Pyongyang Still Seeks Summit | Irish Abortion Referendum | Apple's Patent Case Win

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. May 25, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA North Korea Says Still Open to Talks With U.S. Editor's note: There will be no Daily Brief on Monday, May 28, for Memorial Day. Pyongyang said it is still open to dialogue (Korea Times) after U.S. President Donald J. Trump canceled an upcoming U.S.-North Korea summit, noting that the surprise U.S. move on Thursday showed the "deep-rooted hostile relationship" between the parties. President Trump praised the North Korean response on Twitter early Friday. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, after holding an emergency national security meeting, said he was embarrassed by the U.S. announcement (Nikkei). The decision to call off the meeting came hours after North Korea demolished its only known nuclear test site as a sign of goodwill ahead of the summit. ANALYSIS "A shadow lurks over the would-be peacemaker's political standing. Already, South Korean opposition parties are criticizing Moon for being naive on the international stage," Kim Jaewon writes for the Nikkei Asian Review. "There was no way the summit could have succeeded so long as the Trump administration defined success as a North Korean agreement to total denuclearization," CFR President Richard N. Haass writes for Axios. "Kim [Jong-un's] diplomatic outreach has been driven by multiple motives—from seeking relief from the maximum pressure campaign to pursuing a new national strategy of economic development. He has little to gain from a return to the tensions of last year," write CFR's Patricia M. Kim and Jeremy Fuller. PACIFIC RIM Malaysian Police Seize Funds From Former PM's Homes Police found $38 million in more than two dozen currencies across apartments linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering and theft at the 1MDB state development fund (Straits Times). On the Asia Unbound blog, Richard Javad Heydarian discusses Malaysia's recent election stunner. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA U.S. Efforts in Afghanistan 'Mostly Failed,' Says Report The $4.7 billion U.S. stabilization effort in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2017 "often exacerbated conflicts, enabled corruption, and bolstered support for insurgents," the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report released yesterday (Tolo). This CFR panel examined the United States' longest war. PAKISTAN: Senators approved of a constitutional amendment to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Dawn) with the neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The bill will next go to provincial lawmakers for a vote. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Global Powers Meet in Vienna to Talk Iran Nuclear Deal Envoys from Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia will meet with Iran's deputy foreign minister today for talks on doing business with Iran (Reuters) despite U.S. sanctions. Iran has said it will honor restrictions on its nuclear program (RFE/RL) if foreign powers assure Tehran they will maintain business ties. In Foreign Affairs, Ariane M. Tabatabai discusses how Iran could respond to the U.S. decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement. SAUDI ARABIA: Four of at least eleven women activists arrested last week have been released from detention, human rights advocates said today. Their arrests came just weeks before Saudi Arabia is set to lift its decades-old ban (AFP) on women drivers. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Eritrean Leader Makes Rare Public Appearance President Isaias Afewerki, who has ruled Eritrea since its 1991 independence (BBC), denounced what he called diplomatic subversion and economic sabotage by other countries in an independence day speech yesterday (MoI). Afewerki was thought to be abroad for medical treatment. CAMEROON: The external relations minister rebuked comments (Journal du Cameroun) by the U.S. ambassador to the country, who accused the Cameroonian army of human rights abuses and suggested that President Paul Biya should consider stepping down (BBC). EUROPE Countries to Hold Russia to Account for MH17 Crash The Netherlands said it and Australia will seek to hold Moscow criminally liable for a missile attack that downed a Malaysia Airlines flight (RFE/RL) over Ukraine in 2014. A Dutch-led international probe determined the missile was fired by a Russian military brigade. IRELAND: Voters will head to the polls today for a referendum on repealing a constitutional ban on abortion (Irish Times). AMERICAS Brasilia Reaches Deal With Truck Drivers to End Strike The Brazilian government said will cut taxes on fuel and introduce other measures to help truckers unions after a four-day strike that disrupted the economy (WSJ) and left many businesses without supplies. CANADA: Police are searching for two suspects after an improvised explosive device detonated at a restaurant (Globe and Mail) outside of Toronto yesterday, injuring fifteen people. UNITED STATES Jury Awards Apple $539 Million in Patent Case A U.S. jury ruled yesterday that Samsung Electronics must pay Apple $539 million (Reuters) for smartphone patent infringements. Samsung had already paid the rival tech company $399 million for some infringements. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, said the Trump administration will seek to "deny Iran the wealth to do bad stuff" (VOA) and will use sanctions to force it to "behave like a normal nation."         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: May 25, 2018 at 10:10PM