Tuesday Briefing: Kim and Putin Plan to Meet in Russia

Kim and Putin plan to satisfy in Russia

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s chief, plans to journey to Russia this month to satisfy with its president, Vladimir Putin, to debate army cooperation, together with the potential for supplying Russia with extra weaponry for its conflict in Ukraine, in accordance with U.S. and allied officers.

Putin desires Kim to ship Russia artillery shells and antitank missiles, and Kim would love Russia to supply North Korea with superior know-how for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, the officers mentioned. Kim can be in search of meals help for his impoverished nation.

The White Home warned final week that Putin and Kim had exchanged letters discussing a doable arms deal. However the brand new details about a deliberate assembly between them goes far past the earlier warning. The intelligence referring to the plans has not been declassified by the U.S., and the officers describing the plans weren’t licensed to debate them and declined to supply particulars on how spy businesses had collected the knowledge.

Agenda: Putin and Kim would attend the Jap Financial Discussion board, which is scheduled to run Sept. 10 to 13 in Vladivostok, in accordance with officers. Kim additionally plans to go to Pier 33, the place naval ships from Russia’s Pacific fleet dock, they mentioned.

Kim’s journey: The journey can be a uncommon foray for Kim from his nation. He would journey from Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, in all probability by armored practice, to Vladivostok, on the japanese coast of Russia, the officers mentioned. Kim may presumably go to Moscow, although that’s not sure.

Context: The U.S. first warned about cooperation between North Korea and Russia a 12 months in the past and later mentioned that North Korea had shipped munitions to Russia via the Center East and North Africa. However U.S. officers mentioned that the disclosures had deterred North Korea and that few if any North Korean weapons had reached the entrance strains in Ukraine.

Different information from the conflict in Ukraine:

• Putin restated his opposition yesterday to the internationally backed Black Sea grain deal after bilateral talks along with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who brokered the deal.

• Russia fired swarms of drones at Ukrainian grain and port amenities yesterday morning, the second large-scale drone assault previously 48 hours within the southern Odesa area.

• The removing of Ukraine’s protection minister and the arrest of Ihor Kolomoisky, one of many nation’s richest males, are indicators of the authorities’ drive to root out corruption — a permanent problem and a uncommon space of criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s management.

Xi seems to be set to skip the G20, in a snub to India

China indicated yesterday that its high chief, Xi Jinping, would skip the Group of 20 summit assembly in New Delhi this weekend, dealing a blow to India, the occasion’s host nation, and elevating questions on Xi’s profile as a worldwide statesman.

At a information briefing, a spokeswoman for China’s International Ministry mentioned that China would ship the premier, Li Qiang, to the occasion, however she declined to clarify why. The transfer is an uncommon one: Xi has by no means missed a G20 summit, which brings collectively 19 nations and the European Union, since taking energy in 2012.

Context: The announcement comes amid rising friction between China and several other members of the G20 — significantly with the U.S. over Beijing’s help for Russia, and with India over its more and more aggressive territorial claims.

Pope Francis on China: After a four-day journey to Mongolia, Pope Francis known as relations with Beijing “very respectful.” Nevertheless, few clergy or Catholics from China went to see him throughout his go to, seemingly fearing reprisals.

China’s largest homebuilder is reeling

For the previous three years, as dozens of main property builders in China defaulted after years of extreme borrowing, Nation Backyard was an outlier. However final month, the actual property big missed two curiosity funds — signaling that it, too, was vulnerable to monetary collapse, with $187 billion in debt.

Nation Backyard should now provide you with $22.5 million this week, the tip of a grace interval for the missed funds. The corporate is scrambling to boost money and maintain collectors at bay, promoting off stakes in properties and issuing shares at a reduction.

Context: Nation Backyard’s fall has been dramatic. The corporate’s inconceivable rise from a regional homebuilder tracked China’s personal meteoric ascent. The developer’s collapse displays the velocity and severity of the nation’s actual property meltdown, which threatens to derail the broader economic system.

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Professional-military music in Niger

Since a gaggle of generals toppled the democratically elected president in July, Niger has witnessed a revival of music movies praising the army, remixed for the TikTok period.

In a single video a well-known trio of feminine artists wearing fatigues lauds troopers who they are saying are as quick as antelopes. In one other, pickup vehicles race via the desert to intercept suspected criminals.

Artists and leisure executives say such music and movies make sense in a rustic with an extended historical past of griot tradition, the place storytellers and keepers of oral historical past praised figures of authority. The outpouring sheds mild on why many in Niger have partly welcomed the tip of democratic rule that they related to endemic corruption, financial hardship and restricted freedom of expression.

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