Biden Pledges Retaliation After Drone Strike Kills U.S. Troops in Jordan |
A drone attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan killed three U.S. troops (Reuters) and wounded at least thirty-four, U.S. President Joe Biden said yesterday. He said that Iran-backed militant groups carried out the attack in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. It was the first strike to have killed U.S. forces in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas began last October. Iran’s mission to the United Nations denied involvement in the attack, while Biden said the United States will respond “at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”
The strike was a major escalation in the ongoing war and comes at a time when U.S. and other foreign envoys are trying to reach a deal (
The Guardian) for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to release the hostages it is holding. Iran-backed groups have carried out a series of attacks (BBC) on U.S. and other international forces in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, but had not killed any U.S. service members until now. Negotiations on a hostage deal will continue this week, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said.
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“The question Biden faces is whether he just wants to react to events in the region or whether he wants to send a bigger message that attempts to restore a sense of deterrence that just hasn’t existed in the region for months now,” the Middle East Institute’s Brian Katulis tells the New York Times. “The Biden administration would have a better chance of securing help from friends in the region if it was not so passive,” CFR expert Steven A. Cook writes for the
Wall Street Journal. “No one is going to lend a hand to the U.S. unless Washington takes decisive action to reform the [Palestinian Authority], confront Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ and isolate the region’s arsonists, notably Qatar and Turkey.”
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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Court Orders Embattled Chinese Real Estate Giant to Liquidate |
A Hong Kong court ordered (Nikkei) the liquidation of China Evergrande Group today after it failed to reach an agreement on restructuring more than $300 billion in debt over the weekend. The firm’s struggles are emblematic of the Chinese property sector’s poor recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For the Follow the Money blog, CFR expert Brad W. Setser looks at the implications of China’s real estate slump.
Japan: A lunar explorer has begun working again (Kyodo) after losing power upon its landing earlier this month, Japan’s space agency said today. The explorer’s camera has resumed taking pictures of the moon’s surface. The landing made Japan the fifth country to achieve such a feat.
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Modi Adversary Becomes Ally in Indian State of Bihar |
Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar agreed (Bloomberg) over the weekend to exit an opposition alliance and instead form a government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Kumar has been a central member of the opposition alliance since its formation last year.
Iran/Pakistan: Foreign ministers of the two countries met in Islamabad today following a series of exchanged missile strikes earlier this month. They pledged (Reuters) to respect one another’s sovereignty and increase security cooperation. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Western Countries Halt Aid to UN Agency Following Reports of Staff Involvement in Attacks |
Countries including Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) followed (
WaPo) the United States this weekend in suspending aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after reports that some of its staffers were involved in the October 7 attack on Israel. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday that any employee “involved in acts of terror” would be held accountable (Reuters), but urged countries to continue supporting the agency.
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Founding Members Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to Depart West African Bloc |
The three countries’ military governments said they were pulling out (
Le Monde, AFP) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), calling the bloc “a threat to member states and peoples.” ECOWAS sanctioned the three countries after they each underwent coups in the last few years. Leaving the bloc could complicate the countries’ international trade and their citizens’ ability to travel visa-free. In this article, CFR expert Elliott Abrams discusses what to do about coups.
Nigeria: The country’s air force made a first-time acknowledgment (Reuters) yesterday of its responsibility for a January 2023 strike that killed dozens of civilians, saying it regretted the incident. The strike was targeting suspected terrorists.
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FT: EU Draws up Plan to Sabotage Hungary’s Economy if It Vetoes Ukraine Aid |
Brussels is considering driving a collapse in investor confidence in Hungary should it block a pending European Union (EU) aid package to Ukraine at a summit this week, the
Financial Times reported. Under the plan, EU leaders would pledge to permanently shut off the bloc’s funding to Budapest. A Hungarian official said Budapest “does not give in to pressure.”
Ukraine: Kyiv’s security service reported (
WaPo) that officials stole about $40 million in state money meant for purchasing ammunition. The report comes as Ukrainian officials are carrying out an anticorruption campaign that includes (CNBC) this weekend’s publication of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s earnings for the past two years.
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U.S. Reviews Sanctions Policy on Venezuela After Ban on Politician Upheld |
A Venezuelan court upheld a ban on Friday that prevents presidential hopeful María Corina Machado from running in this year’s election, prompting the State Department to announce it is reviewing (AP) its Venezuela sanctions policy. Washington eased sanctions on Caracas after the Nicolás Maduro government made commitments last year to hold free and fair elections.
Brazil: Police carried out raids today in a probe of potential illegal monitoring of Brazilian citizens by the country’s intelligence agency during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. The home of one of Bolsonaro’s sons was raided, unnamed government sources told Reuters.
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White House AI Council to Review Progress on New Safety Measures |
A multiagency council will meet today (AP) to review the implementation of steps required in an executive order last October on artificial intelligence (AI) safety. The order mandated that firms share vital information such as safety tests with the U.S. Commerce Department.
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Noah Berman looks at the promise and risks of AI.
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