South Asia
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country is united in mitigating the impact of devastating floods that have already killed over 1,300 people. He also announced a Rs 5 million ($22,672) relief grant for relief and rehabilitation workers. [Associated Press of Pakistan]
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reaffirmed her government’s commitment to secularism and vowed to expedite action against perpetrators of attacks against minority communities. Referring to a rising number of attacks on Hindus in the country, she said that the government would act against any attempts to disturb communal harmony. [Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Members of the parliamentary group ‘Zhana Kazakhstan’ have submitted a proposal to the Majlis, the lower house of parliament, to change the capital’s name from Nursultan to Astana. “We consider it wrong when during the life of a person a city is called by his name,” the group said, referring to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Majlis voted to name the capital after Nazarbayev in 2019. [Fergana News]
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram on Friday that he plans to take an “indefinite” break from politics. Noting that he has been leading the region for a long time, Kadyrov said, “I think my time has come.” Kadyrov has been ruling Chechnya since 2007 and is accused of assassinating critics of his regime and indiscriminately targeting the region’s LGBT minority. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
The United States (US)-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) criticised the Biden administration for limiting arms sales to Taiwan. In a press release on Friday, the council noted that the island already possesses the “AIM-9 and Harpoon missiles in its existing inventory,” which are “not new capabilities.” It further noted that Taiwan “faces a range of threats that require a range of capabilities” and warned that denying Taipei “the ability to mount a full defence will, over time, create new gaps in [its] defences that the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] can exploit.” “The Council opposes this limited approach,” it declared. [US Taiwan Business Council]
Singapore’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, Lawrence Wong, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday for a four-day working visit. Wong is scheduled to meet with King Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the royal palace. He will also meet Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Senior Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and Finance Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz. [New Straits Times]
Europe
A day after Czech Republic’s ruling coalition survived a no-confidence motion, nearly 70,000 protested against the government, the European Union, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Prague on Saturday, demanding that they resolve “the issue of energy prices, especially electricity and gas, which will destroy our economy this autumn” and urged Prime Minister Petr Fiala to resign. Fiala noted that the demonstration “was called by forces that are pro-Russian, are close to extreme positions and are against the interests of the Czech Republic.” [Euronews]
Against the backdrop of Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s visit to Berlin, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced an additional $199 million in aid for displaced people in Ukraine. According to the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration, around seven million people have been internally displaced since Russia’s military invasion began in February. [DW]
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that around 80 armed force personnel participated in the Exercise Vigilant Knife exercise alongside their Swedish and Finnish counterparts. The exercise sought to enhance interoperability among the forces in preparation for Sweden and Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [UK Government]
On Sunday, Russia stated that Ukrainian forces are continuing their “suicidal offensive” in southern Ukraine. Though Russia acknowledged that Ukraine had secured “tactical successes” in Kherson, it warned that it could soon turn into a “real disaster.” [Kotsnews]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo on Friday to “defend democracy” after President Alberto Fernández declared a national holiday following an assassination attempt against Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. [Buenos Aires Times]
Seven police officers in Colombia’s southwestern department of Huila were killed in an explosion and shooting attack on Friday. It is believed that dissidents from the new disbanded guerilla group FARC are active in the region. It marked the deadliest attack on security forces since President Gustavo Petro entered office last month. [Cambio]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Somali militant group Al-Shabaab killed at least 20 people and burnt seven humanitarian trucks transporting food to Hiran. Residents said the attack was in response to government troops destroying landmines set up by Al-Shabaab near the area. [Associated Press]
On Sunday, a Turkish warship docked at the Israeli port of Haifa for the first time in over a decade. The move came after the two countries established full diplomatic ties last month. [Reuters]
North America
In a phone call with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris recognised Poland’s “generosity and leadership” in providing critical humanitarian assistance to the millions of Ukrainian refugees in the country, along with its “vital security assistance.” She also spoke about bolstering “collective security,” including the first permanent stationing of the American forces in Poznan on NATO’s Eastern Flank. [The White House]
The Royal Canadian Mount Police (RCMP) launched an alert for two suspects across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba on Sunday after they killed 10 people and injured 15 in a stabbing spree in 13 locations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted, “Those responsible for today’s abhorrent attacks must be fully brought to justice.” [CBC News, Prime Minister of Canada]
Oceania
Australian Shadow Employment Minister Michaelia Cash criticised the Albanese government’s two-day Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra, saying that it was a “complete and utter win” for the country’s union movement. “This is what they have been asking for now for years and years and years… Mr Albanese is paying his paymaster in full but at the expense of the Australian people, the Australian economy,” she remarked. Cash added that it would “have the potential to take [Australia] back to the dark ages.” [Sky News Australia]
New Zealand Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern is set to travel to New York for the annual world leaders’ meeting at the United Nations later this month. Ardern said of the visit that it is “an important opportunity to set out New Zealand’s continued commitment to the multilateral system and international rules-based order.” “As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, climate change, the Ukraine [war] and geopolitical tensions, international cooperation is more important than ever,” she declared. [NZ Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Mali and Burkina Faso’s juntas, respectively led by Col. Assimi Goïta and Col. Mamady Doumbouya, agreed to deepen their defence cooperation following a meeting in Bamako. The agreement comes shortly after the full withdrawal of French forces from Mali and amid international condemnation of both juntas’ refusal to stick to transition timelines to return their countries to civilian rule. The agreement could, however, support counterterrorism operations in the region after Mali withdrew from the G5 Sahel military force earlier this year. [AFP]
The death toll from Zimbabwe’s measles outbreak has now risen to 685, with the Ministry of Health noting that this figure is four times higher than just two weeks ago. The victims, who are largely children between 6 months and 15 years, come from certain religious communities that do not believe in vaccination and instead put their faith in prayer. [Reuters]