Japan’s Abe finds himself on sidelines amid outreach with North Korea
9/23/2018, 4:06:59 PMShinzo Abe championed the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. Now he finds himself boxed in. ✔ In the 1970s and 1980s, an unknown number of Japanese citizens were kidnapped by North Korean agents and taken to North Korea, partly to teach spies about Japanese language and culture ✔ Akiko Kashiwagi in Tokyo and Min Joo Kim in Seoul contributed research
Russia blames 'misleading' Israeli intelligence for downed plane in Syria
9/23/2018, 7:10:54 PMThe Russian military on Sunday said "misleading" information from the Israeli airforce caused the downing of a Russian plane in Syria, and denounced the "adventurism" of Israeli pilots. ✔ Israel denied this version of events and its air force commander flew to Moscow following the incident, which President Vladimir Putin called a result of a chain of tragic accidental circumstances ✔ It was the deadliest known case of friendly fire between Syria and key backer Russia since Moscow's game-changing 2015 military intervention
Trump's State Department lacks money, clear mandate to fight Russian disinformation, 'fake news'
9/23/2018, 7:47:38 PMA new agency created to counter Russian disinformation around the globe struggles with funding and has no clear mandate from the Trump administration. ✔ Yet, even when the funds start flowing, Kimmage and his 70-plus staff have just a couple weeks to spend it, before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 ✔ CNN recently reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was considering Lea Gabrielle, a Fox News reporter and former Navy pilot, for the job
Pompeo: No end to NKorea sanctions until 'denuclearization'
9/23/2018, 7:01:18 PMNEW YORK (AP) — Top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo said Sunday that economic sanctions on North Korea won't be reduced until it completes "denuclearization" after leader Kim Jong Un of ✔ He also promised to dismantle the North's main rocket launch site ✔ Security Council will not reduce those sanctions, until such time as we've achieved that final denuclearization, he said ✔ 27, 2018, on North Korea, an issue the Security Council was united on in imposing increasingly tough sanctions
Haley denies Giuliani’s claim of Iran ‘revolution,’ says U.S. not seeking ‘regime change anywhere’
9/23/2018, 5:27:40 PMUnited Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley shot down the assertion by President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani that the U.S. was plotting a “successful revolution” in Iran. ✔ It could be in a few days, months, a couple of years ✔ But it’s going to happen, Giuliani said, according to Reuters ✔ It’s the not the first time the former New York City mayor has rankled Trump administration officials by spouting off on foreign policy in Iran and elsewhere ✔ We Want to Hear from You Join the conversation Comment
Look in mirror after attack, US tells Iran
9/23/2018, 6:30:42 PMThe US ambassador to the UN dismisses claims Gulf states and the US enabled a deadly attack in Iran. ✔ Mr Rouhani did not specify which puppet countries he was referring to - but his comments are widely thought to be directed at Iran's regional foe Saudi Arabia, and the UAE and Bahrain ✔ Mr Trump is chairing a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday - and says the meeting will be focused on Iran
Grounds for hope, as well as scepticism, on the Korean peninsula
9/23/2018, 6:09:09 PMundefined ✔ Something dramatic is happening on the Korean peninsula ✔ He was allowed to give an unprecedented public speech there and used the opportunity to make a plea for Korean unity ✔ Set against that, there are grounds for hoping that Kim Jong Un is a different sort of North Korean leader
Iran Seethes at Saudi Arabia, West After Deadly Terror Attack
9/23/2018, 5:27:47 PMIran has begun a diplomatic push against the U.S., European and Arab countries it says supported or harbored people linked to a terrorist attack that left 25 people dead and fueled Middle East tensions. ✔ Injured soldiers laid on the ground at the scene of an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz on Sept ✔ If it turns out that the culprits have links to Denmark, it will, of course, have consequences, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said ✔ In a 2017 memo on how to deal with Iran, current national-security adviser John Bolton recommended that the U.S. administration support internal resistance and minorities inside Iran, including ethnic Arabs in Khuzestan
Iran fears plot by US and its Gulf allies as pressure grows
9/23/2018, 4:36:53 PMDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On the same day Arab separatists killed at least 25 people in an attack targeting a military parade in southwestern Iran, President Donald Trump ✔ Those separatists claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack in Ahvaz, Khuzestan's capital, which struck one of many parades in the country marking the start of the 1980s war ✔ From Saturday’s attack in Ahvaz to America resuming sanctions despite Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, pressure on Tehran is rising and its leaders are growing more combative toward the West
China raises trade tensions by rejecting US call for talks
9/23/2018, 5:57:47 PMundefined ✔ President Donald Trump has promised to respond to any such retaliation by Beijing with further tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US, which last year totalled $505bn ✔ The Chinese government sees Mr Trump’s escalation on the trade front as part of a larger effort to contain China’s economic and military development a conviction that was further solidified by the military sanctions imposed last week
The swampy business of lobbying for foreign governments
9/23/2018, 6:23:39 PMPaul Manafort’s trials have drawn attention to a dubious practice in Washington ✔ How bona-fide scholarship differs from political activity is unclear in the statute and barely considered in the case law ✔ Lesser-known outfits can project more seriousness than an out-and-out lobbyist ✔ The new law should probably devote as much space to computers as to parchment
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