Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that the country’s military will move from “active defense” to “offensive” mode (TOLO) against the Taliban after a string of deadly attacks, reversing course from a strained process of rapprochement with the militant group.

Afghan forces began their active defense in February after the Taliban pledged to reduce violence before signing a deal with Washington. Since then, intra-Afghan confidence-building steps have faltered, and Taliban attacks have increased (WaPo). Forty people died yesterday in attacks on a hospital’s maternity ward and a funeral. The Taliban said it was not responsible for the attacks; a group affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility (NYT) for the funeral bombing. A Taliban spokesperson called Ghani’s comments “a declaration of war.”

The Vietnamese government is urging fishing crews to ignore a ban (New Straits Times) on summer fishing that China has imposed on disputed waters in the South China Sea.
 
South Korea: Officials have obtained “decisive” evidence (Yonhap) that North Korea’s recent shooting at South Korean border guard posts was accidental, sources told Yonhap.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nearly $270 billion stimulus package (Hindu), worth nearly 10 percent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP), in response to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
 
CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains India’s new self-reliance for the Asia Unbound blog.

A Palestinian teenager was killed (Times of Israel) by the Israel Defense Forces at a refugee camp near Hebron, according to the Palestinian health ministry. A day earlier, an Israeli soldier was killed by a brick thrown at his head during a raid in the West Bank, the military said.
 
Saudi Arabia: The country will enforce a twenty-four-hour curfew (Al Jazeera) during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, due to the coronavirus.

In Foreign Affairs, Krithika Varagur looks at how the pandemic threatens Saudi Arabia’s global ambitions.

Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane will step down (Reuters) by the end of next week, his spokesperson said. He is suspected of conspiring to kill his former wife but has denied the allegations.
 
Guinea: Six protesters in two western Guinean cities were killed in clashes (Al Jazeera) with police over roadblocks set up to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the bloc would not submit to Chinese censorship (Politico) after a letter written by an EU ambassador was published by a Chinese newspaper only after references to the coronavirus were removed.
 
UK: England began easing some coronavirus restrictions (BBC), but Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are maintaining stricter rules.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro denied that he fired top police officials to thwart investigations (AFP) of his family. Investigators are reviewing footage of a cabinet meeting in which the president allegedly said he wanted a leadership change to stifle ongoing probes.
 
Mexico: Officials are demanding information from the U.S. government about the infamous  2009–2010 “Fast and Furious” operation (El Universal), in which U.S. federal agents allowed criminals to buy firearms in order to trace them to suspected traffickers but lost track of the guns.

In a congressional hearing with top health officials, U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci warned (WaPo) that if state governments ease lockdowns before observing dramatic declines in coronavirus cases, it could lead to avoidable “suffering and death.”
 
This CFR Backgrounder examines the global effort to create a coronavirus vaccine.