World Briefing: November 16, 2024
Iran sent a message to the Biden administration in October saying that it was not trying to kill Donald J. Trump, as Tehran attempted to ease rising tensions with Washington, according to U.S. officials, as well as an Iranian official and an analyst. The message, sent to Washington through an intermediary, came after a note from the Biden administration in September that warned that the United States would consider any Iranian attempt on the life of Mr. Trump, then the Republican candidate for president, to be “an act of war.” Since Mr. Trump won the Nov. 5 election, many Iranian former officials, pundits and media outlets have been have been publicly advocating for Tehran to try to engage with the president-elect and pursue a more conciliatory approach, despite vows from Mr. Trump’s allies to renew a high-pressure campaign against Iran. U.S. officials have said that Iran sought to kill Mr. Trump in revenge for ordering the 2020 drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the commander who directed Iran’s militias and proxy forces. The Department of Justice has issued two indictments that officials said were related to Iranian plotting against Mr. Trump - NYT
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone on November 15, urging the Kremlin leader to end the war against Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv. With some saying the call was done for domestic political reasons, Scholz said in a tweet that he called on Putin to “end the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and to withdraw his troops. Russia must show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine - with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace.” A Kremlin readout of the call claimed it took place on the initiative of Berlin and that it served as “a detailed and frank exchange of views about the situation in Ukraine. Officials added the two leaders agreed to stay in touch.
But the first direct conversation in nearly two years between the German and Russian leaders elicited a warning from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said Scholz's call was a "Pandora's box" that could help Putin "ease his isolation, Russia's isolation, and engage in conventional negotiations that won't end in anything." Zelenskiy said such empty exchanges are "exactly what Putin has been wanting for a long time" as the 2 1/2-year-old full-scale invasion grinds on. Scholz expressed "unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for as long as necessary," Berlin said - RFE/RL
President Joe Biden is expected to use his final meeting with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to urge him to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. Saturday’s talks on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru come just over two months before Biden leaves office and makes way for Republican President-elect Donald Trump. It will be Biden’s last check-in with Xi — someone the Democrat saw as his most consequential peer on the world stage. With the final meeting, officials say Biden will be looking for Xi to step up Chinese engagement to prevent an already dangerous moment with North Korea from further escalating. Biden on Friday, along with South Korean President Yoon Seok Yul and Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, condemned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s decision to send thousands of troops to help Moscow repel Ukrainian forces who have seized territory in Russia’s Kursk border region. Biden called it “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation.” White House officials also have expressed frustration with Beijing, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade, for not doing more to rein in Pyongyang - AP
An Israeli artillery shell struck the gym of a UNIFIL base in Shama, southern Lebanon, without detonating, with preliminary reports indicating it was an accident. Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, has condemned the incident and called recent attacks on peacekeepers "unacceptable." Tajani said he spoke with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar to seek clarification on what happened. “I also reiterated my request for better protection for the Italian soldiers, who are there on a peacekeeping mission and not as combatants.” - Euronews
A UN special committee said Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza were "consistent with the characteristics of genocide", including the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Israel's repeated evacuation orders in Gaza amount to the "war crime of forcible transfer", and to "ethnic cleansing" in parts of the Palestinian territory, Human Rights Watch said in a report. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that at least 43,764 people have been killed and 103,490 wounded in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants - France 24
A multi-pronged dark money effort by advisers to Elon Musk targeted liberals, Jews, Muslims and Black voters with ads that were not quite what they seemed. The ads were part of a single, $45 million effort created by political advisers to Tesla founder Musk who had previously worked on the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). “There is plenty of blame to go around for another election cycle riddled with misinformation online,” Priorities USA executive director Danielle Butterfield said in a statement. “Big Tech is still unwilling to hold bad actors accountable, Congress is unwilling to step in and write new rules for the 21st century, and Republicans will continue to slander and lie to voters to make their case. Because of all of this, Democrats lose, and we need to acknowledge this reality and figure out new ways to communicate with voters on today’s internet.” - Washington Post
An American visiting Japan with his family has been arrested on suspicion of vandalism after allegedly desecrating Tokyo’s Meiji Jingu Shrine. According to Reuters, the 65-year-old (identified as Steve Lee Hayes) clawed five letters representing family names into a pillar of the Torii gates with his fingernails. He allegedly etched the characters “just for fun,” according to Tokyo Weekender, and was taken into custody at his hotel. The incident is one in a string of similar defacements, visitors having graffitied pillars at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo twice already this year. Reuters reports that “overtourism” may be to blame: 27 million people visited Japan between January and September, injecting the equivalent of $37.5 billion into the economy but also saddling the country with drunken, rowdy visitors who leave their trash in the streets and strain transportation systems and generally make life more difficult for locals. - Daily Beast
The world's largest coral has been found in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Scientists say the massive organism is visible from space, Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes. The "mega coral" near the Solomon Islands, believed to be about 300 years old and measuring 105 feet long by 111 feet wide, was discovered by the National Geographic Pristine Seas team
