UN Security Council Expected to Meet After Rafah Strike |
The UN Security Council will hold (AP) an emergency meeting today regarding the situation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, unnamed diplomats told media. An Israeli strike in Rafah on Sunday night killed (NYT) at least forty-five people at a camp for displaced Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the event a “tragic mishap”; it prompted global calls for Israel to protect civilians. A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said (Reuters) that “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists,” but that “Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”
The strike came as tensions rose between Israel and Egypt over the weekend following the death of an Egyptian soldier in the Rafah area. Both Israeli and Egyptian authorities said they were investigating the incident. |
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“Many of the people who are fleeing Rafah now, many have fled several times before, and there isn’t really any place left to go,” Yale University’s Oona A. Hathaway tells the Foreign Affairs Interview. “And so there isn’t really any place for civilians to be able to gain shelter or have their basic necessities met.”
“The deadly fire that tore through the encampment on Sunday after an airstrike came at a particularly delicate time for Israel, just days after the International Court of Justice appeared to order the country’s military to halt its offensive in Rafah and as diplomats were aiming to restart negotiations for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas,” the New York Times’s Isabel Kershner writes.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict. |
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Bipartisan Group of U.S. Lawmakers Make Five-Day Visit to Taiwan |
Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), co-chair of the Taiwan caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, emphasized (AP) U.S. economic, diplomatic, and military commitments to Taiwan, as well as U.S. resolve to “maintain the status quo and peace in the Taiwan Strait.” Beijing expressed strong opposition to the group’s visit, which began on Sunday. Separately, Taiwan legislators passed changes (Bloomberg) today that could curb the authority of the president, prompting thousands of people to demonstrate against the measure.
North Korea: A North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite exploded (Yonhap) soon after liftoff yesterday, likely due to engine combustion problems, South Korea’s military said. Nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea, and the United States condemned (Yonhap) the launch effort, which came after Pyongyang successfully put its first spy satellite into orbit last November.
For Foreign Affairs, CFR expert Sue Mi Terry discusses how Washington can prevent the coming North Korea crisis. |
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Russia to Build Nuclear Power Plant in Uzbekistan |
The project would be the first (Reuters) Russia-built nuclear plant in post-Soviet Central Asia, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced yesterday during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin said that Moscow would contribute $400 million to a joint investment fund to help finance projects in Uzbekistan, while Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan was interested in buying more oil and gas from Russia.
Pakistan/China: As part of economic revitalization efforts, Pakistan’s government aims to invest in joint ventures in agriculture and renewable energy that fall under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal told Bloomberg. Islamabad also aims to attract Chinese firms that are considering relocating amid high costs and geopolitical tensions, he said.
This Backgrounder by Andrew Chatzky and CFR’s Noah Berman and James McBride unpacks the Belt and Road Initiative. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
UAE President Makes First-Ever State Visit to South Korea |
United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will meet (Yonhap) with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and business leaders today and tomorrow to discuss cooperation in energy, defense, and investment. |
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Burkina Faso Junta Scraps July Election Timetable, Extends Rule by Five Years |
The five-year transition period will begin (Reuters) on July 2, according to a new charter signed by military leader Ibrahim Traoré at a meeting on Saturday. The military government pledged to restore civilian rule by July 2024 after seizing power two years prior.
South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged (FT) to “accelerate land reform and redistribution” at his party’s final campaign rally on Saturday. The ruling African National Congress party has pledged billions of dollars worth of new benefits ahead of what are expected to be tight general elections tomorrow. In this Expert Brief, CFR Senior Fellow Michelle Gavin discusses why South Africans are poised to shake up the status quo. |
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Belgium, Spain Pledge Billions for Ukraine |
Belgium pledged (AP) today to send more than $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year, following a Spanish pledge yesterday of over $1 billion in aid in 2024 and more than $5 billion by 2027. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Jens Stoltenberg said (Euronews) yesterday that too many restrictions on how Ukraine can use the weapons that it’s given “are tying one hand of the Ukrainian armed forces on their back.”
Geneva: Member countries at the annual summit of the World Health Organization (WHO) are debating (AP) changes to the body’s rules that could govern how countries respond to future pandemics. Talks failed on Friday regarding a draft pandemic treaty that was meant to avoid repeating the global response to COVID-19. For Think Global Health, CFR’s Nsikan Akpan and Chloe Searchinger look at why pandemic treaty talks failed to land. |
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Small Island States Debate Climate Finance in Antigua |
This decade’s summit for Small Island Developing States kicked off (Reuters) yesterday in Antigua and Barbuda, where Prime Minister Gaston Browne called rich countries’ climate finance commitments under the Paris Agreement “grossly inadequate.” The conference will debate (AFP) measures to address the funding plight of small island nations, many of which are classified as middle-income nations or higher and thus are ineligible for certain financing pools.
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Diana Roy explores how the Caribbean is building climate resilience.
Argentina: Argentina’s presidential cabinet chief Nicolás Posse resigned (Reuters) yesterday in the first departure of a senior official in the five-month-old Javier Milei administration. The change comes as Milei struggles to pass his flagship economic reform bill. |
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Suspected Leader in Fentanyl Trafficking Extradited to U.S. |
Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas was extradited (CBS, AFP) on Saturday from Mexico to the United States, where he faces charges linked to drug and weapons smuggling, the Justice Department said. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Pérez Salas was part of the Sinaloa Cartel’s production and sale of fentanyl, as well as one of the group’s lead assassins. |
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