Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israeli special forces capture Hamas official in raid on Gaza City U.S. and Iran trade strikes in latest fight for control of Hormuz Bessent says U.S. plan to ‘asphyxiate’ Iran’s economy has allies’ support UN faces contentious Iran nuclear vote ahead of General Assembly Iran uses Xi-Putin bloc to counter US economic warfare Iran nuclear status unknown with US war unresolved, IAEA says Putin pledges increased strikes in Ukraine and support for Iran IAEA says findings at Syrian site hit by Israel ‘consistent with a nuclear reactor’ WINEP’s Shivane Anand and Grant Rumley: Xi’s carefully calibrated Egypt trip Two tankers attacked on midnight run through Hormuz The Island paradise that is a secret hub for Russian sanctions evasion WSJ Editorial: Germany calls out Putin's ‘hybrid’ warIn The News
Israel
Israeli special forces captured a Hamas militant leader in a raid in Gaza City on Tuesday while Israeli air strikes meant to protect those troops killed four Palestinians, authorities said. – Reuters
Israel’s new government will need to find a solution that will allow Israeli banks to continue working with their Palestinian counterparts after a deal was reached to continue services until the end of 2026, a senior Bank of Israel official said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Israel welcomed on Tuesday officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a step towards strengthening the relationship between the two countries, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced in a post on X/Twitter. – Jerusalem Post
Israel Police arrested eight suspected arsonists in the southern Hebron Hills on Monday night, the police confirmed on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Court-authorized seizures have allowed the FBI to confiscate $560,000 in cryptocurrency and take control of domains and servers used by Hamas to raise money and recruit supporters, the US Department of Justice announced. – Jerusalem Post
The IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure near Nabatiya, southern Lebanon, on Wednesday, after terrorists launched two explosive drones towards soldiers operating in the Ali al-Taher Ridge, the military said. – Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed that senior IDF and defense officials deliberately chose not to wake him hours before Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught because “they knew that, as prime minister of Israel, I would have immediately given the order to put the entire military on alert” and would thereby have prevented the invasion. – Times of Israel
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned Tuesday that Israel has “tools” with which it “will act against” the United Kingdom if London imposes sanctions on Jerusalem over its E1 settlement project, as a diplomatic spat over the plan ballooned. – Times of Israel
In addition to the issue of Israeli governance and sovereignty, experts are warning of a serious security risk: The installation of antennas using 2G and 3G technology could enable hostile actors to monitor and intercept communications in the area. – Arutz Sheva
Editorial: When Greece emerged as a fierce critic of Israel in the 1970s – Athens didn’t formally recognize Israel until 1990 – one reason was Turkey. Following the Turkish invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus in 1974, Greece hoped to counter Ankara by courting the Arab world. It needed, among other things, Arab votes at the UN to pass anti-Turkish resolutions. In the 1970s and ’80s, Athens viewed the Arab world as a diplomatic shield against Turkey and, in return, championed the PLO. Today, that old calculation is obsolete. What Greece now needs is not the diplomatic shield against Turkey that the Arab world once provided, but the physical shield that Israel can deliver. That is the measure of this transformation: Greece, once fiercely hostile to Israel, now looks to the Jewish state for its defense. – Jerusalem Post
Neville Teller writes: One report says a 150-person Moroccan military outpost is being constructed in Gaza as an initial facility which will eventually be substantially larger. There is evidence that the ISF infrastructure is beginning to materialize. A US funding notification reported by Reuters on August 19 commits $200 million for ISF equipment, vehicles, and operations, plus about $6 million to adapt US armored vehicles for the force. Surely the troops themselves will have materialized by November 15. – Jerusalem Post
Ephraim D. Tepler writes: Then too, Abbas’ senior advisor placed responsibility squarely on Israel. Coming from such a senior PA advisor (remember “What happened on Oct. 7 is a legitimate thing, okay?”), it reveals the attitude of the Palestinian Authority, which is viewed by the West as a moderate alternative to Hamas toward terror against Israelis: Palestinian terrorists are absolved of responsibility, their attacks are legitimized as reactions to Israeli policy, and Israel is blamed for the Israelis that the Palestinians stab and murder. – Algemeiner
Iran
The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire Tuesday as the two countries continued to battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said the U.S. strikes were launched in retaliation for Iran’s attempt to mine the strait and target American servicemembers in the Middle East over the weekend. – Wall Street Journal
Oil prices rose about 2% Tuesday as renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran heightened concerns that disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz could persist. – Wall Street Journal
As financial leaders of the world’s largest economies met here in the Blue Ridge Mountains this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed allies on the sidelines to support the United States’ efforts to “economically asphyxiate” Iran’s economy. – Washington Post
President Trump’s latest sanctions against Iran have forced the cancellation of English proficiency and graduate exams that Iranians rely on to qualify for studying abroad, students and testing services say, penalizing Iranians who are eager to foster relationships with the outside world. – New York Times
France said on Tuesday the U.N. Security Council will vote this month on renewing the mandate of a panel monitoring sanctions on Iran, setting up a potential showdown with Russia and China, which oppose the sanctions regime and oversight mechanisms. – Reuters
Four commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from 10 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of around 13, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday. – Reuters
A car struck a gathering of supporters of Iran’s government and armed forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad overnight, killing four people and injuring more than 10, several Iranian media reported on Wednesday. – Reuters
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spent Monday and Tuesday with fellow leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kyrgyzstan, in the latest sign that US warnings against engaging with Tehran — and calls to cut business ties with the country — are falling on deaf ears even among some of Washington’s allies. – Bloomberg
Iran is continuing to deny international inspectors access to its nuclear facilities, the United Nations atomic watchdog reported, amid little sign that Tehran and Washington are close to finding a way to end their six-month war. – Bloomberg
Even senior Iranian officials have acknowledged the severity of the situation. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country’s foreign trade has contracted by about 35% due to US sanctions and disruptions to maritime trade. – Jerusalem Post
US President Donald Trump said that Iran will be “totally wiped out as a country” if Tehran retaliates for renewed US strikes on Tuesday, during a phone call with Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst. – Jerusalem Post
Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, London-based outlet The Financial Times reported on Wednesday morning, which experts say would likely have been intended for anti-ship and land attacks. – Jerusalem Post
Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, following the US’s renewal of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Russia and Ukraine
In the Russian city of Ulan-Ude, high sign-on bonuses and so-called “coffin money,” the payout benefits for fallen soldiers, are fueling an economic boom. New apartments, businesses and cars are popping up across the city while graves are piling up in the local cemetery. – Wall Street Journal
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has pledged to continue his escalating war against Ukraine and support for Iran in its conflict with the United States, ending a two-day appearance at a summit in Kyrgyzstan with a note of defiance. – New York Times
Russia on Tuesday condemned upcoming joint military exercises between Japan, Australia and the United States and said it had formally complained to Tokyo about the deployment of U.S. Typhon missile launchers for the drills, something it said posed a threat to its own national security. – Reuters
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may hold a trilateral meeting at the next Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November. – Reuters
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned airlines and insurance companies on Tuesday that the presence of Ukrainian drones had made Russian skies dangerous to use and that they were effectively closed. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was winning the war in Ukraine and portrayed the Ukrainian leadership as “terrorists” with whom Moscow could not negotiate. – Reuters
Dialogue between Russia and the U.S. should continue to find common ground in economics, which should make it easier to discuss political issues, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said, according to an Interfax news agency report on Wednesday. – Reuters
Russian attacks damaged infrastructure and residential buildings in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Wednesday, Serhiy Lysak, the head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram, adding that eight people were injured. – Reuters
The Russian economy runs a risk of going “berserk” if it is run to focus entirely on the needs of the military-industrial complex, President Vladimir Putin’s international development envoy was quoted as saying on Tuesday. – Reuters
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian troops had captured 270 square km of Ukraine’s Donetsk region in August and a large group of Ukrainian troops were surrounded. – Reuters
Russia’s embassy in Germany said on Tuesday that German allegations that Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport last month were an absurd and baseless provocation which stood to benefit Ukraine, the militaristic wing of the Europe’s elite, and arms makers. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukrainian attacks inflicted damage equivalent to about 1% of Russia’s gross domestic product during a 40-day campaign of strikes ordered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. – Bloomberg
Ukrainian lawmakers rejected legislation sought by the IMF and the European Union to remove some tax exemptions, potentially jeopardizing further payouts of aid from the biggest donors. – Bloomberg
Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan write: Researchers, statistical agencies, and businesses withhold information that could attract official scrutiny. And civil servants throughout the government set aside efficient administration in deference to anticipated orders from above. For the Kremlin today, the risk of elite paralysis is real: it now extends beyond the research and expert community to top officials and leaders of the industries in Moscow and the regions. By eroding the feedback loop that every stable government—even the most authoritarian—needs to stay in power, the Putin regime is becoming less capable of understanding the real condition of Russia. And that could, in the long run, make Putin far more vulnerable to a true political crisis. – Foreign Affairs
Syria
A Syrian site held infrastructure “consistent with a nuclear reactor,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday, adding that the country’s former authorities “failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.” – Agence France-Presse
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Tuesday that his country was working toward a “diplomatic solution” with Israel, with US mediation, despite ongoing Israeli strikes in the country. – Agence France-Presse
Israel’s defense establishment is increasingly concerned about developments in Syria and the processes Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is leading as he seeks to rebuild the country, a senior defense official told Walla on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Egypt
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, his first visit to the Arab world’s most populous nation in a decade, as countries across the Middle East reassess security and economic ties amid the fallout of the Iran war. – Reuters
At least 16 people were killed and 28 wounded in a bus accident on Egypt’s Dahab-Nuweibaa road in South Sinai on Wednesday, the health ministry said in a statement. – Jerusalem Post
Shivane Anand and Grant Rumley write: As potential U.S. responses coalesce, the Trump administration is reportedly compiling a counteroffer to Huawei’s bid to build AI data centers in Egypt. Yet China has generally been much more willing to offer larger amounts of investment, construction, and advanced technologies to Cairo, as well as military platforms with far fewer restrictions than their American competitors. So long as the United States is unwilling or unable to pressure Cairo against deepening ties with Beijing or provide viable alternatives to Chinese offers, Egypt will likely continue to accept. – Washington Institute
Gulf States
Two tankers carrying Saudi oil were hit by rockets and other munitions within minutes of each other while trying to make a midnight crossing of the Strait of Hormuz, maritime-security firms said. – Wall Street Journal
The United Arab Emirates said that it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters Monday, an attack that comes after the United States and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month. – Associated Press
Kuwait’s government has issued a decree allowing it to borrow from its $1 trillion-plus sovereign wealth fund in order to support state finances, as Gulf economies deal with the impact of the US-Iran war. – Bloomberg
Michael Jacobson writes: If the UAE proves unwilling to take the necessary steps, Washington could resort to other pressure tools beyond unilateral sanctions. For example, it could call for the Emirates to be added back to the grey or black lists maintained by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country was previously placed on the grey list in 2022 for gaps in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts, then removed in 2024 after making changes to address these deficiencies. Abu Dhabi would undoubtedly prefer to stay off the FATF’s radar, since being listed again would spur financial institutions to apply enhanced due diligence in the Emirates and could have wider economic effects. – Washington Institute
Jose Lev Alvarez writes: History supplies the overlooked parallel. Portuguese captains in the early 16th century imposed the cartaz system — mandatory passports and tolls enforced by naval power — to monopolize traffic through Hormuz. Arab rulers of the Kingdom of Hormuz and Omani forces responded by building alternative entrepôts and overland networks that diluted Portuguese control. Oman’s current port strategy repeats that same geographic adaptation. The critical difference lies in the partner: 16th-century Omanis used alternative ports to resist external domination; 21st-century Muscat builds and expands them to protect the economic interests of an aggressive, destabilizing, tyrannical regime that terrorizes the world. – Washington Examiner
Middle East & North Africa
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appointed Mohamed Lamine Lebbou, the central bank governor, as finance minister on Tuesday in a partial cabinet reshuffle. – Reuters
Two Turkish-flagged commercial vessels collided off Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara on Wednesday and contact has been lost with one of the ships, the Istanbul governor’s office said. – Reuters
More than 10 European Union member states are willing to contribute resources and people to a new military and civilian mission to advise and train Lebanese forces, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
The US Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security warning for American citizens in the Middle East due to tensions in the region and the “potential for unforeseen escalation” on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
Amine Ayoub writes: The United States should solidify long-term security guarantees with the Kurdistan Regional Government, ensuring the Peshmerga receive air defense hardware and intelligence backing. The Sept. 30 deadline will not produce a sovereign Iraq unless the integration trap is exposed. By allowing Baghdad to launder proxy warfare through institutional reform, international actors finance their own containment. Tehran’s greatest victory would not be battlefield conquest, but convincing Washington to legitimize its occupation from directly within. – Algemeiner
Bradley Martin and Liram Koblentz-Stenzler write: It recommends that Israel prepare for potential confrontation by boosting defense spending, citing Erdoğan’s Ottoman-style hegemonic dreams and the risk of Turkish proxies on Israel’s northern border. Coupled with President Donald Trump’s lifting of sanctions and willingness to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey: arming a NATO member with neo-imperial instincts in a volatile neighborhood is too heavy a cost to bear. Saudi Arabia’s reconstruction of power grids, gas fields and transit hubs in Syria aiming to bypass the Strait of Hormuz offers some much-needed hope. But if it comes at the price of Turkish domination, the Trump Administration must understand that replacing Iran with Turkey as a regional hegemon at the expense of its allies is a threat to U.S. security. Israel’s recent strikes signal that it will not wait for the new order to solidify against it and neither will the rest of the region. – Newsweek
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s finance minister nominee vowed on Wednesday to quickly proceed with “mega projects” for AI investments and actively utilise policy capacity from a global chip boom. – Reuters
South Korea’s consumer inflation quickened in August due to low-base effects from the previous comparable period a year ago, data showed on Wednesday, but was lower than expectations. – Reuters
Fred Fleitz writes: President Donald Trump has long regarded personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as one of the greatest foreign policy successes of his first term and recently signaled that he wants to meet with Kim again. To facilitate this, he ordered the Pentagon to scale back last month’s joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost and Pyongyang’s longtime opposition to the drills. The president’s impulse is understandable. Trump’s personal diplomacy during his first term significantly lowered tensions with North Korea. There has been no North Korean nuclear test since 2017, a pause in long-range missile launches, and a window of relative calm on the peninsula. – Washington Examiner
China
Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a charge of collusion with foreign entities, a national security crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. – Reuters
China has fully reopened the only road leading to the Gyirong border crossing into Nepal a week after it was torn apart by catastrophic flooding, allowing heavy machinery to reach the core disaster zone for the first time. – Reuters
China’s state-owned shipping giant COSCO uses concealed equipment on board its ships to spy on military communications near the coastlines of target nations including the U.S., two senior Trump administration officials said. – Reuters
The Trump administration won backing from all G20 financial leaders except China’s on Tuesday to act against “non-market” policies and distortions that cause over-reliance on exports and hinder growth elsewhere. – Reuters
Rodrigo Tavares writes: Its mandate should be deliberately narrow and insulated from political turmoil that has recently defined the U.S.-E.U. relationship. The E.U. and the Trump administration may disagree on values, tariffs and security, but both have a strategic interest in reducing dependence on China for critical minerals. America’s greatest strategic opportunity for critical minerals can’t be found in any one mine. It is in America’s relationship with Europe. – Washington Post
Adam Y. Liu writes: The Trump administration’s wavering commitment to allies threatens to undermine it. So might the common—and incorrect—belief that China has already won the economic race. By most measures, the U.S. economy is still the world’s largest and most productive. […] For now, however, fears that public opinion has tilted toward China are overblown. When forced to choose, most of the world still prefers working with Washington, and most of those who choose Beijing are likely betting on predictions about its economic rise. Beijing, then, should not mistake favorability for partnership. And Washington must keep the United States’ markets open and its commitments credible before the belief that the country’s economic future is behind it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. – Foreign Affairs
South Asia
Archana Suresh and her husband Raghu Rajan of Murphy, Texas, had been planning for over a year to make a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a snowy peak in Tibet near China’s border with Nepal. – Wall Street Journal
Nepal’s government estimates the damage from the recent floods will cost about $5 billion — a tenth of the nations’s annual economic output and a new burden in a country that invested heavily in hydroelectric power plants that are now destroyed. – New York Times
The Himalayan region faces severe risks from future glacial floods, a senior U.N. official has warned, as the death toll from last week’s flood in Nepal, triggered by a glacier’s collapse, surpassed 1,000. – Reuters
Nepal urged international travelers not to abandon the Himalayas, declaring the country open for tourism as it continues to assess the human and economic toll from catastrophic floods that killed hundreds and left thousands missing. – Bloomberg
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said solutions to conflicts cannot be found on the battlefield, renewing his call for disputes to be resolved through “dialog and diplomacy.” – Bloomberg
Pakistan “firmly believes” the US-Iran peace framework that it helped broker in Islamabad offers the best prospect for peace in the region, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Tuesday. – Bloomberg
Asia
The white sand beaches, turquoise waters and secluded luxury resorts of this South Asian archipelago attract millions of tourists each year. But a new trade has quietly emerged behind the postcard-perfect backdrop: a web of companies helping Russia evade sanctions. – Wall Street Journal
The United States and Australia on Wednesday announced a combined $580 million in funding for the Pacific Islands, as both nations battle China for influence in the region. – Reuters
Taiwan‘s plan for defence spending next year to exceed T$1 trillion ($31.47 billion) for the first time shows the international community the island’s determination to strengthen its defences, President Lai Ching-te said on Wednesday. – Reuters
A school in Thailand where a student went on a deadly shooting rampage three weeks ago reopened on Tuesday amid heightened security, with police deployed and checks performed on bags. – Reuters
Taiwanese companies are planning another $20 billion of investments in the U.S. driven by demand for AI applications, the island’s economy minister said on Wednesday without giving details, though drawing a warm response from a visiting U.S. official. – Reuters
The small Pacific Island state of Vanuatu is trying to bring a decades-old dispute with France over two uninhabited islands before the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ top court said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Taiwan plans to send a minister to attend an APEC meeting in China later this month, as questions linger over how Beijing will handle the island’s attendance of the forum as it steps up efforts to deepen Taipei’s international isolation. – Bloomberg
Furqat Sidikov and Andrew C. Kuchins write: We also help facilitate international relief efforts. The international logistics hub in Termez, established in 2022 at our president’s initiative, supports humanitarian deliveries to Afghanistan and other countries. In 2025, it joined the UN Refugee Agency’s global stockpile network. Dialogue on shared natural resources is equally important. In April 2026, President Mirziyoyev called for stronger constructive engagement with Afghanistan on climate, ecology, agriculture, and water management. These priorities define our approach: preventing isolation, supporting the Afghan people, and involving Afghanistan in practical regional cooperation. – The National Interest
Europe
Germany accused Russia of being behind a plot to send explosive drones to a German airport last month and pledged to retaliate against Moscow, a rare public attribution of blame in the widening campaign of incursions and sabotage across NATO territory. – Wall Street Journal
Keir Starmer will stand down as a member of parliament, he said on Tuesday, some six weeks after he resigned as Britain’s prime minister having lost the support of his Labour Party. – Reuters
Italy’s far-right movement led by former army general Roberto Vannacci has overtaken co-ruling Forza Italia in opinion polls, a survey showed on Tuesday, becoming the country’s fourth most popular political force only seven months after its launch. – Reuters
King Haakon VIII of Norway took an oath before parliament on Tuesday following the death of his father, pledging to uphold the Nordic country’s constitution and laws in the latest in a series of ceremonies marking the passing of the crown. – Reuters
The heart of the German economy is making and exporting the big-ticket, complex goods that make global business run: everything from cars and locomotives to factory machinery, aircraft and construction equipment. That model for growth is under serious pressure from a new competitor whose exports can often match or approach Germany’s in quality and sell for far less: China. – Associated Press
Polish President Karol Nawrocki called on Germany to pay World War II reparations, returning to a politically charged topic little more than a year away from the next general election. – Bloomberg
The British military still expects Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey to commit to spending 3% of domestic output on defense by 2030, despite accusations that he was backsliding on his ambition to hit that target. – Bloomberg
An unknown object exploded at a train station in the southern city of Augsburg on Wednesday, German police said, adding that two people sustained minor injuries. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Press reports say CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Russia on his recent Moscow visit to knock off the help for Iran. But that message appears to have been lost in translation, with Mr. Putin affirming his support this week for the Islamic regime that is trying to kill Americans—perhaps even Mr. Trump’s son, Barron. Mr. Putin is behaving like he thinks he can get away with flagrant provocations. Europe for too long hasn’t wanted to risk speaking plainly about the threat, which makes Germany’s blunt comments this week all the more welcome. – Wall Street Journal
Africa
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in for a second term on Tuesday, while his main rival was in prison on treason charges, the conclusion of a chaotic vote observers said was marred by serious irregularities. – Reuters
A Brussels court has ordered Belgian biometrics company Semlex and 13 other defendants to stand trial over alleged corruption, money laundering and tax fraud linked to a contract to produce passports in the Democratic Republic of Congo, civil parties involved in the case said. – Reuters
Britain said on Tuesday it would provide more than £50 million ($67.56 million) in new funding to support efforts to contain an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where confirmed cases have surpassed 6,000 in the country’s largest-ever epidemic. – Reuters
The International Monetary Fund and Senegal have reached a staff-level agreement for a $2.2 billion three-year loan package, the IMF said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Guinea-Bissau has approved a new constitution in a referendum, provisional results showed on Tuesday, expanding presidential powers and reshaping electoral rules ahead of a presidential election scheduled for December. – Reuters
A multibillion-dollar fuel subsidy that kept Nigerian pump prices low for decades has emerged as a central battleground ahead of January’s presidential elections. – Bloomberg
The Americas
Brazilian authorities are grappling with how to keep AI from undermining the country’s hotly contested election, as AI-generated content floods voters’ social media feeds and loose-lipped chatbots challenge regulators’ abilities to rein in misinformation. – Reuters
Venezuela’s National Assembly on Tuesday approved an increase in the number of committee members who will select new justices on the country’s highest court, part of ongoing talks between the government and the opposition to reform Venezuela’s political system ahead of future elections. – Reuters
Venezuela’s ruling party-dominated National Assembly backed the country’s oil deal with the Trump administration in a vote on Tuesday, ahead of a visit to Caracas by the U.S. Energy Secretary. – Reuters
Ahead of the country’s October vote, both President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing rival Flávio Bolsonaro are making multibillion-dollar data centers and the AI investment that comes with them central to their pitches to bolster Latin America’s largest economy. – Bloomberg
North America
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to keep its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday as policymakers assess the fallout from a stark deterioration in Ottawa-Washington trade ties. – Wall Street Journal
Former President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, who just nine months ago was serving a 45-year sentence in the United States on drug trafficking and weapons charges before being pardoned by President Trump, was cleared of the remaining criminal charges against him in Honduras on Tuesday. – New York Times
Nicaragua’s Congress on Tuesday passed a constitutional reform that bans opposition parties from participating in elections and extends the presidential term from six to seven years, an initiative that had previously drawn criticism from the United States and other countries in the region. – Reuters
Canada has become the transatlantic partner of choice as geopolitical uncertainties make trust the most valuable commodity in international relations, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The U.S. needs to start being serious and stop trying to be tough before talks on a possible trade deal with Canada can restart, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday. – Reuters
The Panama Canal Authority expects to generate $5.56 billion in revenue and contribute $3.61 billion directly to the national treasury for fiscal year 2027, according to a budget proposal presented to the Cabinet on Tuesday. – Reuters
Mexican soldiers killed a suspected leader of the Los Reyes cartel in western Mexico, the defense ministry said on Tuesday, as Mexico continues to escalate its war against cartels and organized crime. – Reuters
President Donald Trump’s administration is unwilling to discuss commerce, diplomacy or any other issue that might help relieve the suffering caused by US sanctions, Cuba’s leaders say, as infant mortality and preventable deaths rise. – Bloomberg
Michael Segal writes: Perhaps we are doomed to a trade war, or to end up with a multitude of Nafta-like workarounds: tallying up the added tariff effect on every traded item and using that to adjust trade between Canada and the U.S. That would be a bureaucratic monstrosity. If history repeats itself, better sense will eventually prevail. As for Alvin Segal, he told his Nafta tale in a 2017 memoir, “My Peerless Story: It Starts With the Collar.” He held U.S. citizenship and became an enthusiastic Trump supporter. He died in 2022 at 89. Too bad he is no longer alive to guide us. – Wall Street Journal
E J Antoni writes: It’s important that a deal is reached soon because no one wins in a trade war. Yet not everyone loses equally. Hopefully, Canada realizes it has more to lose than the U.S. and backs down before both sides incur more casualties. Even if a deal is reached, the U.S. still needs to rationalize its remaining slapdash tariff schedule. Under no circumstances should American-made products face higher effective tariff rates than foreign-made competition. There’s no need to wait on Canada to address that particular issue. – Fox News
Chad P. Bown writes: And so Canada, Mexico, and the United States also cannot afford to become a “Fortress North America,” completely shielded from trade with other like-minded, market-oriented democracies that share their concerns about Chinese monopoly power. Any efforts to align North American policy under a new USMCA must retain an openness to trade with these other countries to facilitate a broader alignment in the future. China’s market dominance demands that all three North American countries work together to take on more activist policies. The most immediate need is for the Trump administration to stop implementing policies and circulating rhetoric that undermine North American unity. If Canada, Mexico, and the United States turn on one another, each will be weakened in the one economic fight that really matters. – Foreign Affairs
United States
Apple has updated its Maps application to show Lake America to many users and make it searchable for people in the U.S. The move follows Google’s decision to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America on its map application after President Trump renamed the lake in an executive order last week. – Wall Street Journal
The House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution to fund the government past a Sept. 30 deadline, with both Democrats and Republicans eager to avoid a shutdown and leave Washington as soon as possible to campaign ahead of the midterms. – Wall Street Journal
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Tuesday that immigration officials had arrested 2,197 people in New York State in about a monthlong operation, suggesting an uptick in arrests compared with recent months. – New York Times
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that 19 of the members of the G20 had agreed to address streams of “cheap exports” that cause global economic imbalances, but said China had dissented. – Associated Press
The California Legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 1387, placing the state on the verge of becoming the first in the nation to formally recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity alongside its religious classification in state law on Monday. – Jerusalem Post
Erfan Fard writes: Twenty-five years after 9/11, America should remember that homeland security is not measured by the force of its response after a catastrophe. It is measured by whether the FBI recognizes evolving threats, connects warning signs, and acts before hostile intent becomes operational violence. Iran does not need to win a conventional war to endanger Americans. The FBI and its Joint Terrorism Task Forces must ensure that Tehran’s shadow threat never becomes America’s next tragedy. – Jerusalem Post
Cybersecurity
A two-decade-old Russian hacking operation dubbed “Sality” is being dismantled, U.S. law enforcement officials and cybersecurity company CrowdStrike announced on Tuesday. – Reuters
Dropbox said on Tuesday that around 5,000 accounts were compromised last month, with hackers viewing and downloading content stored on the cloud-storage platform. – Reuters
A newly released whistleblower complaint reveals details about the “rushed” effort by the Trump administration and U.S. Postal Service to install three new restrictive IT systems that would potentially deny thousands of mail-in ballots, if the federal government disagrees on their eligibility. – CyberScoop
Attackers are targeting prominent, high-profile people, their family members and acquaintances on a commercial messaging application to gain long-term access to their accounts containing sensitive data, the FBI warned in an alert Tuesday. – CyberScoop
An Iran-linked cyberespionage group is targeting technology specialists in the aviation, aerospace and financial sectors with fake job offers designed to trick them into installing previously undocumented malware, according to new research. – The Record
The cyber risk posed by frontier AI is the “most immediate concern” facing the global financial system, ministers and central bank governors from the world’s largest economies were warned in a letter published Monday. – The Record
Edward Owen writes: If America falls behind China in the AI race, and the Chinese AI tech stack begins proliferating worldwide, it faces the real possibility that not only neutral countries, but allies and partners, will fall deeper into China’s techno-economic orbit. While Beijing’s propaganda mechanisms won’t derail the Trump administration’s laudable efforts to retain American technological dominance, Chinese narrative warfare can make the process more costly than necessary, at both the local and national levels. It’s time for policymakers at all levels of leadership to cultivate awareness and craft policies to counteract Chinese anti-American tech narratives while exposing CCP efforts to boost or co-opt destructive far-left causes for their own purposes. – The National Interest
Defense
President Trump said he is nominating Navy veteran Hung Cao to become the service’s top civilian leader, a job that has been vacant since spring when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed John Phelan out of the job. – Wall Street Journal
At the Hottuna Bar in this seaside town, owner Suchet Teewiang will open a second counter to serve up ice-cold beers. Other venues on Walking Street, the city’s main drag, are staging DJ nights or bringing in extra hands to welcome the expected crowds. – Wall Street Journal
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals, a purge that has hit about 10 percent of the military’s top officers and shows no signs of slowing. – New York Times
The White House and U.S. Navy are considering frigate designs from South Korea, Japan and Turkey for a new class of warships, USNI News has learned. – USNI News
A small, American-made, unmanned aircraft system has set a new world endurance record, according to the U.S. Army. The drone was assembled at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania and tested by the Army in what turned out to be a record-breaking flight that spanned about 300 miles and lasted eight hours. – Military.com
Mike Garcia writes: But we cannot simultaneously say we desperately need machinists, welders, mechanics and technicians while pursuing policies that make those same workers unable to afford a home near their jobs. National security and economic prosperity increasingly depend on rebuilding America’s industrial base. California possesses the installations, companies, universities, technical expertise and history to be at the center of that revival. Now it needs the workers. – Fox News
Calvin Richards writes: Ultimately, I am not particularly concerned with how others define lethality. There is utility in undertaking a doctrinal and colloquial common understanding of the term, but it should never be viewed as definitive or all-encompassing. The most intimate practitioners should continue to understand war as not just a bestial, instinctual undertaking but also a cerebral one. The personal stain of warfare will continue to elude those who have not waged it, been adjacent to it, nor been ravaged by it, despite the absolute necessity of civilian and warrior classes that tell their stories and opine on the nation’s use of lethal force on their behalf. – War on the Rocks