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MORNING BRIEF

Today's Global News from Foreign Policy <http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/UlMc6uYQJxFs8sWzF6ea0>


TOP NEWS

Obama Sends Secret Letter to Iran Supreme Leader

Obama Sends Secret Letter to Iran Supreme Leader

<p> <b>Top News:</b> The Wall Street Journal <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JlA0780 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">reported</a> on Thursday that President Obama wrote a secret letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, concerning the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Tehran. Sent in mid-October, the letter emphasized that Iran's ability to strike a comprehensive agreement on its nuclear program by Nov. 24 was a necessary precondition to any military cooperation in taking on IS. The letter, at least Obama's fourth to Khamenei since he taking office in 2009, also reportedly assured Khamenei that the United States' ongoing air campaign against IS targets in Syria would not extend to positions held by President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran. </p><br><p> Obama's overture to Iran would seem to acknowledge its centrality in any serious effort to contain or limit IS: Tehran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has already sent military advisors to aid Iraqi forces. While Obama's letter did not propose outright military coordination between Iran and the United States, a source familiar with its contents <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JmA2127 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">told Foreign Policy</a> on Thursday that such a possibility was strongly implied. </p><br><p> After the Journal story went live, White House spokesman Joshua Earnest was quick to respond that U.S. policy towards Iran <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JnA1fa7 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">"remains unchanged"</a> and that the United States has no plans to cooperate militarily or share intelligence with Iran. </p><br><p> It remains to be seen how the United States' key regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia among them, will respond to being kept in the dark about the letter. It is also unclear how the chances of a nuclear deal will be impacted by the results of this week's midterm elections, which saw Republicans -- may of whom are hostile to a deal with Tehran -- take control of the U.S. Senate. </p><br><p> <b>German rail strike: </b>Late on Thursday in Frankfurt, German labor court Judge Ursula Schmidt ruled that the ongoing nationwide rail worker <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JoA9244 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">strike is not illegal</a>. The decision goes against the state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, and will likely present a major obstacle to Germans headed to celebrations for the <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFty7MPohQdh1YqnAf4b6 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">25th anniversary</a> of the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Strikes have major impacts and cause major damage . . . But that's what strikes are all about," Schmidt said after deliberating for six hours. Deutsche Bahn is expected to appeal Schmidt's decision. </p><br><p> Negotiations over pay and fairer work hours will stretch on through the weekend, meaning that Deutsche Bahn's 196,000 workers, represented the 20,000-member GDL union, will continue to stay at home. The four-day strike will now become the longest in the German history since World War II. Economists estimate that a strike of over three days would have cost Germany some $126 million a day, and Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged the workers to reach an agreement soon. </p><br>

Africa

<ul><p> • Just as Libya's Supreme Court declared its <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JpAc67a style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">parliament unconstitutional</a>, U.S. officials said on Thursday that they are considering <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JqAa8fd style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">bringing sanctions</a> against the country's warring factions to prevent its ongoing conflict from sliding into civil war. </p><br> <p> • Doctors at a meeting of the World Health Organization's ethics working group said that scientists conducting randomized and controlled trials of experimental Ebola drugs should not be forced to <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JrAf678 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">withhold treatment</a> from some patients, contrary to customary practice for such research. </p><br> <p> • South Africa's capital city of Pretoria may begin <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JsA519f style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">cutting off electricity</a> to some one million people, due to $583 million in unpaid power bills. </p><br> </ul>
Asia

<ul><p> • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has named <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JtAe276 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Manohar Parrikar</a>, the 58-year chief minister of Goa, to replace Arun Jaitley as defense minister. </p><br> <p> • Brazilian mining giant Vale will open a <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS1sPoxNH4A7JuA5e50 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">$1.4 billion port terminal</a> in Malaysia's Strait of Malacca to both trim the cost of selling iron ore to Asian markets and shore up its competitive position against rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.</p><br> <p> • China and Japan <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7JvAc05d style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">struck an agreement on Friday</a> to improve relations and set aside long-standing territorial disputes, clearing the air ahead of next week's Asian-Pacific summit.</p><br> </ul>
Americas

<ul><p> • The Pentagon disclosed on Thursday that it failed to <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7JwA28b8 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">treat and respond</a> to the over 600 cases of chemical weapons-exposure reported by American service members in Iraq since 2003.</p><br> <p> • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7JxA9829 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">upheld bans on same-sex marriage</a> in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky on Thursday, likely forcing the Supreme Court to take up the issue.</p><br> <p> • Robert O'Neill, a highly decorated former SEAL Team 6 member, publicly confirmed in an interview with the Washington Post that he is <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7JyAbe56 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">the man who killed Osama bin Laden</a>.</p><br> </ul>
Europe

<ul><p> • European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled on Friday that he may introduce <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7JzA3672 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">additional economic stimulus</a> measures by approving the purchase of some $1.2 trillion worth of bonds in December.</p><br> <p> • Plagued by record-low approval ratings, French President Francois Hollande made a live, one-and-a-half hour television appearance on Thursday to announce that he would introduce <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7J0Add61 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">no new taxes</a> next year and would not run for re-election in 2017 if he failed to curb the current 10 percent unemployment rate.</p><br> <p> • Former Luxembourg finance minister-turned European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker faced <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7J1Aaed5 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">a torrent of questions and accusations</a> on Thursday after the Guardian newspaper published a <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7J2A5ef1 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">massive investigation</a> into the country's history as a corporate tax haven.</p><br> </ul>
Middle East

<ul><p> • Kurdish peshmerga fighters have made progress one week into their campaign against IS forces in control of the <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7J3Af85e style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Syrian border city of Kobani</a>, but are far from taking it back.</p><br> <p> • Unidentified attackers <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzS18PoxNH4A7J4A29c9 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">bombed the homes and vehicles</a> of several Fatah officials in Gaza on Friday, just four days before the tenth anniversary of the death of former Palestinian President Yasir Arafat.</p><br> <p> • In an interview set to air on the France-based Euronews on Friday, Iran human rights chief Mohammed Javad Larijani said that detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian may be released in <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71yvwj.2i2q/VFzIMEmOi99hlMwiA27e2 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">less than a month</a>.</p><br> </ul>
- By Siddhartha Mahanta

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