The United States carried out air raids (FT) on facilities used by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria in response to drone attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, the Pentagon said. They were the second round of retaliatory attacks against Iran-backed militias since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. 

Multiple people were reportedly killed (AP), though the death toll varies. The targeted facilities belonged to militant groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, which vowed revenge for the attacks in a joint statement. Iraq’s military spokesperson called the U.S. strikes a “breach of sovereignty” (Reuters). The attacks could complicate ongoing negotiations on bringing the United States and Iran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

South Korea’s defense ministry announced it will develop a $2.6 billion interceptor system (Yonhap) similar to Israel’s Iron Dome to defend itself from long-range North Korean artillery. 
 
This Backgrounder looks at North Korea’s military capabilities.
 
China: The country will be unable to match U.S. cyber capabilities (FT) for at least a decade, according to a new study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

India’s military said it intercepted two drones (AP) flying over an army base in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir a day after drones were used to attack an air base in the disputed region. Observers believe the attack could indicate a major shift in strategy for anti–New Delhi rebels if such groups prove to be involved. No entity has claimed responsibility.
 
Bangladesh: Inspectors are probing the cause of a building explosion in Dhaka (Dhaka Tribune), the capital, that killed at least seven people and injured at least fifty.

Iran’s speaker of parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said yesterday that the country will never hand over images (Reuters) from inside some of its nuclear sites, as a monitoring agreement with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog expired last week. Today, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Iran has not decided whether to extend the deal.

Sudan’s transitional government said it would cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) by handing over former officials (Dabanga) wanted for war crimes in Darfur. The surrendered individuals could include ousted former dictator Omar al-Bashir, though officials did not specify who would be handed over. 
 
This Backgrounder looks at the role of the ICC.
 
CAR: A UN investigation found that Russian mercenaries deployed alongside the military of the Central African Republic (CAR) killed civilians (NYT) at a mosque earlier this year and engaged in widespread looting and shows of excessive force, among other abuses.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven resigned (FT) after losing a no-confidence vote but said he will try to form a new government before calling snap elections. Sweden’s political system has been shaken by the rise of the nationalist Sweden Democrats, now the country’s third-largest party.
 
France: Both President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party failed to win a single regional election (NYT) yesterday in votes that were seen as an important bellwether for presidential elections next year. They were outperformed by traditional center-left and center-right parties.

Gunfire struck a helicopter (MercoPress) carrying Colombian President Ivan Duque and other top officials near the Venezuelan border. No one was injured, and officials are offering a reward of nearly $800,000 for information about those responsible.
 
Duque discusses the Venezuelan refugee crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more at this July 2020 CFR event.
 
Venezuela: The United States, Canada, and the European Union said in a joint statement that they are willing to review sanctions (Bloomberg) on Venezuela’s government if there are “substantive, credible advancements” in talks to restore democracy in the country.

At least 9 people are dead (CNN) and 152 are unaccounted for after a Miami condo building collapsed on Thursday. The missing hail from at least nine countries, six of them in Latin America. Investigations are ongoing into the cause of the collapse. The disaster is raising new concerns about the impact of climate change (WaPo) on coastal cities, as sea-level rise possibly played a role in the incident.