India, Pakistan Escalate Tensions

India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states and historic adversaries, engaged in military confrontation this past week. The escalation in violence can be traced back to a February 14 attack by Islamist insurgents on Indian paramilitary troops in the disputed Kashmir region which killed 40 Indian soldiers. India launched strikes on the group inside Pakistani territory after it accused Pakistan of supporting the militants. Pakistan responded by shooting at an Indian fighter jet. The Indian pilot ejected and was captured by Pakistani forces.

Pakistan has said that it will free the pilot, following a request from India. Pakistan, however, did use the pilot’s capture extensively for propaganda purposes, with showings of the pilot’s comments of how well Pakistan was treating him widely circulating on Pakistani media.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to officials from both countries in an attempt to stave off tensions. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also called for  the de-escalation of tensions, saying “De-escalation should not be understood as a sign of weakness...These tensions do not benefit Pakistan or India.”

Trump-Kim Summit Ends Without Agreement

The summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam ended without a signed agreement Thursday. Neither side could come to agreement, with Kim reportedly wanting the removal of all sanctions and Trump wishing to implement more accountability on North Korea’s denuclearization efforts.

Trump claimed that while Kim had agreed to close the major nuclear site Yongbyon, he was unwilling to destroy others, including secret sites. North Korean officials pushed back on his claims, saying Kim had agreed to close other sites and had only requested partial, not full, lifting of sanctions.

The lack of a signed agreement at the end of the meeting was a disappointment for the White House, which had hoped to build on the momentum from last year’s summit in Singapore, in which Kim said he was open to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Many, however, accused the North of being disingenuous, especially after the country was revealed to have been building more nuclear weapons and missile sites even after the Singapore summit.

Trump has made peace on the Korean Peninsula a central foreign policy goal for his administration, which has largely been preoccupied with domestic issues such as immigration and investigations into alleged Russian collusion during the 2016 election. The failure of this week’s summit to achieve a further step in the denuclearization process, while a blow to Trump, is unlikely to be the end of peace talks and diplomatic efforts for rapprochement between the two countries, but will likely shift focus from the issue for now.

Jussie Smollett Alleged Attack Investigated as Hoax, Actor Arrested

Actor Jussie Smollett, best known for his role on Fox television series Empire, has been arrested in Chicago, Illinois, after officials believe he filed a false police report relating to an alleged assault back in January. Smollett had claimed that two men had attacked him during a late-night run to Subway after identifying him. They reportedly used racial slurs, said “This is MAGA (Make America Great Again) country, put a rope around his neck, and poured an unknown substance on him.

While Smollett initially received sympathetic coverage from many media outlets and support from celebrities, others began casting doubt on his claim. Eventually, two brothers, who had been identified as persons of interest, told investigators Smollett paid them to stage an attack on the actor. Smollett denies the allegations.