下午察：佛得角的奇迹是中国的功劳？

2026年6月19日 19:16 / 联合早报

佛得角队6月15日在世界杯赛场上0比0逼平夺冠热门西班牙队后，佛得角门将沃齐尼亚（Vozinha）举旗庆祝。 （法新社）

非洲西部岛国佛得角在世界杯赛场上0比0逼平夺冠热门西班牙队一战成名后，远在上万公里之外的中国舆论场围绕“中国是否帮助佛得角圆梦世界杯”掀起一场争议。

当地时间星期一（6月15日），首次晋级世界杯的佛得角在2026年美加墨世界杯小组赛首轮比赛中战平西班牙，爆出开赛以来最大冷门。对于这个人口仅50多万、世界杯参赛史上第三小的国家而言，这场平局不仅为球队赢得历史性的第一分，也让这个长期鲜少受到国际关注的岛国一夜之间进入全球视野。

比赛结束后，中国媒体也迅速跟进报道。除了聚焦佛得角门将的出色发挥和当地民众的庆祝场面外，一些将佛得角世界杯突破与中国联系起来的报道尤为引人关注。

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特稿：市场今非昔比赛道越来越挤 新加坡美食中国遇逆风？

2026年6月19日 19:41 / 联合早报

AI摘要

• 新加坡餐饮品牌在华集体收缩，大食代、面包新语、松发等相继退出多城，仅保留上海门店。
• 疫情后消费信心疲软、“八项规定”抑制商务宴请，叠加本土品牌崛起与外卖冲击，竞争格局剧变。
• 高租金、高食材成本压缩利润，市场流量向网红品牌集中，传统品质餐厅“拉新”承压。
• 学者指出新企本土化不足、营销薄弱、进取心欠缺，在“内卷”市场中难敌灵活本土对手。
• 专家建议：要么强化不可替代的新加坡特色，要么彻底本土化，“当中国公司运营”，否则难立足。

本摘要由AI辅助生成，仅供参考

图为2016年入驻中国上海迪士尼小镇的新加坡品牌“面包新语”和“土司工坊”。经过品牌重组，店面目前由面包新语旗下纸石烘焙（Paper Stone Bakery）经营。 （档案照片）

昔日主要进驻中国高端商场的新加坡餐饮品牌，曾是中国中产消费升级的象征，但如今正经历一场从扩张到收缩的阵痛。已在星期一（6月15日）因租约到期关停在北京最后一家门店的大食代食阁，是这一阵痛的最新缩影，但远非个例。

大食代母公司、新加坡本土品牌面包物语（BreadTalk）在华烘焙品牌“面包新语”3月底也全面退出北京市场，且去年关停四川成都全部11家门店。面包物语目前在中国有近200家门店，较10年前鼎盛时期的460家，减少约六成。

2000年代初期，已在本土站稳脚跟的吐司工坊、亚坤、乐天餐饮、珍宝以及松发肉骨茶等品牌，顶着“新加坡品质”的国际光环，将南洋风味带到中国市场，落户“北上广深”等一线城市。之后的10多年里，随着中国居民收入持续增长、消费不断升级，这些品牌经历快速扩张的黄金时期，不少完成向成都、杭州、南京等二线城市的覆盖。

然而，曾经高歌猛进的扩张势头在冠病疫情后逐渐逆转。2023年前后开始，这些品牌在中国市场陆续收缩业务版图，近一两年经营中心逐渐退守至上海这一核心市场。

以主打中高端餐饮的珍宝海鲜为例，公司今年将逐步关闭中国六个城市的六家餐厅，并专注于上海市场。公司进军中国市场至今已有13年。

延伸阅读

珍宝斥资千万打造新总部 为未来10至20年布局
大食代回应撤出北京：应对中国市场变化 正探索更多模式

珍宝集团执行主席兼首席执行官黄建铭接受《联合早报》访问时解释，目前主要面临消费者信心的问题，中共“八项规定”等措施削减了消费者对商务聚餐和应酬的需求，整个餐饮环境都受到影响。

此外，中国不同城市的口味喜好差异很大，公司进入前须花很多时间，了解个别城市的饮食文化才能生存。因此，基于过去几年的经验，黄建铭认为上海作为南方城市与国际都会，比北京等地更适合推出珍宝粤菜及福建菜的南洋口味。

除了珍宝，松发在中国仅剩上海一家门店。大食代食阁仅保留上海四家门店；乐天旗下乐忻系列餐馆也大幅收缩在华版图，业务重心几乎完全退守上海。

根据官网，松发肉骨茶目前仅存的中国门店，位于上海高档购物场所静安嘉里中心。据《米其林指南》，2019年时公司在中国有六家门店。（互联网）

至于新加坡品牌在中国市场承压的原因，面包物语发言人受询时提到，中国本土品牌迅速崛起，加上外卖、电商平台的重要性日益凸显，让市场的竞争格局发生剧变。面包新语因此对业务进行整合，将资源集中于更具长期增长潜力的市场和业务模式。

2015年进军中国大陆的福建菜馆莆田目前有27家门店。莆田餐饮集团中国区域长孔玲玲观察到，市场流量近年向头部网红品牌集中，传统品质餐厅在“拉新”指标上压力大。

她告诉本报，受核心商圈高租金与高品质食材成本的双重挤压，利润空间收窄是整个行业面临的现实。因此，对于后续扩张计划，莆田将坚持“质量优先于速度”，将门店规模维持在20至30家的区间。

在北京经营新加坡餐馆14年的陈姓业者，凭借精品化运营，以及餐馆同时服务新加坡社群交流和商务宴请需求的独特定位，挺过了疫情，并在去年开设第二家店。他认为，与小餐馆不同，一些大型餐饮公司开拓中国市场时，欠缺充分准备、未投入足够的资金，也未投入资源组建能与本土龙头竞争的一线团队。

此外，据他观察，与本土企业相比，新加坡公司在抢占市场方面过于谨慎，进攻性不足，且一些品牌不太情愿为了留在中国，而去做较深层和根本改变。

这名业者的说法得到一些学者的认同。新加坡南洋理工大学南洋商学院高级讲师闫黎受访时指出，新加坡餐饮品牌在突出南洋特色的同时，产品的本土化改良和创新还有待改善。

闫黎也认为，相较于新加坡有序规范的市场竞争，中国市场“卷”得多，而新加坡餐饮企业在“卷”面前，往往表现得过于稳健，冲劲不足，即“敢打敢拼的精神”不够。

此外，“酒香不怕巷子深”的时代已经过去，中国的数码营销发展非常快，新加坡餐饮品牌在营销资金、渠道和手段上，投入相对而言比较薄弱。

咨询机构墨腾创投首席执行官李江玕指出，中国民众的消费行为也已今非昔比，公众对海外品牌的崇拜已明显减弱，他们更注重产品质量、价格是否合理、体验是否值得分享，因此包括新加坡在内的海外品牌的“来源地”，已从竞争优势变成仅是背景信息。

李江玕研判，未来能留在中国的新加坡品牌，要么是提供中国其他品牌不可替代的新加坡特色和体验，要么就彻底本土化，“把自己当成一家中国公司来运营，而不是简单复制新加坡模式”。否则，它们会越来越难在中国市场找到自己的位置。

一些新加坡品牌已因此在阵痛中作出调整。比如，除了传统商场食阁业务外，大食代也在与中国的学校和企业合作运营食堂、提供员工餐饮服务，以开拓新的增长点。

李江玕认为，退出中国市场的不一定是最差的品牌，而往往是那些曾经成功、却未能跟上中国市场变化速度的品牌。

他说，中国市场从来不缺机会，只是变化太快。很多品牌进入中国时解决的是10年前消费者的需求问题，但今天品牌面对的是完全不同的竞争环境。

对于仍希望留在中国市场的新加坡餐饮品牌而言，真正的挑战或许从来不是进入中国，而是在不断变化的中国留下来。

SIMBA拒付租金占用圣淘沙屋顶放置通讯设备逾六年 高庭判赔近70万元

2026年6月19日 19:43 / 联合早报

诉方指出，室内模拟跳伞设施的屋顶可以饱览圣淘沙海景，是举办活动的理想地点，增建冷气系统有望吸引更多客户并增加收入。（AltitudeX提供）

本地第四大电信商Simba在圣淘沙AltitudeX（前身为iFly）屋顶放置通讯设备，被业者起诉违法占用空间超过六年，须赔偿近70万元外加利息，包括补偿业主因无法在屋顶增建冷气系统，损失出租空间作商业活动的收入。

高庭在星期四（6月18日）发表的判词中阐明，根据《建筑物信息通信设施守则》（Code of Practice for Info-communication Facilities in Buildings，简称COPIF），只有业主无须使用的闲置空间，才可让电信公司免费征用为移动设备安装空间，而资讯通信媒体发展局在考虑iFly屋顶空间的情况后，已划定Simba放置通讯设备的位置不符合闲置空间条件。

AltitudeX位于圣淘沙西乐索海滩，是一座五层楼的室内模拟跳伞设施。根据判词，经营设施的业主Skyventure VWT Singapore，通过代表律师李舜辉与陈科吕在2025年入禀高庭起诉Simba，代表Simba的是陈智明律师。Skyventure已改名为Altitude Xperience。

Simba自2017年12月起，在跳伞设施屋顶放置通讯设备，并且支付对方使用场地的租金。本地另外三大电信商原本也支付租金，换取业者准许他们在屋顶放置设备。判词没有说明个别电信商摆放设备的具体位置以及之间的差别。

COPIF：业主须与电信商配合 免费使用合适闲置空间放置通讯设备

COPIF在2018年12月生效，规定房地产业主必须与电信商配合，把没使用的合适闲置空间，免费提供给后者放置通讯设备。守则未对何谓“合适闲置空间”做进一步定义，但如果业主与电信商无法达成共识，可寻求资媒局给予指示。

三大电信商在资媒局的协助下，与业主达成过渡安排协议，同意在COPIF生效后多付两年租金给业主，之后可免费使用指定位置。

不过，Simba则坚持有权从2018年12月起免费使用空间，为此与业主僵持不下。高级法官李兆坚认为，证据指向Simba作为市场新业者，应该是因为资金流不如另外三家电信商，因此一直无法与业主协商成功。

接下来几年，Simba与业主互不让步，最终闹上法庭。案件在2025年11月开审，业主指责Simba违法占用空间须做出赔偿，并要求法官谕令Simba拆除仍放置在屋顶的通讯设备。

业主指出，为扩建屋顶活动场地，须在Simba通讯设备现址安装新的冷气压缩机。业主也称，屋顶可饱览圣淘沙海景，是举办活动的理想地点，如果能增建冷气设施，有望吸引更多客户在白天举行活动，增加生意收入。

资媒局派人员实地考察，并审阅业主提交的冷气系统安装资料后，裁定有关位置不属于可免费提供给电信公司使用的闲置空间。Simba向当局提出上诉但遭驳回。

法官指出，法律赋予资媒局权力决定哪些地点属于合适闲置空间，而有关决定对各方均具约束力，Simba无权要求法庭推翻。至于Simba辩称，若无法继续在该处设置设备，电信服务水平将无法达标，法官认为资媒局已考虑相关因素，而且Simba直至结案陈词阶段才提出此论点，法庭难以采纳。

由于业主之前已收到Simba截至2019年9月19日使用屋顶空间所支付的租金，因此法官裁定Simba在这日期之后未获准许占用屋顶。Simba的侵占行为持续至今超过六年。

考虑到业主期间须等待资媒局作出决定，以及冠病疫情影响活动举办等因素后，法官按照业主合理损失的租金与活动收入进行计算，谕令Simba赔偿业主69万8594元5角及利息，并在不影响电信服务的合理时间内拆除有关通讯设备。

一名妇女参加星期四（6月18日）在雅加达市中心的抗议集会时敲打餐盘。示威者要求印尼政府取消消耗庞大财政资源和涉嫌贪腐的免费营养餐项目、降低燃油价格和为女性提供更多就业机会。 （法新社）

（雅加达综合电）印度尼西亚国家营养局星期四（6月18日）晚宣布，为缓解财政赤字压力，政府将在学校假期期间全面暂停免费营养餐供应，未来所有公共假期、宗教节日及周末也将停止发放营养餐。

这项耗资数百亿新元的项目是印尼总统普拉博沃的标志性政策之一，但因成本高昂而受到广泛批评。上周有数百名大学生在雅加达示威，要求政府取消这一项目。

负责执行这一项目的国家营养局已下令所有中央厨房于6月22日至7月13日的学校假期期间停止供餐，预计此举可为政府节省超过3万亿印尼盾（约2.17亿新元）。

国家营养局发言人阿古斯蒂娜说，在学校假期、公共假日、宗教节日及周末停发营养餐，不仅关乎预算效率，还将“确保国家拥有的每一项资源都能真正为有需要的群体带来最大效益”。

印尼政府今年较早时将免费营养餐的供应时间从每周六天缩减至五天，以节省资金，并将预算拨款从原本的335万亿印尼盾削减至268万亿印尼盾。政府还计划明年进一步削减支出；明年的原定预算为270万亿印尼盾。

阿古斯蒂娜披露，国家营养局还将削减学校假期关闭的中央厨房奖励金，预计可再为政府节省约3.4万亿印尼盾。

政府数据显示，截至今年3月，这个项目已为6100万多人提供餐食。

这个项目自去年1月启动以来，一直面对大规模食物中毒和腐败丑闻的困扰。国家营养局局长和两名副局长本月初被革职，随后被检察机关以涉贪为由逮捕。

印尼总检察长办公室近日正式逮捕涉嫌“倒卖中央厨房选址、向高层输送巨额贿赂”的核心嫌疑人——智库“印尼粮食安全审查”负责人格洛里（Glory Harimas Sihombing）。

根据总检察长办公室周四晚发布的声明，格洛里控制一些与中央厨房合作的基金会，并贿赂国家营养局原局长，以确保厨房选址获批。之后，格洛里将这些选址出售给有意设立中央厨房的企业。

总检察长办公室一名代表星期五（19日）告诉彭博社，当局还在计算格洛里涉嫌控制或出售的中央厨房选址数量，以及向国家营养局原局长提供的贿赂金额。

分析：伊朗把握中东地缘优势 美国难挽谈判劣势

2026年6月19日 19:54 / 联合早报

美伊签署停战谅解备忘录后，两国将展开后续谈判，预计地点是瑞士卢塞恩湖畔的比尔根山度假山庄 （图）。6月18日，山庄外可见安保人员站岗。 （路透社）

美国和伊朗终于签署了停战谅解备忘录，但专家学者普遍认为这一份协议一面倒对伊朗有利。受访学者认为，几个月的战事至此显示美国的军事大棒不仅无效，还受制于霍尔木兹海峡封闭，美方在接下来的谈判中能否扳回局面并不明朗；相反地，德黑兰政权经历战火仍屹立不倒，更摆出不惜再战的强硬态势，对于未来中东地缘政治的形塑握有优势。

美伊星期三（6月17日）公开的14点谅解备忘录显示，伊朗同意让霍尔木兹海峡恢复通行，有望换取美国撤销制裁、解冻资产，甚至获得各方出资3000亿美元重建国家经济；有关伊朗核计划的处理则延后谈判，对伊朗的弹道导弹更是只字未提。

南洋理工大学拉惹勒南国际研究院兼任高级研究员多西（James M. Dorsey）直言，德黑兰要的都得到了，特朗普只得到他本来就有的。“尽管伊朗付出了惨痛代价，但终究是赢了。”

多西接受《联合早报》访问时说：“虽然当中很多条款在落实时会引发争议，不过霍尔木兹海峡在战前是开放的，如今已不会完全恢复至战前状态。伊朗正在跟阿曼探讨管理框架，并可能与其他波斯湾国家达成共识，这让它掌握巨大优势。”

新加坡国立大学李光耀公共政策学院副院长曼奇尼副教授（Francesco Mancini）也指出，谅解备忘录的文本对伊朗向全球海运征收某种形式的费用保持开放，“这虽不会带来显著的经济利益，但却是重大的地缘政治胜利”。

以黎交火是备忘录持续最大考验

由于备忘录向德黑兰倾斜，受访学者都对美伊是否能达成最终协议持观望态度。

曼奇尼认为，双方就解冻资产、取消制裁和核计划的谈判都极其艰难。“双方缺乏互信，任何承诺随时都可反悔。未来60天内，双方会玩弄谈判伎俩，甚至可能重新交火。”

多西直指以色列是美伊达成初步和解的最大输家，而它与黎巴嫩真主党持续交火是对美伊谈判的最大考验。“上星期天（14日），在宣布签署备忘录前夕，真主党是不是跟伊朗串通，挑衅以色列向贝鲁特开火，制造了对自己有利的条件？真相没人知道，但情况可一再重演。”

多西也不认为，伊朗民生经济遭受战火重创会促使德黑兰政府妥协，在谈判中让美国扳回局面。

“美伊都不愿再全面开打，不过伊朗绝非承受不起，也摆明姿态不怕再打一轮……美国虽然一再表示谈不拢就打，不过军事大棒上一回无效，就算再坚持一阵或许有效，但绝不会一夜间成功。然而，国际社会已经受不起，美国总统特朗普说石油储备只能撑四周，这就是他的时限。”

德黑兰政权未倒 阿拉伯邻国须重建关系

去年6月，以色列和伊朗爆发12日战争，美军发动“午夜重锤”行动重创伊朗核设施，德黑兰政权看似不堪一击，让外界一度判定若它与美以全面开战将迅速倒台。岂料一年不到， 局势完全翻转。

澳大利亚格里菲斯大学亚洲研究所访问学者雷顿（Peter Layton）受访时说，伊朗如今在与强权开战中生存下来，还有能力影响全球经济，它会变得更有自信。“在战前，伊朗可与沙特阿拉伯在波斯湾分庭抗礼，战后依旧没有改变。伊朗如今有很高的期望，不仅要维持甚至超越以往的声势，也想要有更大的国际影响力。”

雷顿指出，这对以色列和其他阿拉伯邻国都有深远影响，特朗普说过“中东邻国可以有导弹，伊朗为何不可？”这显示他对以伊的立场已完全改变。“以色列或许真得重新思考战略，变得谦逊一些。”

他认为，备忘录中的3000亿美元重建基金显然是波斯湾邻国为了同伊朗建立新关系的策略之一。

“这些小国要自我塑造成中东瑞士的行销策略如今面临坍塌风险。他们现在必须接受，伊朗会很快恢复元气，还可任意控制霍尔木兹海峡……波斯湾邻国接下来做任何决策都会更优先考虑伊朗这个因素。”

不过，雷顿对中东的长远局势仍感乐观。他说：“伊朗和周边阿拉伯邻国一样，都需要投资于未来与和平。伊朗有充分理由不再陷入战争，为了自己的利益，保持和平远比军事威吓有效。”

曼奇尼说，美伊战事爆发前，伊朗刚经历一波民生困顿所引发的大规模示威浪潮，向伊朗注资的条款对伊朗政府的生存非常有用。

不过他警惕，这笔资金可能被用于重建军力和发展核武，而不是用于扶持经济。“对这笔资金的运用必须制定保障机制，但钱一旦脱手就难以控制。”

黄埔熟食中心油烟管起火浓烟冲天 约百人疏散无人受伤

2026年6月19日 19:53 / 联合早报

黄埔熟食中心（Whampoa Makan Place）星期五（6月19日）下午发生火患，一家西餐摊位的油烟管突然起火，浓烟冲天。民防部队迅速到场，约半小时内将火势扑灭，约100人被疏散，所幸无人受伤。

这起火患发生在下午约4时10分，地点是黄埔通道第91号的黄埔熟食中心。根据民防部队答复《联合早报》的说明，火患涉及一楼一个摊位的厨房排烟管道（KED），当局使用两支水枪和一台水喉管将火扑灭。

新加坡警方和民防部队为安全起见，疏散约100人。

事发视频显示，至少两辆消防车、两辆警车和一辆救护车先后到场，火势一度蔓延至建筑屋顶上方。

这起火患发生在下午约4时10分，地点是黄埔通道第91号的黄埔熟食中心。火患涉及一楼一个摊位的厨房排烟管道，当局使用两支水枪和一台水喉管将火扑灭。 （取自罗守恩脸书）

西餐摊主员工第一时间尝试灭火

《联合早报》记者傍晚6时抵达现场时，发现失火的是熟食中心内的“瑞利西餐”摊位。当时约50名食客和摊主聚集在熟食中心外，事故也吸引不少民众驻足围观。

瑞利西餐员工欧长家（73岁）受访时回忆，当时摊位开着小火，正在用铁板烹饪，他在摊位外吃饭。突然有人喊“摊位里有火光”，他立刻拿起三支灭火器尝试灭火，“灭了炉的小火，但火已经被吸上去了，灭不到”。

原来炉火虽被扑灭，但火势已窜入油烟管。

欧长家随后关闭煤气总开关，跑出熟食中心。他透露，两三年前煮食时也曾着火，当时由旁边摊主帮忙扑灭。

其他摊主协助灭火 92个摊位晚餐收入将受损

友谊咖啡茶室的王姓女员工（58岁）说，下午4时许摊位正忙碌，突然听到有人喊“着火”，西餐店方向冒出浓烟飘出中心外。约10分钟后消防车抵达，有摊主见状爬上桌子帮忙喷水灭火。

卤面摊主吴姓摊主（55岁）说，当时闻到浓重烟味，看到火光从西餐摊位冒出，一度非常害怕，后来才冷静下来。他提到，此前在咖啡店也经历过火患，心里仍有阴影。由于摊位离火源较远，他还有时间收好钱、手机和充电器。

火患发生在星期五下午，正值晚餐高峰前夕，众多摊主生意受到波及。

据王姓女员工估计，熟食中心内约92个摊位的晚餐收入将受损。警方一度拉起警戒线禁止人员进入，直至傍晚约7时才解除封锁，摊主获准返回摊位。

吴姓摊主则表示，恢复营业时间尚不明朗，明天能否开档也未可知，需先检查煤气设备。

议员发文感谢各方迅速合作 熟食中心暂关闭

惹兰勿刹集选区国会议员罗守恩约傍晚6时30分在脸书发文，庆幸无人受伤，并感谢民防部队、国家环境局、警察部队、职总平价合作社和惹兰勿刹市镇理事会迅速合作，保障大家安全并协助受影响摊主和居民。

他指出，需调查火患原因，等一切安全后才能重新开放熟食中心。

未来几天，市镇会将评估损坏情况并展开必要修复，国家环境局也会为受影响摊主提供协助。

Trump’s $300B Iran investment fund may be ‘close to impossible’ due to IRGC sanctions law, expert warns

2026-06-19T06:00:24-04:00 / Fox News

Expert says negotiators may not have been counting on a final deal, calling the fund structure unworkable

By Efrat Lachter Fox News

Published June 19, 2026 6:00am EDT

Iran deal’s $300B investment fund may be ‘almost impossible’ to implement, former Treasury official warns

Miad Maleki says the White House’s Iran memorandum sanctions promises raise doubts that negotiators were counting on a final deal, warning 180-day waivers are unlikely to attract serious investors.

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A proposed $300 billion investment fund for Iran included in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding may face major legal obstacles under existing U.S. sanctions law, raising questions about whether the plan is workable even if both sides move toward a final agreement.

The memorandum, digitally signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, is aimed at ending the war and restoring traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. As part of the 14-point plan, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions on Iran, allow Tehran to increase its oil revenue and regain access to parts of the international banking system, among other measures.

But one of the most ambitious parts of the framework — a proposed $300 billion private investment fund for Iran’s reconstruction and development — may collide with a longstanding U.S. determination that Iran’s construction sector is controlled directly or indirectly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The issue is not just technical. It goes to whether one of the central economic promises of the Trump-Iran framework can realistically be executed under current U.S. law. If the $300 billion fund depends on investment in sectors Washington has already identified as IRGC-controlled, experts say the administration may be forced to rely on temporary waivers or new licenses — a legal structure that could make long-term investors wary and complicate any final deal.

TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN RIPS INTO TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL, SAYS $300 BILLION MAKES OBAMA DEAL LOOK LIKE ‘A PITTANCE’

A proposed $300 billion investment fund for Iran included in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding may face major legal obstacles under existing U.S. sanctions law.(Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

The State Department formally determined in 2020, and again in May 2025, that Iran’s construction sector was controlled directly or indirectly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, known as IFCA, that finding creates sanctions risks for people or companies doing business in the sector.

Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control executive, told Fox News Digital that the legal and sanctions-related problems surrounding the fund are more complicated than simply asking whether Congress would have to approve it.

“I think Congress is unavoidable for a durable version of that investment,” Maleki said. “If we have a final deal and now as part of this commitment, the U.S. government and allies are going to have to go in and help Iran to set up this fund or get access to such a fund.”

Maleki said the president has meaningful unilateral authority to begin easing restrictions. Trump could revoke relevant executive orders, direct the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to issue general licenses and waive some congressional sanctions laws.

But he said that does not mean the fund would be durable enough to attract serious investors.

“Technically, the fund could be switched on through some kind of an executive action plan alone, but it would be on paper and it would have to be renewed every 180 days,” Maleki said, referring to waivers for mandatory sanctions tied to Iran’s construction sector.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

An Iranian police officer stands on patrol near a poster depicting Iranian soldiers holding a net shaped like the Strait of Hormuz with U.S. military aircraft ensnared in Tehran, Iran, on May 9, 2026.(Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

“If you’re anyone who is in an investment-type business, it’s hard to find someone who would be investing in construction-type projects that take time,” he added. “These projects are not like 180-day projects.”

The concern, Maleki said, is especially acute in Iran, where investors would face sanctions uncertainty, political risk and an unreliable partner.

“It’s hard to find someone who would be investing … based on something that could not just be renewed if Iran, especially in the context of Iran, where you don’t really have a reliable partner, where things can blow up any minute,” he said.

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

A woman walks past a billboard showing a military hand holding the Strait of Hormuz with Farsi text which reads, “In Iran’s hands forever,” “Trump couldn’t do a damn thing,” “The control of Strait of Hormuz will be Iran’s forever,” in Vanak Square, in northern Tehran, Iran, on April 16, 2026.(Vahid Salemi/AP)

That structure raises a broader question about whether negotiators were truly expecting the memorandum to mature into a final, durable agreement.

“The more I’ve been digging into this memorandum of understanding, sanctions paragraphs of this memorandum, the more I have come to this kind of doubt that the negotiators really were counting on a final deal to be reached,” Maleki said.

“If you do get to a final agreement and you’re looking into actually meeting the commitments that you made, this $300 billion investment fund, it’s not something you can really set up,” he added. “I think it would be almost close to impossible to get something that would materialize.”

READ IT: THE FULL TEXT OF THE US-IRAN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING:

Iranians burn American flags during an anti-U.S. demonstration outside the former U.S. embassy headquarters in Tehran, Iran, on May 9, 2018, after President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.(Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Maleki said one possible explanation is that the U.S. side may view its role as limited to providing sanctions relief, while leaving Iran and potential investors to sort out whether the fund can actually be built.

“We’re going to give them the waivers that they need. If they can’t find investors to invest in this, that’s their problem,” he said, describing one possible view of the negotiators’ approach.

The Treasury Department and the Iranian mission to the U.N. did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The issue could become a congressional flashpoint. Because IFCA waivers are limited to 180 days and require justification to Congress, any long-term investment framework for Iran could force the administration to repeatedly defend why sanctions tied to an IRGC-controlled sector should be suspended.

The legal obstacles also come as critics warn the pact gives Iran major economic benefits while leaving some of the most difficult nuclear and security questions for future negotiations. Maleki said the U.S. had already built significant leverage over Iran through sanctions, military pressure and the blockade, but may now be trading that leverage for the reopening of Hormuz.

“We reached a point that we had leverage that no U.S. president has ever had with Iran,” Maleki said. “Yet we gave that away for this, for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.”

He argued that Iran is likely to use the process to delay rather than rush toward a final agreement.

“Iran is going to go back to its playbook of dragging, buying time with the sanctions relief-type incentives that I’m seeing in this package,” Maleki said. “I do not think that the Iranian regime is going to rush to get to a deal.”

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A man applies fresh paint to an anti-U.S. mural on a building wall on Karim Khan Zand Avenue in Tehran on April 8, 2025. The mural features the slogan “Down with the USA” and skulls replacing stars on the U.S. flag.(Atta Kenare/AFP)

John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America and a former national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, warned that any economic windfall from the agreement could help the IRGC rebuild.

“It’s almost certain that the IRGC will use any economic windfall granted by this MOU to reconstitute as much of their conventional military as possible as fast as possible — especially the vast missile and drone arsenal that the IRGC believes proved critical to the strategic successes they achieved during the war,” Hannah told Fox News Digital.

Efrat Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering international affairs and the United Nations. Follow her on X @efratlachter. Stories can be sent to efrat.lachter@fox.com.

Trump’s new acting intel chief Bill Pulte arrives early, eyes firing hundreds

2026-06-19T08:00:25.816Z / CNN

• Trump’s acting intelligence chief Bill Pulte arrived a day early after asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN
• Sources say Pulte is considering cutting hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
• Pulte previously did not have a security clearance and has no intelligence experience before taking the role.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

President Donald Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, showed up at his new job a day early on Thursday after asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

The sources said Pulte is eyeing to cut hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Pulte’s appearance at ODNI on Thursday caught staff off-guard, including the outgoing director, Tulsi Gabbard, who was given a brief heads up on the visit. Trump himself has said that Pulte, who is a Trump loyalist with no intelligence experience, would start his job on Friday.

Pulte met with lawyers and staffers during his visit, the sources told CNN.

In his only other briefing with ODNI last week, Pulte asked staff if he could bring the President’s Daily Brief to his house, raising alarm bells among intelligence officials, according to one of the sources. That briefing is a highly classified set of intelligence on key national security matters of the day. The second source pushed back on this characterization, noting that the PDB is provided electronically.

Pulte also asked about his level of security clearance — whether it was a top-secret — and if he had access to a government plane, the first source said, even though the briefing was meant to explain the core mission of ODNI to Pulte.

CNN has reached out to the White House and ODNI for comment.

CNN previously reported that before Pulte was announced to lead the US intelligence community, he did not have a security clearance granting him access to highly-classified information — meaning he lacked what has long been considered a basic prerequisite for the job.

Another source familiar told CNN that Pulte has repeatedly inquired about his schedule and whether he gets his own government plane, appearing almost overly fixated on his ability to travel between DC, Florida and Chicago — between which he splits his time.

“That was a bit odd,” the source said about Pulte’s questions related to his schedule and the demands of the job.

Pulte had also asked for a protective security detail even before starting the job, according to the first source.

The episodes, which have not previously been reported, indicate that Pulte feels empowered to begin his tenure as spy chief in an aggressive fashion. Trump has already given him a mandate to further shrink the intelligence community and pursue the president’s false claims of election fraud.

There is concern from Democrats — and some Republicans — on Capitol Hill that he is unfit for the job and that he could go further than Gabbard did in embracing Trump’s grievances in what is supposed to be an apolitical role.

Pulte’s standing in Trump’s eyes grew over the last year when, as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, he sent the Justice Department criminal referrals on allegations of mortgage fraud against multiple Democrats who have pushed investigations into Trump. Now, critics fear, the 38-year-old former businessman will have an even bigger platform to pursue Trump’s vendettas.

“This isn’t something to overthink — President Trump wanted someone in that position who is a true loyalist, who will do what he wants him to do. He has that in Bill,” one source close to Pulte previously told CNN.

Now, Pulte takes the job overseeing 18 intelligence agencies as the US and Iran enter an agreement to end a four-month war in which Gabbard played an unusually marginal role for a spy chief. He also enters a job that Gabbard has used to hunt for evidence of voter fraud around the 2020 election that Trump lost. That pursuit risked crossing a crucial line between foreign and domestic intelligence activities instituted after Watergate, former intelligence officials and election law experts have told CNN.

Even before Thursday, Pulte was eager to start as acting DNI. He called Gabbard last week and told her that he was taking over, two sources familiar with the phone call told CNN. Gabbard, who had been assured by the White House that she would remain in the post through the end of the month, was shocked and told Pulte she would need to hear it from Trump himself. Later, Gabbard spoke to Trump who asked her what day would work for her to depart the office, and the two settled on June 19. (Axios first reported that exchange.)

On Thursday, Pulte tried to attend Gabbard’s send-off ceremony at ODNI and asked to speak, the source familiar with the episode indicated.

Pulte’s elevation within Trump’s orbit has even irked some of Trump’s closest advisers and allies. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has kept a tight circle around the president, one that Pulte has completely circumvented through direct calls to the president.

“Every weekend, every trip — he makes sure he is by the president’s side,” one Trump adviser told CNN.

Trump has said Pulte will remain director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency while serving as acting director of national intelligence (DNI). The move left many intelligence professionals scratching their heads because the spy chief is not considered a part-time job.

Pulte could have more time than anticipated as acting DNI after disarray this week in the nomination process for Trump’s permanent pick for the role, Jay Clayton. Trump directed Clayton to skip his own confirmation on Wednesday over a bitter dispute on Capitol Hill over a lapsed surveillance law, among other issues.

Pressed on the status of Clayton’s nomination, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “I’ve never been asked to slow a nomination down before, so that’s probably a good question for the White House.”

Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton issued a rare statement of disapproval at Trump’s move, calling it “regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today.”

A senior Senate GOP aide told CNN: “There’s a lot of frustration in the conference. We want to support and advance the President’s agenda but it’s getting more difficult to do with the consistent curve balls out of left field.”

Pulte did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. CNN has requested comment on Pulte’s priorities for his new job from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he does not know what Pulte’s priorities will be on the job and emphasized that the goal should be looking past Pulte’s tenure and getting Clayton in the job permanently as quickly as possible.

“I’ve had no interaction with him for months” Rounds said of Pulte. “I think the most important thing for us is to get Jay in as quickly as possible as the Director of National Intelligence.”

Trump told reporters this month that Pulte “may find out some things about the rigged elections … I think he wants to do it very much.”

For election officials, it reinforced a fear that the undermining of confidence in elections from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence may not stop with Gabbard’s departure.

“DNI Gabbard, whose role regarding elections is limited to foreign interference, spent 18 months and untold taxpayer dollars and resources trying to give substance to lies about the 2020 election … and found absolutely nothing,” said David Becker, an election law expert who is executive director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.

Becker, who works with election officials from both parties, said he worries that “Pulte has been hand-picked to replace her precisely because he too embraces the lies and conspiracy theories while ignoring the evidence.”

澳大利亚南极局于6月18日发布的照片显示，一个野生动物小组正在评估赫德岛上南部象海豹大规模死亡的地点。 （法新社）

澳大利亚宣布，在西南部偏远地区发现首个疑似H5N1禽流感病例。

路透社报道，西澳大利亚州农业部长贾维斯星期五（6月19日）说，在勒格兰角国家公园（Cape Le Grand National Park）发现的候鸟褐贼鸥（brown skua）禽流感病毒检测呈阳性，目前正在进行检测以确认病毒株。

贾维斯说：“我们非常重视这个疑似H5禽流感病例。如果确定为H5禽流感入侵，我们将迅速采取协调一致的全国应对措施。”

自2021年以来，高致病性的H5禽流感病毒株已在野生鸟类和哺乳动物中传播，造成数百万只动物死亡，并感染家禽和奶牛场内的动物，甚至一些农场工人。

澳大利亚是目前唯一尚未出现确诊病例的大陆，当局一直在为疫情的到来做准备，包括加强农场的生物安全措施、对滨鸟进行疾病检测、为易感物种接种疫苗以及制定应对方案。

环境部长瓦特发布的声明中说：“如果疫情得到证实，这无疑将是一个非常令人担忧的进展，但澳大利亚过去几年一直在为此做好准备。”

贾维斯说，预计将于星期六（20日）公布确认已死亡的褐贼鸥是否感染禽流感的检测结果。她补充说，在同一地区还发现一只患病的巨鹱（giant petrel），目前正在进行禽流感检测。

As union leader, Democrat-backed Senate candidate Dan Osborn helped alert ICE to claims of undocumented workers

2026-06-19T09:00:25.669Z / CNN

Dan Osborn, the Democratic Party–backed independent running for Senate in Nebraska, has spent part of his campaign courting voters critical of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement.

He has sharply condemned the president’s tactics, criticizing the use of masked agents, saying that immigrant labor is essential to Nebraska’s economy and that federal raids on factories and restaurants are hurting business owners.

Complicating that message is Osborn’s role as a labor leader during a bitter strike five years ago at an Omaha Kellogg’s cereal plant. In the midst of the strike, Osborn and his union worked to alert federal immigration authorities to allegations that Kellogg’s replaced striking workers with undocumented immigrants.

“Kellogg’s bringing in replacement workers, we have it on good authority that they’re replacing us with a good percentage of undocumented workers,” Osborn said in December 2021 on a pro-union podcast. “We have been in contact with Homeland Security and ICE. We’ve made our claims. I hope they do the right thing and investigate our claims.”

Osborn offered no evidence in the interview that Kellogg’s was employing undocumented workers, and CNN could not independently verify the allegation. While reporting at the time documented Kellogg’s use of temporary replacement labor, no public reporting identified any of those workers as undocumented, and CNN’s review of the record found no evidence supporting the claim. Kellogg’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Osborn’s campaign now says he never personally contacted ICE or DHS. Instead, Osborn called the local sheriff’s department to ask how such allegations should be reported, the campaign said in a statement to CNN. He then passed that guidance to his team, the campaign said, while others contacted federal authorities on their own “in their individual capacity.”

A spokesperson for ICE declined to confirm or deny whether the agency received any tip connected to the Kellogg’s strike, citing a policy of not identifying people who report suspected immigration violations.

Less than two weeks after Osborn’s podcast appearance, workers ratified a new contract and the 77-day strike came to an end.

Osborn has built his political identity as a pro-labor populist independent — a Navy veteran and former union president who lost but overperformed in a 2024 Senate run and is now relying on a coalition that depends heavily on Democratic voters who, polling shows, have grown sharply hostile to ICE.

Osborn’s comments from 2021 could complicate that effort, especially as immigration enforcement has become one of the most polarizing issues in American politics — and as Osborn attempts a balancing act that few candidates have managed.

His independent brand depends on holding together Trump voters drawn to his economic populism and Democrats who anchor his coalition, and no issue strains that coalition more than immigration.

On the trail Osborn has tried to occupy the middle, pairing tough border language with sympathy for longtime undocumented residents.

He has said he wants longtime undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship, that immigrant labor is essential to filling Nebraska’s open jobs, and that undocumented immigrants should be able to get Social Security cards as part of their process of becoming legal immigrants. He says he supports immigration reform, but only when the border is secure with a wall.

Osborn’s also been unsparing in some of his criticism of Trump’s immigration tactics.

“I mentioned that it’s hurting businesses, but it’s also not humanly decent,” Osborn said on The Bulwark podcast in August 2025. “We’re seeing factories, get raided, meat cutters get raided. We’re seeing people not showing up to work at restaurants. We are seeing business owners get hurt by this immigration policy. So the economic conservative side of me is extremely worried about that.”

A 2025 Pew Research Center survey underscores the political tension around ICE for Democratic-backed candidates like Osborn: while 72% of Republicans viewed ICE favorably, Democrats overwhelmingly viewed the agency negatively, with just 13% expressing a favorable opinion and 78% viewing it unfavorably.

A tense labor standoff with Kellogg’s

Osborn’s 2021 comments came in the midst of what was then a tense standoff between Kellogg’s and the labor union Osborn was leading at the time.

Roughly 1,400 Kellogg’s workers across four US plants walked off the job over wages, benefits and the company’s two-tier employment system, which paid newer hires lower wages and offered fewer benefits than longtime “legacy” workers. As the strike dragged on, Kellogg’s threatened to permanently replace striking workers and continued operating plants with replacement labor.

At the time, Osborn was serving as president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 50G. The strike ended after 77 days, when workers ratified a new contract on December 21, 2021, that raised wages for workers and created a path for newer employees to move into legacy positions. “It will be difficult to go back. There is a lot of tarnished relationships that we will work diligently to repair,” said Osborn at the time.

Asked by CNN about his efforts to alert authorities to Kellogg’s replacement workers , Osborn’s campaign sought to draw a distinction between the candidate and others involved in the strike, saying he personally never contacted federal immigration authorities.

“Dan contacted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department to inquire about the proper procedures for how to investigate and report that the company was replacing their striking workers with undocumented workers. He passed the information from the Sheriff’s office along to members of his team,” his campaign told CNN. “Many of the individuals who raised the concerns about Kellogg’s replacing the striking workers with undocumented workers contacted DHS and ICE in their individual capacity. Dan never contacted DHS and ICE himself.”

The Nebraska Democratic Party’s decision not to field its own Senate candidate and instead back Osborn stems largely from his unexpectedly strong 2024 Senate run, when, running as an independent, he lost to Republican Sen. Deb Fischer by roughly 7 points in a state Donald Trump carried by about 20 points.

During that campaign, Osborn frequently blended tougher border rhetoric with calls for broader immigration reform. In campaign materials, he argued that “illegal immigration creates a pool of cheap labor with no rights and is detrimental to every American worker,” while also emphasizing the economic importance of legal immigration.

Osborn’s campaign casts the Kellogg’s episode in those same terms, as a fight against corporate power rather than against immigrants.

“When we were on strike against Kellogg’s, we received reports that they may be bringing undocumented labor as our permanent replacements, and members of the community stood up to protect these local union jobs and hold corporate power accountable,” Osborn said in a statement. “There’s a reason why we haven’t had real immigration reform in this country: mega-corporations who use Citizens United to fund career politicians in DC are benefitting from our broken immigration system by exploiting undocumented immigrants to create a cheap pool of labor, driving down wages to boost their own profits while undercutting American workers.”

Osborn now is mounting a second straight Senate run, this time against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts — a former governor and Trump endorsee.

In a September 2024 campaign ad, Osborn declared: “I’m where President Trump is on corruption, China, the border. If Trump needs help building the wall — well, I’m pretty handy.” He also said: “Social security to illegals? Who would be for that?”

At the same time, Osborn also spoke sympathetically about long-term undocumented immigrants already living in the United States.

“These people are our friends. They’re our neighbors. A lot of them have been here 30 years or more, and I think it’s time they get into Social Security already,” Osborn said during a 2024 interview, while also arguing Nebraska could “certainly use immigrant labor” to help fill open jobs.