Egypt
Egyptian election officials declared the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi the country’s first freely elected president on Sunday, propelling an Islamist to power and marking another milestone in the Arab world’s tumultuous democratic transition. – Wall Street Journal
The 44th administration, expressing relief on Sunday that the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate will be Egypt’s next president, voiced cautious optimism that the choice could keep the country’s rocky transition to democracy on track. – New York Times
As the first freely elected president of Egypt, Mr. Morsi has a historic opportunity, but he faces a litany of challenges that could prevent him from becoming more than just a figurehead. – New York Times
Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood sets about building a civilian administration for Egypt on Monday that can heal a divisive history of oppression and coax a mistrustful army into relaxing its grip on power. – Reuters
Interview: Perhaps more than anyone outside the military, Khairat Al Shater will shape the outcome of this showdown. The millionaire businessman is the boss, in a Chicago machine sort of way, of the Muslim Brotherhood – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Egypt still has a chance to complete a democratic transition, but it will require more mature political behavior by all sides. Strong encouragement by the United States — particularly to the recalcitrant generals of the old order — can help. – Washington Post
Iran
An Iranian oil shipper’s $100 million tanker, on order from China, is nearly ready to sail the high seas. But it’s turning out to be a mystery ship…The fog around the new tanker shows the high level of secrecy companies are imposing on their business with Iran these days—especially in the oil sector—in the face of heightened pressure to squeeze Iran economically. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Four U.S. minesweepers have arrived in the Gulf to bolster the U.S. Fifth Fleet and ensure the safety of shipping routes, the U.S. Navy said, as an Iranian military chief suggested on Monday that Iran might try to block the Strait of Hormuz to defend its interests. – Reuters
This is a regime committed to developing nuclear weapons, despite the cost to the Iranian economy and the toll on the Iranian people. Time is running out and the consequences of inaction for the United States, Israel, and the free world will only increase in the weeks and months ahead. It’s time for Congress to seriously explore an Authorization of Military Force to halt Iran’s nuclear program. – The Weekly Standard
Robert Joseph and Keith Payne write: The hope that Iranian leaders will ultimately choose to forgo nuclear weapons, or that they will be reliably deterrable, should not be a source of comparable wishful thinking and complacency today. A realistic assessment can only end in the conclusion that Iran might continue on its path to a nuclear weapon, and that, if so, strengthened U.S. deterrence strategies will be critically important but not foolproof. – National Review
Lee Smith writes: That responsibility to prevent an Iranian nuclear breakout may have now fallen to Netanyahu is not an indication that Israel’s sphere of influence has expanded but rather that under the Obama administration America’s has contracted. It’s a startlingly narrow focus for an American president after more than 60 years of American hegemony in the Persian Gulf. If, as we believe, control of the region remains a vital U.S. interest, the United States must be prepared to defend it. The Obama Doctrine seems to suggest it is not and we won’t. – The Weekly Standard
Tom Mahnken writes: Not all states are alike. Nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea or Iran are of far greater concern than those in the hands of Israel or India. Nor would all would agree with his assertion that “fears of proliferation have proved to be unfounded.” The world is a more, not less, dangerous place because of North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons, and it would be an even more dangerous place should Tehran get the bomb. – Shadow Government
Syria
Turkey on Sunday summoned its NATO allies for emergency consultations on the downing by Syria of one of its warplanes, a move that potentially opens the door to international military intervention in the Syrian crisis for the first time. – Washington Post
The Turkish military jet downed by Syrian antiaircraft batteries was back in “international airspace” when it was hit without warning after having inadvertently wandered into Syrian skies,Turkey’s foreign minister said Sunday. – Los Angeles Times
As more high-ranking Syrian officers were reported on Monday to have defected to Turkey, the European Union urged the government in Ankara to show restraint in a crisis over the downing of one of its jet fighters by Syria, an episode that has heightened regional tensions over the 16-month crisis there. – New York Times
The cradle of the Arab Spring, Tunisia also has a long history of frustrated youth heading off to fight in foreign jihads. Now, according to figures released by the Syrian government, they may make up a large percentage of Arabs who have gone to join the struggle against the Assad regime. – Associated Press
Eli Lake reports: The U.S.-based [Syrian Support Group] has spent the past couple of weeks banging on the doors of congressmen, government agencies, and think tanks, making the case that arming Syria’s rebels in order to oust President Bashar al-Assad is a sound strategic investment. – The Daily Beast
Editorial: The Obama administration should also be asking itself and its allies whether it can speed the rebels’ military development; the longer the war lasts, the greater the chance that extremists will win. And it should consider what it will do if, as can be expected, the Assad regime mounts major new offensives against the rebel enclaves, using aircraft and unleashing the militias that have been committing massacres. To remain passive in such an instance should not be an option. – Washington Post
Jim Hoagland writes: For every action there is reaction, in politics as well as physics. Syria’s brave opposition is underlining that universal law in blood for all with eyes to see. The most significant accomplishment of Annan’s mission may well be determined by when, and how, he decides to end it. – Washington Post
Radwan Ziadeh writes: [I]t is clearly in Russia’s interests to begin trying to form a relationship with the players who might be in power in a future Syria. And those potential Syrian players should, in their country’s interest, rise above principle, and unlike Russia, “be the bigger man,” so to speak, by extending a diplomatic hand to reassure Putin. – NYT’s Room for Debate
Gulf States
For months, the protests have aimed at the ruling monarchy, but recently they have focused on a new target. To their familiar slogans — demanding freedoms, praising God and cursing the ruling family — the young protesters added a new demand, written on a placard in English, so the Americans might see: “U.S.A. Stop arming the killers.” – New York Times
Saudi Arabia, the only major nation to ban women athletes from its national Olympics team, apparently reversed course amid international pressure on Sunday, saying that qualifying Saudi female athletes could compete in London under the auspices of the Saudi Olympic Committee. – Wall Street Journal
North Africa
A vetting panel called the Commission for Integrity and Patriotism has scrutinized the approximately 4,000 candidates vying in Libya’s first post-Gadhafi election, which is scheduled for July 7. The goal: find and block those with ties to Moammar Gadhafi and his family or considered traitors to the revolution that overthrew him. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
In an unfolding contest here over the future of the Islamist movement, Mr. Hasadi’s vision of peaceful change appears ascendant. For the West, his success may represent the greatest promise of the Arab Spring, that political participation could neutralize the militant strand of Islam that has called thousands to fight and die in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. – New York Times
Tunisia extradited Libya’s former prime minister to Libya on Sunday, making him the first senior official to be returned for trial under Libya’s transitional leadership. – Reuters
Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Sunday dismissed anti-government protests over a severe economic crisis as the work of “a few agitators”. – Reuters
Iraq
An Iraqi regulatory body has ordered the closure of 44 media outlets in the country including the BBC and Voice of America in a dispute over broadcast licenses, sources with knowledge of the order said on Sunday, but no action has yet been taken. – Reuters
A proposed new law, which a parliamentary committee plans to discuss Sunday, aims to shorten workdays and help public employees avoid searing temperatures that commonly exceed 120 degrees and blanket the country during summer’s peak. It will also cut work hours during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that begins in late July – Associated Press
Israel
Despite a pledged cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel, strikes resumed on both sides of the Gaza border on Saturday, killing at least two Palestinian men and a 6-year-old boy in Gaza, and wounding an Israeli man in Sderot, officials said. – New York Times
On the streets of the Hatikva quarter, one of the low-income neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv where an influx of illegal African migrants has stirred unrest among residents, tension is simmering under a facade of normalcy. – Washington Post
As a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrives here June 25, military officers have proposed that Israel approve a long-delayed transfer of some 50 Russian armored troop carriers to Ramallah. – Defense News
Interview: This past week, Fayyad sat down in the West Bank city of Ramallah with The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth. – Washington Post
Afghanistan
President Hamid Karzai, responding to recent allegations that insiders close to him are plundering the nation’s mineral wealth, said Sunday that the United States and British governments had given their imprimatur as to how a lucrative oil contract was awarded. – New York Times
The U.S. military has awarded contracts valued at nearly $10 billion to provide food for troops in Afghanistan, amid a billing dispute with its longstanding supplier Supreme Foodservice GmbH. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A hoped-for peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan will likely remain out of reach unless both the United States and the Taliban put more clear, consistent offers on the table, a senior diplomat from Afghanistan’s influential neighbor Pakistan said. – Reuters
Rajiv Chandrasekaran reports: Instead of capitalizing on Holbrooke’s experience and supporting his push for reconciliation with the Taliban, White House officials dwelled on his shortcomings — his disorganization, his manic intensity, his thirst for the spotlight, his dislike of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his tendency to badger fellow senior officials. At every turn, they sought to marginalize him and diminish his influence. The infighting exacted a staggering cost: The Obama White House failed to aggressively explore negotiations to end the war when it had the most boots on the battlefield. – Washington Post
Rajiv Chandrasekaran also reports: By devoting so many troops to Helmand instead of Kandahar, the U.S. military squandered more than a year of the war. Had the initial contingent of Marines been sent to Kandahar, it could have obviated the need for a full 30,000-troop surge later that year, or it could have granted commanders the flexibility to combat insurgent havens in eastern Afghanistan much sooner, allowing them to meet Obama’s eventual withdrawal deadlines without objection. – Washington Post
Max Boot reviews Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s “Little America”: The fundamental problem is that, as one Mr. Obama’s aides told the New York Times, “the military was ‘all in,’ as they say, and Obama wasn’t.” This ambivalence on the part of the commander in chief helps explain the uncertain outlook for the American war effort in Afghanistan in spite of the success achieved by troops in southern Afghanistan. Even so, it is possible to imagine an acceptable outcome if the U.S. remains substantially committed post-2014. It is premature to conclude, as Mr. Chandrasekaran does, that Afghanistan is “the good war . . . turned bad.” – Wall Street Journal
South Asia
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee looks set to become India’s next president, sparking speculation over who will succeed him at a time of wilting foreign investor interest in the nation. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Indian police have arrested a man suspected of helping to plan a militant rampage through the country’s financial hub Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said on Monday. – Reuters
U.S. military and intelligence officials are so frustrated with Pakistan’s failure to stop local militant groups from attacking Americans in neighboring Afghanistan that they have considered launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan to hunt them down, officials told The Associated Press. – Associated Press
East Asia
As the Chinese economy continues to sputter, prominent corporate executives in China and Western economists say there is evidence that local and provincial officials are falsifying economic statistics to disguise the true depth of the troubles. – New York Times
Companies from China and the U.S. on Saturday signed a total of $3.4 billion in bilateral investment projects, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to boost trade and investment. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
As Kim Jong-un, the young leader of North Korea, consolidates his grip on power, China is showing signs of increasing frustration at the bellicose behavior of its longtime ally. – New York Times
Enkhbayar’s case, the most serious corruption scandal in Mongolia’s recent history, illustrates some of the country’s challenges as it seeks to establish itself as an example for other Central Asian nations. Its economy is growing rapidly as a result of a mining boom. But rampant corruption, political infighting and a still-incipient judicial system could hold it back. – Los Angeles Times
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is facing an open revolt in his ruling party over plans to raise taxes. The battle is unlikely to derail the revenue measure, but could weaken his hold on power and even threaten to force him from office by summer’s end. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Japan’s defense industrial base, facing years of declining spending and export restrictions, faces a “crisis” and must urgently restructure in conjunction with Defense Ministry leadership, according to results of a six-month study. – Defense News
Southeast Asia
As the Obama administration revamps its Asian strategy in response to a rising China, the U.S. military is eyeing a return to some familiar bases from its last conflict in the region — the Vietnam War. – Washington Post
After a tense showdown over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the closest U.S. ally in Southeast Asia and a rising China now face a new source of potential friction over the alleged corrupt practices of a well-connected Chinese corporation. – Washington Post
A veteran Jordanian journalist who has been missing in the southern Philippines for nearly two weeks is now considered a captive, a senior Philippine government official said Sunday. – New York Times
On Tuesday, hearings will begin on whether Nyan Win, a spokesman for Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, unfairly challenged the government when he claimed authorities tampered with ballots in the country’s April 1 parliamentary by-election, which was dominated by the NLD – WSJ’s Southeast Asia Real Time
A Malaysian court ordered on Monday the extradition to Thailand of an Iranian man suspected of involvement in bomb blasts in Bangkok in February, rejecting his defense that he had not known about any plan for an attack. – Reuters
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday pledged to deliver wide-ranging overhauls and maintain macroeconomic stability during his six-year term, but failed to reassure foreign investors looking for the government to act on promises it has already made. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
[T]he man largely credited with putting Russia in this enviable position, the former minister of finance, Aleksei L. Kudrin, warned at a news conference on Saturday that Russia was in danger of falling into a recession and that Mr. Putin should delay much of the increased social and military spending that he announced during his recent campaign for the presidency. – New York Times
Cathy Young writes: The Obama administration, concerned about jeopardizing relations with Russia, has opposed the [Magnitsky Act], and Senate Democrats have tried to weaken and delay it. But with the Kremlin poised to increase repression in the face of growing discontent, a strong signal on human rights could not be more timely. – The Weekly Standard
Europe
A senior prosecutor said Friday that the authorities would compel jailed ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to undergo a medical examination in order to prove she is fit to face charges for complicity in the 1996 killing of a businessman and lawmaker. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
United States of America
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has strived to foster a business-friendly environment in this state and has courted international companies in overseas trade missions. But a measure he signed into law in May that targets foreign firms with business ties to Cuba threatens to complicate those efforts. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Latin America
In more than a decade of friendship between Mr. Chávez and Cuba’s rulers, Venezuela has sent cash and oil subsidies worth billions of dollars a year. Those handouts could come under threat without Mr. Chávez in power to back them—showing how the flip side of Venezuelan largesse is a deep potential Cuban vulnerability. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
After quietly testing Predator drones over the Bahamas for more than 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand the unmanned surveillance flights into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to fight drug smuggling, according to U.S. officials. – Los Angeles Times
A United States Drug Enforcement Administration agent shot a man to death in Honduras during a raid on a smuggling operation early Saturday, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Honduras said Sunday – New York Times
Aerial surveillance video of a fatal shootout during a counternarcotics mission in Honduras last month shows a long, dugout-style boat ramming a smaller canoe carrying Honduran and American agents — and a seized cocaine shipment — followed by a brief but furious round of gunfire. – New York Times
Fernando Lugo emerged early Sunday to denounce his ouster as Paraguay’s president as a “parliamentary coup” and a “foreordained sentence” that was not based on proper evidence. – Associated Press
Analysis: In the span of a few hours on Friday, Paraguay’s Senate convened its members, read a list of accusations and put President Fernando Lugo on trial. Dismissing his request for more time to mount his defense, the senators abruptly voted to oust him from office, spurring a fierce debate across Latin America over the fragility of democratic institutions in a region with a long history of dictatorships. – New York Times
Mexico
Six years into a ghastly drug war, none of the top candidates in next Sunday’s presidential election has offered a significant new strategy to win a conflict that has claimed more than 50,000 lives and terrorized Mexican society. – Los Angeles Times
In a case that now appears more embarrassment than triumph for the Mexican government and its partners in U.S. law enforcement, the man whom Mexican marines captured and paraded before cameras Thursday and described as a smuggling kingpin and son of Sinaloa drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman may not be his son at all – Washington Post
[Victor Baez’s] killing last week, in this hilly capital of a state, Veracruz, where drug violence has exploded in the past year, scared off many of his [fellow journalists]. It has sown confusion and fear over whether any precaution matters. – New York Times
Ciudad Juárez became infamous for a wave of attacks beginning in the 1990s that left hundreds of women dead over the course of a decade. International attention moved on, but the killings have continued, with a second wave even larger than the first. Even as overall violence here declines, new clusters of slain women are continually being discovered. – New York Times
Nigeria
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday he sacked his defense minister and national security adviser last week because the government needed new anti-terrorism tactics. – Reuters
A top radical Islamist sect member blamed for a deadly Christmas Day church bombing in Nigeria has been killed by security forces, said the sect, which demonstrated in a prison break Sunday that his death has not affected its ability to keep fighting. – Associated Press
Congo
Thirteen years, hundreds of peacekeeper deaths and billions of dollars later, the U.N. mission in the Congo, its largest and most expensive, has shown the problems of what became known as “robust peacekeeping.” – Wall Street Journal
South Africa
Zondwa Mandela set out to make his company one of the African continent’s biggest gold producers. Now, the 28-year-old grandson of Nelson Mandela faces fraud charges related to a failed mining deal and angry unemployed workers who accuse him of trading on the name of South Africa’s first black president. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
