//The Wire//2130Z June 18, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: PUTIN VISITS NORTH KOREA. 911 CALL CENTERS OFFLINE IN MASSACHUSETTS.//

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-International Events-

Red Sea/HOA: The M/V TUTOR has sunk in the southern Red Sea.

Far East: Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in North Korea for an official state visit. This is Putin’s second visit to North Korea, the first visit occurring 24 years ago.

-HomeFront-

Massachusetts: 911 call center services are reportedly offline throughout the state. In the event of an incident requiring emergency services, locals are advised to contact their local police or fire stations directly while the outage continues. AC: No word yet on what caused the outage, however several emergency alert messages were sent to additional surrounding states in error. So far, only the Massachusetts 911 system is affected.

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Analyst Comments: Putin’s rare visit occurs as both Russia and North Korea seek to begin a new era of improving relations, and begin a new era of international diplomacy: Putin seeking to move past the Ukrainian war and challenge NATO’s hegemony in Europe, while the Kim dynasty seeks to maintain control over their population in an environment where technology alone has increasingly created difficulties in maintaining the image of the DPRK to her people. The actions of both Russia and North Korea highlight that while the United States has famously worked towards a “Pacific Pivot”, or a shift in military attention away from desert wars in the Middle East, in favor of growing tensions in the Far East, this shift in priorities is not exclusive to the United States.

Analyst: S2A1

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