Seoul said Pyongyang has yet to respond (Yonhap) to its call for an explanation of four bullets that hit a South Korean guard post in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries. It was the nations’ first gunfire exchange in years.

South Korea responded to the North’s gunfire with twenty rounds of warning shots and called for de-escalation via a hotline. A South Korean military official (Yonhap) and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (ABC) said the shots did not appear to be intentional, and Pompeo repeated a call for the North to denuclearize. The shots came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in three weeks, according to North Korean media. A South Korean presidential official said that contrary to rumors, Kim did not appear (Yonhap) to have undergone surgery.

Lawmakers aligned with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said they might not renew (Al Jazeera) the license of ABS-CBN, the country’s largest television network, which is due to expire today. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the closure risks violating (Rappler) the nation’s “collective sense of fair play, due process, and common good.”
 
CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick examines how Duterte and other Southeast Asian leaders have squeezed freedom of the press.

Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, announced she will retire this month (AFP). Under U.S. President Donald J. Trump, South and Central Asia has been the world’s only region without a U.S. assistant secretary of state confirmed by the Senate.
 
Afghanistan: The country is investigating a report that dozens of Afghans who attempted to enter Iran for work were tortured by Iranian security forces (TOLO) at the border. About 240,000 Afghan migrants fled Iran (NYT) at the start of the coronavirus crisis and many are returning to the country as it reopens.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces negotiated an end to an hours-long uprising (AP) of inmates from the self-proclaimed Islamic State in a northeastern Syrian prison. A two-day riot at the same prison in March led to the escape of four prisoners, who were later recaptured.
 
Syria: Syria’s richest man, Rami Makhlouf, released a social media video accusing (Guardian) President Bashar al-Assad, his cousin, of attempting to take over his business. Makhlouf has bankrolled Assad’s regime and much of its efforts in Syria’s war.
 
CFR traces the development of the war in Syria.

A contractor who works at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, a U.S. launchpad for counterterrorism operations in the region, tested positive (FP) for the coronavirus. It is the base’s second known case.
 
Malawi: The International Monetary Fund approved a $91 million loan (Reuters) to Malawi to assist with a balance-of-payments crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

A European-led virtual summit today aims to raise around $8 billion (AP) for vaccine research, virus treatments, and testing to be channeled through international health organizations. The summit is backed by the Group of Twenty (G20) nations, though the United States has not publicly said it will participate (FT).
 
In Foreign Affairs, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala discusses how to make a coronavirus vaccine globally accessible.
 
UK: The United Kingdom begins a trial (Business Insider) today of a Bluetooth-based app for coronavirus contract tracing. Last week, 170 privacy and cybersecurity experts called for safeguards to be added to the app so it cannot be used for mass surveillance. 

Venezuela says it foiled an attempted maritime “invasion” (WaPo) from its Caribbean coast, killing eight people. A former Venezuelan military official and a former U.S. Green Beret released a video claiming responsibility for the offensive, which they said was not backed by the U.S. military nor the Venezuelan opposition.
 
Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally of his supporters (Bloomberg) in the nation’s capital. They criticized Bolsonaro’s former justice minister, who testified to authorities this weekend about Bolsonaro’s alleged efforts to interfere in police operations.

U.S. Senators begin an in-person session (CNN) in Washington today for the first time in more than five weeks to consider two federal nominations and further crisis relief. The House of Representatives opted not to bring back its 435 lawmakers and their staffs after warnings about the coronavirus from the Capitol’s physician.