Daily Brief: Facebook Raises Estimate of Russia's U.S. Election Reach

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. October 31, 2017 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Facebook Raises Estimate of Russia's U.S. Election Reach Russia-based operatives published some eighty million posts on Facebook (Reuters) over a two-year period in an attempt to influence U.S. politics, reaching an estimated 126 million Americans, the social media company said Monday. The latest total far exceeds earlier disclosed estimates by the social media giant and is included in written testimony to be presented to U.S. lawmakers in hearings starting on Tuesday. Google publicly acknowledged for the first time on Monday it found evidence Russian operatives had used Youtube to influence American voters (WaPo). Twitter is expected to tell lawmakers it identified 2,752 accounts managed by one Russian firm (BBC), as well as more than thirty-six thousand automated accounts, or bots, that sent out 1.4 million tweets during the campaign. ANALYSIS "As a public and as citizens, we no longer know if we're seeing the same information or what anybody else is seeing, and without a common basis of information, little by little, public debate is becoming impossible," the University of North Carolina's Zeynep Tufekci said in a TED Talk. "The [Supreme] Court's vision of an internet able to inoculate democratic debate against the influx of money was always unrealistic," writes CFR's Karen Kornbluh. "The potential for Facebook to have an impact on an election was clear for at least half a decade before Donald Trump was elected," Alexis C. Madrigal writes for the Atlantic. PACIFIC RIM Seoul, Beijing to Mend Ties After U.S. Missile Defense Standoff Seoul and Beijing are seeking to bolster relations after a year-long standoff over China's opposition to the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea (Reuters), according to the latter's foreign ministry. The two countries' leaders will meet at a summit next week in Vietnam (Korea Times). NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand's climate change minister said the government is considering creating a new visa category for climate change refugees (Radio NZ). SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA India Opens New Trade Route to Afghanistan India has dispatched its first shipment of wheat along a new trade route to Afghanistan that bypasses Pakistan by using the Iranian port of Chabahar (VOA). Six more shipments totaling 1.1 million tons are expected over the coming months. CFR's Alyssa Ayres discusses India's role in stabilizing Afghanistan in The Print. PAKISTAN: ExxonMobil has pulled out of a project to import liquefied natural gas to Pakistan (Reuters) through Karachi's Port Qasim, undermining what would have been a major boost to imports after years of winter gas shortages. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Civilians Killed in Strike on Libya's Derna Seventeen people, including a woman and four children, were reported killed in an air strike in the city of Derna (Libya Express), according to local media. It was not yet clear which country carried out the strike (Al Jazeera). GULF: The International Monetary Fund has projected economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Community (Middle East Eye) to be just 0.5 percent this year and advised the oil-exporting nations to diversify their economies away from petroleum. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA U.S. Pledges $60 Million for Multinational Sahel Force The United States pledged $60 million on Monday (WSJ) toward a UN-backed antiterrorism force of five thousand soldiers from five West African countries. The force's annual operating budget is expected to be $500 million (NYT). ETHIOPIA: A war crimes trial for Eshetu Alemu, an aide to former communist leader Mengistu Haile Mariam, began at The Hague on Monday. Alemu is accused of ordering seventy-five people executed (BBC) during the 1970s. EUROPE Facing Charges, Catalan Leader Goes to Belgium Deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont traveled with several of his cabinet members to Brussels on Monday amid speculation he may seek asylum in Belgium (FT). Prosecutors in Madrid have charged him with rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement (DW). R. Joseph Huddleston discusses the roots of the Catalan independence crisis in Foreign Affairs. AZERBAIJAN: The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey inaugurated on Monday a new five-hundred-mile rail line (Reuters) connecting the three countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the railway, which links Europe and China while bypassing Russia, is "part of a big Silk Road." AMERICAS Brazil Posts Record Homicide Toll for 2016 More than sixty-one thousand people were murdered in Brazil last year (LAHT), according to data from the nongovernmental Brazilian Public Safety Forum. The total, up 4 percent from 2015, is Brazil's highest on record. Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo de Carvalho discuss Latin America's homicide epidemic in Foreign Affairs. VENEZUELA: Three opposition parties have said they will not participate in municipal elections (BBC) in December, claiming the voting system is rigged in favor of President Nicolas Maduro's ruling party. UNITED STATES Three Former Trump Aides Charged in Russia Probe Special counsel Robert Mueller, leading a probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, has charged Paul Manafort, a former campaign manager for President Donald J. Trump, as well as campaign advisors Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos with crimes including money laundering and conspiracy against the United States. Manafort and Gates surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (NYT), while Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents and is cooperating with Mueller's team.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: October 31, 2017 at 10:01PM