South Asia
Former Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal accepted Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda’s invitation to visit New Delhi on Friday to discuss China’s “interference” in Nepal’s politics. Apart from visiting the party office in the capital city, which is a part of its “Know BJP” campaign, Dahal will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. [The Print]
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned via an email to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena after fleeing to Singapore on Wednesday. Abeywardena said that the official announcement confirming his resignation will be made after the “authenticity and legality” of the document are verified. [The Hindu]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The European Commission announced on Thursday it is delaying an assessment of Georgia’s progress on implementing European Union recommended measures, including media freedoms and judicial and electoral reforms, before it considers Tbilisi for EU membership. The Commission said it is giving Georgia “proper time to work carefully” and the delay “will give Georgia’s political system the right time to work carefully on these priorities.” [RFE/RL]
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov met with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent to Wednesday. The pair signed 19 MoUs related to improving bilateral trade and agreed to expand their strategic partnership. [Uzbekistan Presidency]
East and Southeast Asia
South Korea and the United States (US) air forces jointly conducted F-35A stealth fighter drills for the first time, this week. Seoul said Thursday that the four-day exercises, which began on Monday, involved more than 30 fighter jets from both sides and aimed to enhance their “combined operational capability,” as well as increase the interoperability of the F-35A. [The Korea Times]
South Korea and Japan will engage in high-level talks next week in an attempt to iron out their historical disputes. To this end, Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin will visit Tokyo on July 18. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, called the talks “inevitable” in order to respond to the increasing threat from North Korea’s nuclear programme. “Although relations between Japan and South Korea are in a very severe state... we don’t think it can be left as it is,” he said. [The Straits Times]
Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his intention to introduce changes and “rethink” the structure, procedure, and chain of command of France’s military posture in Africa to achieve “lasting and closer cooperation” with African militaries but also ensure that French troops are “less entrenched and less exposed.” The announcement was made just a day before the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris and comes as French troops complete their redeployment from Mali to Niger. [Africanews, Reuters]
In the second round of voting for the next Conservative Party leader and British prime minister, Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated from the race. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has remained at the top of the ballot, followed by Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, and veteran Ton Tugendhat. [Independent]
On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda accepted letters of credence from Israel’s new ambassador to Poland, Jaakov Livne, signalling a normalisation of ties between the two countries after a year of tensions. Calling the relations between the two nations “extremely deep,” Livne remarked, “Even if there are differences between us, we can solve them together as friendly countries do.” Ties between Poland and Israel soured last August when Duda signed an amendment to the Administrative Procedures Code, which would significantly limit the right to claim property lost during the Second World War. Israel called it an immoral and anti-Semitic decision and expelled the then-Polish Ambassador to Israel. [The Warsaw Voice]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Thursday, Venezuela’s National Assembly voted to condemn the remarks by former United States (us) National Security Adviser John Bolton, claiming that he had “helped plan coups d’états” under the Trump administration. Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez called Bolton a “psychopath” and lambasted his comment as “an extraordinary feat of brazenness.” The Maduro government has repeatedly accused the US of having orchestrated a coup attempt in April 2019 to replace him with opposition leader Juan Guaidó. [CNN]
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday suggested that “the solution” to the Russia-Ukraine lies in “how Argentina's war with the UK ended in 1982,” and pledged to share his “opinion” with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call next week. He stated that “the truth is that these things hurt, but one has to understand,” adding that the war had caused “huge disruption” for all of Europe. Argentina’s war with Britain in 1982 over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, or the Malvinas, ended with the surrender of Argentine troops two months into the conflict, with the UK seizing complete control over the territory. [Merco Press]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam said on Thursday that the Beirut Port’s grain silos, which were destroyed during the 2020 blast, are at risk of collapsing due to a fire last week that is still burning. Salam said the fire was caused by fermenting grains. [Associated Press]
A Swedish court on Thursday sentenced a former Iranian official to life over his alleged role in the mass murder of Iranians who opposed the regime in 1988. Hamid Nouri, 61, has been accused by Sweden of committing war crimes. He was arrested in 2019 when he arrived at the Stockholm airport from Iran. According to Human Rights Watch, between 2,800 and 5,000 men and women were killed during the purges. [BBC]
North America
The United States House of Representatives passed an $840 billion defence budget on Thursday, increasing President Joe Biden’s requested budget by $37 billion amid growing threats from Russia and China. The new legislation gives a 4.6% pay hike to armed forces personnel, restricts the Biden administration’s ability to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, requires national security agencies to report on and combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in law enforcement, and grants $100 million in assistance for Ukrainian pilots. It also repealed the 2002 law that authorised the invasion of Iraq, which has been used by subsequent governments to defend military action across the world. [The New York Times]
According to an unnamed Western official, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland held the Russian delegation present at the G20 Finance Ministerial summit in Bali on Thursday personally responsible for “war crimes” committed in Ukraine by saying, “It is not only generals who commit war crimes, it is the economic technocrats who allow the war to happen and to continue.” [Reuters]
Oceania
Addressing the 2050 Strategy Civil Society Organisations roundtable at the Leaders Summit in Fiji, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said that “governments may not have all the solutions” to issues, but working collaboratively with civil societies is advantageous, as they “bring solutions to the table.” “Your perspective is unique, your input is essential, and your voices have contributed to a strong and ambitious guiding document that we can all be proud of,” she said. [Stuff]
Chinese Foreign Minister (FM) Wang Yi said China is willing to reset its strained ties with Australia “in the spirit of mutual respect.” “The Chinese side is willing to take the pulse (on ties), recalibrate, and set sail again,” Wang said on Thursday. The FM added, however, that for this to happen, “Australia must correct its understanding of China and not hype up differences, and refrain from joining in with others in trying to contain China.” [The Straits Times]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On Thursday, South African Development Community (SADC) chairperson and Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera announced an extension the regional bloc’s troop deployment in Mozambique until mid-August, when SADC heads of state are scheduled to meet and discuss the mission’s progress in containing the Islamic State insurgency in the country. Troops were first deployed to the northern province of Cabo Delgado last year. Additionally, the European Union has committed to providing $45 million in financial aid to Mozambique’s army. [Reuters]
The Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Court of Justice on Thursday declared Nigeria’s “indefinite” ban on social media company Twitter as “illegal and incompatible” with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. ECOWAS noted that the suspension constituted an infringement of the citizens’ rights to “enjoy their freedom of expression and access to information and the media,” and directed the Buhari government to change course. Twitter was banned in the country last June after the government accused it of running a “suspicious mission” against it. [Africa News]