Washington has charged twenty-eight North Koreans and five Chinese citizens with laundering more than $2.5 billion (NYT) to support Pyongyang’s nuclear program, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday.
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In what U.S. officials called the largest sanctions violations case (WaPo) brought against North Korea, the Justice Department said the accused acted as agents of the country’s Foreign Trade Bank, setting up a network of front companies and clandestine bank branches to hide illegal payments, some for Chinese telecommunications equipment. The case is one of the few in the United States targeting North Korean citizens and might be the first targeting senior government officials (WSJ).

Protests, some violent, erupted across the country (NYT) after a black man, George Floyd, died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. President Donald J. Trump tweeted that he would send the National Guard to restore order in the city if necessary, adding that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

China will not rule out an attack on Taiwan (Reuters) to stop it from becoming independent, a top military official said in a rare explicit threat of violence. If peaceful reunification is not possible, he said the military will “smash any separatist plots or actions.”
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This CFR Backgrounder explains the China-Taiwan relationship.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Trump have not spoken about China-India border tensions (Hindu), Indian officials said. Trump had claimed that Modi was not in a “good mood” about the situation.
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Afghanistan: At least fourteen members of the Afghan Border Force were killed in a Taliban attack (TOLO), Afghan officials said. A government official said a cease-fire that began on Sunday remains in effect despite recent violent incidents.

Iran’s parliament elected Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf (AP), a hard-line former mayor of Tehran, as its new speaker. Qalibaf was a presidential contender in 2017 and a top official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Algeria: The country recalled its ambassador (AP) from France after documentaries about Algeria’s anti-government protest movement aired on French public television.

Burundi’s main opposition party is seeking to overturn (Al Jazeera) the results of the country’s presidential election in court, claiming widespread fraud. The ruling party’s candidate was declared the winner on Monday with nearly 70 percent of the vote.
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Nigeria: An official said the country has not yet received a shipment of ventilators (Vanguard) promised by the United States.

Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are weighing extending oil production cuts (Reuters) through the end of the year but have yet to secure Russian support. The bloc had previously agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This CFR Backgrounder explains OPEC’s role in a changing world.
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UK: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the country could offer the three hundred thousand people who hold British National (Overseas) passports in Hong Kong a pathway to citizenship (BBC) if China does not reverse course on its new national security law.

The government released details of its latest offer to bondholders (Buenos Aires Times), including a shorter grace period for payments, after it rejected a counterproposal from two groups of creditors. Argentina entered default for the ninth time in its history last Friday after failing to make a payment on three of its bonds.
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Suriname: President Desi Bouterse called for a recount (AP) in Monday’s election as the opposition pressed for the government to concede.