Subject: Morning Brief: Kim Jong Un arrives in China for high level talks
From: "Foreign Policy" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2019 09:37:37 -0600 (CST)

Kim Jong Un Arrives in China For High Level Talks

If you have problems viewing this email, view it in a browser. Please feel free to forward it to a friend.

MORNING BRIEF

Today's Global News from Foreign Policy

Presented by

SUBSCRIBE TO FP

Follow Us:

01/08/2019

01/08/2019

TOP NEWS

Kim Jong Un Arrives in China For High Level Talks

Top News: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in China on Tuesday—his 35th birthday—to begin a four day visit, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Kim travelled across the border by train, arriving in Beijing with his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and an array of North Korean officials. The visit has been cast as a diplomatic opportunity for Kim to coordinate with Xi, and to cultivate an impression that North Korea and China are drawing closer to each other, in preparation for a potential meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Germany: A lawmaker from the country’s far-right AfD party, Frank Magnitz, was beaten by attackers in Bremen who hit him with a wooden plank until he was unconscious. Politicians from other parties condemned the attack. Green Party lawmaker Cem Ozdemir said in a tweet, “There is no justification for violence even against the AfD,” warning those who may want to harm its members that “If you fight hate with hate, you allow hate to prevail.”

**Sponsored Message** Earn a Master's Degree at a Top-Ranked Policy School Open new doors with a degree from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. Our programs offer outstanding preparation for careers as analysts, leaders and managers in U.S. and global organizations. Small classes; joint MBA, JD degree options. Learn more.

AFRICA

•  In Gambia, a truth and reconciliation commission designed to address the human rights abuses committed under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh opened this week, with the proceedings broadcast on Facebook Live.

•  In Mozambique, the attorney general’s Office announced that 18 people had been indicted, including the country’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, on charges of “abuse of power, abuse of trust, swindling and money laundering,” in the same case.

•  In South Africa, Chang’s extradition hearing on Tuesday was heated, with his lawyer insisting that his arrest and detention were illegal, and based on an “ineffective warrant.”

AMERICAS

•  U.S. President Donald Trump is set to address the country on Tuesday night in his first live broadcast from the Oval Office, where he will seek to convince viewers of the necessity of funding his plans for a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border.

•  The United States downgraded the diplomatic status of the delegation from the European Union in 2018—without telling anyone—a European official said on Tuesday.

•  Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said that the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala must leave the country by Tuesday night.

ASIA

•  The foreign ministries of Singapore and Malaysia both released statements on Tuesday that outline how the two countries will seek to de-escalate tensions over contested territorial waters and airspace.

•  In India, a landmark procession was led by an all transgender group of sadhus, or holy people, ahead of the Kumbh Mela festival, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

•  In China, more than 300 swimmers braved icy temperatures for a dip in the Songhua River, as the northern city of Harbin kicks off its month-long winter festival.

EUROPE

•  Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said that his country “won’t be standing in the way” if the British government seeks to extend the deadline for Britain to withdraw from the European Union beyond March 29.

•  In Germany, a 20-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the hacking operation that leaked the personal information of politicians from across the country’s political spectrum, with the exception of the far-right AfD party.

•  French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced that 80,000 members of the security forces would be deployed to counter further protests, and said that "Those who question our institutions will not have the last word."

MIDDLE EAST

•  Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton had made a “serious mistake” in calling for Turkey to protect U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, and labeled their fight against the Islamic State in Syria as a “huge lie.”

•  Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy said on Tuesday that he hoped India would seek another waiver to allow it to bypass U.S. sanctions and continue to buy Iranian oil.

•  The head of Oxfam’s Yemen branch, Dina el-Mamoun, said the peace deal backed by the United Nations was “too vague,” adding that "An agreement that leads us to a state of confusion over what was agreed is not what we needed.”

- By Jefcoate O'Donnell

(Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images)

Register at ForeignPolicy.com to receive Morning Brief and other FP newsletters.

TRENDING ON FOREIGNPOLICY.COM

A New Cold War Has Begun

by Robert D. Kaplan

China Is Shooting Itself in the Foot Over Huawei

by Lynette Ong

Brazil’s Love Affair With Diplomacy Is Dead

by Omar G. Encarnación

This email was sent to [email-masked] by [email-masked].

UPDATE PROFILE

UNSUBSCRIBE

PRIVACY POLICY

ADVERTISE

GROUP SALES AND LICENSING

Foreign Policy Magazine is published by the FP Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents ©2019 The Slate Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 11 DUPONT CIRCLE NW, SUITE 600, WASHINGTON DC 20036

color
000000
conversation-id
14764
date-last-viewed
0
date-received
1546961866
flags
8590195841
remote-id
313217