Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel and Lebanon agree to renew cease-fire Hamas-Mladenov talks postponed as disarmament continues to stymie Trump's Gaza plan Trump tells aides he won’t resume all-out war with Iran unless U.S. troops are killed Iran's Khamenei warns against divisions after 'enemy's defeat on battlefield' WSJ Editorial: Trump talks, Iran escalates Russia’s elite is souring on the war. Putin doesn’t seem to care. All EU members greenlight first step in accession talks, Ukraine PM says The Hormuz squeeze is redrawing the oil map for good North Korea's Kim calls for 'exponential' nuclear expansion after inspecting new plant, KCNA says U.S. and intelligence allies issue rare joint warning about China Taiwan beefs up anti-ship missile arsenal to counter threat of Chinese invasion Norwegian teen, hired by Swedish crime group used by Iran, planned UK murder, London court toldIn The News
Israel
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their cease-fire and work toward a “comprehensive” agreement, the two nations announced on Wednesday in a joint statement with the United States. – New York Times
The Supreme Court of Israel ruled on Wednesday that a government policy banning visits to Palestinian prisoners by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross violated Israeli and international law. – New York Times
U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” in an expletive-filled phone exchange over fighting in Lebanon, while the U.S. was trying to negotiate an end to hostilities with Iran. – Reuters
The Israeli military said it had intercepted rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel on Wednesday, while Lebanese security sources said an Israeli strike hit a car near Beirut, testing a U.S.-mediated deal that aims to get the sides to curb attacks. – Reuters
Israel will continue its operations on the ground in southern Lebanon for the time being and Lebanese residents forced from their homes by Israel would not be able to return, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces plunging support in the electorally vital north where Hezbollah rocket fire has been heaviest, a new poll has shown, putting pressure on him to take a more hawkish stance as elections loom. – Reuters
The Defense Ministry has reported positive developments in efforts to counter Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones, as Israel seeks solutions to a threat that has caused casualties among IDF troops on the northern front. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas has been gathering intelligence along the Yellow Line by sending individuals with disabilities, as well as teenagers and others, aside from their conventional field operatives, to gather information on troop activities in the area, Walla learned from a military source from the Southern Command on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in an interview Wednesday that he held a difficult conversation with US President Donald Trump days earlier, but downplayed the significance of the matter and insisted that he and the American leader agree on “the main things.” – Times of Israel
Talks scheduled for this week between Palestinian militant groups from Gaza and the diplomat leading the effort to implement US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the territory have been postponed. – The National
Erfan Fard writes: It seeks not only to disrupt individual terror plots or delay nuclear development, but to systematically weaken the ideological and operational infrastructure that has enabled the Islamic Republic to sustain decades of regional conflict and militant expansion. History may ultimately remember the Islamic Republic as a regime that came to power through revolutionary Islamism and survived through organized terror. But history may also remember that the same machinery of perpetual confrontation eventually generated the regional backlash, internal exhaustion, and strategic overreach that led to its decline. – Arutz Sheva
Iran
President Trump has told aides privately that he would consider ending the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops, U.S. officials said, insisting that the weekslong pause in airstrikes remains intact despite a steady stream of violent skirmishes. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump has vowed to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon — and central to that pledge is the fate of its highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build at least 10 bombs. Much of the uranium is believed to be stored so far underground that even powerful U.S. bunker-buster bombs may not be able to destroy it. – New York Times
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran was meant to break the Islamic Republic. Instead, the warring sides are edging towards an interim agreement that would leave Iran battered but not broken. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon and that he would probably meet with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei at some point if things “work out”. “They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told “Pod Force One” in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, while speaking about Iran. – Reuters
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a message on Thursday that Iran’s enemies, having been defeated on the battlefield, were now seeking to undermine public resilience and sow internal divisions. – Reuters
Iran struggled to get energy exports past the US Navy’s blockade last month, with around 80 million barrels of oil and petrochemicals stranded in waters behind the line, according to a US non-profit advisory group. – Bloomberg
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the Middle East war, as Israel pressed its campaign against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. – Agence France-Presse
Negotiations between the United States and Iran have reached a significant stalemate, with Tehran insisting that billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets be released during the very first phase of any MOU agreement, according to two sources familiar with the discussions who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. – Jerusalem Post
The Islamic regime has increased its military presence and the number of checkpoints in Iran’s Kurdish region, particularly near the Iraqi border, according to an updated bulletin by the British government. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: From the Gulf to the Levant, this adds up to an Iranian pressure strategy. The regime wants immunity for Hezbollah and a weak deal with Mr. Trump that commits it to nothing on the nuclear front beyond a false statement of intent. And it is showing its willingness to escalate. Mr. Trump threatens to do likewise, but after two months his tough talk yields diminishing returns. He didn’t act on his threats after Iran twice reneged on reopening the Strait of Hormuz or after the first, second or third time it fired on U.S. troops. The regime seems to think the prospect of renewed war is its leverage over the U.S. rather than the other way around. Iran’s leaders are now escalating their pressure on Mr. Trump because they seem to have concluded that the President wants an end to the conflict more than they do. Are they wrong? – Wall Street Journal
Condoleezza Rice writes: If the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps controls 40% of the economy, as reports indicate, the U.S. must make sure Tehran understands that 40% of nothing is nothing. Strategic patience is hard, and it isn’t always satisfying. But time is on the side of the U.S. and its allies. Reaching no deal is fine. Reaching a bad deal isn’t. This is a new day in the Middle East, though it isn’t one without clouds. No American president has had a better chance to build a different and more stable region. It may just take a little more time. – Wall Street Journal
Farzin Nadimi writes: Through this mix of firmly rejecting the PGSA, levying targeted sanctions, calibrating allied naval action, applying economic leverage, and engaging in principled, consistent diplomacy with Oman and the Gulf states, the Trump administration can steer Tehran toward pragmatic retreat on this issue. In doing so, it could help restore the Strait of Hormuz as a global commons and discourage other actors from interpreting this crisis as a dangerous coercive precedent for vital chokepoints elsewhere in the world. – Washington Institute
Russia and Ukraine
Russia’s inability to break through the stalemate in Ukraine is becoming so evident that significant voices in the Russian establishment have publicly started to call for an end to the conflict. – Wall Street Journal
Ukraine launched attacks on the two main centres in the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula, Kremlin-installed officials in the region said early on Thursday, a day after Moscow and Kyiv traded strikes on each other’s cities. – Reuters
Zelenskiy said it was “only a question of time” for Ukraine to increase the scale of the strikes, which forced some of the Russian refineries to suspend operations and boosted morale among Ukrainians, who have lived under constant threat of Russian drones and missiles for more than four years. – Reuters
All members of the European Union agreed to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova on the first cluster of issues in their accession talks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said early on Thursday. “Fantastic news,” she wrote on X. “We are one step closer to the EU membership: steadily moving towards our goal.” – Reuters
Russia is demanding that France release the captain of a tanker detained in France on what it says are false charges, the Russian embassy in Paris said on Wednesday. France’s navy said on Monday it had intercepted a sanctioned tanker, the Tagor, linked to the Russian oil trade in the Atlantic Ocean. – Reuters
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Wednesday for dialogue between Ukraine and Poland to help defuse tensions after Kyiv renamed an army unit after nationalist insurgents involved in massacres of Poles in World War Two. – Reuters
Russia has increased the production of first-person view drones by roughly 30-fold over the last three years, with manufacturers now capable of supplying more than 15,000 units a day, a top government official said. – Bloomberg
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday urged European countries to step up deliveries of critical air defenses, as funding pledges from a key NATO-backed program fall behind schedule. – Politico
Ani Chkhikvadze writes: With little battlefield success to point to, Russia is now pounding Ukrainian cities with its heaviest weapons, aiming to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses, discourage Western support for Kyiv, and degrade Ukrainian resolve. Instead, what Ukraine is doing to Russia shows only that the West needs to stand firm at Ukraine’s back. The United States and other Western partners should provide the air defense systems that Ukraine needs to defend against Russia’s attacks. Receiving that support, Kyiv can keep pushing Moscow toward the inevitability of a Russian concessionary negotiating table. – Washington Examiner
Hezbollah
When the Lebanese militia Hezbollah entered the US-Israeli war against Iran by firing rockets and drones into Israel the day after the conflict began on Feb. 28, officials there saw in the crisis sweeping the region a chance to finally drive the militia, already weakened by a series of setbacks, away from Israel’s northern border. They’ve been loath to give it up. – Bloomberg
A prominent Hezbollah official threatened Israel that, if the IDF renews its strikes in Beirut, the terror organization would launch retaliatory fire towards central Israeli cities such as Haifa and Tel Aviv. – Jerusalem Post
IDF soldiers conducted a nighttime raid on a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
Gulf States
For decades, the Persian Gulf’s energy map converged on a single chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz. Now, spurred by the Iran war, the region’s petrostates are rushing to draw new lines to circumvent it. – Wall Street Journal
When food-tech entrepreneur Sara Amini wanted to see where Gulf businesses were still spending despite the Iran war, she flew to Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, she found restaurants full and companies still talking expansion, in contrast to other Gulf economies in Iran’s firing line where the hospitality and restaurant sector had taken a hit. – Reuters
Kuwait partially reopened its international airport, after an Iranian attack killed one person and injured several others in an escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf. – Bloomberg
Middle East & North Africa
Hundreds of people have flocked to a tent in Damascus to mourn a former national chess champion who went missing 13 years ago along with her husband and six children, now that their deaths in Syria’s civil war have finally been confirmed. – Associated Press
Turkey is transforming its capital, rocked in recent years by terrorist attacks, into a fortress buttressed by missile defenses and fighter jets ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit there next month, according to people familiar with the matter. – Bloomberg
President Sheikh Mohamed has met with Moroccan King Mohammed VI in Morocco’s capital, Rabat. They discussed regional and international issues, including developments in the Middle East and their implications for regional security and stability, during a private meeting on Wednesday, state news agency Wam reported. – The National
Aaron Y. Zelin writes: In April, for instance, the World Bank pledged $225 million to help restore health and water services in Syria. In any case, the fact is that Syrians are still engaging their new state rather than rejecting it. Washington should therefore treat the current moment not as a sign that the transition is failing, but as an opportunity to help ensure that Damascus does not repeat the mistakes of previous Syrian governments over the past century. – Washington Institute
Eldar Mamedov writes: The Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline make Turkey an indispensable transit hub for Azerbaijani energy to Europe. Military cooperation continues. Turkey provides Azerbaijan with diplomatic cover against Iran and Russia. But the cracks are real. “One nation, two states” was always aspirational, not constitutional. When one state tries to dictate the other’s borders and maintain a covert alliance with the other’s declared adversary, the fiction becomes strained. Not yet broken, but no longer effortless. – The National Interest
Korean Peninsula
South Korea and China have agreed to expand weekly flight rights between the countries for the first time in seven years, Seoul’s transport ministry said on Thursday, in another sign of warming ties between the Asian neighbours. – Reuters
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s ruling Democratic Party swept most major local races in elections held on Wednesday, but suffered a symbolic setback as the opposition conservative incumbent Oh Se-hoon won another term as Seoul mayor. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” expansion of the country’s atomic arsenal during a visit to a newly operational nuclear material production factory, state media agency KCNA said on Thursday. – Reuters
South Korea and the U.S. held inaugural talks this week to discuss nuclear cooperation under a joint fact sheet on security agreed by U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung last year, Seoul said on Wednesday. – Reuters
China
The United States and other nations in the Five Eyes intelligence partnership on Wednesday took the unusual step of issuing a joint warning that China is using LinkedIn and other job platforms to pry secret information from security professionals worldwide. – Washington Post
China on Thursday blasted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments on the deadly crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 37 years ago as “smearing” the country’s political system, as Taiwan told China to face up to history. – Reuters
Hong Kong’s leader arrived in Uzbekistan on Wednesday after visiting Kazakhstan, leading his government’s largest-ever delegation on a tour to promote the Chinese-ruled city as a financial and business gateway to China and Southeast Asia. – Reuters
A performance artist in Hong Kong tried on Wednesday to honor the victims of Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown but was quickly stopped by police, the latest sign of the city’s shrinking freedom of expression. – Associated Press
As the Trump administration tones down its public stance on Taiwan, key US allies Japan and the Philippines are becoming more vocal in challenging Chinese President Xi Jinping on his most sensitive issue. – Bloomberg
China hit back at any suggestion it uses forced labor and said trade issues with the US should be sorted out in talks. “So-called forced labor does not exist in China, and we oppose using this as a pretext for political manipulation,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. – Bloomberg
The EU’s foreign policy service is pushing to sanction four Chinese companies it accuses of supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to documents seen by POLITICO. – Politico
South Asia
Flames coursed through a six-story hotel on Wednesday in a dense neighborhood in New Delhi, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens more, according to the city’s fire department. The blaze appears to be the deadliest in the city in at least four years. – New York Times
India is likely to order more than $2 billion worth of military drones from domestic firms this year in its biggest such purchase, an industry body working with the government told Reuters, as global and regional conflicts boost demand. – Reuters
Bangladesh has requested a new loan arrangement from the International Monetary Fund and is exiting its current $5.5 billion programme, government officials said on Wednesday. The officials said Dhaka will soon start talks with the IMF on a framework that would shape the design and conditions of the new lending programme. – Reuters
Pakistan’s federal budget for fiscal year 2026–2027 will be presented on June 10, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Sadanand Dhume writes: When India reintroduced a capital-gains tax on listed equities in 2018—and raised rates in 2024—it made matters worse. Between 2017 and 2024, the government passed about 700 “quality control orders,” burdensome licensing requirements that stifle import competition. In theory, it’s not too late for Mr. Modi to turn the economy around, but this would require a shift in mindset. Instead of assuming that the world wants to beat a path to India, the government should emulate countries like Vietnam that ruthlessly focus on being more business friendly. A little less hubris could go a long way. – Wall Street Journal
Andy Mukherjee writes: Still, protest isn’t costless. The 19-year-old ethical hacker who flagged major security loopholes in the test-marking portal in February (the board of education rejected the claim last week) is taking a big risk. As the New Delhi-based advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation has noted, good-faith security research in India is not protected from legal prosecution. […] In 21st-century India, however, the roach is not a metaphor for running away from problems. Instead, it’s a symbol of survival — in the swamps of communalized politics, corruption, and staggering bureaucratic callousness. – Bloomberg
Asia
Taiwan has asked that Japan and the Philippines respect its rights and territory when they hold talks on their maritime border, Taipei’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Japan and the Philippines said last month they would begin formal talks on delimiting the maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf between the two countries “in accordance with international law”. – Reuters
New Zealand said on Thursday it would express its concerns to Beijing after China banned four New Zealand lawmakers from entry following their visit to Taiwan last month. – Reuters
A special Philippine task force said on Wednesday that it is investigating reports of an alleged new structure on the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, adding that it takes seriously any development that may affect the country’s sovereign rights. – Reuters
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to be released from the remainder of his prison sentence under a royal pardon, the country’s justice minister told reporters on Wednesday. – Reuters
Taiwan will sharply increase its arsenal of powerful anti-ship missiles to more than 1,800 by early 2029, as it seeks to enhance its capacity to counter a mounting threat of blockade or invasion by China, according to a Reuters calculation. – Reuters
Europe
The European Union is putting forward a stack of measures aimed at bolstering its technological capabilities in the latest push from the bloc to reduce its dependence on tech giants from countries like the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
The brutal killing of four immigrant workers who were burned alive in a vehicle this week has Italian officials struggling to confront rampant labor exploitation by criminal gangs that have infiltrated Italy’s agricultural industry. – New York Times
A Norwegian teenager travelled to Britain to carry out a murder in return for money, having been recruited by a Swedish organised crime group used by the Iranian government, British prosecutors told a London court on Wednesday. – Reuters
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned violent protests over the case of an 18-year-old who was handcuffed as he lay dying after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack, and said it was “unforgivable” to exploit it to stir tensions. – Reuters
A window for dialogue is slowly opening between Russia and Europe on Ukraine, although it is likely to be months before talks can begin, a German government official said at a briefing on Wednesday. – Reuters
Hungary’s governing Tisza party has submitted a bill to parliament to abolish an organisation set up by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that stigmatized opposition figures and journalists for serving “foreign interests.” – Reuters
Germany’s leading role in rallying support for Ukraine and its close relations with Israel may have cost Berlin the chance of a seat on the U.N. Security Council, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Poland and Lithuania confirm they are participating in discussions about their potential role in NATO’s nuclear deterrence efforts, which are built around U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe. – Associated Press
Denmark’s new government tapped Lars Lokke Rasmussen as foreign minister, retaining a key architect of Copenhagen’s response to US pressure over Greenland to steer the next phase of talks with Washington. – Bloomberg
The European Commission criticized U.S. plans to impose a new 10 percent tariff on the EU on Wednesday after the Trump administration found that Brussels had failed to ban the import of goods made with forced labor. – Politico
Zack Polanski, the Jewish, anti-Israel leader of Britain’s Green Party, has backed a call to monitor UK-Israeli nationals who have recently served in the Israel Defense Forces, British media reported Wednesday. – Times of Israel
Editorial: That leaves the field to insurgent politicians. Nigel Farage of Reform UK on Tuesday morning delivered a speech about “two-tier Britain” in which minority groups including immigrants receive preferential treatment relative to white citizens. He suggested that Britons should respond to this situation with “pure, cold rage.” Protesters in Southampton, where Nowak was murdered, apparently agree. They clashed with police Tuesday evening. This has led other politicians to round on Mr. Farage. Ms. Badenoch accused Mr. Farage of “rabble-rousing,” adding “we don’t need rage.” Mr. Starmer on Wednesday said this is a time for “serious work, not rage,” whatever that means. But Henry Nowak’s murder is legitimately enraging. Britain’s social and political tensions grow worse the longer its leading politicians deny reality. – Wall Street Journal
Gol Kalev writes: It could do so by asking US President Donald Trump to lead a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would halt the 2,300-year-old European-Israeli conflict, as suggested in a recent column article. Moreover, there is still hope that a class of righteous Europeans would emerge that would force their governments to end this century’s assault. Some argue that this is already happening – a concurrent shift within European countries, and from West to East; from “Old Europe,” which obsessively prioritizes opposition to Israel over self-perpetuation, to “New Europe,” which wishes to benefit from the crisp light emanating from Zion. – Jerusalem Post
Africa
A rare strain of Ebola has reached a corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo controlled by Islamic State militants, a place too dangerous for health workers fighting to stop the deadly virus. – Wall Street Journal
Around 20 flights carrying medical equipment and specialist staff have landed at a base in Kenya where the U.S. government is continuing to build an Ebola quarantine facility despite protests and Kenyan court orders blocking it, according to flight data and officials. – Reuters
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the world is “catching up” with the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 344 confirmed cases of the disease and 60 confirmed deaths, although challenges remain. – Reuters
Fighters linked to Islamic State killed 16 civilians in an attack in eastern Congo near where Ebola cases have been recorded, a local military spokesperson said on Wednesday, underscoring the threat of armed conflict as health officials try to contain the outbreak. – Reuters
A Nigerian court has sentenced four men to death by hanging after convicting them over a 2022 attack on a Catholic church in Owo, in southwestern Ondo state, that killed dozens, a judge said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Malawi will join other countries in repatriating its nationals seeking to leave South Africa, where attacks on African migrants have been reported in parts of the country. – Reuters
The United Nations calls sexual violence one of the “most defining features” of Sudan’s war, now in its fourth year. It says sexual assaults have soared since the war began but it did not have data on assaults by combatants. – Associated Press
Kenyan detectives on Wednesday were granted 21 days to hold nine students suspected of planning and executing an arson attack at a girl’s boarding school in central Kenya that killed 16 children, in a case that has gripped the East African nation. – Associated Press
Sarri Singer writes: When the world only cares and rallies on behalf of certain victims, it sends the devastating message that some lives matter more than others. Children kidnapped by terrorists in should matter. Families living under the constant threat of terrorism in Africa should matter. Victims of terrorism everywhere should matter. Sadly, they don’t. […] Close your eyes and think of these terrified 3-year-olds that most of the world hasn’t even heard about. Think of their parents, waiting for their children to come home each night, living the nightmare of a missing, terrorized child, not knowing where their children are and not being able to do anything to save them. They are also living with the world’s deafening silence. – Washington Examiner
The Americas
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez is facing growing resistance from an unlikely source: the leftist movement that brought her to power. Five months after U.S. commandos ousted strongman Nicolás Maduro, figures within the ruling socialist movement known as Chavismo—after former President Hugo Chávez—are openly criticizing Rodríguez for accommodating Washington as she works to stabilize the country and deepen ties with the Trump administration. – Wall Street Journal
Silicon Valley tech founders are setting up shop in the glitzy hotels of Caracas, looking for investment opportunities. American Airlines has resumed direct flights from Miami to the Venezuelan capital. In oil country, sales of pickup trucks are booming. – Washington Post
The meeting between President Trump and a son of his jailed Brazilian ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, lasted just a few minutes. Still, it was enough to derail months of efforts to mend ties between Brazil and the United States. – New York Times
The Brazilian government expressed “deep disagreements” with the United States’ proposal of new tariffs linked to forced labor in a statement on Wednesday, saying the move distorts the issue of protecting working conditions to justify unilateral, protectionist measures. – Reuters
Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday named Ernesto Justiniano as defense minister, who promised to clear roadblocks following weeks of social unrest and mass protests that have blocked streets in major cities. – Reuters
Conservative Keiko Fujimori will seek Peru’s presidency on Sunday in a runoff vote, hoping that her tough-on-crime stance at a time of rising insecurity will outweigh a polarizing family legacy with voters. – Reuters
Thousands of students, teachers and social activists clashed with police in the Chilean capital Wednesday during a massive march against President José Antonio Kast’s education cuts and austerity measures. – Associated Press
Colombian lawyer and presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella, who secured the most votes in the first round of Colombia’s elections, on Wednesday thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for endorsing his campaign, in an election that serves as a litmus test as the region shifts towards the right. – Associated Press
Amanda Gordon writes: By sanctioning these companies, Washington is attempting to disrupt the cash flow that sustains the Ortega-Murillo regime. Yet sanctions alone have proven insufficient. The regime has simply granted fresh mining concessions to replace sanctioned companies. These measures must now be combined with aggressive enforcement to prevent those companies from rebranding or being replaced by other proxies. This survival strategy has come at a high cost to the Nicaraguan people. By trading its territory, digital privacy and economic security, the Ortega-Murillo regime has compromised its country’s future while simultaneously allowing China and Russia to establish a significant foothold in the region. The U.S. should act decisively before other authoritarian states replicate this model. – The Hill
North America
Canada’s Liberal government on Wednesday ordered the country’s broadcast regulator to revise its released online-streaming decision that sparked the likelihood of fresh trade retaliation from the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
Cuba’s already inefficient state-run economy – long plagued by shortages – has descended in recent months into a full-blown crisis in the wake of hardened sanctions and a fuel blockade by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. But – despite Trump’s prediction in early January that Cuba was “ready to fall” and despite severely rationed power, a crumbling health service and the decimation of its crucial tourism industry – Cubans keep on going and the government is still in charge. – Reuters
Mexico’s former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who repeatedly pledged to stay out of politics after leaving office, issued a public statement backing President Claudia Sheinbaum and criticizing growing US pressure on her government. – Bloomberg
León Krauze writes: Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, has weakened the courts, is reshaping the electoral system and now invokes “foreign interference” as a permanent threat. It is not merely defending sovereignty. It is constructing a political instrument. The danger is that the government will use the confrontation with the United States to narrow the space for dissent at home. Sunday’s speech was an early glimpse of a governing party preparing its electoral narrative for 2027: If Morena wins, the people have spoken; if Morena is challenged, foreign interference may be to blame. This is a recipe for lasting democratic erosion. – Washington Post
Arturo McFields writes: U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said that fighting cartels “should unite us, not divide us,” and that both Americans and Mexicans “want to live safely and in peace,” and “deserve freedom from the intimidation, corruption, and fear that the cartels inflict.” “Every moment spent turning this shared security challenge into a political dispute is a missed opportunity to strengthen our partnership and protect the people we serve,” he added. The original story of “The Untouchables” ends with Capone’s downfall. The story of Mexico’s untouchables could have a less happy ending — one in which Mexico’s relationship with its main trading partner is at risk and the doors are opened for the U.S. to do the urgent task that the Mexican government has decided to decline: fight the drug cartels head-on without cowardice or complacency. – The Hill
United States
U.S. President Donald Trump will attend the NATO meeting of heads of state that is taking place in Turkey in early July, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, providing a confirmation that will likely lead to a sigh of relief across the capitals of the alliance. – Reuters
The House for the first time Wednesday approved a war powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, defying President Donald Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to end the three-month-long conflict that has reordered politics at home and abroad. – Associated Press
President Donald Trump announced he would attend the Group of Seven leaders summit in France, a gathering set to take place amid tensions between the president and US allies over the war in Iran. – Bloomberg
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was aware of the potential global economic fallout from launching a war against Iran but assessed the threat of Tehran eventually getting a nuclear weapon to be more serious. – Bloomberg
The White House slammed a Wednesday report by Bloomberg that claimed Iran was at a greater risk of obtaining a nuclear weapon than it was before the 2025 strikes destroyed Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure. – New York Post
Editorial: The reporters (and their sources) who pretend Trump wants Bibi to do that are willfully ignoring these obvious facts to paint their preferred illusions — with no worry at all for how it serves the interests of Iran’s rulers. After two months with basically zero public information on the US-Iran talks (and Trump’s posts don’t count any more than Iran’s bluster), it’s inevitable that the press resorts to offering disinformation; indeed, the fact that the Western media will rush to smear Trump is likely part of Tehran’s calculations in stretching out negotiations. In our minds, that’s just one more reason to call the Iranians’ bluff, force the strait open and leave the Islamic Republic to rot. – New York Post
Cybersecurity
Air Liquide said it would invest nearly 200 million euros ($232.6 million) in a facility in South Korea to supply materials to SK Hynix’s production of artificial intelligence storage chips. – Wall Street Journal
Apple has agreed to submit the financials of its India business to the country’s antitrust body as part of an investigation that found the U.S. firm abused its market position, taking the long-delayed case a step closer to a potential penalty decision, an agency order shows. – Reuters
Meta, accused Australia of violating a free trade agreement with the U.S. by proposing a new tax on certain tech giants which do not strike licensing deals with local media, escalating a dispute which has simmered for half a decade. – Reuters
South Korea’s Science Ministry said on Wednesday that the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) had secured access to Anthropic’s cybersecurity AI model, Mythos, through participation in the company’s Project Glasswing alongside major Korean companies. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin’s push for what he calls Russia’s technological sovereignty is turning into a family affair with the development of key sectors entrusted to one of his daughters and the children of close allies. – Bloomberg
The EU is moving to counter American dominance in technology by reaching for one of the oldest tools in its arsenal: industrial strategy. – Politico
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) plans to release a directive to federal agencies detailing actions required to carry out the president’s artificial intelligence executive order by the end of the week, CISA Acting Director Nick Andersen said Wednesday. – The Record
A U.S. military branch dedicated to cyber warfare, on par with the Army or Navy, would cost up to $11 billion to establish and should consist of around 30,000 personnel in order to bolster the nation’s digital defenses and better address growing threats, a report by a panel of policy experts and former top military leaders asserts. – The Record
Defense
The U.S. expects European NATO allies and Canada to swiftly increase the number of manned and unmanned aircraft and ships they contribute to the alliance’s defence plans as Washington steps back in these areas, a top U.S. general said on Wednesday. – Reuters
The U.S. military on Wednesday said it carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific killing two people. The U.S. Southern Command said on X that intelligence had confirmed that the vessel “was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” – Reuters
The Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II completed its final flight today at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina as part of a sundown ceremony for the ground attack jet — concluding more than 40 years in service for the aircraft. – Breaking Defense
Thomas G. Mahnken writes: The war in Iran—along with the capture of Maduro—has made plain what the U.S. military can and can’t accomplish right now, and what it must therefore do next. It has shown that Washington needs to get its allies to do more and that it needs to do more itself. This does not mean that the United States should emphasize quantity over quality; it will still pay dividends to be the most advanced military on the planet. But in an era of extended conflict, Washington and its allies need to be dominant in all domains and on all fronts. They must be ready to bring everything to bear everywhere, and all at once. – Foreign Affairs