South Asia
Taking over as Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Ali Sabry vowed to advance the crisis-hit country’s foreign relations while keeping “domestic compulsions” in consideration. He previously served as finance minister and resigned alongside other ministers to protest against the Rajapaksa administration. [MFA Sri Lanka]
Sri Lanka has called on China to finalise talks on a $4 billion bailout deal, of which $1 billion will be set aside to pay off its existing debt to the country; China owns roughly 10% of Sri Lanka’s external debt. Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona also called on Beijing to expand trade, investment, and tourism ties. [Reuters]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan on Monday to discuss Armenia and Azerbaijan’s “historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region.” Blinken hailed the recent meetings of the foreign ministers of Baku and Yerevan and vowed to continue to “facilitate regional transportation and communication linkages.” [US State Department]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for not recognising the independence of the breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. Tokayev expressed his support for settling the war with Russia through diplomacy and called for increasing bilateral ties. [24.kg]
East and Southeast Asia
Indonesia and the United States will hold their largest military exercises from August 1 to 14, in Baturaja, South Sumatra province. The joint training drills will involve more than 4,000 troops from both countries’ armies and navies; troops will practise interoperability, tactics, techniques, and procedures. [The Straits Times]
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (aka Jokowi) began his trip to China, Japan, and South Korea yesterday and is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang today. Prior to his departure, Jokowi said that he will “discuss a number of issues” with country heads, “such as regional and global issues, as well as cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, health, infrastructure and fisheries.” [Channel News Asia]
Europe
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace met with his Slovakian counterpart Jaroslav Nad to discuss coordinated efforts to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. Wallace celebrated Slovakia’s support to Ukraine, calling the country a “leader in Central Europe” against Russia’s aggression. [UK Government]
The European Commission has approved the smallpox vaccine, Imvanex, to be used against monkeypox. The decision was made shortly after the World Health Organisation warned that the risk of monkeypox in Europe is “high.” [DW]
On Monday, Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom announced that it was cutting its gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and will supply only 20% of its capacity from tomorrow, saying that it was stopping the functioning of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine.” This comes against the backdrop of Gazprom blaming its gas turbine stuck in transit in Germany for reducing its gas supply steadily. [The Moscow Times]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Monday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused the United States (US) of financing “pseudo-environmentalists” in their opposition to the Mayan train project in Quintana Roo on the Yucatán peninsula. He lambasted the US for its “delaying tactics,” adding that “we are resorting to a procedure established by law, which is to declare this work of national security” to resume the construction of section 5 of the rail project. [Telesur]
United Nations (UN) agencies on Monday stepped up efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to victims of gang violence in Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, with the UN International Organization for Migration delivering essential items such as hygiene and baby supplies, plastic sheeting, jerry cans for water, blankets, solar lamps, and repair items for houses. Additionally, UNICEF stepped in to assist 780 children with psychosocial support, while the World Food Program sent consignments of rice, beans, and oil to feed 15,000 Haitians for a week. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ulrika Richardson has called for an end to the deadly violence and appealed for an open humanitarian corridor to Cité Soleil. [UN News]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday announced the construction of a $1 trillion structure—The Line—in the proposed Neom city in the Tabuk province. Salman said the building will “run on 100% renewable energy” and “accommodate 9 million residents” by the time of completion. He added that the structure will be 170 kilometres long and 500 metres above sea level. [Saudi Press Agency]
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) chief Mohammad Eslami said on Monday that Iran will continue to block the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) access to surveillance cameras until the 2015 nuclear deal is completely restored. Blaming the West for making false claims against Iran, Eslami reasserted that Tehran does not plan to build a nuclear weapon and called on the West to “put an end to the accusations.” [Fars News]
North America
On Monday, the United States (US) condemned the Myanmar junta’s executions of four pro-democracy activists and elected leaders Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw “in the strongest terms,” calling on the military regime “to respect the democratic aspirations of the people who have shown they do not want to live one more day under the tyranny of military rule.” Separately the High Representative of the European Union and the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the US issued a joint statement on the “reprehensible acts of violence that further exemplify the regime’s disregard for human rights and the rule of law” and asked the military junta to “release all those unjustly detained.” [US Department of State, Global Affairs Canada]
During the United States (US)-Pakistan Health Dialogue in Washington on Monday, the US announced that it was donating 16 million doses of pediatric vaccines for COVID-19 to Pakistan, apart from the 61.5 million adult vaccines already donated. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will also deliver an additional $20 million to support vaccination efforts. They also discussed establishing a Pakistani Centre for Disease Control, global health security, childhood immunisations, COVID-19, maternal and child health, and non-communicable diseases. [US Department of State]
Oceania
Australia’s parliament began its first session on Tuesday, during which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to introduce 18 bills, including a climate change bill for a 43% emissions reduction target by 2030. Green Party leader Adam Bandt said on Tuesday the target was “weak.” [The Straits Times]
New Zealand’s health ministry on Tuesday reported 9,256 new COVID-19 cases and 822 hospitalisations. Over the past week, the country has recorded an average of 17 daily COVID-19-related deaths and 8,335 weekly cases. [Stuff]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron commenced a three-nation tour to West Africa in Yaounde, where he will host a joint press conference and conduct bilateral talks with his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya today. Key issues to be discussed include climate change, threats of food insecurity due to the Ukrainian war, as well as regional security concerns with the French troops due to withdraw from Mali soon. He is then scheduled to visit Benin and Guinea-Bissau. [Cameroonian Presidency, All Africa]
Hundreds of protesters attacked the offices of United Nations peacekeeping mission MONUSCO in Goma on Monday, demanding the withdrawal of the mission from the Democratic Republic of Congo over its failure to protect citizens. MONUSCO chief Khassim Diagne denounced the attack as “not only unacceptable but totally counterproductive,” adding that “it is not in chaos and confusion or division that we will make progress towards stabilisation and peace.” Government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya also condemned the raid and said that “those responsible will be prosecuted and severely punished.” [Reuters]