Khashoggi fallout blunts prince’s efforts
U.S. and Israeli officials have expressed concern that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammedbin Salman may have less leeway to pursue the gradual warming of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors amid the political fallout from the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The fate of the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, has implications for the Arab-Israeli peace package developed by the Trump administration and for cooperation among opponents of Iran.
“We should not allow an action like that to go unanswered,” the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, told an audience last week, referring to Mr. Khashoggi’s killing. “But we also have to be careful about not throwing away a relationship that has strategic value.”
President Donald Trump has called Saudi Arabia a keyto regional stability and avaluable purchaser of American arms but has said little publicly about whata diminished role for the kingdom or Mohammed might mean for Israel or Arab-Israeli peace.
France keeps territory
The Pacific territory of New Caledonia voted to remain part of France, French President Emmanuel Macron announced after polls closed in a referendumon independence.
Mr. Macron praised the “responsible campaign” run by the opposing sides, saying they had been “careful at all times to avoid tensions and preserve the gains of 30 years of dialogue and peace.”
The referendum was mandated under peace agreements in 1988 and 1998 between pro-independence forces mainly backed by the native Kanak community and pro-French forces largely supported by descendants of European settlers.
Berlin skips centenary
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will mark the 100thanniversary of the end of World War I on French soil, and German President Frank-Walter-Steinmeier willbe in London at a ceremony in Westminster Abby with Queen Elizabeth II.
Butwhile the leaders visit the capitals of Germany’s war time enemies, at home there are no national commemorations planned for the centenary ofthe Nov. 11 armistice that brought an end to the four year war that killed more than 2 million of its troops.
Next week, German parliament is holding a combined commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the declaration of the first German republic, the 80th anniversary of the brutal Nazi-era pogrom against Jews known as the Night of Broken Glass, and the 29th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
China import expo
BEIJING— Facing a blizzardof trade complaints, China is throwing an “open for business” import fair hostedby President Xi Jinping to rebrand itself as a welcoming market and positive global force.
More than 3,000 companies from 130 countries selling everything from Egyptian dates to factory machinery are attending the China International Import Expo, opening Monday in the commercial hub of Shanghai.Its VIP guest list includes prime ministers and other leaders from Russia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
The United States, fighting a tariff war with Beijing, has no plans to send a high-level envoy.