Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel passes law to hang Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks Trump says U.S. negotiating with Iranian leaders, despite Iran’s denials Iran’s fractured leadership is struggling to coordinate, officials say Giant oil tanker off Dubai hit by Iranian strike after Trump's latest threats WSJ Editorial: Trump’s Iran target list, good and bad The Free Press’s Eli Lake: Donald Trump is waging psychological warfare Ukraine's Zelenskiy says Middle East visit a success, announces accords WSJ Editorial: Iran’s regime says: Lebanon is ours Gulf allies privately make the case to Trump to keep fighting until Iran is decisively defeated Thousands of US Army paratroopers arrive in Middle East as buildup intensifies Hudson Institute’s William J. Luti: Operation Epic Fury should make China very afraid Attack on Michigan synagogue was Hezbollah-inspired 'act of terrorism,' FBI saysIn The News
Israel
The Israeli military suspended a battalion of reservist soldiers on Monday, days after it detained a CNN crew in the West Bank village of Tayasir. Jeremy Diamond, CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent, and his team were in Tayasir on Thursday reporting on attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians when soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces’ Netzah Yehuda unit intervened. – Washington Post
Israel’s Parliament passed a law on Monday that would allow the hanging of Palestinians convicted of deadly militant attacks, but experts say it almost certainly cannot be applied to Jewish extremists convicted of similar crimes. – New York Times
Kosovo on Monday approved sending troops to Gaza for an international security force as part of a U.S.-backed initiative after last year’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. – Reuters
Israeli airstrikes killed at least four people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, local health officials said, in the latest round of violence since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect more than five months ago. – Reuters
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that a long-term solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz would include the construction of pipelines that would carry the Gulf state’s oil and gas to the Mediterranean. – Jerusalem Post
Six people were lightly wounded across several sites in central Israel following several fragments falling from an Iranian cluster munition on Tuesday, Magen David Adom confirmed. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Huckabee thanked Netanyahu for his personal and prompt intervention. Herzog was acknowledged, as mentioned. The issue was resolved before Holy Monday was over. The diplomatic noise that preceded the resolution now looks a little excessive. Some perspective is needed, and the Monday joint statement, with its call for “prayer and hope for an end to the tragic war,” showed that the Church itself ultimately understood where the real story lies. As Jews and Christians mark their respective festivals this week, the Angel of Death in the sky will remind us all, including Cardinal Pizzaballa, that we are still at war, and therefore, there are restrictions to life. – Jerusalem Post
Sabine Sterk writes: Israel does not have the luxury of abstract debates. Its decisions carry immediate consequences measured in human lives. That reality forces choices that are imperfect, often unpopular, and always scrutinized. The tragedy is not only in the conflict itself, but in the inability of much of the world to acknowledge its complexity. Until that changes, Israel will continue to face an impossible standard, one where even its efforts to prevent tragedy are reframed as acts of injustice. – The Algemeiner
Nachum Kaplan writes: To be an agenda-setter is to accept the absence of finality. It is to accept that strategy is not about conclusion, but about continuous positioning. It is to embrace the burden of shaping an environment that will never be settled. That is precisely the burden that isolationists seek to escape. The bottom line is not complicated: Israel emerges stronger, Iran emerges weaker, the U.S. sets the agenda – perhaps inelegantly, perhaps disruptively, but decisively. Everything else is distraction. – Arutz Sheva
Iran
U.S. and Israeli forces launched an extensive military operation against Iran last month, carrying out strikes from the air and sea that triggered retaliation from Tehran and threatened wider conflict across the Middle East. – Wall Street Journal
The United States is in direct talks with Iranian leaders over terms for ending the war, including exchanges with parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, President Donald Trump said Monday. Asked if Ghalibaf was someone the U.S. could work with, Trump said in an interview with the New York Post, “We’re gonna find out … in about a week.” – Washington Post
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has fractured the Iranian government, complicating its ability to make decisions and coordinate larger retaliatory attacks, according to officials familiar with U.S. and Western intelligence assessments. Several dozen Iranian leaders and their deputies have been killed since the war began four weeks ago. – New York Times
Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday, as President Donald Trump warned the U.S. would obliterate Iran’s energy plants and oil wells if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz. – Reuters
A month into its war with the United States and Israel, Iran is trying to forestall any spark of domestic unrest with arrests, executions and massive street deployments by security forces and supporters, recruiting even children to staff checkpoints. – Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States was in talks with a “more reasonable regime” to end the war in Iran but repeated his warning to Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S attacks on its oil wells and power plants. – Reuters
President Donald Trump is threatening to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on Iran’s Kharg Island, a military gambit that experts say would risk American lives and could still fail to end the war. If Trump wants to hobble Iran’s oil industry for leverage in negotiations, a better option might be setting up a blockade at sea against ships that have filled up at Kharg Island’s oil terminals, the experts said. – Associated Press
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated optimism about a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for passage of cargo ships and said the administration is steadily moving to address the shortage of global oil supplies. – Bloomberg
Israel and US strikes have wiped out senior Iranian leaders and hit key targets across the country. But after a month of fighting, it is arguably Iran that has secured the most significant strategic victory — a tightening grip over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. – Bloomberg
Editorial: Mr. Trump’s indiscriminate target list echoes World War II’s civilian bombing against German and Japanese cities. But this isn’t the 1940s when the war’s traumas could be somewhat sequestered. One of the great benefits of precision-bombing technology is that it lets the U.S. military target the enemy with limited civilian damage. This is a moral advance in warfare and distinguishes the American way of war from, say, Vladimir Putin’s. Sometimes mistakes still kill civilians, as may have happened when a school was inadvertently hit during the first days of the war. But that’s a far cry from the deliberate destruction of civilian targets. Let’s hope someone in Mr. Trump’s war council will explain the difference and have him stick to regime targets. – Wall Street Journal
Eli Lake writes: On Monday, Trump confirmed to the New York Post that his interlocutor in this “new and more reasonable regime” was the speaker of Iran’s parliament, or Majlis, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. At the same time, he acknowledged he didn’t know if Ghalibaf would play ball. “I’ll let you know that in about a week,” he told the Post, when asked if he would back away from the threats against the Strait of Hormuz. As if that were not confusing enough, Ghalibaf himself took to X on Monday to accuse Trump of engaging in a little make-believe. “The enemy promotes its desires as news while threatening our nation at same time,” he wrote. And as for a new Iranian regime, Ghalibaf poured cold water on that too. “God willing,” he wrote, “the people of Iran, under the leadership of the Supreme Leader, will make the enemy regret the aggression and reclaim their rights.” – The Free Press
Can Kasapoğlu writes: Ultimately, the decisive challenge in taking either island is one of sustainment. Seizing ground is feasible, but holding it is more difficult. Continuous resupply, medical evacuation, and air- and missile-defense efforts would strain US capacity, while US bases in the region would remain vulnerable to Iranian strikes. Distributed Iranian operations, including decentralized missile and drone units, would enable Tehran to exert persistent, multi-directional pressure on any opposing forces. Yet, while Iran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz, it retains the strategic leverage necessary to help it forestall geopolitical defeat. Washington’s path to victory runs through the strait, in one form or another. – Hudson Institute
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pronounced his tour of Middle Eastern countries a success on Monday and said a number of security cooperation accords had been clinched or were under discussion. – Reuters
The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Bucha massacre and to voice their support for Ukraine, amid tensions within the bloc over blocked EU aid. – Reuters
Ukrainian drones have damaged Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga again, Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of Leningrad region, said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Russia on Monday expelled a British diplomat whom it accused of economic espionage and warned citizens not to have any contact with other embassy staff, a step the UK said amounted to intimidation. – Reuters
Some of Ukraine’s allies have sent Kyiv “signals” about the possibility of scaling back its long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector as global energy prices have surged, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday. – Reuters
The first of the air defence units formed by Ukrainian industrial enterprises has already begun carrying out combat duties, while new units are being formed at 13 other enterprises, Ukraine’s defence minister said on Monday. – Reuters
Ukraine’s war has forced the country to become a trailblazer in drone interception. The conflict in the Middle East could be its make-or-break moment to take the technology global. – Reuters
Russia’s main security agency is expanding its sweeping surveillance powers, deepening the state’s reach into economic and social life to suppress any risk of dissent to President Vladimir Putin. – Bloomberg
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv has been urged by some of its global partners to scale back attacks on Russian oil infrastructure following turmoil on global energy markets. – Bloomberg
Sergey Radchenko writes: But a short war, if it ends with what could reasonably be interpreted as U.S. victory—even if this left the battered Iranian regime in place—would strengthen U.S. credibility and further erode Russia’s. A successful operation against Iran would stand in stark contrast to Russia’s own slog of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which, after unleashing terrible destruction and wasting hundreds of thousands of lives, has notably failed to achieve any of its original objectives. In sum, whether Russia benefits from this war or not all depends on how, and how quickly, it ends. All Putin can do is impotently watch Washington’s war effort and hope for the worst. – Foreign Policy
Lebanon
Days after being expelled from Beirut, Iran’s ambassador is refusing to leave, highlighting the Lebanese government’s weakness as the country once again becomes a battlefield for stronger powers. – Wall Street Journal
Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes. – Reuters
Lebanon has asked Ukraine’s embassy in Beirut to hand over a man taking refuge there who is suspected of working with Israel’s Mossad spy agency, a senior security official and a Hezbollah source told AFP on Monday. – Agence France Presse
Editorial: Expelling the Iranian ambassador could have been a protest at Iran’s practice of claiming diplomatic status for its Revolutionary Guard commanders, who now conduct a war from Lebanese territory. One man wouldn’t have made much of a difference when Lebanon still won’t disarm Hezbollah, but Tehran won’t even give Beirut cover for inaction. Iran’s regime wants Lebanon as a satrapy and nothing more. Lebanon’s future depends on the expulsion of Iran’s regime, not merely its ambassador. This war provides the best opportunity in years to do so, and the U.S. and Israel can help. But if Lebanon wants independence, the country will have to seize it. – Wall Street Journal
Dan Perry writes: Lebanon is not only politically constrained but also economically shattered. Its currency has collapsed, its infrastructure has deteriorated and much of its professional class has emigrated. The effort to eliminate Hezbollah must be paired with a credible alternative — a reconstruction and investment package involving western governments and Gulf states, large enough to give Lebanese society a tangible stake in a different future. Hezbollah is the most formidable pillar of Iran’s terror network, associated with attacks as far afield as Europe and South America. In foreign policy, as in civic life, there are moments when helping others is not altruism but prudence and decency. Lebanon deserves a moment of your thoughts. – The Hill
Egypt
Egypt and Cyprus signed a framework agreement for cooperation on gas at the Egypt 2026 Energy Show on Monday. A spokesperson for the Cypriot presidency said that the non-binding agreement will be a base upon which the two countries can negotiate more agreements for the exploitation of Cyprus’ reserves. – Reuters
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to stop the Iran war, saying only he could do so, and warned that fears of the oil price going above $200 a barrel were not exaggerated. – Reuters
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will leave its overnight interest rates steady when it meets on Thursday as fears of rising inflation triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran upended a planned gradual easing cycle, a Reuters poll showed on Monday. – Reuters
Yemen
Oil prices closed higher on Monday, with Brent heading for a record monthly rise, while U.S. crude futures settled above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022 after Yemeni Houthis widened the Iran war by launching their first attacks on Israel. – Reuters
One thing that’s helped to limit the damage in oil markets since the Iran war largely shuttered the Strait of Hormuz is the availability of an alternative route for getting crude from Saudi Arabia to Asia: the Red Sea. – Bloomberg
Habtom Ghebrezghiabher writes: Leveraging the Houthis for pressure may offer Iran additional leverage over Washington, but it also risks unifying the United States and Europe, ending Saudi restraint, and exposing the Houthis to greater vulnerability. If Iran overplays its hand, Washington could emerge as the strategic beneficiary. The central question is whether bringing the Houthis more directly into the conflict will help Iran secure a favorable outcome – or whether it will trigger the very scenario Tehran seeks to avoid: a broader, more unified, and more determined coalition. In attempting to manage escalation, Iran may instead be setting the stage for a far larger confrontation. – Jerusalem Post
Keith Johnson writes: “The Houthis do not necessarily need to shut down Bab el-Mandeb to affect energy markets,” Madhaji said. “Even limited or intermittent disruptions in the Red Sea could have outsized effects on energy markets, particularly given how sensitive current conditions already are.” More than a month into the war, U.S. objectives remain unfulfilled, potential missions are proliferating, and enemies are multiplying, along with the challenges they pose. For the Trump administration, finding a way to restore and ensure the free flow of energy has gone from a sideshow to the only show—but there is no solution in sight. – Foreign Policy
Gulf States
A fire on board a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker hit by an Iranian attack at Dubai Port’s anchorage on Monday was extinguished, authorities said, after the strike damaged the vessel’s hull and raised concerns about a possible oil spill. – Reuters
Dubai has approved economic facilitation measures worth 1 billion dirhams ($272.26 million) to support business sector, with implementation set to begin on April 1 for a period of three to six months, Dubai crown prince posted on X on Monday. – Reuters
Gulf stock markets ended mixed on Monday as regional tensions remained elevated after Yemen’s Houthis entered the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran with an attack on Israel over the weekend in an escalation of the conflict. – Reuters
Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough by the monthlong U.S.-led bombing campaign, according to U.S., Gulf and Israeli officials. – Associated Press
For Saudi Arabia, being caught in the middle of the war between Iran and its archfoes Israel and the US is the realization of a nightmare scenario the kingdom has long dreaded. – Bloomberg
Joshua Yaphe writes: The Arab Gulf states want to influence Iran’s post-war relationship with America and the West. However, the Trump administration has already determined the parameters of a deal with Tehran in the form of a 15-point plan. And there does not appear to be any vision for translating battlefield success into a new regional order, the way the George HW Bush Administration pivoted from the Gulf War to the Middle East multilaterals. Nevertheless, there will be opportunities for the Arab Gulf states to contribute to the verification and compliance mechanisms required in any settlement. The slow and steady path toward the disintegration of the regime that is likely to come in the months of chaos that follow the war will also provide new opportunities for the Arab Gulf states to shape the evolving relationship between America and Iran. – National Interest
Middle East & North Africa
Thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division have started arriving in the Middle East, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, as President Donald Trump weighs his next steps in the war against Iran. – Reuters
A ballistic missile fired from Iran entered Turkish airspace on Monday and was shot down by NATO defences, Ankara said, in the fourth such incident reported since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. – Reuters
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday Germany and Syria would work together to return hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, who he said had an important part to play in rebuilding their country. – Reuters
The Syrian army said on Monday drone attacks targeted several of its bases near the Iraqi border, a rare attack on Syrian positions since U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran a month ago triggered a war across the Middle East. – Reuters
Morocco’s Tanger Med, Africa’s largest container port, is expecting a potential increase in calls by ships as escalating tensions in the Middle East force shipping lines to reroute services around Africa, the port authority’s managing director said. – Reuters
Global air travel remains severely disrupted, with many people still unable to fly as planned to destinations after the Iran war forced the closure of major Middle Eastern hubs, including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. – Reuters
James Jeffrey writes: The region, the United States, and the world will all be much changed by this conflict, as fundamental issues are in play: the relative power of major states and their ability to maintain their will; capacity of ideological totalitarian states particularly if threatened to disrupt disproportionally the entire international order; the enduring vulnerability of the global economies for hydrocarbons. Israel, Gulf States and Iran will all have to think through how they move forward in a region with potentially never-ending disruption, with the boundaries of escalation ever more eroded. The United States for its part will have to decide how much of its domestic and international political capital, economic cost, and military effort it can devote to a region which while critically important to the global economy, is still secondary to existential American interests. – Jerusalem Strategic Tribune
Renad Mansour writes: What Iraq needs to avoid further chaos is for the war to end. Until that happens, Iraqi leaders will need to reduce the country’s exposure to the conflict as much as they can—protecting critical energy infrastructure, finding alternative export routes such as the Kirkuk–Turkey pipeline, and limiting attacks launched from Iraqi soil that could trigger wider retaliation. […] The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq reshaped the Middle East in ways few policymakers anticipated, including by inviting the expansion of Iran’s regional influence. This year’s American war could generate its own unpredictable consequences. And Iraq is one of the places where those aftershocks are most likely to surface—and where they may prove hardest to contain. – Foreign Affairs
Korean Peninsula
South Korea proposed a supplementary government budget of $17.3 billion on Tuesday to support consumers and companies hit by the war in the Middle East. – Reuters
South Korea’s Rebellions said on Monday it had raised $400 million in its latest funding round, valuing the artificial intelligence chip startup at about $2.34 billion as it accelerates expansion into the U.S. – Reuters
South Korean markets buckled on Tuesday, with shares sliding toward their worst monthly performance since the global financial crisis and the won sinking to post-crisis lows, as the Middle East war sent investors fleeing worldwide. – Reuters
South Korea plans to respond more vigorously to the energy supply situation stemming from the war in Iran and may consider emergency fiscal measures, President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday. – Reuters
China
A gauge of activity in China’s sprawling manufacturing sector returned to expansion in March in part thanks to seasonal factors, but as the war in the Middle East raises supply shock risks, businesses are starting to feel the pressure. – Wall Street Journal
China’s three largest state-owned airlines said they were cautious about the outlook for this year as the Iran war drives jet fuel prices sky-high, after all returned to losses in the fourth quarter of 2025. – Reuters
Two Chinese container ships sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday on their second attempt to leave the Gulf after turning back on Friday, ship-tracking data showed. – Reuters
William J. Luti writes: Like geography, numbers still matter. China’s unprecedented military buildup demonstrates the military maxim that quantity has a quality all its own. President Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget begins the urgent task of building more ships, aircraft, weapons and unmanned systems to deter this threat. Operation Epic Fury will show if we are edging closer to the early air-power prophets’ vision or if air power in support of maneuvering ground forces remains the key to victory. We don’t yet know the answer. What isn’t in question is that Epic Fury has restored American deterrence. Should deterrence fail, the Chinese communists should be afraid, very afraid. – Wall Street Journal
Juan Williams writes: In that context, perhaps it is for the best that Trump’s China trip has been postponed. Nixon rose to power as a clear-eyed opponent of communism before recognizing America’s need for a mutually beneficial relationship with the world’s other major economic force, China. The phrase “Nixon Goes to China,” is still understood to describe a leader willing to change direction, take a risk, to make history. Nixon’s “opening” of China served the U.S. and the global order by producing 50 years of relative peace and prosperity. Nixon went to China to stabilize a fragile world order. Trump, at this point, looks intent on destabilizing it. – The Hill
South Asia
European Council President Antonio Costa said he had held a ‘good call’ with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the war in Iran. – Reuters
More than 3 million Indian officials are to spend a year counting every single person in the world’s most populous nation, a mammoth task delayed in part by the COVID-19 pandemic. – Reuters
A natural gas pipeline was blown up in southern Pakistan on Monday, suspending supply to several districts, an official said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. – Reuters
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is set to visit China as the Iran war continues into its fifth week with little clarity about when the conflict will conclude. – Bloomberg
Asia
For years, defense planners in Japan have watched China’s rise with alarm. Beijing’s might, from military bases to missile arsenals, looks especially menacing from their country’s southwest. – Wall Street Journal
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has endorsed Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s new cabinet, according to a notice in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday. – Reuters
Policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region are facing their toughest test since the COVID-19 pandemic, with few easy options, as they race to cushion their economies from an energy shock that is hitting harder and sooner than elsewhere. – Reuters
Japan’s Coast Guard said it had confirmed a Chinese marine research vessel was operating in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) west-northwest of Uotsuri Island on Monday and had demanded that the activity be halted. – Reuters
Japan and Indonesia have agreed to step up coordination on energy security, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Tuesday, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran squeezes oil and gas supplies vital to Asia. – Reuters
Japan called on the Group of Seven wealthy nations and the International Energy Agency to be ready to take further flexible measures to stabilise energy markets if the Iran war drags on, its industry minister said on Monday. – Reuters
Japan’s first long-range missile was deployed at a southwestern army camp, officials said Tuesday, as the country pushes to bolster its offensive capabilities. – Associated Press
Mongolia’s parliament has confirmed Uchral Nyam-Osor as the third prime minister in a year in a bid to end a deadlock in the legislature at a time of mounting economic pressures for the landlocked, resource-dependent country. – Associated Press
Karishma Vaswani writes: The pragmatic response for Asia then, is not to choose sides, but to reduce exposure to oil shocks. Diversifying energy supplies, building larger strategic reserves, and strengthening regional cooperation would help. Some of this is already happening — the recent commitment by Australia and Singapore to work together on energy security is a good template for others to follow. These coalitions, formed out of necessity, could become the building blocks of a new regional order, replacing an architecture that no longer reflects today’s realities. The Strait of Hormuz crisis has exposed a fundamental weakness: Asia is being forced to absorb the costs of a conflict far outside its control. Reducing that dependence will be difficult. But the cost of failing to do so is now impossible to ignore. – Bloomberg
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev writes: It is also home to a young, increasingly educated population that has produced a vibrant workforce of noted artists and performers and even recent Olympic gold medals in skating and judo. If the 1995 constitution was about independence and survival, then the 2026 constitution is about maturity, renewal, and betting big on the future. From now on, we will mark March 15—the day when our nation made a historic choice—as Constitution Day of Kazakhstan. In this pivotal moment, we are laying the groundwork for a stronger nation, one that honors its history while advancing justice, technological progress, economic openness, and responsible global partnership. – National Interest
Europe
Businesses and consumers across the eurozone grew more pessimistic about their prospects in March as the war in Iran is set to weaken economic growth, while firms reported that they expect to raise their prices at a faster pace to cover increasing costs. – Wall Street Journal
As the United States expands the number of strikes by bombers taking off from British territory, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has emphasized the same point. Britain, he says, is not helping America wage its war of choice against Iran. – New York Times
A fifth person was detained in connection with an arson attack on an optics and drone factory in the Czech Republic, a public prosecutor said on Monday. – Reuters
A group of friends in their mid-20s campaigned door to door last week in a small Hungarian city, supporting a political movement that soon could end Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ‘s 16-year grip on power. – Associated Press
France’s Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Japan this week where he plans to explore closer cooperation on maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz once the fighting has ceased. – Bloomberg
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on the European Union to maintain sanctions against her country’s authoritarian regime as she warned against following an easing of US policy toward Minsk. – Bloomberg
Seth Mandel writes: Extend the blessings of democracy to the Jews, and perhaps you can claim some bragging rights over Hungary or Poland. But at the moment, Western Europe does not, in fact, offer substantially more freedom to its Jews than Eastern Europe, and it often offers far less security. Let’s call this what it is: democratic backsliding. And let’s be clear on what to call the engine driving this backsliding: anti-Semitism. Any reasonable way forward begins by admitting the the truth of those two statements—and then actually, you know, doing something about it. – Commentary Magazine
Africa
At least 12 people were killed and several others injured on Sunday after gunmen attacked a neighborhood in the mostly Christian city of Jos, in Nigeria’s north-central region, the police said on Monday. But residents said many more had been killed. – New York Times
Somalia’s national army took control of the biggest city in South West state on Monday, prompting the regional leader to resign two weeks after his administration said it was severing ties with the federal government. – Reuters
Congo’s army has announced the start of a disarmament push against a militia linked to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, in what would be a key step towards implementing a U.S.-brokered peace deal with neighbouring Rwanda. – Reuters
The World Trade Organization will play only a limited role in global trade policy after a failed ministerial meeting in Cameroon, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday, vowing to seek alternative arrangements s with like-minded countries. – Reuters
A former Gambian minister appeared in a Swiss court on Monday to appeal against a conviction for crimes against humanity under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh. – Reuters
Seth Mandel writes: Then came the statement last week from Museveni’s son and Ugandan army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba that his forces were prepared to fight alongside those of the Jewish state: “We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!” Although Israel’s African diplomacy far predates the Abraham Accords, those agreements are not exactly irrelevant here either. After all, Gaddafi is gone and the Saudis are encouraging Arab normalization with Israel, so there is no incentive for African countries to again pull away from the Jewish state. It’s an old-new Middle East—and beyond. – Commentary Magazine
The Americas
A Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of oil is expected to dock early Tuesday in the northern Cuban port of Matanzas, bringing some brief relief to the fuel-starved island as its economy comes to a grinding halt. – Wall Street Journal
The chief executive officer of Air Canada is leaving the airline amid intense backlash over his handling of a crash at LaGuardia Airport that killed the two pilots of an Air Canada Express flight and injured dozens of passengers. – Wall Street Journal
Under Carney, Canada is spending more than C$35 billion to boost military spending and “take control” of its Arctic territory – a move partly prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and make Canada its 51st state, as well as Trump’s insistence that Canada and other allies increase their defence spending. – Reuters
At least 70 people were killed and 30 injured during an attack near Petite-Riviere in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region, a human rights group said on Monday, significantly higher than official estimates which put the death toll at around 16. – Reuters
A Mexican immigrant died in U.S. immigration custody in Los Angeles on March 25, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Monday, marking at least 14 deaths in ICE custody in 2026 and prompting criticism from the Mexican government. – Reuters
Suriname’s former president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who governed from 2020 to 2025, died suddenly on Monday at the age of 67, his successor and the South American country’s current president said. – Reuters
The White House said on Monday it has not changed U.S. policy toward Cuba, even as it allowed a sanctioned Russian tanker to deliver fuel to the island for humanitarian reasons, saying such decisions would be handled on a case-by-case basis. – Reuters
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that her country has every right to send fuel to Cuba, whether for humanitarian or commercial reasons. – Reuters
Latin America
The United States on Monday formally reopened its embassy in Caracas, the State Department said, citing “a new chapter” in diplomatic relations with Venezuela less than three months after U.S. forces seized the country’s then-President Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital. – Reuters
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro are seen tied in a simulated run-off for this year’s presidential election, a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll showed on Monday. – Reuters
Germany will talk to Chile’s new right-wing government about reports that it is dropping plans to turn a settlement founded by a German cult leader and sex abuser into a memorial to victims of torture. – Reuters
President José Antonio Kast said Monday that his administration will tighten security measures at Chile’s schools, following two incidents involving weapons and amid growing concern about school violence in the South American country. – Associated Press
United States
When a former CIA officer and a Venezuelan fixer flew to Palm Beach, Fla., two years ago to brief top Trump campaign officials on how Caracas had manipulated the 2020 election, their ideas were dismissed as fantastical. – Wall Street Journal
Transportation Security Administration workers are starting to receive several weeks of backpay and, after another weekend of snaking lines at some of the biggest airports in the U.S., many wait times appeared to be getting back to normal on Monday. – Wall Street Journal
The FBI said on Monday that an attack on the largest Jewish temple in Michigan earlier this month was an “act of terrorism” inspired by Hezbollah. – Reuters
Two Democratic members of Congress are pressing the Commerce Department for detailed data on U.S. exports of semi-automatic weapons, citing concerns that legally exported American firearms are fueling criminal violence and arming cartels across the Western Hemisphere. – Reuters
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US may need to reassess its relationship with NATO after the Iran war is finished, calling the military alliance’s alleged lack of support during the Middle East conflict “very disappointing.” – Bloomberg
The Trump administration will resume processing some asylum claims after a near-blanket halt of immigration paperwork for hundreds of thousands of people seeking refuge in the US. – Bloomberg
A US lawmaker from Tennessee now running for governor hopes that legislation he filed this month can lead to the United States following Israel in recognizing Somaliland, which has sought global support in breaking away from Somalia in the Horn of Africa for more than 30 years, as an independent and sovereign state. – The Algemeiner
Cybersecurity
Taiwan said on Monday 11 Chinese firms are being investigated for alleged illegal poaching of semiconductor and other high‑tech talent, stepping up efforts to curb technology outflows amid rising geopolitical tensions with Beijing. – Reuters
Australia threatened on Tuesday to sue social media giants for allegedly flouting a ban on under-16s, as its internet regulator disclosed it is investigating some of the biggest platforms for suspected non-compliance with the world-first measure. – Reuters
Indonesia summoned officials from Meta and Google over non-compliance with social media restrictions for children under 16 that went into full effect last week, a minister said in a video statement published on Tuesday. – Reuters
A former top aide to President Donald Trump is initiating a $100 million campaign to promote the administration’s pro-artificial intelligence agenda during this year’s midterm elections. – Bloomberg
The State Department is looking for information on hackers connected to the Iranian group Handala as well as other cyber actors in the country. A notice on Friday calling for information was sent out hours after the FBI confirmed that Iranian hackers gained access to Director Kash Patel’s personal email account and leaked stolen information. – The Record
Defense
The U.S. is shooting down cheap Iranian drones with missiles that can cost upward of a million dollars. Jason Cornelius is making a missile in Texas that he says will cost $10,000. – Wall Street Journal
Key details about US military spending for the 2027 fiscal year — including the planned budgets for each of the military services — will be released on April 21, according to a US defense official, who requested anonymity to disclose the information. – Bloomberg
U.S. troops are deploying to the Middle East by the thousands as the Pentagon weighs the possibility of ground operations in Iran. The movement raises a question: What would those missions actually look like on the ground? – Defense News
A new Virginia-class attack submarine entered naval service over the weekend, the U.S. Navy announced. The service commissioned USS Massachusetts (SSN-798), a Block IV Virginia-class boat, during a Saturday ceremony in the Boston Harbor. – USNI News
Harlan Ullman writes: No matter how effective drones may prove — and they can indeed change the tactics, procedures and doctrine of war, as well as replace or augment traditional forces — they will not change the character or nature of conflict. With that stricture, until we answer basic questions on the strategic and non-tactical utility of drones, how to command and control drones and the associated logistics of buying, maintaining and supporting drones, what is transpiring in Ukraine is likely to stay in Ukraine. – The Hill