August 12, 2019



									Daily News Brief
									
								
									August 12, 2019
									
								
									Top of the Agenda
									
									
									Hong Kong Airport Cancels Flights Amid Sit-In
									
									
									Hong Kong’s international airport canceled the more than one hundred flights (SCMP) scheduled for today as pro-democracy demonstrators occupied the terminal for a fourth day. Chinese officials claimed (FT) that the protesters “have begun to show early signs of terrorism.”

									 
									The sit-in, originally planned to conclude yesterday, marks more than ten weeks of demonstrations sparked by a now-shelved government proposal to allow extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China. Demonstrators said they objected to actions yesterday by the police (Guardian), who fired tear gas inside the city’s subway system and made apparent undercover arrests. Chinese officials defended the police (Reuters) in a televised address today, while Hong Kong police showed off water cannons (SCMP) they could use to break up future gatherings.
									
									
									Analysis
									
									
									“Hong Kong remains more important to the mainland than might at first appear, and not just as a showcase for how China acts in a way befitting a country claiming greater status on the world stage. The paradox is that the more autocratic the mainland gets the more it needs Hong Kong commercially,” writes the Economist.

									 
									“Rather than cracking down with its military, the mainland authorities are likely to step up other repressive measures to end the protests and restore comprehensive control without undermining an arrangement that serves them well,” Michael C. Davis and Victoria Tin-Bor Hui write in Foreign Affairs.

									 
									“Chinese officials have accused the US and other western countries of being the 'black hand' behind the protests – a narrative that pro-government figures and media in Hong Kong have also seized on. Observers see the shift as a way to prepare the public for more drastic action,” Lily Kuo writes for the Guardian.  
									
									
									Americas
									
									
									Guatemala Election Winner Vows to Renegotiate Migration Deal
									
									
									Conservative Alejandro Giammattei defeated former First Lady Sandra Torres (Reuters) for the presidency and vowed to renegotiate a recent deal with the United States that could see Guatemala taking in thousands of regional asylum seekers. The runoff vote was marked by low turnout (WaPo) after a campaign in which two of the top three candidates were barred from running on grounds widely considered politically motivated.

									 
									Argentina: Opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez, running alongside former President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, trounced President Mauricio Macri (Reuters) in an initial vote seen as a predictor of performance in the October 27 election.
									
									
									Pacific Rim
									
									
									North Korea Threatens to Test Missiles
									
									
									North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he would carry out missile tests as long as the United States and South Korea held joint military drills, U.S. President Donald J. Trump tweeted, and a North Korean military official said the drills would also halt the possibility of talks (Axios) between North and South Korea. North Korea tested two apparently short-range missiles (BBC) on Saturday as the joint exercises got underway.

									 
									This CFR Backgrounder looks at North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
									
									
									South and Central Asia
									
									
									Sonia Ghandi Returns to Head Indian Opposition
									
									
									Sonia Gandhi, a former head of India’s Congress Party, will serve as its interim leader (FT), leading analysts to question whether the party can move past dynastic leadership. Gandhi’s son, Rahul, resigned as party leader in July, after a dramatic defeat in national elections against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

									 
									In Foreign Affairs, Milan Vaishnav looks at the Congress Party’s role in the battle for India’s political soul.

									 
									Bangladesh: The UN refugee agency has issued identification cards to more than half a million Rohingya refugees (UN) in the country, saying that the identification will protect their right to return to Myanmar. It plans to complete the registration of nine hundred thousand Rohingya in Bangladesh by the end of this year.
									
									
									Middle East and North Africa
									
									
									Yemeni Separatists Take Control of Strategic City
									
									
									Separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates took control (Al Jazeera) of government military camps and the presidential palace in the port city of Aden, splintering the anti-Houthi movement. Aden has been the temporary seat of the Saudi-backed government since Houthi forces captured the capital in late 2014.

									 
									Syria: Government forces have captured the rebel-held town of al-Hobeit (Reuters) in northwestern Idlib Province, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group called the capture the government’s most significant advance since it began an offensive in the region three months ago.
									
									
									Sub-Saharan Africa
									
									
									Tanzania Oil Tanker Explosion Kills Sixty-Two
									
									
									A tanker truck damaged in an accident in the country’s east exploded, killing more than sixty-two people (AP) in one of the deadliest incidents of its kind, according to police. Some of those killed had been trying to siphon oil from the tanker.

									 
									Nigeria: President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted an invitation to travel to South Africa to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa in October for talks on trade and citizens’ security (Bloomberg). The two are expected to launch a task force that will carry out cooperation agreements on energy, transport, and security made in 2016.
									
									
									Europe
									
									
									Norway Mosque Shooting Investigated as Possible Terrorism
									
									
									The suspect in a shooting at a mosque outside Oslo (Guardian) appears to have praised recent mass shooters in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas, as white nationalist heroes in online posts promoting a “race war.” One person was wounded before the shooter was overtaken.

									 
									Russia: An estimated fifty thousand people in Moscow (Moscow Times) protested the barring of independent candidates from the ballot in an upcoming local election in what was one of the country’s largest demonstrations in years.
									
									
									United States
									
									
									Report: Domestic Terrorism Neglected by Government
									
									
									 Efforts to investigate and counter domestic terrorism have been repeatedly sidelined, according to the New York Times. The report cites the disbanding of a Department of Homeland Security unit that tracked domestic extremist groups during the Obama administration and a $10 million fund for community programs that has largely gone unused under the Trump administration.

									 
									CFR’s Net Politics blog looks at how terrorist groups exploit the internet.
									
									
									Council on Foreign Relations

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