Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel expands Gaza ground operations in bid to squeeze Hamas Lethal Israeli strikes halve Hamas’ top leadership in Gaza JPost Editorial: Israel shouldn't be warring with itself, it should focus on Gaza battle Trump's offer of talks with Iran aims to avoid military action, US envoy says Russia defends Iran's right to peaceful nuclear program ahead of US-Israel talks WSJ’s Elliot Kaufman: Trump threatens Iran with the end of ‘Obama’s law’ Trump Russia envoy echoes Kremlin’s views on Ukraine ahead of peace talks Turkey jails top Erdogan rival IDF strikes Lebanon after rocket fire in biggest exchange of ceasefire U.S. directs a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East WSJ Editorial: Iran sanctions come to China Canada’s Mark Carney calls a snap electionIn The News
Israel
Israel’s military is expanding its ground operations across the Gaza Strip as talks to stop the fighting and release more hostages have stalled and the death toll in the enclave surpasses 50,000. Israeli troops pressed into the northern Gaza border town of Beit Hanoun on Saturday to lay the groundwork for expanding Israel’s security buffer. – Wall Street Journal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new national-security team are planning a major ground offensive in Gaza in the belief that capturing and holding swaths of territory will allow them to finally defeat Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas. – Wall Street Journal
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened permanent occupation of parts of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of its population if Hamas doesn’t release its remaining hostages, ramping up pressure on the group after ending a two-month cease-fire this week. – Wall Street Journal
The Israeli cabinet passed a no-confidence motion on Sunday against the country’s attorney general to begin the process of dismissing her. Critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move part of his effort to curb the independence of the judiciary and purge officials he considers disloyal. – New York Times
An Israeli airstrike at a hospital in Gaza on Sunday killed five people, including a Hamas political leader, Palestinian medics and Hamas said, in an attack Israel said had targeted a key figure in the militant group. – Reuters
Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighbouring communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday. – Reuters
Israel’s parliamentary finance committee late on Sunday approved the 2025 state budget, setting up a final vote by lawmakers before its March 31 deadline to prevent the government’s collapse. – Reuters
Israel’s Economic Affairs Committee on Sunday gave its final approval to a plan to build another international airport in the south of the country, not far from the area near the border with Gaza where Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. – Reuters
The Israeli military said on Friday it killed the head of Hamas’ military intelligence in southern Gaza on Thursday. In a statement, the military named the Hamas leader as Osama Tabash. It said he was also the head of the militant group’s surveillance and targeting unit. – Reuters
Unlike many families who blame Israel’s government for not getting their loved ones released from captivity in Gaza, Adi Alexander is hesitant to point fingers. Pragmatic and measured, the father of the last living American being held hostage by Hamas just wants his son to come home. – Associated Press
Israel killed two members of Hamas’ de facto cabinet in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, both sides said, bringing to 11 the death toll within the 20-person forum during a renewed Israeli offensive aimed at destroying the Palestinian faction as a military and governing force. – Bloomberg
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement on Saturday called on its Islamist rivals in the Hamas terror group to relinquish power in the Gaza Strip in order to safeguard the “existence” of Palestinians in the coastal enclave. – Agence France-Presse
The Defense Ministry successfully completed a series of tests to improve the capabilities of its Iron Dome defense system, the ministry said. The tests, conducted with the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) at the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) in collaboration with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, focused on preparing the system for future threats, such as rockets, missiles, and drones. – Jerusalem Post
As part of the first phase of the plan to relocate Palestinians who wish to leave Gaza for third countries, which appeared to take shape last Wednesday, 70 Gazans with foreign citizenship or family ties abroad departed from southern Israel’s Ramon Airport on a Romanian military plane bound for Europe. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou told Qatari-backed Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Saturday that Hamas was not interested in ruling Gaza after the war, in direct contradiction to comments made by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. – Jerusalem Post
The Prime Minister’s Office denied the claim on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved for the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to gather evidence against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Yes, the relationship between the attorney-general and the government is broken. However, the solution is not a politically driven firing. Nor is it preserving a legal adviser in a role that has become adversarial beyond repair. What Israel needs is reform: a clear, transparent mechanism for resolving these disputes – one that balances legal oversight with democratic accountability. What Israel does not need is another showdown between branches of government in the middle of a war, with the nation still reeling from the trauma of October 7. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: At the same time, the demonstrations calling for the release of Israeli hostages have become protests against the return to combat in Gaza, against the prime minister and against the dismissal of Bar. The focus of these demonstrations is so broad and unspecific, many Israelis don’t feel comfortable at them – especially because of their sometimes violent nature, physically and verbally. They have also brought us back to the terrible period before the October 7 massacre. The war in Gaza is not over. There are still 59 hostages held by Hamas. Israel’s enemies remain emboldened. Stability must come before political gain. – Jerusalem Post
Eric R. Mandel writes: Following the same playbook, rewarding and rationalizing Palestinian terror with a path to two states should be off the table until the Palestinians themselves, with the encouragement of Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf states, take responsibility for themselves, building a transparent economic and governing administrative state that can responsibly receive funds and take care of the needs of the people, without propagating Muslim Brotherhood ideology. Just as the nascent Jewish state built institutions before its birth, Palestinians need to build the foundation for a future, creating institutions and organizations dedicated to helping the people economically before any guaranteed political horizon can be contemplated. Victimhood and a revisionist narrative are not plans for success or peace. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump’s outreach to Iran’s top authority, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a possible new nuclear deal is an effort to avoid military action, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday. – Reuters
Talks with the U.S. are impossible unless Washington changes its pressure policy, the Iranian foreign minister said on Sunday, as Iran prepares to respond to President Donald Trump’s letter proposing negotiations on a new nuclear deal. – Reuters
Iran has the right to peaceful atomic energy and is acting in line with international law, the Kremlin said on Friday as the United States and Israel prepare for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program next week. – Reuters
Iranian oil shipments into China are set to fall in the near-term after new U.S. sanctions on a refiner and tankers, driving up shipping costs, but traders said they expect buyers to find workarounds to keep at least some volumes flowing. – Reuters
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi called on the international community to imagine “a world without the Islamic Republic” on Thursday in his Nowruz address to the Iranian people. – Jerusalem Post
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake that struck central Iran on Friday should not have damaged nuclear centrifuges in a key atomic energy facility, a source knowledgeable on the matter told The Jerusalem Post. – Jerusalem Post
Elliot Kaufman writes: In response to sustained U.S. strikes in Yemen beginning March 15, the Houthis claim to have fired a few dozen missiles and drones at a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Houthis have also launched several ballistic missiles at Israel since Tuesday, usually one or two a day. All have been intercepted, but the terrorists pledge to continue firing. The Houthis and their patron in Tehran seem to think they can call Mr. Trump’s bluff. As Messrs. Obama and Biden understood all too well, the problem with linking Iran to its proxies’ attacks is that then you might have to do something about it. Such is the paralyzing logic of Iranian impunity. – Wall Street Journal
Erfan Fard writes: Just as Nazi symbols were outlawed in Germany after Hitler’s fall, so too must the grotesque garb and theatrical visage of the mullahs vanish from public life in post-regime Iran. What a glorious moment it will be when the regime founded by Khomeini in a Tehran graveyard is, at last, consigned to the graveyard of history. Iran shall be free, its 86 million citizens restored to normal life, and the world shall breathe a deep sigh of relief. What a beautiful image it is – when the embassies of Israel and the United States once again raise their flags in free Tehran. – Jerusalem Post
Russia & Ukraine
On the eve of talks in Saudi Arabia, President Trump’s chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff, echoed some of the Kremlin’s main talking points on the Ukraine war, while advocating for future U.S.-Russian relations based on shared business interests. – Wall Street Journal
The brazen operation also stunned Russia when it launched on Aug. 6, overrunning weak border defenses and quickly seizing around 100 towns and villages in Russia’s Kursk region. The invasion embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin, raised Ukrainians’ morale after a year of grinding defensive war, and showed the U.S. and other backers that Ukraine still has plenty of fight in it. – Wall Street Journal
Nearly 150 Russian drones descended on Ukraine early Sunday, rattling Kyiv awake just after midnight to the boom of explosions, which killed three people and injured 10 — deepening tensions ahead of ceasefire talks continuing this week in Saudi Arabia. – Washington Post
A Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region killed three — a 41-year-old man, his 38-year-old wife and their 17-year-old daughter — on Friday, ratcheting tension over whether a limited ceasefire is being honored. – Washington Post
With President Trump lauding the possibility of “major economic development transactions” between the United States and Russia as he seeks improved relations with Moscow, Mr. Calvey’s fate stands as a cautionary tale about the significant personal and professional risks involved in doing business in Russia, particularly given the arbitrary nature of its courts. – New York Times
As Ukraine and Russia prepare for talks that would place a temporary halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, each side has continued to accuse the other of fresh attacks on the power grid, underscoring the deep mistrust between them. – New York Times
A U.S. delegation will seek progress toward a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader cessation of violence in the war in Ukraine when it meets for talks with Russian officials on Monday, after discussions with diplomats from Ukraine on Sunday. – Reuters
Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires, officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow’s intention to pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on energy facilities. – Associated Press
Russia launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine overnight Sunday that killed at least seven people, according to local Ukrainian officials and emergency services. – Associated Press
Andrew Wolf writes: Westphalian nation-state sovereignty, the notion of “sovereign state entities possessing the monopoly of force within their mutually recognized territories” is built on a key premise: The principle of non-interference asserts that no state should interfere in the internal affairs of another state. It upholds the idea that each state has the right to govern itself without external intervention. The entire Ukraine debacle is antithetical to this principle. The 2014 coup to remove President Viktor Yanukovych, which some argue was Western-influenced, the Russian invasion, the sabotage of the 2022 peace talks and the hundreds of thousands killed, speak to the critical lack of regard for the concept of sovereignty within the international community. – The Hill
Afghanistan
George Glezmann, an American detained in Afghanistan for more than two years before being released by the Taliban, arrived in the United States on Friday, where he reunited with his wife and was greeted by a welcoming party that included his former cellmate. – Reuters
The United States has lifted a $10 million reward offer for information leading to the arrest of a major Taliban leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan interior ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. – Reuters
The U.N. children’s agency on Saturday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift a lingering ban on girls’ education to save the future of millions who have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. – Associated Press
Syria
The administration of President Donald Trump is monitoring the actions of Syria’s interim leaders as Washington determines future policy, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday, but indicated any quick sanctions relief for Damascus was unlikely. – Reuters
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Representative Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, wrote a letter to to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asking them to review the US’s Syria sanctions policy with an eye toward removing some measures to help the country’s development and counter the influence of Russia and Iran. – Bloomberg
While King’s organization has been actively helping persecuted Christians in Syria as well as globally for years, a group of Syrian Christians in the country’s capital, Damascus, known as the Eagles of Antioch, came together to defend their communities and religious identity following the fall of former Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad. – Fox News
Iraq
Iraq plans to raise oil production capacity to more than 6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, the state news agency reported Iraq’s oil ministry as saying on Sunday. Oil ministry undersecretary Bassem Mohamed Khodeir told the agency that Iraq aims to achieve its target through oil exploration and nationwide drilling activity. – Reuters
Kurds in Iraq and Syria this week marked the Newroz festival, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal, at a time when many are hoping that a new political beginning is on the horizon. – Associated Press
Iraq is in talks with several companies to secure two floating storage regasification units by early June, as OPEC’s second-biggest producer tries to address power shortages caused by a US move against Iran. – Bloomberg
Mohanad Faris writes: Consequently, there is a prevailing belief that Iraq will witness a real test period during 2025, and there is an open question about how its political elite will deal with what may prove to be an impossible choice. At minimum, Baghdad will have to understand the price of either choice—to fight for continued security funding at the expense of its relationship with Iran or to allow U.S. security assistance to lapse without significant protest and face the national security repercussions. – Washington Institute
Turkey
An Istanbul court ordered the arrest of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top rival on corruption charges, according to state-run media and a copy of the decision viewed by The Wall Street Journal, and the country’s Interior Ministry said it was temporarily removing him from his post as Istanbul mayor. – Wall Street Journal
Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) members and others head to polling stations on Sunday for a primary election to endorse detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as candidate for the next presidential election. – Reuters
Turkish Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan will meet with board members of Turkey’s Banks Association (TBB) on Sunday to discuss recent developments in the market, three banking sources with the knowledge of the matter said. – Reuters
Turkish authorities have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. – Reuters
Gunmen riding a motorbike fired eight shots at the facade of the Iraqi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said, in an incident that Turkey said caused no casualties. – Reuters
An Istanbul court on Friday ordered prominent Turkish journalist Ismail Saymaz to be placed under house arrest in an investigation connected to nationwide protests in 2013, opposition television channel Halk TV reported. – Reuters
Editorial: Large demonstrations broke out in Istanbul and other cities to protest the political arrests, and Human Rights Watch says the Istanbul governor’s office banned public assemblies and demonstrations for several days. But global investors registered a no-confidence vote as the lira plunged to a record low before recovering somewhat as the Turkish central bank intervened. Freedom suffers another blow in a country that once offered hope of far better. – Wall Street Journal
Lebanon
Israel launched strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least seven people, authorities here said, in response to rockets fired from across the border earlier in the day. The exchange was the largest since the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect late last year. – Washington Post
Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel for the first time in months on Saturday, prompting Israeli forces to strike back hours later at sites in southern Lebanon it said were linked to the militant group Hezbollah. – New York Times
Anagha Subhash Nair writes: On a day in mid-February, Hasan Hamzeh walked into a cabin nestled among trees and overgrowth on a small plot of land in the Lebanese village of Chabriha. The cabin was a control point for Hamzeh’s team at Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which is part of active demining efforts in Lebanon following the Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire agreement. – Foreign Policy
Yemen
But getting shipping companies to return to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal could take many months and is likely to require more than airstrikes against the Houthis. For over a year, ocean carriers have overwhelmingly avoided the Red Sea, sending ships around Africa’s southern tip to get from Asia to Europe, a voyage that is some 3,500 nautical miles and 10 days longer. – New York Times
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory, as escalation between Israel and the Iran-aligned Houthis continue. – Reuters
U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels pounded sites across the country into Monday, with the group saying the one attack in the capital killed at least one person and wounded more than a dozen others. – Associated Press
Prominent anti-Israel actors and terror leaders were hosted by the terror-designated Ansar Allah group in Houthi-controlled Sanaa, Yemen, for a conference titled “Palestine: The Central Issue of the Nation – You Are Not Alone.” – Jerusalem Post
The IDF detected a missile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen toward Israeli territory on Saturday. However, it disintegrated while en route toward Israel and fell into Saudi Arabian territory. – Jerusalem Post
Middle East & North Africa
The Pentagon is dispatching another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, a U.S. official said, as tensions rise in the region following the resumption of Israeli attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. – Wall Street Journal
Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Kamel Maddouri less than a year after his appointment amid a faltering economy and a growing number of migrants arriving from countries in sub-Saharan Africa. – Reuters
The United Arab Emirates has committed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the United States after top UAE officials met President Donald Trump this week, the White House said on Friday. – Reuters
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Monday reinstated Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting president, overturning the National Assembly’s vote to impeach him and returning him to office during an extraordinary time of political turmoil. – Washington Post
More than two dozen wildfires broke out in southeastern South Korea over the weekend, killing four people and injuring nine others, officials said on Monday. Thousands of firefighters and dozens of helicopters were sent out to fight 29 fires that burned through at least 22,000 acres and forced the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry. – New York Times
Protesters gathered by the tens of thousands on Saturday in Seoul, divided into two camps that reflected a nation divided over its embattled president. One crowd shouted for the country’s top court to remove Yoon Suk Yeol, calling him “a ringleader of insurrection.” – New York Times
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said on Saturday that military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must stop, and North Korea should not be rewarded for its wrongdoings in the course of bringing about the end of the war in Ukraine. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of the country’s latest anti-aircraft missile system on Thursday, state media KCNA reported, as some experts said Pyongyang was probably getting technical help from Russia to perfect such systems. – Reuters
South Korea’s industry minister pressed U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick for favourable treatment on tariffs at their second meeting in less than a month, the ministry said on Saturday, as Seoul seeks to blunt the effect of U.S. President Donald Trump’s measures. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top security adviser Sergei Shoigu discussed Ukraine with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the TASS news agency reported on Friday, his latest visit amid advances in security ties between the countries. – Reuters
Karishma Vaswani writes: Before South Korea can fix its international picture, it needs to manage this internal turmoil. Power is highly concentrated in the presidency — adopting a parliamentary or semi-presidential system could help to distribute it more evenly between the executive and legislative branches and provide a strong check on authoritarian tendencies. Delegating more responsibility to local governments would also reduce the centralization of power. As political systems around the world have shown, democracy is hard work. It requires persistent effort. South Korea’s is worth protecting. – Bloomberg
China
But the Chinese military, empowered by a decadeslong buildup and ordered by leader Xi Jinping to rapidly modernize by 2027, already has demonstrated what it can do. In increasingly complex exercises, Chinese forces have encircled Taiwan and simulated blockades. – Wall Street Journal
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is battling petty corruption through a nationwide campaign that has swept up more than half a million low-level officials over the past year, as Beijing grapples with rising public resentment over a sagging economy. – Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping appear to be inching closer to a meeting, with Sen. Steve Daines, a strong Trump supporter, suggesting during a visit to Beijing that he was laying the groundwork for such an encounter. – Washington Post
U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing with a group of executives from U.S. companies on Sunday, following an annual business summit in the capital attended by CEOs from big foreign firms. – Reuters
Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged countries to open their markets to combat “rising instability and uncertainty” at a business forum in Beijing on Sunday, as China braces for further U.S. tariffs. – Reuters
China revealed for the first time that it has developed a compact deep-sea cable cutting device that is powerful enough to severe communication lines, the South China Morning Post reported. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Mr. Trump’s second-term sanctions have already targeted Iran’s ghost fleet of tankers, drones, narco-trafficking and the Houthis of Yemen, but this signals that the U.S. could climb the sanctions ladder to Beijing. If that’s trouble Mr. Xi could do without, he can make the business and political decision to drop Iran as a supplier. When Iran’s oil exports collapse, you’ll know the regime is feeling the heat. That’s when nuclear talks will have their best chance of success. – Wall Street Journal
Grant Rumley writes: While China’s arms sales abroad are modest compared to the United States, its aspirations are not. Chinese leaders and defense experts assume they need to secure external customers to drive growth. The United States needs a comprehensive strategy to not only compete with China in the Indo-Pacific, but globally. Besides expanding the U.S. defense-industrial base, Washington can limit China’s arms sales through a balance of carrots and sticks. An approach that continues to leverage America’s strength in the global arms market, coordinates export strategies with willing partner countries when the U.S. position is diminished, and issues clear warnings to purchasers of Chinese weapons and equipment is an effective approach for stunting Beijing’s growth as an arms exporter. – War on the Rocks
South Asia
The Pakistani government, facing global scrutiny over the presence of groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, moved in 2018 to overhaul the semiautonomous region’s outdated governance. It merged what had been known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas into the country’s mainstream political and legal framework, vowing economic progress and a reduction in violence. Today, the effort is seen by many in the region as a failure. – New York Times
An Indian parliamentary committee recommended on Friday the government cut tariffs on imports of raw materials in a bid to support local manufacturers, who are expected to come under more pressure in looming trade talks with Washington. – Reuters
Elon Musk’s Starlink has obtained a no-objection certificate to launch services in Pakistan, local broadcaster Ary News reported on Friday, citing sources. – Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has decided to let lapse a $23 billion program to incentivize domestic manufacturing, just four years after it launched the effort to woo firms away from China, according to four government officials. – Reuters
India’s key manufacturing scheme received investments of nearly $19 billion as of November last year, the trade ministry said on Saturday, a day after Reuters reported New Delhi will let the $23-billion incentive program lapse amid disappointing results. – Reuters
Asia
Soldiers from the Philippine and the U.S. armies began three weeks of joint military exercises on Monday, with drills focused on territorial defence and commanding large-scale deployments of forces, the Philippine Army said. – Reuters
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faces a no-confidence motion in parliament starting on Monday, with the opposition set to grill her over an underperforming economy and her powerful father’s perceived influence over her administration. – Reuters
Japan had lodged a protest with China about a statement that misquoted Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s remarks during Friday’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japan’s top government spokesperson said on Monday. – Reuters
Malaysia plans to tighten regulations on semiconductors as it comes under U.S. pressure to staunch the flow to China of chips crucial to the development of artificial intelligence, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. – Reuters
Australia will bring forward A$1 billion in defence spending in Tuesday’s federal budget to boost its military capability, including guided weapons manufacture, an AUKUS submarine base and a frigate program, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Monday. – Reuters
The top diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo on Saturday, seeking common ground on East Asian security and economic issues amid escalating global uncertainty. – Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the importance of relations between Japan, South Korea and the United States will not change, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
A joint headquarters for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces was launched Monday in Tokyo with responsibility for overall military operations, a government spokesman said. – Bloomberg
Europe
A frail-looking Pope Francis was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after largely recovering from a life-threatening respiratory infection. The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital in mid-February, initially with bronchitis and then with pneumonia in both lungs caused by a mix of viral, bacterial and fungal infection. – Wall Street Journal
London’s Heathrow Airport said it would resume some flights late Friday, after being closed for much of the day due to a power outage that sealed the main gateway for U.S. travelers to Europe and upended journeys for hundreds of thousands of passengers. – Wall Street Journal
Prowling silently in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, it is designed to deter a nuclear conflict with Russia (at least one of the four Vanguard-class submarines is always on patrol). At a time when Europe’s capacity to defend itself has come under criticism, not least from President Trump, Mr. Starmer said these mighty boats were an ironclad symbol of Britain’s commitment to NATO. – New York Times
British anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who counts U.S. billionaire Elon Musk among his supporters, was on Friday refused permission to bring a legal challenge over the decision to hold him in segregation in prison. – Reuters
Germany’s Bundesrat upper house of parliament on Friday approved plans for a spending splurge that aims to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy and scale up the military, clearing the final hurdle for the historic policy shift. – Reuters
Germany’s budget committee cleared the way on Friday for another 3 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in military aid for Ukraine, after chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz pushed through reforms to ramp up investment in defence. – Reuters
Prince William donned battle gear to visit British troops in Estonia on Friday on a trip aimed at underlining his country’s support for NATO operations in Eastern Europe. – Reuters
Italy’s talks on deploying billionaire Elon Musk‘s Starlink in military and government applications are on hold, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told newspaper La Repubblica in an interview on Saturday. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Fearing a sustained threat from Russia and reduced military protection from the United States, several European nations led by Poland, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Germany are boosting defense spending. The European Union is also making $163 billion in defense loans available to its 27 member states. For two reasons, the loans will not cover purchases from U.S. defense manufacturers. First, the EU wants to boost its defense manufacturing base. Second, it fears that President Donald Trump might, in response to some future grievance, suspend defense exports crucial to maintaining American equipment in European armories. Portugal has suspended plans to buy American F-35 fighter jets partly for this reason, although its main reason was to avoid spending more on defense. – Washington Examiner
Martin Ivens writes: In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, the growing populist right and left is “soft” on Putin. Echoing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s words on Czechoslovakia, Ukraine is for them “a far away country of which we know little.” President Emmanuel Macron and the EU must put the security of the continent ahead of petty advantage and bureaucratic finesse. Now is not the time to be alienating British public opinion for the sake of a few fish. – Bloomberg
Jack Watling writes: Germany has just announced an increase in defense spending, while the EU more broadly has shifted its debt rules to allow more borrowing for investment in defense. But as with German announcements in 2022, it is not yet clear that these statements will drive an effective process of rearmament. It is up to the Europeans to determine whether they can stomach the cost, but they should not hide behind the claim that they cannot defend Ukraine without the United States. Much depends, however, on whether the United States wants that transition to take place. – Foreign Affairs
Africa
The Sudanese army seized control of the main headquarters of the country’s central bank, two military sources told Reuters on Saturday, as the army continues to make advances in the capital against rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). – Reuters
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels staging an offensive in east Congo said on Saturday they would withdraw forces from the seized town of Walikale in support of peace efforts, having previously said they were leaving troops there as they pushed on to the capital. – Reuters
Gabon’s Constitutional Court has approved a list of eight candidates to run in the Central African nation’s presidential election next month, including interim President Brice Oligui Nguema, who seized power in a military coup in 2023. – Reuters
Germany has temporarily closed its embassy in South Sudan’s capital Juba because of rising tensions that have brought the East African country to the verge of civil war, the German foreign ministry said on Saturday. – Reuters
Uganda’s army said it killed 242 fighters belonging to a Congolese rebel group known as CODECO after they attacked a Ugandan military camp across the border in east Congo earlier this week, a claim disputed by the group. – Reuters
Ethiopia’s army said on Friday its troops had killed more than 300 fighters from the Fano armed group in two days of clashes in the northern Amhara region, as fears have emerged of a wider regional war. – Reuters
A Sudanese pro-democracy activist group said Saturday that at least 45 people have been killed after members of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group entered a city in the western region of Darfur. – Associated Press
The South African ambassador who was expelled from the United States and declared persona non grata by the Trump administration was welcomed home at an airport Sunday by hundreds of supporters who sang songs praising him. – Associated Press
Newly elected International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry arrived Sunday in her home country of Zimbabwe to a hero’s welcome as her victory is celebrated as a national milestone. – Associated Press
Justice Malala writes: Nigerians worry about the rise of an “imperial presidency,” just as Tinubu feared back in 2004 and 2013. He is already being called on to take measures in another troubled region, Osun State, in a manner like his actions in Rivers State. He has already intervened in Lagos State to return to power a speaker impeached by the state assembly. Nigerians can’t be blamed for their vigilance when they see a leader seemingly seize greater power. The country enjoyed only three years of democracy following its independence in 1963 before it was plunged into a 30-year-long series of brutal military dictatorships that only ended in 1999. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Venezuela has reached an agreement with the United States to resume repatriation flights of migrants, President Nicolas Maduro announced in a televised address on Saturday. Maduro said the flights would commence on Sunday. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States, according to a Federal Register notice on Friday, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration. – Reuters
Peruvian lawmakers voted on Friday to oust the country’s interior minister, Juan Jose Santivanez, who has faced criticism amid a spike in crime in the South American country. – Reuters
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Friday that none of the hundreds of Venezuelans deported by the U.S. to a Salvadoran prison is a member of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua criminal gang, the reason Washington gave for expelling them. – Reuters
The State Department has banned former Argentine President Cristina Fernández from entering the United States, accusing her of involvement in “significant corruption” while in office. – Associated Press
North America
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election on Sunday, sending Canadians to the polls for a vote on April 28 that is set to revolve largely around the question of how Canada will deal with President Trump. – Wall Street Journal
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday said Canada could offset the effects of any U.S. tariffs by removing internal trade barriers and that he aimed for free trade within the country by July 1, after meeting provincial and territorial leaders. – Reuters
The future of Canada’s six-year-old carbon pricing system is on shaky ground after 14 oil and gas CEOs and the political opposition leader this week called for its repeal. Scrapping the system, which aims to reduce pollution by giving heavy industry a financial incentive to cut carbon emissions, however, puts the viability of the high-profile Pathways Alliance carbon capture project in doubt. – Reuters
The Bank of Mexico will likely cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points at its meeting on March 27, taking it to 9%, according to a Reuters poll on Friday, amid slowing inflation and a weak outlook for the economy. – Reuters
Tobin Harshaw writes: Which brings us back to that rumored kill switch. While it’s hard to rule anything out in the age of Trump, it’s unlikely he can simply press a red button and all the allies’ superfighters will crash to the ground. Rather, as The Aviationist explains, “the F-35’s reliance on US-provided software updates makes the weapon system really vulnerable. Software upgrades, managed by the U.S., ensure optimal performance and security, but withholding them would leave the aircraft operational, albeit with outdated capabilities.” Basically, each F-35 is a $100 million Sonos. – Bloomberg
United States
The White House is narrowing its approach to tariffs set to take effect on April 2, likely omitting a set of industry-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on a targeted set of nations that account for the bulk of foreign trade with the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. national security adviser Michael Waltz and second lady Usha Vance will travel to Greenland this week, the White House said Sunday, further straining relations over President Trump’s improbable vow to acquire the Danish territory “one way or the other.” – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. government has alleged that Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil withheld that he worked for a United Nations Palestinian relief agency in his visa application, saying that should be grounds for deportation. – Reuters
Trump administration officials on Sunday defended their use of extraordinary war powers to deport scores of Venezuelan migrants despite a judge blocking the move and Venezuela denying U.S. officials’ assertions that the deportees were gang members. – Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a leak of what it called classified information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a senior official said on Friday. – Reuters
The Danish foreign ministry has changed its U.S. travel advisory for transgender people, following other European countries such as Germany and Finland who suggest they may face difficulties when trying to enter the United States. – Associated Press
Rebecca Patterson writes: Simply making America relatively less exceptional is tempting investors to look elsewhere. Less global capital coming to America, including less support for corporate stocks, would make consumers feel less wealthy. Less confident consumers tend to spend less. The flywheel that has powered the economy would turn negative, and the potential for America to become less exceptional will only increase. – New York Times
Janet Abou-Elias writes: Congress should take immediate steps to restore accountability measures in foreign military financing and conduct a serious reassessment of the Israel war reserve stockpile’s continued expansion. At the very least, foreign military aid should not be exempt from the same budgetary discipline applied to other federal programs. As debates over budget priorities continue, the American public deserves transparency on why cuts are made to essential programs while military aid remains sacrosanct. It is time for a serious, bipartisan conversation about U.S. foreign aid priorities — and whether they truly serve the interests of the American people. – The Hill
Cybersecurity
The online systems of Ukraine’s state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia have been targeted by a large-scale cyberattack, the railway said on Monday. – Reuters
A popular platform accused of laundering cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean state hackers and cybercriminals was removed Friday from the U.S. sanctions list after winning an appellate court decision in November – The Record
A new executive order from President Donald Trump aims to expand information-sharing across federal agencies as well as between federal and state governments, but civil libertarians and other experts are warning that the main purpose is to help normalize how the Department of Government Efficiency is handling government data. – The Record
A federal judge has approved a proposed settlement between Clearview AI and class action plaintiffs, ruling that the deal fairly resolves allegations that the company infringed upon millions of Americans’ privacy rights. – The Record
Adam Thierer writes: Utah has also passed an AI law that creates a “Learning Laboratory Program” to encourage innovators to work together with state officials to foster new AI applications and study flexible approaches for sectors already regulated. This approach represents the time-tested and uniquely American innovation policy paradigm that is more agile, incremental and prudent as compared to Europe’s. America’s AI opportunity agenda must embrace freedom and reject fear to give our nation’s brilliant innovators a green light to once again develop life-enriching technologies that lead the world. But state regulators must get out of the way. – The Hill
Defense
The Pentagon has awarded the long-awaited contract for the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance future fighter jet, known as NGAD, to Boeing, President Donald Trump announced Friday. – Defense News
The U.S. Army has chosen Anduril Rocket Motor Systems to develop a new 4.75-inch solid rocket motor for long-range precision rocket artillery, the company announced today. – Defense News
The U.S. Army will not conduct a live-fire operation of its Mid-Range Capability missile system, known as Typhon, during exercises in the Philippines this spring, according to the service commander in charge of U.S. Army Pacific operations. – Defense News
Long War
At least six police personnel were killed in Kenya while four were injured in an attack on a police camp by suspected Islamist militants in Garissa county in the country’s east on the border with Somalia, police said. – Reuters
Islamist militants killed at least 44 civilians and severely injured 13 others during an attack on a mosque in southwest Niger on Friday, the country’s defence ministry said. – Reuters
Pakistan’s army has killed 16 Islamist militants along the country’s western border with Afghanistan, a statement said on Sunday. – Reuters