North Korea fired two short-range missiles (WSJ) off its east coast on Thursday, according to South Korean officials. It was Pyongyang’s first weapons test since U.S. President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed last month to resume denuclearization talks.
 
At the same time, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho reportedly canceled a trip (Reuters) to Thailand next week during which he was slated to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The tests came soon after Pyongyang protested planned joint U.S.-South Korean military drills and showed off a newly built submarine. The South Korean Defense Ministry said the missiles appeared to be new. Following the launch, China called for a return to nuclear talks (SCMP).

Governor Ricardo Rossello said he will resign (NYT) on August 2 following days of mass demonstrations. The outcry was sparked by the release of chat transcripts between Rossello and other officials that were viewed as containing sexist and homophobic comments.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Antonio Weiss and CFR’s Brad Setser write that Puerto Rico’s travails have roots in the continued U.S. neglect of the island.
 
United States: A California court temporarily blocked (WaPo) a new rule by the Trump administration to curb most asylum requests at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying the policy violates existing U.S. law on asylum.  

In a defense white paper released yesterday, China’s military called efforts to divide Chinese territory its top security threat and warned it could use force to prevent Taiwanese independence (WSJ). A military spokesperson also suggested that military force could be a tool for maintaining control in Hong Kong.
 
This CFR Backgrounder unpacks the China-Taiwan relationship.

Three bombings in Kabul on Thursday killed at least fifteen people (Reuters), including eight government employees, according to officials. Top U.S. and NATO officials, including the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, were in the city for meetings. Yesterday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing (VOA) on a NATO military convoy in Kabul that killed a Croatian soldier.
 
Sri Lanka: Federal investigators of the Easter bombings said yesterday that the attackers were inspired by the ideology of the self-proclaimed Islamic State but that they had no direct contact with the group (Al Jazeera). More than 250 people were killed in the attacks.

Libyan authorities said yesterday they sent thirty-eight migrants (AP) intercepted off Libya’s coast to a detention center east of Tripoli that was bombed earlier this month. The United Nations condemned the move and called for the facility to be closed immediately.
 
Israel: The United States blocked an effort (Reuters) by several countries at the United Nations to denounce Israel’s demolition of Palestinian housing on the outskirts of Jerusalem, according to diplomats.

A suicide bomber attacked a high-level security meeting (NYT) at the Mogadishu mayor’s office yesterday, wounding the mayor and killing at least six people. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack and said its target was a UN envoy who had visited the office earlier that day.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at the origins of al-Shabab.
 
Uganda: Opposition figure Robert Kyagulanyi, commonly known as Bobi Wine, announced he will run for president in 2021 (Al Jazeera) against Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for more than three decades.

Turkish authorities have arrested (Al Jazeera) more than 6,000 undocumented migrants and refugees in Istanbul over the past two weeks, the interior minister said yesterday. He said the detainees include about 2,600 Afghans and 1,000 Syrians.

Over nearly seven hours of congressional testimony yesterday, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller recounted Russian efforts (NYT) to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and warned that Moscow aims to disrupt the 2020 election as well. Mueller said that President Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice after he leaves office.

Temperatures rose more quickly in the last few decades than at any other point over the past two thousand years, according to three studies published yesterday in the journals Nature and Nature Geoscience. Scientists said the studies were an important contribution to “fingerprinting” human responsibility (Guardian) for climate change.