High hurdles for Trump’s trip to Asia

ASIA: As President Trump embarks on his longest overseas trip to Asia on Friday, key State Department positions remain unfilled. The inside joke, say newcomers and old-timers alike: The president may be lord of the headlines, but at Foggy Bottom it feels like the ninth year of the Obama administration.

NORTH KOREA: Neighboring Asian countries look to develop their own nuclear arsenals as North Korea’s buildup continues. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger told The New York Times: “If they continue to have nuclear weapons … nuclear weapons must spread in the rest of Asia.”

IRAQ: Masoud Barzani, the president of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region, abruptly announced he would step down, leaving the Kurds with no credible successor after a month of tension and armed conflict with Baghdad. A leader of the northern region for decades, Barzani spearheaded an independence referendum in September that backfired, prompting Iraqi forces to engage Kurdish forces over disputed territory, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Said one analyst: “We lost everything because of Barzani’s miscalculation and personal ambitions, so his stepping down is a positive thing for the region.”

A Christian nongovernmental organization is calling on the international community to protect Christian villages in the Syria-Iraq-Turkey border area following attacks by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias on Kurdish positions. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert praised the Kurds for their role in protecting Christians and other minorities in Iraq: “Without the Kurds, many of those families would eventually not be able to come home.”

MADAGASCAR: An outbreak of both bubonic and pneumonic plague has killed more than 100 people in Madagascar, forcing school closings and bans on public meetings. The World Health Organization has issued plague warnings for nine additional African nations.

SPAIN: Madrid’s central government moved to strip Catalonia of regional autonomy, and Spain’s chief prosecutor planned to prepare criminal charges against Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who has led the fight for independence. More than 300,000 Catalonia residents took to the street in Barcelona, the Catalan capital, urging unity with Spain.

UNITED STATES: The U.S. economy posted its best six-month stretch of growth in three years despite two hurricanes, a remarkable feat on the world scene. The gross domestic product expanded at a 3 percent annual rate in spite of hurricanes Harvey and Irma shutting down large sectors of Texas and Florida.

IDOP: Churches around the world will recognize the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12. Washington’s Chinese Community Church will host its fourth annual Night of Prayer, an event also drawing attention to persecuted believers around the world, on Nov. 18.

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