Iran agreed to allow (BBC) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to two sites where the agency suspects Iran carried out undeclared nuclear activity. The joint announcement came during IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s visit to the country for high-level talks.
 
The IAEA, which reports to the United Nations, has sought access (Radio Farda) to the sites, near the cities of Isfahan and Tehran, for months. In June, it rebuked Iran for undeclared nuclear activities and for resisting IAEA inspections. The IAEA monitors (Al-Monitor) Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, which the United States and European countries have accused Iran of violating. The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

China launched missiles (SCMP) into the South China Sea as it conducted military exercises in the disputed waters, according to a source close to the Chinese military. Separately, the United States announced new sanctions (WSJ) on Chinese companies and executives with ties to the South China Sea.
 
New Zealand: The man who killed fifty-one people and wounded forty others in attacks on two Christchurch mosques (New Zealand Herald) last year was sentenced to life in prison without parole. It is the first such sentence in New Zealand’s history.

About half of police in southern Afghanistan use drugs (TOLO), according to a U.S. government oversight agency’s report that cited Afghan security agencies. Up to 70 percent of police positions in those provinces are held by so-called ghost soldiers who do not exist, the report said.
 
India: The country recorded (AP) 75,760 new coronavirus infections, a record daily jump, as a health official revealed the pandemic has spread (BBC) to a remote indigenous group. India trails only the United States and Brazil in total coronavirus cases.

UN peacekeepers announced an investigation (Times of Israel) into a clash between Israeli and Hezbollah forces along the Israel-Lebanon border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “react forcefully” (Al-Monitor) to attacks and warned Hezbollah against testing Israel’s strength.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains Hezbollah and its stance on Israel.

The European Union and the United States have suspended military training (Reuters) in Mali. Several leaders of the country’s recent military coup had received training in Europe and the United States, U.S. and German officials said. Local media reported (DW) two of them also trained in Russia.
 
CFR’s John Campbell writes that the coup is unlikely to lead to fundamental change in Mali for the Africa in Transition blog.
 
Burundi/Rwanda: Military officials from both countries convened at the border town of Nemba in their first public meeting since relations deteriorated in 2015. The soured relations have affected (East African) movement and trade across the border as well as regional security.
 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will make “no concessions” (Al Jazeera) in its dispute with Greece over the oil-rich eastern Mediterranean Sea. France said it would join military exercises in the region with Cyprus, Greece, and Italy, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a plan to extend Greek waters in the Ionian Sea.
 
European Union: EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan stepped down (Guardian) amid controversy over his breach of coronavirus restrictions to attend a golf dinner. Hogan’s resignation comes as the bloc seeks to hammer out Brexit and U.S. trade deals.

Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval Gonzalez announced that roughly two dozen army personnel will be investigated (Reuters) as part of a probe into whether soldiers killed a civilian in an incident captured on video. The United Nations called for a probe this week.
 
Peru: More than twenty-four thousand health workers and doctors launched (teleSUR) a nationwide demonstration, demanding sufficient personal protective equipment, better pay, and other actions to improve working conditions.

Vice President Mike Pence called for an end to violence, referencing cities where protests have erupted over police brutality and the killings of Black people, and vowed “law and order” (WaPo) in his address to the Republican National Convention. He accepted the party’s nomination to run as vice president in the November election.
 
Professional athletes protested the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Players boycotted baseball, basketball, and soccer games (Chicago Tribune), and tennis organizations suspended tournament play (Bloomberg).