The latest attack on civilian tourists in Kashmir has been one of the worst attacks in the region since 2019, resulting in a tit-for-tat measure between India and Pakistan.  

Welcome to the Daily News Brief, CFR’s flagship morning newsletter summarizing the top global news and analysis of the day.  Subscribe to the Daily News Brief to receive it every weekday morning. Top of the Agenda India and Pakistan downgraded ties after India blamed Pakistan for the killings of twenty-six people in Kashmir. The events threaten a sharp escalation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars over the contested region.  The latest. New Delhi was the first to announce punitive measures. India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the attack had “cross-border” links to Pakistan, and Indian police said they believed Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible. Media outlets were not immediately able to independently verify responsibility. Pakistan responded with countermeasures today, calling India’s blame “frivolous [and] devoid of rationality.”  India will bar Pakistanis from visa-free travel to the country, shut a bilateral border crossing, suspend a binational water supply treaty, and withdraw Indian military advisors from Pakistan, Misri said.  Pakistan will close its airspace for Indian owned or operated airlines, declare Indian military advisors in Pakistan persona non grata, suspend bilateral trade and visa-free travel, and close its side of a border post, the prime minister’s office said. Indian police released sketches of three people suspected of involvement in the attack, saying two are Pakistani nationals and one is a Kashmir resident. The context.  India and Pakistan each claim Kashmir but administer only parts of it. In 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its partial autonomy and put it under tight government control, arguing it would make the region safer from extremism.  The two countries established a truce in 2021 following the most recent period of open hostilities. While Pakistan-based groups have carried out some extremist attacks in India—Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people—Kashmiri separatist groups have also fought in the region for decades. Rights groups, meanwhile, have accused India of arbitrary detentions and other violations against Kashmir’s Muslim population. “A destabilized Pakistan creates the risk for further proliferation of militant groups in the region and a greater risk of them holding territory and developing the capabilities to launch international terrorist attacks. Though the collapse of the Pakistani state remains unlikely, its nuclear arsenal remains vulnerable to attack or theft by nonstate actors, a major concern for U.S. and Indian policymakers.” —CFR’s Global Conflict Tracker Across the Globe DRC truce announcement. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and M23 rebel fighters agreed to an “immediate” ceasefire following negotiations in Qatar, the two sides said yesterday. They pledged to work toward a more permanent truce. An M23 offensive since January has killed thousands of civilians and taken two of eastern DRC’s largest cities. More than six ceasefires have been announced and collapsed since 2021. U.S.-Ukraine tensions over Crimea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko both called yesterday for Russia to accept a full ceasefire ahead of further negotiations to end the war. Zelenskyy also pushed back against a reported U.S. proposal for Washington to recognize Crimea as Russian as part of a peace settlement. U.S. President Donald Trump posted that “nobody is asking” for Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. Climate strategy meeting. Brazilian diplomats and UN officials urged heads of state to file new emissions reduction plans by September on a closed virtual call yesterday. China and several European countries missed the original deadline in February. The call also included heads of small island states, and discussed strategies ahead of November’s UN climate summit in Brazil. The United States was not invited, as Trump in January announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. U.S. call for IMF, World Bank changes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to limit their missions yesterday, saying the IMF “devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues” and that the World Bank should return to its “core mission.” Washington is the largest shareholder at both institutions. Abbas’s appeal on Gaza governance. Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas called for Hamas to lay down its weapons and put Gaza under PA administration at a leadership conference yesterday. He has made the appeal for unified leadership in the past but not since the current war with Israel began. Abbas is expected to name a successor in the coming days amid international pressure to reform the PA and equip it to play a larger role in Gaza’s governance. European Union (EU) fines Apple, Meta. The European Commission fined Apple more than $560 million and Meta over $220 million after finding them in violation of its Digital Markets Act. It called for changes regarding app purchases and data tracking, respectively, but it stopped short of the largest fines possible under the law.  Deportees in Costa Rica. Costa Rica granted temporary legal status to eighty-five non-Costa Rican migrants deported to the country by the United States in February. Costa Rica originally planned to repatriate the people within weeks, but some migrants rejected repatriation. Human rights lawyers recently sued the Costa Rican government for keeping migrant children detained in a rural camp for nearly two months. The country’s immigration director said the latest action was designed not to “force” people to return to their countries of origin. Details on Iran talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview released yesterday that if Iran wants a civilian nuclear program, it should import enriched uranium rather than be allowed to enrich it domestically. Also yesterday, the UN nuclear chief said Tehran agreed to allow a UN team to visit soon to discuss the return of surveillance cameras at nuclear sites. What’s Next Today, South Korea’s finance minister Choi Sang-mok meets with Bessent. Tomorrow, the UN Security Council discusses Syria. Tomorrow, Thailand’s king makes a state visit to Bhutan.

India’s Muslim communities have faced decades of discrimination, which experts say has worsened under the Hindu nationalist BJP’s government.

Senior U.S. and French officials are meeting in Paris this week as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to negotiate a cease-fire in Ukraine—but the chances of that deal becoming a reality appear increasingly slim.

The Trump administration is signaling that European allies need to take the lead in securing Ukraine. How they respond has a crucial bearing on Ukraine’s fate and the future of the transatlantic partnership.

Welcome to the Daily News Brief, CFR’s flagship morning newsletter summarizing the top global news and analysis of the day.  Subscribe to the Daily News Brief to receive it every weekday morning. Top of the Agenda Envoys from Washington, Kyiv, and European capitals are discussing potential terms of a Ukraine peace deal in London today. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled plans to attend, casting fresh uncertainty over talks as reported disagreements loom over the U.S.-proposed terms of a deal. Envoy Keith Kellogg will represent the United States in London today. Rubio had threatened last Friday to walk away from peace efforts; in the days since, the leaders of Russia and Ukraine both said publicly they were ready for talks about ending the war. The reported developments.  Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to halting the invasion of Ukraine along its current front lines and giving up claims to the portions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia that Russia does not control, unnamed sources told the Financial Times. Russia currently claims the entirety of those Ukrainian regions.  Washington has proposed acknowledging de facto Russian control over areas of those four regions, recognizing Russian ownership of Crimea, and allowing for a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine and a non-NATO force monitoring a demilitarized zone, the Financial Times reported. The U.S. State Department declined to comment. The latest reactions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that he had yet to receive a concrete proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump on ending the war, but that Ukraine would not recognize Russian control over Crimea. Ukraine has pushed for a full ceasefire first and negotiations second. Even as Moscow has signaled willingness to talk, a Kremlin spokesperson yesterday downplayed hopes for a breakthrough, saying “it would be wrong to put some tight limits to it and try to set some short time frame for a settlement.” U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters today that Washington has issued a “very explicit proposal” to Russia and Ukraine and “it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process.” “The question now is what, if anything, the Trump administration will do about Russian intransigence. Until now, the president and his envoys have been focused solely on applying pressure to Ukraine.” —CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot in an Expert Brief Across the Globe Attack in Kashmir. Gunmen killed at least twenty-six people at a tourist site yesterday in India-administered Kashmir. It was the deadliest attack in decades in the area and prompted international condemnation. A group called The Resistance Front claimed responsibility. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short a trip to Saudi Arabia to return to India, and said that those responsible would be “brought to justice.”  A dampened IMF forecast. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its 2025 U.S. growth forecast from 2.7 percent in January to 1.8 percent following the trade escalations of recent months—though it only took into account information until April 4, before Trump hiked levies to 145 percent on most Chinese goods. The IMF downgraded its global forecast to 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent.  Trump’s shift in economic rhetoric. Trump yesterday said that he had “no intention” of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, switching course from days of warnings about a potential ouster. Separately, he also said that the level of tariffs on China will “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.” A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said today that “the door for talks is wide open.” The State Department’s future. Rubio announced a plan yesterday to reorganizethe State Department that will consolidate 734 bureaus and offices down to 602, according to documents seen by the Associated Press. Among the positions set to be eliminated is the undersecretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights. The plan did not include cuts as drastic as those envisioned in a draft document that was circulated over the weekend.  Blow for Ivory Coast election challenger. An Ivory Coast court removedpopular opposition presidential hopeful Tidjane Thiam from the country’s electoral register, in a move Thiam called “democratic vandalism.” Being on the register is a requirement for running for office. The court argued Thiam forfeited his Ivory Coast nationality when he acquired French citizenship, which he later renounced to run for the seat. President Alassane Ouattara has ruled the country since 2010. Delay in U.S.-Iran talks. Technical talks toward a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal will occur on Saturday after being originally scheduled for today, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding that host country Oman suggested the delay. The talks will now occur the same day as political negotiations. Since the last round of discussions last Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister has held meetings with UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi and with counterparts in China. IMF mission to Syria. The IMF appointed its first head of mission to Syria in fourteen years, interim Syrian finance minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh said. The IMF had previously left the office vacant amid the country’s civil war. Bernieh and Syria’s central bank chief are in Washington for the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, the first official visit by Syria’s interim authorities to the United States since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.  China-Vatican ties. Beijing is willing to continue to work toward mending its relationship with the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis, a foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday. China and the Roman Catholic Church had cut off formal relations in 1951 and Francis had worked toward improving them, reaching a 2018 deal regarding the appointment of bishops in China that was never made public. China under Xi Jinping has enacted harsh restrictions on Christian religious practices.  What’s Next Today, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors hold a meeting in Washington, DC. Tomorrow, South Korea’s finance minister Choi Sang-mok meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Tomorrow, Zelenskyy holds talks in South Africa with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Canadians are heading to the polls at the most fraught moment in U.S.-Canada relations in eighty years.

President Trump has threatened new tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico. His trade plans threaten the future of the United States’ largest free trade agreement.