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Friday's global agenda: Karzai meets with Obama
Your morning global affairs speed-read
Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets today with President Obama at the White House at a time when the two leaders' ambitions for the future of the country are widely apart. Karzai is expected to urge Obama to retain a sizable U.S. presence in Afghanistan after 2014, while the U.S. leader has pared down his hopes of what can be achieved there.
The talks come as the Obama administration has significantly increased its drone strikes against militants in Pakistan in the early days of 2013, evidence that it plans a significant drawdown.
Group hug: U.S. and Russian diplomats meet today in Geneva with the U.N.'s special envoy to Syria to negotiate the next steps in the crisis. The talks with Bashar Assad ally Russia come as Syrian rebels claim to have seized a key air base.
Feisty French: France's Francois Hollande said today he's ready to stop the advance of al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali.
Trade talk: The National Foreign Trade Council unveils its international trade and tax outlook for 2013 this afternoon. Check back on Global Affairs this afternoon for coverage.
In other news:
How the U.N. helped cause — and then tried to cover up — a cholera outbreak in Haiti. [Foreign Policy]
Hillary Clinton is U.S. businesses' best friend at State. [Bloomberg Businessweek]
Pascal Lamy's departure from the World Trade Organization has sparked a nine-way slugfest to replace him. [The Washington Post]
Lobbying and regulations:
The Treasury Department formalized its sanctions on the M23 rebel group and the Combatant Force for the Liberation of Rwanda for contributing to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as on the individuals Innocent Kayna and Baudoin Ngaruye.
The State Department's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy (ACIEP) is scheduled to meet Jan. 30 to examine the Anti-Bribery Convention, the OECD Working Group on Bribery and related anti-corruption issues.
Dilenschneider Group, Inc. is lobbying for Mongolia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Global Affairs news you might have missed:
Poll shows partisan divide over Israel that could dominate Hagel nomination
US picks trade fight with Indonesia
House Democrats claim Wal-Mart CEO knew of bribery allegations in Mexico
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