Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
One year after Oct. 7, Israel sees a future at war Hamas fires rockets at Tel Aviv on Oct. 7 anniversary Macron urges countries to ‘stop delivering weapons’ to Israel for war in Gaza Hamas built an underground war machine to ensure its own survival WSJ Editorial: The lessons of Oct. 7 a year later National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz: What the world needs to understand about Iran Bloomberg’s Marc Champion: Netanyahu's Middle East transformation has to start at home Khamenei gives rare public sermon as Israel weighs counterstrike on Iran Iran’s Foreign Minister reaches out to Arab leaders in Lebanon, Qatar Ukraine left in security limbo with Zelensky U.S. trip results unclear Israel expands strikes to northern Lebanon as death toll rises U.S., South Korea agree on five-year plan to share defence costsIn The News
Israel
One year after the brutal Hamas attack that ended Israel’s two-decade golden age of relative peace, expanding wealth and growing diplomatic ties, the country is now firmly on the counterattack and preparing to be at war for years. – Wall Street Journal
Hamas fired rockets at Tel Aviv Monday, forcing Israelis into bomb shelters on the anniversary of the militant group’s attacks that sparked a multifront war in the Middle East. – Wall Street Journal
Israel’s military said it reopened an offensive in northern Gaza to combat militants who have resurfaced in the area, issuing sweeping evacuation orders after residents reported heavy artillery shelling overnight. – Wall Street Journal
French President Emmanuel Macron urged countries to stop providing weapons to Israel for its war in the Gaza Strip and expressed concern that the civilians of Lebanon could face a fate similar to that of Palestinians. – Washington Post
Six months before the Oct. 7 attack, Hamas’s top leader in the Gaza Strip was meeting with visiting Palestinian businessmen in the enclave when he made a shocking disclosure. Hamas was planning something big, Yahya Sinwar told his guests. “There’s going to be a surprise,” he said, according to one of the participants in the meeting, which has not been previously reported. – Washington Post
People in Israel were bracing on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, entering a heavily charged week that promises to be filled with mourning as well as fighting. – New York Times
Israel intercepted early on Monday two aerial targets launched from the east after sirens went off in the central areas of Rishon Letsiyon and Palmachim, the military said on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, his office said, and told him that placing restrictions on Israel will just serve Iran and its proxies. – Reuters
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is unrepentant about the Oct. 7 attacks a year ago, people in contact with him say, despite unleashing an Israeli invasion that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, laid waste to his Gaza homeland and rained destruction on ally Hezbollah. – Reuters
The Islamist group Hamas rejected what it called “a false narrative and fabricated story” about a Yazidi woman Israel said was freed in Gaza in a secret operation involving Israel, the United States and Iraq. – Reuters
The United States has spent a record of at least $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began and led to escalating conflict around the Middle East, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project, released on the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. – Associated Press
Israel’s Arrow missile-interceptor system performed as expected against Iran’s attack on Tuesday, though some damage was caused in heavily populated areas including Tel Aviv, according to the head of the Israeli manufacturer. – Bloomberg
An unofficial commemoration marking a year since Hamas’s October 7 massacre will be held with a limited crowd made up of families of the victims due to IDF Home Front Command restrictions currently in place that prevent large gatherings amid the recent fighting with Hezbollah, its organizers said Saturday. – Agence France-Presse
The IDF and Shin Bet said Saturday they had identified at least 12 terror operatives among the dead in Thursday night’s fighter jet strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, amid an international outcry over the high number of casualties in the attack. – Agence France-Presse
Thousands of people arrived at the location of the Nova Music Festival early Monday morning to commemorate a year since the October 7 Massacre, KAN News posted on X, formerly Twitter. – Jerusalem Post
Hostage Idan Shtivi, 29, who was kidnapped from the site of the Nova music festival to the Gaza Strip on October 7 of last year, was killed, and his body is being held by Hamas, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
In an interview for a Saudi outlet, President Isaac Herzog on Sunday called on the Lebanese and Iranian peoples to “rise up” and confront the Iranian regime, calling the ongoing war a “golden opportunity” to reshape the Middle East. – Times of Israel
A Border Police officer was killed and at least 10 others were wounded when a terrorist opened fire in the Beersheba bus station on Sunday afternoon. – Times of Israel
Editorial: But Iran remains the center of Middle Eastern mayhem, and it is building an alliance with Russia and China. It is bent on obtaining a nuclear weapon, and Oct. 7 shows where a nuclear Iran would lead. The only path to a cease-fire, and a broader Middle East peace, is an Israel victory over Iran and its terror network. As for the U.S., Oct. 7 is a reminder that Americans can’t withdraw from the Middle East and assume we can avoid its menace. Iran is bent on America’s destruction as much as it is on Israel’s. The Jewish state is the frontline of the West, and we can’t let it lose. – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Against this primitive, religious savagery, Israel shares with the U.S. much of the finest intelligence-gathering the world has known; advances freedom, commerce, and life-saving medicine and technology; and, as has been shown in recent weeks against Hezbollah, it eliminates entire terrorist infrastructures. Israel’s military and intelligence capabilities are a boon to the entire civilized world. Israel is turning the Oct. 7 cataclysm into a great victory for the free world. As it continues righteous operations against terrorists in response to their enormities a year ago today, the U.S. should offer virtually unconditional support. – Washington Examiner
Sahar Kalderon writes: I’ve been going to rallies and protests, speaking to crowds, trying to make sure people don’t forget about my dad and the other hostages. They are real people, not just something to bargain with. Each of them needs help urgently. We need to put pressure on Hamas. It isn’t only Israel’s job—it’s everyone’s job. Dad, you’re close to my heart, even though you’re so far away. I love you, I miss you every second, and I pray every day that you’ll come home. I can’t imagine how you’re dealing with all this, but I promise I’ll keep fighting for you. I won’t give up. – Wall Street Journal
Jonathan Spyer writes: Ms. Sido’s experience also illuminates a broader point at the heart of Middle East conflicts. In the fight between the Islamist systems advancing across the region and those fighting to turn them back, there are two major camps: the one that enslaved her and the one that freed her. The camp that freed her—of which Israel is a part and which is led by the U.S.—is far from perfect, continues to make errors and has far to go. Yet, in this instance, it did what was right. – Wall Street Journal
David Ignatius writes: Perhaps the saddest legacy of this war will be that it could so easily happen again. We all know the adage about those who don’t learn from history. When we see the hardened faces of Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese, we know that many of them are thinking about the next conflict, even as they fight this one. The displaced Gazans, the stunned Hezbollah fighters, aren’t likely to forget. And in the Middle East, memory is an addictive drug, and a poison. – Washington Post
Benny Gantz writes: Israel learned the lesson of Oct. 7; we now bear the responsibility of sharing the lesson with the world. The time to act against Iran is now. It’s not only a matter of necessity for Israel but also one of strategic imperative for the region and moral clarity for the world for the sake of peace and prosperity in the Middle East. – New York Times
Marc Champion writes: As Israel prepares for another round of retaliation against Iran and remembers the hostages and horrors of Oct. 7, it’s time to fill that strategic void. To achieve security, reconcile with the Arab world and isolate Iran’s clerics, Netanyahu needs to clean house. He needs to start offering hope, as well as showing power, starting with a plan for Palestinians that includes the prospect of an end to their perpetual occupation. – Bloomberg
Ari Shavit writes: They must not ignore the dangerous developments that are swiftly transforming the world. Both the framework that stabilized the world order after 1945 and the framework that stabilized it after 1990 are facing a new threat. The first assault was with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The second was the Hamas incursion into Israel in October 2023. If the West doesn’t swiftly adopt a realistic and resolute policy, the third may come to pass when Iran carries out its first test of a nuclear weapon, or when Iranian missiles defeat all defenses and rain down on Tel Aviv or Dubai. Only sober, courageous, and inspiring American leadership can prevent the unthinkable from soon becoming reality. – Foreign Affairs
Iran
Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel this week, only the second time Iran has attacked Israel directly, stood out for its large scope and limited impact, analysts say. Iran gave little warning before launching at Israel at least 180 fast-moving ballistic missiles. – Washington Post
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave a defiant sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran as thousands of people gathered there to commemorate slain Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, and Iran’s foreign minister traveled to Beirut to show solidarity with Lebanon amid a punishing air and ground campaign. – Washington Post
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was in Lebanon on Friday after meetings with leaders of Gulf countries earlier in the week in Qatar, where he and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian endeavored to shore up relations with some of Iran’s closest neighbors. – New York Times
Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the Australian ambassador in Tehran over what it called his country’s biased stance regarding Iran’s attack on Israel, Iranian news agency Tasnim said on Sunday. – Reuters
Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who travelled to Lebanon after the killing last month of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, has not been heard from since strikes on Beirut late last week, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters. – Reuters
Flight restrictions have been lifted in Iran after conditions were deemed safe, state media reported on Monday, shortening the period of flight cancellations announced earlier by the Civil Aviation Organisation. – Reuters
Iran is driven by desperation in its current conduct, the former commander of American forces in the Middle East said in an interview Sunday. – Politico
Thomas S. Kaplan writes: Is the ideological fetish of destroying Israel worth losing tens of millions of people—and the concomitant eradication of thousands of years of patrimony? Such is the question before Tehran. Having witnessed the daring and ruthless manner in which Israel executed in Lebanon the decapitation of Iran’s prize piece on the chessboard, not to mention the impressive long-range raids prosecuted on the Houthis in Yemen, Tehran should realize that the continued pursuit of nuclear weapons—successful or not—could be a death sentence for the regime and the Iranian nation. – Wall Street Journal
Assaf Zoran writes: In the absence of effective communication channels between Israel and Iran, a thorough consultation process on both sides is now more crucial than ever. It is vital that diverse perspectives are considered both within these governments and in coordination with their partners. This is not a sign of weakness, but rather of responsibility and foresight, strengthening the credibility of any actions that are ultimately taken. – The Hill
Burcu Ozcelik writes: The calibrated attack conveyed the implicit threat that Israel can target Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Targeting nuclear sites directly would mean Israel plays its most coveted card, and it may be that it holds back from this course of maximalist action until it makes more operational gains on the ground against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Even if Israel targets core nuclear sites, it is unclear whether air strikes alone could destroy or even significantly delay Iran’s nuclear program. This throws open the question: will the escalation be worth the cost, and will it have created the deterrence effect that Israel seeks? – The National Interest
Russia & Ukraine
The tactics Russia’s army used to seize the eastern town of Niu-York recalled Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Soldiers advanced in groups of three, darting forward along a street guided by a drone. – Wall Street Journal
Ukraine’s gas-storage facilities were a critical outlet for Europe last year and remain so despite Russian attacks, Naftogaz’s Chief Executive Officer Oleksiy Chernyshov said. This year, a sharp decline in gas injected by European traders into Ukraine’s underground storage facilities—the largest in the continent—is down to market dynamics, according to Chernyshov. – Wall Street Journal
Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” walked out of a U.S. jail almost two years ago in a trade with Moscow for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Now he is back in business, trying to broker the sale of small arms to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants. – Wall Street Journal
More than a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented his “victory plan” for how to end the war with Russia to top U.S. officials, details of the strategy and how it was received remain hazy, and Kyiv is scrambling for additional international support just a month before the U.S. election. – Washington Post
To outside observers, Ukraine’s slow but steady retreat from the Donbas region, the main theater of the war today, may seem to signal the beginning of the endgame, with Moscow firmly gaining the upper hand on the battlefield, leveraging its overwhelming advantage in manpower and firepower. – New York Times
A fire broke out at an oil depot in the city of Feodosia on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea, Russian-appointed officials in the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 said on Monday. – Reuters
Russia unleashed an overnight drone attack across Ukraine targeting the capital Kyiv and hitting infrastructure in the Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. – Reuters
Russia’s envoy to the U.S., a Kremlin hard-liner, was returning to Moscow on Saturday, state media reported, with the end of his term coming at a time of the most hostile relations between the two nations in decades. – Reuters
Russian prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence in the trial of a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine against Russia, Russian news agencies reported Saturday. – Associated Press
The Netherlands has sent a first batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to the Dutch defense minister. “For the first time, I can officially announce that the first Dutch F-16s have been delivered to Ukraine,” Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans posted on social media site X on Sunday, without saying how many planes have been shipped to the war-torn nation. – Bloomberg
Kseniya Kirillova writes: The question is how seriously such plans should be taken. On the one hand, the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that Putin’s Russia is unable to defeat even a smaller neighbor and defend its own territory, and therefore lacks the resources for a full-scale war with NATO. On the other hand, however, acts of sabotage under false flags or no flags should be taken seriously. Western intelligence services have detected an increase in the number of Russian sabotage attacks in Europe aimed at disrupting arms supplies to Kyiv, including arson and explosions at military factories. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Hezbollah
In the weeks since that audacious act of sabotage — the kind of hidden, long-embedded attack known as a “red button” operation — Israel has kept Hezbollah reeling, striking ever deeper into Lebanese territory to destroy the Iranian-backed group’s arsenal of missiles and killing its longtime charismatic leader, Hasan Nasrallah, and other senior commanders. – Washington Post
Israel expanded airstrikes to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Saturday, underscoring the scale of Israel’s military campaign as ground troops move through the south and air raids pound towns and cities across the country. – Washington Post
Hezbollah rockets hit Israel’s third-largest city of Haifa early on Monday, in the first direct attack on the northern city that evaded the military’s usually reliable air defence systems. – Reuters
Israel is obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, a Hezbollah official said. – Reuters
A source close to Hezbollah said Friday that the Lebanese terror group’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried in a secret location for fear Israel would target a large funeral. – Agence France-Presse
Afghanistan
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a decision to remove the Taliban from a list of terrorist organisations had been “taken at the highest level”, the state TASS news agency reported. – Reuters
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday that gender and nationality alone were sufficient for a country to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban have sharply curtailed women’s rights. – Reuters
It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory. It was also another major challenge for the Taliban since they seized power in 2021, a test of their readiness to lead a country beset by economic hardship, isolation, devastation from decades of war, and vulnerability to shocks like earthquakes and climate change. – Associated Press
Syria
Syria, which shares a lengthy border with Lebanon, has long served as a transit route for Lebanese fleeing wars. But it is a much different path to tread now: More than 7 million Syrians are also internally displaced, a deep economic crisis plagues the country and swaths of territory remain outside government control. – Washington Post
Syria’s defence ministry said Israeli airstrikes that targeted its central region on Sunday caused “material damage”. In a statement, the defence ministry said Israel had attacked Syria from the direction of northern Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites. It did not provide more details. – Reuters
An Israeli airstrike targeted three cars carrying medical and relief materials in the industrial city in Syria’s Homs, the Syrian state news agency reported on Sunday, adding that material damage was reported. – Reuters
Iraq
A roadside bomb wounded four people in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police sources said. The bomb targeted a commercial district in the city centre. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. – Reuters
The IDF announced on Friday that Staff Sergeant Daniel Aviv Haim Sofer and Corporal Tal Dror, soldiers in the 13th Golani Battalion, were killed on Thursday by a drone strike launched from Iraq. – Haaretz
As the U.S. mulls over a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, its Kurdish allies have a message: Don’t forget us. “This is not the time to reduce coalition forces in Iraq,” Treefa Aziz, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s special representative to the U.S., told Fox News Digital. “Extremist groups like ISIS and armed militias continue to pose a serious threat to the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.” – Fox News
Lebanon
The United Nations’ refugee chief Filippo Grandi said on Sunday that airstrikes in Lebanon had violated international humanitarian law by hitting civilian infrastructure and killing civilians, in reference to Israel’s bombardment of the country. – Reuters
France will host an international conference this month to help drum up humanitarian aid for Lebanon and strengthen security in the southern part of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday. – Reuters
Migrant worker Fajima Kamara came to Lebanon three years ago from Sierra Leone, but when Israeli jets started pounding her neighbourhood with airstrikes last month, her employers left her jobless and homeless. The 28-year-old mother-of-three had been working as a domestic helper for a Lebanese family in the eastern city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold. – Reuters
An American killed in Lebanon this week was a U.S. citizen, a State Department spokesperson said on Friday, adding that Washington was working to understand the circumstances of the incident. – Reuters
The United States will provide nearly $157 million in new humanitarian assistance to support populations affected by conflict in Lebanon and the region, the State Department said in a statement on Friday. – Reuters
U.N. officials said on Friday most of Lebanon’s nearly 900 shelters were full and that people fleeing Israeli military strikes were increasingly sleeping out in the open on the street or in public parks. – Reuters
Arabian Peninsula
Dubai’s Emirates Airlines has banned passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on its flights, following last month’s attacks on Lebanese group Hezbollah involving communication devices that exploded. – Reuters
Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has discussed U.S.-Saudi diplomatic negotiations involving Israel with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman multiple times since leaving the Trump White House, said a source familiar with the discussions. – Reuters
Bahrain cannot claim state immunity to block a lawsuit brought in Britain by two dissidents who say its government hacked their laptops with spyware, London’s Court of Appeal ruled on Friday. – Reuters
Abu Dhabi-based sovereign fund ADQ has appointed the UAE’s Modon Holding PSC (MODON.AD), as the master developer of a vast project to develop a city at Ras El Hekma on Egypt’s north coast, Modon said in a statement on Friday. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
The United States Central Command said on Friday that it struck Houthi targets in Yemen, including “Houthi offensive military capabilities,” in an effort to secure international waterways. – New York Times
Tunisians are voting Sunday in a presidential election both critics and experts say will be neither free nor fair — a grim cap to the country’s years-long struggle for political freedom that began with the Arab Spring. – Washington Post
As the Israeli offensive in Lebanon expands to include ground incursions and intensifying airstrikes, senior Pentagon officials are discussing whether the enhanced U.S. military presence in the region is containing a widening war, as they had hoped, or inflaming it. – New York Times
Supporters of current Tunisian President Kais Saied began celebrations in the capital on Sunday night after an exit poll broadcast on state television showed him winning, beating two rivals, one of whom is now in prison. – Reuters
The International Criminal Court on Friday unsealed arrest warrants against six members of a Libyan militia group charged with war crimes. In 2023, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said arrest warrants had been issued by court judges for war crimes in Libya since 2011, but these warrants were under seal, so it was not clear who was targeted or what the specific charges were. – Reuters
The European Court of Justice ruled on Friday that the European Commission had breached the right of people in Western Sahara to self-determination by concluding trade deals with Morocco. – Reuters
Korean Peninsula
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr agreed on Monday to boost defence cooperation as their countries elevated ties to a strategic partnership amid growing security challenges in the region. – Reuters
The leaders of China and North Korea vowed on Sunday to enhance bilateral cooperation on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA reported. – Reuters
A large fireworks festival in South Korea drawing a massive crowd on Saturday has snarled traffic through its busy capital, prompted police to deploy 2,400 officers and sent the rates of some hotel rooms with a view above 10 million won ($7,400). – Reuters
The United States and South Korea on Friday agreed on a new five-year plan on sharing the cost of keeping American troops in South Korea, South Korea’s foreign ministry and the U.S. Department of Statement said. – Reuters
Benjamin R. Young writes: However, in the larger geopolitical context, the continuation of the war in Ukraine serves Xi Jinping’s strategic goals by depleting Western resources and diverting attention away from the Asia-Pacific region. China’s ultimate objective is the eventual reunification of Taiwan with the mainland. The growing ties between Russia and North Korea do not detract from this overarching geopolitical ambition of the Chinese Communist Party. – The National Interest
China
The push by Chinese electric-vehicle makers to export their made-in-China vehicles is running into roadblocks just a few years after it got going, owing to moves by countries around the globe to impose tariffs and other restrictions. – Wall Street Journal
Western consulting and audit firms that have long done extensive work in China are increasingly caught in rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. Firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Boston Consulting Group are allowed to work there, but are treading a fine line in pursuing business in China. – Wall Street Journal
China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the island to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials say. – Reuters
Former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen will visit the Czech Republic this month, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters, a sensitive visit for a senior politician who Beijing has repeatedly denounced as a “separatist”. – Reuters
It is “impossible” for the People’s Republic of China to become Taiwan’s motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, the island’s President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday. – Reuters
Nicholas Sargen writes: The clampdown on private companies is at odds with one of China’s goals in its “Made in China 2025” policy statement to dominate global high-tech manufacturing. Yet the government has shown no sign of reversing its stance that favors state-owned enterprises even though it has contributed to a slowdown in productivity. This is an important reason why global investors are left wondering whether China’s economic miracle is over. – The Hill
South Asia
The Pakistani government on Sunday banned an ethnic Pashtun rights movement that has long criticized the country’s powerful military, the latest sign of a renewed crackdown on public dissent and political opposition. – New York Times
Two Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday night, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan said, in what it described as a “terrorist attack”. – Reuters
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during a five-day state visit, hoping for New Delhi’s continuing support as his Indian Ocean nation recovers from an economic crisis. – Reuters
India’s ruling party is projected to have lost two key provincial elections to the main opposition Congress party and its allies, exit polls showed, suggesting another setback after the party fared poorly in national elections. – Reuters
India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will not discuss bilateral relations when he visits Pakistan this month, the first such visit in nearly a decade, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. – Reuters
The chief minister of Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a key aide of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was detained in Islamabad on Saturday by law enforcement agencies, Khan’s party said. – Reuters
Indian security forces killed 28 suspected Maoist rebels in a gunbattle in the central state of Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday. – Reuters
Asia
Over the past four years, Ying Lao has documented scores of “manels” — all-male panels — organized by the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar. To her, this exclusion of women is evidence of the deeply ingrained sexism in the country, formerly known as Burma. This suppression of women, she added, is also hurting the yearslong battle to oust the Myanmar’s military rulers. – New York Times
Kazakhstan voted in a referendum on Sunday on whether to build its first nuclear power plant, and an exit poll showed voters backed the idea promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s cabinet as a way to phase out polluting coal plants. – Reuters
Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto will visit China next month to meet investors and offer them participation in a giant seawall project, his top adviser said on Monday. – Reuters
The navies of Britain, Australia and the U.S. were able to control uncrewed ships in Australia while sitting more than 10,000 miles away in Portugal as part of a series of military experiments, Britain’s Royal Navy said on Friday. – Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced plans on Friday, during a visit to Dhaka, to admit 18,000 Bangladeshi workers who had missed the previous deadline for employment in the country. – Reuters
A fuel spill is “highly probable” after a New Zealand navy ship grounded, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa, the Pacific island nation’s acting prime minister said late Sunday. – Associated Press
Karishma Vaswani writes: There are concrete steps Washington could take to prevent any further drift to Beijing. In June, the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia to build ties with the new leadership. These visits should continue under the next administration, but more needs to be done to shore up America’s credibility in the region. Funding civil society groups by promoting the rule of law and human rights, along with fostering democratic organizations, could also help. It is a tightly controlled nation no doubt, but engaging with groups that provide an alternative to the current Beijing-backed narrative is essential. – Bloomberg
Europe
The exchange triggered little controversy in Europe’s largest economy, once considered a paragon of good governance. It is now all but taken for granted that politicians can agree on little here, and implement even less. Recent gains by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in state elections dealt Scholz’s fractious government another blow. – Wall Street Journal
The European Union’s top court ruled Friday that member states must recognize legal changes to gender identity processed elsewhere within the E.U., in a case with far-reaching implications for transgender people across Europe. – Washington Post
Sue Gray, the chief of staff to Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, resigned abruptly on Sunday after weeks of speculation about turf wars in Downing Street, a media storm over her pay and questions over responsibility for a series of political errors. – New York Times
Poland, which has since joined NATO, is trying again. Plans are underway to place three American-made Westinghouse reactors on the Choczewo district’s Baltic shore, just 10 miles from the abandoned ruins of the Soviet plant. – New York Times
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday that his country will invest 400 million euros ($440 million) in advanced drone development with Ukraine and deliver more F-16s in the coming months. – Reuters
European far-right leaders rallied on Sunday to the side of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who faces a possible six-year jail term for refusing to let a migrant boat dock when he was interior minister in 2019. – Reuters
Romania’s top court has removed a pro-Russian far-right politician from the list of presidential candidates in upcoming elections, prompting concerns about democratic values from candidates across the political spectrum. – Reuters
Thousands of Hungarians gathered outside the headquarters of the country’s state television on Saturday, protesting against what they described as the government’s “propaganda machine” and calling for an independent public service media. – Reuters
Poland will need a much larger army, something that could be hard to achieve given its aging population, if it is to defend itself from what seems to be a war this generation will inevitably face, a top general was quoted as saying by state news agency PAP. – Reuters
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will face his first no-confidence motion in parliament next week, a move brought by the leftist opposition that isn’t expected to garner enough support to topple his fragile government. – Bloomberg
Portugal’s biggest opposition party said it’s “on the path” to let the minority government’s 2025 budget pass in parliament after the two sides made progress in negotiations. – Bloomberg
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed on Sunday to block Ukraine from joining NATO for as long as he is head of the country’s government. – Politico
Martin Ivens writes: The contest grinds on until Nov. 2. Four contenders will be winnowed down to two by MPs who will present their choices to ordinary members. They had better get it right. In Italy, France, Holland and Austria, populists have overtaken the traditional parties of the right. It could happen here as well — the Tories may have dominated 10 Downing Street for a century, but power is not a birthright. – Bloomberg
Africa
Congo is the world’s leading producer of coltan, from which tantalum is extracted. Tantalum is in hot demand because of its growing use in consumer products, from smartphones to laptops. Coltan is mined in the country’s restive east, a region that has been engulfed in a decades long war between rebel groups and the Congolese army. – Wall Street Journal
Rwanda’s fragile health care system could become overwhelmed by the deadly Marburg virus, doctors fear, because most of those currently infected are medical professionals, and some have already died. – New York Times
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Saturday his Congolese counterpart had refused to sign an agreed deal to help resolve the M23 rebel conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has displaced over 1.7 million people. – Reuters
Burkina Faso plans to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies and will seek to produce more of its own gold, junta leader Ibrahim Traore said on Saturday, without specifying which permits could be cancelled. – Reuters
International Monetary Fund staff and officials in Ghana have reached an agreement on their third review of the West African country’s $3 billion IMF loan programme, the fund said on Friday. – Reuters
Russia’s mercenary Wagner group has told the family of a Russian fighter captured alive in Mali that he has now died, according to text messages seen by Reuters, contradicting information provided by the Tuareg rebel group that held him. – Reuters
The President of the Republic of Mauritius, Prithvirajsing Roopun, said on Friday the island nation would hold a general election on Nov. 10. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth won the last election in 2019, with his Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) securing 38 of the 62 seats in parliament. – Reuters
The Americas
The race for mayor of Sao Paulo, Latin America’s biggest city, will be decided in an Oct. 27 runoff between the center-right incumbent and a leftist lawmaker after they won the top two spots in closely divided voting on Sunday. – Reuters
Brazil’s Supreme Court said on Friday that lawyers representing social media platform X did not pay pending fines to the proper bank, postponing its decision on whether to allow the tech firm to resume services in Brazil. – Reuters
Venezuelan former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on Friday that he intended to travel back to his country on Jan. 10 to take office as “elected president”. – Reuters
Colombia wants to write a unified climate and biodiversity pledge, seeking to combine efforts to protect nature with those to tackle climate change in United Nations talks, Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad told Reuters on Friday. – Reuters
North America
Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum is using her first 100 days in office to try to lower homicides and loosen the grip of organized crime groups that control swaths of the country, extort businesses, smuggle drugs and kill with impunity. – Wall Street Journal
A criminal gang gunned down civilians and torched homes in a small farming town in Haiti, killing at least 70 people including women and babies, the United Nations said Friday. – Wall Street Journal
Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille embarked on a trip to the United Arab Emirates and Kenya on Saturday to seek security assistance in the aftermath of one of deadliest gang attacks in the Caribbean nation in recent years. – Reuters
The mayor of the capital of Mexico’s violence-plagued state of Guerrero was killed on Sunday less than a week after he took office, the state’s governor confirmed. Alejandro Arcos was killed just six days after he took office as mayor of the city of Chilpancingo, a city of around 280,000 people in southwestern Mexico. – Reuters
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday said he would slap tariffs as high as 200% on vehicles imported from Mexico as he ratchets up his protectionist trade rhetoric ahead of the Nov. 5 election. – Reuters
Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes: The rising number of officials further down the food chain who are moving to the U.S. may signal a loss in faith that the police state is sustainable. But they could also have bad intentions. It’s troubling that U.S. immigration authorities rubber-stamp their entry without knowing who they are. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba says it has identified more than 100 Cubans living in the U.S. who committed human-rights crimes while working for the regime. Mr. Pentón has written about a few in Marti Noticias. – Wall Street Journal
United States
Donald Trump’s flurry of recent tax-cut promises pushed his fiscal plan deep into red ink, and he would increase budget deficits by more than twice as much as Democratic rival Kamala Harris would, according to a new study that is among the most comprehensive estimates to date of the candidates’ proposals. – Wall Street Journal
Hundreds of Americans have been arrested after being connected to a crime by facial recognition software, a Washington Post investigation has found, but many never know it because police seldom disclose their use of the controversial technology. – Washington Post
The Biden administration said Friday it would allow the temporary legal permission for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua to lapse, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to find other methods to stay in the country or face deportation. – New York Times
Editorial: The longshoremen would do better in the long-term if the union negotiated sweeter buyout packages for senior workers who have grandfathered job protections, rather than trying to hold off the inevitable. It would also help displaced workers if they could count on a healthy and growing economy that created new and better jobs. Fighting productivity tools that the rest of the world is adopting harms the U.S. economy and millions of Americans workers beyond the ports. Mr. Daggett—and his pal President Biden—owes his 50,000 members better. – Wall Street Journal
David Ignatius writes: Given the Iranian threats, the Secret Service was vexed by Trump’s decision to play golf at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 16. Another would-be assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, was waiting for him near one of the course’s unprotected fairways. An alert Secret Service agent spotted the suspected gunman and disaster was averted; Trump was lucky to escape that one, too. Surely, he can stay off the golf course for the next month. – Washington Post
Ross Douthat writes: Even if American foreign policy gets through the next three and a half months without any true disasters, just the challenges we face already make it clear that Biden should have resigned the presidency when he suspended his campaign. It would have clarified where the buck stops, given Kamala Harris some political advantages as well as formal power, and supplied voters with more information, from a few months of her leadership, with which to make their choice for 2024. – New York Times
Cybersecurity
Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. – Reuters
Two Britons, including a former researcher for a senior British lawmaker, pleaded not guilty on Friday to a charge of spying for China. – Reuters
William Fitzgerald writes: In today’s world, where AI is being used as an excuse to lay off thousands of workers and the most powerful in tech are pouring millions into lobbying before a history-making election, the stakes for tech accountability could not be higher. If these current trends persist unchecked, we’re facing a future where the Zuckerbergs of the world will do whatever they like and tell us what to think about it too. Accountability will be dead, no more sorrys about it. – The Hill
Daniel Barber writes: As consumers and voters, getting smart about what cookies and consent actually means when it comes to your data can ensure you’re aware of how you may be targeted with ads and information online this election season. Instead of rushing to consent or click “agree” and move on, be cautious to only accept these trackers from brands you trust. And keep in mind, your preferences may still be tracked regardless of your response. – The Hill
Defense
Since the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s inception, the Defense Department and industry have struggled to wrestle down its price tag to roughly $80 million or $100 million per jet, depending on the model. – Defense News
Navy leaders this week identified an aircraft carrier and two submarines affected by faulty weld issues during work at the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, but say that the substandard work did not take place on components that affect ship safety or operations. – Defense News
United Launch Alliance, one of the Pentagon’s top satellite launch providers, launched a second flight of its new Vulcan rocket — a significant step toward certifying the vehicle to fly national security missions. – Defense News
Dov S. Zakheim writes: While civilian and military Navy leaders have tried to change entrenched Navy culture, they need more than vocal congressional support. In particular, Congress should mandate that both military officers and civilian leaders should be evaluated on the basis of their willingness to take risks in program development and, for those who are program managers, on the basis of their adhering to planned schedules and budgets. – The Hill
Nick Iorio and Scott DeWitt write: The bottom line is a security cooperation community focused on delivering legacy program sales should diversify its approach to prioritize delivering innovation. A unified security cooperation community emphasis on fostering this co-innovation ecosystem, in partnership with the Department of Defense’s existing innovation centers of excellence, could very well provide the potent mix necessary to build resiliency for the warfighter in the not-so-distant battlespace. – War on the Rocks
James Holmes writes: But wartime is not like peacetime. Civilian power plants and merchantmen operate under steady-state conditions that limit how much fuel they consume. Ships at war have no such luxury. Naval task forces commonly have to advance at faster-than-economical speeds to assemble at the time and place of battle. That shortens vessels’ range. Captains tend to keep all of their machinery running, rather than idle some of it to save fuel, so that they have backup equipment at the ready should their ships suffer battle damage. Redundancy makes a ship thirsty for fuel. Warships also maneuver radically when they fall under attack. Sudden transients—much like flooring the gas pedal—burn fuel in alarming quantities. – The National Interest