EU Migration Deal | Mexican Election | Syrians at Israeli Border

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. June 29, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA EU Leaders Reach Migration Deal, But Details Hazy Following talks that went into the early hours on Friday, European leaders in Brussels reached an agreement (Guardian) on handling migrant flows into the region, a deal with which Italy’s new populist government said it was satisfied. The group agreed to set up migrant screening centers on a voluntary basis to ease the burden (NYT) faced by frontline countries Greece, Italy, and Spain and said it will look into opening processing centers in North African countries. The pact also calls for member states (CNN) to support a “substantial socio-economic transformation” in Africa by providing aid and encouraging private investment. It is unclear whether the deal will satisfy hard-liners within the Italian and German governments. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and fellow leaders “still have a lot of work to do to bridge the different views” on immigration. ANALYSIS “Europe is not facing a crisis on anything like the scale of 2015, when thousands of migrants were arriving in the Greek islands on a daily basis. The European Council says the numbers illegally entering the EU have dropped 96 per cent since their peak in October 2015,” Michael Peel and Mehreen Khan write for the Financial Times. “The breakthrough on Thursday is temporary. The EU’s core problem—solidarity on migration among its member states—has not been solved, but only put off until a later date,” Bernd Riegert writes for Deutsche Welle. “Italy, however, is the country calling the shots right now, and finally, it seems, Europe will have no choice but to listen,” Barbie Latza Nadeau writes for the Daily Beast. Summer Reading Special With Guest Carlos Lozada Looking for nonfiction book recommendations to kick off your summer? In this annual episode, hosts Jim Lindsay and Bob McMahon join Washington Post critic Carlos Lozada to discuss their top book picks for the summer.   AMERICAS Campaigning Closes Ahead of Mexican Election An electoral blackout began on Thursday (LAHT), three days before a Sunday election expected to bring former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to power. Lopez Obrador, or AMLO, holds a twenty-three-point lead (FT) in recent polls over his nearest competitor. CFR’s Shannon K. O’Neil discusses whether AMLO will bring change to Mexico. GUATEMALA: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with leaders from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in the latter’s capital to discuss migration and border security issues. Pence said the exodus of Central American migrants (WaPo) “has to end.” Experts discussed what’s next for U.S. policy in Central America in this CFR conference call. PACIFIC RIM China Warns U.S. Over Taiwan Presence The U.S. State Department reportedly requested the deployment of Marines (CNN) to protect the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson urged Washington on Friday to “exercise caution” to avoid affecting bilateral ties with Beijing. AUSTRALIA: The country awarded British defense contractor BAE a $25.7 billion contract to build nine warships (BBC) in a deal seen as a boon for UK military exports. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA New U.S. Commander Headed to Afghanistan The U.S. Senate confirmed the head of the Joint Special Operations Command, Lieutenant General Austin Scott Miller, to oversee U.S. and NATO troops (Hill) in Afghanistan. Miller, succeeding General John Nicholson, will be the seventeenth commander (Tolo) in the seventeen-year war. CFR’s Courtney Cooper argues that cease-fires could pave a path to peace in Afghanistan. PAKISTAN: High courts barred former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and one of his ministers from running in an upcoming general election (Guardian). MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Syrian Refugees, Fleeing Bombardment, Near Israeli Border The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it delivered aid, including food, baby formula, and medical equipment, overnight to several thousand Syrian refugees who have fled a government-led offensive in the south (Haaretz) to camps in the Golan Heights. The IDF has said it will not allow Syrian refugees to cross over the border, citing national security concerns. IRAQ: Iraq executed twelve members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State following an order by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to immediately carry out death sentences (Al Jazeera) for hundreds of suspected fighters. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Study: Bad Air Behind Child Deaths in Africa An estimated four hundred thousand children under the age of five in Africa died in 2015 alone (Quartz) due to poor air quality, according to a new study in the journal Nature. Polluted air often leads to pneumonia. ZIMBABWE: President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the cause of a blast at a campaign rally he held (Herald) last weekend was a hand grenade. Mnangagwa blamed rivals within his own party (Reuters) for the attack, which killed two people and injured dozens of others. CFR’s Michelle D. Gavin looks at political violence in Zimbabwe. EUROPE Ten Charged Over Anti-Muslim Plot in France French authorities arrested ten people from a group known as Operational Forces Action that was suspected of planning an attack targeting Muslims (AFP). Authorities recovered firearms and grenades during raids to arrest the group of suspects, which included a retired police officer and former soldier. UNITED STATES House Backs $675 Billion Military Spending Bill The spending bill will now go to the Senate (AP), where a similar package was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last week. The legislation includes a 2.6 percent raise for servicemembers. The U.S. branch of Germany’s Deutsche Bank failed a stress test (WSJ) by the Federal Reserve, which said the bank had “widespread and critical deficiencies across [its] capital planning practices,” including revenue forecasting and risk-management controls.         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: June 29, 2018 at 10:06PM