Israel Calls for Evacuations in Lebanon, Launches New Wave of Strikes |
After continued cross-border fire yesterday between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, residents of southern Lebanon and some parts of Beirut received messages today telling them to evacuate areas near where Hezbollah had weapons. Lebanon’s health ministry said strikes across the country today killed at least one hundred people, while Lebanese citizens reported jammed roads and communications lines as they fled the country’s south. The United States and other countries have urged a deescalation on the border, with U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby saying yesterday that there are “better ways” to ensure Israeli citizens can safely return to the border area “than a war, than an escalation, than opening up a second front.”
Hezbollah reported firing missiles and other projectiles into the deepest targets yet inside Israel since the current round of hostilities began this weekend; today, Israeli warplanes struck at least three hundred sites across Lebanon and Hezbollah shot rockets across the border. An Israeli military spokesperson also gave a warning that Israel planned to sprawl its attacks into eastern Lebanon. The UN coordinator in Lebanon cautioned that the region was at the tipping point of “imminent catastrophe.” (NYT, FT, BBC)
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“Israeli officials had hoped that by scaling up their attacks over the past week—striking Hezbollah’s communications tools, and killing several key commanders as well as Lebanese civilians—they would unnerve the group and convince it to withdraw from the Israel-Lebanon border, the New York Times’s Patrick Kingsley writes. “For now, the opposite has happened.”
“Hezbollah is not popular in Lebanon. If you talk to many Lebanese, they don't want war. They don't want Hezbollah to drag them into war,” CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook tells The President’s Inbox podcast.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
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UN Members Endorse Pact Aiming to Address Multilateralism’s Ills |
The UN General Assembly approved a forty-two-page “Pact for the Future,” which includes pledges such as reforming the UN Security Council and committing to “steps to prevent an arms race in outer space and to govern the use of lethal autonomous weapons.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the pact meant to “bring multilateralism back from the brink.” (AP)
In this Expert Brief, CFR’s Paul B. Stares and Natalie Caloca look at how security challenges are clouding the UN Summit of the Future.
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China Cuts Short-Term Interest Rate Amid Meager Growth |
China’s central bank lowered a fourteen-day lending rate and scheduled a press conference tomorrow on additional financial support for economic development. The move comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates last week. (Bloomberg)
Brussels/China: The European Union (EU) launched a World Trade Organization consultation challenging a Chinese anti-subsidy probe into European dairy imports. China’s investigation followed an EU announcement of new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. (AFP)
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Sri Lanka Swears in Leftist President After Weekend Election Victory |
Anura Kumara Dissanayake was a fringe lawmaker before this year’s election, but gained skyrocketing support on the back of the public’s dissatisfaction with the government’s economic reform program. He said he would remain committed to Sri Lanka’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but would seek to modify its terms in order to enact tax cuts. (Nikkei, AFP)
U.S./India: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an event with tens of thousands of Indian-Americans in Long Island, New York, calling them “brand ambassadors” of India and praising the growing U.S.-India partnership. He is meeting with business leaders in New York City today. (NDTV)
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Middle East and North Africa |
WSJ: U.S., Iraq Reach Deal on Troop Withdrawal Timeline |
The countries agreed that the United States and other coalition forces would withdraw their troops from Iraq by the end of 2026, unnamed U.S. defense officials told the Wall Street Journal. A small number of U.S. military personnel are expected to remain in that country following the withdrawal in an advisory capacity. (WSJ)
This timeline details the U.S. troop involvement during the Iraq war.
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Senegalese Finance Expert Named First Director of Loss and Damage Climate Fund |
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change announced Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, a dual Senegalese-U.S. Citizen, will be the first director of the World Bank-administered fund established in 2022. The fund will be housed in the Philippines. (Reuters)
Sudan: Reports of an attack on the city of El Fasher by paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces have “gravely alarmed” the United Nations’ Guterres, he said Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to discuss Sudan with the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan when they meet today, White House advisor Jake Sullivan said. (Reuters)
This immersive article by CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo and Sabine Baumgartner shows Sudan on the ground in photos.
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Macron Unveils New Center-Right Government After Impasse |
The thirty-nine ministers in France’s new government mostly hail from allies of President Emmanuel Macron, the conservative Republicans party, and centrist groups. That’s despite a left alliance winning the most votes in a June-July legislative vote; left opposition lawmakers threatened to hold a no-confidence vote in the new slate of leadership. (France 24, The Guardian)
U.S./Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United States yesterday for a week of events in which he will present his plan for victory in the war against Russia to Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump. Yesterday he visited a Pennsylvania factory that produces munitions for Ukraine. (BBC)
In this CFR YouTube Short, U.S. Marine Corps Commander Eric M. Smith discusses Russia’s endgame in Ukraine.
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Kenya’s President Visits Security Mission in Haiti, Pledges More Personnel |
In addition to vowing six hundred more Kenyan police officers for the security mission in Haiti, Kenyan President William Ruto said he supported transforming the Kenyan-led multinational security mission into a UN peacekeeping operation. Kenya currently has some four hundred police officers stationed in the country. A handful of other countries have pledged around 1,900 more troops. (BBC)
Brazil: Social network X’s lawyers said in a court filing that they are complying with regulatory demands to allow the platform to come back online in the country. The move comes after X defied orders from Brazil’s Supreme Court to remove accounts deemed to have threatened the country’s democracy; the court called for further documentation of X’s actions and gave the company five days to provide it. (NYT)
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Trump Hosts Qatari Leaders in Florida |
Trump met with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani at his Florida resort, he said yesterday on social media. He hailed the emir’s desire for “peace in the Middle East” and said that the United States and Qatar would have a strong relationship if he were elected. (Times of Israel) |
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