U.S., UK to Help Australia Acquire Nuclear-Powered Submarines
Heralding the beginning of a new security alliance, the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States jointly announced (Nikkei) that Washington and London will help Canberra build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and acquire other advanced technologies.
“Instead of inviting the U.K. into the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which comprises the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, the [Joe] Biden administration chose to form a new grouping with perhaps more flexibility to expand defense cooperation by excluding Japan, which has constitutional restraints, and India, which has a policy of strategic autonomy,” Nikkei’s Ken Moriyasu writes.
Pacific Rim
ICC Greenlights Probe Into Duterte’s Drug War
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will officially begin investigating (Rappler) whether killings by Philippine security forces under President Rodrigo Duterte’s antidrug campaign constitute crimes against humanity.
South and Central Asia
Russia-Led Bloc Says It Will Not Host Afghan Refugees
Kazakhstan said members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which also includes Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other former Soviet republics, will not accept (Reuters) foreign military bases or Afghan refugees on their territory.
Afghanistan: Taliban cofounder Abdul Ghani Baradar, recently named acting deputy prime minister of the Taliban government, appeared in a video (Radio Azadi) to refute rumors of his death.
Iran Angles for Entry Into Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is attending a summit of the China- and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which Iran is expected to join, Bloomberg reports.
Libya: Chadian rebel forces clashed (Reuters) with forces led by Libyan rebel commander Khalifa Haftar in Libya’s south.
Macron Says French Forces Killed Sahel-Based Jihadi Leader
French President Emmanuel Macron said that France’s forces in Africa’s Sahel region killed (AFP) the head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Nigeria: The country’s air force said it may have killed civilians (Reuters) during an offensive against insurgents in the northeastern Yobe State yesterday. Villagers told AFP that at least ten people died. The air force is investigating the reports.
Brussels: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will donate (Politico) two hundred million more COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by mid-2022.
Americas
Salvadorans Hold First Major Protest Against President
Thousands of people marched in San Salvador (AP) in opposition to President Nayib Bukele, denouncing his recent steps to consolidate power and El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.
Argentina: Several cabinet members who are allied with Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner offered their resignations (Bloomberg) in the wake of the ruling coalition’s poor showing in primary elections on Sunday.
United States
First All-Civilian Space Flight Launches Into Orbit
The firm SpaceX launched an all-civilian flight (WSJ) that is expected to return to Earth in around three days, a milestone for commercial space travel.
