Kim, Moon to Meet in April

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. March 29, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Kim, Moon to Meet in April South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to meet April 27 in the border village of Panmunjom in what will be the first inter-Korean summit in eleven years and just the third meeting ever between leaders from the North and South. The South's unification minister said the summit will be the start of a journey (Korea Times) toward "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." The announcement comes days after the North's leader traveled to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping (Reuters), Kim's first foreign trip since becoming supreme leader. President Donald J. Trump is also expected to meet with Kim in the coming months, though a date for a visit by the U.S. leader has not been set. ANALYSIS "Now, with a [nuclear] program he feels confident is a proven threat, [Kim] feels emboldened to force the region's leaders to treat him as an equal, not as the young son of a dictator who inherited power," Jean H. Lee said in an interview with the Washington Post. "Given how weak Beijing's ties to Pyongyang are, and given China's own concerns about North Korea's nuclear program, the two great powers may find surprising common ground," Oriana Skylar Mastro writes for Foreign Affairs. "[Trump's] historic willingness to both bomb and talk may achieve a resolution that could open up a way to bring North Korea in out of the cold," Michael Breen writes for the Nikkei Asian Review. PACIFIC RIM Airbnb to Share Data of Guests in China The lodging app Airbnb will begin sharing some of guests' personal information (BBC) with Chinese authorities to follow the country's "appropriate rules and regulations," a company spokesperson said. Unlike in other countries, Airbnb guests in China provide their passport numbers when booking. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai Returns Home The Nobel laureate returned to her country more than five years after she was attacked by Taliban militants (Dawn) while on a bus in her home district of Swat. She called the trip "the happiest day of my life." INDIA: The Indian government has asked Facebook if user data held by the social media network or any of its related entities was misused to "manipulate the Indian electoral process" (DW). The request comes after a whistleblower from UK data firm Cambridge Analytica said it worked extensively in India (Hindu). MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA U.S. Judge Backs 9/11 Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia A U.S. district judge rejected a bid by Saudi Arabia to avoid a lawsuit (AP) seeking to hold the country accountable for the attacks on September 11, 2001, and said families of victims may sue the Saudi government under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. ISRAEL: Palestinians are planning mass rallies (Haaretz) near the Israeli border along the Gaza Strip that are set to begin on Friday. CFR's Steven A. Cook discusses how the two-state solution could die in Salon. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA U.S.-Ghana Military Deal Sparks Protests Thousands of people protested in Accra yesterday (NYT) following a deal between the United States and Ghana to expand the U.S. military presence in the country and U.S. investment in equipment for Ghanaian forces. The U.S. embassy issued a statement saying it is not requesting a permanent military base in Ghana despite reports to the contrary. KENYA: Attorney Miguna Miguna, deported after participating in an opposition leader's mock presidential inauguration in January, was forced to leave Kenya a second time (East African) after attempting to return earlier this week. EUROPE UK Aims for Forty Trade Deals by Brexit The trade secretary said the United Kingdom hopes to have forty trade agreements with seventy countries in place by the time it transitions out of the European Union (BBC) in 2020. EUROPE: The EU statistics agency found that annual births rose slightly across the region to reach a fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman (VOA) in 2016, but it warned the number still doesn't meet the replacement level for Europe's population. AMERICAS Scores Dead in Venezuelan Jail Fire Venezuelan authorities said they will investigate the cause of a jail fire in the city of Valencia on Wednesday that killed at least sixty-eight people (AP). The prison disaster ranks among the worst in the country's history. This CFR Backgrounder looks at Venezuela's humanitarian crisis. ECUADOR: The government cut Wikileaks founder Julian Assange off from communicating with outsiders, saying he broke an agreement (Miami Herald) to not send messages that could affect Ecuador's foreign relations. Assange has lived in the country's London embassy since 2012. UNITED STATES Judge Allows Trump Lawsuit to Proceed A federal judge in Maryland ruled that state attorneys general can proceed with a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald J. Trump over his alleged violation of the Constitution's anticorruption emoluments clause (NPR). Former career diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo was named UN undersecretary-general for political affairs (VOA). She is the first woman to hold the position.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. 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From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: March 29, 2018 at 10:04PM