Globe Trot: Norine Brunson meets Secretary Tillerson in Turkey

TURKEY: No less than seven Turkish newspapers covered yesterday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Norine Brunson (yes, it did happen!), wife of imprisoned American pastor Andrew Brunson. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu dodged a question about Brunson when asked about the case at a joint press conference with Tillerson—but “this is a good step in the right direction,” Aykan Erdemir, an expert on Turkish affairs, told me.

In 2015, I traveled breezily through Şirnak to visit areas along the Turkish-Syrian-Iraqi border. Now the area is a dangerous no-go zone. Turkey’s crackdown on its Kurds, who are key in the fight against ISIS, is a main sticking point in U.S.-Turkey relations. Hopefully Tillerson and the Pentagon will gain Brunson’s release without making concessions regarding the Kurds.

IRAQ: Church leaders say the likelihood of Christians returning to Mosul are “essentially non-existent”—and voiced opposition to efforts to create an enclave for non-Muslims in the area. “To put this small, small, people together in one place … they would be tremendously vulnerable,” said Stephen Rasche, aid coordinator for northern Iraq’s Catholic diocese.

The U.S. State Department has amended its 2016 Human Rights report, which initially had no reference to the genocide being carried out by ISIS. It now reads:

“Da’esh was responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims, and was also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and in some cases also against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities.”

SOMALIA: President Donald Trump has ordered additional U.S. forces to Somalia to aid African troops in the fight against al-Shabaab militants, and has loosened restrictions on U.S.-led airstrikes.

GHANA: When completed, a Cultural Encyclopedia of Africa will clock in at 54 volumes and include an open-source internet platform for documenting African arts and culture past, present, and future.

FBI: Pretty amazing how reporter Ashley Feinberg uncovered what’s almost certainly FBI Director James Comey’s stealth Twitter account. The account had 1 (revealing) follower yesterday when her story posted, and by early today it had more than 8,000—and was locked.