South Asia
Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara reported that 24 companies from 10 countries, including Saudi Arabia, India, China, and the United States, have presented proposals to increase bilateral trade in petroleum products. He noted that the government will finalise the process in six weeks. [Colombo Page]
Pakistani Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said ongoing floods, which have now killed over 1,000 people since mid-June, have already caused at least $10 billion in damages. He warned that this figure would only continue to rise after the government conducts a more robust assessment of the situation. [The News International]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), China is gaining a foothold in Kyrgyz media and creating positive coverage about itself, spreading adverse reports of the United States and the West, and suppressing stories critical of Beijing. [RFE/RL]
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev Friday approved Amanbai Orynbaev as the new leader of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The move followed Miziyoyev’s decision to remove Orynbaev’s predecessor, Murat Kamalov, whom the President blamed for not serving Karakalpakstan’s people. Protests erupted last month in the region over Mirziyoyev’s announcement that he planned to scrap Karakalpakstan’s autonomy. [RFE/RL, Kun.uz]
East and Southeast Asia
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that United States (US) Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn’s recent visit to Taiwan “seriously violates” the one-China principle and provisions of their three joint communiqués. It also added that the visit “goes against the US’s commitment to maintaining only non-official ties” with the island. The ministry further called on Blackburn to “immediately stop all forms of official interactions with Taiwan” and “stop sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces,” warning that Beijing will continue to take “strong measures” against such actions, in order to “defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” [Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China]
While speaking to reporters after the inaugural meeting of the Peace and Justice Society on Sunday, former Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu said that Taiwan is already “on the brink of war.” “The entire world believes that Taiwan will soon face the threat of war. Taiwan’s greatest priority must be to avoid war at all costs. [It] must not become a second Ukraine,” she stated. [Taiwan News]
Europe
The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced on Saturday that the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo regarding identity documents has been resolved. “Under the EU-facilitated Dialogue, Serbia agreed to abolish entry/exit documents for Kosovo ID holders and Kosovo agreed to not introduce them for Serbian ID holders,” he tweeted. [DW]
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stressed on the need to increase members’ presence in the Arctic, which is shared between several countries, including the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, and Russia. Russia and China have in recent years been eyeing the region for economic exploitation. [Politco]
The European Union’s foreign ministers will reportedly suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia over its military invasion of Ukraine. If passed, Russians will no longer receive special and preferential treatment while applying for visas to the bloc. [Financial Times]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Friday, Brazilian Space Agency (INPE) data revealed a 15-year high in forest fires in the Amazon rainforest over the last week, with 3,358 fires recorded on August 22, which is the highest number for any 24-hour period since September 2007. INPE Head Alberto Setzer raised alarm over this expanding “arc of deforestation” in the Amazon, highlighting that with 24, 124 fires so far this month, it is going to be the worst August under President Jair Bolsonaro. [AFP]
During his visit to Ituango on Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared a multilateral ceasefire with rebel groups “to legitimise a definitive end to armed violence and armed conflict” in the country through their demobilisation and disarmament. Petro has vowed to tackle armed gangs in the country since he assumed charge and called on guerrilla groups, including ELN and the FARC, to de-escalate violence under the “Total Peace Plan.” [Colombia Reports]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
An airstrike by the Ethiopian military on a children’s playground in northern Tigray killed at least seven people, including children, on Friday. The airstrike was conducted two days after fighting erupted between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after almost six months of relative calm. [Reuters]
Clashes in Libya’s capital Tripoli between supporters of two separate governments killed at least 32 people and wounded 159 over the weekend. The fighting was the worst in two years and has led to fears of a new civil war. [Al Jazeera]
North America
In a letter to United States (US) House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff and House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said the Department of Justice and her department are conducting a “classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search” at former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida earlier this month. She also sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee informing them that her office would run an intelligence damage assessment on the risks to national security. [CNN]
In a monthly virtual meeting with her Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal on Friday, Canadian Minister of International Trade Mary Ng underlined the progress in negotiations for a Canada-India early progress trade agreement held in July and August 2022. Welcoming the “spirit of cooperation and compromise that has been a hallmark of the negotiations,” she also reaffirmed Ottawa’s commitment to “maintaining momentum” in the fourth round of talks to be held next month. [Government of Canada]
Oceania
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles will meet with his counterparts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom from August 29 to September 1, to demonstrate Australia’s commitment to strengthen its defence relationships in Europe. “My visit to Europe comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has shown the importance of increasing cooperation with like-minded partners, both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” Marles said. [The Straits Times]
Oliver Henry, a United States Coast Guard vessel, was unable to get clearance for a scheduled port call on the Solomon Islands’ Guadalcanal island to refuel and reprovision, as concerns about the widening rift over the country’s expanding ties with China continue to grow. The vessel was part of an international mission to curb illegal fishing activities in the Indo-Pacific. [Associated Press]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Speaking at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Tunis on Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to back Africa’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council to correct the “historical injustice” against the continent. He also pledged $30 billion in infrastructural development and food aid in Africa over the next three years and $8.3 million in the Liptako-Gourma tri-border area between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.[Reuters, Al Jazeera]
On Sunday, Angolan opposition party National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rejected President João Lourenço’s victory over Adalberto Costa Júnior in the recently concluded presidential election, citing “counting errors.” He claimed that “there is not the slightest doubt that the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) did not win the elections.” The National Electoral Commission in its provisional results on Thursday declared Lourenço’s party victorious with a 52% vote share. [Africanews]