Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israeli PM Netanyahu says we will return residents of the north to their homes Israeli security services arrest Israeli man over alleged Iranian-backed assassination plot The Atlantic’s Eliot Cohen: Israel’s strategic win US issues fresh Iran sanctions over alleged human rights violations US says Iran emailed stolen Trump campaign material to Biden camp Ammunition from India enters Ukraine, raising Russian ire The shadow fleet transporting sanctioned gas for Russia Hezbollah walkie-talkies blow up across Lebanon in second wave of attacks China hits 9 US firms with property freeze over weapons sales to Taiwan Britain summons Russian ambassador after diplomats expelled US says challenges posed by China exceed those of Cold War Washington Examiner Editorial: Exploding pagers might give China an ideaIn The News
Israel
The Israelis did not inform the United States about the specifics of the attack before it took place but told Washington afterward through intelligence channels, according to two U.S. officials. Like others in this story, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. – Washington Post
Government watchdogs with jurisdiction over the State Department and Pentagon are preparing to publish the results of multiple investigations scrutinizing the Biden administration’s provision of U.S. weapons to Israel for its military campaign in Gaza, and “several” related inquiries are either underway or planned, their offices told The Washington Post. – Washington Post
Israel has not claimed responsibility for this week’s audacious attacks using booby-trapped wireless devices against members of Hezbollah, but the country’s prime minister and defense minister issued statements on Wednesday making it clear that the military’s focus was shifting from the war in the Gaza Strip, along Israel’s southern border, to Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates. – New York Times
Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry. – Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes, amid mounting tensions with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. – Reuters
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday he would file legislation seeking to block the sale of offensive U.S. weapons to Israel, citing the toll on civilians of Israel’s campaign against Hamas. – Reuters
Egypt will not allow Israeli troops to stay on its border with Gaza nor accept any other changes to the security arrangements that were in place before the war between Israel and Hamas, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb defended his country’s decision to buy arms from Israel despite the war in Gaza, saying it had no link to Finland’s unwillingness to recognise an independent Palestinian state at the present time. – Reuters
Israeli security services said they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including the prime minister. – Reuters
Iran plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet announced on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
The High Court of Justice warned the state on Wednesday that it must abide by the law in its treatment of Palestinian terror suspects at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility, but did not order the government to shut the prison down as petitioners demanded. – Times of Israel
In the wake of Israel’s killing of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr this summer, a number of senior military officials were reportedly ordered to keep a low profile amid fears of a reprisal. – Times of Israel
Editorial: Israel doesn’t want war, but Hezbollah has shown no sign it’s willing to relocate and halt its rocket fire. Which means full-scale war is inevitable: Israel on Tuesday modified its formal war goals to include returning residents to their homes near the Lebanon border. It’s also been shifting more troops to the north. No, it’s not too late for Hezbollah — and its overlords in Tehran — to avoid the looming nightmare. But in the all-too-likely event war breaks out, Israel will need every advantage. Blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies gives them one. – New York Post
Eliot Cohen writes: Hezbollah and Iran may resort to ineffectual or symbolic responses. Some will no doubt think that this is another reckless Israeli act, or deplore violence as being ineffective, but they are wrong. All indications are that this was a considered act—and extensive yet focused violence, whether we like it or not, can yield results. By this act, among others, the balance of fear has shifted—however much and for however long—in the Middle East. For Israel, a country dwelling in a very hard neighborhood, that is a good thing. – The Atlantic
Iran
Iran condemned attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday that involved exploding communications devices, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said in a post on the X social media platform on Wednesday, offering help to the wounded. – Reuters
The United States issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran’s “ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people,” including its “brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.” – Reuters
Iranian hackers sent emails containing stolen material from Republican former President Donald Trump’s campaign to people involved in Democratic President Joe Biden’s then re-election campaign, part of an alleged broader effort by Tehran to influence the U.S. election, U.S. agencies said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Iranian and European officials will meet at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week in a test of whether the two sides can find a path back to diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme, while lowering tensions with Israel and the West. – Reuters
Iran threatened to retaliate after its ambassador was wounded in a wave of explosions that targeted pagers and other wireless devices in Lebanon, fanning fears of a new wave of tit-for-tat violence in the Middle East. – Bloomberg
Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Wednesday nominated a member of the Sunni Muslim minority to be governor of Kurdistan province, official media reported. – Agence France-Presse
19 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members were killed after their pagers had exploded in Deir ez-Zur in eastern Syria, Saudi news source Al-Hadath reported Wednesday afternoon. – Jerusalem Post
Russia & Ukraine
The exchange highlighted a thorny dilemma facing Putin. While he has resisted a troop mobilization that could come at a political cost, Western estimates suggest Russia is now losing more men on the battlefield than it can recruit to replace them. – Wall Street Journal
“Russians at War” chronicles the life of disorganized and disillusioned Russian soldiers, many of whom have been drafted into service or have signed up for the money, the conflict’s purpose growing more elusive each passing day. – Washington Post
Long a critic of President Vladimir V. Putin, Mr. Kushnir took up political activism with added zeal after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He spread leaflets damning the war while pushing himself to endure ever longer, harsher hunger strikes. – New York Times
Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data. – Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that his “Victory Plan”, intended to bring peace to Ukraine while keeping the country strong and avoiding all “frozen conflicts”, was now complete after much consultation. – Reuters
One elderly woman was killed and two other women were wounded by Russian strikes in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Thursday. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will on Tuesday address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia’s war in his country, said Slovenia’s U.N. mission – president of the 15-member body for September. – Reuters
Russia has taken two villages in the western Kursk region, a senior commander said, as Russian forces advance against thousands of Ukrainian forces who smashed through the Russian border last month. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has adopted the Arctic LNG 2 facility, which came on stream in December, as a national prestige project. It’s an opportunity to showcase the country’s technology but also seeks to prove that Western sanctions — imposed after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — will not stop the country’s trade. – Bloomberg
Matthew Kaminski writes: What the U.S. does in Ukraine reverberates around the world. Allies and foes are watching closely […]The Ukrainians and their friends are dropping loud hints that Biden has a chance to reshape his legacy in his last four months. Put the caution aside and put the U.S. firmly behind victory for Ukraine by giving them all the tools they need to win — not merely not to lose, or as they say fatalistically here in the third year of a war of attrition, “die a slow death.” – Politico
Adrian Bonenberger writes: There are many arguments for why the governments of European countries and of the U.S. should be doing more to help Ukraine; the well-meaning assistance of individuals can only go so far. Moreover, when you let people in, you don’t know who they are. Many American and European supporters of Ukraine were there for good reasons, and did the right thing. A few weren’t. – The Hill
Doug Livermore writes: The Kremlin finds itself in a difficult position. State-controlled media has struggled to craft a cohesive narrative about the incursion, often downplaying the severity of the situation. However, the ongoing fighting — and Ukraine’s ability to hold ground — has damaged Putin’s image domestically. The symbolic and strategic importance of Kursk to Russia, given its proximity to Ukraine and its role as a logistical hub, adds to the pressure on Moscow to reverse Ukraine’s gains. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Hezbollah
Hezbollah was hit Wednesday by another wave of exploding devices, as Israel signaled it was moving toward more aggressive military action against the Lebanese militant group. – Wall Street Journal
The blasts appeared to have been one of Israel’s most ambitious covert operations, aimed at disrupting a foe that has amassed a formidable arsenal and that, since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, has regularly exchanged fire with Israeli forces across the country’s northern border. – Wall Street Journal
Hezbollah acknowledged the vulnerability of its communication networks earlier in its escalating conflict with Israel, which began in October last year with the start of Israel’s war in Gaza. – Wall Street Journal
The Japanese manufacturer of the two-way radios reportedly detonated in a second round of explosions targeting the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon said Thursday that it was investigating the allegations, but early signs pointed to the walkie-talkies being counterfeit. – Washington Post
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Friday over the pager blasts in Lebanon targeting militant group Hezbollah, said Slovenia’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar, president of the 15-member council for September. – Reuters
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets in the first cross-border attack since the Tuesday pager blasts. – Reuters
Israeli jets and artillery hit multiple targets in southern Lebanon overnight, Israel’s military said on Thursday, amid spiralling tensions following the mass attack on Hezbollah communications devices this week. – Reuters
Tom Rogan writes: It is unsurprising, then, that the CIA’s operational cadres will be taking satisfaction from Hezbollah’s groin and head proximate discomfort. One retired senior CIA operations officer, Marc Polymeropoulos, put it to me this way, “This is kind of like me winning the World Series today. Hezbollah, in the eyes of CIA Near East Division officers, is frankly as bad as Al Qaeda.” Put another way, expect Mossad to be getting a few bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label from CIA-Jerusalem. They and the Israelis Unit 8200 signal intelligence service have earned it. They’ve made real what only formerly existed in Under Siege 2 fiction. – Washington Examiner
Middle East & North Africa
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was in Egypt on Wednesday, making his 10th visit to the Middle East since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. But he has no plans to visit Israel before he departs on Thursday, even though his official plane could carry him there in about an hour. – New York Times
U.S. President Joe Biden will welcome United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the White House on Monday for talks on issues ranging from the war in Gaza, Sudan and responsible artificial intelligence development. – Reuters
Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq destroyed 24 targets of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Wednesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said in a statement, adding many militants had been “neutralised” in the attack. – Reuters
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday said the kingdom would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state and strongly condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people. – Reuters
Israel is pushing the whole Middle East to the brink of regional conflict by maintaining a dangerous escalation on several fronts, Jordan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. – Reuters
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey would not stop deepening ties with the East, including the BRICS group of nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), even as it continued to face West. – Reuters
Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was handed a 20-month prison term for charges related to forging voter endorsements Wednesday but will still stand in next month’s election, his lawyer told AFP. – Agence France-Presse
Dozens of American families, many of whom also hold Israeli citizenship, recently filed a $500 million lawsuit in the US Federal District Court in Washington against Syria, accusing the Arab Republic of financing, arming, and providing material support to Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the October 7 massacre in Israel, according to a recent release on the suit. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
South Korea is confident it can overcome any obstacles to a multi-billion dollar project to build a nuclear plant in the Czech Republic, despite appeals against the deal launched by EDF and Westinghouse, President Yoon Suk Yeol told Reuters. – Reuters
South Korea’s government, Western countries and adoption agencies worked in tandem to supply some 200,000 Korean children to parents overseas, despite years of evidence they were being procured through questionable or downright unscrupulous means, an investigation led by The Associated Press found. – Associated Press
North Korea said Thursday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised successful tests of two types of missiles — one designed to carry a “super-large conventional warhead” and the other likely for a nuclear warhead, as he ordered officials to bolster up his country’s military capabilities to repel United States-led threats. – Associated Press
Lami Kim writes: It is not hard to understand South Korea’s security concerns, given the persistent nuclear threats from North Korea and the possibility of a leadership change in Washington that could weaken the U.S. security commitment. It is natural for national security experts to explore various options to safeguard the nation […]While a nuclear option may seem attractive to Seoul, other important values — such as maintaining trust with its ally and upholding democratic norms — should not be overlooked. – War on the Rocks
China
China is grappling with a demographic crisis, with dropping birthrates and a rapidly aging population. The policies to control the population have given way to new ones in the opposite direction. But a legacy of the one-child policy is a dearth of women of childbearing age. – Wall Street Journal
China announced steps against nine U.S. military-linked firms on Wednesday over U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, freezing their property within China, in the latest move to put added pressure on the United States to halt its arms sales to the island. – Reuters
China’s commerce minister said on Wednesday that Beijing will continue to negotiate “until the last minute” on the European Union’s electric vehicle probe, with the investigation undermining confidence of Chinese companies investing in Europe. – Reuters
The Chinese government on Wednesday pushed back on a U.S. probe of whether China is helping its neighbor Russia dodge a U.S. ban on Russian uranium imports saying Beijing has always opposed “illegal unilateral sanctions”. – Reuters
Karishma Vaswani writes: Ancient Greek heroes believed in their own exceptionalism so much, they often didn’t see the tragedy headed straight for them. Beijing is realizing that holding on to hubris can be painful. From facing slower growth rates, to how long citizens work, China is discovering that it is just like the rest of us. – Bloomberg
South Asia
On Wednesday, people began voting in the first election for Kashmir’s regional legislature in a decade. The vote will restore a degree of self-rule five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Kashmir of its semiautonomous status and brought it more tightly under Indian control. – New York Times
Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday granted the army special powers to maintain law and order, a sign of the country’s continuing instability after its autocratic leader fled last month following widespread protests. – New York Times
Sri Lanka’s presidential candidates wrapped up their campaigning on Wednesday, 48 hours before the election, pledging to fix the island country’s ailing economy that is struggling to recover from a debilitating financial crisis. – Reuters
India’s cabinet has accepted a recommendation to hold simultaneous elections to state assemblies and the national parliament, the information minister said on Wednesday, a move pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve governance. – Reuters
India is prepared to keep buying oil from Russian companies that are allowed to make such sales, since prices are cheap, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Moscow will support Islamabad’s bid to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies, the Russian deputy prime minister said on Wednesday while visiting the Pakistani capital. – Associated Press
Islamabad has complained to Kabul after an Afghan diplomat failed to stand up when the Pakistani national anthem was played during an event in the country’s northwest, officials said Wednesday. – Associated Press
Asia
Ryan Wesley Routh, the man arrested in Florida in connection with an apparent attempt to shoot Donald Trump, counted among his international projects a proposed “foreign legion” to help defend Taiwan against a potential assault from China. – Wall Street Journal
Taiwan’s combat effectiveness has improved thanks to its deepening security partnership with the United States and other friends and “allies” but this is kept deliberately low key, the island’s defence minister said. – Reuters
Thailand will prosecute eight former security personnel over their roles in a crackdown two decades ago in which 78 protesters suffocated or were crushed to death when crammed into army trucks, the attorney-general’s office said on Wednesday. – Reuters
The United States has no immediate plans to withdraw a mid-range missile system deployed in the Philippines, despite Chinese demands, and is testing the feasibility of its use in a regional conflict, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. – Reuters
Thailand wants to work with warring sides in Myanmar to repair a key highway cutting through the conflict-ridden country as it seeks to stabilise borders areas and keep trade routes open, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said on Thursday. – Reuters
Some of Japan’s biggest companies urged the protection of employees in China, following the fatal stabbing in the mainland of a young Japanese boy. – Bloomberg
Marites Danguilan Vitug writes: The Marcos government has thus far succeeded in mitigating the risks in the South China Sea by reaching short-term deals with China. But the August clash with Beijing near Sabina Shoal has made it clear that China is not backing down. Manila must start working now to build a longer-term South China Sea strategy that can guide it through troubled waters. It must adjust its transparency policy, work with other claimant countries in Southeast Asia to resolve maritime boundaries, and make clear what it expects from the United States. These measures alone may not prove enough to deter China—but if Manila does not take these steps, tensions with Beijing will surely boil over. – Foreign Affairs
Europe
The pager devices used in mass detonations in Lebanon were never in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government said in a statement on Wednesday. – Reuters
Norway said on Wednesday that elevated levels of radioactive caesium (Cs-137) it had detected near the Arctic border with Russia were likely due to a forest fire near Chornobyl in Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident. – Reuters
The Netherlands’ right-wing government said on Wednesday it would seek to opt out from the European Union’s migration rules if and when the bloc next renegotiates its core treaties – even though this is unlikely to happen any time soon. – Reuters
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb has called for expansion of the U.N. Security Council, abolition of its single state veto power, and suspension of any member engaging in an “illegal war” such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – Reuters
The British government said on Wednesday it had summoned the Russian ambassador following what it described as an “unprecedented and unfounded public campaign of aggression” by Russia, including accusations against Foreign Office staff. – Reuters
Austrians elect a new parliament on Sept. 29 in a vote that could put the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) in pole position to form a government for the first time in postwar history. – Reuters
Dozens of teachers in Belarus have been detained or interrogated by authorities as part of the country’s wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, a respected local human rights organization said Wednesday. – Associated Press
The European Union on Wednesday began the process of clawing back hundreds of millions of euros in funds meant to go Hungary after its ant-migrant government refused to pay a huge fine for breaking the bloc’s asylum rules. – Associated Press
Defense ministers from from nine eastern European nations urged NATO to prepare a “collective answer” to mounting cases of airspace violations by Russia among nations bordering Ukraine. – Bloomberg
Nika Gvaramia writes: To guarantee a brighter European future for the people of Georgia, it is vital for the international community to help guarantee truly free and fair elections, including throughout the campaign period […]We therefore call on the U.S., the European Union and other freedom-loving democracies of the world to stand with us at this critical juncture. Help us protect the campaign. Help us guard our votes. Help us guarantee a brighter, freer, European future for the people of Georgia, strengthening democracy in the region and dealing yet another defeat to Vladimir Putin and his authoritarian allies. – The Hill
Africa
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they are open for peaceful solutions to a war that has been ongoing for more than 17 months, in response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s call on warring parties to re-engage in talks. – Reuters
Mali’s security situation remained unclear on Wednesday after insurgents attacked an elite police training academy and other strategic areas on Tuesday, killing trainees, overrunning part of the airport and setting the presidential jet alight. – Reuters
Relentless violence has devastated Sudan and large-scale fighting has escalated in and around the only capital in Sudan’s western Darfur region not held by paramilitary forces, the United Nations top humanitarian official said Wednesday. – Associated Press
Nicholas Kristof writes: The upshot of this neglect is the risk not only of a horrendous famine but also of endless war, Sudan’s fragmentation, enormous refugee flows and instability across the region. So as world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly tuck into fine banquets next week to celebrate their humanitarianism, may they be awakened by thoughts of an orphan of Darfur who ignores her own hunger and divides scraps of bread among her brother and sisters. – New York Times
The Americas
Colombia’s government has called off peace talks with leftist rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN), its peace delegation said on Wednesday, following an attack which killed two soldiers and injured more than two dozen. – Reuters
Haiti’s government on Wednesday created a provisional electoral council, marking the most concrete step toward reviving the electoral process in years after political turmoil and later violence thwarted previous attempts. – Reuters
Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood against President Nicolas Maduro in July’s election, on Wednesday said he was forced to sign a letter accepting a ruling from the country’s top court which recognized Maduro’s victory. – Reuters
U.S. and Dominican officials on Wednesday arrested nearly a dozen suspects after they launched a joint operation to crack down on a regional drug trafficking ring. – Associated Press
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Wednesday demanded that former Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna, who was convicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States last year, present evidence to support his accusations that the president has links to drug trafficking. – Associated Press
Editorial: The United States needs to put diplomatic pressure on the other G-20 countries, among others, to step up with more funding — and quickly. Haiti needs a return to democratic elections and accountable government; Haitians last voted in 2016. But first Haiti needs security. Without it, there will be a lot more Haitians trying to flee the mayhem, including to the United States. – Washington Post
United States
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday to appear before it on Sept. 24 over the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. – Reuters
The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday filed a civil claim seeking $103 million from the two Singaporean companies that owned and operated the container ship that in March toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, killing six people and paralyzing a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast. – Reuters
Hackers are demanding $6 million in bitcoin from the operator of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for documents they stole during a cyberattack last month and posted on the dark web this week, an airport official said Wednesday. – Reuters
A Philadelphia teenager who authorities say wanted to travel overseas and make bombs for terrorist organizations will be tried as an adult. – Associated Press
Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith warned the danger of foreign interference in the US election will surge in the final two days of the presidential campaign. – Bloomberg
Scott Cullinane and Melinda Haring write: Russia, China, and Iran are spending billions on disinformation campaigns in the United States and around the globe to undermine the will of the electorate and sow discord […]In 1940, when the United Kingdom was fighting the evils of Hitler’s Germany alone, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the phrase “arsenal of democracy” in a national radio address to explain why Americans should provide military supplies to the UK in the fight against fascism. Eighty-four years later, U.S. support for foreign assistance to freedom fighters overseas in Ukraine and elsewhere holds firm. The American people told us so. – National Interest
Cybersecurity
A group of companies including Meta Platforms, Spotify and Italian luxury-fashion giant Prada warned Thursday that the European Union risks missing out on the full benefits of artificial intelligence because of the bloc’s tech regulations. – Wall Street Journal
In his continuing fight with the Brazilian authorities, score one for Elon Musk — at least briefly. On Wednesday, his social network, X, suddenly went live again for many across Brazil after three weeks of being blocked under orders from Brazil’s Supreme Court. – New York Times
The Biden administration plans to convene a global safety summit on artificial intelligence, it said on Wednesday, as Congress continues to struggle with regulating the technology. – Reuters
U.S. law enforcement has disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group nicknamed “Flax Typhoon” and wrested thousands of compromised devices from its grasp, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday. – Reuters
An artificial-intelligence advisory body at the United Nations on Thursday released its final report proposing seven recommendations to address AI-related risks and gaps in governance. – Reuters
Indonesia’s tax agency is investigating an alleged data breach that exposes the taxpayer identification numbers of millions of Indonesians, including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, his ministers and his two sons, an official said. – Reuters
Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business. – Associated Press
A cyber-espionage campaign with links to North Korea is targeting companies in the energy and aerospace industries, according to new research from Mandiant. – The Record
Defense
The challenges to the U.S. posed by China exceed those of the Cold War, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday, charging that Beijing’s support for Russia’s defense industry came directly from China’s leadership. – Reuters
The Navy is taking lessons from its combat in the Red Sea over the past year and what Ukraine has done to hold off the Russians in the Black Sea to help U.S. military leaders prepare the service for a potential future conflict with China. – Associated Press
U.S. Special Operations Command cut its desired purchase of 75 armed overwatch aircraft to 62 following a recommendation last year from a government watchdog to slow down the program’s acquisition. – Defense News
The U.S. has officially accepted 36 new Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters since lifting a yearlong delivery halt in July, 29 of which have so far been ferried to their new homes. – Defense News
Editorial: The U.S. has repeatedly detected aggressive Chinese efforts to build backdoors into our infrastructure network […]These traps could be detonated to cut off Americans from critical supplies during a war.The U.S. cannot afford to allow our most powerful and determined adversary to keep providing us with goods we rely on to keep our economy functioning, our lights turned on, and our society stable. Whether it is Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump who takes office on Jan. 20, the next president should act quickly with Congress to secure our economy and people from China. – Washington Examiner
Alexander B. Gray writes: If the Air Force opts to cancel the NGAD, it will not have the same luxury should its older fleets prove inoperable or ineffective later. Putting it back into production would likely take years, if not decades – time that the U.S. will certainly not have. That’s why the U.S. military should remain committed to rapidly bringing its new sixth-generation American fighter into production — so it has at least a chance of being ready when and where it will be needed. It’s the best and most sustainable path forward, in the Great Power Competition world of the 21st century. – National Interest