India-Sri Lanka-UAE energy cooperation. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to jointly develop an energy hub including a multi-product pipeline in the eastern Sri Lankan city of Trincomalee. The three countries all signed a memorandum of understanding Saturday during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Colombo. The deal comes after a Chinese state firm committed to building a $3.2 billion refinery in Sri Lanka.
TikTok sale deadline extended. Via executive order, Trump pushed the cutoff for TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the app’s U.S. arm by seventy-five days. On Sunday, Trump said China had objected to the terms of the sale due to U.S. tariffs. He said that his administration hopes to close the deal, while ByteDance said there are “key matters” that need to be resolved.
Algeria-France rapprochement. France’s foreign minister said relations with Algeria were “back to normal” following more than two hours of talks yesterday. Ties chilled last July after France endorsed an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty. Algeria’s government then reduced approvals for French grain purchases, traders said; the grain agency denied unfair treatment.
Colombian rebels disarm. The armed group Commoners of the South handed weapons to the government in a step toward a peace and reintegration deal. The group of around 250 fighters split off from a larger group whose talks with the government were suspended. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has sought cease-fires and peace talks with multiple drug gangs and armed groups, but many have fallen apart.
U.S. pulls South Sudanese visas. Washington is canceling all visas from South Sudan passport holders after the country refused to accept deportees in a “timely manner,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday. South Sudan’s government did not immediately respond. The country is run by a power-sharing government that has seen infighting in recent weeks, prompting warnings of a return to civil war.
New evidence on Gaza medics’ deaths. An unnamed Israeli military official told news organizations that Israel’s original account of the killings of fifteen Palestinian medics in Gaza last month was “mistaken.” Newly published video footage of the incident showed the medics’ vehicles were not advancing with lights and emergency signals off, as Israel first claimed. Israeli forces killed eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers, and a UN staffer. The unnamed Israeli official said Israeli forces believed at least six of the fifteen dead were Hamas operatives, but did not provide any evidence.
Potential DRC minerals deal. Washington is studying a critical minerals deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) designed to encourage U.S. private investment in the country’s mining sector, an Africa advisor to Trump said. The deal would entail greater U.S. backing for the Congolese government, though the nature of that increased support is unclear, the Financial Times reported. The White House did not immediately comment.
Ruling on deportation to El Salvador. A U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration to secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador by the end of today after the administration acknowledged his deportation had been an “administrative error.” A previous court order had blocked his removal from the United States. The administration appealed the judge’s order to return Abrego Garcia.
