Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Hamas to release last American hostage from Gaza on Monday JPost Editorial: History will judge Netanyahu and Trump on whether they can keep US-Israel ties ironclad U.S. ‘encouraged’ by latest Iran nuclear talks Zelensky agrees to talks with Russia, after Trump intervention Iran to send Russia launchers for short-range missiles WSJ Editorial: Three paths for the U.S. in Syria Kurdish militant group PKK to end four-decade conflict with Turkey In Mideast, Trump plans to focus on business deals, not geopolitics China and U.S. agree to slash tariffs for 90 days while they negotiate India, Pakistan cease-fire brokered by U.S. appears to hold Europe threatens Nord Stream 2 sanctions to pressure Russia on cease-fire Trump administration in talks to accept new air force one as gift from QatarIn The News
Israel
Hamas said it would release the last remaining American hostage in Gaza on Monday, marking a diplomatic win for the Trump administration that is bringing up mixed reactions in Israel. – Wall Street Journal
The accusations facing Khan have become entwined with the international conflict over Gaza. Just 2½ weeks after Khan learned of the allegations against him last spring, he surprised Israeli and U.S. officials by announcing the most dramatic arrest warrant in the court’s history—for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. – Wall Street Journal
Two months later, in another White House visit, Mr. Netanyahu sat almost silently next to the president for more than a half-hour as Mr. Trump expounded on topics having nothing to do with Israel. That meeting, in April, underscored a growing divide between the two men, who are increasingly in disagreement on some of the most critical security issues facing Israel. – New York Times
The new German foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, departed for Israel on Saturday for a Middle East trip in which “critical discussions” are expected, he said when leaving Berlin. – Reuters
The way to establish a Palestinian state is via “Peaceful resistance to Israel, not weapons,” Hussein Al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Saudi state-owned news outlet Al-Arabiya on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post
The Mossad spy agency and the Israel Defense Forces recovered the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, who went missing in the First Lebanon War’s battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982, officials announced on Sunday. – Times of Israel
A senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative who Israeli authorities say was planning imminent terror attacks was killed by troops Friday in the West Bank city of Nablus. – Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected reports of widening gaps between him and US President Donald Trump, and said that his relationship with the president was “excellent” in a video update on his X account. – Times of Israel
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Sunday that Israel “fully endorses” what he characterized as a recently announced American plan for providing aid to the Gaza Strip. – Times of Israel
Editorial: Israel and the United States are bound not merely by interests but by values: democracy, innovation, and the conviction that free peoples must defeat totalitarians who glorify death. Trump likes to boast that he breaks diplomatic norms; Netanyahu prides himself on defying strategic fatalism. Here is their chance to channel that shared contrarian streak into renewed partnership. Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister: the free world has enough adversaries. Do not hand them a propaganda win. Stride into this visit as teammates, emerge with a clearer path to finish Hamas, freeze Iran’s nuclear program, and expand peace in the region. – Jerusalem Post
Olga Deutsch writes: It requires moral clarity and a willingness to act even when it’s politically inconvenient. This means reaching a clear consensus on funding to UNRWA, restrictions to military exports, and whether Germany is prepared to truly stand by its commitments when they are tested, not just celebrated. The story of Germany and Israel is not one of forgetting, nor of erasing the past. It is a story of choosing to build, together, despite it. In that, there is an example for the rest of the world. Now, as both nations reflect on what has been achieved, the real question is what they are prepared to do next. – Jerusalem Post
Assaf Zoran writes: This reality demands strategic foresight. Israel and the United States must prepare not only for the prospect of conflict but also for alternative outcomes. Flexible scenario planning, the creation of contingency plans for a range of developments, and the rejection of a zero-sum mindset can enhance readiness for future change and facilitate the necessary shifts in perception. Proactive engagement with the possibility of transformation may help reduce hostility today and lay the groundwork for a more stable tomorrow. – The National Interest
Iran
The U.S. said it was encouraged by talks with Iran on Sunday after a meeting here, but the two sides remain divided on key questions, including whether Tehran will be allowed to enrich its own uranium. – Wall Street Journal
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that if the United States’ goal is to deprive Iran of its “nuclear rights”, Tehran will never back down over those rights. – Reuters
Karen Elliott House writes: Destroying Iran’s nuclear capability involves risks, and Mr. Trump wants to avoid war. But if he believes Iran can be trusted to execute a new pact, he hasn’t done his homework. If he settles for anything short of total dismantlement, it will be the moral equivalent of Joe Biden’s ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trust in his leadership will be gone. Let’s hope Mr. Trump means what he says: “If we don’t work it out, bad, bad things are going to happen to Iran.” – Wall Street Journal
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged Vladimir Putin to meet him in Istanbul this week, after President Trump swung behind the Russian president’s offer of talks before a cease-fire. – Wall Street Journal
Undercutting a weekend of European diplomacy, President Trump on Sunday implored Ukraine to accept a Russian proposal for direct talks rather than insist on a cease-fire first — as had been laid out in a plan announced a day earlier by European leaders during a visit to Kyiv. – New York Times
Russia launched 108 drones across Ukraine overnight and struck a civilian freight train, injuring its driver, Ukrainian authorities said, after European leaders joined President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in demanding a 30-day ceasefire from Monday. – Reuters
After fending off attacks during a three-day weekend ceasefire declared by Russia, some Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the front line had advice for their president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy: don’t talk to Moscow until Russian troops withdraw. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was “starting to doubt” that Ukraine will reach a ceasefire deal with Russia, and he urged Ukraine to meet with Russian officials in Turkey on Thursday to negotiate. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposed peace talks with Ukraine will take into account an abandoned 2022 draft deal between the two countries and the reality of Russia’s control over almost a fifth of Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Sunday. – Reuters
Iran is preparing to deliver in the near future launchers for short-range ballistic missiles that the U.S. said Tehran sent to Russia last year for use against Ukraine, according to two Western security officials and a regional official. – Reuters
Tom Rogan writes: President Donald Trump’s tariffs have created a major opportunity for China to gain leverage over Europe. Recognizing the opportunity Trump has gifted him, Chinese president Xi Jinping recently waived sanctions on European Union parliamentarians and exchanged celebratory letters with EU leaders on the 50th anniversary of EU-China political relations. Xi hopes to dangle investment and cooperation as a remedy to the damage Trump’s tariffs will cause to already weak European economies. Trump’s unpredictability on Ukraine has also damaged America’s credibility as Europe’s ultimate partner of choice. – Washington Examiner
Syria
A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria’s oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s strategic pitch to try to get face time with U.S. President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington. – Reuters
A Qatari mission has begun searching for the remains of U.S. hostages killed by Islamic State in Syria a decade ago, two sources briefed on the mission said, reviving a longstanding effort to recover their bodies. – Reuters
The body of American journalist Austin Tice was found in a cemetery in northern Syria, sources told Sky News Arabia on Sunday. According to the FBI, Tice was kidnapped in Damascus, Syria in August of 2012. He was a freelance journalist and photographer who worked with various news outlets, among which were CBS. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: That may point toward the Saudi position, which is to give Mr. Sharaa a chance to prove he means what he says about protecting minorities and avoiding foreign conflict, and otherwise wait and see. The U.S. can continue to take cautious steps with sanctions relief in return for action on matters of interest—foreign jihadists, chemical weapons and more. The U.S. need not give up its leverage all at once. And it isn’t Washington’s job to pressure the Kurds to knuckle under if Mr. Sharaa won’t make concessions to their safety. The good news is that Israel and Syria have held back-channel talks, Mr. Sharaa said, and Israel and Turkey have as well. Perhaps the best role the U.S. can play in Syria will be to help prevent the latter two regional heavyweights—both at odds with Iran—from clashing. – Wall Street Journal
Neville Teller writes: Any demand to reverse the situation would certainly scupper normalization discussions. Sharaa would probably adopt the pragmatic approach favored by other Abraham Accord states and put the issue on the back burner. There is no doubt that remarks by Sharaa from the start of his governance favor conciliation toward Israel and potential openness to the principles of regional normalization and cooperation embodied in the Abraham Accords. If Syria’s interim president eventually delivers the inclusive, unified, well-governed state that he promises, he will have proved himself the most remarkable leader to have emerged in the Arab world for generations. – Jerusalem Post
Samer al-Ahmed writes: Delays beyond the end-of-year deadline for full implementation of the Damascus-SDF agreement now seem likely. However, provisional compromises could keep the situation under control — particularly if mirrored by other localized agreements, such as those recently reached with Druze-majority towns like Sahnaya and Jaramana. In these areas, immediate arms handovers and the reassertion of state authority have set a precedent for de-escalation and trust-building. – Middle East Institute
Turkey
A Kurdish militant group said it would end its armed struggle and dissolve itself after four decades of conflict with Turkey, a news agency aligned with the group said Monday. The decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, will have significant security and political ramifications for the region, not only in Turkey but also in neighboring Syria, where Kurdish forces are fighting Turkish-backed militias. – Wall Street Journal
Turkey is ready to undertake the duty to observe a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, its foreign minister said during a “coalition of the willing” call with Kyiv’s partners on Saturday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said. – Reuters
The militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) made “historic decisions” at a congress this week after a call from its jailed leader to dissolve, a linked news agency said on Friday – a potentially key step in resolving a long conflict with Turkey. – Reuters
Yemen
Israel’s military said on Friday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, an attack for which Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility. – Reuters
Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday. – Reuters
Yemen had denied reports by the Saudi news channel Al-Hadath that Israel was responsible for airstrikes that targeted the Ras Isa fuel port between Friday night and Saturday morning, Ynet reported. – Jerusalem Post
Gulf States
President Donald Trump plans to leave Monday for a four-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, a mission that is expected to focus heavily on business deals and new investments from the oil-rich region. – Washington Post
During his first major overseas trip this week, President Donald Trump is set to visit three countries in the Middle East — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — without stopping in Jerusalem. – Washington Post
President Trump has floated changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf ahead of a trip to the Middle East next week, a move that infuriated Iran and its people. – New York Times
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it received a report of an incident 80 nautical miles off the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port. – Reuters
MBS wants to make himself the Middle East’s go-to man, while Trump has boasted of inking $1 trillion worth of investment and trade for US companies. Yet with a slump in oil prices of the kingdom’s own making, the Saudi financial dynamic has shifted: the big spender abroad is in urgent need of money at home. – Bloomberg
Middle East & North Africa
Lebanon’s only commercial airport sits in the heart of a densely populated area of southern Beirut largely controlled by Hezbollah. The militant group has for years used it as a smuggling channel and a lever to assert its dominance in the country. Now the country’s new government, with U.S. support, is trying to take it back. – Wall Street Journal
Ben Fishman writes: If the Libyan leaders agree to participate in a genuine UN-led negotiation, the US should use its influence to force spoilers to stay out of the process—something previous administrations have failed to do. If the Libyans can’t agree on such a technocrat government after two months, the Trump administration can throw the problem back to Europe. Put simply, there is an urgency to addressing Libya’s chaos and dysfunction. Every month wasted will yield deeper corruption, more difficult negotiations, and continued Russian exploitation. Europe will not be able to prevent this scenario on its own while dealing with the very survival of NATO. They would be wise to engage with Trump on Libya before it is too late. – Washington Institute
Marc Lynch writes: That is difficult to envision, given the personnel, policy processes, and preferences of this administration. Trump seems to want a regional order based on force and transactionalism rather than legitimacy or partnership. He has radically undermined American soft power and the nonmilitary U.S. presence in the region by eroding the federal government’s ability to carry out policy, closing American borders, slashing foreign assistance, and shuttering institutions of public diplomacy. Support for Israel’s depopulation and annexation of Gaza will only inflame public opinion in the Middle East in ways that an Iran nuclear deal will not assuage. If Trump truly wants to break the endless cycle of U.S. policy failure in the Middle East, then this Gulf visit would be the right time to start. – Foreign Affairs
Korean Peninsula
The scene is part of a new wave of propaganda that both North Korea and Russia are producing to exalt their partnership, which has deepened as Pyongyang has sent about 15,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war in Ukraine since last year. The footage featured prominently on a popular Russian news show that also showed video of North Koreans firing shotguns, running through trenches and tossing hand grenades. – Wall Street Journal
The two candidates who will fight it out to win election as South Korea’s next president overcame great odds to get where they are. Lee Jae-myung was a teenage sweatshop worker whose family survived on rotten fruits. Kim Moon-soo was imprisoned and tortured for anti-government activism. – New York Times
Contenders for South Korea’s presidency kicked off their campaigns on Monday, vowing to unify a deeply polarised society and spur economic growth while navigating trade negotiations with the United States. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said North Korea’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war was justified, calling it an exercise of sovereign rights in defence of a “brother nation,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday. – Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare visit to Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang with his daughter on Friday and reaffirmed “the invincible alliance” between the two countries, while Russia’s leader greeted North Korean generals in Moscow. – Reuters
South Korea’s embattled conservative party canceled then reinstated the presidential candidacy of Kim Moon Soo within hours as internal turmoil escalated ahead of the June 3 election. – Associated Press
China
Officials from the U.S. and China wrapped up their weekend, high-stakes trade talks, with Beijing saying the two sides agreed to start a formal negotiation process and Washington touting progress toward a deal. – Wall Street Journal
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is sending his top public-security aide to Switzerland as part of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations. – Wall Street Journal
Taiwan’s leaders have embarked on an urgent overhaul of the island’s defenses to prepare for what they see as the possibility of a Chinese invasion by 2027. The purpose: be able to hold on long enough for the U.S. to come to the rescue. – Wall Street Journal
China and the United States have agreed to lower tariffs goods from each other’s countries for 90 days, offering a temporary reprieve in a trade war that threatens to cause a global recession and deepen a widening rift between the world’s two largest economies. – Washington Post
China will host a summit that includes its key Latin American trade partners this week in an effort to advance influence and partnerships in the region, as Beijing and Washington try to defuse their trade war. – Reuters
Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Britain this week at the invitation of British lawmakers, a trip that comes as London is trying to improve ties with Beijing and China ramps up efforts to diplomatically isolate the island. – Reuters
South Asia
A fragile cease-fire between India and Pakistan to halt the worst violence between the two nuclear-armed rivals in years, appeared to hold through the weekend, despite initial accusations by Indian officials that Islamabad had violated the pact. – Wall Street Journal
The military operations chiefs of India and Pakistan are set to discuss on Monday the next steps for the nuclear-armed neighbours, India said, as a ceasefire returned calm to the border, and their equity markets edged higher. – Reuters
The Indian Air Force said on Sunday that “losses are a part of combat” without giving details but added that all its pilots were back home after fighting with Pakistan this week, responding to a question on whether the force suffered losses. – Reuters
A key water-sharing pact between India and Pakistan remains suspended, four government sources told Reuters, despite the countries reaching a ceasefire agreement on Saturday after days of deadly fighting. – Reuters
The Indian military sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan on Sunday about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated, a top Indian army officer said, while the Pakistan military’s spokesman denied any violation of the ceasefire. – Reuters
Bangladesh’s interim government has banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party of deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act, citing national security concerns. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund executive board approved on Friday a fresh $1.4 billion loan to Pakistan under its climate resilience fund and approved the first review of its $7 billion program, freeing about $1 billion in cash. – Reuters
Bangladesh’s former ruling party accused Sunday the interim government of “stoking division” and trampling on “democratic norms” by banning all of its activities. – Associated Press
The Indian Navy massed naval forces in the Northern Arabian Sea and sent a carrier battle group, surface combatants, submarines and naval aviation to keep their Pakistani adversaries in a “defensive position,” officials said this week. – USNI News
Andreas Kluth writes: The immediate crisis is putting billions of South Asians in mortal danger. The larger global crisis that Trump has partially caused but not yet understood is putting everybody at risk. No problem — from climate change to pandemics or global anarchy — can be contained without American leadership. It’s understandable that the US no longer wants that role. But then it must work to create a new order to replace the Pax Americana. Especially when the ammo is atomic, simply walking away is not an option, neither for Trump nor any American president after him. – Bloomberg
Anushka Saxena writes: India continues to be reliant on Western or Russian defense imports, even as its self-reliance campaign in the defense sector is progressing gradually. This means that if the conflict with Pakistan drags on, there will be a need to service and secure weapons systems and defense components that can match the strength of Chinese-made Pakistani equipment while also ensuring that both the LAC and the LoC have enough strength to deal with incursions and skirmishes on the ground. The latter should especially consider the intelligence that China continues to deploy heavy weaponry and around 50,000–60,000 troops along the LAC. – The National Interest
Asia
Mr. Duterte, who ordered a brutal antidrug campaign in which tens of thousands of people died during his presidency, remains very popular in the Philippines. With Filipinos voting in midterm elections on Monday, he is expected to win another term as mayor of Davao City, his eighth, by a landslide. For now, he remains eligible for office. – New York Times
Vietnam and Russia have agreed to quickly negotiate and sign agreements on building nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement. – Reuters
An Australian man has been killed in Ukraine, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed on Monday, with media reporting the victim was a former Australian soldier working for a charity which helps clear landmines. – Reuters
A helicopter crash in Sri Lanka has killed six military personnel, an Air Force official said on Friday. A Bell 212 helicopter had crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir in central Sri Lanka with a dozen armed forces personnel on board. – Reuters
Myanmar’s shadow government said an airstrike by the ruling junta had killed at least 17 students and injured 20 others at a school in an opposition-controlled area on Monday, despite a ceasefire being in place after a devastating earthquake. – Reuters
Karishma Vaswani writes: immediate family members from simultaneously or successively holding elective positions within a certain jurisdiction. This needs to apply at both local and national levels to eliminate the practice early on. Reform won’t come easy — it demands lawmakers curb their own families’ power. But civil society can play a role, by publicizing abuses and pushing for higher standards in leadership to pressure politicians and inform voters. Dynasties endure not just through wealth or legacy, but because a system built on name recognition shuts out merit. Power stays within these clans, and ordinary Filipinos remain locked out. – Bloomberg
Europe
President Trump, who has pledged to buy or conquer Greenland, views the Arctic as a zone of future commerce and potential conflict. He has called for the U.S. to make a new fleet of icebreakers—and engineers from Finland are lining up to help. – Wall Street Journal
Kyiv’s European allies threatened new sanctions against Russia, including a permanent block on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that connects Russia to Germany, if the Kremlin doesn’t agree to President Trump’s 30-day cease-fire in its war with Ukraine. – Wall Street Journal
Pope Leo XIV appealed to the world’s major powers for “no more war” in his first Sunday message to crowds in St. Peter’s Square since his election as pontiff. The new pope, elected on May 8, called for an “authentic and lasting peace” in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, and the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group Hamas. – Reuters
Albanians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday with prime minister Edi Rama seeking an unprecedented fourth term after a campaign dominated by promises to join the European Union and accusations of widespread corruption. – Reuters
Public prosecutors in Germany have moved to strip a politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of his immunity as a lawmaker after initiating a probe into bribery and money laundering allegations, local media reported on Friday. – Reuters
France and Poland signed a treaty on Friday to increase cooperation on defence, nuclear energy and other measures, in a sign of growing alliances between European nations amid concerns about U.S. commitment to Europe’s security. – Reuters
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Monday that he was ordering the closure of Russia’s consulate in the southern city of Krakow after Polish authorities said Russia was responsible for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year. – Associated Press
A massive fire that destroyed a large shopping center in Warsaw last year was the result of arson ordered by Russian intelligence services, Polish officials said Sunday on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the blaze. – Associated Press
Israel’s Yuval Raphael walked the “turquoise carpet” event in front of a crowd of protesters on Sunday, as the opening ceremony parade officially kicked off the Eurovision Song Contest week in Basel, Switzerland. – Times of Israel
Filip Balunovic writes: There’s no assurance they’ll succeed. After months of protests, blockades and door-to-door campaigning, many are exhausted. Some have been imprisoned, accused of plotting a coup, and there have been incidents of police brutality. But for all the difficulties, the protesters are doing it their own way — without leaders, without hierarchies, through plenums and strictly horizontal decision-making. Equal and united in solidarity, they are changing Serbia and setting an example for the world to follow. Now, that really would be a miracle. – New York Times
Arancha Gonzalez Laya writes: It would be dangerous to overlook the damage being done by the Trump administration to the U.S. capacity to project power. Countries around the world, particularly in Asia, are carefully watching how the United States plays its hand in Europe. They should recognize the risk in overestimating Washington’s stability and underestimating Europe’s capacity. If member states muster enough will to act on the plans and ambitions they have laid out so far, the EU will be able to preserve its unique model of pooled sovereignty and advance a more secure, prosperous, and democratic future for its citizens—a good thing for Europe and also its international partners. – Foreign Affairs
Africa
The first white South Africans granted refugee status under a programme initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump boarded a plane to leave from the country’s main international airport in Johannesburg on Sunday. – Reuters
Gunmen shot dead at least 30 travellers in an attack in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo state, Amnesty International said on Friday, raising fresh concerns about violence in a region rife with insecurity. – Reuters
Ugandan opposition leader and pop singer Bobi Wine said on Friday he plans to run for president for a second time and criticised the West for not speaking out more against “gross human rights violations” in the country. – Reuters
At least 100 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch said Monday. – Associated Press
The southern African Kingdom of Eswatini plans to start a sovereign wealth fund of around 5 billion emalangeni ($275 million) this year to help channel money into areas including manufacturing and agriculture, its finance minister said. – Bloomberg
The Americas
The Colombian government said on Saturday that it had granted asylum to Ricardo Martinelli, a former president of Panama who had been sheltering for more than a year in the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama City to evade a prison sentence for money laundering. – New York Times
Traders have rebranded more than $1 billion of Venezuelan oil shipments to China as Brazilian crude over the past year, according to two tanker tracking firms, company documents and four traders, helping buyers to cut logistics costs and circumvent U.S. sanctions. – Reuters
Colombia granted asylum to Panama’s former President Ricardo Martinelli, Colombian authorities said on Saturday, and two sources close to the ex-president said that he had departed the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City for Colombia. – Reuters
Eleven soldiers were killed and one was injured in Ecuador’s Amazon region during an armed confrontation with a criminal group, the country’s defense ministry said on Friday. – Reuters
Brazil is in talks with China to build a railway connecting the Chinese-built mega Chancay port in Peru to Brazilian regions, Planning Minister Simone Tebet said on Friday. – Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday slammed U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies and sweeping tariffs, saying they harm multilateralism as he met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. – Reuters
The Argentine Supreme Court has found documentation associated with the Nazi regime among its archives including propaganda material that was used to spread Adolf Hitler’s ideology in the South American nation, a judicial authority from the court told The Associated Press on Sunday. – Associated Press
Editorial: Brazil said in a statement that it wasn’t involved in any deal, having tried for months to negotiate safe passage for the five. Ms. Machado told us from Caracas on Thursday that there was “absolutely no negotiation.” She called it a “precise, complex and perfectly executed operation.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the mission on X.com Tuesday, adding that “Maduro’s illegitimate regime has undermined Venezuela’s institutions, violated human rights, and endangered our regional security.” The State Department added Friday: “The Maduro regime’s vulnerability and internal weakness in its own country is clear.” That may have the dictator sleeping with one eye open. – Wall Street Journal
North America
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Sunday said she is suspending imports of live cattle, horses and bison through the southern U.S. border over the damaging pest New World screwworm, a measure that immediately drew opposition from Mexico. – Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet will be sworn in on Tuesday, according to a statement on Friday from the office of Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon. – Reuters
Some US tariffs on Canadian imports may remain in place even as the relationship between the two countries improves, Peter Hoekstra, the US ambassador to Canada, said. – Bloomberg
The governor of the Mexican state of Baja California says the United States has withdrawn tourist visas from her and her husband. – CNN
United States
President Trump’s administration is in talks with the Qatari government about accepting a luxury Qatari plane for his use as president and potentially beyond, according to people familiar with the matter. – Wall Street Journal
House Republicans are releasing their plan to cut Medicaid spending, with the program’s defenders in the GOP appearing to win the intraparty clash over how aggressively to change the system that provides health insurance to more than 70 million low-income and disabled people. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump on Sunday said he would sign an executive order aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs, looking to implement a policy that ties U.S. drug prices to what other countries pay. – Wall Street Journal
Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods — and Beijing’s triple-digit retaliation — are bringing a swift halt to the trans-Pacific flow of electronics, clothing, furniture, industrial parts and everything else that the world’s two largest economies exchange. – Washington Post
President Trump wants Latin American countries to shift closer into Washington’s orbit, raising echoes of the Monroe Doctrine, when the United States claimed the Western Hemisphere as its domain. – New York Times
The families of some of the victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who worked for the bond trading company of Howard Lutnick, now the commerce secretary, are urging him to help extradite a Saudi Arabian national potentially involved in the attacks as he prepares to engage in economic talks with the kingdom. – New York Times
U.S. President Donald Trump has two gigantic trade blocs in Europe and the Pacific now eyeing each other and considering a previously far-fetched idea. – Politico
Jacob T. Levy writes: The former should be regulated like campaign finance, if not abolished altogether, with inaugurations treated as a public event. The latter are civically unhealthy anyway, encouraging a veneration of presidents over the whole constitutional order. At a minimum, fundraising for them should be impossible until after a presidential term ends. Otherwise, as Trump and Qatar have shown, they provide a loophole you could fly a plane through. – Washington Post
Cybersecurity
Nvidia (NVDA.O) plans to release a downgraded version of its H20 artificial intelligence chip for China in the next two months, following U.S. export restrictions on the original model, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. – Reuters
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the de-facto federal privacy regulator, said on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposal to make Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google share search data with competitors includes adequate safeguards to protect users’ privacy. – Reuters
OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. are revising the terms of their partnership that will enable the ChatGPT maker to go public at a future date while preserving the software giant’s access to artificial intelligence technology, the Financial Times reported Sunday. – Bloomberg
Jason Oxman writes: President Donald Trump recently passed the first 100 days of his administration. Already, his return to office has been marked by bold executive orders and an appetite for restoring American economic leadership. But the most consequential opportunity now lies in the president’s goal of securing U.S. supremacy in artificial intelligence, an economic and national security asset that will define this century as oil defined the last. If the U.S. wants to win the global race for AI dominance, Trump’s next 100 days are even more critical. – Washington Examiner
Defense
A provisional U.S. defense strategy, portions of which leaked in March, drew heavily from a Heritage Foundation report written by a now-top Pentagon policy official. The document argued that the U.S. should identify its forces committed to NATO defense plans that would also help deter an invasion of Taiwan. – Defense News
Emelia Probasco and Minji Jang write: The answers to these questions depend on the effectiveness of the drone in shaping outcomes. At a point, however, the ability to shape outcomes could come into tension with the agency of humans. In this sense, the military could face a critical tradeoff between enhancing operational effectiveness on the one hand, and preserving human agency and judgments on the ground, on the other. We aren’t advocating that the military grant AI greater discretion or more authority simply to enhance operational effectiveness. Rather, our aim is to encourage military leaders to carefully consider how their decisions to employ AI might affect the independent decision making of their service members. – War on the Rocks
James Holmes writes: The sea services were no exception to this shortsighted euphoria. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps proclaimed that Western navies now ruled the sea, with no antagonist to oppose them, and thus they could “structure a fundamentally different naval force” with little need to gird for peer-on-peer sea combat. It takes a hard knock from military history to dislodge such a culture of complacency—lashing the government and armed forces to renew their fighting prowess for fraught new times. One hopes that Russian and Chinese capability and malevolence have landed a hard enough knock to induce Congress and the White House to persevere with a naval renaissance. We need one. – The National Interest