Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel prepares to prosecute first suspects in Oct. 7 attack led by Hamas JPost Editorial: Denial of Hamas's October 7 sexual atrocities must come to an end U.S. and Iran are locked in a stalemate that’s neither peace nor war WSJ Editorial: Iran thinks Trump is bluffing Atlantic Council’s Matthew Kroenig: Iran does not have a right to enrich uranium Russia and Ukraine trade blame for continued fighting as US-brokered ceasefire nears its end Lebanon urges US to put pressure on Israel to stop attacks and demolitions The U.A.E. has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran Bloomberg’s Andreas Kluth: The Iran war made the North Korea problem worse EU puts sanctions on Israeli settlers after Hungary drops Orban’s veto As Iran war hits U.S. weapons stocks, allies fear impact on Ukraine US navy faces rising costs for Hormuz missions with Strait still blockedIn The News
Israel
Nearly three years after Hamas led the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the country is preparing to prosecute hundreds of Palestinians suspected of crimes committed on the deadliest day in Israeli history. – New York Times
Israel’s Iron Dome has been nearly 99% effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah militants and has knocked out most missiles from Iran, the chairman of state-owned Iron Dome maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd said on Monday. – Reuters
The IDF sentenced a soldier to 21 days in military prison for desecrating a religious Christian symbol in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Border Police officers killed a terrorist who opened fire on troops using an M-16 equipped with a telescopic sight, in Kalandiya in the West Bank, on Monday morning, the IDF and Israel Police said in a joint statement later that afternoon. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the most important mission is to ensure life” and that he “is speaking with President Trump about it,” during a Sunday meeting with Druze and Circassian local authorities heads at the Dead Sea. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed on Monday that he alone gets to pick the next chief of the Mossad spy agency, insinuating that bigotry and elitism are behind opposition to Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman’s appointment for the role. – Times of Israel
An investigation has found that sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated during the October 7, 2023, massacre and atrocities by Hamas and other terror groups in Israel was systematic, widespread, and a key, calculated component of the brutal terror assault itself. – Times of Israel
Outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea warned Israel’s High Court of Justice in a letter against appointing Roman Gofman as head of the intelligence agency, saying the move could cause “serious damage” to an organization operating with limited oversight and raise serious ethical concerns tied to a case involving a minor, Israeli media reported. – Haaretz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the war with Iran is “not over,” warning that Tehran still possesses enriched uranium, ballistic missile capabilities and regional proxy networks that Israel intends to dismantle. – Haaretz
Editorial: By transforming individual suffering into rigorous legal documentation, the Civil Commission has created a blueprint for justice. Something that was sorely needed on October 7, but didn’t exist. The perpetrators of this mass-scale sexual violence must be brought to justice. For the sake of the victims and the integrity of international law, the world must finally believe the Israeli victims. Their voices have been silenced for too long. Now, armed with the truth, we must ensure they are heard in the halls of justice. The era of denial must end, replaced by an era of accountability and a deep international commitment to honoring the memory of those who suffered the unthinkable. – Jerusalem Post
Tina Ghazimorad writes: Finally, Iran’s attack on the UAE achieved the opposite of what Tehran intended. Rather than weakening Israel’s standing, it reinforced Israel’s position as the ultimate strategic backstop for its partners. Israel demonstrated that it possesses not only superior military capability but also the resolve, loyalty, and courage to stand by its allies in hard times, qualities increasingly absent in Moscow and Beijing. That is Israel’s emerging role in the new world order: not merely a regional power, but a trusted ally when it matters most. – Jerusalem Post
Amine Ayoub writes: Iran cannot currently launch a coordinated missile campaign, but it can demand international vessels file paperwork. Hamas cannot currently rocket Tel Aviv, but it can sail preservatives toward a blockaded coast and let the cameras do the rest. Defeating this requires recognizing it as a unified campaign. The PGSA must not be acknowledged as a legitimate authority by any entity. Every transit that pays the toll validates the institution. Every flotilla that generates front-page coverage of Israeli interception validates the tactic. – Arutz Sheva
Iran
The U.S. and Iran are locked in a diplomatic stalemate over issues that have bedeviled the two sides for years, as the conflict settles into a gray zone that is neither war nor peace. – Wall Street Journal
The U.S. government on Monday announced sanctions against three people and nine companies, including four based in Hong Kong and four in the United Arab Emirates, for aiding Iran’s shipment of oil to China. The ninth company is based in Oman. – Reuters
The United States on Monday issued an alert to financial institutions warning of efforts by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ to evade U.S. sanctions, as concerns mount of a resumption of hostilities in the conflict with Iran. – Reuters
The apparent collapse of high-stakes U.S.-Iran negotiations has intensified fears that senior figures inside Tehran’s leadership could flee to Russia, seeking refuge to “continue their insurgency and undermine any new regime,” an analyst warns. – Fox News
As talks with the United States over a possible deal to end the war remain uncertain, Iran’s economy is under mounting strain, with prolonged water shortages, pressure on energy infrastructure, and slowing industrial output deepening what authorities describe as an “economic war.” – Algemeiner
Editorial: Could a deal address the outstanding issues in Iran? So far, no. The regime’s counteroffer rejected any dismantling of nuclear facilities. It demanded major sanctions relief before making nuclear commitments, and sought to hang on to much of its enriched uranium and shorten a moratorium on further enrichment. This is a regime that thinks it can absorb economic pain from the U.S. blockade longer than Mr. Trump can tolerate higher prices for oil and petrochemicals. Mr. Trump will have to persuade Tehran’s leaders they’ve underestimated him—and the pain. – Wall Street Journal
Omri Raiter writes: And any future deal with Iran must put crypto sanctions compliance on equal footing with the nuclear file. An agreement that ignores the financial pipelines funding Hezbollah, the Houthis and IRGC operations is an agreement that funds the next war. Some will say going on offense against credential markets is too aggressive. The status quo is more aggressive, against Americans, against allies and against anyone in range of an IRGC missile guided by stolen data. Stryker patients felt it. Patel felt it. Yeshiva World News readers felt it. The UAE is feeling it now. Defense alone has failed. The credentials are mapped. The marketplaces are visible. The operators leave fingerprints. The window to act is open. It will not stay open forever. – Fox News
Matthew Kroenig writes: Trump was right, therefore, to pull out of the JCPOA in 2018, and he is right to push for zero enrichment in the current negotiations with Iran. In fact, if anything, Trump’s position may be too lenient. Recent reports suggest that he is demanding that Iran stop enriching uranium for only 12-15 years. A deal that allows Iran to resume enrichment would mean once again kicking the can down the road and creating problems for future presidents. Instead, Trump should reject Iran’s phony claims of a right to enrich and strike a binding deal that suspends Iran’s enrichment program in perpetuity. This may be the best way to finally resolve the Iranian nuclear challenge once and for all. – Foreign Policy
Matthew Sharp and Nate Swanson write: If Trump wants to strike a new nuclear pact with Iran, he therefore has to make it a good one. A deal that only addresses known enrichment sites and uranium stockpiles and does not attend to the country’s increased enrichment capacity or the possibility of covert activity or weaponization will not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear arm. It will only push Iran’s effort further underground—and make a future solution even harder to find. – Foreign Affairs
Russia and Ukraine
An ex-convict who is missing part of his right arm and has two titanium plates in his head, Vyacheslav Kudryashev might not seem like the best soldier to put in the vanguard of a military offensive. – Wall Street Journal
Ukraine’s anticorruption authorities said a former top presidential adviser is a suspect in a sprawling investigation, a blow to the country’s leadership in the midst of the war with Russia. – Wall Street Journal
More than a year ago, after the inauguration of President Trump, the United States stopped being the kind of partner it used to be for Ukraine in the war against Russia. But now, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine seems to be stepping back from that relationship as well, distancing his country from what was once its biggest ally. – New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russia has no intention of ending the more than four-year-old war with his country and Kyiv was preparing for further attacks. – Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday discussed with the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan UAE’s assistance in bringing Ukrainians back from Russian captivity and the war in Iran. – Reuters
Nearly 20 countries are interested in drone deals with Ukraine and four agreements have already been signed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday. – Reuters
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire Monday with both sides accusing each other of breaching the 72-hour arrangement, as American and European officials considered how they might steer the warring countries into further talks. – Associated Press
The investigators and digital experts gathered in The Hague called it a “hackathon,” but the target was not a piece of software — it was missing Ukrainian children. – Politico
Ukraine wants Europe to help revive stalled peace efforts with Russia by pursuing a narrow first step: a mutual halt to attacks on each side’s airports. – Politico
Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a weaker position than at any previous point in the Ukraine war, the European Union’s top diplomat said Monday. – Newsweek
Latvia’s minister of defense has resigned following a renewed incursion of Ukrainian drones into the country’s airspace, where they hit an empty fuel depot. The incident marks the latest in a series of Baltic NATO airspace violations by misguided Ukrainian drones sent to strike Russian targets far away from Kyiv. – Defense News
David Kirichenko writes: Ukraine’s campaign is now turning that political claim into a military strategy. It may also give Kyiv a stronger card in future peace negotiations. If pressure on Crimea grows to the point that Moscow must consider whether the peninsula remains sustainable as a military hub, Ukraine would have gained leverage far more meaningful than holding small areas of Russian territory in Kursk. The Kremlin now faces a problem with no easy answer. It can reinforce Moscow and leave Crimea more exposed, or protect the peninsula while accepting greater vulnerability closer to the capital. Ukraine does not need to force a collapse. It only needs to keep forcing that choice. – National Interest
Syria
EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to restore improved trade ties with Syria, reinstating a cooperation agreement that had been suspended in 2011 when an uprising against then-leader Bashar al-Assad expanded into a 14-year civil war. – Reuters
Syria has identified an offshore site for its first deep-water oil and gas exploration project with U.S. major Chevron and Qatar’s UCC Holding, the Syrian Petroleum Company said on Monday. – Reuters
Syria said two soldiers were killed in an attack by unidentified assailants in the country’s northeast on Monday, while a military source told AFP investigations were underway to identify the perpetrators. – Agence France-Presse
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Qatar on Tuesday for talks on the Iran war, its impact on the Gulf and efforts to ensure navigational safety in the Strait of Hormuz, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Monday. – Reuters
A cargo of crude oil loaded from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is heading to Turkey, the first shipment of U.S. emergency reserve oil to the Mediterranean country, ship tracking data showed. – Reuters
Ryan Gingeras writes: Erdoğan may yet place his faith in diplomacy and serendipity. Israel, he could decide, stands to lose as much, if not more, if war breaks out. His own domestic considerations, however, may pull Erdoğan in the opposite direction. Presidential elections are currently scheduled for May 2028. As of now, the country’s constitution bars him from running. Regardless of whether he finds a way to circumvent this constraint, the stakes in this contest are immense. On the line is more than his political future. Erdoğan’s legacy and the continued rule of his Justice and Development Party are both potentially in jeopardy. Looking weak in the face of an Israeli challenge, in this light, may not be an option. – War on the Rocks
Lebanon
Lebanon’s president has urged the United States to put pressure on Israel to cease fire and stop home demolitions in south Lebanon, the presidency said on Monday, as the death toll from Israeli attacks rose. – Reuters
A rocket alert siren was activated Monday afternoon in Neve Yam on the Carmel Coast, near Atlit, after an interceptor was launched at an aerial target in Lebanon. – Ynet
Nils Mallock and Nafees Hamid write: Some hawks in Jerusalem and Washington will view this as proof that only force can settle the matter. But the nearly half of Lebanese who resist disarmament are not driven by what military or economic pressure could achieve. They watched their government preside over repeated crises and concluded that a state so badly broken cannot be trusted. No military operation or sanctions package will substitute for the one thing that might actually work: a unified vision of a Lebanese state worth disarming for. – Foreign Policy
Gulf States
The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said, casting the Gulf monarchy as an active combatant in a war in which it has been Iran’s biggest target. – Wall Street Journal
The main natural gas plant that supplies the fuel in the United Arab Emirates will only return to full capacity next year, highlighting the long recovery times for some of the region’s most critical infrastructure that was damaged in the Iran war. – Bloomberg
Dr. Salem AlKetbi writes: Nonetheless, this pragmatism also holds Arab and regional partners accountable for their choices. Anyone seeking a stable relationship with the UAE must now offer more than mere displays of solidarity or the expectation of routine financial support. What is required is genuine partnership, definite positions in times of crisis, and enough consistency to build trust over the long term. Those who grew accustomed to dealing with Abu Dhabi as a permanent financier or a ready-made umbrella without reciprocal commitments will find that the rules of the game have indeed changed. – Arutz Sheva
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s presidential Blue House on Monday condemned in the strongest terms an attack against a cargo ship operated by a Korean shipper this month in the Strait of Hormuz and said it plans to respond once the source of the attack is identified. – Reuters
South Korea’s central bank needs to prioritise controlling inflation as it could exceed the target rate after the war in Iran drove up energy prices, an outgoing member of the policy-setting board said on Monday. – Reuters
Andreas Kluth writes: The ill-advised American war against Iran thus appears to have made the problem of North Korea worse. A dictator who already felt stronger than he was in Trump’s first term now wields more diplomatic clout and military power, even as he has reason to be even more paranoid about the potentially lethal unpredictability of his counterpart in the White House. Kim Jong Un is more dangerous than he has ever been. And the United States appears unable to do anything about it. – Bloomberg
China
President Donald Trump is set to visit China this week for the first time since 2017, when he received a red-carpet welcome from children waving American and Chinese flags, and Chinese officials hoping to negotiate with a leader they viewed as a pragmatic businessman and dealmaker. – Washington Post
The United States’ stance on Taiwan has rested for decades on a complex latticework of policies designed to support the island democracy while avoiding treating it officially as an independent country, a step that would enrage Beijing. – New York Times
When President Trump visited China in late 2017, Xi Jinping welcomed him with a grand display of Chinese history and culture: a four-hour private tour of the Forbidden City culminating in a performance by the Peking Opera. – New York Times
China said on Monday it would not allow Taiwan to take part in the annual assembly of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which starts next week, as Taiwan said it would send a delegation anyway for meetings outside the actual event. – Reuters
China’s industrial strategy threatens hundreds of billions of dollars worth of industrial output in the world’s most advanced economies, posing a danger of hollowing out their industrial capabilities, according to a release from the largest American business lobby. – Bloomberg
Thomas J. Duesterberg writes: If Mr. Trump doesn’t want to go so far as to undercut China’s mercantilist model, he at least ought to dissuade Mr. Xi from supporting Russia, Iran and other authoritarian regimes. Even if the president prizes stability in U.S.-China relations above these other ends, any agreement should come as a result of Mr. Trump’s willful forbearance of actions that could cripple Beijing in its weakened state. It shouldn’t result from defensive action the U.S. takes on the basis of the false narrative of the Middle Kingdom’s inevitable dominance. – Wall Street Journal
David Shambaugh and Steven F. Jackson write: This remains perhaps China’s greatest weakness: it has no allies, no other countries look to Beijing for military protection, its soft power remains weak and its political system unattractive, its economic prowess is not replicable, and its diplomacy is not very impactful. One can admire China’s many accomplishments, but other countries are not gravitating toward it. China’s many attributes are not seen to be universal (especially its culture and political system), and they do not “travel” well to other societies. Thus, even as American soft power wanes in the Trump era, China remains unable to offer a compelling alternative model to the world. – Foreign Affairs
Jane Nakano and Yu-Hsuan Yeh write: To China, nuclear energy is not only about supplying more electricity with less emissions. Reactor technology development is closely linked to the country’s innovation capacity, industrial ambition, and international prestige. As China embarks on a new five-year cycle of economic development, the nation’s growing nuclear expertise is a key source for high-quality, technology-driven growth and a vital foundation for frontier technologies, such as fusion energy. China’s latest goals and aspirations demonstrate to U.S. policymakers that extending the United States’ competitiveness in nuclear innovation, supply chains, and commerce will require a strong, bipartisan focus and sustained commitment. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
South Asia
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-nation tour taking in the United Arab Emirates and Europe from May 15-20, India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday, as the Middle East crisis drives up global oil prices and strains India’s foreign currency reserves. – Reuters
Pakistan blames Afghanistan-based militants for the attack on a police post that killed 15 personnel over the weekend, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Monday, signaling fresh tension between the neighbours whose militaries have clashed over the issue this year. – Reuters
Seven people, including two police officers and five civilians, were killed and dozens wounded in a blast at a market in north-western Pakistan on Tuesday, a senior police officer said, the second deadly attack in the region in four days. – Reuters
A Turkish Airlines plane was evacuated after smoke was observed from its landing gear while it was taxiing after landing in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, the airline said, forcing the closure of the airport for an hour. – Reuters
India and Peru will probably hold the next round of talks on a proposed free trade pact next month, a senior Peruvian diplomat told Reuters, adding that a deal could be signed by the end of the year. – Reuters
Asia
Vice President Sara Duterte of the Philippines was impeached again on Monday, as lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to charge her with misusing public funds and betraying the public’s trust by threatening to assassinate the president. – New York Times
A bipartisan group of senators is pressing President Trump to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, a critical test of the administration’s commitment to the island ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of China later this week. – New York Times
The chief enforcer of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly “war on drugs” locked himself in his Senate offices on Monday after the International Criminal Court unsealed a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of crimes against humanity. – Reuters
Malaysia’s anti-graft chief Azam Baki is poised to end his six-year run with two investigations relating to him and the agency still pending. – Bloomberg
Thailand’s main opposition parties are seeking a court ruling on the legality of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s plan to borrow 400 billion baht ($12 billion) to deal with the fallout of the Middle East conflict and ease the cost-of-living crisis. – Bloomberg
Europe
For decades, Sweden was shorthand for the brand of high-tax, high-spend government that managed people’s lives from cradle to grave through state-run hospitals, schools and care homes. No longer. With little fanfare, this Nordic country of 11 million has embraced capitalism. – Wall Street Journal
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced a growing mutiny among his own Labour Party on Monday, as several dozen lawmakers publicly demanded he step aside to make way for a new leader. – Wall Street Journal
Arms maker Rheinmetall said it would work with Deutsche Telekom to develop a drone defense shield, stepping up efforts to protect critical infrastructure in Germany from potential acts of sabotage. – Wall Street Journal
The European Union’s foreign ministers agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians after Hungary’s new government lifted the country’s veto. – Washington Post
U.S. allies in Europe are increasingly concerned about a signature Trump administration program to arm Ukraine, as the Iran war depletes American stocks and some countries question how the Pentagon is spending the funds, according to 10 diplomats, officials and congressional aides. – Washington Post
Barred from re-election and increasingly a lame duck, President Emmanuel Macron has few obvious levers to prevent a far-right, would-be successor from reshaping France after presidential elections next year. But he does have one, which he is using to striking effect: patronage. – New York Times
Britain on Monday sanctioned 12 individuals and entities linked to Iran, accusing them of involvement in hostile activity including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilise the UK and other countries. – Reuters
Hungary is racing to meet an August 31 deadline to become eligible for 10.4 billion euros ($12.2 billion) from the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund and while the task is ambitious, it is still achievable, three EU officials said. – Reuters
Orthodox Christian bishops in Georgia elected a new patriarch, Shio III, on Monday, in what is a pivotal juncture for the South Caucasus country where the Church plays an influential role in social and political life. – Reuters
Italy’s Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has sacked two senior aides after uproar over denied funding for a documentary, adding to turbulence at a ministry already shaken by months of resignations and political infighting. – Reuters
Hungary will review the financing and implementation of the Paks nuclear power plant expansion project, the nominee for economy and energy affairs minister said on Monday, as the new government laid out its strategy after a landslide election win. – Reuters
Poland will seek answers about how a former minister wanted on abuse of power charges managed to travel from Hungary to the United States, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, after Warsaw’s hopes of bringing him to trial were thwarted. – Reuters
European governments on Monday rejected a suggestion by Russian President Vladimir Putin that former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could represent them in possible future talks with Moscow on the continent’s security. – Reuters
The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on 16 officials accused of helping Russia to abduct tens of thousands of children from Ukraine and force many to change their identities or be put up for adoption. – Associated Press
On the 13th floor of the Berlaymont building in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen has built a presidential operation that exerts control over every aspect of what goes on inside the European Commission. – Blommberg
The head of Denmark’s Liberal party said he has a two-week deadline to form the country’s new government, after record-long talks were thrown off track last week. – Bloomberg
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds has resigned after Ukrainian drones flew into the country’s airspace from Russia last week and hit an oil storage facility, the latest defense leadership change on NATO’s eastern flank in recent months. – Politico
France has imposed strict measures to prevent further spread of hantavirus after one of the five passengers who returned from an infected ship tested positive. – Politico
Spain has called for the creation of a European Union army to replace the protections offered by Nato. José Manuel Albares, its foreign minister, suggested the bloc may not be able to count on the US-led military alliance to provide security guarantees. – The Telegraph
Gerard Baker writes: The U.S. has a singular political culture, and not all these trends are replicated here. There is unlikely to be a serious third party, much less a fourth or fifth. But the larger political dynamic is trans-Atlantic and global. Mr. Trump may not be popular in Britain, but Trumpism and its rejection of old liberal democratic orthodoxies is rapidly gaining ground on the right. In Britain, as in the U.S., the response is centrifugal: The left isn’t reaching for the diminishing middle ground but seeking expanded territory on the more radical extreme. The old politics is dead; the age of populism is only beginning. – Wall Street Journal
Walter Russell Mead writes: The British electorate’s message to the world is sobering. Whether it was a flawed project from the beginning or poorly executed, Brexit exacerbated many of Britain’s underlying economic and social problems. But the result isn’t a chastened population returning abashedly to the tutelage of the experts they rejected in 2016. It is an appetite for new and perhaps even more forms of radical and disruptive political action. History grows more interesting by the day. – Wall Street Journal
Austin Sarat and Ruxandra Paul write: Europe, without the U.S. in NATO, might find itself saying a similar thing in the not-too-distant future. America’s formal or informal disengagement from NATO offers Europe the chance to assume a greater role on the international stage, in a world order likely to be more fragmented. It is unfortunate for the U.S. that the president and his administration seem willing to let Europe go its own way. But it may be just the incentive Europe needs. – The Hill
Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa faced down calls to resign on Monday over a scandal in which thieves stole bundles of cash in foreign currency hidden in a sofa on his ranch. – Reuters
The Rwandan-backed AFC/M23 rebel group has withdrawn from several key positions in Congo’s eastern South Kivu province over the weekend, the Congolese army and a rebel official said on Monday, marking the first significant battlefield shift in months. – Reuters
Republic of Congo has requested talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a new financing programme and a technical mission is expected to arrive in the Central African country in the coming weeks, its finance ministry said on Monday. – Reuters
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters on Monday denied reports of civilian deaths from airstrikes on suspected bandits in the northern Niger state, saying the strikes were intelligence-led and hit only militant targets. – Reuters
The United Nations human rights chief warned on Monday that widening and intensifying violence in Sudan, as well as the rising use of drones, could lead to more death and displacement. – Reuters
African leaders will use a two‑day summit in Nairobi with French President Emmanuel Macron to make a fresh push on rethinking how to price risk on the continent and unlock investment flows into key sectors, Kenya’s foreign minister said. – Reuters
Forty years. That’s how long Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been in power. The 81-year-old will be sworn in Tuesday to extend his presidency over a further five-year term that may well be his last — although not necessarily the last for the Museveni family. – Associated Press
The Americas
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila returned to Sao Paulo on Monday following his detention and deportation from Israel, where he alleged he was tortured and witnessed abuses of Palestinian prisoners during 10 days in custody. – Reuters
Brazilian planemaker Embraer is in talks with Colombia and Chile for potential orders of its C-390 military transport aircraft, as it steps up output to meet growing international interest, CEO Francisco Gomes Neto told Reuters. – Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s flagship consumer debt renegotiation program did not expand credit for beneficiaries, BTG Pactual said in a report on Monday, possibly explaining why the effort failed to boost his popularity ahead of elections in October. – Reuters
Venezuela ’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez told journalists Monday that her country had no plans to become the 51st U.S. state after President Donald Trump said he was “seriously considering” the move. – Associated Press
North America
Hospitals in Haiti’s Cite Soleil evacuated their patients and aid group MSF suspended its activities there on Monday as fighting between armed groups operating in the area that began a fortnight ago deteriorated over the weekend. – Reuters
Haiti’s security is not at a level needed to hold elections this August, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime said in an interview broadcast on Monday, as the Caribbean’s most populous nation awaits its first presidential vote in a decade. – Reuters
In the months before the United States launched a January raid to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela and the US participated in Qatar-mediated talks on what the country might look like if Maduro stepped down. – CNN
Canada is seeking a rapid expansion of defense and industrial ties with Turkey as Ottawa looks for trusted middle-power partners amid shifting global security dynamics, Canadian Secretary of State for Defense Procurement Stephen Fuhr said during SAHA Expo 2026. – Defense News
United States
U.S. authorities said they had repatriated 18 American passengers from the cruise ship struck by a rare hantavirus outbreak, transporting them to a specialist quarantine center after one tested positive and another showed symptoms. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump revealed a new plan on Monday to bring down gas prices that have soared since he chose to start a war with Iran: He wants to suspend federal gas taxes. – New York Times
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held separate calls with his Australian and British counterparts on Monday to discuss Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department said. – Reuters
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump to hold fast to trade remedies proposed by his administration to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding and not offer concessions when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping. – Reuters
Harlan Ullman writes: Of course, U.S. hardliners could assert, with Taiwan now absorbed, that China will be far more aggressive using its economic and military power to enhance its influence and replace the U.S. as the global leader and holder of the reserve currency. That would mean an even stronger military may be needed. Whether America’s Asian allies will agree is far from certain. This analysis is imperfect, but the idea is that thinking must start now for what will eventually happen with these conflicts. The worst of all cases will be failing to anticipate those events, regardless of their outcomes. – The Hill
Cybersecurity
As President Donald Trump prepares to travel to a summit in China, his administration is sharply split over a plan to give U.S. intelligence agencies a bigger role in evaluating AI models, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a proposal that is not yet public. – Washington Post
When the Chinese start-up DeepSeek released its latest artificial intelligence model last month, it edged Beijing closer to a future that it has spent years trying to build. – New York Times
The roster of business leaders invited to join President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week left off one notable, and surprising, name: Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. – Bloomberg
The White House is inviting Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Boeing Co.’s Kelly Ortberg and executives from other large companies to accompany President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week, according to an official. – Bloomberg
The Trump administration is still working through its plans for oversight of cutting-edge AI models, but doesn’t envision a big new agency for the job, according to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. – Bloomberg
ChatGPT maker OpenAI is in talks with the European Commission to grant EU authorities access to a model capable of identifying software vulnerabilities. – Politico
Google researchers found a zero-day exploit developed by artificial intelligence and alerted the susceptible vendor to the imminent threat before a well-known cybercrime group initiated a mass-exploitation campaign, the company said in a report released Monday. – CyberScoop
Timothy D. Haugh writes: The claim that America is outmatched in cyberspace — technically, organizationally or intellectually — is wrong. The capability to defend the nation’s economy and critical infrastructure is distributed across American industry, government and academia right now. American companies have visibility into adversary operations that no other nation’s government or private sector can match. American government agencies possess authorities and intelligence that no industry partner has. The combination, properly aligned and legally enabled, is formidable — and increasingly needed. – New York Times
Chris Bryant writes: “Massive demand for semiconductors, memory capacity, and other components of the AI infrastructure buildout seems to be spilling over into consumer prices,” says Pimco economist Tiffany Wilding, pointing to the rise in personal-consumption inflation. If the US Federal Reserve is unable to cut interest rates because of all this, the AI labs’ single-minded and astonishingly expensive pursuit of superintelligence won’t just look financially reckless. From a societal perspective it means we’ll all end up paying. – Bloomberg
Sarosh Nagar and David Eaves write: Until governments have converged on these differences, the serious issues that merit at least some level of international coordination—planning for unexpected multi-agent interactions across borders, global technical standards to support agentic economies, and more—remain out of reach […] Perhaps it will be concerns around the proliferation of AI capabilities that might lead certain actors to prevent their misuse by nonstate actors, or new economic developments that expand the number of players needed to finance frontier model development. Until then, global AI coordination seems to have a dim window—for now. – Foreign Policy
Defense
The Pentagon’s leadership is now supportive of the Navy’s next-generation stealth fighter replacing the service’s aging F/A-18 Super Hornet, after previously pushing back against the new program. – Bloomberg
The US Navy said it plans to buy at least 15 new battleships endorsed by President Donald Trump over the next 30 years, according to its new shipbuilding plan, marking a deeper commitment than previously revealed to what could be the costliest warship ever produced. – Bloomberg
As long as the Strait of Hormuz remains unsettled, the US Navy faces millions of dollars in extra costs each time it sends a destroyer through the waterway, and such passages on their own are unlikely to reopen it. – Bloomberg
With the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford en route home from what has become the longest U.S. Navy float since Vietnam, the service is reconsidering how to sustain a wartime fighting force. – Defense News
The U.S. task force responsible for countering small, unmanned aircraft chose five military installations to partake in an upcoming anti-drone pilot program. – Defense News
United States, Philippine, Japanese and Canadian forces combined land, sea and air platforms to sink two decommissioned ships off the western Northern Luzon coast during Balikatan 2026 last week, according to a Defense Department release. – Defense News