India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met with Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari, PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, and Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal on Monday during the first half of his two-day visit to Nepal. Additionally, Kwatra met with Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and discussed topics ranging from energy and economic cooperation to people-to-people ties.
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry responded to Indian Tamil leader Pazha Nedumaran’s Monday claim regarding Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran still being alive by calling it a “joke” later on the same day. “It is confirmed that [Prabhakaran] was killed on 19 May 2009. The DNA has proved it,” said Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Nalin Herath.
At least 70,000 Israelis marched in Jerusalem near the Knesset on Monday to protest the government’s plan to make drastic changes to the judiciary. Addressing the protesters in Jerusalem, ex-PM Yair Lapid said the government is trying to “destroy” Israel’s democratic nature. The changes proposed by the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government grant it complete control over the appointment of judges and limit the authority of the High Court to strike down legislation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday welcomed the Syrian government’s decision to open two crossings on the border with Turkey to allow more relief material into earthquake-hit areas. Guterres praised President Bashar Al Assad for allowing the Bab Al Salaam and Al Ra’ee crossings to function for a period of three months. Before the move, Bab Al Hawa was the only open border crossing, making aid deliveries extremely difficult.
Former US National Security Agency employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden on Monday accused Washington of creating “the old engineered panic” to ensure that the media gets distracted from investigating “budgets or bombings (a la Nord Stream),” and ends up covering the spy balloons.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg affirmed on Monday that Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine, especially Bakhmut, is underway, with Moscow “sending more troops, more weapons, more capabilities.” Likewise, Deputy Commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda battalion Volodymyr Nazarenko added that “the entire Bakhmut direction and Kostyantynivka are under crazy, chaotic shelling.”
Myanmar’s military junta will allow “loyal” civilians, including government employees and retired military personnel, to carry licensed guns. The announcement has stirred fears of increased violence in the strife-torn country.
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said during a speech on Tuesday that Canberra plans to expose foreign interference operations that have been targeting politicians, academics, and community leaders in the country. Calling foreign interference “a core threat to democracy,” the leader said that Australia is facing “enormously significant geopolitical challenges.”