Afghanistan
(RFE/RL) Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have closed down three local radio stations in the latest move in an ongoing crackdown that has seen the country’s media landscape decimated since the militant group seized power for a second time in 2021. The radio stations — Tahsin al-Quran, Sanga, and Zama Ziwer — were operating in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, the Taliban’s birthplace and stronghold. In a statement on May 24, the Taliban’s Department of Information and Culture accused the radio stations of failure to pay their taxes, not being licensed, and of substandard broadcasting. – Taliban Closes Radio Stations In Ongoing Media Clampdown
Belarus Opposition Leader – Ukraine
(RFE/RL) Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya arrived in Kyiv on May 25, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader’s first trip to Ukraine more than four years into the all-out Russian invasion. Ahead of meeting with top Ukrainian officials, Tsikhanouskaya laid flowers at the Kyiv grave of Maria Zaytsava, a Belarusian woman who participated in anti-government protests in Minsk and was killed while fighting for Ukraine in 2025. – Amid Mounting Tensions Between Kyiv And Minsk, Belarus Opposition Leader Tsikhanouskaya Visits Ukraine
China – Pakistan
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) China’s President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing’s “unbreakable” friendship with Pakistan on Monday as he met visiting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, seeking to deepen their “all-weather” partnership. Pakistan is among an exclusive group of countries China regards as an “all-weather strategic partner,” with ties featuring close economic, trade and security cooperation. But repeated extremist militant attacks on Chinese nationals and projects in the South Asian country have emerged as an irritant, while Islamabad’s warming ties with Washington have added complexity to its ties with Beijing. – Xi hails ‘unbreakable’ Pakistan ties, praises role in Iran peace efforts
Cybersecurity and surveillance
(Robert Kraczek – Infosecurity Magazine) Non-human identities such as service accounts, APIs, bots and AI agents now dominate enterprise environments, but governance has not kept pace. Limited visibility, stale credentials, and unmanaged access create persistent risk, now amplified by autonomous AI agents that extend beyond static controls. Organizations need unified identity governance with continuous visibility, strict access control, and real time monitoring across all identities to reduce exposure and safely scale automation and AI. – 90 Days to Full NHI Management, Agentic AI Security – Infosecurity Magazine
(Infosecurity Magazine) Cybercriminals and fraudsters have dedicated entire ecosystems to scamming and stealing from Formula 1 fans, a new report has warned. According to the Bitdefender Cybersecurity Grand Prix Fan Threat Index, the growing global digital ecosystem around motorsport makes it an ideal target for scammers. Fans and Formula 1 teams alike now find themselves in attackers’ crosshairs. Scams targeting F1 fans range from being sold counterfeit merchandise and fake grand prix tickets, to illegal streaming services and social media scams. All designed to steal personal information, credit card details, generate illicit revenue and distribute malware. – Fake Streams, Counterfeit Merch & Scams: How Fraudsters Target F1 Fans – Infosecurity Magazine
(Ruth Paley – Infosecurity Magazine) For CIOs and CISOs, economic crime is increasingly a technology problem. Fraud and financial crime campaigns now often resemble coordinated cyber operations: distributed, adaptive and deliberately structured to exploit the gaps between institutions. The historic constraint has not been capability within firms, but rather visibility across them. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), and in particular its information-sharing gateway under sections 188–189, aims squarely at that gap. For security leaders, it introduces something more consequential than mere tinkering: a framework for controlled data exchange between institutions. With the focus shifting away from the question of whether firms can share information – they can now do so with confidence – the issue becomes how to do so in a way that strengthens detection and integrates with existing security architecture. – What ECCTA’s Information-Sharing Gateway Means for Security Leaders – Infosecurity Magazine
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) Dutch financial crime investigators arrested two men and seized 800 servers connected to Stark Industries, a hosting provider accused of enabling cyberattacks, interference operations, and disinformation campaigns. Authorities said the suspects supported Russian and Belarusian entities under EU sanctions. Investigators launched the probe into the company, founded shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine. Authorities searched three business premises in Enschede and Almere, along with two data centers in Dronten and Schiphol-Rijk, seizing administrative records, laptops, phones, and more than 800 servers. “The criminal investigation focuses on a web hosting company that was established on February 10, 2022, two weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” reads the press release published by Dutch FIOD. “In the years that followed, this company was used, among other things, to facilitate destabilizing activities directed against the European Union, including interference, cyberattacks, and the dissemination of disinformation.” – Dutch authorities dismantle hosting network allegedly used for cyberattacks and disinformation
(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs) The merchandise website of FBI director Kash Patel (basedapparel[.]com) was taken offline on Friday after reports that it had been compromised by hackers using it to spread malware. The malware was discovered on Thursday by “big time nerd” user known as “debbie.”. Visitors were instructed to copy a code from the website and paste it into their computer’s terminal, a social engineering method known as a ClickFix attack. Once executed, the Mac-specific code would download and install malware on the device. A ClickFix attack is a social engineering technique that manipulates users into running malicious commands themselves, typically by posing as a fix for a problem or verification step, ultimately leading to malware installation or system compromise. – FBI director Kash Patel’s brand website taken offline after malware reports
(DigWatch) The United Kingdom and Australia are deepening cooperation on AI security through a new partnership between the UK AI Security Institute and the Australian AI Safety Institute. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the two institutes will share information on frontier AI capabilities, collaborate on AI evaluation practices and exchange research findings. The UK government said the partnership will focus partly on how advanced AI systems could be used in cyberattacks, as well as how they can strengthen defensive capabilities. – United Kingdom and Australia tighten alliance on AI security risks | Digital Watch Observatory
Europe – China
(Giorgio Leali – Politico) A France-led group of five EU countries is calling on Brussels to make a broader use of tariffs and other defensive measures to take on China and other countries’ abusive trade practices. In a joint non-paper seen by POLITCO, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania urged the EU to launch probes into unfair trade practices more frequently. The document, which was shared with the European Commission and other member countries on Friday, also proposed the creation of new, more defensive trade tools. The non-paper was issued at a moment when the European Commission is working on a “more assertive and effective trade defense policy” to deal with Beijing. Brussels is due to hold an internal strategy debate on the competitive threat posed by China next Friday. – Five EU countries call for tougher trade weapons to tackle China – POLITICO
Israel – Lebanon
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume bombing Beirut in response to increased explosive drone attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli troops and northern Israel towns. Smotrich’s comments came after an Israeli soldier was killed by a Hezbollah drone attack on Sunday. Israeli media reported that Smotrich made similar remarks at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. “The explosive drones harming our fighters are not a decree of fate,” he said in a statement. “For every explosive drone, 10 buildings should fall in Beirut.” – Israeli right-wing ministers urge Netanyahu to resume Beirut strikes to counter Hezbollah
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday said Israel’s withdrawal from the country’s south was a “non-negotiable” demand that authorities would pursue through negotiations, days ahead of a new round of talks in Washington. In a statement commemorating Israel’s previous withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after some two decades of occupation, Aoun said that “this year, the anniversary of the liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality.”. “Israeli attacks have not stopped and our dear southern villages are still suffering under a renewed occupation,” he said. – Lebanon president says Israeli withdrawal ‘non-negotiable’
Latvia
(Kathryn Carlson – Politico) Centrist Latvian lawmaker Andris Kulbergs announced his intention to form a coalition government with four parties, national media reported on Monday. Center-right Prime Minister Evika Siliņa’s ruling coalition fell apart earlier this month due to political backlash over an incident in which two stray Ukrainian drones hit the Baltic state’s oil facilities. Following the government’s collapse, President Edgard Rinkevics asked Kulbergs, whose United List is the largest opposition group in the parliament, to lead coalition talks. According to the centrist politician, his party has reached a “division plan” with the right-wing National Alliance, the green-conservative Green and Farmers’ Union, and the center-right New Unity parties. – Latvian centrist moves to form coalition government – POLITICO
New Zealand
(DigWatch) Children’s organisations in New Zealand have called for online safety debates to focus on children’s rights, evidence, and young people’s experiences online. The recommendations were outlined in a joint resource published by the Children’s Monitoring Group, ‘Making the online world safe for children’, which sets out how Aotearoa New Zealand could respond to online harm without relying solely on access restrictions. – New Zealand child agencies urge rights-based approach to online safety | Digital Watch Observatory
Poland
(Wojciech Kość – Politico) Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suffered a major setback on Sunday as voters in Kraków overwhelmingly backed a right-wing campaign to remove liberal Mayor Aleksander Miszalski — a result that could inspire similar efforts elsewhere in Poland. Miszalski, a Civic Coalition politician and the head of the party’s regional office, was elected in 2024 on an agenda that centered on green urban policies similar to those enacted by Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. Noting growing discontent over planned environmental restrictions and rising parking fees, earlier this year the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party and the far-right Confederation launched a grassroots campaign and collected more than 130,000 signatures to recall the mayor, whom they characterized as an out-of-touch, elite technocrat. – Poland’s right-wing topples Kraków’s liberal mayor in fresh blow to Tusk – POLITICO
Russia – Ukraine
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Russia on Monday warned foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv, saying it planned to launch more strikes against the Ukrainian capital, including on its “decision-making centers.” – Russia urges foreign citizens, diplomats to leave Kyiv ahead of fresh strikes
(AFP/Al Arabiya) Ukrainian strikes on Monday killed six people, including two children, in occupied Ukraine, as well as in the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Bryansk, local authorities said. Ukraine regularly targets Russia in retaliation for the daily bombardments it has been subjected to since the start of the large-scale Russian offensive in February 2022. Four people, among them two children, were killed in the frontline town of Gorlivka in the occupied Donetsk region, said the local Moscow-installed administration. – Ukrainian strikes kill six in Russia, occupied Ukraine
Vatican
(Hannah Roberts – Politico) Pope Leo XIV on Monday raised the alarm over the use of AI in warfare and called for the technology to be “disarmed” and prevented from “dominating humanity.”. In a document known as an encyclical — a papal letter outlining the church’s perspective on a key topic — Leo said that artificial intelligence should never be used to make lethal decisions and warned that chat bots and other AI tools should never be equated with humans. The encyclical marks the Catholic Church’s most forceful intervention in the global debate over how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of warfare, labor and society. The text risks putting the Vatican on a collision course with governments racing to deploy AI as a strategic weapon. – The Vatican vs. killer robots: Pope Leo XIV takes aim at AI warfare – POLITICO
War in Iran
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told confidants in private conversations that Israel has little ability to influence Donald Trump’s decision-making on Iran as the US president negotiates a deal in the nearly three-month-old war, two sources said. Netanyahu’s comments, described to Reuters by two Israeli officials with knowledge of the conversations, come as Israel has largely been left out of talks to reach an initial deal to halt a war that began with joint US-Israeli bombardment. – Netanyahu admits difficulty influencing Trump decisions on Iran, sources say
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) Iranian top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a potential US-Iran deal to end the conflict, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday. – Iran’s Ghalibaf, Araghchi in Doha for talks on possible US-Iran deal, official says
(Al Arabiya) The expected announcement of a potential US-Iran agreement has been delayed partly because of the difficulty of communicating with Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be living under tight security in a secret bunker. – Iran’s supreme leader in secret ‘bunker,’ reachable only through couriers: Report
