Historic Inter-Korean Summit | Malaysia Election | Ethiopia Term Limits
Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. April 27, 2018 Daily News Brief TOP OF THE AGENDA Kim, Moon Pledge Peace and Denuclearization Leaders from North and South Korea, meeting in the border village of Panmunjom, pledged to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice with a peace treaty and work toward denuclearizing the peninsula (WaPo) by the end of the year. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un concluded the landmark summit (Korea Times), which marked the first entry by a North Korean leader into South Korean territory since the war's end, with a declaration that called for the countries to "completely cease all hostile acts." In a Friday morning tweet, U.S. President Donald J. Trump said the United States "should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea." ANALYSIS "President Moon knows that no matter how successful the inter-Korean summit is, the climax really is Trump-Kim meeting," says Sue Mi Terry of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "What we do not know is what is motivating Kim Jong-un and whether his seeming reasonableness is real (the result of sanctions, Chinese pressure, internal problems) or a ploy motivated by a desire to divide Washington from Seoul, get out from under sanctions, and/or buy time, given—among other things—the deterioration of its nuclear testing site," CFR President Richard N. Haass writes for Axios. "Both sides have maintained the fiction since 1948 that they are the only legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula, and so for the two to recognise the other would be a huge psychological shift," Kathryn Weatherby said in an interview with the Financial Times. Jeh Johnson Speaks at CFR The former U.S. secretary of homeland security comes to CFR for the keynote session of the 2018 Conference on Diversity in International Affairs. Watch today at 6:00 p.m. (EDT). PACIFIC RIM Malaysia's Najib Confident Ahead of Election The eleven-day election campaign, in which former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is expected to go up against current Prime Minister Najib Razak, will begin with nominations (Nikkei) on Saturday. Najib, whose coalition has been in power since 1957, said there is "no movement for changing the government" (Straits Times). SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Pakistan Growth Reaches Thirteen-Year High Islamabad reported 5.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth so far this year. The planning and development minister said the country would have reached its target of 6 percent (Dawn) had it not been for the "heavy economic cost" of political crises. ASIA: Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan will hold joint military exercises (Tolo), according to a Chinese defense ministry spokesperson. He did not specify the time or location of the drills. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Millions of Syrians at Risk of Losing Homes A new property law in Syria stipulates that citizens who have fled the country must return by May to claim their homes (Guardian) or risk forfeiting the residences to the state, raising fears that refugees and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime could face permanent exile. At a CFR event, Rula Asad and Mariam Jalabi discussed what's next for the Syrian conflict. ISRAEL: Ten teenage students from a pre-military academy were killed in flash floods (Ynet) during a school trip in the country's south. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Aid Workers Abducted in South Sudan, UN Says Ten humanitarian aid workers are believed to have been abducted by an armed group (NYT). They went missing earlier this week during a trip to Central Equatoria State (Sudan Tribune), in the country's south. ETHIOPIA: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he will introduce a two-term limit (Africa News) on the office of prime minister. EUROPE Trump to Meet With UK's May, Queen After canceling a trip to London in February, President Trump is set to meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II during a July visit to the United Kingdom (Telegraph), the White House and Downing Street announced. The meetings will reportedly take place at the prime minister's countryside home, Chequers. EU: The bloc voted to extend and expand a ban on neonicotinoids, one of the most widely used classes of insecticides (BBC), amid concerns over the threat they pose to bees. AMERICAS Report Highlights Staggering Murder Rate in Latin America Latin America accounts for 8 percent of the world's population but 33 percent of its murders, with one-fourth taking place in just four countries—Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela—according to a new report from a Brazil-based think tank (Guardian). PERU: The constitutional court ordered former President Ollanta Humala and his wife freed from pretrial detention (Andina) as the two face charges of accepting bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. This CFR Backgrounder looks at Brazil's corruption fallout. UNITED STATES Pompeo, Confirmed, Heads to Brussels Mike Pompeo arrived in Brussels on Friday for talks with NATO allies on what a U.S. official called Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and Syria. The trip comes just a day after U.S. lawmakers confirmed him as secretary of state (RFE/RL). Emma Ashford writes that reflexive hostility toward Russia is harming U.S. interests. The Department of Homeland Security announced it will not renew temporary protected status (TPS) for an estimated nine thousand Nepali immigrants living in the United States. The status, which will expire in June 2019 (DHS), was granted after a 2015 earthquake (CNN). 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: April 27, 2018 at 10:09PM
