South Asia
The Sri Lankan parliament is set to convene today to accept nominations to replace acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe and lead the country out of the political and economic crisis. The vote for the position is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. [News.lk]
Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, urged the international community to withdraw sanctions against Afghanistan and unfreeze its foreign reserves to ensure the “welfare of the people.” He stressed that engagement with the Taliban is a “must” for peace and stability in Afghanistan. [Khaama News Press Agency]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
A special commission appointed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday announced that it had recovered $480 million in stolen funds from the relatives of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, including his nephew and his wife and relatives close to one of Nazarbayev’s daughters and granddaughters. [RFE/RL]
Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Monday, three days after CIA Director William Burns visited the country. Naryshkin discussed the security situation in the South Caucasus with Pashinyan and said his visit was part of a “high-level political dialogue.” [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Russia’s ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, suggested that the eastern Ukrainian breakaway territories of Donetsk and Luhansk could benefit from accepting North Korean workers to help rebuild devastated infrastructure. Describing North Korean labourers as “highly qualified, hard-working, and prepared to labour under harsh conditions,” Matsegora added that they will be of great help during the post-war redevelopment phase. [NHK]
A joint investigation by Canadian cybersecurity company Citizen Lab and Thai groups iLaw and DigitalReach revealed that at least 30 Thai political activists have been targeted using Israeli spyware Pegasus between October 2020 and November 2021. Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton said he is confident that the findings indicate a much larger surveillance network. “What we uncovered is a lot of targeting of dozens of people over a specific time frame, but having done investigation into Pegasus ... over the decade, I am confident that it the tip of the iceberg,” he said on Monday. [Citizen Lab, Channel News Asia]
Europe
Former British Chancellor Rishi Sunak topped the vote count for a third consecutive round of voting for the next leader of the Conservative party and the United Kingdom. Apart from Sunak, Minister of State for TradePenny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and former Minister of State for Equalities Kemi Badenoch remain in the race for the position. [Reuters]
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell defended the decision to impose sanctions against Russia despite several leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arguing that they were hurting the bloc more than Moscow. EU foreign ministers also voted in favour of dispatching an additional $500 million in assistance to Ukraine. [Euronews]
On Monday, the head of Vinnytsia Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Borzov, said 20 ambassadors from the European Union and Israel visited the central Ukrainian city after three Russian missiles struck a cultural centre, a park, and a parking lot near a hospital there last week. The attacks killed 24 people, including three children, and left 63 injured. “Vinnytsia is now on the map of Russian war crimes,” Borzov wrote on Telegram. [Interfax]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Monday, Mexican President López Obrador revealed that during his visit to the White House last week he left his United States counterpart a letter saying the WikiLeaks founder “did not commit a serious crime, did not kill anyone, did not violate any human rights, so arresting him is a permanent affront against freedom of speech and of people.” He also reaffirmed Mexico’s commitment to providing protection and asylum to Assange. [Prensa Latina]
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Carlos Faría met with Chinese Ambassador Li Baorong in Caracas on Monday, wherein the duo signed bilateral agreements in the fields of health, energy, industry, science, technology, and trade. Faría described China as a “strategic ally.” as it is one of the few countries to have expressed “solidarity and friendship towards the Bolivarian nation.” [Venezuela Ministry of External Affairs]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief Aviv Kohavi landed in Morocco on Monday, making him the first Israeli military leader to visit the North African country. Kohavi is expected to meet Moroccan Defence Minister Abdellatif Loudiyi later today and announce a raft of defence deals to advance Israel-Morocco military-security cooperation. [Times of Israel]
United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pederson said on Monday that talks between the Syrian government and opposition members scheduled to start in Geneva on July 25 are “no longer possible” following Syrian opposition. President Bashar al-Assad has accused Switzerland of not being neutral because of its support of European Union sanctions against Russia. The talks are aimed at revising the war-torn country’s constitution. [Associated Press]
North America
The Pentagon announced on Monday that the United States will spend $1.3 billion to develop a satellite that can monitor hypersonic missiles amid increasing threats from Russia and China. According to the director of the Space Development Agency, Derek Tournear, two new contracts will supply 28 detection and tracking systems, which will be in orbit by 2025. [AP News]
United States President Joe Biden is mulling over declaring a national climate emergency as early as this week after Democratic party Senator Joe Manchin said he doesn’t support the party’s comprehensive economic package worth billions to address global warming. “The president made clear that if the Senate doesn’t act to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, he will,” an unnamed White House official said, noting that no decision has been made as of now. [Washington Post]
Oceania
New Zealand reported 10,424 new community cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. 788 people have been hospitalised, while 21 died, the Ministry of Health said. [Stuff]
A recently released government report on changing environmental conditions found that more mammal species have gone extinct in Australia compared to any other continent. The State of the Environment Report also found that the country has one of the fastest species decline rates in the world. Commenting on the findings, Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said in a statement that the report was “a shocking document.” “It tells a story of crisis and decline in Australia’s environment, and a decade of government inaction and wilful ignorance,” she said. [The Straits Times]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Concluding his visit to Seychelles on Monday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a record 10 bilateral cooperation agreements with his counterpart Wavel Ramkalawan. The pacts cover a range of areas, such as blue economy, agriculture, tourism, defence, sports, women empowerment, and maritime security. Ramkalawan also expressed his gratitude to Kenyan health workers in assisting the nation in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to Kenyan teachers who have contributed to Seychelles’ education system. [Capital News]
A group of Afghan refugees, including children, on Monday staged a demonstration at the United States (US) Embassy in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, demanding that their asylum applications under the US Refugee Admissions Program be expedited. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that there are around 20 Afghan refugees residing on the island nation who chose to travel there because they could get a visa on arrival. The UN noted that while Madagascar has offered the asylum seekers protection from forced expulsion, it presently has no law to provide them with social support, work authorisation, or healthcare. [Al Jazeera]