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt currently has no capacity to process minerals from other producers, an official said on Friday ahead of a concentrate export ban next year. – Reuters
Ghana is preparing its first sweeping overhaul of mining legislation in two decades, slashing the length of time companies can operate mines in Africa’s largest gold producer without renewing their rights. – Bloomberg
The Group of Seven nations called on rebel forces in Sudan to halt any actions that may lead to atrocities in the city of El-Obeid, adding to growing international pressure to avoid another massacre in the North African nation. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Since the start of this year, the U.S. was preparing to reap the benefits of its unlikely alliance with Venezuela as the world’s biggest oil reserves and vast mineral deposits opened up to American investors. – Wall Street Journal
Kick out Chinese companies. Free right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro from jail. Scrap tariffs on American ethanol. President Trump has bombarded Brazil with a list of demands as Washington seeks to assert its influence across Latin America. – Wall Street Journal
Brazil Finance Minister Dario Durigan said on Friday there were no grounds for discussing retaliation against Washington’s latest tariffs, promising instead to carefully evaluate reciprocal measures before their implementation. – Reuters
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled on Friday to suspend former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, from receiving visits for a 30-day period, only allowing medical care and lawyers, the decision showed. – Reuters
Delayed orders from senior military commanders, a lack of basic equipment and overall confusion were among the issues that hindered the deployment of Venezuelan troops in the crucial first days after two devastating earthquakes struck the country’s coast last month, eight sources familiar with the response told Reuters, amid public outrage over the government’s response to the disaster. – Reuters
Colombia’s incoming government will get technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury as it seeks to rein in the fiscal deficit, Vice President-elect José Manuel Restrepo said. – Bloomberg
Colombia’s incoming government has pledged to withdraw the country’s support for South Africa’s contentious genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as Bogotá moves to restore diplomatic ties with Jerusalem and deepen bilateral cooperation. – Algemeiner
Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes: Mr. de la Espriella wants to make Colombia a destination for investment. The country needs decentralization, and the new president will need to build a governing coalition. Working with regional politicians outside the capital can deliver both. His plan to hold his inauguration at a military garrison in the south of the country rather than at the traditional Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá seems a good start. The new Congress, which will be sworn in on July 20, will need to approve the change in venue. Whatever it decides, with Mr. Petro in a meltdown over Mr. Cepeda’s loss, it falls to lawmakers, the courts and military to uphold the rule of law. Americans are likely to understand that. – Wall Street Journal
North America
Hundreds of out-of-control wildfires are burning in Canada, shrouding skies there and the U.S. in an eerie yellow-gray haze and forcing the evacuation of dozens of communities. – Wall Street Journal
Cuba’s most famous political prisoner, the visual artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, was expected to be flown into forced exile on Saturday, more than a week after completing a five-year prison sentence for “defiling” the Cuban flag. – New York Times
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said U.S. criticism of Canadian efforts to stop the “terrible scenario” of spreading forest fires in his province and choking smoke across a broad swath of the United States was “absolutely unacceptable.” – Reuters
The Canadian government said on Sunday it would deny entry to any foreigner who has been to Congo within the past 21 days as part of new, temporary border measures to combat the spread of Ebola. – Reuters
Roberto Lazzeri, who took over as Mexico’s ambassador to Washington last month, emphasized that the US, Mexico and Canada need to accelerate trade talks to give investors more certainty and preserve the region’s competitive advantages. – Bloomberg
Joel Griffith and Andrew Hale write: And as the economic costs become more visible and the causation better understood, the coalition to strengthen USMCA will grow. Not everyone agrees on why free trade matters, but nearly everyone will feel the consequences of abandoning it. The message to Canada, Mexico and the United States Congress should be simple: Don’t acquiesce to weakening the USMCA based on this summer’s deadline. In the meantime, continue litigating executive overreach in the courts. Hold the line. A better deal is within reach. We have until 2036. We have a decade to get this right. Don’t let impatience squander the agreement we have. – The Hill
John Haltiwanger writes: Trump also appears to view Cuba as a soft target. “He seems persuaded that Cuba would be easy like Venezuela was and not a quagmire like Iran has become,” Gedan said. “The Rubio factor means it’s very unlikely that the administration will just forget about Cuba. And because of that, it’s really important to think about the implications of things like the indictment of Raúl Castro and the reports of these Iranian drones in Cuba,” Gedan said. “It is very unlikely the U.S. will just move on and forget about it.” – Foreign Policy
United States
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani says his administration is still weighing whether to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrives in the city in September for the U.N. General Assembly. – Washington Post
A Russia sanctions bill is posing a dilemma for the Trump administration: Lawmakers are pushing to wage further financial warfare just as the administration worries that heavy use of sanctions may erode the U.S. dollar’s supremacy. – New York Times
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is accusing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of attacking the Jewish state to distract from his record in New York after calling Netanyahu a “war criminal.” – Fox News
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced on Sunday that its F-16s intercepted multiple aircraft that violated temporary flight restrictions over New Jersey. – Fox News
The Trump administration says it has secured more than $1 billion in cuts to United Nations budgets in just six months, calling the reductions evidence that an institution long considered resistant to change is finally beginning to reform. – Fox News
Editorial: Mr. Trump has the Secret Service to protect him, but these other public servants don’t. They have to do without security or pay for it themselves, as Mr. Bolton has. Let’s hope Judge Chuang dispenses with the Justice Department’s unjust prison demand and issues a suspended sentence. As for Mr. Trump, he’s already exacted revenge against his former adviser with the prosecution and fine. He knows Iran has a kill “list” that includes him and his advisers. If Mr. Bolton is killed in prison, the President and his Justice Department will be partly responsible. – Wall Street Journal
Eli Lake writes: The Trump administration will be releasing long-suppressed intelligence “revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure,” Trump said. Our voting system is ripe for “hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference,” he argued. The details, as he presented them, were alarming. The Chinese government, starting in 2020, illicitly acquired election data on 220 million Americans. “This data loss presents an unprecedented election [data] security nightmare,” Trump said. It gets worse. The American deep state conspired to keep the Chinese meddling from the American public and the president himself, Trump claimed. – The Free Post
Rebeccah Heinrichs writes: There are hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals enrolled in American universities, many focusing their efforts on STEM-related research. And while Americans may want to generously invite foreign nationals to study at U.S. universities, especially in hopes of encouraging students to become more pro-America, candidates for American visas from China must go through a government and CCP vetting process — and each candidate must pass. Even if a Chinese student has no desire to harm the United States, he or she is necessarily tied to and responsive to China and the CCP. Trump’s Thursday speech must be an inflection point, not only to galvanize bipartisan American support for securing fair elections, but also to protect our nation from Chinese espionage and impose a high cost on China for exploiting our open society. – Fox News
Cybersecurity
Indonesia is preparing sweeping changes to its copyright law, including granting copyright privileges to people who use artificial intelligence to help them generate content, a draft bill reviewed by Reuters showed, setting up a potential showdown between the government and major tech platforms. – Reuters
TSMC is seeing strong, multi-year demand for its AI chips as it invests a further $100 billion to expand its Arizona facilities, but it needs to address several challenges, such as a shortage of construction workers there, a top executive said. – Reuters
The global artificial intelligence boom has propelled ASML to the top of Europe’s stock market, as soaring demand for AI computer chips flows to the Dutch company that dominates the market for the equipment needed to make them. – Reuters
Another powerful new artificial intelligence model from China took the U.S. tech industry by surprise Friday, the latest sign that Chinese startups that publicly release their “open-source” AI technology are making the California titans of AI sweat. – Associated Press
Jersey City has introduced a law to ban data centers as the primary use of industrial property. “Data centers eat up power, drive up utility bills for every ratepayer in this state, and employ almost nobody,” Mayor James Solomon said in a statement. – Bloomberg
Cory L. Andrews writes: It isn’t that public nuisance litigators are winning the argument; they are winning settlements by making trial too expensive to risk. But whether social media should be limited, age-gated or redesigned are questions for Congress—answerable at the next election and tested against the Constitution. That is the honest path, and the hard one. A republic isn’t supposed to be run by an oligarchy of lawyers. – Wall Street Journal
Allysia Finley writes: It’s no small irony that Mr. Trump’s TikTok reprieve has helped socialists like Zohran Mamdani, whose 2025 campaign for New York mayor caught fire on the platform, where his videos received 307 million views. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to wonder whether Chinese Communist Party wizards behind the screen abetted his success. Beijing wants nothing more than to poison American politics by fomenting discord and distrust in its institutions, including its capitalist system. Could the Communist Party be covertly amplifying the rancorous voices like Mr. Mamdani and Tucker Carlson? It deserves investigating. – Wall Street Journal
Catherine Thorbecke writes: Notably, Xi also revealed that he views AI as the next general purpose technology when he equated it to the steam engine and electricity. Historically, geopolitical power has been won not by who invented a breakthrough first, but who was able to spread its capabilities most widely throughout the economy. Xi recognizes that the real metric of the AI race is diffusion. He’s playing the long game. Can the same be said for Washington? If history is being written in Shanghai this weekend, and China’s vision for the AI future plays out, the consequences will be more profound than market share. The openness could just as easily be pulled back once it’s no longer needed to undermine US dominance. And by then, Chinese models will have already become the default. – Bloomberg
Michael Schuman writes: Perhaps China’s technology sector will further spin off in its own direction, creating products that are somehow separate from but equal to those in the United States. Triolo reckons that the AI universe could split in two, with China and the U.S. at the center of dueling worlds and little connectivity between them. What appears just as likely is that China, in creating an impenetrable fortress around its own tech sector and limiting the country’s access to the best tech from elsewhere, is dooming itself to a distant second place. – The Atlantic
Defense
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Qatari-donated jet that serves as an Air Force One plane will soon be sent away for upgrades, following questions about the plane’s security features. – Reuters
Lockheed said its new PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector, or ACE, missile would cost less than half as much as its PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which cost roughly $4 million per missile, according to U.S. Army budget documents. – Reuters
The U.S. Navy’s expensive effort to install hypersonic missiles on three Zumwalt-class destroyers is two years behind schedule, according to government auditors. – Defense News
Autonomous vessel maker Saronic is set to build Port Alpha, a shipyard the company describes as the most advanced in the world, at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. – Defense News
Hanwha Philly Shipyard will build a new missile-range instrumentation vessel for the U.S. Navy that will support the Trump administration’s Golden Dome effort, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced Friday. – USNI News