China’s top legislature endorsed a resolution advancing a new national security law (SCMP) for Hong Kong a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress that Hong Kong can no longer be considered independent from Beijing.
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Under the law, which is expected to take effect by September (NYT), activist groups could be banned, courts could impose long jail sentences on national security grounds, and mainland security agencies could operate in the city. Pompeo said that “no reasonable person” (WaPo) would conclude that Hong Kong retains significant autonomy, which could lead to a revocation of its special trade status. Separately, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to sanction Chinese officials (NYT) for the internment of Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, sending it to President Donald J. Trump’s desk.

South Korea will impose stricter quarantine measures (Yonhap) on the Seoul metropolitan area after the country reported seventy-nine new cases of the coronavirus, the most in nearly two months. The country had begun to ease social-distancing rules earlier this month.
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Song Ho-chang explains how history informed South Korea’s pandemic response for CFR’s Asia Unbound blog.

President Trump tweeted that he could mediate what he called the “now raging border dispute” (WSJ) between China and India. Scuffles earlier this month prompted additional troop buildups on both sides.
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Afghanistan: The government blamed the Taliban (AFP) for an attack that killed seven Afghan troops, the first assault since a three-day cease-fire ended on Tuesday. Afghan security forces carried out air strikes on Wednesday that authorities said killed eighteen militants.

Ending one of the last vestiges of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the United States terminated sanctions waivers (RFE/RL) that allowed Chinese, Russian, and European firms to participate in Iran’s civil nuclear program. Companies have sixty days to end their operations or face U.S. sanctions.
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This CFR Backgrounder explains the status of the Iran nuclear deal.

Israel: The country’s cybersecurity chief said Israel foiled a major cyberattack (AP) against its water systems last month. The attack has been widely attributed to Iran.

In a French court, Felicien Kabuga, who is suspected of funding Hutu militias that massacred some eight hundred thousand Rwandans in 1994, denied involvement in the killings (BBC). He was arrested in Paris earlier this month after twenty-six years on the run; he has been denied bail and his extradition has been requested.
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Mali: At least twenty people were killed and eleven injured when a minibus and a truck collided on a major road (AFP) in the southern part of the country, officials said.

An ambitious stimulus plan unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be the subject of difficult negotiations (FT) among European Union member states in the coming weeks. Expected sticking points include how funds will be allocated and what conditions will be attached.
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Russia: The country will no longer count asymptomatic people (Moscow Times) in its daily tallies of coronavirus cases and deaths, the health ministry announced. Russia has one of the highest numbers of confirmed cases in the world, but it has reported relatively few deaths.

A Canadian court ruled that a critical legal requirement has been met for the extradition to the United States (NYT) of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. The case has been a flash point in Canada-China relations; China detained two Canadians in 2018 after Meng’s arrest.
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Brazil: Federal police executed search warrants targeting President Jair Bolsonaro’s allies as part of an investigation into social media attacks (AP) against the country’s Supreme Federal Court. A top judge said the alleged scheme to spread defamatory messages on social media threatened judicial independence.

The Trump administration is preparing an executive order (NYT) that is expected to curb legal protections that shield tech companies from liability for content posted on their platforms. The order, which will likely be challenged in court, comes after Twitter labeled some of Trump’s tweets with fact checks.