Daily News Brief

October 17, 2023

Top of the Agenda

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Israel tomorrow (NYT) in a show of support following the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s surprise terror attack. While Iran’s foreign minister warned of retaliation if Israeli forces continued to kill civilians in Gaza, U.S. officials have used backchannels to caution Iran against escalation. The United States has sent military reinforcements of about two thousand Marines and sailors to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for almost nine hours yesterday, said the United States and Israel were developing a plan (AP) to allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians in Gaza. Though Israel told Gazan civilians to flee south to protect themselves ahead of a potential ground invasion, Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in southern Gaza today.

Analysis

“Biden’s visit to Israel, however, could potentially alter the course of escalation, not just through whatever diplomatic breakthrough he or his team may try to achieve, but also as a show of support for Israel. The effects of such a signal on the other outside powers with an interest in this war—especially Iran—are uncertain,” Georgetown University’s Elizabeth N. Saunders writes for Good Authority.

“Egypt remains reluctant to welcome Palestinians seeking to flee Gaza as Israel prepares a retaliatory offensive against Hamas, and hopes of a Cairo-mediated cease-fire remain premature,” CFR expert Steven A. Cook writes in this In Brief.

Pacific Rim

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing (Reuters) today on his second known international trip since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. He is due to attend a forum on China’s Belt and Road infrastructure investment program that begins today before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow.

This Backgrounder by Andrew Chatzky and CFR’s Noah Berman and James McBride looks at China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

U.S./Marshall Islands: The United States signed a twenty-year, $2.3 billion agreement (Reuters) to provide economic assistance to the Marshall Islands, the deal’s chief U.S. negotiator said yesterday. The United States is responsible for the defense of the Marshall Islands and has exclusive military access to the Pacific nation.

South and Central Asia

India’s Supreme Court decided that the responsibility to rule on the matter rests with India’s legislature (AP). Legal rights for LGBTQ+ people in India have grown over the past decade, mostly after Supreme Court intervention.

This Backgrounder compares marriage equality around the world.

India/Russia: Some Indian payments for Russian oil have been held up because New Delhi does not want to pay for them using Chinese currency, Reuters reported. India has become the top importer of seaborne Russian oil this year. To avoid Western sanctions, New Delhi has paid Moscow in several non-dollar currencies.

Middle East and North Africa

The UN Security Council rejected a Russian resolution (AP) yesterday that condemned violence against civilians but did not mention the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Just four other countries out of the UN Security Council’s fifteen members joined Russia in the vote. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

The press office of President Salva Kiir Mayardit said yesterday that the talks would occur next week (BBC) in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, but did not mention who will attend.  

Ivory Coast: President Alassane Ouattara named Robert Beugré Mambé (Bloomberg), the former governor of the economic capital Abidjan, as the country’s new prime minister in a government reshuffle.

Europe

Belgium’s prime minister called the Monday night shooting of two Swedish soccer fans in Brussels a terror attack. Police shot the gunman, and authorities raised Brussels’ terror alert (FT) to its highest level, the same level that followed attacks by the Islamic State in 2016.

Russia: Russia’s lower legislative house gave preliminary approval (AP) today to withdraw ratification of a global ban on testing nuclear weapons, prompting concerns that Moscow could resume nuclear testing. Russia said the move brought the country closer to the United States, which has signed but not ratified the ban.

Americas

An agreement is due to be announced today in which the United States will ease some sanctions on Venezuela in return for government commitments to conditions for a fair and competitive election next year, the Washington Post reported. Both the Nicolás Maduro government and Venezuela’s opposition agreed to the conditions.

Mexico: Mexico has plans to revive a century-old rail link between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean to provide shipping containers with an alternative to the Panama Canal, the country’s economy minister told the Financial Times. The government has spent about $2.8 billion on the project so far.

This In Brief by CFR’s Diana Roy explains the logjam at the Panama Canal.

United States

Settling a class-action lawsuit filed in a San Diego court, the U.S. government agreed to give work authorization (NPR) and housing benefits to migrant families who were separated at the southern U.S. border in 2017 and 2018 under the Donald Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy. The deal still needs a district judge’s approval.

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