POLITICS
Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy group disbands.
The League of Social Democrats announced it will disband due to mounting pressure amidst a five-year national security crackdown. Its closure follows the dissolution of two other groups in recent years, leaving the city with no formal pro-democracy opposition.
Russia becomes first country to formally recognise Taliban.
While no country had formally recognised the Taliban administration until now, the group had engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the UAE. Russian officials have recently been emphasising the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilise Afghanistan, and lifted a ban on the Taliban in April.
Call for Costa Rica’s president to face corruption trial.
Costa Rica’s top court asked lawmakers to lift President Chaves’ immunity to face corruption charges over alleged kickbacks to a top government ally funded by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. The request now goes to the opposition-led Congress. If convicted, Chaves faces two to eight years in prison.
Venezuela declares UN rights chief persona non grata.
The National Assembly unanimously voted to ban High Commissioner Volker Turk after he condemned arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances before the Human Rights Council.
Niger launches transitional council for post-coup reforms.
The Consultative Council for Refoundation will guide political transition following the military takeover, with Burkina Faso expressing solidarity through high-level delegation participation in the launch ceremony.
CONFLICT
Russia’s routine use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The Netherlands’ military intelligence and the security service, together with the German intelligence service, found that the use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russian military had become “standardised and commonplace” in Ukraine. It includes the use of the World War I-era poison gas chloropicrin.
Houthis claim first ship sinking this year in Red Sea attack.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said a cargo ship they struck had sunk in the Red Sea. The 19 crew members were allowed to disembark from the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier which was carrying iron and fertiliser from China to Türkiye.
The attack ended half a year of calm in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, where Houthi attacks had disrupted shipping between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal. Meanwhile, Israel attacked ports and facilities in Yemen held by the Houthi, with the rebels responding with missile fire targeting Israel.
Kurdish fighters in Iraq move to disarm.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons as part of a peace process with Türkiye. This marks the first concrete step toward disarmament following PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s February call to end fighting.
Russia says it now occupies Ukraine’s entire Luhansk region.
If confirmed, this will make Luhansk the first Ukrainian region to be fully occupied by Russia after more than three years of war. The development followed news Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture weapons more quickly as Kyiv looks to strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks.
Israeli settlers attack IDF military base in West Bank.
Dozens of Israeli settlers entered a military base in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, setting fires, vandalising military vehicles, spraying graffiti and attacking soldiers, the military said. The unrest came after several attacks in the West Bank carried out by Jewish settlers and anger at their arrests by security forces attempting to contain the violence over the past few days.
Afghans deported from Iran.
Iran has deported tens of thousands of Afghans in the fallout of the conflict with Israel that the UN says risks further destabilising Afghanistan, already battling a humanitarian crisis. The UN refugee agency estimates Iran deported home an average of more than 30,000 Afghans each day during the recent war, up from about 2,000 earlier.
ECONOMICS
Ecuador joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative after Colombia.
The deal secured for Ecuador investment from China’s infrastructure program in ports, railways and renewable energy to create Pacific-Asia logistics corridors.
Brazil adopts Chinese payment system push against US dollar.
Latin America’s first bank will integrate China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System as BRICS nations reduce US dollar dependency, with national currencies now comprising over 65 percent of member trade transactions. Meanwhile the US threatened an extra 10 percent tariffs on any countries which aligned themselves with the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS group of 11 nations, which includes Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
US end sanctions on Syria.
The executive order signed by President Trump is meant to “end the country’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanizing investments from its neighbours in the region, as well as from the United States,” said Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brad Smith.
United States have largest number of layoffs since COVID.
In the first half of 2025, companies announced 744,308 job cuts nationwide, the highest tally since the first six months of 2020, when employers cut nearly 1.6 million jobs in response to COVID-related disruptions.
Federal agencies have been particularly hard hit this year, while other sectors shedding workers include retail, technology, media and non-profit organisations. Microsoft confirmed it will lay off as many as 9,000 workers.
Samsung expects 56 percent profit drop.
The fall in second-quarter operating profit from a year earlier came as its chip business struggled with weak sales of artificial intelligence chips, dogged by delays in the supply of its latest chips to Nvidia and continued losses in its contract chip manufacturing business.
The world’s largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of USD 3.34 billion for the April-June period, compared with USD 7.56b in the same period a year earlier and USD 4.87b in the preceding quarter.
DEVELOPMENT
Europe to stockpile critical minerals due to risk of war.
Brussels says it will build up emergency stockpiles of critical minerals and cable repair kits as concerns mount over the EU’s vulnerability to attack. Member states should co-ordinate backup supplies of food, medicines and even nuclear fuel, the EU executive said.
It would also accelerate work on stockpiles of items such as cable repair modules “to ensure prompt recovery from energy or optical cable disruptions” and commodities such as rare earths and permanent magnets, which are crucial for energy and defence systems.
Spain to shift USD 1.9 billion in reserve assets to help developing countries
The additional funds will go into the International Monetary Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which is used to provide concessional loans to poor countries.
Poland reinstates border controls with Germany, Lithuania.
The government said it was needed to control “illegal migration”, an issue central to June’s presidential election where nationalist Karol Nawrocki – who ran on a slogan of “Poland first, Poles first” – narrowly defeated the candidate backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Warren Buffett donates USD 6 billion to foundations.
This brings the total he has given in stock to them since 2006 to roughly USD 60 billion. The largest tranche is going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which will receive USD 4.6 billion.
Parisians swim in Seine River after century-long ban.
The French capital’s iconic waterway has been closed to swimmers since 1923, with few exceptions, due to pollution and risks posed by river navigation.
After a USD 1.5 billion cleanup project tied to last year’s Olympics, officials say the Seine meets European water quality standards on most days.
SOCIAL
Astronomers discover fastest interstellar object.
Named 3I/ATLAS, where 3I stands for “third interstellar”, and designated C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), it is the only third interstellar object ever discovered. It is hurtling towards the sun at 60 kilometres per second. Although its size is difficult to judge, it is estimated to be between 200m and 1km wide.
Dalai Lama says he’ll have a successor.
The centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, ending years of speculation that started when he indicated he might be the last person to hold the role. Having a successor would mean he would be reincarnated.
The decision, however, is expected to upset China, which has repeatedly said it alone has the authority to approve the next religious leader.
Pilgrims treated as ‘illegal migrants’ while underground Catholics are arrested in Wenzhou.
In the Chinese province of Zhejiang, the authorities have recently detained priests, nuns and ordinary Catholics who made a trip abroad last year, with the aim to induce underground Bishop Shao Zhumin to join a government-controlled Church body.
Ancient DNA links early Egypt and Mesopotamia.
New research has uncovered a striking genetic connection between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, shedding light on the movement of people across early civilizations nearly 5,000 years ago. The individual’s DNA revealed that about 80 percent of his ancestry was North African, while 20 percent traced to the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of Mesopotamian civilization.
Singapore police can now seize bank accounts to stop scams.
The new law is aimed at addressing a common issue faced by the police where victims often refuse to believe they are being scammed. Described as intrusive by some members of parliament, the measures will enable police to also block money transfers amid a worsening problem with scams in Singapore, which rose to a record USD 860m in 2024.
Compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)