Britain’s Conservative Party announced today that former London Mayor Boris Johnson won its leadership election (Guardian) by a significant margin and that he will take office as prime minister of the United Kingdom tomorrow afternoon.
 
Johnson’s leadership campaign included a pledge to leave the European Union by the end of October regardless of whether the UK has finalized an exit deal with the bloc. Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation in May after lawmakers repeatedly rejected her Brexit deal with the EU. Several cabinet ministers have said they would step down rather than serve under Johnson; Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister from the Conservatives, resigned ahead of the vote (BBC).

The Washington Post reported that Huawei secretly worked with a Chinese state-owned firm to help build North Korea’s commercial wireless network over the past eight years. In a statement, the Chinese telecom giant said it has no business presence in North Korea.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at the controversy around Huawei.
 
South Korea: The country’s joint chiefs of staff said their armed forces fired more than three hundred warning shots (CNN) at a Russian plane that violated its airspace early Tuesday over an island off its east coast. Moscow said the plane was over neutral waters.

During a visit by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, U.S. President Donald J. Trump expressed optimism (Al Jazeera) that Pakistan can help negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan. Ahead of their meeting, Trump also suggested that Washington could restore $1.3 billion in aid to Islamabad. Comments by Trump regarding Afghanistan (Reuters) and India (Reuters) drew public rebukes from top officials in both countries.
 
On CFR’s Asia Unbound blog, Alyssa Ayres discusses Trump’s remarks on the Kashmir conflict.
 
India: The country is planning to purchase Russian engines (Reuters) for its space program, Russian state media reported yesterday.

The Israeli government started yesterday to demolish ten Palestinian apartment blocks (NYT) on the outskirts of Jerusalem, saying they were built too close to a security barrier. The United Nations condemned the move and said seventeen Palestinians were being displaced.
 
CFR’s Global Conflict Tracker looks at recent escalations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
 
Iran: A top Iranian intelligence official said yesterday that security agencies detained seventeen CIA spies (Vox), sentencing some of them to death. U.S. President Trump denied the claim.

Kenyan police yesterday arrested the finance minister, Henry Rotich, and have been ordered to arrest more than twenty other officials (BBC) in a graft investigation regarding contracts for two hydroelectric dam projects. It is the first time a sitting minister (Al Jazeera) from the country has been arrested on corruption charges.
 
DRC: The health minister resigned yesterday (Reuters) after President Felix Tshisekedi transferred his authority to oversee the ongoing Ebola outbreak to the head of the national biomedical research institute. In his resignation letter, he cited pressure to use a second vaccine, which is backed by the World Health Organization, to combat the crisis.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt proposed creating a European-led coalition (Guardian) to ensure safe navigation for commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The suggestion comes days after Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker. Hunt said he would like to avoid joining a U.S. pressure campaign against Iran and that Britain still supports the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said yesterday that since the first week of June the number of migrants arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border has dropped 36 percent (WaPo). Ebrard said the drop shows it is not necessary for Mexico to sign an agreement with the United States that would force most U.S. asylum seekers to first apply in Mexico.
 
Haiti: President Jovenel Moise nominated finance ministry official Fritz William Michel to be Haiti’s next prime minister (AFP) after the previous prime minister resigned earlier this month. If confirmed, Michel will be Moise’s fourth prime minister since taking office.

President Trump and leaders from both houses of Congress reached a preliminary budget deal (WaPo) yesterday that would raise the country’s spending limit by $320 billion and suspend the federal debt ceiling until July 2021.