Editor’s note: There will be no Daily Brief tomorrow, November 10, in observance of Veterans Day. |
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U.S. Strikes Target in Syria as Attacks on U.S. Facilities in Mideast Grow |
The United States conducted a “self-defense strike” (NBC) on a weapons depot in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday. The strike was a retaliation in response to more than forty attacks against U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias that have wounded over forty-six U.S. service members (NYT) since October 17. Iran-backed Houthi rebels also shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone off the coast of Yemen yesterday, the Pentagon said.
As fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant group Hamas continues to rage inside the Gaza Strip, French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a humanitarian aid conference (AP) in Paris today that includes officials from Western and Arab countries, as well as the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations. Fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules,” Macron said. Israel opened humanitarian corridors (Times of Israel) inside Gaza repeatedly this week, and a UN humanitarian office said an estimated fifteen thousand people fled south inside of Gaza on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
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“Both [Iran and its proxy Hezbollah] have stressed that they do not wish to expand the war but could do so if Israel persists with its military campaign to wipe out Hamas and if civilian casualties mount,” CFR expert Ray Takeyh writes in this In Brief. “The credibility of [Iran’s] Axis of Resistance rests partly on Hamas surviving Israel’s retaliation.”
“Macron was hoping to draw together some of the disparate individual national initiatives to help the people of Gaza, as well as to amplify the call for a humanitarian ceasefire that the UN security council has been unable to support because of political divisions in New York,” The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour writes.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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Taiwan, UK Sign Framework Agreement on Trade |
The deal is the first of its kind between Taiwan and a European country, and commits Taiwan and the United Kingdom (UK) (The Guardian) to future talks on clean energy, digital trade, and investment. Both Taipei and London said they hope it can be a model for deals that other countries can make with Taiwan.
Japan: Prime Minister Kishida Fumio discarded plans for calling a snap election before the end of the year, an unnamed aide told Kyodo, citing a tight political schedule and the need to implement economic measures. Kishida had previously planned to renew his mandate (Bloomberg) with the snap election, but his support has been dropping in polls.
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U.S. Secretaries of State, Defense Visit India |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Saudi Arabia Pledges Investments in Africa at Riyadh Economic Conference |
The Saudi Fund for Development is planning deals (Reuters) worth some $533 million with African countries, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister said today. At the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference, Riyadh’s energy minister signed preliminary energy cooperation deals with several countries, including Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Senegal. |
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UN: Spate of Killings in Sudan’s West Darfur Targeted Ethnic Masalit Community |
Arab militias allied with the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces have killed hundreds (BBC) of members of the non-Arab Masalit community in Sudan’s West Darfur region in recent days, witnesses said. A UN spokesperson said yesterday that the Masalit had been targeted (Bloomberg) and faced “serious human rights violations.” Thousands of people have fled the region amid fears of ethnic cleansing.
South Africa: The country will not meet its 2030 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions due to plans to keep eight coal-fired power plants running longer than originally intended amid a national power crisis, three senior officials told Reuters.
In this In Brief, CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo looks at how South Africa’s coal-fired power crisis could sink its clean energy ambitions.
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Spain’s Socialists Reach Deal With Catalan Separatists in Effort to Retain Power |
The deal would give amnesty to Catalan separatists and would require approval (FT) in Spain’s legislature. It would also end the prosecution, prison terms, or other penalties for hundreds of people who backed a failed Catalan effort to break away from Spain in 2017. Spain’s caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to secure another term in office with the deal after an inconclusive general election in July.
Brussels/Ireland: An advisor to the top European Union court recommended shelving an earlier decision (FT) that protected Apple from a $15 billion tax bill in Ireland sought by Brussels. Such recommendations are nonbinding, but often influential.
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Brazil Conducts Probe of Terrorism Plot That Israel Says Was Linked to Hezbollah |
Brazilian police announced yesterday they detained two people (AP) and conducted searches in an effort to foil a suspected terrorism attack. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the thwarted attack was planned by the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah against Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil.
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Kali Robinson explains what is Hezbollah.
Nicaragua: As Nicaragua prepares to exit the Organization of American States (MercoPress) this month, the Western Hemisphere body passed a resolution yesterday saying that Managua must still respect human rights. Nicaragua triggered its exit from the group after the bloc did not recognize the results of the country’s 2021 election.
This Backgrounder unpacks the Organization of American States.
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Plant That Captures Carbon From Air Begins Operations in California |
Heirloom Carbon Technologies says the plant is the first in the country (NYT) to directly capture carbon from the air, and will be able to absorb the carbon dioxide equivalent of exhaust from about two hundred cars each year. Other carbon capture technologies seek to absorb the greenhouse gas directly at the point of creation. While some scientists laud the technology as crucial to meeting climate targets, critics say it is costly and thus far an unproven method.
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