Daily News Brief

October 17, 2024

Top of the Agenda

The B-2 bomber strikes yesterday evening on underground bunkers containing missiles and other munitions linked to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels appeared to be an escalation of Washington’s campaign to quell Houthi violence. Despite months of exchanging strikes, the United States and its allies have not been able to stamp out the group’s attacks. This round of strikes was the first time since beginning its operation that the United States has used the stealth bomber to attack the Houthis in Yemen.

The Houthis have been targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea for months, causing a 90 percent drop in container shipping through the strait between December and February. The U.S. bomber attack also comes at a time of greater tension in the region: Israel’s strikes on Lebanon continue to expand, with an attack yesterday killing a mayor and fifteen others in the southern town of Nabatieh, according to Lebanese officials. An Israeli strike also hit the Syrian town of Latakia today, according to Syrian state media. (Bloomberg, Reuters)

Analysis

“The United States will not hesitate to take action to defend American lives and assets; to deter attacks against civilians and our regional partners; and to protect freedom of navigation and increase the safety and security in these waterways for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels. We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a press statement.

“The Houthis are after all not exactly a major power. They are a minority clan in the backward, impoverished, and divided nation of Yemen. How is it, then, that they can create and shoot cruise missiles and build and arm fast boats? Of course they cannot; these are Iranian weapons. So the refusal of the United States to defeat the Houthis is actually an aspect of U.S. policy toward Iran, not U.S. policy toward Yemen,” CFR expert Elliott Abrams wrote in this August blog post.

CFR’s Center for Preventive Action monitors the conflict in Yemen. 

Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.

Pacific Rim

State media announced the addendum today, confirming that the new constitution reflects the abandonment of reunification. Some analysts say the move is largely symbolic; Pyongyang has been using the term toward Seoul since it severed the inter-Korean military agreement at the end of 2023. (Reuters, BBC)

China/Japan: China’s Coast Guard warned a Japanese fishing boat that it “illegally” entered its territorial waters near a group of uninhabited Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands off the northeast shore of Taiwan that both countries claim as theirs. China cautioned Japan’s boat to clear out, the latest in a slew of disputes in the countries’ shared waterways. (SCMP)

South and Central Asia

There are “ever clearer indications” that India has targeted Sikh dissidents in Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a public inquiry yesterday, calling India’s actions a “horrific mistake.” India has rejected the “ludicrous” claims. Meanwhile, the United States and India met yesterday regarding an investigation into an attempted assassination of a Sikh separatist on U.S. soil last year, with a U.S. State Department spokesperson saying the talks were “productive.” (The Guardian, Reuters)

Bangladesh: Dhaka’s domestic war crimes court issued an arrest warrant today for self-exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and forty-five others for “crimes against humanity.” The crimes are referring to the government’s excessive use of force to crack down on student protesters earlier this summer. (Al Jazeera) 

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR expert Joshua Kurlantzick questions whether Bangladesh can reform after protests dislodged the country. 

Middle East and North Africa

The World Food Program’s director of Palestinian territories urged Israel to allow for an immediate increase in aid delivery, with existing aid to the Gaza Strip already well below what’s required for the hundreds of thousands of people that have evacuated to the north. Israel has launched a massive new offensive in the area in recent days and has blocked the organization from getting aid in. The UN Security Council unanimously called on Israel yesterday to allow in aid and assistance into northern Gaza. (FT, NYT)

Sub-Saharan Africa

At least 153 people were killed after they rushed to collect spilled oil from an overturned tanker that lost control on Tuesday night in northern Jigawa state and then caught on fire. Oil prices in Nigeria have increased nearly fivefold over the past year; just last week, the country raised prices at the pump by 15 percent. Tuesday’s fatal incident is the latest of fuel and petrol transportation explosions in the country. (BBC, FT, Business Insider Africa)

U.S./DRC/Rwanda: The United States has conducted unusual secret intelligence-sharing with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, Bloomberg reports. Washington’s “intelligence diplomacy” has so far produced a temporary cease-fire in the ongoing conflict between the DRC and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group, but it has not stopped the group from expanding its territory. Rwanda denies supporting M23. (Bloomberg)

Europe

U.S. President Joe Biden announced the new $425 million military aid package during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday, according to a White House statement. It followed Zelenskyy’s unveiling of his five-point victory plan to Ukraine’s parliament, in which Western allies are a linchpin in ending the war. (White House)

This Expert Brief by CFR’s Paul B. Stares and Molly Carlough explains why the U.S. election is so important to Kyiv. 

Brussels: Yesterday marked the first-ever summit between the European Union (EU) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an alliance of six Middle Eastern countries. Leaders met in Brussels to discuss trade agreements, energy cooperation, digital connectivity, and global conflicts. The two groups agreed to meet every two years. Rights groups criticized the EU’s decision as being complacent with Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. (European Council, The Guardian)

This In Brief by Noah Berman looks at how Saudi Arabia uses sports to paint over its human rights issues.

Americas

Genaro García Luna was handed more than thirty-eight years of prison time in a New York federal court yesterday for accepting millions of dollars worth of bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. García Luna claims the charges were based on false information. As public security chief, he was in charge of carrying out former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s war on cartels, with the United States once hailing García Luna as a critical ally against drug trafficking. (AP, Al Jazeera)

This Backgrounder unpacks Mexico’s long war against drugs, crime, and the cartels.

Brazil: Federal police requested the extradition of those who fled Brazil after storming top government offices last year to reinstate former President Jair Bolsonaro, two sources familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. Most of the more than sixty targets are believed to be in Argentina. (AP)

U.S. Campaign 2024

During an interview with Fox News last night, Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated that she no longer supports decriminalizing illegal border crossings, a reversal of a stance she previously took as a candidate during the 2020 election cycle. She also said her presidency will “not be a continuation” of the Biden administration and repeated her pledge to appoint a Republican to her cabinet and establish a bipartisan council that could inform solutions to pressing policy issues. (USA Today, CBS)

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