Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel calls New York Times report on Iran nuclear talks 'fake news' WSJ Editorial: Hamas goes against the grain Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel JPost’s Adin Panahi: The US must halt its talks amid escalating labor strikes in Iran Putin has retooled Russia’s economy to focus only on war WaPo Editorial: Trump can show strength by getting tough with Putin Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say How North Korea botched the launch of a warship India approves stealth fighter programme amid tensions with Pakistan EU ministers approve new 150 bln-euro arms fund US, Venezuela each warn citizens against travel to other country Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ riles nuclear-armed foesIn The News
Israel
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was preparing to seek arrest warrants for two far-right Israeli cabinet members before he went on leave as the United Nations investigates sexual-assault allegations against him, current and former court officials said. – Wall Street Journal
The launch of an Israeli-backed plan to deliver aid in Gaza through a private company erupted into chaos after thousands of Palestinians broke into the distribution site and forced its staff to retreat. – Wall Street Journal
Mediators are seeking to urgently broker a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip to free the remaining hostages there amid Israeli threats to launch a sweeping offensive throughout the enclave. – New York Times
Israel on Thursday rejected a report in the New York Times that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening to disrupt talks on a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran by striking Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities. – Reuters
The work of a U.S.-backed private humanitarian organization tasked with distributing aid in Gaza is a distraction from what is needed, such as the opening of crossing points, a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Another six months of war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza would reduce Israel’s economic growth by a half point in 2025 and further raise the debt burden, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Israel’s credit rating is unlikely to be upgraded until the war in Gaza ends, since the conflict weighs on the Israeli economy and its fiscal position, S&P Global Ratings Director Maxim Rybnikov said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Indonesia is ready to open diplomatic ties with Israel if it recognizes Palestine as an independent state, President Prabowo Subianto said after a meeting with his French counterpart on Wednesday. – Bloomberg
Hundreds of lawyers have called on the UK government to use “all available means” to stop the fighting in Gaza, including reviewing trade ties with Israel and imposing sanctions and travel bans on Israeli ministers. – BBC
France has been pushing European countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium to jointly recognize the state of Palestine at a United Nations conference next month. – Politico
The Swedish foreign ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador on Tuesday over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. – Politico
Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel Air Force (IAF) planes attacked Houthi targets at Sanaa’s International Airport, destroying the last remaining plane in use by the Houthis as part of “Operation Golden Jewel.” – Jerusalem Post
The IDF announced on Wednesday that its probe of the battle of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom found that six security forces members were killed and another 10 Israelis wounded by Hamas’s invasion. – Jerusalem Post
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman claimed that the humanitarian aid in Gaza is funded by the Mossad and the Defense Ministry in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Approximately seven million shekels were seized during raids on currency exchange businesses involved in terror financing across the West Bank carried out by the Israel Border Police and other security forces, Israel Police announced on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
To mark 600 days since the October 7 massacre and the start of the war, Israelis staged demonstrations across the country on Wednesday morning. – Ynet
Israel’s Security Cabinet has quietly approved the establishment of 22 new settlements in the West Bank, including the reestablishment of Homesh and Sa-Nur—two outposts evacuated during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza. – Ynet
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump engaged in a heated phone call last week over how to confront Iran, Israeli television reported Monday, contradicting earlier claims that the two had reached a unified stance on preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. – Times of Israel
Israeli defense companies have begun questioning their government about a chill in relations with the Philippines, as officials in Manila appear to be turning away from a longtime supplier of defense equipment. – Defense News
Editorial: The shame is that the United Nations and big aid groups fight it nearly as hard. Facing heavy pressure, the GHF’s chief resigned Sunday. Former USAID response leader John Acree is now in charge. The critics say the measures to keep aid from Hamas violate humanitarian principles, especially neutrality. They view the old method, which let Hamas divert aid from civilians, as neutral and far preferable. That it has prolonged the war by sustaining a terrorist army is apparently of no humanitarian concern in the upside-down moral universe of the “international community.” – Wall Street Journal
Iran
Iran executed a man accused of spying for Israel, according to a report from judiciary news outlet Mizan on Wednesday that identified him as Pedram Madani. – Reuters
Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday denounced the arrest of an Iranian cleric in Saudi Arabia who shared a video criticising the kingdom’s recent policies to ease many social restrictions in its bid to open the economy for tourism and Western businesses. – Reuters
Iran might allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog to send U.S. inspectors to visit Iranian nuclear sites if Tehran’s nuclear talks with Washington succeed, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Adin Panahi writes: If Washington chooses to reengage, it will own the consequences. That includes suppression of workers, consolidation of regime power, and potential prolongation of the Islamic Republic’s lifecycle. If it holds the line, it allows Iranian society the space to determine outcomes on its own terms. Policy does not require noise. It requires clarity. Iran’s regime is vulnerable. The most strategic move is to do nothing that helps it recover. – Jerusalem Post
Russia and Ukraine
In the early stages of the war, the Russian president put the country on a footing for a long conflict. Putin retooled the economy to churn out record numbers of tanks and howitzers, while using sizable signing bonuses of up to a year’s salary to raise a massive army. At one point, more than a thousand recruits were signing up each day to fight. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump expressed renewed frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader was “playing with fire” as peace talks with Ukraine have sputtered. – Wall Street Journal
Russia is expected to mount a major offensive this summer against Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which it has been trying to conquer since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian military officials and analysts said. – Washington Post
Russia is building power lines in occupied southeastern Ukraine to link to its own grid a major nuclear plant it has captured, according to a new Greenpeace report. It is the clearest evidence yet of Moscow’s intent to restart and exploit the offline facility, despite the risks and calls to address the plant’s status in peace talks. – New York Times
Russia will announce the next round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in the nearest future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Russia has gathered 50,000 troops near Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, but added that Kyiv had taken steps to prevent Moscow from conducting a large-scale offensive there. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to arrive in Berlin on Wednesday for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the German government said, part of a diplomatic drive to end the war in Ukraine. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy, Keith Kellogg, on Wednesday scolded a top Russian official for stoking fears of World War Three after Trump warned President Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” over Ukraine. – Reuters
Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that Ukraine, backed by certain European countries, had taken several ‘provocative steps’ aimed at derailing Moscow-initiated direct peace talks with Kyiv. – Reuters
Russian air defences destroyed or intercepted well over 100 Ukrainian drones far into the night over widely separated areas of Russia, including a swarm of drones repelled while headed for Moscow, officials said early on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s foreign minister discussed at a meeting in Moscow efforts to end the war in Ukraine and developments since direct talks between the warring parties, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said. – Reuters
Russia said on Tuesday that remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about long-range Ukrainian strikes into Russia with European weapons suggested that a decision allowing such attacks had been made long ago but kept secret. – Reuters
Russia supports Turkey hosting another round of peace talks with Ukraine after a first meeting made no progress in US efforts to halt more than three years of war. – Bloomberg
Russian forces are making gains in the Ukrainian north-eastern region of Sumy – a development that may be linked to Moscow’s attempts to create “buffer zones” along the border, Ukrainian regional authorities have said. – BBC
Editorial: An effort underway on Capitol Hill would give Trump more leverage. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) have introduced a bill that would authorize Trump to impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium. The legislation has 81 Senate co-sponsors and could sail through the House. The threat of strong secondary sanctions might persuade India and China to stop buying Russian energy, weakening Russia’s war machine. Along with stricter direct sanctions against Russian leaders and greater support for Ukraine, it could force Putin to seek an end to the war. – Washington Post
Marc Champion writes: Kyiv has no choice but to fight on. And most of Europe understands it is in the interests of their own peace and stability for Putin to fail in what he once described as the “regathering” of Russian lands and influence. For both, turning Trump remains the most plausible — and, given time constraints, perhaps the only — route to thwarting the Kremlin’s post-imperial ambitions. – Bloomberg
Melania Parzonka writes: With any ceasefire looking unlikely, there’s a continued need to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces and defense capabilities, while simultaneously building on the country’s experience for European rearmament. Opening up Ukraine’s defense industry would permit further bureaucratic integration and cooperation with the EU, and allow Ukraine’s economy to benefit directly from European rearmament. – Politico
Nico Lange writes: Russia’s war of aggression is entering a phase in which, against the backdrop of Trump’s erratic behavior, Putin is deliberately raising the question of what the European declarations of solidarity, summit meetings, and statements are worth in practical terms. It is now up to Europeans who are willing to act to help Ukraine push Putin back toward peace and give diplomatic efforts the necessary strength. If Europeans prove too weak, they will encourage Putin to continue reshaping the European order by military means. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Syria
Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said. – Reuters
Syria is set to re-open its stock market starting June 2, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday, citing Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh. – Reuters
Ilham Ahmed writes: The terrible violence on Syria’s coast in March, in which more than 1,600 civilians were killed, mostly Alawites, and more recent aggression against the Druse community south of Damascus underline the need for a new democratic constitutional process. The new Syria must, from the outset, include everyone. The Trump administration and U.S. Congress have a historic opportunity to help us build such a government in Syria. It would not only help Syrians but also provide a blueprint for the entire Middle East. – New York Times
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt has made progress towards macroeconomic stability and has been streamlining tax and customs procedures, but still needs to widen its tax base, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday after a review mission to the country. – Reuters
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he has appointed a team of legal experts to start working on a new constitution — which critics say could allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his current term ends. – Associated Press
Cuts in US funding for the United Nations may hamper efforts to reunite war-torn Libya, where deadly fighting and protests in the capital have sent tensions soaring, a top UN official said. – Bloomberg
In a vibrant Baghdad district, laborers are working tirelessly to repair the centuries-old shrine of a revered rabbi in an effort to revive the long-faded heritage of Iraq’s Jewish community. – Agence France-Presse
Hamdi Malik and Michael Knights write: As well as being Iraq’s second-largest Shia population center, Basra is a traditional area of strength for KH, where it will likely pick up seats if Eidani is damaged. It is clear from the long-established legal steps against Eidani that KH has been preparing “lawfare” options against potential threats, making good use of its parliament members, which the terrorist movement seems to increasingly value. – Washington Institute
Korean Peninsula
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, watched the country’s newest 5,000-ton destroyer capsize during its launch last week in an embarrassing military failure. Experts say a technique used to maneuver the ship into the water sideways was part of the problem. – New York Times
The wife of South Korea’s main conservative party candidate has taken a leading role ahead of next week’s elections, campaigning on her own to tarnish the image of the liberal frontrunner and his spouse and turbocharge her husband’s bid. – Reuters
North Korea’s minister of state security, Ri Chang Dae, left Pyongyang on Monday to attend a meeting of senior security officials in Russia, the North’s KCNA state news agency reported on Tuesday. – Reuters
A win for the left-of-center frontrunner in South Korea’s presidential election would likely herald more caution by Seoul over taking sides in US-China rivalry, a new effort to draw North Korea into dialogue and the potential for tension with Japan. – Bloomberg
Before the events of 3 December 2024, Lee Jae–myung’s path to South Korea’s presidency was littered with obstacles. Ongoing legal cases, investigations for corruption and allegations of abusing power all looked set to derail the former opposition leader’s second presidential bid. Then a constitutional crisis changed everything. – BBC
China
Residents near a chemical plant in eastern China were taking stock on Wednesday of the damage to their homes after a huge and still unexplained blast killed at least five, spewed out chemicals and shattered windows as far as a kilometre away. – Reuters
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday urged Southeast Asian and Gulf countries to remove trade barriers and expand opening up amid rising protectionism, and said Beijing is confident it can stabilise its economy in the face of challenges. – Reuters
China is being provocative with an “extreme pressure” campaign against Taiwan and is intentionally ignoring the island’s olive branches and goodwill, its top China policy maker told Reuters, as Beijing ratchets up its tactics against Taipei. – Reuters
European companies are cutting costs and scaling back investment plans in China as its economy slows and fierce competition drives down prices, according to an annual survey released Wednesday. – Associated Press
Karishma Vaswani writes: Speaking up as a united voice about Beijing’s aggression would also help, despite member states’ differences. Manila has tried to get more buy-in for its cause, but non-claimants have resisted, preferring to stay neutral or side with Beijing. Still, the bloc risks irrelevance unless it finds a way to push back […]Xi often invokes family ties to contrast Beijing’s embrace with Washington’s tough trade stance. But those bonds can fray when the relationship is always on China’s terms. – Bloomberg
South Asia
Global makers of surveillance gear have clashed with Indian regulators in recent weeks over contentious new security rules that require manufacturers of CCTV cameras to submit hardware, software and source code for assessment in government labs, official documents and company emails show. – Reuters
India’s defence minister has approved a framework for building the country’s most advanced stealth fighter jet, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, amid a new arms race with Pakistan weeks after a military conflict between the neighbours. – Reuters
Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, faces mounting discontent among citizens and discord among political parties over its plans for elections. – Reuters
Nepal’s government said on Tuesday it has a “duty to protect” the Himalayas from the risks presented by climate change and the growing numbers of climbers attempting to scale the region’s summits, especially Everest. – Associated Press
Could India’s decades-long jungle insurgency finally be approaching its end? Last week, the country’s most-wanted Maoist, Nambala Keshava Rao – popularly known as Basavaraju – was killed along with 26 others in a major security operation in the central state of Chhattisgarh. Home Minister Amit Shah called it “the most decisive strike” against the insurgency in three decades. One police officer also died in the encounter. – BBC
Asia
Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defence industries, a new study has found. – Reuters
Australia’s conservative opposition coalition said on Wednesday it would reunite, a week after splitting over policy differences following a resounding election defeat. – Reuters
Southeast Asian leaders reached an understanding on Tuesday that any bilateral agreements they might strike with the United States on trade tariffs would not harm the economies of fellow members, Malaysia’s premier Anwar Ibrahim said. – Reuters
Japan has proposed purchasing billions of dollars worth of U.S. semiconductor products during ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States, the Asahi newspaper reported, citing an unidentified source. – Reuters
Leaders of Southeast Asian countries on Tuesday urged all parties in conflict-torn Myanmar to expand a temporary ceasefire and build trust towards convening an inclusive dialogue. – Reuters
Taiwan’s president on Tuesday pledged to buy more American goods, including natural gas and oil, as the self-governing island seeks closer ties with the U.S. while threatened with a 32% tariff from the Trump administration. – Associated Press
Thai and Cambodian soldiers briefly fired at each other in their disputed border area Wednesday, the Thai and Cambodian armies said. – Associated Press
Australian army whistleblower David McBride, who leaked allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan to the media, lost a court bid to have his prison sentence reduced on Wednesday. – Associated Press
Europe
As he takes office, Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, faces a delicate test: dealing with a Russia willing to flex its muscle on its eastern flank, and with an American president intent on making NATO allies bear more of the burden for their own defense. – New York Times
Three weeks after Chancellor Friedrich Merz took over as the leader of Germany, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will visit him in Berlin on Wednesday. – New York Times
Over the past six months in France, these violent, headline-grabbing kidnappings or attempted kidnappings, followed by demands for hefty ransoms, had one common thread: All targeted people with ties to the cryptocurrency world — in most cases, family members of crypto entrepreneurs or influencers. – New York Times
Germany’s foreign minister threatened unspecified measures against Israel on Tuesday and said Berlin would not export weapons used to break humanitarian law, as he and Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered their most severe rebuke yet over Gaza. – Reuters
A French citizen who illegally crossed the Russian border on a paddle board from Estonia has been placed in detention for two months, a court in Russia’s northern Leningrad region said. – Reuters
The European Union on Tuesday approved the creation of a 150 billion-euro ($170.7 billion) EU arms fund, driven by fears of a Russian attack in the coming years and doubts about U.S. security commitments to the continent. – Reuters
Seventeen European Union countries accused Hungary on Tuesday of contravening fundamental EU values by passing laws that target LGBTQ+ people, as tensions deepen between Budapest and a majority of member states. – Reuters
Talks over trade between the Swiss government and the Trump administration will hopefully yield a result by the beginning of July, Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Europe is in crisis and needs Poland to “wake it up,” Polish nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki said on Tuesday, speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland. – Reuters
Norway’s parliament is poised to reject campaigners’ calls to instruct its $1.8 trillion wealth fund to boycott any company selling products and services in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to a person familiar with the process. – Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta on Wednesday, and strengthening defence ties with Paris’ biggest arms client in Southeast Asia will be prominent in their talks. – Reuters
The German army must undergo significant organisational and personnel reforms to effectively utilise increased defence spending, the country’s federal audit institute said on Tuesday in a special report. – Reuters
French lower house lawmakers approved a bill on Tuesday to legalise assisted dying, paving the way for France to become the latest European nation to allow terminally ill people to end their lives. – Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron is leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state, but diplomats and experts say such a move may prove a premature and ineffective way to pressure Israel into moving towards a peace deal with the Palestinians. – Reuters
Norway plans to randomly select 100,000 people born between 1990 and 2005 to receive annual tax cuts of up to $2,700 for several years, aiming to measure the effect on income and employment, the Labour Party government said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Kosovo has lost out on more than 600 million euros of external funding relating to environmental protection and energy projects among others, since the European Union imposed sanctions in 2023, according to a report by the GAP Institute think tank. – Reuters
Ireland’s cabinet gave its formal backing on Tuesday to drafting legislation on restricting trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, but the bill is unlikely to be passed by parliament until later in the year. – Reuters
The world’s nations are gathering in France next month to tackle what the United Nations calls a global emergency facing the world’s oceans as they confront rising temperatures, plastic pollution choking marine life, and relentless overexploitation of fish and other resources. – Associated Press
Poland’s nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki is fighting off fresh allegations about his past that threaten to damage the boxer-turned-politician days before a tight election. – Bloomberg
Romania’s one-time presidential frontrunner, nationalist Calin Georgescu, said he plans to withdraw from politics, potentially weakening the Black Sea nation’s far-right movement. – Bloomberg
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico dismissed a German threat to withhold European Union funding over alleged rule-of-law lapses as unacceptable and contrary to the bloc’s democratic principles. – Bloomberg
Germany plans to introduce legislation to abolish a fast-track option that allows well-integrated migrants to naturalize after three years in the country. The move is part of a wider effort by new conservative leader Friedrich Merz to make Europe’s largest economy less attractive to foreigners. – Bloomberg
A spate of arrests, diplomatic expulsions and public humiliations has plunged relations between war-torn Ukraine and its prickly Nato neighbour Hungary to a new low. – BBC
British officials are working to negotiate down Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on British exports, Peter Mandelson, the U.K.’s ambassador to Washington, said Tuesday. – Politico
The French Navy is stepping up drone use in the air and in the water, relying almost entirely on unmanned systems to recapture a beach in southern France in an amphibious operation during an exercise in March, according to the commander of the force. – Defense News
As the NATO summit approaches, some foreign leaders seem to have warmed to a 5 percent spending pledge through a novel, two-tiered approach — but one that comes with its own significant caveats, challenges and strings attached, analysts said. – Breaking Defense
Africa
A former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned to the Central African country after years in self-imposed exile, according to one of his advisers, days after the country’s Senate accused him of treason. – New York Times
The United States is assessing the future of its military command for Africa, its top general for the continent said on Tuesday, and called on African governments to make their views on its possible elimination known in Washington. – Reuters
South Africa is not planning to water down its Black economic empowerment laws just to suit Elon Musk’s Starlink, a minister said on Tuesday, responding to criticism of policy changes he announced days after President Cyril Ramaphosa met Donald Trump. – Reuters
At least 42 people were shot dead by suspected herders in a series of weekend attacks across Gwer West district in Nigeria’s central Benue state, a local official said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Guinea’s military government has cancelled 129 minerals exploration permits, it said in a statement late on Monday, as the West African nation tightens control over its assets. – Reuters
Congo is grappling with soaring military costs and declining tax revenues due to an offensive by Rwandan-backed rebels, who now occupy much of the country’s eastern borderlands, a revised wartime budget under consideration by lawmakers showed. – Reuters
A new cholera outbreak in Sudan has killed 172 people and sickened more than 2,500 over the past week, authorities said Tuesday as a leading medical group warned that the country’s existing health facilities were unable to cope with the surge of patients. – Associated Press
The Americas
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said officials in Ottawa and Washington are engaged in intensive negotiations on a new bilateral economic-and-security deal, and it’s neither in President Trump’s or his interest to let talks drag on through the fall. – Wall Street Journal
King Charles III opened Canada’s Parliament on Tuesday, declaring amid President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state that “the true north is indeed strong and free.” In his first visit to Canada as king, he delivered the speech from the throne that outlines the government’s legislative agenda. – Washington Post
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Argentine Minister of Health Mario Lugones slammed the World Health Organization as their countries affirmed exits from the group in a joint statement on Tuesday. – Reuters
The Trump administration has issued a narrow authorization for U.S. oil producer Chevron to keep assets in Venezuela, including its stakes in oil joint ventures with state company PDVSA, three sources with knowledge of the decision said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The United States and Venezuela on Tuesday each warned their respective citizens against traveling to the other country, with the U.S. citing the risk of wrongful detention in the South American nation and Venezuela saying its citizens are victims of systematic rights abuses in the U.S. – Reuters
United States
President Trump and some members of Congress want to revive a depleted American shipbuilding industry to compete with China, the world’s biggest maker of ships by far. – New York Times
National Public Radio and three Colorado public radio stations are suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order to cut federal funding for public broadcasting, NPR said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The FBI will launch new probes into the 2023 discovery of cocaine at the White House during President Joe Biden’s term and the 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a top official announced on Monday – Reuters
Cybersecurity
SpaceX launched its Starship rocket Tuesday evening in a mission that came after two failures and as Elon Musk, returning to his companies after a controversial stint in the White House, looks to inject renewed energy into his space venture. – Washington Post
Australia’s corporate regulator said on Wednesday that it has initiated civil penalty proceedings against Liang (Allan) Guo, a former director of the failed cryptocurrency exchange firm Blockchain Global, alleging multiple breaches of duties. – Reuters
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law a bill requiring Apple and Alphabet’s Google to verify the age of users of their app stores, putting the second-most-populous U.S. state at the center of a debate over whether and how to regulate smartphone use by children and teenagers. – Reuters
An Iranian national pleaded guilty to participating in the high-profile 2019 Baltimore, Maryland, ransomware attack, among others, and to causing tens of millions of dollars in losses and disrupted services, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday. – Reuters
A newly discovered Russian state-sponsored threat group has targeted a large swath of industries, especially in NATO member states and Ukraine, part of a global espionage campaign in support of Moscow’s interests, Microsoft Threat Intelligence said in a Tuesday blog post. – Cyberscoop
A previously unknown Russian hacking group was exposed by the Dutch intelligence services on Tuesday and blamed for a series of hacks on organizations in the Netherlands last year, including one impacting the national police. – The Record
A Russian court sentenced a former hospital programmer to 14 years in a high-security penal colony for allegedly leaking personal data of Russian soldiers to Ukraine, authorities said. – The Record
The Wisconsin city of Sheboygan warned about 67,000 people that a ransomware attack in October gave hackers access to their personal information. – The Record
Geoffrey Cain writes: Microsoft’s retreat is an acknowledgment of reality. The U.S.-China relationship is no longer a playground for growth. It’s a minefield. Other tech giants would do well to take note. When you build your business in a fortress owned by a rival, don’t be surprised when the drawbridge goes up. The tariff era forced a reckoning. And now, Big Tech is at a crossroads: double down on a compromised model or begin the long, necessary exit. – The Hill
Defense
President Trump’s “Golden Dome” plan has riled the three countries whose weapons technology poses the greatest threat to American territory, with China, Russia and North Korea claiming the missile-defense project is driving a dangerous new arms race. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that a proposed Golden Dome missile defense shield that he has previously said Canada wanted to be part of would cost Ottawa $61 billion. – Reuters
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth imposed a new round of restrictions on news outlets that cover the Pentagon, declaring large portions of the building off-limits to reporters unless they have an escort. – Bloomberg
Active-duty sailors diagnosed or displaying symptoms of gender dysphoria must leave the service by June 6 or they will be involuntarily separated, according to a policy released last week from the Navy. – USNI News
Department of the Air Force Deputy Chief Information Officer Jennifer Orozco will serve as acting CIO while leadership searches for a permanent replacement for the role, an official told DefenseScoop. – Defensescoop
Long War
Swedish prosecutors pressed charges on Tuesday against a man on suspicion of war crimes and terrorism over the murder of a Jordanian air force pilot who was burned to death in Syria a decade ago. – Reuters
A Syrian man stood trial in Duesseldorf on Tuesday over a knife attack claimed by Islamic State in which three people were killed, a case that stirred debate over foreigner crime in Germany and paved the way for a crackdown on migration. – Reuters
Islamist militants in West Africa could develop new revenue streams if they succeed in reaching the coast, the head of the US military’s Africa Command warned Tuesday. – Bloomberg