New information has led two U.S. intelligence agencies to alter their views on the cause of mysterious brain and neurological injuries suffered by U.S. government and military officials overseas, and they now believe at least some of the cases may have been the result of enemy-directed energy attacks, according to a new government report made public Friday.

The two agencies, not identified by name in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence report, now say a radio frequency (RF) or other type of directed energy weapon is a possible cause for a small number of the many so-called “anomalous health incidents,” or AHIs, identified since 2016 that have come to be known as Havana Syndrome.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz reports that five other U.S. spy agencies are standing by earlier assessments that it is unlikely foreign actors caused the conditions suffered by scores of diplomats, intelligence personnel and some military attaches, mostly working outside the United States.

Mr. Turner says the Biden administration has engaged in a “cover-up” relating to foreign adversary involvement in the incidents. Rep. Rick Crawford, who chairs the House Intel’s CIA subcommittee, says he looks “forward to engaging with the incoming Trump administration” on the matter.

A key issue for the incoming Trump administration is whether to proceed with the Biden administration policy of subsidizing the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to build advanced semiconductor fabrication plants in Arizona.

Mr. Gertz and Mr. Taylor offer a deeper analysis on how TSMC’s power over global microchip production has grown, and how the Biden administration’s policy has enhanced its clout. TSMC’s stock has risen steadily over the past two years, hitting an all-time high on Jan. 6 roughly two months after the administration formalized a $6.6 billion award for TSMC’s Arizona project.

But some question whether TSMC is a monopoly that deserves antitrust scrutiny. “I think it’s right to be concerned about antitrust issues,” Chris Miller, a historian and author of the 2022 book “Chip War,” said during a recent appearance on a podcast produced by the Taiwanese finance, politics and humanities magazine CommonWealth.

“It’s hard to find a trillion-dollar technology company that hasn’t faced antitrust issues. Whether you’re Microsoft or Google, you face antitrust issues. People talk about Nvidia and antitrust issues,” Mr. Miller said. “I think we shouldn’t be surprised if TSMC faces a similar set of questions.”

South Korea’s intelligence agency is assisting Ukraine in interrogating two North Korean soldiers captured in Russian territory, one of whom has said he believed he had been sent on a training mission in Russia, not to join the fighting against Ukraine.

Photos released Sunday by Ukrainian officials showed two Asian men — one with a jaw wound, the other with apparent hand/forearm injuries. Both were unshaven but appeared well fed. The two were captured by Ukrainian paratroopers and special forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian troops seized a sizable chunk of Russian border territory in August and where heavy fighting continues.

South Korean intelligence officials told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that two North Korean soldiers haven’t expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said one of the North Koreans wants to stay in Ukraine while the other expressed a desire to return to North Korea. Mr. Zelenskyy has indicated he is willing to deliver the soldiers to North Korea if Pyongyang arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian POWs in Russia.

The United Arab Emirates has emerged as a global hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation, offering what boosters say is a model for the incoming Trump administration on how clear regulations and strategic investment can drive growth in the booming but volatile digital finance sector.

By embracing blockchain technology and aggressively establishing a regulatory framework, the UAE has positioned itself as a global leader in an industry that the U.S. has struggled to regulate effectively. From July 2023 through June 2024, cryptocurrency transactions in the UAE surged to $34 billion, a 42% increase from the previous year, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

Washington Times Special Correspondent Jacob Wirtschafter examines the situation in a dispatch from Abu Dhabi, noting how UAE officials moved last year to slash taxes on cryptocurrency transactions by exempting individuals and businesses from a value-added tax on the transfer and conversion of digital assets.

Making the tax break retroactive to 2018 was a way to “supercharge” the sector. Eric Trump, a son of the president-elect, underscored the significance of the UAE’s achievement at the Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi in December.

Venezuela has become “a militarized hub for narco-terrorism,” with a regime in Caracas now mirroring “rogue states such as North Korea” but wielding “a uniquely destructive influence in the Americas,” writes Miguel Angel Martin, president of the Venezuelan American Patriots Foundation and the former president of the Venezuelan Supreme Court in exile, in a column that includes his co-authors Ignacio De Leon and Esteban Gerbasi.

“Allowing Venezuela’s criminal state to persist is not an option. Its exportation of illicit drugs and violence destabilizes Latin America and endangers U.S. security,” writes Mr. Martin. “The regime’s militarized narco-terrorism is a tragedy for Venezuela and a crisis with far-reaching global consequences.”

The time for symbolic gestures is over,” he writes. “The United States must lead a global effort to isolate the regime, dismantle its networks and restore democracy in Venezuela. Anything less would betray not only the Venezuelan people but all who value peace and the rule of law in our hemisphere.”

• Jan. 14 — Transformations in African Democratic Governance: Lessons for 21st-Century U.S.-Africa Relations, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

• Jan. 14 — Passing the Baton 2025: Securing America’s Future in an Era of Strategic Competition, U.S. Institute of Peace

• Jan. 14 — Reflecting on the Commerce Department’s Role in Protecting Critical Technology with Under Secretary of Commerce Alan Estevez, Center for Strategic & International Studies

• Jan. 14 — National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director Michael Casey, Intelligence and National Security Alliance

• Jan. 14-16 — Surface Warfare: Sharpen the Sword; 37th National Symposium, Surface Navy Association

• Jan. 16 — The Limits of Influence: The Challenge of Translating Security Cooperation Into Leverage, Stimson Center

• Jan. 15 — Infrastructure Security in the Cyber Age: A Conversation with CISA Director Jen Easterly, Foundation for Defense of Democracies