U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Berlin today for a conference cohosted by Germany and the United Nations that aims to establish plans for securing Libya’s upcoming December elections (DW) and pushing foreign fighters to exit the country.
 
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas noted that significant progress toward ending Libya’s six-year war (AP) had been made in the past two years. Last October, a truce between Libya’s warring sides became a formal cease-fire, paving the way for the formation of an interim government (Guardian). Though the cease-fire included a demand that all foreign fighters leave Libya within ninety days, there are still some twenty thousand in the country, according to the United Nations. Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is attending today’s conference, as are representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and envoys from Italy, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Apple Daily, which had long supported Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, will cease publication after twenty-six years (Nikkei), the directors of its parent company announced. The newspaper’s website cited concerns over employee safety and a worker shortage after police raided its office last week and arrested several staff members. The Hong Kong government also froze Apple Daily’s assets (WaPo).
 
Japan: The country restarted a nuclear reactor (Bloomberg) for the first time in more than three years under a regulatory regime put in place after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The reactor’s operator is expected to temporarily shut down (Kyodo) the reactor later this year because it is unlikely to meet an October deadline to implement counterterrorism measures.
 
This In Brief looks at nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster.

Myanmar’s People’s Defense Force, a group of militias that have emerged in opposition to the February military coup, exchanged gunfire (BBC) with the army in the city of Mandalay. It was the militias’ first clash with junta forces in a major city.
 
Nepal: In an interim order, Nepal’s Supreme Court removed twenty ministers (Reuters) recently appointed by Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli. Today, it will begin hearing cases challenging Oli’s recent decision to dissolve Parliament after losing a confidence vote in May amid infighting in his party.

The U.S. government seized around three dozen websites (AP) linked to Iranian state media. The Justice Department said the seizures were related to disinformation efforts.
 
This timeline traces U.S.-Iran relations.
 
Saudi Arabia: Four Saudi nationals who participated in the 2018 killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi received paramilitary training in the United States the year before, according to a New York Times report. The State Department reportedly approved the contract for the training, which was designed to better protect Saudi leaders.

Around 140 militia fighters handed themselves over to authorities (Reuters) in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu Province, making them the first to surrender since President Felix Tshisekedi implemented martial law in North Kivu and one other province in May.
 
Gabon: The country became the first African nation to receive a payment for protecting its rain forest (BBC) after the UN-backed Central African Forest Initiative made the first installment in a $150 million deal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) outlined six production infringements (Moscow Times) after inspecting a plant that makes Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, including possible cross contamination and insufficient sterilization checks.

Argentina reached an agreement with creditor nations in the Paris Club to delay a debt payment (Buenos Aires Times, AFP) of $2.4 billion due in July. It is still seeking to renegotiate some $45 billion it owes the International Monetary Fund.
 
Mexico: Migrants seeking asylum in the United States who had their cases dismissed or were denied under the Donald Trump administration’s so-called Remain in Mexico policy will be allowed to seek humanitarian protection again (AP), the Department of Homeland Security said.
 
CFR’s Shannon K. O’Neil looks at how U.S. President Joe Biden’s approach to migration at the southern border differs from Trump’s.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he will support changing the military justice system (NPR) so that sexual assault cases are handled by independent military lawyers rather than commanding officers. His endorsement runs counter to the Pentagon’s stance.