Lebanon Votes | North Korean Flights | Putin Sworn In

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. May 7, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Lebanon Holds First General Election in Nine Years Voters in Lebanon went to the polls to choose a new government for the first time since 2009. The election also marked the first time the country's large diaspora (Daily Star) was allowed to vote. Though official results are expected later on Monday, informal tallies in Lebanese media indicated a decline in support for the Western-backed Future Movement (AP), led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and gains for Hezbollah and its allies. Despite a new electoral law introducing proportional representation, meant to encourage participation, only about half of eligible voters went to the polls. Parliament's 128 seats will be allocated evenly between Muslims and Christians (Al Jazeera). ANALYSIS "[The elections are] an attempt by the government to portray normalcy and a properly functioning democracy, whereas the dire situation in the country requires a major overhaul and a comprehensive project of reform and anticorruption measures," Halim Shebaya writes for Al Jazeera. "Estimates are that Hariri, even if he loses votes, will be prime minister, both since he's the only one who can currently get the support of most parties and because of his international standing. This paradoxically gives legitimacy to Hezbollah as well, since its representatives will be part of his government," Zvi Bar'el writes for Haaretz. "For the first time in Lebanese history, electoral candidates are promoting gay rights, marking the most high-level endorsement of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender protection in the Arab world," Tamara Qiblawi writes for CNN. Council of Councils Report Card See how think tank leaders around the globe evaluated international efforts to mitigate the world's most pressing problems in 2017.   PACIFIC RIM Cambodian Newspaper Sale Prompts Press Freedom Concerns The Phnom Penh Post announced its purchase by a Malaysian investor whose firm has done public relations work (NYT) for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The sale comes months after the government forced another paper, the Cambodia Daily, to close over charges of unpaid taxes. CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick writes that press freedoms are under threat across Southeast Asia. NORTH KOREA: South Korea's land and infrastructure ministry is reviewing a request from an international aviation body to allow North Korea to open new international airline routes (Nikkei) that would pass through its airspace. In Foreign Affairs, South Korean presidential advisor Moon Chung-in discusses the historic inter-Korean summit. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Ten Dead in Kashmir Shootout Five suspected militants were killed by security forces in India-controlled Kashmir (Al Jazeera) on Sunday. Five civilians were killed when they came to protest the operation against the rebels. A state police chief said some civilians threw stones at officers. AFGHANISTAN: More than three hundred Afghans have been deported from Turkey (Tolo), about a month after immigration authorities said they planned to remove all three thousand Afghan migrants (RFE/RL) in the country. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Tunisia Holds First Municipal Election Since Arab Spring Roughly a third of the 5.3 million eligible voters turned out to vote (France 24) in the Sunday election. After polls closed, the Islamist Ennahda Party said it was more than 5 percent ahead (Reuters) of its secular rival and coalition partner, Nidaa Tounes. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Ethiopia's Abiy Visits Kenya Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in the neighboring country (East African) for a two-day state visit with President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also expected to host Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh this week. NIGERIA: Gunmen attacked the village of Gwaska in northwestern Nigeria on Saturday, killing at least forty-eight people (Vanguard) and destroying several homes. EUROPE UK's Johnson Makes Push on Iran Deal In a New York Times op-ed, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged U.S. President Donald J. Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear agreement, calling the deal the option with "the fewest disadvantages." RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for his second six-year term (Tass). Putin previously served as president from 2000 to 2008, then as prime minister until 2012. AMERICAS Nicaragua to Probe Protester Deaths A new government commission will have three months to report on the deaths of an estimated forty-five protesters (BBC) in recent weeks of anti-government demonstrations. VENEZUELA: The United States is expected on Monday to call on Venezuela to suspend a scheduled May 20 presidential election (Miami Herald). CFR's Amy Myers Jaffe and David R. Mares discuss the U.S. and Latin American responses to the Venezuelan crisis. UNITED STATES CIA Chief Nominee to Face Senate Scrutiny Gina Haspel, the Trump administration's pick to lead the CIA, offered on Friday to withdraw her nomination after aides raised concerns that expected scrutiny over interrogation techniques during her confirmation hearing could potentially damage the agency's reputation (WaPo).         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: May 07, 2018 at 10:04PM