President Donald J. Trump, in a Tuesday tweet, said that Guatemala could face new U.S. tariffs or remittance fees after declining to sign an agreement to force some U.S. asylum seekers to first seek protection in Guatemala.
 
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that such a deal, known as a “safe third country” agreement, would require congressional approval. President Jimmy Morales criticized the decision (NYT), saying it endangered U.S.-Guatemala relations. The Trump administration published a new rule yesterday that allows deportations without a trial for undocumented migrants who have been in the country for less than two years, the latest in a series of moves to curb Central American migration. Fast-track deportations were previously only allowed (BBC) for migrants in the country for less than two weeks and within a hundred miles of the border.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a new submarine (AP) that is close to being operational, state media reported yesterday. Kim also ordered an increase in state military capacity, days after Pyongyang said it may restart nuclear and missile tests after a twenty-month suspension to protest U.S.-South Korean military drills.
 
China: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other senior officials are set to travel to Shanghai on Monday to resume face-to-face trade talks, Bloomberg reported.

The TV station Geo News was forced off the air across large parts of Pakistan earlier this week. The station said the country’s broadcast media regulator carried out the block. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom watchdog, condemned the move (RFE/RL) .
 
Afghanistan: U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul yesterday (TOLO) for negotiations with Afghan officials on a peace process. Khalilzad will also return to Doha this week for additional talks with the Taliban.

Top Turkish officials visited Jordan yesterday (Reuters) to discuss economic and regional cooperation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The trip came soon after Jordan reestablished ties with Qatar, a Turkish ally, after two years of participating in a Saudi-led blockade of the country.
 
Yemen: UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said yesterday that the country’s war is “eminently resolvable” (Reuters) following a meeting between warring parties last week. In a Washington Post op-ed published Monday, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash called for a political solution to the conflict.

A dozen people were killed in two attacks (Reuters) by militants from the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group in an area of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has been hit by the ongoing Ebola outbreak, according to local officials.
 
On CFR’s Africa in Transition blog, John Campbell writes that without more international support the Ebola outbreak will continue to spread.
 
South Africa: The finance minister announced a new $4.2 billion bailout (FT) for struggling state power monopoly Eskom yesterday, on top of billions of dollars already set aside to rescue the company. The move must be approved by parliament.

The deputy chief of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said yesterday that the European Union will stick to the draft agreement (Reuters) negotiated by former UK Prime Minister Theresa May. French President Emmanuel Macron’s top EU aide also said the bloc would stand by the current deal. New UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s exit.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at how Brexit negotiations have played out.
 
Brussels: The EU is drawing up new regulations for tech companies on online hate speech and political advertising, according to a Financial Times report. The U.S. Justice Department opened a sweeping antitrust investigation (FT) into tech companies on Tuesday.
 
CFR looks at landmark efforts by France to tax tech giants.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that the brains of forty U.S. diplomats stationed in Cuba in 2016 experienced some type of trauma (NYT) but could not determine the source of the symptoms. Dozens of diplomats had reported hearing loss and other ailments.

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller will be questioned by lawmakers (Politico) in two hearings today about his findings in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.