Iran’s atomic energy agency said the country has begun to enrich uranium (NYT) past the cap set by the 2015 nuclear agreement. Tehran also said it would give the remaining signatories another sixty days to provide sanctions relief before it continues to move past the deal’s limits.
 
The announcement came amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington, which pulled out of the deal last May and reimposed sanctions on Iran. In a Sunday tweet, government spokesperson Ali Rabiei said the new breach is “purely rooted in economic priorities” and that Iran’s leadership is against the production of nuclear weapons. In a phone call, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to consider (BBC) by next week whether to hold new negotiations. The UN nuclear watchdog is set to meet (Reuters) this week at the request of the United States to discuss Iran.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers protested yesterday (SCMP) at a shopping area popular among mainland Chinese tourists and a rail station for a line connecting Hong Kong to the mainland. Demonstrators have opposed a bill to create an extradition system with mainland China, which is now suspended.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at democracy in Hong Kong.
 
Myanmar: Thousands of people in the city of Yangon protested against what they said was impunity following the alleged rape (AFP) of a two-year-old girl at a nursery in May. A suspect was arrested and charged with the attack last week.

Qatar and Germany brokered two days of talks (NYT) between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha this week, while negotiations between the United States and the militant group are set to continue tomorrow. The Taliban claimed responsibility (WaPo) for a bombing at a government intelligence compound yesterday that killed at least a dozen people.
 
This CFR Timeline traces the United States’ longest war.
 
Kazakhstan: Dozens of people across the country were arrested in anti-government protests (RFE/RL) yesterday. The recent protests were sparked by last month’s presidential election (BBC), which international observers said showed “significant irregularities.”

At least 544 civilians (Reuters) have been killed and more than two thousand injured since an assault by Russian and Syrian government forces on rebels in the country’s northwest began two months ago, according to a monitoring group.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement became operational (Business Day) yesterday after the two countries signed on to the deal at an African Union summit in Niger. Duty-free trade under the pact, which more than two dozen countries have ratified (Bloomberg), will take effect in a year.
 
CFR’s Africa in Transition blog looks at the agreement’s ambitious goals.
 
Cameroon: Nigeria pledged to help Cameroon combat militants (VOA) in their border regions, including separatists in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions and Boko Haram fighters.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the conservative New Democracy party was sworn in (Reuters) as prime minister after his party won parliamentary elections in a clear victory (Independent) over the leftist Syriza party. Mitsotakis has vowed to lower taxes and attract new investment in Greece.
 
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank governor (FT) on Saturday, as the Turkish economy has struggled to recover from a recession. Critics of the move said it threatens the bank’s independence.

Representatives from President Nicolas Maduro’s regime and the Venezuelan opposition are slated to resume talks in Barbados (Reuters) this week, Norway’s foreign ministry announced yesterday.
 
Mexico: The price of opium from Mexico has dropped by about 90 percent over the past year and a half, pushing hundreds of villages into poverty and spurring migration, according to a New York Times report. Experts say the drop is likely due to changes in supply and demand of illegal drugs in the United States.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is using state driver’s license databases for facial-recognition searches of millions of license photos, according to a new Washington Post report. FBI use of these databases was previously reported (NYT).