Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Board of Peace finalizing plans for Gaza, but implementation timeline up in the air Katz: Israel has ‘no territorial ambitions’ in Lebanon, will stay until Hezbollah disarmed WINEP’s Robert Satloff: 14 Points on the 14 Points: Assessing the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement Iran’s oil money is coming back. Its main street will have to wait. US and Iran negotiators head to Doha, but meeting uncertain WaPo’s Carine Hajjar: Trump’s ‘small piece of the puzzle’ in the Iran war is the whole game Russian attacks in major Ukrainian cities kill 10, officials say Senior Lebanese official slams US-brokered deal with Israel, warns of divisions WSJ Editorial: Rubio holds the line on Hezbollah Houthis use Israel-Iran ceasefire to upgrade missile range, sources tell 'Post’ China conducts patrols around Scarborough Shoal in disputed South China Sea In the U.S., the ties between industry and defense go back to the country’s foundingIn The News
Israel
A security deal between Israel and Lebanon risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel’s underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel’s pullout from southern Lebanon to the Iran-aligned group’s disarmament, a condition regional analysts and politicians say is unattainable. – Reuters
An Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians, including a child, in central Gaza on Monday, according to the health ministry in the devastated territory, despite a ceasefire that has officially been in effect since October. – Reuters
Representatives from the various US-led Board of Peace bodies involved in the postwar management of Gaza are meeting this week in Cyprus, as they seek to prepare a committee of Palestinian technocrats for entering the Strip in order to replace Hamas as governors of the war-ravaged enclave. – Times of Israel
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Israel has “no territorial ambitions in Lebanon,” but the IDF will not withdraw “a millimeter” until the Hezbollah terror group is disarmed. – Times of Israel
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir held an intelligence, operational, strategic, and multi-theater situational assessment on Monday to mark the 1,000th day of Israel being at war, the IDF reported. – Jerusalem Post
IDF soldiers completed a three-month-long operation to seal the underground tunnel in which the remains of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin were held captive by Hamas, the military announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF, in coordination with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), killed Hamas terrorist Ismail Masri during an operation in Gaza conducted last Tuesday, the military announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Over the past two weeks, a campaign calling for protests against Hamas last Friday was circulated on social media, especially platforms affiliated with the rival Fatah faction. – Jerusalem Post
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is conducting a full review of its database of journalists killed during the Israel-Hamas War after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published obituaries identifying as combatants individuals previously listed by CPJ as journalists. – Jerusalem Post
An indictment is expected to be filed against two Bedouin from the Al-Azazma town located in the Negev on suspicion of smuggling approximately 45 kilograms of drugs through the Egyptian border by way of a drone. – Jerusalem Post
Israel has withdrawn its defense attaché from its embassy in Canada, leaving the post unfilled — a move seen as a further sign of strained bilateral ties amid the ongoing war in Gaza. – Algemeiner
Ohad Tal writes: Above all, these achievements belong to Israel’s reserve soldiers and their families. Hundreds of days of reserve duty have demanded extraordinary sacrifice from citizens who left behind their families, careers, businesses, and studies to defend the country. Their service has not only protected Israel during one of the most difficult periods in its history, but it has also helped create a stronger and more secure future for generations of Israelis. This success is, first and foremost, theirs. – Jerusalem Post
Asher Fredman and Adi Schwartz write: But it has failed in its primary goal of preserving peace and security, has become a tool through which China and other American adversaries undermine Western interests, and has established itself as a principal legitimizer of the global campaign against Israel. This is not merely a public-relations problem. It is a national security threat. Israel, the United States, and other democratic allies should confront it accordingly: weaken the institutions that fuel delegitimization, deny them the resources to continue, and build more effective alternatives in their place. – Jerusalem Post
Morton A. Klein writes: It all appears to be a method of trying to tie Israel’s hands, and illegally and shortsightedly interfering with Israel’s ability to defend its citizens from Hezbollah, the very same terrorist organization that has the blood of hundreds of Americans on its hands. The US administration needs to stop making concessions to the Iranian and Hezbollah Nazi-like regimes and their allies, Turkey, Pakistan, and Qatar. The US must end this appeasement. It will fail, as Winston Churchill said: “Those who appease the crocodile will simply be eaten last. – Jerusalem Post
Robert Satloff writes: The Israel-Lebanon agreement offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build real peace between these neighbors, but the way forward is fraught and fragile. With an array of opponents already declaring their intent to kill the opportunity in its crib, progress needs to be swift and visible. Today saw an early positive step, as U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper visited Beirut to begin coordinating implementation of the security annex with LAF commander Gen. Rodolphe Haykal—a smart move given the latter’s record of prioritizing “civil peace” over measures to disarm Hezbollah. Washington should push for additional helpful steps, such as broader Arab and international endorsement of the agreement. But nothing will replace a key missing piece—effusive public embrace of the agreement by President Trump himself. – Washington Institute
Iran
The U.S.-Iran deal to free up shipping in the Strait of Hormuz promises a quick cash injection for the Tehran regime. For ordinary Iranians, economic relief is likely to take much longer. – Wall Street Journal
Iranian and U.S. negotiating teams were due in Doha this week, but Iran said on Monday no meeting had been scheduled as weekend missile fire from both sides tested the interim ceasefire to end the four-month-old war. – Reuters
An economic crisis caused by the Iran war and a fresh surge of investment by oil majors are driving Iraq’s aggressive push for a higher OPEC production quota, potentially placing it on a collision course with the producer bloc. – Reuters
A top Iranian official reiterated the country’s determination to maintain control over maritime traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes ahead of fresh negotiations with the US on ending their war for good. – Bloomberg
IRGC spokesperson Brig-Gen Hossein Mohebbi appeared to play down Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s claim last week that his government had allocated 20 million barrels of oil to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force to support the war effort, saying that “it is the government’s responsibility to support the armed forces,” according to footage released by the IRGC-linked Fars News Agency. – Jerusalem Post
Carine Hajjar writes: The Iranians, of course, will continue to fight for control of Lebanon. In Switzerland this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi linked progress on Lebanon to ongoing negotiations with the U.S. But “progress” to Iran means an opportunity to project its revolutionary dreams beyond its borders — the very thing the U.S. went to war to end. As long as Trump lets Hezbollah fester in Lebanon, he’s admitting defeat in Iran. – Washington Post
Erfan Fard writes: But history has a habit of mocking tyrants. What became of those grandiose threats? Khamenei ultimately met a humiliating fate, joining the long list of authoritarian rulers whose ambitions outlived their power – much as Qasem Soleimani’s legend collapsed with him. Four months later, the regime has reportedly still been unable to bury what remains of its own dead beneath the rubble. Nor will the Assembly of Experts alter the course of history with yet another incitement to murder. The final whistle has already blown. The fall of Tehran is no longer a question of if – only of when. – Jerusalem Post
Russia and Ukraine
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia has not changed its stance on the conditions needed for a peace deal in Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin said in 2024, opens new tab that Kyiv’s forces had to withdraw from four regions Moscow says are its own and publicly drop its plans to join NATO. – Reuters
Russia is grinding its way into Kostiantynivka, a key stronghold in Ukraine’s eastern “fortress belt” long coveted by the Kremlin, even as its gains across the rest of the 1,200-km front line have largely stalled. – Reuters
Russian attacks on three major Ukrainian cities killed 10 people and wounded dozens on Monday, authorities said, with strikes continuing into the afternoon as the death toll climbed. – Reuters
Ukrainian attacks have caused fuel shortages to spread from Russian-annexed Crimea to nearby parts of southern Russia, and even to the capital Moscow, which has previously been spared, residents say. – Reuters
A Russian court has jailed the owner of an LGBT nightclub and two of the club’s employees in what it said was the first case brought under a ban on what Moscow calls the “LGBT movement”. – Reuters
Russia’s close alliance with Belarus is facing a new test as President Alexander Lukashenko has shown reluctance to deepen his role in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. – Bloomberg
William Lawson writes: The RFIP is an innovative approach to addressing a so-far intractable problem. Much like the civilian defense industry has leaned into drone technology, that same spirit and know-how may prove useful in projecting kinetic strike assets to neutralize a clear Russian advantage. In particular, the compressed timeline demonstrates the situation’s vital significance to NATO, as well as the solicitation of proposals from a general audience. SACT established a submission deadline for July 20. Under the terms of the RFIP, 10 finalists will be announced on August 11, with a pitch day in early September in Warsaw, Poland. – The National Interest
Lebanon
Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah, on Monday slammed a U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning it could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented. – Reuters
Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered framework agreement in Washington on June 26, turning months of cautious negotiations into a formal diplomatic process. But the deal’s hardest test is only beginning: whether Lebanon can impose state authority in the south while Hezbollah remains armed, powerful, and opposed to the arrangement. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF announced on Monday evening that an IDF reserve soldier was severely injured earlier in the day as a result of an explosion in southern Lebanon. – Arutz Sheva
Editorial: That may be the most important element in the short run, given the ample grounds for skepticism that Beirut will disarm Hezbollah. In any event the deal shores up the diplomatic basis for Israeli counterterrorism. Consider what Israel is up against: On Sunday the IDF blew up a Hezbollah tunnel complex that served as a drone factory and air base, guarded by steel blast doors that opened for launches. The tunnel was built into a mountain and beneath a mosque, reaching a depth of 95 feet. Hezbollah wants to turn Lebanon into Gaza. The Rubio accord gives Beirut and Israel the best chance in years to prevent that catastrophe. – Wall Street Journal
Marc Champion writes: All of these moves were, or indeed are, difficult and problematic. There are major question marks over the process in Iraq, in particular. Yet the alternative — an attempt by Lebanon’s official military to simply disarm Hezbollah by force – would all but guarantee a resumption of Lebanon’s bloody, sectarian civil war. The US plan may not work — nothing else has. But it does have leverage. If Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps want an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, plus a greater political role for Hezbollah in Lebanon, money and US-backed guarantees that Iran itself will not be attacked again, including by Israel, then the Sinn Fein-ization of Hezbollah should be among the concessions that it’s asked to make. – Bloomberg
Middle East & North Africa
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt on reviews of two financing arrangements, potentially unlocking about $1.6 billion pending approval by the fund’s executive board. – Reuters
Turkey expects next month’s NATO summit in Ankara to emphasise alliance unity, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, calling for the lifting of restrictions on defence trade and for Ankara’s involvement in initiatives to bolster European security. – Reuters
French water and waste group Suez has won a €2 billion ($2.28 billion), 15-year contract to operate and maintain water and wastewater services in Oman, the company said on Monday, its largest-ever contract in the Middle East. – Reuters
The Houthis are using the current ceasefire between Israel, the US, and Iran to improve their missile capabilities, two people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
The US administration believes the chances of advancing normalization between Israel and Syria before Israel’s upcoming elections are “very slim,” a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post. – Jerusalem Post
Iraq’s government has given pro-Iran armed groups in the country until September 30 to disarm, coinciding with the end of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition’s mission, its spokesman said on Monday. – Times of Israel
Korean Peninsula
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to invest more than $500 billion in a new chip-making hub in southwestern South Korea, collaborating with the government’s push to bring the artificial-intelligence boom to less-developed regions. – Wall Street Journal
North Korea’s sanctioned coal and mineral exports have rebounded amid an absence of United Nations oversight, sustained by forced labour and a shipping network that runs through China and Russia, a Seoul-based human rights group said on Tuesday. – Reuters
South Korea imposed tougher property curbs in neighborhoods outside Seoul with proximity to semiconductor hubs after a boom in the industry fueled sharp home-price gains, raising concerns about speculative buying. – Bloomberg
Harlan Ullman writes: Having just returned from Norfolk, Virginia, I observed USS Ford at its pier. Covered with running rust, Ford showed how corrosive 326 days at sea can be to ships, aircraft and most importantly people. It will probably take months to restore the ship to full readiness and repair all the damage. Where is this headed? I started and will end with the analogy of the Korean War. How long negotiations will take in this case is unknowable. Continued strikes and counter strikes may be inevitable. Fortunately, if the just-signed agreement between Israel and Lebanon holds, that may remove one irritant in the talks, as Lebanon is prominent in the memorandum and important to Tehran. – The Hill
China
China’s manufacturing activity expanded in June after remaining flat last month, thanks in part to resilient exports amid robust global demand for artificial-intelligence and green products. – Wall Street Journal
China’s military and coast guard said on Tuesday they had carried out patrols in the waters around Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, as part of safeguarding Beijing’s territorial claims to the area. – Reuters
China’s military appeared to give its first glimpse of a new fighter aircraft widely believed to be a sixth-generation prototype that could eventually rival advanced stealth warplanes under development in the US. – Bloomberg
China on Monday widened its export controls to target 40 Japanese defense contractors, research institutes and civilian firms with suspected defense establishment ties to stop what officials claim is a “new militarism” in Tokyo. – Newsweek
Jose Lev Alvarez writes: The economic shock could exceed $10 trillion and trigger a 5% to 10% contraction in global GDP. Thus, Beijing could bring Taiwan under its control without firing a single shot. The Chinese military built the tools for this test. Anti-access missiles, naval and coast guard forces, cyber units, and economic leverage allow Beijing to operate below the threshold of war, paralyze American decision-making, and divide Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea through tailored pressure. Fracturing America’s alliances is not a side effect of Beijing’s strategy but its central objective. – Washington Examiner
South Asia
Afghan officials accused Pakistan of killing at least 36 civilians and injuring more than 160 in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, the latest flare-up in a cross-border conflict that has killed hundreds since late February. – New York Times
India has lifted restrictions on the sale of petrol and diesel imposed this month amid disruptions to global supply chains due to the war in the Middle East, the government said in an order on Monday. – Reuters
Pakistan purchased a liquefied natural gas shipment for prompt delivery this week as tension in the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt Qatari exports to the South Asian nation. – Bloomberg
Asia
An Indonesian court is scheduled on Tuesday to announce its verdict in a controversial corruption case against former education minister Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of the country’s largest start-up, who is accused by prosecutors of using his executive powers to enrich himself. – Reuters
Indonesia has scaled back its basic military training for prospective managers of President Prabowo Subianto’s village cooperative programme, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, after five participants died in the first two weeks of the 45-day training programme. – Reuters
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Tuesday a report that two Ernst & Young employees on temporary assignment at Commonwealth Bank of Australia allegedly accessed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s personal banking details was “incredibly concerning.” – Reuters
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te warned military cadets on Tuesday not to succumb to China’s spying activities and to defend freedom and democracy, speaking at a Cold War-era college originally set up to teach against the perils of communism. – Reuters
Malaysia has extended for another year its contract with marine robotics company Ocean Infinity for a deep-sea search in the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared 12 years ago. – Associated Press
Taiwan’s main opposition party outlined plans to develop the drone industry just days after stalling a similar proposal from President Lai Ching-te’s government, amid a debate on unmanned systems with crucial implications for the island’s defense. – Bloomberg
Azerbaijan on Monday condemned Israel’s recognition of the Armenian genocide, calling it a “distortion of the historical facts,” and urged the government to reverse the move. – Times of Israel
Grigor Hovhannissian write: The Israeli government has taken a courageous and commendable step. The Knesset should ensure that this recognition endures as the permanent and democratic expression of the State of Israel. More importantly, Israelis and Armenians can now move on, and forward. There are far too few moments in our region when history bends toward reconciliation rather than division. This is one of them, and it deserves to be welcomed. – Jerusalem Post
Europe
European aerospace leader Airbus AIR will get a 3 billion euros ($3.42 billion) loan from the European Investment Bank as European Union officials seek to build out the bloc’s own technological capabilities to fend off mounting competition from the U.S. and China. – Wall Street Journal
A 45-year-old man killed six adults and wounded several others in a shooting attack at a child welfare facility in northern Germany on Monday, in what the local authorities described as a dispute over the custody of the man’s daughter. – New York Times
Britain’s outgoing prime minister, Keir Starmer, was repeatedly criticized for lacking a clear political narrative. – New York Times
Britain’s nine-month delay in setting out its defence spending plans to meet a rising threat from Russia has forced some small suppliers to collapse, others to hold off investments and many more to expand abroad instead. – Reuters
When Aleksandar Vucic announced that he will step down as president of Serbia, cutting short his mandate and likely triggering early elections, few believed that he would disappear from politics. – Reuters
Polish security services have deported nine Ukrainians and two Belarusians on suspicion of using Russian money to recruit Ukrainian refugees to demonstrate against the Kyiv government in Poland, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on Monday. – Reuters
The European Union and China set an October deadline to make progress on trade disagreements, as tensions rise between the two economic powers. – Bloomberg
The Netherlands will ramp up investment in uncrewed military systems such as drones, with the country’s Defense Ministry saying it wants more than half of the military’s “operational effects” to involve such technology within five years. – Bloomberg
Poland has signed a final deal with Saab AB to purchase three submarines for around 47 billion kronor ($4.83 billion) as Warsaw seeks to bolster its maritime defense capabilities and forge closer ties with NATO ally Sweden. – Bloomberg
Police in Monaco and France were reportedly searching Monday night for a man suspected of detonating a makeshift explosive device that injured several people, including two critically. – Fox News
People granted asylum in Britain could have to repay the government about £10,000, roughly more than $13,000, for accommodation and basic living support before they can become eligible to apply for settlement, officials announced on Monday. – Fox News
Israel is on tap to sell Spyder air defense systems to Romania for approximately €2 billion, or $2.3 billion, according to a June 28 Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announcement. – Defense News
Matteo Mecacci writes: The successful integration of Ukraine would mark a significant milestone in EU history, safeguarding a country currently under attack and showcasing Europe’s ability to adapt its institutions and policies to a dramatically transformed strategic landscape. The debate has shifted from just enlargement to how Europe addresses renewed security challenges and whether it can create a framework in which political, economic, democratic, and security efforts support one another. A key lesson from European integration is that lasting security depends not just on military power and deterrence but also on robust democratic institutions, the rule of law, and resilient societies. European—including Ukrainian—leaders’ choices regarding Ukraine’s role in Europe directly impact all of these areas. Few decisions will be as consequential for the continent’s future. – The National Interest
Christopher Ford writes: What I have termed the potentially ubiquitous modular aerial capability approach to providing small, nuclear payload options for existing or anticipated long-range precision strike systems would dramatically expand NATO targeting flexibility and hence contribute greatly to escalation management missions in support of extended deterrence. It would also provide a dispersal or concealment architecture for nuclear assets that would massively complicate Russian targeting and preemption opportunities. And it would do this without some of the costs and delays associated with developing new bespoke nuclear-only delivery systems. It would certainly be a major new departure for NATO, but it may be just the bold answer to looming threats that the situation requires. – War on the Rocks
Africa
The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned public gatherings in four provinces, including the capital, Kinshasa, as the country battles a deadly Ebola outbreak. – Reuters
Kenya and Rwanda signed three pacts on Monday setting up a government framework for Rwanda-bound fuel imports, the Kenya Pipeline Company and Rwanda’s Trade Ministry said in statements on X. – Reuters
Advocacy groups filed a complaint on behalf of people deported from the United States to Ghana by the Trump administration with the regional bloc representing West Africa, according to a statement released early on Tuesday. – Reuters
Senegalese police fired tear gas on Monday to disperse scores of protesters outside parliament, as lawmakers debated a constitutional amendment that critics say could upset the balance of power in government. – Reuters
Gunmen burst into a secondary school in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state and abducted students as they were sitting exams on Monday morning, police said, the latest mass kidnapping in an insecure region. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund is ready to move quickly on a credit programme for Malawi, the lender said on Monday, but warned it will depend on the country’s willingness to implement economic reforms. – Reuters
Guinea aims to become a regional gold refining hub, its mines minister said, joining a broader push by West African producers to process bullion locally rather than exporting it to the Middle East and beyond. – Reuters
Emilio T. Gonzalez writes: Three major maritime chokepoints command a disproportionate amount of world commerce. The Strait of Hormuz and the Malacca Strait through Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore are responsible for a disproportionate amount of all global seaborne trade. Lesser known but equally important is the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. This 20-mile-wide channel between Djibouti and Yemen at the base of the Red Sea is the third busiest global chokepoint, accounting for 25% of global container trade and 10% of seaborne oil trade. – Washington Examiner
Robert Dussey writes: Togo continues to do its part. In April, we hosted the most significant diplomatic gathering regarding the Sahel in years. […] A region where terrorist networks operate unchecked and where outside powers pursuing their own strategic interests are consolidating their presence is not a region the United States can afford to ignore. The Sahel is not lost. But the jihadist movements expanding across it do not distinguish between Sahelian and coastal, African and Western. They see weakness and exploit it. The only answer is an American commitment commensurate with the crisis—one that treats the Sahel not as an emergency to be managed from a distance, but as a threat that will not remain distant if ignored. – The National Interest
The Americas
When Javier Milei swept to power vowing to dismantle the political “caste” that he blamed for decades of corruption and economic decline, he promised voters something new: an honest government. – Wall Street Journal
With time running out, firefighters and paramedics from Virginia equipped with concrete-cutting saws, acoustic devices and precision-locating equipment gingerly pulled out a father and son trapped for four days. – Wall Street Journal
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado accused the ruling government of blocking her from flying home from Panamá to help with earthquake relief but said she would find a way to return, setting up a showdown with the U.S.-backed administration. – Wall Street Journal
After three failed presidential campaigns, years of legal troubles and over a decade as a polarizing opposition leader, Keiko Fujimori has finally won the nation’s highest office by becoming Peru’s first woman elected president. – New York Times
Construction worker Anderson Daniel Salcedo spent three months in U.S. immigration detention before boarding a repatriation flight last Wednesday, arriving back in Venezuela just hours before twin earthquakes devastated his homeland. – Reuters
Brazil’s government unveiled a new subsidized credit program for informal workers, targeting a key segment of the labor force ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s October reelection bid. – Bloomberg
Following the directive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, a joint delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Home Front Command will depart tomorrow (Tuesday) for Venezuela, following the devastating earthquake that struck the country. The delegation’s departure and coordination follow a review by the National Security Council. – Arutz Sheva
North America
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum vowed on Monday that she would not protect anyone after a video appeared to show the former head of state energy company Pemex, Victor Rodriguez, violently abusing his wife. – Reuters
Canada has given C$7 million ($4.93 million) in grants to a Greenland molybdenum mining project, a critical metal used in aerospace, energy and defence, Greenland Resources said on Monday. – Reuters
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has registered to seek his party’s nomination for the 2027 presidential election, pursuing a third term after allies in Congress changed the constitution to allow indefinite re-election, the head of the ruling Nuevas Ideas party said on Sunday. – Reuters
A former ambassador and member of Haiti’s since-dissolved transitional presidential council appeared in court for an interview with a judge Monday as the investigation into the July 2021 killing of former President Jovenel Moïse widens. – Associated Press
United States
President Trump said Monday that he would nominate Keith Sonderling as labor secretary. Sonderling has served as acting head of the department since Trump’s first labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned in April after a tumultuous tenure at the agency. – Wall Street Journal
The US Treasury’s office in charge of sanctions launched an online portal for requests to be removed from blacklists or have penalties lifted. – Bloomberg
Colorado Democratic Socialist candidate Melat Kiros recently argued how the 9/11 and 10/7 terror attacks were “inevitable” after U.S. and Israeli military actions in the Middle East. – Fox News
Editorial: But Justice Clarence Thomas points out in an incisive dissent that those banks “possessed no sovereign power,” while the Fed has vast executive authority to regulate financial institutions. The Chief brushes past this inconsistency, but the decision could prompt legal challenges to Fed banking regulation. Our guess is that the Chief and Justice Kavanaugh made the pragmatic judgment that they simply don’t trust Mr. Trump to run monetary policy. They’re right on the politics, but Justice Thomas makes a powerful case on the law. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Trump wants to “paper over the damage.” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania) said the president is trying to get “taxpayers to continue footing the bill for his reckless war.” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) said that the White House has yet to spend billions appropriated to help Ukraine. To get 60 votes in the Senate, the White House will need to win over some Democratic senators. That will require good-faith negotiations by both sides and a lot more transparency from the Trump administration. – Washington Post
Paul H. Tice writes: A forceful nuclear push by state utility commissions and federal agencies will also be required because regulated utility executives are risk-averse, and having regulators’ support will help them make investment decisions. Nuclear power is needed to help stabilize America’s power grid and keep pace with accelerating load growth from the digital economy. Given that it takes four to five years to build a new AP1000 reactor under a best-case scenario, the Trump administration needs to move quickly. Otherwise, today’s nuclear energy renaissance will have an even shorter half-life than the last one. – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
Secret Service agents have put U.S. officials and national security at risk by routinely using personal smartphones, laptops and other mobile devices with unsecured messaging apps to carry out operations, making them vulnerable to hackers, according to a federal watchdog report. – Wall Street Journal
A federal judge on Monday sentenced China critic and tycoon Guo Wengui to 30 years in prison for racketeering and fraud and ordered forfeiture of $889 million associated with his activities. – Wall Street Journal
Honeywell Aerospace has flown the nest. Long part of industrial conglomerate Honeywell International the company completed its spinoff Monday into a stand-alone manufacturer focused on things that fly—working on everything from cooling airplane cabins to guiding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis II mission past the moon. – Wall Street Journal
Apple has accused Indian antitrust investigators of “copy-pasting” its rivals’ claims and failing to properly conduct its own investigation in concluding the U.S. tech giant breached competition laws, calling for the findings to be quashed, regulatory papers reviewed by Reuters showed. – Reuters
The AP/”FRONTLINE” investigation was based on tens of thousands of leaked scam center files, videos and photos; an analysis with C4ADS of misuse of artificial intelligence at scam centers; an examination of more than 200,000 connections made by devices at four scam compounds in Myanmar linked to entities sanctioned by the U.S. government; and interviews with 58 scam victims and three dozen current and former scammers from 19 countries. – Associated Press
Australia plans to double potential fines for social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, who fail to prevent Australian children from holding accounts as critics argue the world-first ban on under-16s was failing. – Associated Press
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that collecting phone location data from a geographic area is a Fourth Amendment search, in a decision that both privacy advocates and critics of the ruling say will have vast implications for tech privacy. – Cyberscoop
A new Senate draft bill would establish a list of AI agent software providers that people can use to establish human ownership and securely run agents on social media and other online platforms. – Cyberscoop
The United States is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of members of two Russia-linked cyber groups accused of targeting Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to government officials, journalists and other high-profile individuals. – The Record
Ukraine plans to convert several million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency seized from an alleged international cybercrime group into government war bonds, the first time the country has used confiscated digital assets to support its wartime economy, according to state authorities. – The Record
Ritchie Torres and Don Graves write: The Biden administration’s response was deliberate: segregate the drivers of strategic competition while maintaining the broader economic relationship with China — a “small yard, high fence” strategy of targeted restrictions rather than broad decoupling. Competition over technologies like semiconductors and artificial intelligence algorithms now unfolds within a single, contested economic and technological battlefield. The United States needs to expand the yard to enclose its financial services. America’s technology-driven future cannot deliver on its promise if its financial underpinnings are left exposed. Protecting that future requires setting standards for transparency and security in the nation’s financial marketplace. The SEC must act. Congress must follow with hearings and legislation. – Washington Post
Defense
Kain, who is chief of Army operations in Europe, was at home watching a video about new digital systems from Palantir Technologies that his unit had just started using to track operations and supply levels. – Wall Street Journal
As the Army contends with a shortage of ships to carry troops and supplies in the Pacific, it’s pressing contract vessels into service – and looking to a future in which dozens of heavy-duty autonomous watercraft take on a significant portion of the task. – Defense News
Defense and intelligence agencies play a crucial role in supporting the military by detecting threats before they cause real harm […] For agencies like the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), however, those efforts have become increasingly challenging. One reason is the pressure to manage and process ever-increasing volumes of global intelligence data. – Defensescoop
Overland AI has secured a production contract for autonomous ground vehicles that will provide resupply for Marine Air Defense Integrated Systems, the company announced Monday. – Defensescoop
Editorial: The FAA is investigating the incidents, and these are cases where violators should be prosecuted and punished. As everyone knows, it’s riskier to life and limb to drive a car than to fly in a passenger airline. But it may be only a matter of time before a drone strike is more serious and causes a deadly accident. The risk of bird strikes is already high, and there’s no excuse for man-made drone accidents that make flying less safe. – Wall Street Journal