South Asia
The World Bank has approved a financial aid program for Sri Lanka to allow it to purchase urea fertiliser for the upcoming harvest season. Meanwhile, India has also vowed to support Sri Lanka to overcome its agriculture-related issues. [Colombo Page]
The Pakistani government has initiated a terror-financing case against the husband of the suicide bomber who killed three Chinese nationals during an attack on Karachi University’s Confucius Institute in April. This comes amid rising pressure from the Chinese government to take expeditious actions against the perpetrators of the incident. [Geo News]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
The deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia met in Moscow on Friday to discuss the unblocking of regional communications. They discussed opening transportation routes to facilitate the seamless travel of citizens, goods, and vehicles through Armenia and Azerbaijan. The trio also agreed to reduce security hassles at border and customs checkpoints. [Armen Press]
Two Kyrgyz border guards were injured during a shootout with Tajik forces along the disputed border, Kyrgyzstan’s Border Guard Service said on Friday. It blamed the Tajik side for starting the hostilities and said an unspecified number of Tajik forces were also injured. Tajikistan is yet to comment on the incident. Both countries claim parts of the border, especially the fertile Fergana Valley, and as a result, have demarcated only around 60% of their 970-kilometre-long border. [RFE/RL]
East and Southeast Asia
Thai police found 59 abandoned Rohingya refugees, including five children, on the Koh Dong island in the southern Satun province on Saturday. They have been charged with illegal entry and could be sent back to Myanmar pending a court case. The group claims they were abandoned by traffickers while on the way to Malaysia. [AFP]
On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his Greek counterpart Katerina Sakellaropoulou, while Premier Li Keqiang spoke with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The two sides celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and explores new avenues for cooperation in infrastructure, maritime transport, and alternative energy. [Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Europe
Despite rising unpopularity over the Partygate scandal and the fact that several of his own party members have withdrawn support, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps claimed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would win a vote of confidence if it were to be held today. It has been revealed that Johnson and several other politicians attended gatherings during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and 2021. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has said that the rising support for trust vote against Johnson indicates that the people are “fed up.” [BBC]
Spain said it is ready to send Leopard battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine and train its military on how to use the equipment. The move comes after the United States and Germany announced further military support for Ukraine last week. [Politico]
Albania’s former Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Bajram Begaj, was appointed as the next president of the country on Saturday after securing a majority of votes in the parliament. His predecessor, Ilir Meta, signed a decree to release him from his current position. Begaj was nominated by the ruling Socialist Party after three rounds of failed voting. [Albanian Daily News]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Friday, thousands of supporters of Argentina’s “Ni Una Menos” (“Not One Woman Less”) movement held a candle march in Buenos Aires to commemorate the victims of gender-based violence. The anti-femicide marchers carried placards reading “we want to stay alive” while the parliament building was lit up in pink to display solidarity. According to the Women’s Office in the Supreme Court, one femicide is recorded every 35 hours, with around 81% being victims of domestic abuse. [Reuters]
The four-day United States (US)-hosted Summit of the Americas will begin today in Los Angeles, with the US hoping to use the event to “reset” ties with regional partners and counter the rising influence of China. Despite earlier that it may allow lower-level officials to attend, it has barred Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from participating due to their autocratic nature. Several nations, including Mexico and Bolivia, had earlier threatened to boycott the event if all members were not invited. In this respect, Honduras has sent its foreign minister while Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has skipped the event altogether. However, Argentina and Brazil’s leaders will both attend. US President Joe Biden is expected to touch on topics such as migration, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change. [Buenos Aires Times, Telesur, Reuters]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
On Saturday, judicial authorities in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in northern Iraq rejected the Baghdad Federal Court’s ruling in February that a law enabling Kurdish control over the oil and gas industry in the region was unconstitutional. “The provisions of the oil and gas law issued by the parliament of the Kurdistan region in 2007 do not violate those of the Iraqi constitution,” they said. [The National]
The United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by Kurdish groups, said on Sunday that they are willing to cooperate with Syrian regime forces to resist any Turkish invasion of the north and urged Damascus to use its air defence systems against Ankara’s warplanes. Turkey recently announced that it would launch an offensive in northern Syria to eliminate the presence of Kurdish militants. [Reuters]
North America
On Saturday, United States President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were evacuated to a safe location for half an hour after a small plane entered the restricted airspace around their house in Delaware. According to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the aircraft, which was a single-engine Cessna 172, was “intercepted” by two F-15 fighter jets and an MH-65 helicopter off the Cape May coastline. In a statement, the White House said there was “no threat” to the Bidens. [CBS News]
In an interview with CTV News on Sunday, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino asserted that the new gun control bill introduced by the Trudeau government does not aim to target law-abiding gun owners but rather “targets organised crime.” Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a national freeze on importing, buying, selling or transferring handguns in the country to tackle gun violence. [CTV News]
Oceania
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began his first bilateral trip to Indonesia as the government aims to strengthen ties in the Indo-Pacific amid China’s growing influence in the region. Albanese is accompanied by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Trade Minister Don Farrell, Industry Minister Ed Husic, and at least a dozen business leaders. [ABC News]
Wrapping up his ten-day South Pacific tour, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for a “reset” in Sino-Australian relations and urged both sides to find “common ground” to resolve disputes instead of operating on “diplomatic autopilot.” Australia and China have been engaged in a trade and diplomatic rift over anti-dumping duties, tariffs, human rights violations, and attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific. [Australian Financial Review]
Sub-Saharan Africa
Senegalese President Macky Sall met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Friday to discuss the looming food crisis in Africa as a result of the Ukrainian war. Sall said that Russia has expressed a “willingness to facilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals” as well as the export of its own wheat and fertiliser. Africa is highly dependent on grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine and is thus facing heavy inflationary pressures and shortages. Putin has blamed the disruptions on Western sanctions, denying accusations of “weaponising the food crisis” and claiming that the West and Ukraine are attempting to “shift these problems from a sick head to a healthy one.” [Reuters]
Seven African countries—Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo-Brazzaville, and Sierra Leone—account for nearly 1,400 suspected cases of Monkeypox, according to estimates released by the World Health Organisation. [Africa Feeds]