ONS: 17 February 2019

By TRG Alerts Admin

KEY STORYLINES

AFRICA: The Nigerian government ordered the reopening of all the nation’s borders, following the postponement of presidential and national assembly polls by the electoral body.
AMERICAS: A US military transport plane carrying humanitarian aid meant for Venezuela has landed in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta, where food and medicine is being stored amid uncertainty over how and where aid will be distributed.
ASIA: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince arrives in Pakistan for the start of an Asian tour, during which he will seek lucrative contracts and demonstrate he still has allies five months after the Khashoggi killing.
EUROPE: Russia has no timeframe for agreeing to a postwar peace treaty with Japan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, after he and Japanese counterpart Taro Kono made scant progress in talks.
MIDDLE EAST: The Syrian government and affiliated forces have launched more than 300 attacks using chemical weapons during the country’s nearly eight-year conflict, a report by the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute stated.
TECHNOLOGY: Radoslaw Kedzia, CEO for Huawei in the Czech Republic, said Huawei’s aim is to resolve current cyber security controversy in the country in a “friendly and reasonable” way.

TOP STORY

United States: Heather Nauert Withdraws as Trump’s Pick for U.S. Ambassador to U.N.
- President Donald Trump’s choice for ambassador to the United Nations, Heather Nauert, has withdrawn from consideration for the job for family reasons
- Nauert was a State Department spokeswoman when Trump chose her for the U.N. position, after working as a host for the conservative-leaning Fox News Channel
- The White House had not yet formally submitted Nauert’s nomination to the Senate
- Ms. Nauert likely would have faced intense scrutiny from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since she was a foreign-policy novice when she was nominated as ambassador to the U.N
- State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said that President Trump would make an announcement regarding the new U.S. ambassador to the UN “soon”
- Reporting: WP, WSJ, Reuters, The Guardian, Politico

AFRICA

Region: Ethiopia and Djibouti have signed a deal to build a pipeline to transport Ethiopian gas to an export terminal in the Red Sea state. (Reuters)
Nigeria: The government ordered the re-opening of all the nation’s borders following the postponement of presidential and national assembly polls by the electoral body. (Xinhua)
Sudan: A parliamentary committee tasked with amending the constitution to allow President Omar al-Bashir to run for another term has abruptly canceled its meeting, citing “emergency reasons, as a new date will be announced later. (NYT)

AMERICAS

Region: A US military transport plane carrying humanitarian aid meant for Venezuela has landed in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta, where food and medicine is being stored amid uncertainty over how and where aid will be distributed (The Guardian)
Haiti: The Prime Minister reiterated an appeal for dialogue with the country’s opposition Saturday, as he promised that an investigation into the alleged misspending of nearly $2 billion from the Venezuela PetroCaribe discount oil program that was supposed to be invested in programs for the poor, will happen. (Miami Herald)
Haiti: A group of 131 Canadian tourists on Saturday were evacuated via helicopter from their beachside resort in Haiti, after being trapped for one week at the site due to ongoing unrest. (AFP)
United States: Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he had not yet determined whether a border wall with Mexico was a military necessity or how much Pentagon money would be used. (Reuters)

ASIA

Region: India has warned against rising communal tensions across the country as Kashmiris living outside their state faced property evictions, job suspensions and attacks on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 policemen in the region. (Reuters)
Region: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince arrives in Pakistan on Sunday, for the start of an Asian tour, during which he will seek lucrative contracts and demonstrate he still has allies five months after the Khashoggi killing. (AFP)
China: China hopes that the United States and Russia will return to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a senior Chinese official said.(Xinhua)
Indonesia: The president took part in the second presidential debate, ahead of the April 17 elections, alongside his challenger and former military general Prabowo Subianto, over whom he maintains a clear advantage in polling. (EFE)

EUROPE

Region: U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States was asking European allies to “take back over 800” Islamic State fighters captured in Syria and put them on trial. (Reuters)
France: Paris authorities opened an investigation Sunday into anti-Semitic remarks hurled at a noted philosopher during a yellow vest protest in the capital, an incident that raised national concerns about the movement’s ascendant radical fringe. (AP)
Russia: The country has no timeframe for agreeing to a postwar peace treaty with Japan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, after he and Japanese counterpart Taro Kono made scant progress in talks. (Japan Today)

MIDDLE EAST

Iran: President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran wanted to establish close ties with all countries in the Middle East, where Iran has been involved in proxy wars with Saudi Arabia for decades. (Reuters)
Iran: The government has summoned the Pakistani ambassador to protest about a suicide bombing that killed 27 of its elite Revolutionary Guards near the border earlier this week. (Reuters)
Israel: Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Transportation Minister Israel Katz has been appointed as interim Foreign Minister. (WP)
Syria: The government and affiliated forces have launched more than 300 attacks using chemical weapons during the country’s nearly eight-year conflict, a report by the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute stated. (WP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: Radoslaw Kedzia, CEO for Huawei in the Czech Republic, said Huawei’s aim is to resolve current cyber security controversy in the country in a “friendly and reasonable” way. (Xinhua)

WORLD

Cyclones:
- Tropical Cyclone Oma
  - Location: 249 NM W-NW of Port Vila, Vanuatu
  - Movement: S at 6 mph
  - Wind: 70 mph
  - Map
Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
Earthquake: Nothing to report.
Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
Global Disease Outbreaks:

- Ebola Virus Disease:
  - Ebola Virus Disease:
  - Confirmed Cases as of 13FEB19: 768 (DR Congo)
  - Suspected Cases as of 13FEB19: 61 (DR Congo)
  - Deaths as of 13FEB19: 521 (DR Congo)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK (18 FEB)

END