The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on a U.S. and Chinese proposal to blacklist more North Korean individuals and entities after the country's repeated ballistic missile launches, diplomats said on Thursday. The draft resolution, seen by Reuters, would sanction four entities, including the Koryo Bank and Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, and 14 people, including Cho Il U, who is believed to head North Korea's overseas spying operations.

The economic cost that Israel is paying for the current wave of terror can be seen in how the malls have emptied out [...] In an interview with Al-Monitor, [Shraga Brosh] calls on the government to include business people in the country’s official public diplomacy campaign overseas, claiming that this tactic already proved itself during the first and second intifadas.

European powers struggling to hold together a stalled Ukrainian peace accord will resume talks with Russia and Ukraine in Germany next week as efforts shift from the battlefield to solving political disputes.  European Union leaders say easing economic sanctions on Russia requires full compliance with the agreement negotiated in Belarus in February.

Acknowledging the failure of fifty years of economic sanctions, President Obama announced his intention to "leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism" and normalize relations with the island nation.