Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Iran coordinating with Hamas, Hezbollah to rebuild 'Axis of Resistance,' Israeli officials warn Israel, US to accelerate production of Iron Dome, Iron Beam laser, David's Sling missiles Iran cancels new nuclear inspections it agreed to after bombing campaign Edgy Iran seeks Saudi leverage to revive stalled nuclear talks with US Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to ‘honestly’ engage with U.S. peace plan New York Post Editorial: This Russia-Ukraine ‘peace deal’ makes zero sense on any front Russia says it held 'in-depth' talks with China on missile defence and nuclear issues WSJ Editorial: Trump says arms are going to Taiwan Key Japanese official gives nod to restart of world's biggest nuclear power plant Sudan army chief says ready to cooperate for peace; EU sanctions RSF official for ‘atrocities’ Al Qaeda-linked militants kill at least 10 soldiers in Niger, sources say The web of Venezuelan generals accused of fueling the cocaine tradeIn The News
Israel
Ambassador Mike Huckabee, President Trump’s envoy to Israel, met at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem in July with Jonathan J. Pollard, an American who spent 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, Mr. Pollard said. – New York Times
Israel expects to maintain access to more advanced U.S. weaponry, a government spokesperson said on Thursday when asked about Washington’s plan to sell F-35 warplanes to Saudi Arabia. – Reuters
Singapore will impose financial sanctions on four Israelis and bar them from entering the city-state, its foreign affairs ministry announced on Friday, accusing them of “egregious acts of extreme violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank. – Reuters
France is concerned about the intensification of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and is also calling the Israeli army to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. – Reuters
More than 60 delegations met Thursday in Brussels to discuss reconstruction, governance and security in the Gaza Strip, and a proposed reform of the Palestinian Authority. – Associated Press
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is holding even if the situation remains fragile, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said in defense of a US-backed peace plan amid continued violence in Gaza. – Bloomberg
Marwan al-Hams, a senior official in the Hamas-run Health Ministry who was arrested in July, knew where the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin were being held, the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed Thursday night. – Jerusalem Post
Canadian Zachareah Quraishi had only been released from the Canadian Army Reserves 12 days before he flew to Israel and attempted a stabbing attack at a Gaza periphery town. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas is closely coordinating with Hezbollah and Iran to revive and rebuild the “axis of resistance,” while the IDF expanded strikes in Gaza and southern Lebanon, Israeli defense officials said on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
The Defense Ministry and various US officials on Thursday announced the acceleration of Iron Dome, Iron Beam, and David’s Sling production for future air defense purposes. – Jerusalem Post
A joint Israel Police and Shin Bet operation led to the October 2025 arrest of a 21-year-old resident of Beersheba for actions related to working with Iranian agents, the agencies announced on Thursday in a joint statement. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an emergency meeting on Thursday evening to address the growing concerns over the failure of the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police to contain escalating violence carried out by Jewish extremists in the West Bank. – Jerusalem Post
For the first time since the Russian invasion to Ukraine in 2022, a senior Ukrainian official at the level of a minister will arrive in Israel at the head of a delegation aimed at advancing economic cooperation. – Jerusalem Post
Amine Ayoub writes: Therefore, MBS’s position on “Palestine” is not evidence of a spiritual revival, but of calculated political genius. He uses the Kingdom’s religious stature as a strategic shield and a diplomatic cudgel, ensuring that Saudi Arabia’s massive national interests are secured before he provides the international community with the regional peace dividend they desperately crave. In the Riyadh calculus, the “Palestinian” cause is simply the transactional currency of geopolitical advancement, a currency Israel must be wary of accepting at the cost of its fundamental self-defense. – Arutz Sheva
Sabine Sterk writes: The lesson is clear. International guarantees come and go. American presidents change. Arab regimes shift alliances. Tyrants receive gifts, favors, and weapons. But Israel’s enemies remain the same. And the lesson is as old as the State of Israel itself: never trust foreign promises, and never depend on foreign protection. Israel can rely only on herself. A ceasefire deal that empowers Hamas is not peace. Weapons shipments to dictators are not stability. Israel’s own courage, strength, and moral clarity is what will keep her safe long after the glitter of these “historic deals” fades into dust. – Algemeiner
Iran
Iran on Thursday said it was ending the agreement it signed in September allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency to resume inspections there, after a resolution passed earlier in the day by the agency’s board demanding “precise information” about Tehran’s enriched uranium and nuclear sites “without delay.” – Washington Post
Iranians living in Germany are facing increased harassment from Iranian security services, including threats and pressure to inform on other exiles, German authorities and an Iranian opposition group said. – Reuters
Iran has asked Saudi Arabia to persuade the U.S. to revive stalled nuclear talks, underlining Tehran’s anxiety over a possible repeat of Israeli airstrikes and its deepening economic woes, two regional sources with knowledge of the matter said. – Reuters
Iranian Brig.-Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, claimed that Israel and the United States were using surveillance cameras in Tehran to spy on Iranian citizens, Iranian media reported last week. – Jerusalem Post
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain. – Iran International
Russia and Ukraine
U.S. sanctions are forcing the sale of Russia’s flagship oil company in Serbia, loosening Moscow’s grip on a country that has been a historical partner and a base for projecting influence in the Balkans. – Wall Street Journal
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine would engage “constructively, honestly and operationally” on a peace plan that the Trump administration proposed after consulting with Russia — but not with Ukraine. – New York Times
Russia’s defence ministry released video on Thursday showing its soldiers moving freely through the southern part of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, patrolling deserted streets lined with charred apartment blocks. – Reuters
The chief of Russia’s general staff told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, but Ukraine’s military denied the city had changed hands. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Thursday that any peace plan for Ukraine would have to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and that though there were contacts with the United States there were currently no negotiations with Washington on such a plan. – Reuters
The Kremlin on Thursday criticised comments on Russian nuclear weapons made by the chairman of Airbus and asked why someone like him was making them in the first place, saying that “more and more Europeans were “losing their restraint”. – Reuters
European foreign ministers said on Thursday that any plan to end the war in Ukraine must include Ukrainians and Europeans after the U.S. floated a framework that would involve Kyiv giving up some of its land and weapons and curbing the size of its army. – Reuters
Pressure is mounting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to take stronger action to show accountability in the face of a corruption scandal presenting the greatest threat to his government since Russia’s full-scale invasion. – Associated Press
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said any proposal for a peace agreement with Russia must have the Ukraine’s consent, as European leaders seek to ensure that regional security concerns are addressed in US-led talks to end the war. – Bloomberg
The UK has identified which military units it would send to Ukraine after a series of reconnaissance visits in the country, ensuring it would be ready to swiftly deploy troops if the latest effort to revive peace talks succeeds. – Bloomberg
Editorial: We take some heart from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comment: “Achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” he wrote late Thursday on X, suggesting this “plan” is just one step toward drawing up “a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.” Ukraine should counteroffer with equally serious proposals, starting with a complete Russian withdrawal (including from Crimea) and Moscow’s major disarmament. Heck, Kyiv could demand the ouster of Putin’s regime and it would still be less one-sided than this nonsense. – New York Post
Bernard-Henri Lévy writes: Doing this requires three crucial steps: First, for France to set an example by delivering enough Patriot-type batteries to protect all major cities urgently, not in dribs and drabs. Second, for the U.S. and other allies to assure that the weapons provided are allowed to strike deep into Russia. Third, to finish integrating Ukraine into the network of radars, sensors and satellites that allow NATO armies not only to jam the sky but to detect incoming missile salvos. Under international law, none of these three steps would constitute escalated belligerence. Together, they constitute what Ukraine lacks to turn the strategic advantage already granted by its tenacity and heroism into victory. – Wall Street Journal
Syria
In the days just after the dictator Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December, they would turn up, sometimes with shovels in hand, intent on digging up the mass grave there marked by mounds of overturned dirt. Eventually, they gave up when they realized they would find little more than bones in body bags and no way to determine who they belonged to. – New York Times
Two Syrian army soldiers were killed on Wednesday night in clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the outskirts of Raqqa, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. – Reuters
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops deployed in southern Syria, drawing strong condemnation from the government in Damascus, which denounced the trip as a violation of sovereignty. – Reuters
Seven men were charged Thursday on suspicion of trafficking army-grade weapons from Syria earlier this year, during clashes between regime forces and Druze in the country’s south. – Times of Israel
Saudi Arabia
When President Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s crown prince this week over the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he did more than just stir renewed accusations from critics of an affinity toward strongmen. – Reuters
Saudi Arabia is exploring with global car maker Stellantis and Saudi auto products and services conglomerate Petromin Corporation, setting up vehicle manufacturing in the Gulf country, it said on Thursday. – Reuters
A Florida retiree who had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia over social media posts critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has arrived back in the United States two days after President Donald Trump welcomed the kingdom’s de-facto leader to the White House in a climactic end to years of diplomatic isolation from Washington. – Associated Press
Editorial: Ultimately, this moment demands vision, not just tactical maneuvering. The Abraham Accords were never meant to be static; they were a prototype. Saudi Arabia’s entry would transform them from a bold experiment into a governing architecture for the Middle East. Whether the region is ready to follow, and whether its leaders are prepared to think beyond old paradigms and slogans, will go a long way toward determining what the Middle East looks like in the next decade. – Jerusalem Post
James Stavridis writes: It’s unlikely that all three will happen — the equivalent of three cherries on the slot machine of geopolitics — but even if only one or two occur, markets will roil. Beyond the glittering setting of the Oval Office and the tech-billionaire turnout at the evening soiree, the crown prince’s visit showed solid geopolitical interest at work. Now it’s time to channel his personal lightning in productive ways — to Gaza, Iran, defense and energy markets. – Bloomberg
Middle East & North Africa
Fighting flared up again in Gaza and Lebanon despite cease-fires on both fronts, highlighting the gray zone the region finds itself in under deals that have halted two years of war without bringing sustained peace. – Wall Street Journal
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is revising plans for a revamp of its HSBC skyscraper in London’s Canary Wharf to retain more office space, prompted by a global rebound in demand as companies mandate a return to the office, two sources told Reuters. – Reuters
Tunisian journalists protested on Thursday near government offices, demanding an end to restrictions on reporters and the release of jailed colleagues, and vowing that the widening crackdown will not silence them. – Reuters
The Lebanese army on Thursday detained Noah Zaitar, a Lebanese national wanted over alleged drug trafficking, two years after he was sanctioned by the U.S. over suspected links to narcotics rings in Syria. – Reuters
Gilead Sher writes: The Gulf states have concluded that the only viable strategy is to purchase stability deal by deal, relationship by relationship. Whether this approach produces a lasting order or prolongs volatility remains the great, open question. But today, with sanctions restored, conflicts simmering and great powers divided, the Gulf’s pragmatic flexibility may be the only buffer preventing the Middle East from blowing up, again. – The Hill
Korean Peninsula
Six workers were injured, with three of them in critical condition, at a POSCO stainless steel factory in Pohang, South Korea on Thursday, after inhaling toxic gas, a company spokesperson said. – Reuters
South Korea’s ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted Friday on allegations he and others tried to manipulate the investigation into a marine’s drowning, in another criminal case against the ex-leader. – Associated Press
South Korea’s early exports continued to grow in November, supported by sustained demand for semiconductors even as steep US tariffs on autos weighed on trade momentum. – Bloomberg
China
The recent arrest of the prominent Beijing pastor Ezra Jin and several other “unregistered” church leaders reminds the world—if any reminder were needed—of China’s awful record of religious repression. – Wall Street Journal
Trade cooperation between China and Japan has been “severely damaged”, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, urging the Japanese prime minister to retract her comments on Taiwan or face the consequences. – Reuters
China ran a disinformation campaign to hurt sales of the French Rafale fighter jet after India used the planes in May for the first time against Chinese weapons deployed by its neighbour Pakistan, a bipartisan U.S. commission said this month in a report that the Chinese rejected as false information. – Reuters
Russia and China held talks in Moscow this week on missile defence and strategic stability and agreed to strengthen cooperation in those areas, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
From warning tourists to halting seafood imports, China has followed a well-worn playbook in punishing Japan for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks linking a Taiwan conflict to her country’s security. But one weapon remains conspicuously holstered: rare earths. – Bloomberg
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing for a likely visit to China in the new year, Sky News understands. Political editor Beth Rigby told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast with Baroness Harriet Harman that she had heard from two sources that the prime minister would make the trip – which will be controversial – at the end of January. – Sky News
Editorial: China could deploy “economic, legal and cyber levers to throttle Taiwan’s fuel supply and fracture its political will,” according to the report. The island can store only a few weeks worth of liquefied natural gas. China’s recent launch of a third aircraft carrier with advanced technology is a warning that Beijing’s ambitions are far greater than hoisting a new flag over Taipei. Credit the Administration for taking a step for deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. – Wall Street Journal
Joseph C. Sternberg writes: China’s export-led economic model depends on recycling its export earnings overseas. Yet shifting Western attitudes toward China are such that Beijing may find it harder in the future to own anything in return for that capital. Instead it lends, lends, lends—to economies already so heavily indebted that they lurch from one fiscal and financial crisis to the next. It’s a reminder that what often looks like dominance in the global economy may instead be symptomatic of a pathological codependence. Just ask the bank in that old joke. – Wall Street Journal
South Asia
India’s largest purchaser of Russian oil, Reliance Industries, said Thursday that it has stopped importing crude oil from Russia to refine for export amid looming U.S. and E.U. sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector. – Washington Post
Indian officials are investigating whether safety lapses in the supply of a pharmaceutical ingredient were responsible for contaminating cough syrup that has killed at least 24 children in recent months, according to three people familiar with the matter. – Reuters
India’s anti-terrorism agency said on Thursday it had arrested four more people, including three doctors, in connection with last week’s deadly car blast in Delhi, the first such attack in the heavily-guarded capital in more than a decade. – Reuters
Afghanistan’s Taliban government urged India on Thursday to scale up trade and open cargo hubs in its territory, as it strengthens ties with New Delhi and seeks alternatives to Pakistan after repeated border clashes and closures. – Reuters
Asia
Japan’s cabinet has approved $135 billion of stimulus to help households cope with rising living costs and boost economic growth, launching the first fiscal salvo under new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. – Wall Street Journal
The Pacific island nation of Tonga is awaiting the selection of a new prime minister, after a national election on Thursday saw 10 of 17 people’s representatives returned to parliament, amid low voter turnout in the tiny constitutional monarchy. – Reuters
Singapore is ready to work closer together with Germany to tackle the supply-chain challenges both face in a new global scenario, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Thursday, after talks with officials in the Asian city-state. – Reuters
A Japanese regional governor said on Friday he would allow a partial restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s biggest, as Japan tries to revive its nuclear sector and reduce fossil fuel imports. – Reuters
The EU is prepared to take direct stakes in Australian critical minerals projects and will soon announce a list of projects it will support, EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Friday. – Reuters
A Philippine trial court has sentenced a former mayor accused of having ties to Chinese criminal syndicates to life imprisonment after finding her guilty of human trafficking, a government anti-crime agency said on Thursday. – Reuters
Police have arrested a suspected Russian hacker on the Thai resort island of Phuket who was wanted by the FBI on allegations he was behind cyberattacks on U.S. and European government agencies, officials said. – Associated Press
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rebuffed demands from China to retract her recent comments about Taiwan, saying there was no change to Tokyo’s stance on how it would respond to a major regional security crisis. – Bloomberg
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has assigned his vice president to attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa in his stead, adding to a list of heads of state skipping the conference. – Bloomberg
Japan should leverage its alliance with the US to counter China’s threats rather than seeking quick compromises alone that will lead to long-term losses, according to an outspoken Japanese lawmaker whose entry into China has been banned. – Bloomberg
The US has Japan’s back in its dispute with China over remarks made by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, US Ambassador to Japan George Glass said Thursday, adding that some of the reaction from Beijing has been “outrageous.” – Bloomberg
Paul Heer writes: Indeed, she faces the same dilemma that Washington does: making its “one China” policy substantive and credible when Taiwan claims to be a “sovereign independent country” and Beijing is demanding that Washington (and Tokyo) explicitly oppose Taiwan’s “independence” and renounce a “one China, one Taiwan” policy. However, many strategists in both Japan and the United States have been drifting toward the notion that Taiwan’s unification with the PRC—even if it were to happen peacefully—would be inimical to allied strategic interests. Takaichi is now under pressure to confront that notion, and it’s not clear how long either Tokyo or Washington can sidestep it. – National Interest
Europe
In a handwritten note, the democratically elected mayor of the capital of Albania confessed that it is hard to do his job: He has been locked in a prison cell for the past nine months. – Washington Post
The rival leaders of ethnically split Cyprus said they were ready to meet the United Nations Secretary-General to discuss the potential for relaunching long-stalled peace talks, the U.N. mission on the island said on Thursday. – Reuters
Spain’s Supreme Court said on Thursday it found the country’s chief prosecutor guilty of leaking confidential information about a case involving a leading opposition figure’s partner, in a ruling that could dent public confidence in the legal system. – Reuters
Lithuania’s Vilnius airport resumed operations on Thursday evening, after closing for more than an hour due to smugglers’ balloons again appearing on radar, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said. – Reuters
Britain on Thursday awarded a 316-million-pound ($413 million) contract to missile company MBDA UK to provide DragonFire laser systems for the Royal Navy, under a plan to add new technology to ships to counter potential drone attacks. – Reuters
Kosovo’s president, Vjosa Osmani, set December 28 as the date for an early parliamentary election on Thursday, after the ruling Vetevendosje party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti failed to secure enough votes in parliament to form a government. – Reuters
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has freed two Roman Catholic priests convicted of “serious crimes against the state” following diplomatic contacts with the Vatican, state news agency Belta reported on Thursday. – Reuters
Poland has asked Belarus to extradite two Ukrainian citizens accused of carrying out railway sabotage on behalf of Russia, the Polish foreign ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
France’s foreign minister on Thursday proposed the creation of a European Union sanctions regime to tackle cross-border organised drug crime that he said was sweeping across the bloc. – Reuters
Germany is pressing the European Union to strike a last-minute deal to let the UK access the bloc’s massive defense fund before a deadline at the end of the month. – Bloomberg
Following suspicious drone flights near a Belgian nuclear base earlier this month, Brussels has devoted €50 million ($58 million) for the purchase of new counter-drone equipment. – Defense News
Investigators at the U.K.’s National Crime Agency say cash generated by Britain’s local drug trade was funnelled through a bank connected to the Kremlin’s intelligence services and sanctioned defense sector, expanding the known scope of a vast Russian money laundering network uncovered last year. – The Record
Editorial: Poland’s Internal Security Agency said it had arrested 55 people in recent months for working for Russian intelligence. Two months ago some 20 Russian drones deliberately trespassed into Polish airspace. Other drones of unknown origin have been spotted across Europe near airports and military bases. These incidents suggest a failure of deterrence, and they underscore the urgent need to rearm the free world, since they show again that Mr. Putin will push until he meets resistance. – Wall Street Journal
Dalibor Rohac writes: For that reason, this report proposes policies that can be enacted through a coalition of the willing (namely, the creation of a European Rearmament Bank) and EU-level policies that should not encounter great political resistance because of their technicality and overall desirability in improving the EU’s economic competitiveness (by completing the savings and investment union). The spirit of the report thus goes, one hopes, with the grain of the European project by preferring incrementalism and incentive-compatible solutions over utopias while recognizing the enormity of the security challenge facing Europe in 2025. – American Enterprise Institute
Africa
Drive through downtown in this West African capital, past traditional markets and mosques, and you arrive, unexpectedly, in a neighborhood with bubble tea shops and Chinese boutiques, where virtually every sign is in Mandarin. – Washington Post
The United States and South Africa got into a testy exchange on Thursday about the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend, after South Africa suggested President Trump had shifted his stance on sending a U.S. representative to the gathering. – New York Times
China’s embassy in the Central African Republic (CAR) has warned its citizens risk becoming “mining slaves” in the politically unstable nation’s gold trade, as Chinese workers look to sub-Saharan Africa as jobs in the Asian giant’s gig economy dry up. – Reuters
The United States is considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel the Nigerian government to better protect Christian communities and religious freedom, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Thursday. – Reuters
A Nigerian court on Thursday sentenced separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu to life in prison after convicting him on all seven terrorism-related charges at the end of a decade-long trial that has inflamed tensions in the country’s southeast. – Reuters
Nigerian authorities have shut schools in five districts in central Kwara state, fearing they could be targets of armed gangs after a deadly attack on a church in the state earlier in the week. – Reuters
South Africa and the European Union vowed to defend multilateralism on Thursday, ahead of the G20 summit, as they signed a partnership on critical minerals. – Reuters
China signed a $1.4 billion agreement with Zambia and Tanzania on Thursday to modernise the TAZARA railway linking landlocked Zambia to the Indian Ocean. – Reuters
Militants from the al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) killed at least 10 soldiers in an attack in western Niger, security sources said on Thursday. – Reuters
Sudan’s sovereign council, headed by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has said that it was willing to cooperate with the United States and Saudi Arabia to seek peace in the country. – Agence France-Presse
The Americas
For more than two decades, a loose-knit group of Venezuelan generals and senior officials has enabled the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe, American and Colombian officials say. – Wall Street Journal
A planned $20 billion bailout to Argentina from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup has been shelved as bankers pivot instead to a smaller, short-term loan package to support the financially distressed government, people familiar with the matter said. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday removed his 40% tariffs on Brazilian food products, including beef, coffee, cocoa and fruits that were imposed in July to punish Brazil over the prosecution of its former president, Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro. – Reuters
Talks at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil were disrupted on Thursday after a fire broke out in the venue, triggering an evacuation just as negotiators were hunkering down to try to land a deal to strengthen international climate efforts. – Reuters
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has appointed Solicitor General Jorge Messias to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the government said in a Thursday statement. – Reuters
Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s recent criticism of Donald Trump was “disappointing” and shows how far bilateral relations “have fallen,” the newly arrived US ambassador said at his first press conference. – Bloomberg
Juan Pablo Spinetto writes: If diverging opinions and criticism of Morena are treated as attempts to sabotage Mexico’s “historic transformation,” as many within the ruling movement firmly believe, then the country will have little room to function as a mature and developed democracy. That, more than the violent scenes from the Zócalo, is the lesson Sheinbaum would do well to take from this weekend’s events. – Bloomberg
United States
The bracket meant to hold the left engine in place on a UPS cargo plane that crashed in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month had cracked in two places before the crash, according to a preliminary report issued Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board. – New York Times
Eric Swalwell, one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest Democratic critics in Congress, is launching a campaign for California governor in a bid to use his clashes with the White House to vault past a crowded field of candidates. – Bloomberg
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said he would be “reluctant” to welcome Chinese-owned business ventures into his state, another indication of how US-China tensions have reverberated across America’s local politics. – Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump hosted a delegation at the White House on Thursday of nearly all the hostages freed through as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal he brokered last month. – Times of Israel
Editorial: Screaming “Tax the rich!” may satisfy the new mayor’s fans, but he’s likely already realizing the risks of losing the 30,000 highest-earning tax filers who already provide the city with 40% of its income-tax revenue. We expect the face-to-face will also see Mamdani walking back his vows to be Trump’s “worst nightmare”: This city relies on the feds for far too much to make that sustainable. The mayor-elect — and all New Yorkers — need Trump more than the other way ’round. Finally, Trump should instruct Mamdani in a fundamental truth of democratic politics: Opponents not only can get along, they have to — or everything falls apart. – New York Post
Cybersecurity
A Spanish court has ordered Facebook owner Meta (META.O), to pay 479 million euros ($552 million) to Spanish digital media outlets for unfair competition practices and infringing European Union data protection regulation, a ruling the company will appeal. – Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department has charged four people in a scheme to illegally export Nvidia (NVDA.O), AI chips to China, prompting a key House Republican to call for urgent passage of a chip-tracking bill on Thursday. – Reuters
Australia’s internet watchdog on Friday said it would include Amazon.com-owned (AMZN.O), live streaming service Twitch in its upcoming teen social media ban, but will not add image-sharing platform Pinterest (PINS.N), to the list. – Reuters
OpenAI and Taiwan electronics giant Foxconn have agreed to a partnership to design and manufacture key equipment for artificial intelligence data centers in the U.S. as part of ambitious plans to fortify American AI infrastructure. – Associated Press
NSO Group argued in a court filing this week that the court should pause the permanent injunction preventing it from targeting WhatsApp with its spyware while the company appeals the decision. According to the company, enforcing the injunction would cause irreparable harm to its business and prevent the U.S. government from using its products. – Cyberscoop
Security researchers have uncovered a new Android banking trojan capable of intercepting messages from apps including WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal after they have been decrypted. – The Record
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to remove several cybersecurity regulations put in place after Chinese hackers breached multiple telecommunications giants to steal the correspondence of Donald Trump and JD Vance during campaign season last year. – The Record
Lauryn Williams writes: Cyberthreats don’t ease up for a government shutdown — or any other time — so America’s cyber defenders can’t either. The White House must act decisively to rally federal agencies, local governments and industry into a united front. Only through coordinated, collaborative action can the United States build the robust cyber defenses it needs. – Washington Post
Defense
The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month. – Washington Post
President Donald Trump’s decision to designate an alleged drug cartel that the U.S. links to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization provides the Pentagon with a range of new options, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. – Reuters
As the Pentagon pushes for greater speed and agility in its acquisition processes, the Space Force is trying to find ways to relax the requirements for new systems, as well as cut down its test and validation timelines, according to service officials. – Defensescoop
The Defense Innovation Unit for the first time has added a hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial system to its roster of drones pre-vetted for rapid procurement and deployment by the U.S. military. – Defensescoop
The Defense Department’s Blue UAS program maintains an ever-expanding index of commercial drones that are meant to be devoid of components from adversary nations including China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, and endorsed for speedier purchasing by U.S. military buyers. – Defensescoop
Raymond Wang and Lachlan MacKenzie write: China and Russia will also likely continue to delegitimize Golden Dome—as exemplified in the joint statement—by framing it as yet another example of the United States’ hostile and destabilizing pursuit of military superiority. Perhaps more importantly, due to the perceived political signal Golden Dome is sending and the vagueness surrounding the program, it may influence Chinese and Russian force structure and posture even before the program matures with technical details, and regardless of whether the United States continues the program after Trump. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Alexander B. Gray writes: The Coast Guard is an integral institution for the defense of the Western Hemisphere. As Arctic access opens, drug cartels in the Caribbean grow bolder, and adversaries eye our sea lanes, under-resourcing this national asset invites peril. A Secretary of the Coast Guard would ensure this indispensable service gets the tools it needs to thrive. Congress must seize this bipartisan moment and pass the Coast Guard Authorization Act with the secretary provision intact. America’s maritime power requires it. – National Interest