Daily News Brief

May 9, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Ahead of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit today, the leaders of Indonesia and Singapore called for peace in Myanmar (The Diplomat) and condemned a recent attack on an ASEAN humanitarian convoy there. The two-day summit will take stock of the bloc’s progress to stem rising violence in Myanmar, where a government air strike last month killed some 170 people (AFP) in what Human Rights Watch called a “likely war crime.” ASEAN members will also discuss trade ties (Nikkei) and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

No deaths were reported from Sunday’s convoy attack, which Myanmar’s ruling military junta blamed on anti-government rebels. ASEAN leaders have backed a five-point plan to bring peace to the country, but little progress has been made since Myanmar agreed to the plan two years ago. Indonesia’s foreign minister said last week that she is conducting low-profile talks with multiple parties to the war to try to advance the plan.

Analysis

“Had a diplomat been killed [in the attack on the aid convoy], there would have been more pressure on [ASEAN] to do something, but frankly they’ve been so feckless in the past two years that it’s hard to see them actually acting in a meaningful way,” the National War College’s Zachary Abuza tells Agence France-Presse. 

“Some, though not all, of Myanmar’s neighbors are looking for any positive signs out of the country. They desire its natural resources and are reluctant to set the precedent of any state being punished for rights abuses,” CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick writes.

Middle East and North Africa

Israeli strikes that targeted the Gaza Strip this morning killed three senior members (AP) of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Palestinian health officials said a total of thirteen people were killed, including the militants’ wives and children.

Iran: Two men were executed (Al Jazeera) yesterday on blasphemy charges, Iran’s judiciary said. Many executions in the country have gone unannounced in the past few weeks, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group, which calculated last week that Iran had executed forty-two people in ten days.

Pacific Rim

An experimental, uncrewed spacecraft returned to Earth (Axios) yesterday after being in orbit for 276 days, Chinese state media said. Authorities have released little information about the vehicle or its mission.

 South and Central Asia

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested (Dawn) today in relation to a corruption case, police said. A lawyer from Khan’s party said police hit the politician with “hard objects” and tossed his wheelchair aside during the arrest.

India/Sri Lanka: India extended the deadline for Sri Lanka to repay $1 billion in credit by one year, a Sri Lankan official told Reuters.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The sixteen-nation Southern African Development Community said it will send troops (Bloomberg) to aid the UN peacemakers, troops from the East African Community, and private military forces working to stabilize the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

This timeline traces the history of foreign intervention in eastern Congo.

Senegal: A Dakar appeals court extended the suspended sentence (Africanews) of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko from two months to six, potentially barring him from participating in Senegal’s presidential election next year. 

Europe

The event commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany was scaled down (WaPo) due to security concerns related to last week’s alleged drone attack at the Kremlin, which Moscow called an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. 

Turkey: Authorities have so far arrested thirteen protesters (AP) for throwing rocks during a political rally that the opposition held to campaign ahead of elections on May 14, Turkey’s justice minister said.

For Foreign Affairs, Soner Cagaptay discusses the tough election facing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Americas

Nine of eleven justices voted to annul (Bloomberg) changes to campaigning rules that were part of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s controversial push to overhaul Mexico’s election authority.

Canada/China: China expelled a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai (CNN) in retaliation for Canada’s expulsion of a Chinese diplomat who Ottawa had accused of trying to intimidate a Canadian politician.

United States

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will join congressional leaders (Axios) at the White House today to discuss a deal on raising the debt ceiling to prevent a looming default on the national debt. McCarthy has said his support for the deal is conditioned on implementing budget cuts, while the White House has said the consequences would be too high.

This Backgrounder unpacks the debt ceiling debate.

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