\n
<\/p>\n
Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the U.S. Defense Department<\/strong>\u2019s growing frustration with NATO<\/strong>, Hezbollah <\/strong>rejecting the Israel-Lebanon<\/strong> cease-fire, and bolstered ties between Colombia<\/strong> and Venezuela<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The United States is considering punishing NATO allies that have failed to support U.S. military operations in the Iran war, a U.S. official told Reuters<\/a> on Friday. These penalties could include the potential suspension of Spain\u2019s NATO membership as well as Washington reviewing its position on Britain\u2019s claim to the disputed Falkland Islands.<\/p>\n According to the unnamed official\u2019s description of an internal Defense Department email prepared by the Pentagon\u2019s chief policy advisor, Elbridge Colby, these punishments would be in response to European nations\u2019 reluctance or refusal to allow U.S. forces to use their bases to launch attacks on Iran. Access, basing, and overflight rights are \u201cjust the absolute baseline for NATO,\u201d Colby reportedly wrote, echoing U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated criticism that NATO is a \u201cpaper tiger<\/a>\u201d alliance for its refusal to help U.S. forces reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Policy<\/em> has not independently confirmed the email.<\/p>\n Madrid and London have taken the brunt of the White House\u2019s ire in recent weeks. Spain (along with Italy and France) have refused to let U.S. troops use their bases or airspace to strike Iran; the U.S. military has access to two key Spanish bases, Naval Station Rota \u200cand Mor\u00f3n Air \u2060Base. In response, Trump threatened<\/a> in March to \u201ccut off all dealings\u201d with Madrid, telling reporters, \u201cWe don\u2019t want anything to do with Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, London initially refused to allow U.S. aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases. Although British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ultimately relented to allow access for defensive missions, the country\u2019s hesitancy did not go unnoticed by Trump; last week, the U.S. president threatened<\/a> to unravel parts of the U.S.-U.K. trade deal.<\/p>\n \u201cAs President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us,\u201d Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said on Friday in response to Reuters\u2019s request for comment on the email. \u201cThe War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure \u200bthat our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,\u201d Wilson added, using the Trump administration\u2019s preferred name for the Defense Department.<\/p>\n Yet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez does not appear<\/a> concerned with the Trump administration\u2019s reported threats. \u201cWe do not work off emails,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said of the internal Pentagon memo. \u201cWe work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States.\u201d NATO\u2019s founding treaty does not include any mechanism to suspend or remove one of its members, though it does allow voluntary withdrawal\u2014something that Trump has threatened to do<\/a>.<\/p>\n The response to the Pentagon\u2019s Falkland Islands threat, however, appears to be more worrisome<\/a>. The United Kingdom and Argentina have long disputed which country should govern the South Atlantic territory. In 1982, Britain defeated Argentina in a 10-week undeclared war<\/a> over the land, and the United States has recognized de facto British control over the Falklands since.<\/p>\n \u201cSovereignty rests with the U.K., and the islands\u2019 right to self-determination<\/a> is paramount,\u201d a spokesperson for Starmer said on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s been our consistent position and will remain the case.\u201d<\/p>\n However, far-right Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of Trump, expressed optimism over the Pentagon\u2019s proposed reconsideration. \u201cWe are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,\u201d Milei said during a radio interview<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Truce in doubt. <\/strong>Hezbollah rejected<\/a> the U.S.-Lebanon cease-fire as \u201cmeaningless\u201d on Friday, just one day after Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend their 10-day truce<\/a> for another three weeks. The Iranian proxy group has the right \u201cto respond proportionately\u201d to any Israeli attack, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said on Friday, adding that any deal that fails to require Israel\u2019s full withdrawal from southern Lebanon gives the Lebanese people the \u201cright to resist the occupation.\u201d Hezbollah was not part of the Israel-Lebanon negotiations and has called on Beirut to cease all direct contact with Israel.<\/p>\n In response, Israel launched<\/a> new airstrikes into Lebanon on Friday. \u201cWe are maintaining full freedom of action against any threat, including emerging ones,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said, accusing Hezbollah of \u201ctrying to sabotage\u201d the truce. Israel maintains that it must have a military presence in southern Lebanon in order to protect Israeli citizens living near the border.<\/p>\n Although both Israeli and Hezbollah forces violated the initial 10-day cease-fire, continued strikes on Friday inject further insecurity into the region\u2019s already precarious peace efforts. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who helped mediate the Israel-Lebanon talks on Thursday, has placed the onus<\/a> of achieving peace on Hezbollah. \u201cWhat\u2019s standing in the way\u201d of permanent peace is \u201ca terrorist organization that operates within their [Lebanon\u2019s] national territory,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n A fresh start. <\/strong>Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday became the first head of state<\/a> to visit Caracas since U.S. forces captured then-Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in early January. During his meeting with interim leader Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, Petro was expected to discuss bolstering bilateral energy cooperation, including reopening the Antonio Ricaurte binational gas pipeline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dwindling natural gas production in Colombia has forced Petro to seek out<\/a> new partnerships. In 2022, he reversed his predecessor\u2019s decision to cut economic ties with Caracas. However, Colombia\u2019s relationship with Venezuela remained frayed, as Petro did not recognize Maduro as the country\u2019s legitimate leader.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s meeting also sought to tackle border security concerns<\/a>, particularly in the Catatumbo region. The mountainous, jungle area is home to some of Colombia\u2019s largest coca crops, and in the past year, it has been engulfed in particularly deadly fighting<\/a> between armed guerrilla groups vying for territorial control. Venezuela launched the Catatumbo Lightning Operation in late 2024 to combat these drug-trafficking groups, but Bogot\u00e1 has accused Caracas of accidentally firing on Colombian civilians.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout intelligence, bombs fall where they shouldn\u2019t,\u201d Petro said. \u201cIf shots are fired without intelligence, they end up killing people, as has already happened in Colombia.\u201d Meanwhile, Bogot\u00e1 has accused<\/a> these armed groups of working with the support or complicity of Venezuela\u2019s military, though Caracas denies this.<\/p>\n To the ballot box. <\/strong>Deir al-Balah, one of the cities in Gaza where Hamas reasserted control following the withdrawal of Israeli troops as part of the October 2025 cease-fire, will hold municipal elections<\/a> on Saturday for the first time in more than 20 years. Roughly 70,000 people are eligible to vote in what is expected to be a test of Hamas\u2019s popularity following Israel\u2019s devastating two-year assault on the territory. More than 400 local councils in the West Bank will also hold elections on Saturday, but Deir al-Balah will be the only municipality in Gaza to do so.<\/p>\n The Central Elections Commission (CEC), the independent body that administers elections in the Palestinian territories, selected Deir al-Balah for the vote because it suffered relatively less infrastructure damage from Israeli strikes during the war than the rest of Gaza, according to a CEC spokesperson. The Palestinian Authority, which partially governs the West Bank, called for this weekend\u2019s vote. Hamas forcibly removed the Palestinian Authority from power in Gaza in 2007. The militant group has vowed<\/a> not to interfere in Saturday\u2019s race, field its own list of candidates, or explicitly endorse any of the campaigns. However, some candidates have been accused of having ties to Hamas.<\/p>\n \u201cHamas has already decided to hand over all responsibilities and powers to the winning list right after the results are released,\u201d Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told the New York Times<\/em><\/a> on Friday. Yet the militant group remains popular. Around 51 percent<\/a> of people in Gaza approve of Hamas\u2019s recent efforts to control the area and restore order, according to the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in October 2025.<\/p>\n In which country did Pope Leo conclude his tour of Africa on Thursday?<\/p>\n A. Nigeria A New York federal prosecutor\u2019s office charged<\/a> a U.S. special forces soldier on Thursday with using classified intelligence to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market. According to the indictment, Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke was involved in the \u201cplanning and execution\u201d of the U.S. capture of Maduro<\/a> in January. Prosecutors allege that Van Dyke used his inside information to place winning bets related to the Maduro raid on Polymarket, one of the world\u2019s largest prediction platforms.<\/p>\n If convicted, Van Dyke could face years in prison for commodities fraud, wire fraud, theft, and the use of confidential government information for personal gain. He has not yet<\/a> entered a plea but has been released on a $250,000 bond. He is expected to appear in federal court in New York City on April 28.<\/p>\n B. Equatorial Guinea<\/p>\n During his trip, Leo clashed with the Trump administration over the Iran war. The tiff isn\u2019t all that surprising when one considers the postwar precedent of papal peace advocacy, Vanessa R. Corcoran writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n To take the rest of FP\u2019s weekly international news quiz, click here<\/a>, or sign up<\/a> to be alerted when a new one is published.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\u2018They Were Not There for Us\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Today\u2019s Most Read<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What We\u2019re Following<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What in the World?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
B. Equatorial Guinea
C. Algeria
D. Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/p>\nOdds and Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n
And the Answer Is\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n