Israel Strikes Lebanese Coastal City of Tyre |
Israel extended its campaign against Hezbollah to the Lebanese port city of Tyre today, carrying out multiple strikes after warning residents to evacuate. Tens of thousands have fled the city in recent weeks over fears of Israel’s heightened invasion. The bombings came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, postwar governance and reconstruction in Gaza, and the need for more humanitarian aid to reach the enclave. Blinken traveled to Saudi Arabia today.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned that Lebanon “is on the brink of collapse” while in Beirut today, and that “any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers violates international humanitarian law.” Israel has been accused of forcibly entering a UN base in Lebanon and injuring its workers, according to a leaked report seen by the Financial Times. In northern Gaza, conflict has brought a polio vaccination campaign to a halt. Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for an attack on Netanyahu’s home over the weekend. Israel, meanwhile, said yesterday it killed an apparent heir to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike. (BBC, NYT, France 24, FT, Reuters)
|
|
|
“[Former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s] assassination could result in a desirable political outcome if it convinces the Netanyahu government to find a political solution to the Israel-Hamas war, which is fueling the regional unrest. Doing so would mean aggressively pursuing an agreement in Gaza that would result in the return of the 101 Israeli hostages (both alive and deceased) and the delivery of robust humanitarian aid for Gaza’s civilians, many of whom are homeless, starving, and facing death,” Carnegie Mellon’s Audrey Kurth Cronin writes for Foreign Affairs.
“The Israelis have, one, stopped listening to the advice of the [Joe] Biden administration. They feel like the Biden administration, from Rafah to Iran, ha[s] been interested in striking deals rather than Israel really reestablishing its sovereignty and its security. That’s the Israeli perspective here, whereas the White House has broader concerns about a regional conflict,” CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook says in this YouTube Short.
Read the full suite of Foreign Affairs and CFR.org resources on Israel and the current conflict.
|
| |
U.S. Says North Korea Sent Troops to Russia |
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed today that North Korea has dispatched its soldiers to Russia, calling the situation a “very serious” escalation. While he said their function was still “left to be seen,” he added that if they become co-belligerents in the war in Ukraine it would produce consequences, including in the Indo-Pacific. The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the development. U.S. intelligence officials say that none of the North Korean fighters have reached Ukraine yet. (NYT, WaPo)
Russia/Turkey: In recent weeks, Turkey has secretly obstructed the export of more than four dozen categories of goods that Western countries say aid Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, unnamed sources told the Financial Times. Turkey did not comment, while assistant U.S. Commerce Secretary Matthew Axelrod said Washington believes Ankara “heard and understands our concerns.” (FT)
|
|
|
UK Grants Asylum to Son of Singapore’s Founder |
The United Kingdom (UK) accepted that Lee Hsien Yang had a “well-founded fear of persecution,” according to a letter seen by the BBC. He fell out with his brother, Lee Hsien Loong, who led Singapore’s government as prime minister for twenty years. The former prime minister denies his brother’s claims that he abused his power while in office. (BBC)
U.S./China/Taiwan: A tech research firm found a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) chip inside a Huawei product despite the China-based company Huawei being subject to U.S. export controls, Reuters and other news organizations reported. The report suggests Huawei’s lack of self-sufficiency in the most advanced chips and the difficulty of enforcing export controls. TSMC said it has not supplied chips to Huawei since mid-September 2020; the U.S. Commerce Department said it was aware of the reporting. (Reuters)
This episode of the Why It Matters podcast discusses how chips can make or break an economy.
|
| |
Myanmar Rebel Group Reports Seizure of Rare Earth Mining Hub |
The anti-junta Kachin Independence Army said it took control of the town of Panwa, an area that sends rare earth minerals to China. Last month the conflict interrupted such exports, according to one analyst. Mining areas in the region were previously under the control of a militia group allied with Myanmar’s junta. (Reuters)
Pakistan: Islamabad’s ruling legislative alliance picked a junior judge as the next chief justice of the Supreme Court. They were authorized to do so in a constitutional reform passed Monday; the opposition party that includes former Prime Minister Imran Khan boycotted the choice, calling it illegal. (Bloomberg)
|
|
|
Middle East and North Africa |
Iraqi Prime Minister Says Joint Iraqi-U.S. Mission Killed ISIS Leader |
Senior U.S. officials said they were awaiting more analysis in order to assess who was killed in the mission, but they confirmed the joint U.S.-Iraqi raid against the self-declared Islamic State operatives in Iraq. (WaPo)
At this CFR event, Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani talks about the U.S.-Iraq relationship.
|
| |
Governance Index Warns Democracy, Security Deteriorating Across Africa |
Seventy-eight percent of Africa’s citizens live in a country where security and democracy deteriorated in the past decade, according to a governance index released today by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. It pointed to some bright spots, however, including governance progress in thirty-three countries such as Angola, Benin, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Seychelles, and in the areas of women’s equality and infrastructure. (The Guardian, Mo Ibrahim Foundation)
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR expert Ebenezer Obadare contextualizes the raging fear in the Sahel under junta rule.
Kenya: The country’s High Court upheld a new tax to fund affordable housing that has raised some $420 million between March and June 2024. Kenya has turned to new taxes to fund such measures amid a tight public budget, but they have been the subject of repeated legal challenges. (Bloomberg)
|
|
|
UN Office in Haiti Warns Conflict Has ‘Worsened’ Despite Security Mission |
The head of the United Nations office in Haiti said the situation there has “regrettably worsened” as gangs ratchet up attacks on areas they do not control. The UN Security Council approved an international security mission to the country last year, but only a few hundred of the more than three thousand pledged troops have arrived. (Reuters)
Argentina: Argentine negotiators have refused to sign a proposed Group of Twenty (G20) statement supporting gender equality despite support from all other nations in the group as they prepare for a summit next month. Argentine officials did not respond to requests for comment on their position. (Bloomberg)
In this interactive article, CFR’s Linda Robinson and Noël James find where women around the world do—and don’t—wield political power.
|
|
|
IMF Warns That Tariff Surge Favored by Trump Would Hurt Global Growth |
Applying higher tariffs to a “sizable swath” of world trade by mid-2025 would reduce 0.8 percent of the world’s economic output next year and 1.3 percent in 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its new World Economic Outlook report. Former President Donald Trump has called for a 20 percent tariff on all U.S. imports and a 60 percent tariff on those from China, while Vice President Kamala Harris has backed tariff increases on some goods from China during her vice presidential tenure. (FT)
At a CFR event last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that calls for walling off the United States with high tariffs are deeply misguided.
|
|
|
58 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065 |
1777 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006 |
|
|
|
