Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Hegseth discusses Iran with Netanyahu in unannounced visit to Israel, officials say WSJ Editorial: How Israel can help the Board of Peace Tehran seeks to punish Trump in midterms with oil price pain, Iranian officials say Iran's Araqchi blames US for Strait of Hormuz tensions, calls for diplomacy Trump accuses Iran of killing 75,000, says asking NATO for help during war was test Hudson Institute’s Ludovic Hood: How Donald Trump can still intensify the pressure on Iran Russia proposes a Trump-Xi-Putin meeting in China next month Trump administration holds up Patriot missiles for Ukraine Houthi attack kills 58 at Yemen government training camp, governor says For Israelis and Jews in the U.A.E., an eroding sense of security China and Iran’s influence networks join forces inside US Pakistan army chief Asim Munir to visit Tehran on TuesdayIn The News
Israel
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said, as tensions flare between the US and Iran. – Reuters
Israel said on Monday it would resume allowing commercial goods shipments into Gaza after a days-long halt over a tax dispute involving Hamas and merchants, restoring a key route for food and other essentials to the aid-dependent enclave. – Reuters
Israelis vote on Oct. 27 in an election viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the deadliest attack on Israel since its founding and the three years of wars that followed. – Associated Press
A senior Palestinian official told AFP that Israeli settler attacks risk setting off an “explosion” in the West Bank, while urging that the response remain peaceful. – Agence France-Presse
A Palestinian teacher in Gaza says a higher-up threatened to cut out her tongue when she challenged coworkers teaching students to hate Jews and embrace violence — and is now warning the poisonous lessons could lead to another Oct. 7. – New York Post
Israeli Air Force officers welcomed progress in the Apache helicopter deal following a series of delays, but warned that despite the breakthrough, other procurement deals remain stalled, primarily due to government bureaucracy. – Jerusalem Post
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will be part of the next government and will receive a ministerial position, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised during a campaign rally in Lod on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
A major cache of weapons, explosive devices, and narcotics was uncovered over the weekend in an open area near the village of Rama in the Galilee. According to police suspicions, the stockpile was used by the Abu Latif crime organization, which originates from the local council. – Jerusalem Post
Zionist NGO Regavim condemned the recent attack against a delegation of theirs accompanying pro-Israel influencers into the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, describing it as an attempted lynching. – Jerusalem Post
Two suspects planning a terror attack against Israeli citizens were arrested on Monday in a joint operation conducted by Israel Police’s Counterterrorism Unit (YAMAM) and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). – Jerusalem Post
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz announced on Monday that his party would withdraw from the election race, just over a week before the October 27 election. – Jerusalem Post
Up to 500 Moroccan personnel have undergone training in preparation for deployment with the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, a Board of Peace official told The Times of Israel Monday, as preparations for the multinational force continue despite significant delays in implementing the US-backed Gaza peace plan. – Times of Israel
Israel on Monday announced that the entry of private-sector goods into Gaza would gradually resume after Hamas was said to have dropped demands of taxes and payments from local merchants, ending a pause that began late last week. – Times of Israel
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir placed the military on its “highest state of alert” ahead of next week’s election and canceled soldiers’ leave, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel’s enemies not to test the country. – Times of Israel
Tzachi Hanegbi, a former long-time senior member of the Likud party who served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor during the October 7th Massacre, announced on Tuesday that he would not vote for his former party, but for Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu. – Arutz Sheva
Editorial: Gadi Eisenkot, the leading Israeli election challenger to Mr. Netanyahu, pledged on Thursday to end Hamas rule in Gaza within 18 months. “This will happen either through action based on President Trump’s framework,” the former IDF chief said, “or through the use of military and operational capabilities.” Mr. Netanyahu says much the same, and Israelis are united on the end goal. Getting there will likely require doing more to help a friendly Board of Peace. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: For Israeli passengers who simply want to visit family, travel for business, or take a holiday abroad, the prospect of emergency landings and bomb scares becoming an accepted part of air travel is deeply unsettling. Governments and airlines must ensure this extraordinary series of incidents remains an exception and does not become the new normal. – Jerusalem Post
Robert Satloff writes: In this context, a bold and confident diplomatic offensive means taking significant steps to renounce unilateral annexation of West Bank territory and reaffirm Israel’s commitment to the core principles of Resolution 242. Without such steps, no amount of direct U.S. lobbying or even U.S. threats are likely to convince Britain to content itself with the import ban or deter other capitals from joining London in labeling the occupation “unlawful.” As Israel’s closest ally, Washington is singularly placed to make clear to the country’s leaders that outside help cannot prevent the potentially disastrous repercussions of a global campaign to penalize it for its “unlawful” occupation unless Israel helps itself. – Washington Institute
Dennis Ross writes: Finally, the Trump administration needs to hold Israel accountable. That starts with insistence that this Israeli government act demonstrably and systematically to stop the extremist attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. In addition, Trump should make clear that he expects the next Israeli government to do its part to fulfill his plan and the 15-point road map. While insisting that Hamas and the PA must deliver on their commitments, including on de-radicalization, he will want Israeli—and Palestinian—leaders to understand that if Hamas and the PA follow through, Israel will be held to its commitments as well. – Foreign Policy
Iran
For Iran’s leadership, the next few weeks are a critical window. Anticipating that President Donald Trump will be less sensitive to high energy prices after the midterm elections, Tehran is scrambling to inflict maximum pain now by escalating attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian officials and diplomats in the region. – Washington Post
Oil majors are set to post a big jump in third-quarter profit as the US-Israeli war on Iran has boosted refining and trading results, while investors will monitor how wisely they use their cash piles and whether they resist a spending spree. – Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said regional issues should be resolved through diplomacy and blamed the United States for insecurity and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking at a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday. – Reuters
Iran has killed at least 75,000 protesters over the last eight months, US President Donald Trump claimed during a rally in Kansas on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
In yet another example of Iran’s human rights abuses, the regime is weaponizing human trafficking to fund its regional proxy wars, profiting from the abuse of women, children, and at-risk migrants while forcing marginalized populations into combat to help finance and sustain its network of terrorist groups, a new report has found. – The Algermeiner
Andreas Kluth writes: America, along with other countries, has also slashed funding to the UN’s World Food Program, and ordered the WFP to stop work on specific projects it had financed, from Yemen to Sudan and Haiti. Such defunding will result in additional millions of deaths, especially of young children. So much for the second of the UN’s 17 so-called sustainable development goals, which was to achieve “zero hunger” by 2030. Trump, who disdains the UN, will no doubt blame this failure on that institution rather than his own policies, or the war of choice he launched in the Middle East. – Bloomberg
Ludovic Hood writes: The blockade and sanctions have gutted Iran’s oil income, and earlier strikes set back its nuclear program. Another vague memorandum would let those gains erode. A focused follow-up on the uranium and the sites where Iran could rebuild would lock them in. Success is measurable: inspectors in, the uranium accounted for, the missiles limited, the strait open without tribute. Anything less is a pause. Iran has bet that it can outwait the American calendar. The blockade, and the force behind it, are how Washington makes Iran lose that bet. – The National Interest
Kenneth M. Pollack writes: There are always countervailing trends. People who do not want to believe that trends will continue will insist that they won’t, and they will grasp at the inevitable evidence to do so. Recognizing the signal in the noise is always hardest when it would be the easiest to respond to the signal. None of us can say for certain that any of the possible changes that I’ve sketched out above will come to fruition. But their seeds are already there in the course of the United States’ ongoing war with Iran. It’s not too soon to recognize them and to start to consider how Washington might act to avert the worst and prepare for whatever it cannot prevent. – Foreign Policy
Russia and Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a meeting with President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, people familiar with the Russian and Chinese discussions said. – Washington Post
The Trump administration has not approved the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine that are needed to protect the country from Russian missile and drone attacks, officials said Monday, a delay that comes as President Donald Trump has embraced Russia and slammed Ukraine in recent weeks. – Washington Post
The skies above Ukraine now roar with the sound of F-16s targeting jet-powered drones. Under siege and short on interceptor missiles, Ukraine is using the American-made fighter planes as a first line of defense against Russia’s deadly new weapon of choice. – New York Times
He shunted aside a bipartisan law, signed just weeks ago, imposing new tariffs on Russia. He cut a deal to purchase diesel from Moscow. His negotiators agreed on the vague outlines of a deal for much of Lukoil, a battered Russian energy firm. – New York Times
President Trump is trying to force Ukraine to surrender in the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in an interview published on Sunday, as a deepening feud between the two leaders drives their relations to new lows. – New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that decisions taken by the United States on the war in Ukraine, including delays in arms shipments and restrictions on intelligence sharing, were “hard to explain.” – Reuters
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Norway this week for the next round of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the matter. – Reuters
A Russian drone attack on Monday killed six people, including three children, in a park in a village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. – Reuters
Kremlin hawks are savouring a public rift between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy after a damaging week for Ukraine’s president and a beneficial one for Russia, but the champagne is still on ice in Moscow. – Reuters
Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging cooperation with Russia to allow humanitarian aid into the embattled city of Oleshky and the safe evacuation of civilians, the Vatican said. – Associated Press
Russia launched new attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, adding that Kyiv again received no early warning of the attack from partner countries that previously shared their intelligence. – Associated Press
The U.S.-Ukraine alliance is careening toward a possible breaking point, with Moscow strengthened by President Donald Trump’s recent rejection of new Russia sanctions and Kyiv undermined by disruptions in satellite support for its drones during the war. – Associated Press
Masha Moskalyova has spent a quarter of her life in jeopardy or on the run because of a picture she drew when she was just 12 years old. Four years on, she and her father are living in hiding in a small village in eastern France and still worry about their safety. One of the few things they still have of their former lives in Russia is the drawing itself. – CNN
A Russian satellite closed to within 85 feet of a U.S.-registered satellite in Earth orbit on Monday, a striking development in its month-long stalking of a spacecraft providing intelligence resources to Ukraine. – New York Sun
Dan Crenshaw writes: Putin did that by attacking Ukraine’s energy sector soon after the president tried to force an energy infrastructure ceasefire. The president’s effort to broker peace is a noble goal, and one I support. But deals rely on both parties, and Putin has made his answer clear. President Trump should not accept such blatant disrespect. Enforce the sanctions, destroy the Russian economy, and urge Elon Musk to help the Ukrainians target Russian ballistic missiles inside Russia. This is one of the easiest geopolitical calculations of our lifetime. It is time to act upon it. – Washington Post
Arabian Peninsula
Saudi Arabia’s marquee investment conference will be postponed until 2027, its organizers announced on Monday, underscoring how missile and drone strikes on the kingdom are jeopardizing its economic diversification plans. – New York Times
Saudi Arabia’s main airport will curtail air travel until further notice after continued attacks from Houthi rebels prompted the government to extend restrictions, effectively cutting off Riyadh’s main entry point for airlines. – Bloomberg
Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured after an attack on Monday by the Iran-aligned Houthis on a government security forces training camp in Yemen’s Shabwa province, Governor Awad al-Wazir said, as fighting in the impoverished country intensifies. – Reuters
Asher Orkaby writes: How the Saudis choose to use that lull in fighting will ultimately determine their fate. Rather than rallying a loose Saudi-led anti-Houthi coalition, Saudi Arabia should give the remnants of the Yemeni republic something tangible to present to their constituents. Whether economic investment, membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or a politically attractive solution to three disputed territories. Rather than fearing a united and strong Yemen, perhaps Saudi Arabia should actively be cultivating a healthy and prosperous Yemeni state that can be held accountable and can serve as an ally in the regional struggle with Iran. – The National Interest
Seth Mandel writes: It helps that Egypt has skin in the game, but is a widening of the regional war really in everybody’s best interest? Wouldn’t it make more sense to let Egypt stay home and nurse its economy while having the Saudis officially join the Middle East’s new Abraham Accords-led order? That way, the Israelis could play a more prominent role in safeguarding the alliance. All it would cost the Saudis is an official recognition of the Jewish state. Seems like a bargain. – Commentary Magazine
Gulf States
When Tamar Smulowicz moved from Israel to the United Arab Emirates after the two countries normalized relations six years ago, it was the beginning of a chapter in a place she never dared think of as home. – New York Times
The Gulf Arab state of Qatar will soon announce a defence production hub, the minister of state for defence affairs told the Global Security Forum in Doha on Monday. – Reuters
Qatar plans to construct two power plants in Lebanon over the next three years and sign a 20-year liquefied natural gas supply deal under a proposal to revive the ailing Lebanese power sector, a document seen by Reuters showed. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
Morocco’s new government aims for average annual economic growth of 5% from 2027 to 2031, up from an expected 4.7% this year, while keeping the fiscal deficit under 3% of GDP, Prime Minister Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri said on Monday. – Reuters
At least nine members of a security agency were killed and several others wounded by a mortar blast during a training exercise in a city west of Libya’s capital Tripoli late on Sunday, a local TV channel said. – Reuters
When heavily pregnant Fatna and her disabled son arrived in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta during a chaotic mass border crossing on July 30, she hoped to be high on authorities’ list for help. – Reuters
The Syrian government fears that Druze armed groups in the southern province of Sweida could launch an offensive against Syrian government forces in the coming days, with Israel encouraging and supporting the operation, a senior Syrian government official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
A Turkish-born Israeli woman was accosted by anti-Israel activists at a shopping mall in Istanbul on Sunday, after her location was shared on social media. Protesters called her a “terrorist” and “child killer” and demanded that she leave the country, according to video of the incident. – Times of Israel
Korean Peninsula
South Korea will withdraw additional embassy personnel from Ukraine after finding no constructive response from the Ukrainian side over a dispute involving North Korean prisoners of war, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. – Reuters
South Korea on Tuesday vowed a stern response if North Korea acts on threats to strengthen its military posture along the border, which have fueled tensions on the Korean Peninsula. – Reuters
The leader of the South Korean religious sect Jesus Morning Star was sentenced on Monday to a further 33 years in jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting and abusing female followers. – Reuters
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday the country is fully capable of taking back the wartime operational control of the combined forces with the US stationed in the country and talks with Washington for the change are progressing. – Reuters
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement on state media KCNA on Monday that her country was considering deploying additional tactical weapons and restarting loudspeaker broadcasts near the border with South Korea. – Reuters
South Korea vowed to step up military operations to strengthen its control over the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula, after Pyongyang warned it could deploy more strike assets to the border area. – Bloomberg
President Donald Trump downplayed expectations for a November meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid speculation over renewed US efforts to reach out to the reclusive regime in Pyongyang. – Bloomberg
China
Surging exports and the industrial production needed to sustain them kept China’s economy growing over the past three months, even as consumer spending stagnated and investment plunged. – New York Times
Chinese coast guard patrols to the east of Taiwan are “highly destabilising” and an extension of Beijing’s legal, political and information warfare against Taipei, the chair of a US congressional committee said on Tuesday. – Reuters
China’s military said on Tuesday it had sent forces to watch a US warship that “illegally” entered waters around a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. – Reuters
Chinese and Iranian political influence networks are joining forces inside the U.S. to challenge American power and policies, including by appealing to supporters to donate money via sanctioned Iranian banks, Newsweek can reveal. – Newsweek
Asha Jadeja writes: President Donald Trump’s Sept. 29 AI summit at the White House with leading tech executives was a constructive first step. Now is the time to build on that momentum with his Chinese counterparts. There is a tendency in Washington to view every discussion of AI safety through the lens of competition with China. Beijing likewise suspects that American safety proposals are merely an attempt to preserve U.S. technological advantage. Recent Chinese criticism of American executives’ proposals to slow some AI development demonstrates how quickly safety can become entangled with geopolitics. – Washington Post
Robert A. Manning and Nick Hawkins write: Coordination and deconfliction are vital, even between suspicious opponents. Risk-reduction steps such as pre-notification when satellites are moved, collaboration on space debris monitoring and early warning, and coordination and deconfliction on STM are needed. A starting point for these issues would be to repeal or revise the Wolf Amendment so U.S.-China dialogue can include space. It may take a catastrophic event in space before the reality of mutual vulnerability overcomes deep distrust and suspicion enough to define the terms of coexistence. – Foreign Policy
South Asia
Before joining a protest last week over voting rights, Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party youth movement, issued a public challenge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. – Wall Street Journal
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to India on Tuesday, days after President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on US imports from the world’s largest democracy as the two countries seek to finalize a trade deal. – Reuters
Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is due to visit Tehran on Tuesday, according to a Pakistani official and Iranian media. Pakistan has played a key mediating role between the U.S. and Iran this year. – Reuters
Two jailed leaders of India’s Cockroach Janta Party had their custody extended on Monday as tensions persist in New Delhi over protests against a contentious voter-roll revision. – Bloomberg
Walter Russell Mead writes: As we see in India, it is hard for any government to manage the conflicts between old and young in a rapidly changing world. When as in France you add a clash of civilizations to the conflict over resources and toss in a social consensus that is as deeply misguided as it is widely entrenched, you get a conflict that conventional politics may be unable to resolve. – Wall Street Journal
Asia
The authorities in Australia are investigating the motive behind Monday’s attack on an independent lawmaker who remains in critical condition, as calls mounted to dial down the tenor of political debate, which has led to increased threats to representatives. – New York Times
New Zealand said on Tuesday it will work to deepen trade ties with Brazil and Canada to diversify export markets amid global economic uncertainty, as a free trade agreement with India came into force. – Reuters
Myanmar’s military-backed government on Monday released rare photographs of the country’s imprisoned former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that officials had delivered her books and letters from Britain’s King Charles. – Reuters
More than 9,000 Indonesian police officers will be deployed in the capital Jakarta on Tuesday to handle protests marking President Prabowo Subianto’s two years in office, authorities said, after polls showed his popularity was on the wane. – Reuters
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with counterparts from five Central Asian nations in Uzbekistan on Monday, a trip that resulted in relatively minor public deliverables, but which US officials have presented as an opportunity to expand American soft power. – Reuters
Japanese and U.S. troops on Monday kicked off one of their largest joint exercises focusing on the defense of Japan’s southwestern islands and showcasing advanced weapons systems in the face of growing tension in the region. – Associated Press
The Philippine government summoned the Chinese ambassador Monday to protest remarks it considered a threat to use force, saying it will not accept attempts to intimidate Philippine officials critical of Beijing’s actions in the disputed South China Sea. – Associated Press
Singapore will issue preventive notices to three more Indonesian companies to tackle and prevent forest fires in Kalimantan province that may have sent smoke across the border, the National Environment Agency said Monday. – Associated Press
Gearoid Reidy writes: One concern I have is that her premiership sometimes resembles Abe’s — his disastrous and short-lived first period in power starting in 2006, characterized by strategic legislative mistakes, too much focus on a long-term vision, and an economy that was seemingly normalizing and improving, but ultimately wasn’t to last. After five years in the wilderness, Abe got a second chance, one he wielded adeptly. Takaichi probably shouldn’t hope for something similar. She has to make this time count. The prime minister has shown she can command attention. Now she must prove she can command outcomes. – Bloomberg
Joseph Epstein writes: In April and May 2025, Baku hosted Turkish and Israeli officials for talks that produced a permanent direct line to prevent clashes in Syria, and Aliyev later said he had acted to help “our ally and brother Türkiye and our friend Israel.” Azerbaijan also brokered Israeli military contacts with the Syrian government. […] Erdogan will eventually want a channel back to Israel, as he did in 2016 and 2022, and the headscarf dispute with Azerbaijan will fade long before the gas contracts and arms deals between them expire. When he looks for that channel, the likeliest broker will be Azerbaijan, a middle power both Turkey and Israel trust, and one that asks only to be treated as an equal and left to run its own affairs. – The National Interest
Europe
The riots sweeping France have rocked the country’s political establishment, but one person is positioned to emerge from the chaos with a stronger hand: Marine Le Pen. – Wall Street Journal
Italy was rocked over the weekend by two separate waves of protests, as students in the north and farmers and truckers in the south demanded government action to stanch rising costs. – New York Times
The authorities have thwarted what they called attempted sabotage against the Starlink network in Lithuania, the latest in a string of apparent attacks in Eastern Europe against the satellite internet provider. The service is used by NATO countries and is crucial for Ukraine in the war against Russia. – New York Times
Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies, said on Monday it was barring the entry of a number of goods from neighbouring Latvia because of the Baltic state’s “unfriendly” relations. – Reuters
Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X, after a German court sentenced two men for planning to kill the leader of a Jewish organisation in Germany. – Reuters
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said on Monday that he and his partner were expecting their first child, with the assistance of a surrogate mother and an egg donor. – Reuters
Polish military police said on Monday they had detained a Polish-Ukrainian dual national suspected of spying who was attending an officer training course for reservists in the central city of Lodz. – Reuters
Sweden’s parliament speaker said on Monday he has asked Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist to explore the grounds for the formation of a new government, giving her one week to meet with other parties. – Reuters
Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services and a housing crisis have created perfectly stormy weather for an autumn of protests in Europe. – Associated Press
Just a few months ago, Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi faced smear campaigns in the pro-government media and accusations by top officials of spying for Ukraine. When the government filed a criminal complaint against him for espionage, he faced the prospect of years in prison, and left for Poland. – Associated Press
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he won’t negotiate with protesters who throw cobblestones and use violence to push through their demands. – Bloomberg
The British and Polish governments have criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, after he appeared to downplay the role fellow NATO members played in the Afghanistan war. – Politico
As images of burning cars and historic buildings in France and Italy ricochet across Europe, leaders in Hungary and Poland are seizing the moment, not to address the unrest, but to redefine the migration debate. – Fox News
The embattled French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pinned some of the blame on the U.S. war against the terrorist regime in Iran for the widespread riots and looting unfolding across France. – Fox News
Despite images of masked protesters carrying Palestinian flags or signs denouncing Jews, antisemitic influencers are trying to recast the violent riots in France as the fault of Jews. – New York Sun
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband warned Monday that companies and individuals participating in construction projects in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim could face British sanctions, as tensions between Israel and the United Kingdom continue to escalate. – Arutz Sheva
Grégoire Roos writes: Building a more geopolitical Europe does not mean that the continent will eventually turn into a military power comparable to that of the United States, nor that the EU will reach the Chinese industrial scale anytime soon. What’s more, trade defenses alone won’t produce cheaper energy or create technological leadership. Protecting an industry and making it competitive are clearly two different undertakings. The Franco-German letter is an encouraging sign. But a bigger challenge remains. Paris and Berlin still need to implement reforms to revive their waning competitiveness and declining economies. Once the question of unfair Chinese industrial competition is settled, the real work, the harder work, will need to begin: economic reform at home. Alas, a Franco-German nonpaper on the issue is much less likely. – Foreign Policy
Africa
A modern-day gold rush is under way in West Africa. Mining companies have raced to the region in recent years, investing billions of dollars in new gold mines to cash in on near record prices for the metal. – Wall Street Journal
A Kenyan court convicted a cult leader on Monday of murdering nearly 200 children after he told his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus in a case that has caused national shock. – New York Times
The US State Department said on Monday it has asked Americans to reconsider any travel to Kenya and raised its travel advisory for the African nation due to health risks. – Reuters
At least 15 people, including 10 Nigerian soldiers and five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, were killed when their convoy struck a landmine and came under fire in northeastern Borno state, two soldiers said. – Reuters
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the country must prepare for its potential exclusion from the United States’ duty-free trade initiative, AGOA, as relations between Washington and Pretoria have soured. – Reuters
At least 73 people were killed when drones struck a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border of South Sudan and Sudan, the caretaker information minister for the jointly administered region said on Tuesday, accusing Sudan’s army of carrying out the attack. – Reuters
Gabon said on Monday that findings from its debt audit were under review by the International Monetary Fund and could be revised, according to a government circular. – Reuters
Conflict and drought are worsening food insecurity across parts of Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, a global food crisis monitor warned on Monday. – Associated Press
With its torrential rains, tropical forests and omnipresent humidity, Equatorial Guinea provides the perfect conditions for mosquitoes to breed. For centuries, mosquito-borne diseases, in particular malaria, have dictated the fate of residents of this central African nation, impacting how they lived, worked and died. – Associated Press
A rare drone attack on Sudan’s capital killed three children Monday, a rights group said, as both sides in the country’s war step up airstrikes that have killed dozens of civilians in the Kordofan region in recent days. – Associated Press
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki said Monday that he had neither ordered prosecutors to stop cases involving apartheid-era crimes nor struck secret deals to shield former security officers from justice. – Associated Press
Areig Elhag writes: The law was originally drafted for the transitional period that began in 2019, but Congress must now update it to reflect the reality of the war. In the meantime, Executive Order 14098 allows for sanctions on those who obstruct the formation or operation of a civilian government and those who finance this obstruction, whether civilians or military figures. Taken together, these steps make clear to all parties what they will gain by complying—and the price they will pay for attempting to undermine the transition. – Washington Institute
The Americas
14 people were killed and 7 others injured following the collapse of an illegal gold mine in southwestern Colombia, local authorities said on Monday. – Reuters
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro’s lead over President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has narrowed ahead of an October 25 runoff, two polls showed on Monday, pointing to a close race between the right-wing lawmaker and the leftist incumbent. – Reuters
Oilfield service companies including Weatherford International, Baker Hughes, Halliburton and SLB are advertising dozens of jobs in Venezuela, according to company websites, an early sign that a Washington-backed plan to rebuild the country’s energy industry is gaining traction. – Reuters
A Colombian judge on Monday ordered the nation’s government to protect more than 30 historical artifacts that officials removed from exhibits in Bogota’s National Museum last week, as part of an effort by Colombia’s conservative government to change how the nation’s history is told in museums and schools. – Associated Press
North America
Gilbert Bigio, a Haitian industrialist widely described as the country’s first billionaire, and who was sanctioned by Canada for ties to criminal gangs in his homeland, died on Sept. 29 in Florida. He was 91. – New York Times
Surrounded by wooden plaques bearing the brands of Alberta cattlemen, a group of Alberta farmers and ranchers sat around a hotel bar discussing the vote that could set their province on a path to break away from Canada. – New York Times
Cuban law enforcement officials on Monday alleged that the US was allowing terrorists to operate with impunity on American soil, citing details of an investigation into a February speedboat incursion that led to a gun battle at sea, deaths and injuries on both sides. – Reuters
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday that the cause of a fire, that killed at least four military members and injured dozens of others in Alberta on Saturday is still unknown. – Reuters
The United States and Cuba traded accusations at the United Nations on Monday after US diplomats hosted an event featuring Cuban dissidents ahead of next week’s annual UN vote on a resolution calling for an end to a US embargo on the island. – Reuters
The assassination at the weekend of anti-graft lawyer Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa, who made powerful enemies by taking on Guatemala’s elite, marks one of the most significant political killings in the country in recent decades, renewing concerns about the vulnerability of those who fight corruption in Central America. – Reuters
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Mexico and the United States are very close to agreeing to a “great” trade deal. Trump was speaking at a political rally in Kansas. – Reuters
Canada awaited results Tuesday from a referendum that could put oil-rich Alberta on a path toward independence, testing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for unity amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and annexation threats. – Associated Press
Former Cuban President Raúl Castro is facing more charges in Florida related to the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles after the U.S. government indicted the former leader earlier this year. – Associated Press
Gangs in Haiti opened fire on an armored vehicle over the weekend, leaving four soldiers from El Salvador unaccounted for in the first major attack since an international gang suppression force began operations in the violence-wracked Caribbean country. – Associated Press
United States
Vice President JD Vance declined to back Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s coming elections, a break from President Trump who has given the Israeli prime minister his backing. – Wall Street Journal
President Trump said Monday that he would be open to meeting with the leaders of Russia and China to discuss denuclearization. – Wall Street Journal
More than 100,000 people from Ukraine and Sudan can stay in the United States without immediate risk of deportation, the Department of Homeland Security said, in what amounts to a temporary reprieve after their right to stay in the country was set to expire Monday. – Associated Press
A Capital One bank location on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti on Monday. Images of the vandalism showed that the windows of the bank were smashed and red graffiti on the doors said, “Drop Elbit” and “Pal Action.” – Times of Israel
Elisha Wiesel writes: But the Elie Wiesel Auditorium must also stand as a warning. My father’s life was a testimony to what words can do. History is replete with speeches, lectures, editorials and textbooks turning neighbors into intruders and murder into justice. Mr. Obama’s place isn’t with those who call Jewish survival excessive. His place is with the murdered of Hebron and of Oct. 7, and with a people that has been waiting, since 1947, for someone across the table to stop choosing hate. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Yet Mr. Suri, like Mr. Khalil, is demanding legal review under the doctrine of Habeas Corpus.Latin for “you shall have the body,” Habeas Corpus is legal jargon for a right to challenge wrongful detention. Does the right extend to all non-citizens? Past precedents suggest it does not apply to, say, recent border-crossers apprehended near the frontier. Conceding the right to the likes of Mr. Khalil would, per Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the Fourth Circuit, force Uncle Sam to contest non-citizens’ “removability in two forums and win in both.” – New York Sun
Cybersecurity
Before he was arrested, Abdulrahman Alfozan, the Saudi national accused of bugging a restricted OpenAI conference room, had allegedly been in touch with a member of the Saudi royal family about job opportunities in the kingdom, federal prosecutors said. – Wall Street Journal
Two Serbian opposition figures were recently targeted with powerful cyberespionage tools, according to one of the men and a report issued on Monday, by the Canadian cyber watchdog group Citizen Lab. – Reuters
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced the state will receive a $6 million settlement payment in 23andMe’s bankruptcy, resolving California’s legal claims related to a 2023 data breach that exposed 6.9 million customers’ genetic and other personal information. – Reuters
Over the past couple of weeks, a cybersecurity researcher watched as a Chinese-speaking hacker broke into websites belonging to more than 100 companies, including farm equipment maker Deere, home appliance company SharkNinja and engine manufacturer Cummins. – Reuters
The Department of Homeland Security is banning the use of Chinese AI model DeepSeek and its affiliates by civilian federal agencies. – CyberScoop
Hundreds of federal agencies should adopt an encryption tool to protect whistleblowers, veterans suffering from mental health crises and others from hackers who might target them when they reach out via agency websites, Sen. Ron Wyden said Monday. – CyberScoop
The head of Army Cyber Command said last week that the service was constantly observing and refining human oversight of artificial intelligence, with the possibility of releasing computer agents to do some work by themselves. – Defense News
Defense
Current and former U.S. military leaders are bracing for the Trump administration to release its review of the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan as soon as this month, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would revive public discourse of the 20-year war’s traumatic end days ahead of the midterm elections. – Washington Post
The military has reportedly awarded 202 Purple Hearts to U.S. service members fighting in the ongoing Iran War. – Military.com
The U.S. Marine Corps stood up its first Medium-range Missile Battalion last week as the service works to integrate longer range and maritime strike capabilities across the force. The 1st Battalion, 10th Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division redesignated as the branch’s first dedicated battalion to operate the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System last Wednesday. – USNI News
The Defense Department has signed a framework agreement with BAE Systems to buy up to 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS, guidance kits a year for as long as seven years, the department announced Monday. – Defense News
Philippe Lagassé writes: Trump may not single-handedly undo decades of close military cooperation between Canada and the U.S., but his presidency has certainly forced America’s northern neighbor to be less trusting and complacent. Canada may not be able to fully divest itself from the U.S. military, but relying too heavily on American defense cooperation and goodwill no longer seems wise. Fixing this problem will require more time and money than Canadians are typically willing to spend, but Canadians appear at least willing to pay this price if it will deliver better security for themselves. – The Atlantic
Long War
The US Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, to revive a 2024 agreement that would have spared him the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea — a deal scrapped by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. – Reuters
An 18-year-old from Minnesota who prosecutors say planned a terror attack at the Mall of America and who was arrested after buying an AK-47 from an undercover FBI employee must remain in custody, a federal judge ruled Monday. – Associated Press
The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court sentenced a former Soroka Medical Center doctor to 27 months in prison on Sunday for membership in ISIS, finding that his pledge of allegiance and years of collecting the terrorist organization’s material went beyond ideological interest to developing practical capabilities. – Jerusalem Post