U.S. President Joe Biden said he will increase the cap (WaPo) on the number of refugees allowed into the United States through September to 62,500, up from a record-low annual limit of 15,000 set by the Donald Trump administration.

The move followed Democrats and activists’ criticism (NYT) of the Biden administration after it announced two weeks ago that it would preserve the Trump administration’s cap on refugees. In a statement, Biden said the previous limit “did not reflect America’s values.” Prior to Trump, the United States had accepted nearly half (WSJ) of the refugees resettled by the United Nations. The number of refugees worldwide has grown to record highs in recent years. Still, Biden acknowledged that it is highly unlikely that the new threshold will be reached this year. Only about two thousand refugees (NPR) have been admitted in the first half of the fiscal year. Biden has pledged to double the number of refugee slots to 125,000 in the next fiscal year, which begins in October.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, President Ashraf Ghani pledged that Afghanistan’s military would not back down if the Taliban rejected peace talks and continued to fight. He also called on the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to honor their commitments to funding Afghanistan’s defense forces. He said they were the “single most important contribution” the international community can make to the country’s transition process.

Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan: The two countries completed a troop withdrawal (RFE/RL) from their shared border following deadly clashes late last month that killed dozens of people, according to the Kyrgyz border service.

In a tweet containing profanity and other crude language, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. demanded Chinese ships leave waters (NYT) in the South China Sea that are claimed by the Philippines, escalating a long-standing territorial dispute. Beijing urged Manila to observe “basic etiquette” (CNA). 

This InfoGuide looks at China’s maritime disputes.

U.S./Japan/South Korea: Foreign ministers from the three countries are expected to meet on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) ministerial meeting in the United Kingdom this week as Washington seeks to repair ties between Seoul and Tokyo, Yonhap reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government following deadlocked elections will expire at midnight (AP). If he fails to form a coalition, President Reuven Rivlin could give Netanyahu additional time, pass the mandate to an opposition leader, or allow lawmakers to choose their leader directly. 

Iraq: A contractor working for a U.S. company suffered light injuries (Al Jazeera) from a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base north of Baghdad. It was the second rocket attack to target U.S. interests in less than twenty-four hours.

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, ordered the military to take control (AFP) of two violence-plagued eastern provinces he said are under a “state of siege.” Separately, the country’s health minister declared an end (Nation) to the DRC’s twelfth Ebola outbreak. 

This Backgrounder looks at the Ebola virus.

Rwanda: French prosecutors recommended a judge drop a case (Al Jazeera) against French soldiers for their alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The move follows a French government report in March that said that France was not complicit in the genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda.

The European Union unveiled plans to allow the resumption of tourism (BBC) for people who are fully vaccinated with an EU-approved vaccine. The bloc currently allows nonessential travel from only seven countries. 

This In Brief explains the debate around so-called vaccine passports.

UK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold virtual talks (Politico) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The leaders are expected to announce more than $1 billion worth of bilateral investments and an agreement to boost trade.

At least nineteen people have been killed and hundreds more injured in days of violent protests (NYT) in Colombia that began over a proposed tax hike but have grown into a broader outcry against poverty and inequality exacerbated by the pandemic. President Ivan Duque announced on Sunday that he would scrap the tax plan, and the country’s finance minister resigned yesterday. The protests are now fueled by accusations of police brutality. 

Mexico: More than twenty people were killed and dozens of others were injured when a subway train derailed (AP) after an overpass collapsed.