Episode Details

For review:

1. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration of President Donald Trump is escalating economic pressure on Cuba with an unprecedented sanctions campaign and warned that "there are no escape valves."

2. Yemen's Houthis said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom.

3. Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy of the US-backed Board of Peace, sought to dispel skepticism in Israel about the board’s roadmap for the disarmament of Hamas in the Strip, arguing that the plan’s full implementation is Israel’s only “guarantee” of preventing a repeat of the October 7, 2023, massacre, and that it will be based on verifiable steps, rather than trust of the terror group.

4. Iran on Monday said that it has no reason to be concerned about the new security pact between Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, arguing that it is “a sign of a change in the perception” of countries in the region toward the United States, and not a threat to Iran.

5. US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Washington was “low-keying” its approach to Iran and only “semi-negotiating” with the Islamic Republic, as it suffers in dire economic straits.

6. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has denied that Russian and German officials held talks in Azerbaijan last month to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“There have been no official contacts with Germany regarding a settlement in Ukraine, nor are there any now.” 

7. The US Defense Department has requested that American defense companies quickly boost their production and delivery of weapons amid an acute shortage of arms due to the Iran war, according to a memo reported on by the WP on Saturday.

8. The Army has officially opened up four of its domestic testing ranges and one international range where private industry can blast off interceptor missiles they have developed with their own funds, in hopes of getting promising candidates into the acquisition pipeline faster.