UN Agencies, Aid NGOs Issue Joint Call to Step Up Humanitarian Efforts in Gaza |
The heads of nineteen UN agencies and major global charities issued a joint letter
yesterday outlining urgent steps to “salvage” humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The letter also called for an immediate cease-fire, the immediate release of hostages, and reliable access points to provide aid, saying that humanitarian workers “can only do so much” under current movement restrictions. Increasing humanitarian aid in the enclave is also a priority of U.S. and other international diplomats as they continue to work (The National) toward a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas during talks in Egypt this week.
Earlier this week, the World Food Program
froze (WaPo) its aid deliveries to northern Gaza due to challenging security conditions. Humanitarian workers have been unable (Reuters)
to regularly pick up supplies from the Gaza border due to a security breakdown, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office said. The territory’s health-care system has collapsed, and some desperate residents confronted with hunger and disease have halted aid convoys to seize supplies.
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“The longer the war goes on and the greater the devastation in the besieged strip
, the greater the risks of the wider conflagration that the US and others fear,” the Financial Times’ Andrew England writes.
“The job of diplomats is sometimes to make something out of nothing. By dint of the planned diplomatic activity, it is possible to infer that [U.S. Secretary of State Antony] Blinken and his counterparts in the region believe they can still produce a [cease-fire] agreement,” CFR expert Steven A. Cook writes in this In Brief.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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Bipartisan U.S. House Delegation Visits Taiwan |
Five U.S. lawmakers met with (AP)
Taiwan’s president and president-elect today, pledging that the United States will stand by Taiwan amid pressure from China. The delegates are part of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. This episode of the Why It Matters
podcast discusses Taiwan, China, and the threat of war.
U.S./Japan: U.S. prosecutors announced charges (Kyodo)
against a detained leader of a Japanese crime group, saying he conspired to traffic nuclear material between Myanmar and other countries. He had previously been charged with drug trafficking and firearms offenses in 2022.
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India Allows Increased Foreign Investment in Growing Space Sector |
The new rules will enable between 49 and 100 percent foreign investment in the country’s space sector, depending on the activity. India has around 190 space tech startups and its space economy is projected to grow to as large as $44 billion in the next decade, TechCrunch reported.
U.S./Pakistan: Washington has urged (Reuters) Islamabad through official channels to stop restricting internet and social media access in the country following general elections earlier this month, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said yesterday.
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The new issue of Foreign Affairs features a robust, four-part package on prospects for peace in the continuing Middle East crisis, analysis ahead of India’s presidential election, suggestions for reconceptualized American foreign policy, and more. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
UN Shipping Chief Warns of Piracy Against Vessels Diverted From Red Sea |
Some commercial ships avoiding the Red Sea due to attacks there by the Yemen-based Houthi rebel group could instead face (FT) a heightened risk of piracy using alternative routes, the head of the International Maritime Organization told shipping firms and governments. Last month, a United Kingdom agency warned of two possible “pirate action groups” operating in the Indian Ocean. |
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Somalia, Turkey Announce Defense Deal |
The deal announced yesterday commits Turkey to training and supporting Somalia’s navy and protecting it against “foreign interference.” The deal appears aimed at deterring Ethiopian efforts to partner with the breakaway region of Somaliland to gain access to the Gulf of Aden, the Associated Press reported
. Somalia has said it is prepared to go to war over the January agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland, as it considers Somaliland part of its territory. This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo explains the history behind Somaliland.
South Africa: The country will draw (Reuters)
some $8 billion from its emergency reserves over the next three years to limit how much new debt it takes on, South Africa’s finance minister said today. South Africa’s debt struggle “is crowding out all other spending,” he added.
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European Gas Consumption Hits Ten-Year Low Following War in Ukraine |
Gas consumption in Europe has declined by 20 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and its liquefied natural gas consumption is projected to peak in 2025, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis said in a new report. The shift reflects Europe’s transition to renewable energy sources after the war threatened to strain gas supplies in the region. Albania: The legislature ratified (AFP/DW/Reuters)
a controversial deal today in which Albania would house thousands of asylum seekers for Italy in two Italian-run processing centers. Migrant rights activists and human rights groups have criticized the five-year deal, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has supported it. Up to thirty-six thousand asylum seekers could be sent to Albania each year under the agreement.
For Think Global Health, CFR’s Abi McGowan documents the toll of migrants’ deadly path to European shores.
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New York Trial Against Former Honduran President Accused of Leading ‘Narco-State’ Begins |
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is facing charges (BBC) of conspiring to import cocaine to the United States and carrying weapons related to drug trafficking conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty, though he faces life in prison if convicted.
Ecuador: The Daniel Noboa Azín government has proposed (Reuters) raising military spending by $214 million this year as part of efforts to crack down on crime. The request requires congressional approval.
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Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed at Combating Cybercrime at Ports |
U.S. President Joe Biden’s order yesterday makes (VOA) reporting cyberattacks on maritime facilities mandatory and assigns new security responsibilities to the U.S. Coast Guard. U.S. officials have worried that Chinese-made cranes at ports could pose a security risk related to concerns about espionage, the Wall Street Journal
reported. The White House also announced plans to boost U.S. manufacturing of cranes. |
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