South Asia
Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka will visit Qingdao, China alongside an 11-member delegation, just as China spars with the United States over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Several foreign diplomats expressed their “displeasure” over the Nepalese delegation’s trip. [The Kathmandu Post]
A senior member of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), Abdul Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khorasani, was killed in a security operation conducted in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, which lies on the border with Pakistan. Wali was responsible for several gruesome attacks in Pakistan, including the Easter Sunday explosion in 2016 killed 74 people. It is unclear who was responsible for the roadside bomb, which also killed two other TTP members—Mufti Hassan Swati and Hafiz Dawlat Khan. [CNN]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Monday urged Armenia to “refrain from provocations” in Nagorno-Karabakh and noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey are sincere about maintaining peace and stability in the region. [Daily Sabah]
The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Defence Ministry on Monday accused the Azerbaijani military of opening fire at Armenian troops and violating the ceasefire, almost a week after Azerbaijan launched a military operation. The ministry said Armenian troops are working with Russian peacekeepers to stabilise the situation. [Armen Press]
East and Southeast Asia
The United States (US) on Monday returned 30 artefacts and antiquities to Cambodia that were stolen from an ancient Khmer city. “We celebrate the return of Cambodia’s cultural heritage to the Cambodian people, and reaffirm our commitment to reducing the illicit trafficking of art and antiquities,” said Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams, who handed over the items. [Channel News Asia]
At least seven people died in Seoul on Monday night as the city received unprecedented levels of torrential rain that also resulted in blackouts, and submerged essential infrastructure, such as roads and subways. The Korea Meteorological Administration reported that Seoul’s southern part had received more than 100mm (3.9 inches) of rain per hour on Monday night, which is the city’s highest rainfall in 80 years. [South China Morning Post]
Europe
Greek Prime Minister (PM) Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he was not informed about the intelligence services’ operation to bug opposition leader Nikos Androulakis’ phone. Just three days ago, the head of the National Intelligence Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the secretary-general of the PM’s office, Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigned over the scandal. [Al Jazeera]
On Monday, Iran said that it is looking through the final proposal presented by the European Union during negotiations in Vienna that seek to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran is now conducting a “comprehensive review,” following which it will present its “additional views and considerations.” [DW]
Russia stated on Monday that it is temporarily stopping American inspections of its facilities under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) due to the Western sanctions and rising COVID-19 infections. “We believe that in the current circumstances, the parties should abandon patently counterproductive attempts to artificially speed up the resumption of START inspection activities and focus on a thorough study of all existing problems in this area,” the Russian foreign ministry asserted. As per the New START Treaty, both Russia and the United States are allowed to limit the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed to 1,550. [The Moscow Times]
Latin America and the Caribbean
On Sunday, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves began a six-day visit to Taiwan to express solidarity with the island nation in the face of rising Chinese aggression. He said “we do not support it when any powerful neighbour seeks to intimidate,” and called for settling disputes “peacefully and in a civilised manner.” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said that she was “deeply touched” by Gonsalves’ visit, adding that it demonstrates “the importance that he attaches to diplomatic relations between our countries.” [Reuters]
On Monday, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suspended the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also referred to as the “Remain-in-Mexico” policy after US District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk reversed a January 2021 ruling ordering its implementation. President Joe Biden had earlier suspended the MPP after being elected but was forced to reinstate the “inhumane and draconian” policy that prohibited asylum seekers from entering the US. [CBS News]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
The Associated Press reported Monday that Israel’s claims that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) misfired rockets and killed over a dozen people in Gaza over the weekend appeared consistent with its reporting. The agency said that after its reporters visited the locations where PIJ rockets allegedly fell, they concluded that the missiles most likely caused the explosion and deaths. [Associated Press]
Libya on Monday began the trial of over 50 men accused of being members of the Islamic State and carrying out mass killings across the country after it took advantage of the security vacuum created following the death of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. [Africanews]
North America
On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted an “unannounced raid and seized paper” at former United States (US) President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as part of the Department of Justice’s investigation into whether he took classified documents from the White House to his Florida home. In a statement on Monday evening, Trump confirmed, “My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” adding that they “even broke into his safe.” According to a senior official, President Joe Biden was not informed about the search warrant prior to the search. [CNN]
The United States (US) Department of Defense announced an additional $1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday, which is the “largest single drawdown of US arms and equipment” as part of the presidential drawdown package, bringing the total US assistance to Ukraine since the war began to $9.1 billion. The aid includes extra ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), and 1,000 Javelins. “We will continue to closely consult with Ukraine and surge additional available systems and capabilities in support of its defense,” affirmed Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy. [US Department of Defense]
Oceania
COVID-19 has become the equal leading cause of death in New Zealand for the first time. Epidemiologist Michael Baker, a member of the Ministry of Health’s Pandemic Influenza Technical Advisory Group, said that COVID-19 had caused at least as many deaths as heart disease during the July-August period. Since the onset of the pandemic, 1,638 deaths in the country have been attributed to the disease. Baker added that if the trend continued, it would “have a measurable impact on life expectancy in New Zealand”. [The Guardian]
New Zealand, and possibly the world’s last surviving veteran of the Second World War’s Battle of Crete, has died at the age of 104. Cyril Henry Brant Robinson passed away at a retirement home on Sunday. Paul London, a former president of the New Zealand Battle of Crete Association, said, “in all probability, he may well be the world’s last solider to have fought in the battle.” [NZ Herald]
Sub-Saharan Africa
On Monday, Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva stated that Nigeria is failing to meet its obligatory oil production quota in OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) due to rampant oil theft in the country. He stressed that “we cannot sustain this kind of theft perpetually, our production has dropped drastically to very unsustainable levels,” and urged the Federal and state governments, security agencies, and oil companies to “heighten their operations” to tackle issues of illegal refineries and oil theft. [Vanguard News]
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Monday pushed back against United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s allegations of Chinese “debt traps” in Africa, calling them “pure fabrications.” She added that “African countries are in the best position to comment on Africa’s cooperation with China,” and instead pointed to the negative impact of rising Western debt on the continent’s economic development. [Africa Times]