A two-day summit of European Union (EU) leaders begins today. It was originally slated to focus on issues including energy prices and prospects for a green pandemic recovery, but a Polish court’s decision that domestic law trumps EU law is now expected to dominate discussions (AFP).
 
Tensions have been building (Politico) over years of what critics from the EU view as Polish backsliding on the issue of judicial independence, an EU principle. The rift has led the EU to suspend pandemic aid to Poland and the speaker of the European Parliament to threaten to try to tie future EU disbursements to rule-of-law standards. Poland has accused the EU (AP) of being overly controlling. 

A rocket carrying a dummy satellite failed to reach orbit (Nikkei). Had the effort succeeded, South Korea would have become the tenth country to put a satellite into orbit using its own technology.
 
New Zealand: The country passed a law (Axios) requiring banks, insurance companies, and investment firms to disclose the climate impact of their portfolios.

Three separate attacks occurred (Al Jazeera) yesterday in Pakistan’s western provinces, including two raids on security posts, officials said. Radio Mashaal reported that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for one of the attacks.
 
U.S./Afghanistan: Almost half of the fifty-three thousand Afghans currently housed on military bases in the United States after being evacuated from Afghanistan are children (WSJ), the U.S. Department of Defense said.
 
This In Brief examines how the United States has resettled its wartime allies, including Afghans.

Officials from Libya’s fragile unity government are expected to host delegates (Al Jazeera) from the United Nations, Egypt, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey today, two months ahead of a presidential election that is part of Libya’s UN-supported peace process.
 
Israel: The country raised the quota of traders from Gaza (Times of Israel) who can enter Israel from three thousand to ten thousand.

The Southern African Development Community sent envoys to discuss the security situation. At least one person was killed and eighty were wounded during recent pro-democracy protests, Al Jazeera reports.
 
Mali: Nasser al-Tergui, a leading member of an Africa-based al-Qaeda affiliate, was killed in an air strike (Reuters), the French army said.

The deal follows a trade agreement (Guardian) the United Kingdom (UK) reached with Japan last year and another made with Australia in June. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson aims to shift the focus of the UK’s foreign policy toward the Indo-Pacific.

In Quito, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a speech (NYT) acknowledging that the Americas are undergoing a “democratic reckoning” and said the United States aims to be an ally in showing that democracies can deliver social well-being.
 
This timeline traces U.S.-Colombia relations.
 
U.S./Mexico: The number of apprehensions at the southern U.S. border in fiscal year 2021 reached 1.7 million (WaPo), an all-time high that includes some repeat attempted crossings.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved booster shots (NPR) from the two drugmakers and also said people can receive different boosters than the vaccines they were first immunized with. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee meets today to deliberate on guidance for boosters.
 
This Backgrounder explains the role of the FDA.