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Korean War Remains | Record Afghanistan Air Strikes | UN Cash Shortage

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Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. July 27, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA U.S. Receives Korean War Remains North Korea returned what it said were the remains of fifty-five Americans killed during the 1950–53 Korean War to the United States. The White House said the move is signaling positive change (NYT) in Pyongyang and could serve as momentum for diplomacy over North Korean denuclearization. The remains were taken on a U.S. transport plane to South Korea before being moved to Hawaii (Korea Times) for analysis. Some 7,700 U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War are still officially missing (VOA), and the remains of more than five thousand of them are believed to be in North Korea. ANALYSIS “Although POW/MIA (prisoners of war/missing-in-action) remains recovery would appear to be an easy humanitarian confidence building step completely unrelated to American denuclearization demands, working-level communication regarding the handover has become an example of the depth of distrust between the two sides,” writes CFR’s Scott A. Snyder. “The end state on the Korean Peninsula and the path followed to get to that end state must leave the United States in a stronger position in the region vis-à-vis China, without turning a rising China into an adversary,” Ferial Saeed writes for War on the Rocks. “The scale of the problem faced by [nuclear weapons] inspectors is immense and unprecedented. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has 300 inspectors. The large number of facilities poses a daunting challenge let alone all barriers and impediments North Koreans are likely to put up,” Kim Chong Woo and Ham Geon Hee write for the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. U.S.-Russia Relations With Michael McFaul The former U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation joins CFR’s James M. Lindsay to discuss the fraught relationship between the United States and Russia on this episode of the President’s Inbox.   PACIFIC RIM Philippines Gives Troubled Island More Autonomy President Rodrigo Duterte signed legislation that grants more autonomy (Nikkei) to the southern island of Mindanao to try to ease years of conflict with Islamist rebels. Duterte said he will meet the head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group, to discuss a 2014 peace deal (Phil Star). SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Former Cricket Star Khan Claims Victory in Pakistan Imran Khan of the center-right PTI party promised a new governance strategy (CNN) in Pakistan, while leaders of other parties claimed vote-rigging or faulty tallying in yesterday’s general election. PTI received at least 114 of 270 seats (Dawn) in the National Assembly. CFR’s Alyssa Ayres writes that Khan’s postelection speech laid out some foreign policy priorities, with China at the top of the list. AFGHANISTAN: The U.S. led coalition in Afghanistan dropped 2,911 weapons (VOA) on the country in the first half of 2018. The previous high, 2170 bombs, was set over the same period in 2011. Experts at this CFR event examined the United States’ longest war. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA U.S.-Led Coalition Admits a Thousand Civilian Deaths in Iraq, Syria The U.S.-led coalition fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State said its roughly thirty thousand air strikes in the region have killed 1,059 civilians (VOA) since August 2014. A UK-based monitoring group has put the death toll as high as 9,947 civilians. IRAN: Major General Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, warned U.S. President Trump (BBC) that Iran is ready for war if provoked by the United States. The statement comes days after Trump threatened severe consequences for Iran. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Manager of Ethiopian Dam Project Found Dead The chief engineer for the country’s massive Renaissance Dam project was found dead in a car (DW) near a busy public square in the capital of Addis Ababa. The dam construction has heightened tensions with Egypt and Sudan over Nile River access. EUROPE Pence Threatens Turkey Over Jailed U.S. Pastor U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Turkey will face "significant sanctions" (VOA) if it does not free a U.S. pastor accused by Ankara of supporting U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish foreign minister said the country will “never tolerate threats.” GREECE: Government officials said there were “serious indications” that wildfires near Athens that killed more than eighty people earlier this week were the result of arson (Ekathimerini). AMERICAS Privatization Begins for Brazilian State Electric Firm Brazilian firm Equatorial Energia bought state-owned Eletrobras’s unit (LAHT) in northeastern Piaui State for a symbolic $13,500. Eletrobras, Latin America’s largest power utility, has begun a controversial privatization program (Reuters). UNITED STATES Hundreds of Migrant Families Still Separated More than seven hundred migrant children in the United States remained separated (WaPo) from their parents despite a court-ordered Thursday deadline for the Trump administration to reunite them. Around 430 parents were deported. GLOBAL UN Chief Raises Alarm Over Cash Shortage Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations is facing a cash shortfall (NYT) due to delayed contributions by members states; so far, 112 of 193 member states have paid their annual assessments in full. Leaders of the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—issued a joint statement that backs the “importance of an open world economy” (AFP) in the face of economic policy changes in some major economies, an apparent reference to rising U.S. protectionism. CFR’s Shannon K. O’Neil writes that Latin American leaders are looking past the United States on trade.         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: July 27, 2018 at 10:12PM