Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Netanyahu finds diminished welcome from Trump as Iran war drags on Hamas delegation heads to Egypt for negotiations on second phase of ceasefire Iran launches surprise missile attack on U.S. forces Iran rejects Omani proposal to share Strait of Hormuz, demands more control Iran publicly hangs 2 protesters, rights groups say Iran to get Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems in weeks, sources say Russia closes window for dissent as Ukraine’s attacks stir public dismay Ukrainian Columnist Igor Bondar: Putin can’t beat Ukraine. He’s betting he can outlast America One megabuyer—China—finds a way to get Mideast oil Berlin Pride attacker recorded pledge of allegiance to IS, prosecutors say Russia charges Telegram founder Durov with facilitating terrorism CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg: The AI future is for everyoneIn The News
Israel
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House Tuesday, navigating a growing rift five months after the two launched a war on Iran that has proven far more complex than either imagined. – Wall Street Journal
The year 2025 marked the deadliest year for antisemitic violence in the Jewish Diaspora since the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, according to a new report by the J7 Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism. – Jerusalem Post
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Yair Lapid, the leader of his opposition, are in Washington, ostensibly to attend the funeral of one of the staunchest pro-Israel American politicians, Lindsey Graham. – Jerusalem Post
There is no US pressure on Israel to withdraw from Gaza or Lebanon, Head of the Israeli Public Diplomacy Directorate Tzipi Hotovely told reporters following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
A group representing thousands of retired Israeli military officers and security professionals sent US President Donald Trump a letter rejecting allegations of widespread violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, escalating a dispute between rival groups of former Israeli defense officials seeking to influence the White House. – Jerusalem Post
A Hamas delegation headed to Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday to resume negotiations on the implementation of the next phase of its ceasefire with Israel, the terrorist group said in a Telegram post. – Jerusalem Post
Iran’s regime, in its current form, will not do any good for the Middle East or for Israel, Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told 103FM on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
US Air Force fighter jets and bombers took off from Israeli air bases to carry out strikes on Iran in recent weeks, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in an interview with right-wing TV outlet Channel 14’s “Bitchonistim” on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Iran has stepped up attempts to physically harm current and former senior Israeli officials, including a group of top incumbent ministers, according to an assessment that the security establishment delivered to the threatened figures in recent days, unsourced Hebrew media reports said Tuesday. – Times of Israel
Iran
Iran launched a surprise ballistic-missile attack on American forces in Jordan, a U.S. official said, a violent escalation that piles new pressure on President Trump to renew the war in earnest. – Wall Street Journal
Iran rejected a proposal to evenly divide control of the Strait of Hormuz, jeopardizing hopes that Tehran and Washington would quickly resume negotiations to end the war. – Wall Street Journal
Iran considered attacking a seaport in Ukraine in response to a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship, but a flurry of diplomacy has calmed the situation for now, according to Iranian and Western officials. – New York Times
The Iranian authorities publicly hanged on Tuesday two participants in the country’s widespread January protests, human rights groups said, the latest executions in what activists describe as a rapid increase in the government’s use of the death penalty this year. – New York Times
Iran’s skies have been free of the sound of explosions and airstrikes for the past several days, after a bout of renewed fighting with the United States. But Iranian officials say they have not agreed to a cease-fire and are in no hurry to hold direct talks with American negotiators. – New York Times
The U.S. military said on Tuesday it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards U.S. forces in the Middle East in what Washington cast as “an attempted surprise attack” by Tehran. – Reuters
Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said there have been good talks with Iran even as he reiterated his threats to target Pickaxe Mountain as well as bridges and power plants if a deal is not made with Tehran. – Reuters
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck and halted three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported Wednesday, despite a lull in fighting between the Washington and Tehran. – Agence France-Presse
Prisoners at Iran’s largest jail have sewn their lips shut as hundreds of them joined a mass hunger strike amid a surge in executions over drug offences and charges linked to anti-government protests. – The Guardian
Dean Karayanis writes: The Nazis, and their allies at Tokyo, sought an armistice that left their government intact. “Unconditional surrender” was Washington’s reply. Japan’s dictator, General Hideki Tojo, confided to his diary that he was not “frightened” by the atomic bombings and wanted to keep fighting. The pain inflicted on fanatics, soldiers, and civilians alike forced the Empire of the Rising Sun to capitulate. Only then did America cease hostilities and talk terms. “War is cruelty,” Sherman said as fighting raged in 1864. “There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.” Any true victory will need to be imposed on Iran’s regime by military means, and that requires Mr. Trump to end the pauses, drop the leash, and let loose the dogs of war. – New York Sun
Tom Rogan writes: Most obviously, however, because VX has an oily consistency, it would be visible on any clothes it was spread upon. This would expose members of staff/other customers to the item before it ever got to the first lady. But even if that somehow didn’t happen, the Secret Service’s chemical weapons detection systems would almost certainly detect the substance. Put simply, the Guard is doing here what it loves most: seeking to terrorize its enemies. But the deserved response to this video is not fear, but rather that of disdain — both for the purveyors of this video and for the farcical nature of their threat. – Washington Examiner
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainians who flooded the streets this month to protest the dismissal of the nation’s popular defense minister came out with their little children and pets. The atmosphere was more akin to a music festival than an antigovernment rally in the middle of a war. – Wall Street Journal
The Kremlin has initiated a new crackdown on anti-war voices ahead of Russia’s parliamentary elections in September, barring candidates from running if they show any sign of opposing the bloody, expensive and increasingly unpopular military operation in Ukraine. – Washington Post
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday discussed reviving peace talks with Russia and plans for Ukraine to produce Patriot missile interceptors, then attended the funeral of a U.S. senator who had been one of Kyiv’s most vocal backers. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the Russian government was monitoring the situation with e-commerce giant Wildberries after Ukrainian drone attacks on its warehouses across the country, but that no decisions to intervene had yet been taken. – Reuters
Lieutenant General Lawrence Mbatha, the chief of the South African Army, held talks with Russian counterparts on Tuesday during a visit to Moscow which his hosts said resulted in an agreement to beef up ties between the two nations’ land forces. – Reuters
Russian officials are proposing arming grain ships with machine guns and mobile missile launchers, as the world’s top wheat exporter tries to counter Ukrainian drone attacks. – Bloomberg
Iryna Mudra, Mykola Yurlov, Taras Semenyuk, and Mark Ellis write: More than 140 states voted at the United Nations to condemn Russia’s aggression in March 2022, but only thirty-six signed the agreement in May in Moldova. We do not ask that all countries be on the side of Ukraine. We ask them to be on the side of themselves. The international legal architecture that was designed to protect Ukraine from conquest is intended to protect every other state, too. The constraints this tribunal could impose on major-power discretion would not stop at Europe’s borders. […] Those who choose to either join or remain outside this tribunal are making their own record — one that will be read by future victims looking for precedent, future aggressors calculating risk and historians explaining to the next generation how the post-1945 international order endured, or didn’t. – New York Times
Igor Bondar writes: The battlefield, therefore, extends far beyond eastern Ukraine. It runs through European parliaments, election campaigns, television studios, and social media platforms. Every delay in military assistance, every political crisis inside NATO or the European Union, every manufactured controversy becomes another opportunity for Moscow. This is why the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios are not determined primarily by events on the battlefield. The optimistic scenario is that Russia’s and military weaknesses continue to accumulate faster than Europe loses its political resolve. The pessimistic scenario is that Europe loses confidence before Russia loses capacity. If that happens, Moscow will achieve through political exhaustion what it has failed to achieve through military force. The future of Ukraine, and of Europe’s security, depends on ensuring that this does not happen. – Washington Examiner
Julia Davis writes: Russia’s previous mobilization of 300,000 reservists in September 2022 led to public protests and a mass exodus of military-age males from the country. Putin has avoided any repeat during the past four years, but speculation suggests he may resume the process after heavily rigged elections to the State Duma this fall. On July 25, Solovyov Live guest, the military expert Andrey Klintsevich, discussed Ukraine’s deep strike campaign against Russian targets and noted that it’s likely to continue, which will multiply public discontent and may reach a boiling point in the event of an autumn mobilization. The only real solution—the withdrawal of the Russian forces from Ukraine to end Putin’s ill-conceived imperial adventure—remains a taboo for the Kremlin’s media puppets. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Gulf States
Hundreds of Jordanian political, legal and other figures signed an open letter last week calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Jordan in a rare public challenge to the government, which has long cracked down on free speech and dissent. – New York Times
The Iranian-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen said on Tuesday that it had targeted a Saudi oil tanker with missiles in what would be the latest attack in an emerging front of the war between the United States and Iran. – New York Times
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that its armed forces, in coordination with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), carried out “targeted strikes” against Iran-backed groups in Iraq that it said were responsible for drone attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities. – Reuters
Jordan’s air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country’s military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. – Associated Press
Satellite imagery shows damage to two Amazon.com Inc. data centers in Bahrain, supporting Iran’s claims last week that it struck the sites with missiles. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, through state-backed news agency Tasnim, released high-resolution satellite images showing significant damage to two data centers in the towns of Zallaq and Askar, alleging that they were targeted because of Amazon’s support for US military operations. – Bloomberg
Jasem Aljuraid writes: The public record of this particular set of voices, and of the joint platform on which several of them appeared, shows that has not occurred. Readers who rely primarily on English-language coverage, the Al Jazeera explainer, and the panels that feature these commentators may therefore receive an incomplete map of the conflict’s external dimensions and its most serious documented breaches. Reconsidering that map side by side with the US designations, the chemical-weapons determinations, and the full range of atrocities does not require dismissing any single report. It only requires noticing what has received less attention, and asking why. – Jerusalem Post
Elizabeth Dent writes: The Iran war has exposed both strengths and vulnerabilities of the U.S.-Kuwait relationship. Kuwait remains strategically indispensable to U.S. regional operations, but the costs it has borne have raised legitimate concerns about consultation, deterrence, reconstruction, and replenishment. The challenge now is not whether the partnership survives but whether it can evolve. If Washington responds with sustained political attention, practical assistance, and a broader vision for the relationship, the war could ultimately strengthen the partnership. If it does not, it could instead deepen friction with one of America’s most important Gulf partners. – Washington Institute
Middle East & North Africa
Production at Libya’s El Feel and Wafa oilfields resumed after a halt on Tuesday, with state oil firm NOC saying protesters had stormed the Mellitah oil and gas complex and disrupted operations. – Reuters
Thirty-seven commodity ships passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, the highest number since July 19, preliminary shipping data showed, with only a few transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. – Reuters
Drivers in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdish region waited in line for hours, some overnight, to buy gasoline in recent days as a fuel crisis gripped the main city, Irbil. – Associated Press
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could get up to 1 million barrels of oil day under an energy cooperation plan discussed on Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara. – Associated Press
The US is backing an international consortium seeking to produce green ammonia in the Western Sahara, the first federal funding of its kind for a project in the disputed Moroccan-controlled territory. – Bloomberg
Lebanese security forces have arrested a man accused of transferring nearly half a million dollars to the Daesh group in neighboring Syria, a judicial official told AFP on Tuesday. – Agence France-Presse
China
Wartime disruptions at two shipping chokepoints in the Middle East are sending shock waves through global markets. China has still found a way to get oil from the region. […] At least two more China-bound supertankers, loaded with Saudi oil, have since cleared the strait. The rebels appear to be holding fire on behalf of Iran’s friends. – Wall Street Journal
China’s No.2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, visited the city of Tangshan on Tuesday for the 50th anniversary of a 1976 earthquake that killed a quarter of a million people – a trip usually made by Chinese presidents. – Reuters
The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled bans that target imports of new Chinese robots and power inverters, seeking to protect the U.S. AI buildout from national security threats and reshore key industries slated for explosive growth. – Reuters
The European Union will impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports from Chinese producers of sodium benzoate after an investigation sparked by a complaint from German chemicals group Lanxess relating to the food preservative. – Reuters
South Asia
A violent clash broke out on Tuesday morning in Mirpur, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, as police confronted people from a civil rights group who had gathered to protest violence between police and the group the day before. – New York Times
The Gen Z protests that convulsed the streets of Indian cities in recent weeks began with dreams dashed in the classrooms of India’s schools. This is the Achilles’ heel of India’s demographic promise: It has the world’s largest youth population, something that in principle can boost economic growth. – New York Times
India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of under-18s arrested during the youth protests over exam leaks and said authorities must ensure surveillance footage is preserved after petitioners alleged police brutality against demonstrators. – Reuters
India plans to buy up to a quarter of its liquefied petroleum gas imports from the United States in 2027, a move that would cut its reliance on the Middle East and support efforts to secure a trade deal with Washington, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. – Reuters
Germany has deported an Afghan national without a criminal record for the first time since the Taliban returned to power, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday. – Reuters
A provincial official was assassinated in Afghanistan’s remote northeastern province of Badakhshan on Tuesday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. The ministry said two armed attackers targeted Zabihullah Amiri, the director of the Information and Culture Department in Badakhshan, while he was on his way to work near the provincial capital Fayzabad. – Reuters
Myanmar’s military-backed parliament passed a law Tuesday authorizing the death penalty for forced labor in cyber-scam operations, escalating the consequences for an industry that has exploded across the conflict-torn nation. – Bloomberg
Rana Ayyub writes: For years, Indian politics has been defined by the assumption that young voters would either support Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party or remain disengaged. Many commentators dismissed Gen Z as politically apathetic, as consumed by influencers and algorithms — as “cockroaches.” These protests have shattered that stereotype forever. So the arrests may succeed in intimidating protesters. Social media companies may comply with takedown requests. Modi still commands enormous institutional power, and his party remains electorally formidable. None of that has changed. But the projection of Modi’s unflinching authority has been seen through. And governments rarely recover the aura of invincibility once it has been publicly punctured. – Washington Post
Asia
Rescue operations were under way at a Japanese shopping mall, and more than 200,000 people have been issued evacuation orders in the region after a strong earthquake struck southern Japan on Tuesday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday that 13 people were killed in the quake, with many more injured. – Wall Street Journal
New Zealand plans to purchase long-range one-way strike drones with a preference for local suppliers, Defence Minister Chris Penk said on Wednesday, as it looks to boost local manufacturers and bolster defence capability. – Reuters
South Korean authorities ordered brief neighbourhood evacuations on Tuesday after a leak of white phosphorus inside the U.S. Osan Air Base south of Seoul, the Safety Ministry said. – Reuters
The U.N. migration agency on Tuesday warned of a dramatic increase in the number of people forced into working in Asian scam compounds, saying people from more than 80 countries have been lured in through social media, with some being sexually abused. – Reuters
Malaysia should reconsider whether to allow the U.N. refugee agency to operate in the country unless it imposes stricter controls on issuing refugee documents, state media cited the foreign minister as saying on Tuesday. – Reuters
Malaysian police arrested 335 people in raids on two alleged international online scam syndicates operating out of the Forest City development in the southern state of Johor, adding to scrutiny of the project. – Bloomberg
Taiwan said it worked with the US to break up an attempt to smuggle high-end chips, highlighting expanding maritime cooperation as China steps up pressure in the region. – Bloomberg
Australia remained the largest development partner in the South Pacific, driven by significant assistance to Papua New Guinea and increased infrastructure spending across the region’s island nations, according to a new report. – Bloomberg
Europe
Italy’s Eni and France’s TotalEnergies plan to develop a gas field in Cyprus, proceeding with the offshore project as conflict in the Middle East pushes companies to explore other opportunities. – Wall Street Journal
Britain’s new prime minister arrived in Downing Street last week promising stability for a weary nation bewildered after churning through six leaders in seven years. Andy Burnham’s first move, however, threatened what many have come to see as the only reliable thing in British politics: “Hot Podium Guy.” – Wall Street Journal
A man stumbled down a flight of steps in Bologna. He lay on the ground and repeatedly called for help, according to witnesses and video. After arriving, officers spoke to him and later accompanied him down an alley, where, after an apparent scuffle with another civilian, they pinned him to the ground. – New York Times
Flutes and drums echoed along Sandy Row, a Protestant enclave in west Belfast, and Union Jack bunting flapped overhead in the uncommonly hot summer air. – New York Times
Pressure is intensifying on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after a cabinet reshuffle that sparked anger in his own ranks and put a spotlight on his government’s competence as it battles to fend off a far-right surge at state elections in September. – Reuters
The man believed to be behind a deadly vehicle attack near Berlin’s Pride celebration over the weekend left a video on his phone pledging allegiance to militant group Islamic State, German prosecutors said on Tuesday. – Reuters
A Canadian woman of Chinese origin accused of spying while working as an intern at NATO’s military headquarters in Belgium will remain in pretrial custody for another month, a spokesperson for the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office said on Tuesday. – Reuters
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pushing for the European Union to finalize its next seven year budget by the end of this year ahead of schedule as the bloc faces potential political gridlock with a slate of elections coming in 2027, including in France and Spain. – Bloomberg
The European Union is planning to sanction more than 1,600 companies it says are helping Russia’s war against Ukraine, the most firms it has blacklisted in one package. – Bloomberg
Hungary set up a powerful new agency that’s tasked with recovering misappropriated public funds, primarily those under Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule. – Bloomberg
European allies are refusing to support a U.S. push to create a joint Strait of Hormuz patrol until they see an enduring ceasefire in the Iran war — the latest sign that Washington’s repeated bashing of its closest friends has carried consequences. – Politico
Africa
The U.S. is backing the Ampasindava rare earths project in Madagascar as part of its strategy to loosen the dominance of rivals in critical minerals supply chains, the State Department has said, underscoring Washington’s push to develop alternative sources of minerals now largely controlled by China. – Reuters
On a good day, there are only four cars available to ferry surveillance teams round the city of Bunia, the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak surging through the Democratic Republic of Congo. – Reuters
United Nations experts have found that Boeing 727s linked by Reuters to a U.S. military contractor’s business network transported mercenaries, weapons and drones for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, according to a draft U.N. report due to be published in September. – Reuters
Five Kenyan security officers were killed in a clash with suspected al Shabaab militants in the county of Mandera near the Somali border, police said. The militant group has been battling for years to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its rule in the Horn of Africa country, based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. – Reuters
Thousands of people rallied in the eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Bukavu on Tuesday to protest against proposed constitutional changes that could pave the way for President Felix Tshisekedi to run for a third term. – Reuters
At least 14 villagers were killed and several others injured in an attack in Nigeria’s Benue state on Tuesday, a local official said, extending a cycle of violence in the country’s central belt linked to land and resource disputes. – Reuters
Nation Media Group said on Tuesday it had resumed operations in Uganda after being ordered to shut down in late June by Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni. – Reuters
Kenya and Britain on Tuesday agreed to resume military training in the East African nation after a delay in signing a new defense cooperation agreement that were largely attributed to Kenyan legislators’ concerns about protecting nearby communities. – Associated Press
Emilio T. Gonzalez writes: These legislative actions help highlight the tragedy for Christians living in Nigeria, but more is needed to end the violence. Every day, reports out of Nigeria continue to document the slaughter of innocent Christian communities. Christians face unprecedented persecution throughout Nigeria, and martyrdom is a daily occurrence. So long as Christian continues in Nigeria, we must continue to urge action and speak out on their behalf. The rest of the world has forgotten Nigeria’s Christians. We cannot forget them, and we must be their beacon of hope. – Washington Examiner
Eitan Charnoff writes: Two listings compound rather than repeat; they close different legal and financial channels, and an independent Israeli listing reinforces alignment with Washington during a trying period. Some may argue that Israel should not open a new file while managing Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. But these are not separate files. The Sudanese Brotherhood, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas draw on the same Iranian support structure, and Sudan could turn into the next Yemen. The effective response is to map that structure and cut the strands that can be reached legally. – Jerusalem Post
The Americas
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is pushing back against what he sees as a coordinated effort by the Trump administration and an emerging alliance of right-wing leaders across Latin America to shape October’s presidential election and return the Brazilian right to power. – Wall Street Journal
Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru’s president on Tuesday, becoming the latest in a string of conservative leaders elected across Latin America by voters frustrated by crime, weak economic growth and political instability. – Reuters
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is under house arrest for plotting against democracy, but an AI-generated avatar allowed him to make a surprise appearance at the launch of his son Flavio’s presidential campaign on Saturday, raising questions about how artificial intelligence may reshape October’s presidential race in Latin America’s largest economy. – Reuters
US-backed political negotiations in Venezuela that ultimately aim to set a course for future elections will begin later this week but without the full backing of either the opposition or the ruling coalition. – Bloomberg
Ecuadorian police and prosecutors overnight arrested the alleged financier behind the violent Los Lobos crime gang, Interior Minister John Reimberg said in a press conference. – Bloomberg
Jose Lev Alvarez writes: The U.S. Treasury should publish a quarterly Hezbollah and Shell Company Watchlist targeting illicit transactions in the Tri-Border Area, automatically freezing all U.S.-linked wallets and entities upon designation. On the other hand, Washington must condition all non-humanitarian aid, Export-Import Bank financing, and preferential trade access for Brazil on two non-negotiable mandates: the South American nation needs to formally designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and the Lula administration must adhere to a permanent U.S.-Brazilian intelligence fusion cell to dismantle the Tri-Border Area terrorist pipelines. Every day Brasília denies this threat, Hezbollah gains more room to operate on America’s doorstep. – Washington Examiner
United States
Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died this month at 71, worked privately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to coordinate a bipartisan group of lawmakers to denounce the International Criminal Court investigation into Mr. Netanyahu just before the 2024 election, footage of their discussions shows. – New York Times
President Donald Trump said late on Tuesday his meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were positive. – Reuters
A large majority of the U.S. Senate voted to advance sweeping Russian energy sanctions legislation on Tuesday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the Capitol, seeing the vote as a tribute to the bill’s author, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, on the day of his funeral. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he does not care about updating the North American trade agreement as Canada disclosed plans to send senior trade officials to Washington for more talks this week amid new tariffs and heightened trade tensions. – Reuters
President Donald Trump and US lawmakers remembered the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday at a memorial in the US Capitol and later a funeral at Washington National Cathedral. – Bloomberg
The federal judge overseeing President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times deferred ruling on the newspaper’s request to toss the case, and instead is allowing Trump to revise his complaint. – Bloomberg
Zineb Riboua writes: Washington should capitalize on that momentum by strengthening cooperation among the Abraham Accords countries, expanding coordination with Ukraine on missile defense, drones and battlefield innovation, and increasing pressure on the Russia-Iran-China partnership through sanctions on Chinese firms that sustained Iran’s military effort during Operation Epic Fury. Competition with China in the Indo-Pacific, Russia’s war in Europe, and instability across the Middle East are all one battle. The US should not approach each independently, but strength our own alliances — with Europe, Israel, the Gulf states and Ukraine. Each weakens a different component of the Russia-Iran-China axis — and makes sure the US vision of a free world prevails again. – New York Post
Cybersecurity
A global technology stock sell-off intensified on Tuesday, underpinned by worries over hefty bills for the build-out of artificial intelligence systems and concerns over tougher competition from China. – New York Times
A decades-long crackdown on Google’s business practices in Europe is entering a costly new phase, as the loss of the first case brought against it under new EU legislation opens the door to a wave of private lawsuits demanding up to $10 billion in damages. – Reuters
Angola’s largest telecoms operator, Unitel, said on Tuesday it had suffered a cyberattack that disrupted voice, mobile data and internet services nationwide, a day before the state-owned company is due to list shares on the local stock exchange. – Reuters
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that it had charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities, and that it had issued an international warrant for his arrest. – Reuters
The powerful artificial intelligence models from OpenAI that went rogue and mounted an unprecedented, autonomous cyberattack earlier this month spent more than four days loose on the internet orchestrating the hack, according to a new analysis from the platform that was breached. – Politico
Mark Zuckerberg has said the US administration should not block Chinese models to gain an edge in the AI arms race and warned against “regulatory capture” by American frontier labs that could throttle domestic competition. – Financial Times
U.S. Central Command and the United Arab Emirates will establish the first bilateral task force aimed at boosting the development of military artificial intelligence applications. – Defense News
Anthropic researchers used Claude Mythos Preview to find new weaknesses in two cryptographic methods, the company said Tuesday, including one that is being considered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for both traditional and quantum computing. – Cyberscoop
More than 30 Minnesota communities saw their water and wastewater utilities disrupted by a coordinated cyberattack on Sunday and Monday, the state’s technology bureau announced Tuesday. – Statescoop
Advancements in AI model capabilities, like those found in Anthropic’s Mythos, are raising concerns from law enforcement agencies about what adversaries may be capable of with the emerging technologies, an FBI official said Tuesday. – Fedscoop
Mark Zuckerberg writes: But if superintelligence is widely distributed, then I believe we will see more jobs in the future, not fewer. It will be significantly easier to start businesses without raising large amounts of capital. I expect the economy will become more entrepreneurial with a greater number of people working at small businesses rather than larger companies. Developing superintelligence will be the most profound technological advance we will see in our lifetimes. Meta is committed to building with the principles of individual empowerment, invention and balance of power. The arc of human history has bent toward putting more power in people’s hands. If these values lead the way, then I am optimistic that we can build a positive future for everyone. – Wall Street Journal
Defense
Recent fighting with Iran used up more of the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of advanced missile interceptors, potentially putting American troops at more risk if hostilities resume, a new analysis says. – Associated Press
The Pentagon said a new, separate category was created in its official casualty system to account for those killed and wounded in the renewed U.S.-Iran fighting because “Operation Epic Fury,” the military’s name for combat operations against Tehran, has ended. – Associated Press
The Air Force is weighing whether to pull scrapped B-52 Stratofortresses out of the boneyard, according to an Air Force official, prompted in part by the demands of operations in the Middle East. – Breaking Defense
The Department of Commerce is dedicated to increased advocacy for the US defense industry in order to push for greater sales abroad amidst international competition, key department officials told Breaking Defense. – Breaking Defense
Tom Karako writes: The specter of air defense suppression is profound. Iran has demonstrated the ability to target US missile defense radars and C2 nodes in the Middle East. China’s capability to do so is even greater. These are Japan’s choices to make. Regardless of the path chosen, it will be incumbent upon the United States to respect our ally’s decisions, help facilitate their implementation and continue to improve interoperability to the fullest extent possible. But from an American perspective, it would be clearly helpful for Japan to make its sovereign decisions and to communicate them clearly. Whether that choice is for IBCS or Smart ICC, whether for LTAMDS or another radar, now is the time to decide. – Breaking Defense