Daily News Brief

July 5, 2022

Top of the Agenda

Russian forces claimed victory in Ukraine’s Luhansk region over the weekend and began shelling locations (Reuters) across neighboring Donetsk, where Ukrainian fighters have taken up new defensive positions. Russia seeks to control both territories, which together form the Donbas region. In addition to defending Donetsk, Ukrainian forces plan to launch counteroffensives in the country’s south, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are virtually participating in the second day of a Switzerland-hosted conference on rebuilding their country. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told donors (NYT) the cost of reconstruction is about $750 billion.

Analysis

“The government in Kyiv and its partners should start planning for a postwar reconstruction that would allow Ukraine to become precisely what Russian President Vladimir Putin fears most: a Slavic success story on his border,” the Atlantic Council’s Melinda Haring and the Center for the National Interest’s Jacob Heilbrunn write for Foreign Affairs.

“The capture of all of Luhansk was a significant advance in Putin’s Donbas campaign and demonstrates that Russia’s military machine—grinding its way forward through intensive artillery bombardment—still has momentum, despite heavy losses,” the Financial Times’ Ben Hall and Roman Olearchyk write. 

This Backgrounder on the war in Ukraine discusses the importance of the Donbas region.

Pacific Rim

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held their first call since October (SCMP) as Washington considers lifting some tariffs imposed during the Donald Trump administration.

This timeline traces U.S.-China relations.

Australia: Authorities in Sydney encouraged fifty thousand people (BBC) to evacuate their homes amid the city’s third flood this year.

South and Central Asia

Myanmar’s military government hosted envoys (AP) from Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam for a meeting of the China-led Lancang-Mekong Cooperation group. 

Uzbekistan: Officials withdrew plans to curtail the autonomy of the Karakalpakstan region after eighteen people died (RFE/RL) in protests against the proposal. 

Middle East and North Africa

The U.S. State Department also said the bullet that killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was too damaged (CNN) for a U.S. probe to be conclusive, and that officials found no evidence that the shooting was intentional.

Saudi Arabia/United Arab Emirates: The countries announced that they are boosting their social welfare spending (Reuters) for the year by billions of dollars in response to rising inflation. 

Sub-Saharan Africa

The fourteenth Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lasted less than three months (UN News), the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

This Backgrounder looks at the Ebola virus.

Sudan: The country’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said the army will withdraw (Sudan Tribune) from ongoing government-formation talks. He called on political and revolutionary groups to form a civilian transitional government.

Europe

The funding will be provided (Reuters) until 2027 as part of the bloc’s European Green Deal initiative.

Americas

The new draft constitution must pass a national referendum (MercoPress) on September 4 to be implemented.

Argentina: President Alberto Fernandez appointed left-leaning economist (Bloomberg) Silvina Batakis, a former provincial official, as economy minister after Martin Guzman resigned.

United States

Police took a twenty-two-year-old man into custody (NYT) after six people were killed and dozens were wounded during a shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

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