A cyberattack forced one of the largest fuel pipelines in the United States to shut down over the weekend, exposing the vulnerability (NYT) of U.S. energy infrastructure. 

Colonial Pipeline said it preemptively shut off all operations after the company suffered a ransomware attack, in which hackers lock down a computer network until a ransom is paid. Experts say hackers are increasingly targeting the industrial sector (WaPo) because companies are more willing to pay. Colonial operates 5,500 miles of pipelines that carry almost half (Politico) of the gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel used on the U.S. east coast. The attack is believed to have been carried out by the Eastern Europe–based criminal gang known as DarkSide. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident and the federal government is working to restore the pipeline, the White House said.

At least fifty-two people, many of them teenage girls, were killed (TOLOnews) and scores more were injured by a series of blasts outside a girls’ school in Kabul on Saturday. No group has claimed responsibility, and the Taliban denied involvement (NYT).

Pakistan: Prime Minister Imran Khan signed several agreements (RFE/RL) with Saudi Arabia, including on infrastructure and efforts to address drug trafficking, during his two-day visit to the country.

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters and nearly two dozen Israeli police officers were wounded in violent clashes (Haaretz) near al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem this morning. Tensions are expected to escalate (NYT) later today due to a planned march by far-right Israelis marking the anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, during which Israel captured East Jerusalem.

Algeria: The country’s interior ministry said it will ban unauthorized demonstrations (Al Jazeera) in an effort to stop the Hirak protest movement, which emerged in 2019, from regaining momentum.

In accordance with a 2018 peace deal, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir dissolved parliament (AFP), paving the way for the appointment of new lawmakers. The announcement came ahead of U.S. Special Envoy Donald E. Booth’s visit to the country.

The Global Conflict Tracker explains South Sudan’s civil war.

Chad: The military claimed victory (Al Jazeera) in its fight against the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a group of northern rebels, which it blames for the death of President Idriss Deby Itno.

The European Union and India agreed to revive negotiations (Politico) for a free trade agreement that had stalled in 2013. The EU has been frustrated by its lack of access to certain sectors of India’s economy, including cars. 

United Kingdom: Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a second referendum on Scotland’s independence from the UK is “a matter of when, not if” (BBC). Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party fell one seat short of an outright majority in the Scottish Parliament during elections last week.

President Ivan Duque ordered a mass deployment of troops (MercoPress) to the city of Cali due to clashes between locals and indigenous people amid nationwide protests that have gripped Colombia. The violence in Cali has sparked fears of a civil war (Colombia Reports).

Mexico: U.S. labor groups plan to lodge a complaint with the Biden administration over alleged labor violations (NYT) at a group of auto parts factories in Mexico in what will be an early test of the new labor provisions in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). 

This Backgrounder explains the USMCA.