Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Trump administration’s direct talks with Hamas break an old taboo U.S. foreign aid cuts threaten to choke off information from Iran Exclusive: US mulls plan to disrupt Iran's oil by halting vessels at sea WINEP's Patrick Clawson: Iran’s sour national mood could complicate U.S. engagement AFPC’s Ilan Berman: With Iran, Vladimir Putin Is both arsonist and firefighter Ukraine fears Musk may cut vital Starlink internet amid Trump pressure Top U.S. officials to meet Ukraine counterparts next week in Saudi Arabia At least 70 killed as Syria’s security forces clash with Assad loyalists WSJ Editorial: The Houthis are foreign terrorists again Spooked by Trump and Putin, Europe rushes to rearm Trump pares back Canada, Mexico tariffs in latest whipsaw on trade Exclusive: US to levy fees on China-linked ships, push allies to do likewise, draft executive order saysIn The News
Israel
Israel’s soldiers have destroyed entire city blocks and bulldozed roads. Its drones fire at cars and buildings thought to be sheltering militants. Its tanks and snipers watch over deserted neighborhoods where thousands of civilians lived before their water and electricity lines were severed. – Washington Post
Under the Trump administration, U.S. officials have begun meeting directly with Hamas, breaking a long-standing — although sometimes flexible — U.S. policy against talking with groups Washington has designated as foreign terrorist organizations. – Washington Post
Nearly a week after the first stage of Israel and Hamas’s cease-fire expired, both Palestinians and Israelis are in limbo, uncertain how long the truce will hold. – New York Times
Any Israeli military escalation against Palestinians would most likely lead to the killing of some hostages, the Hamas armed wing’ spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that the Israeli threats of war and blockade will not secure the release of the hostages. – Reuters
Switzerland has cancelled a conference on the application of the Geneva Conventions to the occupied Palestinian territories for want of participants, its Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed on Thursday, after some countries expressed dissatisfaction. – Reuters
Israel is engaged in ongoing discussions with the US to establish a strong foundation for trilateral cooperation between Israel, Azerbaijan, and the US, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). – Jerusalem Post
The Israeli Air Force held a joint exercise with the US Air Force on Tuesday, in what was likely a message to Iran amid speculation about a potential joint strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities. – Times of Israel
New IDF Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir approved new offensive plans for the Southern Command in preparation for a likely resumption of fighting against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has been using the cease-fire to reorganize and, according to various assessments, once hostilities resume the conflict could escalate rapidly and become difficult to contain. – Ynet
Editorial: Eradicating Hamas was never a realistic goal for Israel, but loosening the group’s grip on Gaza must be the goal of future negotiations. Eventually, talks will have to move toward Phase 3: rebuilding the enclave. But before any of this can happen, the fighting has to stop. – Washington Post
Amine Ayoub writes: The international community must wake up to the reality that Hamas is not a political entity seeking compromise but a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. The only path to real peace in Gaza is one that ensures Hamas is removed from power and its ability to wage war is permanently dismantled. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
The Trump administration’s sweeping foreign aid cuts are threatening to choke off information from inside Iran in the midst of a widening government crackdown targeting journalists and activists, according to Iranian analysts and activists. – Washington Post
President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a plan to stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under an international accord aimed at countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. – Reuters
The U.S. is reviewing all existing sanctions waivers that provide Iran any degree of economic relief, and urging the Iraqi government to eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Thursday. – Reuters
An explosion in a container at a military site east of Tehran killed one military personnel and injured 10 firefighters, Iranian media reported Thursday. – Associated Press
Iran has denounced the U.K.’s accusations that Tehran attempted to threaten London’s national security, according to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press release. – Newsweek
Iran has unveiled a significant addition to its naval capabilities by adding its first drone carrier, the Shahid Bagheri, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fleet. […] Experts say the carrier improves Iran’s asymmetric warfare strategy and signals Tehran’s intentions to extend its operational reach beyond the Persian Gulf into more distant waters—but they also point to significant limitations in its offensive and deterrent capabilities. – Jerusalem Post
Patrick Clawson writes: On one hand, U.S. options for applying “maximum pressure” are more limited today than during the first Trump term, when withdrawing from the nuclear deal led to a sharp drop in Iran’s oil income and reduced European enthusiasm about doing business with the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, Iran’s economy is now in much worse shape than it was back then, with higher inflation, lower GDP growth, and major electricity and gasoline shortages. This means additional U.S. pressure would be felt all the more keenly by the Iranian people, who are already in a deeply sour mood. – Washington Institute
Ilan Berman writes: Russia’s partnership with Iran, in other words, is deep—and getting dramatically deeper. For Washington, all this should be instructive. Even as he has restored his policy of “maximum pressure” on the Iranian regime, President Trump has made his interest in potential negotiations with Tehran abundantly clear. And while the Iranian regime has so far rejected the possibility, mounting internal problems—from worsening economic conditions to spreading societal malaise —suggest Iran’s ayatollahs will have no choice but to come to the diplomatic table, and likely sooner rather than later. – National Interest
Russia & Ukraine
With the pausing of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid and of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, there are fears in the country that billionaire Elon Musk’s vital Starlink internet service could also be cut. – Washington Post
Top U.S. officials are prepared to meet with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia next week to set the stage for potential peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. – Wall Street Journal
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday its forces had captured another village in eastern Ukraine as it advances westward through the region of Donetsk more than three years into its invasion of its smaller neighbour. – Reuters
Russian forces launched a new mass drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late on Thursday, damaging energy infrastructure and triggering fires, the regional governor said, the latest of what have become daily assaults on the city. – Reuters
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former armed forces chief and current ambassador to Britain, said on Thursday that the United States was “destroying” the current world order. – Reuters
Russia said on Thursday that a French and British peace initiative on Ukraine was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse. – Reuters
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Ukraine should be granted the security of NATO without the actual membership in the military alliance. – Bloomberg
The U.S. decision to stop sharing military intelligence with Ukraine hobbles its ability to strike and defend against the Russian army, and increases the pressure on it to accept a peace deal being pushed by the Trump administration. – Associated Press
Editorial: The latest report is that U.S. officials want Ukraine’s President to commit to an immediate cease-fire when he signs a mineral-rights deal with the U.S. Mr. Trump is also withholding intelligence that is crucial to Ukraine’s defense. If Mr. Trump wants to end the killing, why is he withholding intel that will encourage Russia to escalate and kill more Ukrainian civilians and soldiers? So far in this one-sided peace process, Ukraine is supposed to make all the concessions, while Russia demands more rewards for its unprovoked invasion that has killed hundreds of thousands. – Wall Street Journal
David French writes: But the failure of military force eventually made men as vicious as China’s Mao Zedong and North Korea’s Kim Il Sung agree to an armistice in the Korean War. There is no reason (yet) to believe that Putin is more intransigent than two of the 20th century’s worst dictators. It is by supporting Ukraine that we give peace a real chance. – New York Times
Seth G. Jones writes: Russia continues to build ties with North Korea. Pyongyang has provided Russia with artillery rounds, rockets, short-range ballistic missiles and other munitions. Last month, the South Korean intelligence service reported that North Korea sent more troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, on top of roughly 12,000 soldiers that it deployed to Russia last year. Mr. Putin is an evil dictator. Any discussions with Russia should begin from that premise. – Wall Street Journal
Douglas Bloomfield writes: For all of Trump’s faith in Putin, there is no indication that the Russian dictator is willing to make a deal that Ukraine and its allies can live with or that he will abide by it. Don’t discount the possibility that Putin and Trump may privately cut a deal and force it on Ukraine. And you can bet it won’t address Ukraine’s security needs.Trump drools over the thought of a Nobel Peace Prize, and he doesn’t seem to care who or what he must sacrifice for it. That should be a lesson for Israel. – Jerusalem Post
Stephen Hadley, Daniel Fried, and Franklin D. Kramer write: If Trump and Zelensky continue to pursue it, a deal to give the United States access to Ukraine’s natural resources would add to the multiple interests that the United States already has in ensuring an independent and sovereign Ukraine. There is little doubt that the war in Ukraine should not continue on its current course. But peace through surrender would bring at best a temporary end to the fighting—and, at worst, would lead only to more Russian aggression. The only peace that can last is peace through strength. – Foreign Affairs
Kateryna Bondar writes: Broader integration of unmanned systems into military strategy and operations, from common operating pictures to doctrinal reforms, signals that Ukrainian forces are serious about scaling AI beyond the experimental stage. Although these measures do not yet combine into an entirely autonomous battlefield, they form the essential foundations of a technology road map that one day might yield fully autonomous warfare—but with continued human involvement where critical ethical and strategic judgments are required. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Syria
At least 70 people were killed and dozens wounded in overnight clashes between the new authorities in Syria and gunmen loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad, a war monitor said, in the bloodiest skirmishes since the collapse of the Assad government. – New York Times
Britain unfroze the assets of Syria’s central bank and 23 other entities including banks and oil companies on Thursday, reversing sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad’s presidency. – Reuters
Syria has imposed a curfew in the northwestern port town of Latakia and the port city of Tartous after fierce clashes between fighters linked to Syria’s ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and government forces, the state news agency said early on Friday. – Reuters
Syria received a new shipment of its local currency printed in Russia on Wednesday, with more shipments expected in the future, a Syrian government official said, in a new sign of improving ties between Moscow and Syria’s new rulers. – Times of Israel
Turkey
Turkey, with the second largest army in NATO after the United States, could contribute to a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Turkey’s armed forces have killed 26 Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria in the week since jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan’s disarmament call, the defence ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
Amy Austin Holmes writes: Trump and Rubio should create a special envoy for conflict prevention who focuses on the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. This could be done either through the State Department’s Negotiation Support Unit of the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), or through a separate envoy office. If Trump truly wants peace in the Middle East, he should support the Turkey-PKK peace process. – Newsweek
Middle East & North Africa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of talks later in the week with U.S. officials. – Reuters
Talks on resuming Iraqi oil flows to Turkey that have been halted for two years failed on Thursday for the second time in a week, two official sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. – Reuters
An Egyptian proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza, which was backed by leaders of Arab countries, doesn’t meet the Trump administration’s expectations for how the Palestinian enclave should be rebuilt, according to the State Department. – Bloomberg
President Donald Trump caused an uproar across the Arab world last month when he proposed relocating the 2 million residents of Gaza and the US taking control of the enclave in order to rebuild. Largely in response to President Trump’s proposal, Arab League representatives gathered in Cairo this week to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a $53 billion reconstruction plan for Gaza. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: U.S. law now will treat the Houthis appropriately, but how about the U.S. military? President Trump could protect the troops, the region and consumers by doing what President Biden never would: Devastate the Houthis after they next attack a U.S. vessel. Playing defense hasn’t worked, and U.S. ships shouldn’t be left as targets. Why not break the Red Sea blockade, and score a win for global trade for a change? – Wall Street Journal
Korean Peninsula
A South Korean court cancelled impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrest warrant on Friday, paving the way for his release from jail following his arrest in mid-January on insurrection charges over a brief imposition of martial law. – Reuters
The number of people injured after South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropped bombs on a civilian area on Thursday increased to 15 civilians and 14 soldiers, the country’s defence ministry said. – Reuters
North Korea criticised on Friday annual joint military drills planned by the United States and South Korea, saying it will worsen the situation on the Korean Peninsula, state media KCNA said. – Reuters
China
China’s finance minister said Thursday that the government has ample policy tools and flexibility to address both internal and external uncertainties, amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China will continue to retaliate to the United States’ “arbitrary tariffs” and accused Washington of “meeting good with evil” in a press conference Friday on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary session. – Associated Press
Brendan Kelly and Michael Hirson writes: And despite its record trade surplus, so long as Beijing remains obsessed with de-risking the supply side of its economy and insufficiently attentive to boosting domestic demand, it can only make limited progress in reducing its vulnerability to U.S. tariffs, sanctions, and export controls. The bottom line is that no matter how much Xi or Trump say they want a deal, no substantial reconsideration of de-risking is likely to happen in the next four years. – Foreign Affairs
Asia
President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan on Thursday sought to reassure his citizens that a plan by a Taiwanese chip giant to spend $100 billion in the United States would benefit the island, after the company’s pledge this week raised concerns at home. – New York Times
Thailand’s deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China last week was in the Southeast Asian country’s best interest due to the possibility of retaliation from Beijing if the group was sent elsewhere, a Thai minister said on Thursday. – Reuters
The United Nations’ migration agency has slashed aid to hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, according to a letter seen by Reuters and two people briefed on the matter, because of massive funding cuts by their biggest donor, the United States. – Reuters
Malaysia is discussing with chip companies based in the country whether they can absorb the impact of potential U.S. tariffs on semiconductors, its trade minister said, as it looks to hedge against risks to its export-driven economy. – Reuters
New Zealand’s top spy has warned of the security risks posed by China’s growing influence in the Pacific and said his agency would ramp up scrutiny of the Cook Islands after the nation deepened ties with Beijing. – Reuters
The Philippines and Canada are set to sign a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) after negotiations aimed at enhancing defence and security cooperation between the two nations, Manila’s defence ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the US-Japan Security Treaty, highlighting the fact that the US is obliged to defend Japan under the agreement but Japan does not offer the same security guarantees in return, even as Tokyo benefits from the trade relationship. – Bloomberg
Derek Grossman writes: Without Washington, Ulaanbaatar would lose critical leverage. North Korea has the same problem, but in reverse: It needs China and Russia to resist the United States, but a friendlier great-power dynamic could seriously jeopardize this strategy.It is still early days in the Trump administration’s approach to what have long been the United States’ main adversaries. Indeed, a shift may not materialize at all. But assuming it does, much of the Indo-Pacific—with the exception of close U.S. allies and partners—is likely to be broadly optimistic that their part of the world becomes more stable. – Foreign Policy
Europe
President Trump’s embrace of Russia is causing Europeans to rethink their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany. – Wall Street Journal
The European Union’s leaders made a rallying cry Thursday to embark on a military buildup to a degree they haven’t done in decades, as they contend with the specter of rising Russian belligerence and faltering U.S. support. – Washington Post
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said on Thursday that he spoke over the phone with his Sierra Leone counterpart Alpha Sesay about the Dutch extradition request for European cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers. – Reuters
Italy’s parliament on Thursday rejected opposition amendments trying to prevent the government from acquiring satellite services from companies outside the EU, which a representative from Starlink had denounced as ‘anti-Musk’ moves. – Reuters
Romania detained six people on charges of trying to overthrow the state with Russia’s help, prosecutors said on Thursday, and a 101-year-old former army major general said his home had been raided as part of the investigation. – Reuters
NATO’s newest member Sweden plans to contribute up to eight Jas Gripen fighter jets to the defence alliance’s air policing in Poland, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Thursday. – Reuters
Norway will more than double its financial pledge to Ukraine this year while also hiking its own defence spending, the prime minister said on Thursday, declaring the Nordic country faced its most serious security situation for 80 years. – Reuters
President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the United States’ defense if the country were attacked, though the alliance did just that after Sept. 11 — the only time in its history that the defense guarantee has been invoked. – Associated Press
Poland and Baltic nations welcomed Thursday a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to launch talks about using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats, a move Moscow quickly dismissed as “extremely confrontational.” – Associated Press
France will keep providing military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced it was freezing the sharing of information with Kyiv, French defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday. – Associated Press
Speaking to reporters after an emergency summit of all 27 EU leaders in Brussels — in which Hungary was the lone holdout refusing to endorse a joint statement in support of arming Ukraine — Orbán said his government would poll Hungarians on their support for Kyiv’s EU accession. – Politico
President Trump has once again stirred both controversy and curiosity with his latest move — declaring his intention to bring Greenland into the United States fold, “one way or the other.” – New York Sun
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk signaled on Thursday that he will be expanding what he calls his “East Shield,” a large-scale military initiative aimed at strengthening Poland’s border with Russia—part of NATO’s eastern flank. – Newsweek
Washington’s decision to pause military assistance to Ukraine following the televised argument at the White House between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy has left the Baltic region on edge. – Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
Joseph C. Sternberg writes: An overhaul of the social-welfare state is a precondition for sustained rearmament because only such reforms can generate the economic growth to assuage the bond vigilantes. Mr. Starmer is confronting this reality already; others will face it soon. Still, Europe at last is admitting an uncomfortable truth: The money for defense has always been there. The shortage was of political determination, and if indeed that’s changing it will be a significant geopolitical transformation for the Continent—and for Washington and (especially) the Kremlin. – Wall Street Journal
Daniel Mccarthy writes: Now the question is whether the leaders responsible for three decades of decline can reverse course completely — or whether Europe needs its own Mr. Trump-like figures to replace them. – New York Sun
Lionel Laurent writes: What Europe can’t do is reverse course. Going back to the pre-pandemic, prewar model of reliance on cheap Russian gas, US security guarantees and China export markets would be hugely risky and destabilizing, regardless of the nostalgia that exists in some corners for what it offered Europe in terms of “competitiveness.” Still, de-risking while de-Musking the economy is no easy task. – Bloomberg
Mark Toth and Jonathan Sweet write: Hopefully Trump will come around. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz signaled on Wednesday that he might after discussions between Washington and Kyiv. But Europe cannot wait. It must act. London and Brussels must recognize one more thing. Tusk’s paradox almost got it right, but not quite. Currently, Europe is asking 39 million Ukrainians to defend the European continent from Putin’s war on the West. The 340 million Americans need to understand this too. For now, it is Europe’s thin red line in Ukraine, but if Ukraine falls, Europe will become our thin red line, and potentially we will find ourselves in harm’s way. – The Hill
Africa
The Ebola outbreak in Uganda has worsened significantly, and the country’s ability to contain the spread has been severely weakened by the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance, American officials said this week. – New York Times
Sudan’s government filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice this week accusing the United Arab Emirates of being complicit in genocide by arming and funding a rebel militia in the country’s brutal civil war. – New York Times
Congo’s former President Joseph Kabila has initiated talks with opposition politicians about the country’s political future as Rwanda-backed rebels seize territory in the east, five sources familiar with the outreach told Reuters. – Reuters
South Sudanese forces loyal to President Salva Kiir continued to round up allies of First Vice President Riek Machar on Thursday, arresting the peacebuilding minister in an escalation of a dispute church leaders warned could lead to a new civil war. – Reuters
The Americas
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he anticipates the new leader of the Liberal Party to become prime minister formally in the span of a week, once a victor emerges from a party vote on Sunday. – Wall Street Journal
A deal to put U.S. investors in control of a global ports network, including berths at the Panama Canal, removes potential levers for Chinese influence and marks rare American inroads in a strategic sector dominated by Beijing. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. partially pulled back tariffs on some goods from Mexico and Canada after markets sank and companies lobbied President Trump, as the administration’s swerving trade policy strained relations with allies and raised recession fears. – Wall Street Journal
Canada will delay a planned second wave of retaliatory tariffs on C$125 billion of U.S. products until April 2, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a post on X on Thursday. – Reuters
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump for an “excellent and respectful” call on Thursday, promising that her government would work on security and migration as Washington temporarily eased tariffs. – Reuters
Canada is expanding its military presence in the Arctic region as it tries to appease the Trump administration’s calls for higher defense spending and deter Chinese and Russian influence in the remote region. – Bloomberg
Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser to President Trump, said Wednesday that Canada has been “taken over” by Mexican cartels as tensions between the countries are on the rise over Trump-imposed tariffs seeking to crack down on fentanyl entering the U.S. – The Hill
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said three states would face tariffs on electricity after a week of President Trump’s swipes at Canada with fluctuating trade policies. – The Hill
Facing the ire of Mexico’s neighbor to the north, President Sheinbaum seems to have weathered the storm better than Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. Neither, though, is yet out of the woods, as President Trump threatens tariffs. – New York Sun
United States
The United States is planning to charge fees for docking at U.S. ports on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels and will push allies to act similarly or face retaliation, a draft executive order stated. – Reuters
The American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned deputy Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson over social media posts they described as antisemitic. – The Hill
President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he is in favor of denuclearization among global powers. – Newsweek
Editorial: Mr. Trump’s tariff doesn’t appear reasonably related to the fentanyl emergency. And Congress seemed to dislike Nixon’s use of emergency powers to deal with trade issues since three years later it gave the President limited authority to impose tariffs. Mr. Trump may have shunned those authorities because he wants carte blanche to impose tariffs. – Wall Street Journal
Eli Lake writes: Since Elon Musk’s DOGE froze its funding on January 22, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is nearing complete collapse. Already, it has had to furlough 75 percent of its workforce. Nearly all the field offices for NED’s sister organizations—the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute—have had to close. And NED itself has frozen all of its current grants due to a shortfall of cash. So it is taking its case to court and asking to overrule the DOGE order that has ground the endowment to a halt.- The Free Press
Danielle Pletka and Brett D. Schaefer write: The threat of withdrawal should be a wake up jolt to the WHO and its more responsible members. While the loss of U.S. membership and funding might not be terminal, it will be crippling. Member states who believe the WHO remains vital need to ask themselves what reforms they should propose to convince the U.S. to reverse course. Done well, such reforms could be about more than just placating the U.S., they could usher in a revolution in international health. The only real question is: Why is anyone opposed? – Dispatch
Cybersecurity
Italy’s Leonardo and Turkey’s Baykar Technologies agreed to form a joint venture to develop unmanned drones, ahead of an expected increase in demand from Europe. – Wall Street Journal
Microsoft (MSFT.O) will invest an additional 5.4 billion rand ($296.81 million) by the end of 2027 to expand its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in South Africa to meet the growing demand for the company’s Azure services in the region. – Reuters
Twelve Chinese nationals — including mercenary hackers, law enforcement officers and employees of a private hacking company — have been charged in connection with global cybercrime campaigns targeting dissidents, news organizations, U.S. agencies and universities, the Justice Department says. – Associated Press
President Donald Trump said he would “probably” extend the deadline for the sale for social video app TikTok if a deal is not reached by April 5. – Bloomberg
Albania will block TikTok in the coming days over concerns about children’s safety, the prime minister’s office told POLITICO. – Politico
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to create a government reserve of bitcoin along with a “digital asset stockpile” in the administration’s latest embrace of the cryptocurrency industry. – The Hill
Initial reports indicate a suspected cyber incident on the computer systems of Bikur Rofeh (Israel’s leading private primary emergency medical services clinic), the Health Ministry said on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
Federal law enforcement agencies are warning business executives of a new scam involving criminals using the name of a prominent Russian ransomware gang to extort companies. – The Record
Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex was taken down in an apparent seizure by U.S. and European law enforcement Thursday, shortly after the company said $28 million had been frozen by another cryptocurrency firm. – The Record
Catherine Thorbecke writes: Critics of open-source AI have argued that it carries unique risks, heightening the potential for bad actors to exploit it. But the reality in Silicon Valley is that these threats haven’t stopped companies from speeding ahead with its rollout. […] If the US wants to maintain its global position in AI leadership, Washington and Silicon Valley must work together to promote American open-source AI to the globe. Inaction risks being caught flat-footed while the world embraces Chinese AI, and all the ideologies that accompany it. – Bloomberg
Defense
The United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region are conducting exercises in two strategic locations to hone their skills in hunting hostile submarines. – Newsweek
President Donald Trump’s ambition to build 40 new icebreakers in the United States is unrealistic given the current state of the national shipbuilding industry, which may require Washington to ask for Canada’s help, according to a major Canadian shipbuilder specializing in the construction of such vessels. – Defense News
The U.S. Navy began anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises in Hawaii and Guam on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a Chinese and a Russian surveillance ship have been conducting separate sails around Japan’s southwest islands and Australia has now tasked three frigates to shadow a People’s Liberation Army Navy task group that has been operating around Australia since mid-February. – USNI News
Italian manufacturer Leonardo and Turkish prime Baykar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in advance of establishing an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies joint venture (JV) together, bidding to take advantage of increasing European market demand. – Breaking Defense