Biden Kicks Off Mideast Trip With Stop in Israel |
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Israel today (AP) to kick off his first visit to the Middle East as president. The trip will include a meeting with Palestinian officials in the West Bank and a stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday. In Israel, Biden will focus on Iran’s nuclear program and is expected to launch a high-level dialogue (Haaretz) on technology and climate change cooperation.
Talks on returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have stalled ahead of the visit. On Saturday, Biden said he is prepared to return to the deal, but he also pledged to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran. An Israeli official said the United States and Israel will unveil a joint declaration that commits the countries to using “all elements of their national power against the Iranian nuclear threat.”
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“Biden is widely expected to offer US political and military support for the development of a regional security partnership between Israel and Arab countries. But there is a risk that–rather than strengthening regional security, which Biden claims is the goal of his trip–further militarisation of the Israeli-Arab relationship, with the explicit aim of countering Iran, will lead to new violence in the Middle East,” the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Cinzia Bianco, Ellie Geranmayeh, and Hugh Lovatt write.
“Additional steps toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia will require progress on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians—an issue the White House has evinced little interest in,” CFR’s Steven A. Cook writes for the Los Angeles Times. |
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Sri Lanka Declares State of Emergency as President Flees Country |
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives, leaving Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to serve as acting president. Protesters swarmed Wickremesinghe’s office (Nikkei) and called for him to step down immediately.
India: The government is weighing new regulations (Nikkei) to rein in big tech companies, the junior minister for electronics and information technology said. He said a recent leak about ride-hailing company Uber showed that tech firms are “gaming the system.” |
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Japanese Lawmakers to Visit Taiwan |
Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Tokyo said the upcoming trip shows that the Japanese legislature’s support for Taiwan will continue (SCMP) after the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR’s David Sacks looks at how the United States and Japan could prepare for Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
U.S./China: China’s military said it warned away (Japan Times) a U.S. warship that was sailing in the South China Sea, stating the ship “trespassed” into the disputed waters. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
U.S. Says Islamic State Leader Killed in Syria |
A U.S. drone strike killed Maher al-Agal (WaPo) in northwestern Syria, the White House and U.S. military said. He was considered one of the top leaders of the self-declared Islamic State. |
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Family of Deceased Former Angolan Leader Seeks to Keep Body in Spain |
Low-key funeral celebrations are occuring (AP) in Angola for former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who died last week. His family seeks to avoid an Angolan burial that could be used for campaigning by President João Lourenço, who launched an anticorruption drive that targeted dos Santos’s children.
France/Rwanda: A French court sentenced former Rwandan official (AP) Laurent Bucyibaruta to twenty years in prison for complicity to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. He is the highest-ranking Rwandan to face trial in France for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. |
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Turkey Hosts Talks on Unblocking Ukrainian Grain Exports |
The four-way talks include delegates (Al-Monitor) from Russia, Ukraine, and the United Nations. Ukraine and Russia have both pressed for security guarantees to allow grain exports to leave the Black Sea.
United Kingdom: The first round of voting for the next leader of the Conservative Party began today (The Guardian). Prime Minister Boris Johnson vacated the role last week. |
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Panama’s Anti-Inflation Protests Continue Despite New Fuel Price Controls |
Demonstrators continued to plan marches (Bloomberg) after talks with President Laurentino Cortizo broke down yesterday.
Haiti: More than fifty people have died (Reuters) in gang violence in the town of Cité Soleil since Friday, a local official said.
At this CFR event, Jacqueline Charles, Daniel L. Foote, Johanna Mendelson-Forman, and Joel Dreyfuss discuss gang violence and other facets of Haiti’s crisis. |
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NASA Releases First High-Resolution Images From James Webb Space Telescope |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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