Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Angola’s Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros says a postmortem examination into the death of former President José Eduardo dos Santos has ruled out poisoning.
- AMERICAS: US President Joe Biden is preparing to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the White House to discuss immigration, trade policy, and energy.
- ASIA: Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a family funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation.
- EUROPE: Russian military equipment captured by Ukraine went on display in Prague in an exhibition organized by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.
- MIDDLE EAST: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to discuss Syria during a visit to Tehran next Tuesday.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Democratic US senators demanded that Meta address allegations that Facebook and Instagram are censoring information on how to legally access abortion services.
Top Story
- Asia: China Slams Taiwan Over Vice President William Lai’s Japan Trip.
- China filed a formal protest with Japan over the presence of the Taiwanese vice president William Lai at a memorial for assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- The Foreign Ministry said Taiwanese authorities “latched onto the opportunity for political manipulation,” and that Beijing has “made stern complaints with Japan in Beijing and Tokyo and made clear its position.”
- Taiwanese media reported that Lai made the trip on the orders of President Tsai Ing-wen, in what one ruling party lawmaker called a “diplomatic breakthrough”.
- Japanese officials sought to downplay the visit, with foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi saying that Lai had attended the funeral “as a private individual”.
- Japan does not formally recognize Taiwan, but relations between the two have warmed in recent years with Tokyo donating several batches of Covid vaccines to the island and becoming more outspoken about China’s influence in the region.
- AP, Reuters, AFP, Taipei Times, Bloomberg
Africa
- Angola: Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros says a postmortem examination into the death of former President José Eduardo dos Santos has ruled out poisoning. (BBC)
- DR Congo: The country officially became the seventh member of the East Africa Community (EAC) after depositing the instruments of ratification to the bloc’s headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. (BBC)
- Mali: Authorities arrested 49 soldiers from the Ivory Coast working for a contracting company of the UN mission in the country. (AP)
- Somalia: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited members of the army receiving naval training in Eritrea. (BBC)
- Tunisia: President Kais Saied has warned against interference with the referendum later this month on a controversial new constitution. (BBC)
Americas
- Region: US President Joe Biden is preparing to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the White House to discuss immigration, trade policy, and energy. (AP)
- Cuba: Activists decried a pre-emptive lockdown by authorities ahead of the one-year anniversary of unprecedented anti-government protests. (AFP)
- Mexico: Moody’s revised its rating of state oil company Pemex from “negative” to “stable.” (Reuters)
- United States: The government extended temporary legal protection for Venezuelan migrants for an additional 18 months. (AP)
- United States: The House committee probing the 2021 assault on the Capitol will examine connections between associates of former president Donald Trump and far right-wing extremist groups at its seventh hearing. (AFP)
Asia
- Region: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China to comply with a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its vast territorial claims in the South China Sea. (AP)
- Australia: Foreign Minister Penny Wong is urging Pacific island neighbors to unite on their shared challenges of US-China strategic competition, climate change and COVID-19. (AP)
- Japan: Citizens bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a family funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination shocked the nation. (AP)
- New Zealand: The country reported its second confirmed case of monkeypox, but said it was not locally transmitted. (The Guardian)
- South Korea: New COVID-19 cases rose to a two-month high of over 37,000. (Yonhap)
Europe
- Czech Republic: Russian military equipment captured by Ukraine went on display in Prague in an exhibition organized by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. (BBC)
- France: The sole surviving member of an Islamic State group cell that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015 has not appealed his whole-life sentence. (AFP)
- Sweden: The killing of a woman at an annual political event earlier this month is now being investigated as an act of terror. (AP)
- Ukraine: Russian strikes on Kharkiv killed at least three and injured at least 31. (WaPo)
- United Kingdom: The Labor Party will put forward a motion for a no confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, with the vote expected to take place on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Region: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to discuss Syria during a visit to Tehran next Tuesday. (Reuters)
- Region: US President Joe Biden will participate in a four-way virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and India during his Middle East trip this week. (Reuters)
- Iran: The United States alleged that Tehran is preparing to send hundreds of unmanned aircraft, including weaponized drones, to Russia for use in Ukraine. (WaPo)
- Saudi Arabia: Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has emerged unbowed from the international outrage over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi four years ago. (Reuters)
- Yemen: Special Envoy Hans Grundberg said he would seek an extension and expansion of the truce between the country’s warring parties. (AP)
Tech & Communications
- Social Media: Democratic US senators demanded that Meta address allegations that Facebook and Instagram are censoring information on how to legally access abortion services. (AFP)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Darby
- Location: 14.7 N, 128.1 W
- Wind: 140 mph
- Movement: WNW 17 mph
- Map
- Hurricane Darby
- Earthquakes: Nothing to Report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 12JUL22)
- Confirmed cases: 556,575,162
- Deaths: 6,353,039
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 12JUL22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (13JUL22)
- Event: Brookings discussion on the state of the global economy.
- Global: Supermoon.
- Global: UN High-Level Political Forum 2022. (to 15JUL)
- Global: I2U2 Summit between Israel, India, UAE, and USA, virtual. (to 15JUL)
- Global: UN Foundation gender equality summit, virtual.
- Africa: African Ministerial Conference on the Environment session, virtual.
- Asia: Visit by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea. (to 19JUL)
- Ecuador: Government and Indigenous leaders to launch 90-day dialogue.
- Europe: Meeting between NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Brussels.
- Indonesia: G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting in Bali. (to 14JUL)
- Middle East: Visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel, Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia (to 16JUL)
- Montenegro: Statehood Day.
- Sri Lanka: Resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa to enter into effect.
- United Kingdom: House of Lords hearing on defense commitments with US former lieutenant general Ben Hodges.
- United States: House Committee on Foreign Affairs closed members briefing on ‘Russian Influence in Africa’.
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