Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Trump struggled to rein In Netanyahu’s strikes on Iran Iran’s attack on Israel reveals new and aggressive regional ambitions Iran and Israel halt exchanges of fire EU sanctions Iranians over restricting naval traffic in Hormuz WINEP’s Dennis Ross: A deal could leave Iran fatally weakened ISIS’s David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team: Recent activity at the Fordow enrichment plant and its associated support site Ukraine recaptures more than 600 square km of territory in 2026, military chief says Lebanon is teetering at the abyss of a new civil war What Xi and Kim want from their summit in North Korea U.S. expands list of Chinese tech companies it says assist Beijing's military Armenia’s prime minister declares victory in race shadowed by Russia CSIS’s Seth G. Jones: Taiwan needs U.S. arms nowIn The News
Israel
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed how to respond to waves of Iranian missile attacks Sunday night, President Trump called with a message: Stand down. – Wall Street Journal
The Israeli military said it attacked Iran’s sprawling Mahshahr petrochemical complex on Monday, its first strike there since a cease-fire was agreed between the countries on April 7. – New York Times
Italian prosecutors put Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir under investigation over the treatment of activists who were part of a Gaza flotilla last month, a judicial source said on Monday. – Reuters
Israeli strikes killed six Palestinians, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials there said, as Israel’s military expanded the area under its control, according to residents. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump told Axios in an interview published on Monday that he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he might find himself fighting alone if he went back to war with Iran. – Reuters
As millions of Israelis braced for Iranian missile attacks on Monday, coalition lawmakers debated granting immunity to Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who has been accused of exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer, in a hearing that was dominated by conspiracy theories against security forces; and demanded legislation to enshrine draft exemptions for yeshiva students by making long-term Torah study a basic law on par with military service. – Times of Israel
A drone launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was intercepted by air defenses over the southernmost city of Eilat early Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said. – Times of Israel
Editorial: If the regime won’t make a deal that meets U.S. objectives, Mr. Trump needs an alternative—and soon. The war has now passed the 100-day mark, and the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. The U.S. has been helping sneak vessels through while its own blockade punishes Iran. But the regime has also gotten away with repeated attacks while it drags out talks and rebuilds its military arsenal. In recent weeks the U.S. position has been eroding. That changed on Sunday and Monday as Israel rolled back some of what Iran had advanced during the cease-fire. Mr. Trump now can seize the opening by giving the regime a hard deadline and empowering Israel to enforce the cease-fire against Iranian violations. Or he can continue restraining Israel in the hope that Iran gives him an escape from the war in a few more days, just a few more days. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: US President Donald Trump made clear that he wanted the exchange to end. According to reports, he urged Netanyahu not to retaliate. His administration is pursuing negotiations with Iran and understandably wants to avoid another regional escalation that could jeopardize those talks. From Washington’s perspective, that is understandable. Trump noted that the Iranian missiles did not kill anyone and argued that there was no reason for the latest exchange to spiral further. America has global interests to manage. It is trying to prevent another war in a region that has consumed decades of diplomatic and military attention. – Jerusalem Post
Marc Champion writes: It is these strategic failures, amid undoubted military success, that have left Israel with few good options. Netanyahu can hope for a rapid collapse of the regime in Tehran to resolve his dilemma, but that’s unlikely. Alternatively, he can try to persuade the US to join in a long-term mow-the-lawn policy to keep Iran weak, amounting to a forever war. This, too, seems unlikely — or at least not in the interests of the US, its Gulf allies or the global economy. Failing one of these minor miracles, the risk of Israel being forced to accept a peace deal that leaves an enraged and emboldened Islamic Republic in place is real. No doubt Netanyahu, like Trump, believed in February that a short, victorious Iranian war might salvage his dimming political prospects, ahead of the Israeli elections due by October. That was a bad bet. – Bloomberg
Iran
Iran’s series of ballistic-missile salvos aimed at Israel signal Tehran’s desire to project power across the region, put Washington on the defensive and demonstrate that it retains significant strike capabilities despite the intense air campaign waged against it by the U.S. and Israel. – Wall Street Journal
Iran and Israel ended multiple exchanges of fire Monday but left open the possibility of resuming attacks that pressured President Trump’s fragile Middle East ceasefire. – Wall Street Journal
Oil prices pared gains after Iran said it ended military operations against Israel, easing fears that the latest exchange of fire could derail regional efforts to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. – Wall Street Journal
A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and the two crew members were safely rescued, according to two people briefed on the incident. – New York Times
Residents of Tehran, the capital of Iran, woke up in the early hours of Monday to the sound of massive explosions from Israeli strikes. Large plumes of smoke and red flames billowed in the air. – New York Times
The European Union said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on two Iranian individuals and a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for threatening the freedom of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil flows. – Reuters
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi called on Iran on Monday to “re-engage” with him so inspections can resume at sites the U.S. and Israel bombed a year ago, as the U.S. led a push for a resolution to that effect at the agency’s board. – Reuters
U.S. forces disabled an unladen oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, the U.S. military said. – Reuters
Overnight exchanges of fire between Iran and Israel will only worsen an already “chaotic diplomatic process” with the United States, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, adding that Tehran was exchanging messages with Washington in an atmosphere of “extreme suspicion”. – Reuters
Tehran will turn the naval blockade established by the United States into another defeat for the “enemy”, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a message posted on his Telegram channel on Monday. – Reuters
The US is moving to censure Iran at the United Nations atomic watchdog, escalating diplomatic pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear activity as their ceasefire is seriously tested by fresh attacks involving Israel. – Bloomberg
Iran has rebuked claims by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama that it is behind disinformation campaigns surrounding protests in Albania that are now in their ninth day. – Politico
Communication lines between Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and other Iranian officials have been disrupted since Sunday night, according to information obtained by the anti-regime London-based outlet Iran International. – Jerusalem Post
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on Monday blamed the Islamic Republic for the latest escalation following Iranian attacks on Israel, accusing the regime of endangering both Iranians and regional stability. – Arutz Sheva
Dennis Ross writes: After the 12-day war last June, Iranians started questioning the high costs incurred by the country, and the wisdom of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s strategy of supporting Tehran’s regional proxy network. Those voices have not disappeared, even if they, and a broader alienated public, are quiet for now. But as discontent inevitably builds, they won’t remain so. At a minimum, a smart deal would limit the sanctions relief to Iran as much as possible. Relief would only buy the regime time. – Washington Post
Amine Ayoub writes: The erosion of congressional support for the war is not happening because Iran is winning on the battlefield. It is happening because wars without clear objectives, without authorization, and without a defined endpoint generate attrition at home. Tehran studied Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. It knows the question is never whether America can win. It is whether America will stay. – Jerusalem Post
David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team write: Synthetic aperture radar data collected by Copernicus’ Sentinel-1 satellite and analyzed and mapped by Bellingcat shows that additional surfaces underwent changes after March 2026, which could be indicative of damage inflicted (see Figure 13). The radar correctly identified damage inflicted on the defense site and the support area’s stable isotope building. Additional signatures seem to be false positives. Overall, there is less damage than expected at the support site given its importance for the operation of the underground centrifuge cascades in Fordow and a potential uranium enrichment site. – Institute for Science and International Security
Seth Mandel writes: The complaint against Saadi includes records of him calling for violence against “Jewish synagogues” and “Zionist headquarters” and “a Jewish temple” and “a Jewish center” and the like. Again, there will be no cease-fires proffered by figures like Saadi. There is no expectation of getting Iran to formally agree to stop targeting Jews around the world for assassination. Iran will discuss potential cease-fires with the United States military, of course. Because it would like the Americans to turn a blind eye to its unceasing global war. But there is no point before, during, or after negotiations for cease-fires or nuclear deals at which Jews are not at that moment being targeted for murder somewhere by Iran. When that war is over, we can talk of peace. – Commentary Magazine
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 600 square km of territory so far this year, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday, the latest sign of shifting momentum after years of slow but relentless Russian gains. – Reuters
Four people were killed and more than 20 injured after Russia hit Ukraine’s Kharkiv region with missiles and drones, according to officials on Tuesday, while Russia-annexed Crimea said it was repelling drone attacks. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had a “positive” conversation with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks. – Reuters
Russia is passing on some of the responsibility for protecting critical factories and infrastructure onto private companies as Kyiv ramps up drone attacks on industrial plants, ports and oil refineries. – Bloomberg
Long before he started Europe’s worst war in 80 years, President Vladimir Putin fostered a macho political culture in Russia with stunts such as riding shirtless on horseback and shooting a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun. – Bloomberg
Polish-Ukrainian anti-drone radar company Molfar Defence said it is developing a new generation of tactical radar systems for drone types that have doggedly managed to penetrate Ukrainian defenses. – Defense News
Douglas Schoen and Thomas Weihe write: On the other hand, Ukrainians know that distinction, and their commitment to preserving their freedom can be measured in the lives of their soldiers. This is a good moment for Americans and Europeans to reassess the importance of freedom and its fundamental place in our society. […] But support for Ukrainians who fight to defend freedom can bring Vladimir Putin’s destructive war to an end and get a fair result in Ukraine. To that end, we urge Republicans and Democrats, free-market Americans and more Socialist Europeans to return to the core values of freedom and democracy, so that different ends of the political spectrum across the Atlantic can unite to defend them. – The Hill
Andrei Kozyrev writes: The true “art of the deal” is to transform apparent burdens into strategic opportunities. The United States did so after World War II by helping rebuild Europe and Japan, turning battlefields into pillars of the democratic world order. Ukraine presents a similar opportunity today. Rather than treating Kyiv as a dependency, Washington should recognize it as a future strategic asset: a battle-tested nation positioned at the frontier of European security. History rarely offers great nations a second chance to shape a more secure world. The United States seized these opportunities in the 1940s and during the Cold War. It must not allow another historic moment to slip away. – Newsweek
Lebanon
The government of Lebanon is barely able to manage the basic requirements of statehood. It can provide electricity for only a few hours a day, and people avoid its flattened currency in favor of dollars. Its military is only the second-most-powerful force in the country after Hezbollah—or the third counting Israel, which has been expanding its monthslong occupation. – Wall Street Journal
The kindling that ignited the most recent escalation between Israel and Iran on Sunday was in Lebanon, which has been battered repeatedly in the conflict between the other two countries as they have sought to impose their own rules in the Middle East. – New York Times
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made a rare direct appeal to the Israeli government and its people to come to the negotiating table to end the war, warning in a CNN interview aired Monday that a military solution “will never provide you with security and safety.” – Reuters
Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the U.S. announced a ceasefire for the country on April 16, Lebanon’s defence minister, Michel Menassa, said on Monday. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt’s annual inflation rate is expected to have eased to 14.5% in May, pulled lower by favourable base effects, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, though analysts warn the respite will be short-lived as electricity price hikes and other pressures push prices higher in coming months. – Reuters
The trade ministers of Turkey and Canada have agreed to launch exploratory discussions aimed at concluding a free trade agreement, according to a joint ministerial statement on Tuesday. – Reuters
Oman signed ten agreements and memorandums of understanding to establish new projects within its special economic zone at Duqm with an estimated investments value of $7.5 billion, Oman’s state news agency reported on Monday. – Reuters
Turkish forces interfered with a military aircraft carrying European defense ministers to an EU meeting in Cyprus on Monday, the Cypriot government said, adding it will lodge formal complaints over the incidents. – Politico
Korean Peninsula
China and North Korea should “resolutely defend our respective sovereignty, security, and development interests, and jointly safeguard regional peace and development,” he told the North Korean leader at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse on Monday, according to Chinese state media. – Wall Street Journal
Nvidia is teaming up with leading South Korean technology companies to build large-scale artificial-intelligence infrastructure in Asia, seeking to solidify its data-center footprint and expand its AI ecosystem into robotics and other industrial sectors. – Wall Street Journal
South Korean authorities urged banks to step up measures against what they described as “speculative market-disrupting behavior,” after the won slumped to its weakest level since 2009 amid escalating Middle East tensions and speculation the Federal Reserve could raise rates by the year-end. – Wall Street Journal
South Korea’s cabinet approved on Tuesday a presidential decree as part of the process to allow $350 billion of strategic investments in the United States to proceed under a trade deal struck between the countries last year. – Reuters
South Korea’s economy grew in the first quarter at a stronger pace than previously estimated in April, revised central bank data showed on Tuesday. – Reuters
China
The Pentagon on Monday updated its list of Chinese businesses the U.S. has identified as aiding Beijing’s military, designating around two dozen new companies, including tech giants Alibaba Group and Baidu, limiting their operations in America. – Wall Street Journal
China’s export growth accelerated in May, providing a key source of support for an economy still weighed down by a prolonged domestic slowdown. – Wall Street Journal
As AI heavyweights including Nvidia, Intel, and SK Group last week championed Taiwan’s significance as a crucial hub for the global supply chain, a hostile exchange with China was brewing at sea. – Reuters
Taiwan’s military simulated destroying an invading Chinese force in a coastal exercise on Tuesday, firing off rockets and artillery to stop an amphibious assault in what it described as a more realistic combat scenario with less preparation time. – Reuters
Rob Pierce writes: If left unencumbered by US pressure, China’s distant-water fleet will continue to unlawfully extract resources, weaken the resolve of states like Ecuador and Peru to counter Chinese malign influence, and ultimately diminish US influence in its own hemisphere. By unleashing the Coast Guard and empowering nations to take concrete steps to address China’s predatory fleet, the United States can better protect our hemisphere against our primary global competitor and demonstrate its refocused commitment to securing our hemisphere as outlined in the National Security Strategy. – American Foreign Policy Council
Kimberly Lim writes: While these drugs are injectable, the next frontier is making them oral, according to Yadav. In April, Eli Lilly’s Foundayo became the second oral GLP-1 weight-loss pill to gain U.S. approval, months after Denmark’s Novo Nordisk launched the first. China has its own candidate, IBI3032, in early-stage trials in the United States, while other Chinese drugs such as HDM1002 and ASC30 have shown weight-loss results in early studies. Whichever way the FDA rules on peptides, China’s pharmaceutical heft is growing. The country’s industrial base can produce chemical compounds cheaply and more quickly than U.S. competitors. American consumers—and some members of the U.S. cabinet—are helping to fuel Beijing’s ascent. – Foreign Policy
South Asia
Clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir ahead of a protest called for Tuesday killed 11 people and injured more than 70 as police and paramilitary forces sought to scatter a group of protesters from a banned alliance of civil society groups. – Reuters
India is pushing for preferential new tariffs from the United States as part of talks to finalise an interim trade deal with Washington, an Indian trade official said on Monday. – Reuters
A few months ago, India’s economy was humming along nicely. Inflation was benign and growth was steady – the strongest among the world’s leading economies. Now, India is increasingly counting the cost of the Iran war, which economists say will keep mounting if the deadlock between the U.S. and Iran remains unresolved and the blockage of oil supplies continues. – Reuters
Asia
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia declared victory early Monday in a high-stakes election, overcoming a pressure campaign by Moscow and winning a mandate to move forward on peace talks with neighboring Azerbaijan that President Trump helped broker last year. – New York Times
The Philippines’ foreign ministry has undertaken appropriate diplomatic action against China in connection with the “illegal presence” of a floating structure in a disputed atoll, the country’s South China Sea task force said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Vietnam has ordered its major airlines to review the progress of multibillion-dollar agreements signed with Boeing and Pratt & Whitney, and explore new import deals with American companies, as Hanoi seeks to strengthen its hand in trade talks with the United States. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board approved reviews of Papua New Guinea’s lending arrangements, unlocking about $163 million in combined disbursements, the fund said on Monday. – Reuters
Gale-force winds and rough seas battered New Zealand’s capital of Wellington on Tuesday, forcing ferry and flight cancellations and road closures as authorities urged hundreds of residents along the city’s south coast to evacuate. – Reuters
Malaysia’s largest Islamist party has moved to sever formal ties with its ally, deepening a rift within the opposition bloc ahead of the next general election. – Bloomberg
Indonesia has no plan to revamp its cabinet as of now, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said on Monday. “If there’s any change, we will let you know in due course,” Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta. – Bloomberg
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned that the economy has yet to feel the full impact of the Middle East conflict, and uncertainty remains over the growth outlook despite a strong performance in the first quarter. – Bloomberg
Seth G. Jones writes: Mr. Xi and the Communist Party have ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to conduct a successful invasion of Taiwan by next year. The U.S. is delivering roughly $4 billion of arms to Taiwan a year, which means that it could take a decade at the current pace to deliver all promised aid. That is too late to help Taiwan. The solution is straightforward. The Trump administration needs to approve the $14 billion arms package and accelerate delivery of the promised $30 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. Otherwise, the U.S. will undermine deterrence in the region and increase the prospect for war. – Wall Street Journal
Europe
A French fighter jet shot down a drone that entered NATO ally Latvia’s airspace from Russia on Monday, the latest security incident along Europe’s eastern border while Russia wages war on Ukraine. – Washington Post
Germany has pulled out of a stalled stealth-fighter project with France and Spain whose lack of progress has become a symbol for the hurdles Europe faces in rebuilding its militaries as the U.S. reduces its presence on the continent. – Wall Street Journal
German manufacturing orders dropped in April, with weak demand set to persist amid the high uncertainty prompted by the war in Iran. – Wall Street Journal
A Dutch virologist who has been honored for helping to advance the development of the Covid vaccine now finds himself under the microscope of U.S. federal investigators. – New York Times
The stabbing death of an 18-year-old college student in an English port city has become the latest flashpoint in a debate over policing, racism and Britain’s deteriorating relationship with the United States. – New York Times
When the war began in the Middle East and energy prices soared, Europe braced for a sharp, short economic shock. More than three months later, the region is settling in for a period of higher prices and weaker growth that could last much longer than expected. – New York Times
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, was suspended while the court’s member states consider disciplinary measures against him, continuing a saga that has left the institution in a state of upheaval for much of the past two years. – New York Times
A 37-year-old man arrested in Greece over the weekend has been charged with terrorism offences linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Athens News Agency reported on Monday. – Reuters
More than a third of lawmakers from Britain’s governing Labour Party signed a letter on Monday calling on the British government to end trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. – Reuters
Spending on nuclear weapons by the world’s nine nuclear-armed states rose by almost a fifth in 2025 to $119 billion, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Roberto Vannacci’s new far-right party, Futuro Nazionale, is fast becoming a political headache for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. – Reuters
Albania will plough on with a luxury resort planned by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on a remote stretch of Balkan coast despite persistent protests over its environmental impact, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters on Monday. – Reuters
Pope Leo told Spain’s parliament that escalating conflict, deepening polarization and widespread disregard for human rights had pushed the world into a profound crisis, in one of his most expansive political addresses yet on Monday. – Reuters
Poland’s prime minister called for solidarity and talks between Warsaw and Kyiv on Monday after diplomatic relations deteriorated over the naming of a Ukrainian army unit for nationalist insurgents who massacred Poles in World War Two. – Reuters
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called for cooperation from other parties to end 18 months of political deadlock after his Vetevendosje party came out top in a parliamentary election on Sunday but failed to secure enough votes to govern alone. – Reuters
Switzerland is set for a nail-biter vote on a proposal to cap the population at 10 million, after a two-pronged push by campaigners that paired a polished appeal to sustainability-minded moderates with harsher anti-immigrant messaging. – Bloomberg
Denmark’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets will be about 14 billion kroner ($2.2 billion) more expensive than planned, according to the national auditors, who criticized the Nordic country’s government for giving inadequate information to parliament. – Bloomberg
Entrenched corruption under former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban likely cost Hungary about 60 trillion forint ($194 billion) over the past 16 years, according to the head of the country’s anti-graft agency. – Bloomberg
Five organizations affiliated with the global Muslim Brotherhood network are active in Italy, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry alleged in a new report on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to host a video call between the Group of Seven countries and China to address global trade imbalances, according to four officials from three G7 countries familiar with preparations for the meeting. – Politico
The European Union wants to plug a gaping hole in ocean research left behind by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. – Politico
Africa
A World Cup referee from Somalia was denied entry into the United States days before the tournament is set to begin, U.S. border officials said on Monday, and will not participate. – New York Times
Riot police fired tear gas to disperse scores of protesters rallying on Monday against plans to build on part of a national park in Kenya’s capital. – Reuters
Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday said confirmed Ebola deaths had climbed to 101 and that the presence of armed groups was continuing to hinder the response in the hardest-hit province. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund on Monday said its executive board approved Rwanda’s request for a new $250 million, 38-month extended credit facility to help it deal with tighter global financial conditions, while protecting social and development spending. – Reuters
The director-general of the World Health Organization said on Monday that Uganda should reconsider its decision to close its border with Democratic Republic of Congo because of an Ebola outbreak. – Reuters
Mauritius said on Monday that it had not received any proposal from the Trump administration on the Chagos Islands, after the Telegraph reported that the White House was considering a plan to buy the islands from Mauritius. – Reuters
Gunmen have abducted 39 people in northwest Nigeria who were meeting with the family of a bandit leader, the police said Monday. Some 47 residents were meeting with the parents of the suspected kidnap kingpin for “reconciliation and peace engagement” when the bandit leader arrived and abducted most of them, police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar said in a statement. – Associated Press
Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga said he was arrested Monday alongside other activists protesting planned construction inside Nairobi National Park. – Associated Press
A Kenyan high court upheld the impeachment of President William Ruto’s former deputy almost two years ago, even though it found the process hadn’t been held in a fair manner. – Bloomberg
Nigeria will begin repatriating its citizens from South Africa this week, after anti-immigrant attacks and protests in the continent’s biggest economy. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Western companies are pouring money into Brazil’s rare-earth industry, hoping the South American nation can help loosen China’s grip on the minerals used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and advanced weapons. – Wall Street Journal
LATAM Airlines’ Brazilian unit is expected to trim capacity by about 3% in July compared with its initial plans for the period due to rising fuel costs, CEO Jerome Cadier told Reuters on Monday. – Reuters
A razor-thin presidential runoff left Peruvians without a clear winner Monday, with conservative politician Keiko Fujimori and nationalist congressman Roberto Sánchez virtually tied. With 94% of ballots tallied, the figures showed Sánchez earned 8.79 million votes, or 50.015%, while Fujimori received 8.78 million votes, or 49.985%. – Associated Press
Protesters in Bolivia demanding the resignation of conservative President Rodrigo Paz hurled firecrackers, stones and sticks at police who responded with tear gas on Monday, leading to dozens of arrests as road blockades continue to paralyze the Andean nation. – Associated Press
Matias Ahrensdorf writes: He has since demanded that Rodrigo Paz, the country’s first non-socialist president in nearly two decades, resign within 90 days, holding Bolivia’s roads and economy hostage. As of this writing, 103 blockades operate across seven of nine departments, 13 people have died, and food, medicine, and fuel are running short on the crisis’s 34th day. Western coverage calls the unrest a one-dimensional labor dispute over wages and fuel. The New York Times blamed teacher pay, contaminated fuel, and a new land law. Reuters pointed to teachers demanding higher wages and transport unions striking over fuel. The Associated Press reported protesters marching as the “economic crisis deepened.” These outlets cannot agree on what sparked the insurrection, because none will name its true cause, Evo Morales. – Washington Examiner
Brian Fonseca writes: Most importantly, the United States must reengage the hemisphere economically with seriousness and consistency. For many countries in Latin America, Chinese influence expanded because the United States was absent, inconsistent, or overly securitized in its approach to the region. Countries across the hemisphere are not looking to become geopolitical battlegrounds. They are seeking investment, modernization, and reliable long-term partnerships. The United States still retains enormous advantages over China in Latin America and the Caribbean: geographic proximity, deep cultural ties, educational networks, private-sector innovation, financial depth, and long-standing democratic partnerships. Capitalizing on those advantages requires competitive statecraft, not reactive rhetoric. – Foreign Policy
North America
A new $4.7 billion bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is on track to open in the coming weeks, a bridge authority said on Monday, despite a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump in February to block its opening. – Reuters
The United States imposed additional visa restrictions Monday on more than 100 Nicaraguan officials and their family members over the death of indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera. – Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has captured global attention by championing the idea of an alliance of mid-level economic powers that would operate beyond President Donald Trump’s increasingly protectionist United States. – Reuters
A historically strong earthquake struck off Cuba’s northwest coast on Monday, according to official reports, shaking parts of Cuba, Mexico and Florida that are typically not prone to quakes. – Reuters
Mexico’s annual inflation likely slowed in May, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will maintain its interest rate at current levels for an extended period. – Reuters
Tighter US sanctions on Cuba have led to a spike in infant mortality and plummeting survival rates for child cancer patients, the United Nations warned in one of its strongest rebukes of Washington’s pressure campaign against the island. – Bloomberg
United States
A federal judge on Monday invalidated the Trump administration’s new fees for H-1B visas, saying officials overreached in applying a $100,000 charge for new applicants to the popular program for foreign professionals. – Wall Street Journal
One month after ordering the Trump administration to return a woman who had been deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a federal judge reversed his decision, citing new evidence. – New York Times
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday formally nominated Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, moving to install his former personal lawyer as the top U.S. law enforcement official. – Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday that it had moved to strip citizenship from 17 naturalized individuals who are accused of crimes including sex offences, fraud, and illicit drug sales. – Reuters
The State Department will offer a “premium” expedited service for foreigners seeking business or tourist visas to come to the United States that will set applicants back $750 — on top of the initial fee of $185. – Associated Press
Donald Trump called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire the Senate’s top rules keeper after one of her decisions thwarted the president’s efforts to attach voter identification legislation to a budget package. – Bloomberg
Former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US Navy is capable of prying open the Strait of Hormuz but that an extended military operation to free up the vital oil and gas waterway would be costly and require allies. – Bloomberg
Vice President JD Vance addressed the United States’ diplomatic relationship with Israel Monday as President Donald Trump’s partnership with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been strained recently. – Fox News
Alina Romanowski, Ben Fishman, and Michael Jacobson write: The vocal frustration with some of the strategic results of past U.S. foreign assistance to the Middle East is understandable. Lots of money was spent on projects that had little direct benefit to strategic partnerships in the region, and often without regard for how the population viewed the United States. Some skepticism is therefore warranted. Yet in the current period of enormous transition and uncertainty in the Middle East, foreign assistance remains an important tool of U.S. influence, and any further reductions should be carefully weighed against America’s longer-term strategic interest in the region’s stability and security. – Washington Institute
Cybersecurity
Meta said on Monday it is filing a federal court contempt order against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from ever targeting WhatsApp and its users. – Reuters
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump’s administration to tighten rules on chip contract manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to prevent them from making advanced AI chips for overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies. – Reuters
Europe’s push to cut its reliance on U.S. Big Tech with EU-made technologies and chips could shut out other non-EU players from the European market, trade bodies representing tech companies in Australia, Canada and Japan warned on Monday. – Reuters
Australia in December became the world’s first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s, YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. – Reuters
South Korea will ask for priority supply of Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin graphics processing units, as deliveries are expected to be delayed, Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said on Monday. – Reuters
Britain set out a new £1.1 billion ($1.47 billion) plan on Monday to build domestic AI computing capacity, including a new national supercomputer and funding to back homegrown chip firms. – Reuters
Long championed as a leader in adopting digital technology, Sweden is set to ban mobile phones in schools beginning in the fall for the next academic year as part of a broad, international reversal on the use of screens in classrooms. – Associated Press
AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos and OpenAI’s Daybreak represent a fundamental inflection point in security. These advances are not only reshaping technology but also redefining trust, risk, and the relationship between humans and intelligent systems. As innovation accelerates, AI governance and responsible deployment are becoming strategic priorities for every organization. – Cyberscoop
Zachary Karabell writes: How and when AI will transform business and society is still uncertain. But the disruption from AI today is at least equivalent to that of the personal computer in the 1980s and the internet and fiber revolution of the 1990s: The technology will fundamentally change how work gets done and at what pace. What AI won’t change — and what Anthropic implicitly acknowledges in its many public statements — is human nature and its incredible capacity to create along with its depressing ability to destroy. – Washington Post
Defense
The U.S. Department of State approved a possible sale of nearly $2 billion worth of counter-unmanned aerial systems to Kuwait. Kuwait requested the c-UAS platforms, built by Anduril, in an effort to improve the country’s ability to counter current and future threats, according to a Friday release. – Defense News
Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) will lead the U.S. participation in this year’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 exercise, the service announced. Held from June 24 to July 31 in and around the Hawaiian Islands, RIMPAC will include a total of 32 surface ships, five submarines with 31 nations participating in the drills. – USNI News
Utah lawmakers were among those expressing discontent with the Department of Defense’s new list of recognized religious faiths and beliefs, specifically alarmed at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) being excluded as a Christian religion. Their concerns, for now, seem to be rectified. – Military.com
The U.S. military’s nuclear and mobility forces are using AI to generate higher-quality options for logistics and sustainment maneuvers and operations, according to two combatant commanders who lead them. – Defensescoop
The Defense Information Systems Agency will start transferring combatant commands to a standardized and secure IT network — now known as CommandNet — in fiscal 2028. – Defensescoop
The Army developed an app meant to help mortar crews calculate and launch rounds, the service said, replacing software for decades-old platforms with a fire control system that can fit in their pockets. – Defensescoop
Editorial: Moscow’s barbarism is despicable. But it isn’t new. The same can’t be said for Russia’s drone production. Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles overnight, making the attack one of the largest aerial assaults since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. At the war’s beginning, some commentators claimed that a war of attrition would deplete Russia’s industrial base. Instead, the long war has fueled the drone capabilities of Russia and Ukraine alike. In April 2026 alone, Russia launched 8,000 drone strikes against Ukraine, nearly eight times the number expended in the last few months of 2022, when the war began. – Washington Examiner
Seth G. Jones, Seamus P. Daniels, Riley McCabe, and Daniel Byman write: The United States and its allies face a serious and growing threat from an authoritarian axis led by China and Russia that will erode U.S. power and security if it is not effectively countered. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to conduct a successful invasion of Taiwan by 2027, and Russia continues to wage an aggressive war in Ukraine and a sabotage campaign across Europe that includes assassinations, bombings, and subversion. This report outlines a U.S. defense strategy of flexible engagement built around a two-war planning construct and a rapid shift to a wartime industrial footing to counter an axis led by China and Russia. It prioritizes the Indo-Pacific first and Europe second, as well as deterring and, if necessary, defeating two major powers simultaneously with significant allied and partner involvement. – Center for Strategic and International Studies