Iran
Fifty people in Iran have been arrested on money trading violations since a crackdown on foreign-exchange dealings linked to the plunging value of Iran’s currency provoked a riot and antigovernment demonstration in Tehran three weeks ago, the country’s intelligence minister said Wednesday. – New York Times
The former chief of naval operations said a United States military strike against Iran would be difficult because of the size of the country and the distances to targets. – Washington Free Beacon
Iranian officials say the country is considering a harder line in nuclear talks with world powers: Threatening to step up uranium enrichment unless the West makes immediate concessions on sanctions. – Associated Press
Iran’s judicial authorities have again denied a request by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Evin prison where his top media advisor is serving time, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, in another sign the president’s power is on the wane. – Reuters
Sohrab Ahmari writes: “Down with America!” has been chanted by the regime’s supporters at every Friday prayer for 30 years—and they’ve acted on the threat repeatedly. For Iranian leaders, this latest American prostration affirms Ayatollah Khomeini’s prediction, issued at the height of the 1979 hostage crisis, that “America can’t do a damned thing against us.” In their eyes, the “Great Satan” really isn’t so great. – Commentary
Syria
Lakhdar Brahimi, the envoy trying to broker a peace deal in Syria, on Wednesday announced a seemingly unlikely cease-fire between the two sides to mark the main Muslim holiday of the year, and the United Nations Security Council unanimously endorsed his effort. – New York Times
A mass killing in a Damascus suburb left at least 25 people dead, according to reports that emerged Wednesday—a day before Syria’s government is expected to decide whether to sign off on a brief cease-fire—offering a grim prognosis for any negotiated halt in Syria’s violence. – Wall Street Journal
For more than 24 hours, President Bashar al-Assad’s soldiers fought their way through this city, bleary-eyed men, worn down by months of combat. Afraid to go into the streets, where snipers pick their targets, the government men snaked their way through “mouse holes” punched in walls of blown-out buildings. Their goal was to retake one building, just one, a former school controlled by the rebel Free Syrian Army. – New York Times
The detailed chronicling is more than just a manifestation of revolutions in a time of social media saturation. In a country still living in the shadow of a brutal government crackdown 30 years ago that left tens of thousands of civilians dead, but that is not spoken of publicly, it is a response to a hole in Syria’s history books, and a means of ensuring that it will not happen again. – Los Angeles Times
Russia is right that Syria is awash with shoulder-fired missiles, the Obama administration said Wednesday — but they’re Russian SA-7s, not U.S.-made Stingers. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces fired heavy tank and rocket barrages at a Damascus suburb on Thursday, killing five people, opposition activists said, a day before a UN-brokered ceasefire is due to come into force. – Reuters
Russia slammed leaks to the media from a closed-door Security Council briefing on Syria on Wednesday, saying diplomats and journalists involved should be stripped of U.N. accreditation for the release of confidential information. – Reuters
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Syria could take advantage of a political vacuum in Lebanon, and she urged Lebanese politicians to form a government free of “proxies and agents for outside forces.” – Reuters
Syria’s government said on Wednesday it planned large increases in spending on salaries and subsidies next year, in an apparent effort to retain popular support following a 19-month uprising. – Reuters
Editorial: Mr. Hassan warned us that the prolongation of the fighting in Syria would lead “to sectarian war and a destroyed civil society.” He added: “The [Syrian] Army will disintegrate, and after its collapse there will be chaos.” By refusing to arm or protect secular and liberal forces, the Obama administration is helping to ensure that outcome. – Washington Post
Libya
A series of three leaked e-mails sent by State Department officials two hours after the fatal attack began on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, last month — including one that alerted the White House Situation Room that a militant group had claimed responsibility for it — stirred new debate on Wednesday about the Obama administration’s shifting positions on the cause of the attack. – New York Times
Although it is unclear whether a quicker Libyan response could have ensured that the Americans, including Doherty and Woods, were out of the safe house before it was hit the second time, the delay does underscore the messy security situation a year after the revolution that ended Moammar Kadafi’s rule. – Los Angeles Times
The Pentagon is staying mum on why combat assets were not immediately sent to Benghazi, Libya, to aid the U.S. Consulate under attack by militants for hours on Sept. 11. – Washington Times
Officials in Libya said on Wednesday that government forces had taken control of the western town of Bani Walid, after a deadly assault that lasted almost a week and led to accusations that the country’s new government was using indiscriminate force to punish a restive city. – New York Times
A gunman reportedly linked to the militant attack last month on the U.S. mission in Libya was killed in a shootout with police in Cairo on Wednesday, according Egyptian state TV and independent news media. – LA Times’ World Now
U.S. intelligence believes that assailants connected to al Qaeda in Iraq were among the core group that attacked the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, a U.S. government official told CNN. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday seized on newly leaked State Department emails, saying they raised questions about whether White House officials tried to cover up the nature of last month’s attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
American intelligence officials have been denied access to a Tunisian national suspected of participating in the deadly Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, according to one Senate Republican. – DEFCON Hill
Josh Rogin reports: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton downplayed reports Wednesday that the White House was made aware that extremist group Ansar al-Sharia had claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi through a Facebook posting the night of the attack. – The Cable
North Africa
A Tunisian court on Wednesday sentenced a leader of radical Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia to one year in prison for inciting an attack on the US embassy in Tunis last month in which four people were killed. – Reuters
Gulf States
Saudi Arabia is deploying tens of thousands of soldiers in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as millions of Muslims from all over the world gather for the hajj pilgrimage. – Financial Times
Kuwait’s opposition is gearing up for a mass public sit-in on Thursday as the authorities attempt to sidestep criticism of a crackdown this week and local media blame the Muslim Brotherhood for the trouble. – Financial Times
Kuwait risks sliding into Arab Spring-style protests over a forthcoming election that has polarized opinion in the Gulf Arab state and posed an unprecedented challenge to the authority of the once revered emir, a close Western ally. – Reuters
Israel
A surge in violence on Wednesday across the Israel-Gaza border prompted strong warnings from Israeli leaders that if pushed, Israel would act more forcefully against militants in Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave. – New York Times
After decades of the “two states for two people” blueprint more or less dominating proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a new paradigm is gaining momentum. Under this model, Israel absorbs the West Bank and its 2.5 million Palestinians, while Hamas-run Gaza becomes a separate entity aligned with the Middle East’s rising Islamist powers. – Christian Science Monitor
The U.S. and Israel simulated rocket attacks during their largest-ever joint military drill Wednesday, just as as real ones fired from Gaza exploded in southern Israel. – Associated Press
Palestinian militants held fire overnight on Thursday and Israel refrained from air strikes as an informal truce brokered by Egypt appeared to take hold following two days of violence along the Israel-Gaza border. – Reuters
In all of these instances, a Republican White House acted in a cold and determined manner, with no regard for Israel’s national pride, strategic interests or sensitivities. That’s food for thought in October 2012. – New York Times
Afghanistan
Of the more than 5,700 Afghans who have applied for U.S. visas under a special program tailored for those who have supported the American war effort, just 32 have been approved, the State Department says, leaving the rest in limbo as foreign forces begin their withdrawal. The growing, protracted backlog threatens to undermine congressionally approved legislation, as well as the longstanding guarantee that the United States will protect Afghans whose contribution to the American mission has left them hunted and vulnerable. – Washington Post
A diminished but resilient al Qaeda, whose 9/11 attacks drew America into its longest war, is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan’s mountainous east even as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but firm toehold to the terrorist group. – Washington Times
Taliban insurgents will increase the number of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 52 foreign troops so far this year, the movement’s reclusive leader said Wednesday. – Associated Press
Military-led teams set up to deliver aid projects in Afghanistan are winding down their operations, sparking concern among some local officials that the government is not ready to take over their development role. – Reuters
Stewart Upton writes: We are reaching the point in which the misperception being created by the media is undermining our ability to achieve their own definition of success in Afghanistan: denying al Qaeda a safe haven via a strengthened Afghan security force that is capable of taking over lead responsibility in the future. – Foreign Policy
South Asia
In an era when small parties, based on regional or caste loyalties, increasingly hold the balance of power in Parliament, a new narrative is emerging in India. A growing number of economists and political analysts say the path to development lies not in an all-powerful central government calling the shots but in individual states showing the way. – Washington Post
India will increase spending on naval forces in the next 10 years but is unlikely to raise total defense spending above the current level of a little under 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), despite encouragement to do so from some experts, said an official of India’s Planning Commission. – Defense News
Tensions between the U.S. and Afghan governments over the nation’s border with Pakistan simmered Wednesday after the State Department reaffirmed that it views the 1,640 mile “Durand Line” as an internationally recognized boundary. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Josh Rogin reports: Libya isn’t the only place where the State Department has used a contractor to hire local guards with questionable results. In Pakistan, the contractor in charge of embassy and consulate security left U.S. assets poorly guarded during a three-day strike last year, according to an internal State Department report. – The Cable
Jeff Smith writes: After the Malala attack, Ahmed Rashid observes that the military’s “core constituencies of right-wing politicians and mullahs have been weakened,” while Pakistan’s radical clerics “are becoming marginalized for the first time in more than a decade.” Perhaps they are. But for Malala’s tragedy to serve as a catalyst for change, the Pakistani public must demand more than justice for her attackers; it must demand an end to de facto military rule. – USNWR’s World Report
China
As the deposed Communist Party leader Bo Xilai sits in prison awaiting criminal charges, friends say his family is struggling against Chinese government obstacles to help him prepare a legal defense. – Washington Post
China announced the promotion of four more generals to key military posts Thursday, indicating that its leadership had nearly completed a generational shake-up of the military top brass ahead of a once-a-decade Communist Party leadership change next month. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A top regulator said China would speed up the reform of its railway, postal-service and salt sectors as part of an overhaul of the country’s state-run companies, according to state media, though he didn’t provide a time table. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A record number of young Chinese want to become bureaucrats to get the “golden rice bowl” benefits that come with a career working for the government. – Washington Post
U.S. President Barack Obama called China an “adversary” in his debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Monday, a reversal of U.S. efforts to avoid that label when dealing with the world’s No. 2 economy. A day later, China appears to have shrugged it off. – WSJ’s China Real Time Report
East Asia
The Japanese and Chinese governments are intensifying back-channel efforts to mend their tattered bilateral ties, after weeks of public bickering surrounding disputed islands. – Wall Street Journal
One of Japan’s highest-profile nationalists, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, said Thursday that he will resign his post and form a new political party in a bid to gain power in the country’s central government. – Washington Post
China’s military spending has been rapidly spiraling upward, and the growing amounts are unnerving Beijing’s Asian neighbors and policy planners in the Pentagon, who are openly wary about the country’s long-term intentions. – Washington Post
As European and U.S. defense budgets face aggressive cuts while their governments tackle massive debt, Asian countries are continuing to spend significant amounts on defense without signs of slowing. – Defense News
Chinese ships entered waters near the Senkaku group of disputed islands for the first time in three weeks on Thursday, prompting a strong protest from Japan, which says China’s air force has also sharply increased its operations in the area. – Associated Press
Miles Yu reports: The official Chinese Communist Party newspaperGlobal Times and other state-controlled media outlets fired broadsides this week at Chinese tourists who traveled to Japan, ignoring the current national xenophobia calling for a boycott of all things Japanese. – Washington Times’ Inside China
Koreas
The largest by area of North Korea’s prison camps, Camp 22, appears to still be open, according to a study released Wednesday of the latest satellite photographs. – WSJ’s Korea Real Time
The United States and South Korea still have no clear insight on the new leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, nearly a year after he replaced his father. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. pivot to Asia is in part a move to pressure North Korea into ending its provocative behavior and rejoining international talks to end its nuclear pursuits. – The E-Ring
The top U.S. and South Korean defense leaders on Wednesday discussed the North Korean nuclear impasse, as well as their governments’ efforts to contain and respond to it, according to a statement released by both sides. – Global Security Newswire
Burma
Myanmar’s parliament is set to relax some of the restrictions on foreign investment it had proposed, following changes requested by President Thein Sein to the country’s long-delayed foreign investment law, according to MPs who discussed the president’s requests in parliament’s new session this week. – Financial Times
Authorities in Myanmar imposed a night-time curfew in at least two towns in northwestern Rakhine state after renewed deadly unrest between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas in an area where more than 80 people were killed in June. – Reuters
Russia
A jailed Russian opposition leader who disappeared from Kiev, Ukraine, on Friday was held for three days by men who threatened to kill his children if he did not sign a lengthy confession, according to an interview published on Wednesday. – New York Times
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the state Duma, contrasted the “realistic pragmatic approach” from the European Commission to the relationship with Russia to that it has with “the ideological institutions like the European Parliament.” – WSJ’s Real Time Brussels
Russian lawmakers are under fire for adopting a tough new bill that opponents say will allow the Kremlin to jail its critics on charges of high treason. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The Kremlin is hoping to restore national pride in Russia with the creation of a new agency in charge of promoting patriotism. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Ukraine
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Catherine Ashton write: It remains deeply in our common interest to see an independent, prosperous and irreversibly democratic Ukraine that is associated with the European Union. We want to pursue deeper, mutually beneficial partnerships with Ukraine and will continue working toward a day where Ukraine will fully realize its own potential and take its place among the modern democracies of Europe. – International Herald Tribune
United States of America
Thanks to the magic of editing, 44 will have a starring role in a television drama about one of his biggest accomplishments — the killing of Osama bin Laden — that will be shown just two nights before the presidential election. – New York Times
Josh Rogin reports: No matter how the election turns out, Tennessee’s Bob Corker is likely to be the next top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the entire GOP foreign-policy establishment is gearing up for that now. – The Cable
While it’s not yet clear who’s going to win the November 2012 election, at least one thing is certain: The next four years of U.S. foreign and defense policy are going to be very consequential. – USNWR’s World Report
Mali
Senior U.S. defense leaders are working with allies on a plan to deal with al-Qaida- linked militants in Mali and elsewhere in the North Africa region, with American assistance likely to center on intelligence and logistical support and not troops on the ground. – Associated Press
The African Union on Wednesday pledged to mobilise an African military force to battle al-Qaeda-affiliated groups controlling northern Mali. – Associated Press
The African Union (AU) lifted Mali’s suspension from the bloc on Wednesday, saying an African plan to intervene militarily to help the country claw back territory from Islamist militants would be ready within weeks. – Reuters
Central Africa
President Obama on Wednesday said he would renew sanctions against people involved in the longstanding conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). – The Hill’s Global Affairs
East Africa
Sudan on Wednesday accused Israel of launching an airstrike that caused a large explosion at a munitions factory, killing two people, in a residential area of the capital, Khartoum. – Los Angeles Times
Today, backed by a sweeping multinational effort that includes $338 million in U.S. equipment, wages and training, the force of Ugandans, Burundians, Kenyans and Somalis that was deployed to take on the country’s Islamic radicals can claim a degree of success that initially had seemed highly unlikely. – Washington Times
