DDSR 23.7.21 (Last DDSR Until 2.8.21)

File Under “About Fucking Time”

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require women to register for the draft, known as “Selective Service.” Pentagon officials have repeatedly said that they intend to keep the U.S. armed forces all-volunteer, however men ages 18 through 25 still have to register with the Selective Service System or face consequences. Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

File Under “You’ve Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me!”

Mississippi urged the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks. The court will hear arguments this fall.

World

US Relations

The U.S. and Iraq have agreed that U.S. combat troops should leave Iraq by the end of 2021, with the U.S. military mission in Iraq shifting to a purely advisory role, according to a U.S. official and other sources. The shift is expected to be announced on Monday after Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi meets with President Biden at the White House. The plan will not constitute a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and a number of U.S. service members will remain in Iraq indefinitely. “These troops will provide logistics and advisory support, as well as air power, intelligence and surveillance capability in the fight against the Islamic State,” Lara Seligman reports for POLITICO.

The U.S. is seeking a “reliable, predictable and constructive” way forward with North Korea to secure progress in stalled denuclearization talks, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has said today. Sherman made the remarks following a meeting with South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun in Seoul, where it was “discussed how to reopen negotiations after North Korea brushed off the Biden administration’s proposals for talks, casting a cloud over prospects for dismantling its nuclear and missile programs,” Hyonhee Shin reports for Reuters.

A Chinese prosecutor has been indicted in a federal U.S. case charging nine people with illegally acting as foreign agents in an effort to force immigrants from China to return there to be punished. The FBI last October announced charges against eight people who were allegedly engaged in the effort and a superseding indictment filed yesterday now “also charges Chinese law enforcement official Tu Lan, accusing him of orchestrating a campaign known as ‘Fox Hunt’ and ordering a co-conspirator to destroy evidence,” Shayna Jacobs reports for the Washington Post.

China has said today that the U.S. is slandering its efforts to pursue suspects overseas. The comments were made after a Chinese prosecutor was charged in an alleged plot to intimidate Chinese residents in the U.S. to return to China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged the United States to correct its mistakes. Reuters reporting.

A former Air Force intelligence analyst has said his guilt over participating in lethal drone strikes in Afghanistan led him to leak government secrets about the drone program to a reporter. Daniel Hale of Nashville, Tennessee, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to violating the Espionage Act by leaking the top secret documents. “In an 11-page handwritten letter from the Alexandria jail where he’s being held, Hale outlines what led him to break the law, describing his regret and horror as he saw gruesome videos of Afghans killed in part because his work helped track them down,” Matthew Barakat reports for AP.

Afghanistan

The House yesterday approved a bill aimed at expediting visas for Afghans who helped the U.S. military and are now facing threats to their lives from the Taliban. “The bill, dubbed the Allies Act, would add another 8,000 visas to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program for Afghans who helped the United States and remove several hurdles to obtaining the visas,” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

Afghanistan’s military is overhauling its war strategy against the Taliban to concentrate forces around the most critical areas like Kabul and other cities, border crossings and vital infrastructure, as the Taliban advances, Afghan and U.S. officials have said. “The politically perilous strategy will inevitably cede territory to Taliban insurgents. But officials say it appears to be a military necessity as over-stretched Afghan troops try to prevent the loss of provincial capitals, which could deeply fracture the country,” Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali report for Reuters.

The U.S. military carried out two strikes against the Taliban in support of Afghan forces in the Kandahar province which were targeted at capturing equipment, defense officials have said. The military has retained the authority to carry out such strikes during the final stages of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, but the pace of these strikes has decreased in recent weeks. “I can say that in the last several days, we have acted through airstrikes to support the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] ANDSF, but I won’t get into technical details of those strikes,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing. Oren Liebermann reports for CNN.

A Taliban spokesperson has said that strikes were carried out by the U.S. on Wednesday night on the outskirts of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing three Taliban fighters and destroying two vehicles. “‘We confirm these air strikes and we condemn this in strongest term, it is a clear attack and violation of the Doha deal as they can’t have operations after May,’ he said, referring to an agreement between the United States and the Taliban clearing the way for the withdrawal of U.S. forces,” Reuters reports.

The U.S. military is preparing to house as many as 35,000 Afghan interpreters and family members at two U.S. bases in Kuwait and in Qatar as part of an expanding effort to aid those who now face Taliban retribution for aiding U.S. forces, U.S. officials have said. Plans are underway to build temporary housing and other facilities at the camps, as well as brining thousands of welcome packages, containing health and comfort items, as well as packaged military meals, to the bases. The interpreters and their families would be housed at the bases as they await the processing for American visas to be permanently resettled in the U.S. Gordon Lubold and Courtney McBride report for the Wall Street Journal.

U.S. veterans are rushing to help their Afghan colleagues get out of Afghanistan, Jennifer Steinhauer and John Ismay report for the New York Times.

The Taliban have said they do not want to monopolize power in Afghanistan; however they insist that they will not reach a peace deal until there is a new negotiated government in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani is removed. The Taliban’s stance on what should come next in Afghanistan was laid out by a Taliban spokesperson in an interview with the Associated Press. “I want to make it clear that we do not believe in the monopoly of power because any governments who (sought) to monopolize power in Afghanistan in the past, were not successful governments,” said the spokesperson, who was “also uncompromising on the continued rule of Ghani, calling him a war monger and accusing him of using his Tuesday speech on the Islamic holy day of Eid-al-Adha to promise an offensive against the Taliban,” Kathy Gannon reports for AP.

Tajikistan has said that it is ready to take in up to 100,000 refugees from neighboring Afghanistan. The deputy head of Tajikistan’s emergencies committee, told a briefing that Tajikistan “was already building two large warehouses to store supplies for refugees in the Khatlon and Gorno-Badakhshan provinces adjacent to the border,” Reuters reporting.

Russia is to help Tajikistan build a new outpost on the Tajik-Afghan border, a senior Russian diplomat said, amid worsening conflict in Afghanistan. Reuters reporting.

Despite promises from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada has yet to produce a plan to bring Afghans who helped the Canadian government to Canada. Frustrated by the lack of action from Canada to resettle Afghans who worked for the Canadian government in Afghanistan, “some Canadian military veterans are using their own money, time and connections to get them into safer parts of Afghanistan,” Ian Austen reports for the New York Times.

NSO Group

Hungarian prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected unlawful surveillance following multiple complaints in the wake of the allegations of the misuse of the Pegasus spyware sold by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group. The Budapest Regional Investigation Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the investigation would examine “the so-called Pegasus case, under the suspicion of the crime of gathering unauthorized secret information.” Al Jazeera reports.

French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency cybersecurity meeting yesterday to weigh possible government action after reports that his cellphone and those of government ministers may have been targeted by the Pegasus spyware. French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said yesterday that macron changes his phones regularly and is “taking the matter very seriously.” Attal also said that investigations are under way to determine whether the spyware was actually installed on the phones or whether data was retrieved. AP reports.

Cuba

President Biden’s administration has sanctioned a key Cuban official, Alvaro Lopez Miera, the head of the armed forces in Cuba, and a government special forces unit known as the Boinas Negras for human rights abuses in the wake of the protests in Cuba. In a statement Biden said that the recent sanctions were “just the beginning — the United States will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people.” Kylie Atwood, Patrick Oppmann and Jennifer Hansler report for CNN.

Biden’s response to Cuba and specifically his plan to extend the targeted sanctions of the Magnitsky Act to officials in Cuba have encouraged activists who want more pressure on Cuba, while also bucking the progressive voices in the Democratic party who have called for an end to the embargo on Cuba. Marc Caputo and Dabrina Rodriguez report for POLITICO.

A number of Florida politicians, including Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), are pointing to the possibility of sending high-tech balloons that operate as makeshift cell towers, to allow internet access to continue in Cuba even if Cuba’s government shuts it down as it did following protests last week. Kim Bellware reports for the Washington Post.

Haiti

The Pentagon has confirmed that 7 Colombians arrested in relation to the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse had received U.S. military training. “Thus far, we’ve identified seven individuals who were former members of the Colombian military that had received some sort of … U.S. funded and provided education and training,” press secretary John Kirby told reporters. Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

Protests and fires have swept through the streets of the northern city of Cap-Haïtien in Haiti hours before mourners were due to pay tribute to Moïse. “Large crowds of demonstrators ran through the narrow colonial streets, chanting, ‘they killed Jovenel, and the police were there.’ Distrustful of the elite coming from the capital, angry men tried to block the arrival of mourners from outside the city,” Catherine Porter reports for the New York Times.

The State department has announced the appointment of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote as the Special Envoy for Haiti. “The Special Envoy will engage with Haitian and international partners to facilitate long-term peace and stability and support efforts to hold free and fair presidential and legislative elections,” the State Department said in a press release. Joseph Choi reports for The Hill.

Israel and Palestine

The U.N. Human Rights Council has announced that former U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay will chair a three-person commission investigating “alleged violations and abuses” in Israel and Israeli-occupied territory. The decision to set up the commission followed the latest 11-day Israel-Hamas conflict. “Pillay, who was a former judge on the South African High Court, was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014,” Caroline Vakil reports for The Hill.

An explosion in a house in a popular market in Gaza City has killed one person, and injured 10 others, the Palestinian territory’s interior ministry said. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion and the Israeli army signaled it wasn’t involved, calling the explosion an “internal” matter in Gaza. AP reporting.

Global Developments

A U.N. monitoring team in a report to the U.N. Security Council has warned that the threat from terror groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda is not only resilient, but in many places expanding. In the report the monitoring team warns that the groups pose a growing threat in much of Africa and are entrenched in Afghanistan, and suggests a consistent pattern that “wherever pressure on jihadi terror groups is absent or negligible, they thrive,” Paul Cruickshank, Tim Lister and Nic Robertson report for CNN.

Russia is going ahead with plans to supply the military in Myanmar with Su-30 fighter jets and Yak-130 training aircraft, the Interfax news agency has reported, citing Dmitry Shugayev, the head of Russia’s military cooperation agency. Reuters reporting.

A French citizen is among six people who have been arrested for their involvement in a plot to kill Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, the country’s public security minister has said. Madagascar’s attorney general said yesterday that police had arrested the six people following what officials said was a months-long investigation. An adviser to Rajoelina has also said that two of those arrested had previously worked in the French military. Lovasoa Rabary reports for Reuters.

Two Iranian ships that the Pentagon have been monitoring, and which once appeared to be headed towards Venezuela, are now in the Baltic Sea, according to MarineTraffic, a website that tracks ships. It is expected, based on the position of the ships, that they are likely headed to St Petersburg to participate in Russia’s Navy Day events. Oren Liebermann and Ellie Kaufman report for CNN.

The Danish military yesterday said that it had spotted an Iranian destroyer and a large support vessel sailing through the Baltic Sea, likely heading towards Russia. The Danish Defense Ministry posted photographs online of the ships. “It is expected that they are on their way to the annual naval parade in St. Petersburg,” the Danish military wrote on Twitter. AP reporting.

The U.N. Security Council yesterday rejected a resolution put forward by Russia and China to remove the high representative to Bosnia. The resolution, which failed to get the minimum nine votes for adoption with only Russia and China voting in favor and the 13 other council members abstaining, “would have would have immediately stripped the powers of the international high representative overseeing implementation of the 1995 peace agreement that ended the devastating war in Bosnia, and eliminated the position entirely in one year,” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP.

South Africa’s state-owned firm Transnet has said that it has identified and isolated the source of the disruption to its IT systems, which impacted its container terminals. “The freight logistics firm was hit by a suspected cyber attack, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters yesterday,” Reuters reports.

US

Trump Crimes

Recently disclosed additional details of the FBI’s review of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s background have led a group of Senate Democratic party members to question the thoroughness of the vetting and conclude that it was largely shaped by former President Trump’s White House. In a letter to Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chris Coons (D-DE) an F.B.I. assistant director “said that the most ‘relevant’ of the 4,500 tips the agency received during an investigation into Mr. Kavanaugh’s past were referred to White House lawyers in the Trump administration, whose handling of them remains unclear,” Kate Kelly reports for the New York Times.

Tom Manger, a veteran police chief, has been announced by the U.S. Capitol Police Board as the chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. Manger will assume command today, succeeding acting Chief of Police Yogananda Pittman, who came into the role following the resignation of previous chief Steven Sund after the Jan. 6 attack. “The challenges in protecting the Capitol campus, and everyone who works or visits there, have never been more complex. The courage and dedication of the men and women of this agency were on great display on Jan. 6^th…it is now my job to ensure that they have the resources and support to continue to fulfill their mission in an ever increasingly difficult job,” Manger said in a statement. Paul LeBlanc reports for CNN.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is to reinstate five key Pentagon advisory boards after suspending the committees earlier this year and ousting last-minute Trump-appointees. “Press secretary John Kirby said Austin plans to restore the five major boards of policy, science, business, health and innovation after he reviews recommendations made by a committee tasked with scrutinizing the Defense Department’s 42 boards and commissions,” Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is weighing adding further Republicans opposed to former President Trump to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) as the leading contender. “We’ll see,” Pelosi told reporters when asked if she’d appoint more Republicans to serve alongside Cheney. “It’s not even bipartisan; it’s nonpartisan. It’s about seeking the truth and that’s what we owe the American people,” Pelosi said. Heather Caygle, Olivia Beavers and Nicholas Wu report for POLITICO.

Pelosi yesterday said that the select committee into the Jan. 6 attack “will not let” Republican party “antics stand in the way” of the investigation. “It’s my responsibility as Speaker of the House to make sure we get to the truth on this,” Pelosi said at a press conference. Mychael Schnell reports for The Hill.

Politics/Government

A group of Democratic lawmakers is urging Biden to be actively involved in his administration’s review of the U.S’s nuclear policy and make “bold decisions” that would reduce the role of nuclear weapons in the U.S. national security strategy. In a letter to Biden written by 21 senators and House members, the lawmakers say that the Biden administration’s review “is a watershed moment where [Biden] can reject a 21st century arms race and make bold decisions to lead us towards a future where nuclear weapons no longer threaten all humanity.” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) proposal to overhaul the military justice system has made it past the Senate Armed Services Committee’s consideration of the NDAA, as have two other competing proposals, from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and committee member Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), aimed at tackling military sexual assault. “The outcome means the issue of how to reform the military justice system will still need to be sorted out as the NDAA moves through the Senate floor and negotiations with the House,” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

CIA Director William Burns has said that he has redoubled the CIA’s efforts to uncover the cause of Havana syndrome. The increased effort includes the assignment of a senior officer who once led the hunt for Osama bin Laden to lead the investigation and tripling the size of a medical team involved in the probe, with Burns saying that he is “absolutely determined…to get to the bottom of the question of what and who caused this.” Becky Sullivan, Mary Louise Kelly and Greg Myre report for NPR.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been one of the more consistent GOP voices on COVID-19 precautions, and the importance of getting vaccinated. Amid a growing partisan divide over COVID vaccination, McConnell has been vocal about the need for everyone in the country to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, regardless of political party. He has consistently worn masks throughout the pandemic, and notably declined to go to the White House in the final months of the Trump administration because he disagreed with their lack of COVID protocols. But experts and political strategists say McConnell’s message has been muddied by a reluctance to confront his Republican colleagues who are actively stoking fears and mistrust over the vaccine, and discouraging people from getting it. Read the full story here

Civil rights groups urged President Biden to push Congress to pass two voting-rights bills “by whatever means necessary,” including ending the Senate filibuster.

As The Hill’s Alexander Bolton writes, Democrats — faced with rising inflation coupled with a sidetracked agenda — turned to White House senior adviser Anita Dunn on Thursday for help to refine their messaging on infrastructure. Democratic senators are worried that if an infrastructure deal doesn’t get nailed down in the coming few weeks, conservative opponents will use the August recess to turn public sentiment against the Democratic agenda, something Republican strategists did successfully in August 2009 by turning the tide of opinion against that year’s Affordable Care Act.

Fox Business: Pelosi reiterates no bipartisan infrastructure bill without reconciliation package. Politico: Dems are “not particularly pleased” with the Senate infrastructure deal. They’ll back it anyway. NBC News: Transit money emerges as a last major obstacle to bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal.

Des Moines Register: Former Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) is running for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) seat. The senator has not indicated if he will seek reelection, and a decision is expected in the fall.

“Democrats’ Divide on Voting Rights Widens as Biden Faces Pressure,” by NYT’s Katie Rogers and Nick Corasaniti: “Biden, a veteran of the Senate who for decades has believed in negotiating on the particulars of voting rights legislation, has faced calls to push Democratic senators to eliminate the filibuster, which would allow the two major voting bills proposed by the party to pass with a simple majority. The president and his advisers have repeatedly pointed out that he does not have the votes within his own party to pass federal voting legislation, and does not have the power to unilaterally roll back the filibuster even if he supported doing so.

“Inside Trump’s intense search for a Cheney challenger,” by Alex Isenstadt and Ally Mutnick: “[DONALD] TRUMP’s top political advisers have been holding quiet talks over the last several months with the primary challengers looking to take down his most prominent Republican nemesis: Wyoming Rep. LIZ CHENEY.

“U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson: ‘I may not be the best candidate’ for 2022,” by Wisconsin State Journal’s Riley Vetterkind: “In an interview this week, Sen. RON JOHNSON, (R-Wisc.), said he ‘may not be the best candidate’ for the 2022 U.S. Senate race, an indication his reelection bid is not exactly preordained despite the fact he raised $1.2 million in the second quarter of the year, more than his Democratic challengers and double his first-quarter take.”

US Developments

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): The agency this week tightened criteria for awarding astronaut wings to those flying on commercial spacecraft, making the requirements stricter for training and safety while including a significant loophole that allows the FAA to issue “honorary” wings to individuals “who demonstrated extraordinary contribution or beneficial service to the commercial human space flight industry” (Space News). 

What’s the Mars rover Perseverance up to? Soon, it will drill a smooth cavity in selected rocks and get below the surface crud on the red planet. Instruments on its robotic arm will then produce detailed chemical and mineralogical maps that will reveal the rocks’ true nature, perhaps volcanic or sedimentary. In about a month, a NASA team will extract its first Mars sample from a distance, which will go into a tube that will eventually get dropped off — along with samples from other locales — for some future mission to pick up and bring to Earth (Science News). 

IMPENDING CAR CRASH from The Atlantic’s Michigan-based @TimAlberta: “The chip shortage could fairly be described as a crisis — millions of willing consumers unable to buy, thousands of dealerships going broke because they have no inventory, hundreds of plants slowing or stopping new vehicle production. It’s a huge news story — and hugely undercovered.” WSJ’s Asa Fitch: “Intel Corp. Chief Executive PAT GELSINGER sees the global semiconductor shortage potentially stretching into 2023, adding a leading industry voice to the growing view that the chip-supply disruptions hitting companies and consumers won’t wane soon. The world-wide shortage has fueled rising prices for some consumer gadgets. Meanwhile, the auto industry has been particularly hard-hit as the lack of a key component causes production delays.”

Virus and Climate

The coronavirus has infected over 34.20 million and has now killed over 610,000 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 192.50 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.10 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

The White House has blasted China’s “irresponsible” and “dangerous” rejection of a second phase of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) investigation into the origins of Covid-19. “We are deeply disappointed,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “Alongside other member states around the world, we continue to call for China to provide the needed access to data and samples and this is critical so we can understand, to prevent the next pandemic. This is about saving lives in the future, and it’s not a time to be stonewalling,” she added. Morgan Chalfant reports for The Hill.

Schools — including Indiana University and many private colleges — that require students and workers to get vaccinated have reported extremely high uptake.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey of Americans who had been opposed to getting vaccinated and later changed their minds found that mandates — or restrictions on the unvaccinated — were one common reason. One 51-year-old man told Kaiser that he began to feel as if he had “limited options without it.”

The French government will soon require that people show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test to eat at a restaurant, attend a movie or participate in many other activities. After President Emmanuel Macron announced the policy last week, the number of vaccine appointments surged. Italy announced a similar policy yesterday, The Times’s Marc Santora explains.

The C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, warned that the U.S. was at “another pivotal point.”

As Americans have shed masks and gathered together, viruses that cause drippy noses, coughs and sneezes have returned.

The N.F.L. said teams that experience an outbreak among unvaccinated players might have to forfeit a game.

The Hill: Tokyo hits six-month high in COVID-19 cases as Olympics begin.

Most subway systems predate climate change. They are struggling to adapt to an era of extreme weather.

DDSR 22.7.21 Thursday sucks too

Covid

The coronavirus has infected over 34.20 million and has now killed over 609,800 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 192.00 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.10 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN. 

China has rejected the World Health Organization (WHO)’s call for further investigations into the origins of Covid-19 in Wuhan. At a news conference today, “Zeng Yixin, deputy head of China’s National Health Commission, fired back against WHO criticism of China’s level of cooperation, and said the U.N. agency’s proposed work plan did not respect science,” Eva Dou reports for the Washington Post.

As Myanmar faces one of its worst Covid-19 outbreaks, doctors and volunteer health workers, are accusing the military in Myanmar of using the pandemic as a weapon against the people. They say that the military has restricted critical oxygen sales to the public, refused sick-patients at military-run hospitals, failed to provide a vaccine program and targeted and arrested doctors. Helen Regan reports for CNN.

Covid-19 has caused the largest decline in U.S. life expectancy since World War II, the federal government reported yesterday. More variants: Illinois is reporting six times more cases of COVID-19 infection with the gamma variant of the virus than the highly infectious delta strain (CBS Chicago). … The lambda variant of the coronavirus has been identified in a Houston hospital. The World Health Organization in June called lambda a “variant of interest,” meaning it has genetic changes that affect the virus’ characteristics and has caused significant community transmission in multiple countries (USA Today).

Elected officials revisited public health debates on Wednesday about mandatory vaccinations and masks amid escalating COVID-19 infections in many states linked to the delta variant and others. What’s on politicians’ minds? The upcoming school season, the challenges ahead for parents and teachers and the still-wobbly economy.

President Biden predicted at a CNN event in Ohio that the F.D.A. would fully approve Covid vaccines by the fall, and that young children would become eligible “soon.”

Biden on Wednesday said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will likely advise unvaccinated students to wear masks indoors as they return to in-person instruction this fall (The Hill). Speaking during a CNN town hall from Ohio, the president said, “The CDC is going to say that what we should do is, everyone under the age of 12 should probably be wearing a mask in school.” 

Countries will probably have to learn to live with Covid, measuring its toll through deaths and severe illness rather than through infections.

Some U.S. health care workers have refused to get vaccinated. More hospitals are requiring them to.

“I’m sorry, but it’s too late”: A doctor in Alabama spoke to AL.com about the regrets of unvaccinated patients.

US

Politics

A test vote to advance a bipartisan infrastructure bill failed, but negotiators said they were optimistic that they could reach an agreement in coming days.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi blocked two Trump allies from the committee investigating Jan. 6. In response, Kevin McCarthy, the House G.O.P. leader, said that Republicans would boycott the panel. It remains to be seen if McCarthy’s decision not to pick two substitutes will pan out over the long term, but his counter-move to Pelosi’s decision wasn’t surprising (The Hill).

The Justice Department is no longer seeking the death penalty in seven cases — a signal that Biden may end federal capital punishment.

Republicans are digging in on the federal debt limit, warning Democrats that it will be up to them to avoid a default as President Biden pushes for trillions more in spending. GOP senators are taking a firm line as Democrats plot a path for their $3.5 trillion spending measure, which the party plans to pass with budget reconciliation rules that will prevent the GOP from blocking it with a filibuster. Given those plans, GOP senators say they won’t lift a finger to help Democrats raise the debt ceiling. Read the full story here

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Arkansas’s near-total ban on abortion as unconstitutional (The Washington Post).

“DOJ restricts contact with White House, a sharp pivot from Trump administration,” by USA Today’s Kevin Johnson: “[A.G. MERRICK] GARLAND Wednesday issued a long-anticipated directive restricting Justice Department contact with the White House as a firewall against potential political interference. The order, which reaffirmed some policies of previous administrations, marks a sharp pivot from the Trump era when the former president casually broke with institutional norms, repeatedly calling on the department to launch investigations of his political rivals, including Biden, HILLARY CLINTON and former FBI Director JAMES COMEY.”

The efforts to reforming the military justice system have stalled as lawmakers are split over the best way to address serious crimes within the military and tackle racial disparities in military courts. House Armed Services Committee Democratic members continue to disagree on whether to remove military commanders’ authority to prosecute all serious crimes, beyond just sexual assault. Proponents of the change “say it would be a much-needed reform for U.S. service members of color, who have long faced disproportionate consequences in military courts,” Sarah Ferris, Nicholas Wu And Connor O’brien report for POLITICO.

US Developments

Four major drug companies reached a $26 billion deal with states to drop thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid epidemic.

Pacific Gas & Electric plans to bury 10,000 miles of its power lines in California to try to curb the wildfire risk.

Maine will require companies — not local governments — to cover recycling costs for packaging.

Conversion therapy is now illegal in half of U.S. states. LGBT Americans have waged a ferocious political war against a practice that claims to alter sexual orientation or gender identity, which many experts maintain does more harm than good (The Hill).

“These lobbyists cashed in on Trump. Now, business is down by millions,” by Theodoric Meyer: “When Trump took office in 2017, the handful of Washington lobbyists who could boast ties to him were inundated with calls from potential clients. Six months into the Biden administration, several Trump-connected firms together are down millions of dollars in fees compared to a year earlier; one prominent firm with Trumpworld ties has collapsed, and another has withdrawn from Washington entirely.”

World

Nord Stream 2

The U.S. has dropped its threat to block the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, officials said yesterday. The agreement ends a long running disagreement between the U.S. and Germany on the pipeline that critics said would allow Moscow to starve Ukraine of transit fees for natural gas. President Biden’s administration’s decision “was effectively an acknowledgment that the pipeline project was too far advanced to stop, and that relations with Germany, a crucial ally, were too important to jeopardize over the dispute,” Lara Jakes and Steven Erlanger report for the New York Times.

Biden is facing a bipartisan backlash over the deal with Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “I’m not happy about it in terms of the Russia politics, and I’m not happy about it in terms of climate change,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. The agreement also drew criticism from Republicans who accused Biden of “surrendering” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Andrew Desiderio and Alexander Ward report for POLITICO.

The foreign ministries of Ukraine and Poland have reacted bitterly to the U.S.- Germany deal, saying in a joint statement that the “resignation from attempts to stop the launch” of the pipeline creates a “political, military and energy threat for Ukraine and Central Europe, while increasing Russia’s potential to destabilize the security situation in Europe.” As part of the deal, Germany has committed to at least $175 million to a green energy fund for Ukraine, as well as about $70 million to promote Ukraine’s energy security. “The agreement also outlines goals for extending an arrangement under which Russia pays natural-gas transit fees to Ukraine and for preventing Russia from wielding energy as a weapon. But officials didn’t spell out mechanisms for achieving them,” Brett Forrest reports for the Wall Street Journal.  

Ukraine has demanded formal talks with Brussels and Berlin on the pipeline, as Ukraine and Poland hit back over the U.S.-Germany deal, invoking a clause of Ukraine’s agreement with the E.U. on political association and economic integration. America Hernandez reports for POLITICO.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has told reporters that Ukraine has many questions on how the U.S.-Germany deal on the Nord Stream, 2 pipeline can mitigate the security threat posed by the pipeline. Kuleba also said it was unclear whether Russia would honor its obligations and added that Ukraine “would like the U.S.-German statement regarding security to be stronger.” Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets report for Reuters.

Russia has rejected aspects of the Germany-U.S. deal on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and has insisted that Russia has never used energy as a tool for political pressure. “Russia has always been and remains a responsible guarantor of energy security on the European continent, or I would even say on a wider, global scale,” a Kremlin spokesperson told reporters. The Kremlin also disagrees with comments in the agreement about countering Russian aggression and about Moscow’s allegedly malicious actions in Ukraine and beyond, the spokesperson said. Reuters reporting.

US Relations

Thomas Barrack’s alleged illegal lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) allegedly had an impact on former President Trump’s policies towards the Gulf, pushing UAE-sought actions on both Trump’s campaign and during the first two years of Trump’s administration. Karen DeYoung reports for the Washington Post.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn investigating Barrack had enough evidence to bring charges last year but waited until the arrival of President Biden’s administration before doing so, according to people briefed on the matter. Evan Perez, Erica Orden, Paula Reid and Katelyn Polantz report for CNN.

The U.S. and South Korea have said that they will continue close consultations to try and convince North Korea to return to talks on its nuclear program, which Pyongyang has insisted it will not do in protest to what it calls U.S. hostility. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong today in Seoul for talks on North Korea, the U.S.-South Korea military alliance and other regional issues. Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP.

The U.S. is hoping that North Korea responds to its offer to re-open talks on denuclearization, South Korea’s presidential office said today, citing Sherman who has met South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul. ‘”We are hoping that North Korea will respond to our offers of talks at an early stage,’ Moon’s office quoted Sherman as telling the South Korean president, who has also been trying to encourage negotiations. Sherman said she would discuss the issue with China when she visits there from Sunday, the office added,” Hyonhee Shin reports for Reuters.

Sherman is to visit China on July 25-26, the State Department has said, amid the strained relations between China and the United States. Sherman will meet with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials in the city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing. Simon Lewis and David Brunnstrom report for Reuters.

President Biden’s administration has decided to wait to reopen a U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem until the new Israeli government passes a budget, likely in early November, Israeli, U.S. and Palestinian sources have said. The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem handled relations with the Palestinians before former President Trump closed it. Biden has promised to reopen the U.S. Consulate however he needs the approval of the Israeli government who had requested the delay as Israeli’s new government seeks to stabilize itself. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Biden at the White House on August 30, as Ukraine looks for international support in the face of aggression from Russia. The White House described the visit as a step to “affirm the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea, our close cooperation on energy security, and our backing for President Zelensky’s efforts to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda based on our shared democratic values.” Brett Samuels reports for The Hill.

Independent U.N. rights experts have warned that hundreds of Venezuelan cancer patients could die because they have been caught up in the excessively strict application of U.S. sanctions aimed at Venezuela and the state-owned oil company, Petroleum of Venezuela. The rights experts say that third countries, regional groupings, banks and private companies have been overly cautious in dealings with Venezuela, which has meant that “the lives of Venezuelan transplant patients who are stranded in foreign countries, as well as those waiting to travel abroad for live-saving operations are under threat.” UN News Centre reports.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has selected CIA Director William Burns, a veteran officer who was instrumental in the successful hunt for Osama bin Laden, to head the CIA’s task force on the Havana syndrome, the unexplained health incidents suffered by U.S. spies and diplomats around the world, officials familiar with the matter have said. The selection of Burns “is part of what the officials described as a quickening effort to determine the source of the apparent attacks, which has proven elusive,” Warren P. Strobel reports for the Wall Street Journal.

NSO Group

The French Government has said that investigations are underway following reports of the potential use of Pegasus, the spyware tool sold by Israeli surveillance giant NSO Group. The investigations follow reports that the phone numbers for French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders, as well as for activists and journalists, were found on a list that included some people targeted by government clients of NSO Group. French Prime Minister Jean Castex said the French government had ordered a number of investigations into the reports. Drew Harwell and Michael Birnbaum report for the Washington Post.

Macron is to hold a special cabinet meeting today to discuss investigations into the Pegasus spyware case, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal has said. Attal said progress was being made in the investigation and that Macron “is monitoring the case very closely.” Reuters reporting.

Morocco’s government has denied reports that Morocco’s security forces may have used the Pegasus spyware to target the French president and other French officials and public figures. The Moroccan government issued a statement saying that “the Kingdom of Morocco strongly condemns the persistent false, massive and malicious media campaign,” and that the government “rejects these false and unfounded allegations, and challenges their peddlers … to provide any tangible and material evidence in support of their surreal stories.” Yesterday, Morocco’s public prosecutor’s office ordered an investigation into the allegations. AP reports.

The founders of NSO Group have defended the Pegasus spyware tool, insisting that the Pegasus tool is still for the greater good. The “technology was used to handle literally the worst this planet has to offer. Somebody has to do the dirty work,” co-founder of NSO Group Omri Lavie has said. Elizabeth Dwoskin and Shira Rubin report for the Washington Post.

Cybersecurity

Lawmakers and experts yesterday warned of significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the U.S.’s critical water sector. Sen. Angus King (I-ME), the co-chairman of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission expressed his concerns about water’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities when testifying to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during a hearing on cybersecurity vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

South African state-owned logistics firm Transnet has been hit by a suspected cyber attack, impacting some operations at its largest port in Durban, sources with direct knowledge have told Reuters. Transnet did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters report.

Saudi Aramco, the world’s most-valuable oil producer, has confirmed that some company data files were leaked after hackers reportedly demanded a $50 million ransom. “Aramco recently became aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors,” the company said yesterday in an email. “We confirm that the release of data was not due to a breach of our systems, has no impact on our operations, and the company continues to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture.” David Wethe reports for Bloomberg.

Afghanistan

The Taliban has “strategic momentum” and controls about half of the district centers in Afghanistan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said yesterday. Milley however expressed confidence in the ability of Afghan forces to fend off a Taliban takeover of the country, saying that “the two most important combat multipliers, actually, is will and leadership,” and that he did not think that “the end game is yet written.” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

The U.S. is scrambling to move translators from Afghanistan and is leaving many in limbo. State Department officials confirmed yesterday that an additional 4,000 Afghans who worked with U.S. forces had been approved to relocate to the U.S. with their families. However, “officials added that evacuations were only taking place out of Kabul, the capitol, and any eligible Afghans in remote areas were on their own in figuring out how to make the difficult, and likely dangerous, journey if they wanted to take advantage of the offer,” Jennifer Steinhauer reports for the New York Times.

Tajikistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, has held its largest ever military exercise today, involving the nation’s entire army as Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon urged vigilance amid fighting in Afghanistan. Tajikistan mobilized 130,000 men from its military reserve in addition to 100,000 active servicemen for the three-hour exercise on Thursday, Rakhmon said at a military parade. “Due to the unstable situation in the region I once again remind the people of Tajikistan that we must be ready to protect the peace and stability that have been achieved at a high price,” Rakhmon said in a speech broadcasted by state television. Reuters reporting.

Cuba

Cuba has criticized the U.S. and Biden and has accused the U.S. of seeking to justify a military intervention in Cuba, in relation to a series of statements from senior U.S. officials after the unprecedent protests in Cuba last week. Johana Tablada, deputy director for U.S. affairs at Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Associated Press that the U.S. is creating “a Walt Disney narrative of a bad government and people fighting for their freedom — stereotypes that scare anyone who has never set foot in Cuba, because of their arrogance and disregard for the truth.” “They are very interested in fabricating an alternative reality because the riots of July 11 weren’t enough to justify the war that is being waged on us,” she added. Andrea Rodriguez reports for AP.

A group of more than 140 Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), is calling on the U.S., governments of Central and South America and the E.U. to hold an international criminal tribunal to investigate alleged human rights abuses by the Cuban government. The demand was included in a letter sent to the Organization of American States, the E.U. and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Celine Castronuovo reports for The Hill.

Haiti

Rival Haitian politicians, business leaders and interest groups are turning to lobbyists and consultants in Washington in the hope of winning U.S. backing during the power struggle in Haiti. A group text chat and other documents show how Haitian officials, political figures and American lobbyists are strategizing and working with allied politicians to position successors in the wake of the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. Kenneth P. Vogel and Natalie Kitroeff report for the New York Times.

Violence has flared up in northern Haiti ahead of Moïse’s funeral scheduled for tomorrow. Protests near the hometown of Moïse, where events to honor Moïse are scheduled to start today, grew violent yesterday and hundreds of workers were forced to flee businesses. DÁnica Coto reports for AP.

Moïse regularly clashed with some business magnates who he called powerful oligarchs prior to his assassination. The strategy of accusing the oligarchs of contributing to Haiti’s poverty “fueled resentment among some in the business elite against Mr. Moïse, who became increasingly isolated and turned more autocratic, including against rivals in the business world as Haiti’s political and economic crises worsened, according to political analysts, Haitian rights activists and U.S. lawmakers,” Ryan Dube, José de Córdoba and Kejal Vyas report for the Wall Street Journal.

Global Developments

Cyprus has appealed to the U.N. Security Council over plans by the Turkish Cypriot authorities to partially reopen the abandoned city of Varosha, which has been a fenced off military zone since Greek Cypriots fled the advance of Turkish troops in August 1974 and has previously been touted to be returned to rival Greek Cypriots in the event of a Cyprus peace settlement. “This is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and will have a negative impact on efforts underway to restart talks,” Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said. Turkey has however remained defiant in the face of criticism, including from the U.S. and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Reuters reporting.

A U.K.-drafted U.N. Security Council statement which calls on Turkey and breakaway Turkish Cypriots to reverse the decision to reopen residential section of Varosha, was expected to be considered by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council last night and could be approved today if there were no objections. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP.

A top Indian newspaper has been raided by Indian tax authorities after months of critical coverage of the Indian government response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Journalists and the political opposition have denounced the raid as retaliation for the outlet’s criticism of the government. “The Dainik Bhaskar Group, whose Hindi-language broadsheet boasts a combined circulation of more than 4 million, was raided simultaneously in at least four locations, including at its headquarters in Madhya Pradesh state,” Gerry Shih and Niha Masih report for the Washington Post.

Syria’s air defenses intercepted an Israeli attack on the al Qusair area in Homs early today, Syrian state media has reported. A Syrian military source said that there were no casualties from the raid but some material damage. The Israeli military refused to comment. Reuters reports.

DDSR 21.7.21 Wednesday Is Shit News Too

US

Politics

Republicans on Wednesday are expected to defeat a motion filed by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, arguing the legislation needs more work before it’s ready for action.  Democrats are suspicious that GOP colleagues are running out the clock and want to put pressure on them to speed up work on a bipartisan infrastructure framework. A group of centrist Republicans in the bipartisan negotiating group called on Schumer Tuesday to postpone the vote to begin consideration of their legislation until Monday, at which point they say there would be enough Republican support to take up the bill, which is estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over eight years or $973 billion over five. Read the full story here.

Axios: “Senate Democrats are weighing a Plan B if the bipartisan infrastructure negotiations fail: adding the nearly $600 billion in spending Republicans have already accepted to the $3.5-trillion plan they want to enact alone — a $4.1 trillion overall price tag.”

The Hill: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) leads charge ahead of key House vote on “forever chemicals.”

The Transportation Department has an Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday will be busy in the years ahead. “Everybody understands it will be a while before we’re at the level of commercial air travel where you should have 100 percent expectation of safety onboard,” he said. “But whatever risks those early travelers decide they’re going to take on, we have got to make sure there is no risk to people on the ground and in the airspace.” Buttigieg said he would like to make the trip into space himself. “I would go up in a heartbeat. I think it’s such exciting stuff,” the 39-year-old former presidential candidate told the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. (The Associated Press). 

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge defended her department against criticism on Tuesday from House Republicans who question the slow pace of federal distribution of rental assistance to tenants and landlords just two weeks ahead of the end of a ban on evictions, reports The Hill’s Sylvan Lane. Congress approved $46 billion in rental aid to be disbursed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury Department, but only $1.5 billion made it to tenants, landlords and utility companies as of May, according to data released by the Treasury Department last week.

With Democrats in control in Washington and a potential for more major legislation, the top lobbying firms raked in record revenues in the second quarter of 2021. Lobbyists expect the lobbying boom to continue this fall as Democrats explore legislation to overhaul sections of the health care and tech industries (The Hill).

CBS posted a story Tuesday night reporting that Harris has been in touch with Republican senators about voting rights legislation, which the VP has been tasked with handling for Biden. “I have spoken to Republican senators — both elected Republicans and Republican leaders,” Harris told the outlet. “I’ve talked with [Sen. LISA] MURKOWSKI about this issue,” Harris said.

 “An appeals court tosses a G.O.P. lawsuit against Pelosi over House proxy voting,” NYT.

“3 GOP House members lose appeals over $500 mask fines,” by AP’s Meg Kinnard: “On Tuesday, the U.S. House Ethics Committee released statements noting that U.S. Reps. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE of Georgia, THOMAS MASSIE of Kentucky and RALPH NORMAN of South Carolina had failed in their appeals of $500 fines issued in May.”

Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) yesterday introduced the National Security Powers Act, which aims to increase Congress’s control of war authorizations, arms exports and national emergencies. The bill “would add requirements for presidential authorization of military action, require the president to end hostilities if they are not approved by Congress within 20 days and cut off funding if the president does not receive authorization. Congress would also have to approve certain weapons sales to foreign entities, and allow controversial items to be removed from proposed sales. Under the measure, Congress would also have to approve national emergencies and renew emergencies after certain time frames,” Lexi Lonas reports for The Hill.

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), yesterday voted to add Gillibrand’s proposal to overhaul military justice as an amendment to its portion of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Gillibrand’s proposal would remove the decision to prosecute sexual assault and most major crimes from the military chain of command and give it to an independent prosecutor. “The amendment must still survive the full committee’s consideration of the NDAA, which is scheduled to start Wednesday, as well as Senate floor votes and negotiations with the House, before becoming law,” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is leading a group of Democratic lawmakers calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia, as instances of anti-Muslim hate crimes continue to rise worldwide. The group has sent a letter to Blinken making “the case for why the United States needs to play a heightened role in monitoring Islamophobic incidents around the world. The group also calls on Blinken to include state sponsored Islamophobic violence in next year’s annual human rights reports,” Annie Grayer reports for CNN.

Trump Crimes

Federal officials arrested Thomas Barrack, chairman of Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, on charges of failing to register as a foreign lobbyist and obstruction.

Celebrating Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl victory at the White House, Tom Brady took a jab at Trump, joking: “I think about 40 percent of the people still don’t think we won.”

Pelosi on Tuesday said that she has not yet accepted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) selections of lawmakers to serve on the select committee that will investigate the U.S. Capitol attacks this year. “I’m reviewing that,” Pelosi said, adding later in the day that how lawmakers voted on confirming the results of the election would not preclude any of McCarthy’s choices from serving on the panel. There of the five selected — Reps. Jim Banks (Ind.), Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Troy Nehls (Texas) — all voted against certifying the election results from Pennsylvania and Arizona. “I’m considering his proposals,” Pelosi told reporters later in the day. “But to be clear, how people voted on the president — affirming the election of Joe Biden — is not a criterion for service. That doesn’t matter” (The Hill).

“Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: ‘Nothing is off limits,’” by The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell

The Hill: Lawmakers spend more on personal security in wake of insurrection.

“Pentagon watchdog to review ‘nuclear football’ safety procedures after January 6 incident,” by CNN’s Barbara Starr and Ellie Kaufman: “The Department of Defense inspector general is launching a review of the Pentagon’s and White House’s ability to keep the ‘nuclear football’ secure during a crisis, following an incident on January 6 when rioters came within 100 feet of the backup ‘football.’

“Trump: Liz Cheney opponents to meet with him pre-endorsement,” by AP’s Mead Gruver: “Trump will meet with them in Bedminster, New Jersey, home of the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, where he has moved for the summer. He didn’t specify who would be there.

A special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was arrested yesterday on felony charges related to his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 attack. Court records unsealed yesterday contain photographs of Mark Ibrahim displaying his DEA badge and government-issued firearm, posing on a statue and walking on restricted grounds shortly after the barricades were breached. He has not been accused of entering the Capitol. John Kruzel reports for The Hill.

A Tampa man pleaded guilty yesterday to joining a “stack formation” of Oath Keepers members and associates who allegedly breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, “becoming the latest to cooperate with prosecutors and the first among the formation to specify that he intended to hinder Congress that day using intimidation and coercion,” Spencer S. Hsu reports for the Washington Post.

US Developments

Jeff Bezos briefly flew to space. Afterward, he drew criticism for saying that Amazon employees and customers “paid for all of this.”

Americans’ medical debtis much bigger than was known and is increasingly concentrated in states that have not expanded Medicaid.

As many as 200 Americans have come forward to describe possible symptoms of directed energy attacks, part of a wave of fresh reports that includes newly identified incidents around the world, officials say. A U.S. official with knowledge of new potential cases of so-called Havana syndrome, which some believe could be the result of mysterious energy-emitting devices, said a steady drumbeat of cables has been coming in from overseas posts reporting new incidents — often multiple times a week. Officials with direct knowledge said there are now possible cases on every continent except Antarctica. In the past year, officials said, more than one American in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan has experienced symptoms, including a baby. Almost half of the possible cases involve CIA officers or their relatives, two officials said, while about 60 involve Defense Department employees or relatives, and around 50 were linked to the State Department (NBC News).

Virus/Climate

Smoke from wildfires in the West cast a haze over New York City. This map shows how. The milky, hazy white skies over parts of the East Coast are the result of massive wildfires in the West, including the largest fire burning in the country. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 606 square miles, half the size of Rhode Island, and other summer infernos are ablaze in California and Montana. The columns of smoke and ash are six miles high in some areas (The Associated Press).

Droughts made water so scarce in Oakley, Utah, that officials have restricted the construction of new homes.

Severe flooding in central China has killed at least 12 people inside a subway in the city of Zhengzhou.

A California couple are facing manslaughter charges over a wildfire last year that started at a gender reveal party.

The coronavirus has infected over 34.10 million and has now killed over 609,500 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been close to 191.50 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.10 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

The delta variant is everywhere in the United States and is now responsible for at least 83 percent of all genetically sequenced U.S. infections. As masks again appeared on the House floor and lawmakers thought twice about confabs in clusters, the Capitol physician on Tuesday noted that vaccinated people “may consider additional protective actions,” such as face coverings, while noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not changed its voluntary mask guidance and “does not generally require vaccinated individuals to wear a mask indoors at this time.”

A White House aide and a Pelosi aide, both fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an event together off-campus, Axios reported on Tuesday.

CNN: White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed there have been prior breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among vaccinated White House staff.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who early in the pandemic contracted COVID-19 and has not been vaccinated, clashed with Anthony Fauci on Tuesday at a hearing while accusing the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of lying to Congress about the origin of the coronavirus in China. “Sen. Paul, you do not know what you’re talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially,” Fauci responded while denying being untruthful with lawmakers. “You do not know what you’re talking about” (NBC News).

The progressive group Protect our Care today plans to target Paul and others for circulating false and misleading information about COVID-19.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), 55, received his first COVID-19 vaccine dose on Sunday and had it photographed. After telling reporters since April he would get inoculated “soon,” he said he was persuaded this month that the available vaccines are effective (NOLA.com).​

World

US Relations

The Pentagon yesterday confirmed U.S. forces were behind the single air strike on the al-Shabaab militant group near Galkayo in Somalia, the first such strike in the country since President Biden took office. A Pentagon official has said that the strike was authorized under existing authorities to defend U.S. partner forces and no U.S. troops were on the ground. Defense Department spokesperson Cindi King said that “U.S. forces were conducting a remote ‘advise and assist’ mission in support of designated Somali partner forces.” “There were no U.S. forces accompanying Somali forces during this operation,” she added. Harun Maruf and Jeff Seldin report for VOA News.

The U.S. and Germany have reached an agreement allowing the completion of the controversial Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline for natural gas, according to officials from Berlin and Washington. President Biden’s administration will effectively waive Washington’s longstanding opposition to the pipeline, in a change to a long-standing U.S. stance. Germany under the agreement will agree to assist Ukraine in energy-related projects and diplomacy. Bojan Pancevski and Brett Forrest report for the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea have reaffirmed their commitment to work together on North Korea, including North Korea’s denuclearization and other regional threats. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that the alliance between the three countries remains a “lynchpin of peace, security and prosperity.” The talks between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori and South Korea’s Choi Jong-kun however did little to improve the current relationship between Japan and South Korea. Mari Yamaguchi reports for AP.

Sherman also discussed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, along with denuclearization of North Korea, during the meeting with her counterparts from Japan and South Korea, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. Reuters reports.

A Moroccan man held for 19 years without charge at Guantánamo Bay and repatriated on Monday to Morocco has now rejoined his family after questioning by police in Morocco, his lawyer said yesterday. “Upon his arrival on Monday, he was questioned by the National Division of the Judicial Police in Casablanca ‘on suspicion of committing terrorist acts’ before being set free. ‘He is now with his family whom he hadn’t seen in almost two decades,’ Nasser’s Moroccan attorney, Khalil Idrissi, said,” AP reports.

Officials from Biden’s administration have quietly urged their Ukrainian counterparts to withhold criticism of a forthcoming agreement between the U.S. and Germany involving the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to sources familiar with the conversations. Betsy Woodruff Swan, Alexander Ward and Andrew Desiderio report for POLITICO.

The U.S. and Germany have vowed to take action against Russia if it uses the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to harm Ukraine or other Eastern European countries, according to sources familiar with the bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Germany expected today. Andrea Shalal and Simon Lewis report for Reuters.

Biden’s administration appears to be quietly giving up on the establishment of a war crimes court for South Sudan which would hold criminals accountable for atrocities committed against civilians during the country’s devastating 2013 civil war. Despite championing the establishment of the court for several years, “the Biden administration appears to be giving up on the court in the face of South Sudan’s persistent refusal to set up a tribunal that could potentially uncover serious war crimes. In recent weeks, the U.S. State Department has signaled it is planning to reallocate most of the $5 million in funding it had earmarked for the court, sending some back to the U.S. Treasury and another portion to other programs in South Sudan,” Robbie Gramer and Colum Lynch report for Foreign Policy.

Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has said that she has asked U.S. officials to impose further sanctions on Belarus, specifically on companies in Belarus’s potash, oil, wood and steel sectors. Tsikhanouskaya told reporters that the proposed measured would be a “real hit” on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, “to make him change his behavior and to release political prisoners.” The requests were made as Tsikhanouskaya met with State Department officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Monday seeking stronger action against Lukashenko’s government. Reuters reports.

A woman who worked for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has pleaded guilty to removing classified documents from the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines and keeping them at an unauthorized location. The Department of Justice in a press release said that the woman from Honolulu had admitted to removing the U.S. documents relating to national defense or U.S. foreign relation without permission while working at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Joseph Choi reports for The Hill.

The U.S. as barred former Honduras President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and his family from entry into the U.S. due to “significant corruption” allegations, the State Department said in a statement yesterday. Lobo Sosa accepted bribes from his narcotics traffic organization Los Cachiros in exchange for political favors and his wife, Rosa Elena Bonilla Avila, engaged in fraud and “misappropriation of public funds for her personal benefit,” the State Department said. Jordan Williams reports for The Hill.

An Israeli politician and former mayor of Jerusalem is urging Biden’s administration to abandon its plans to reopen the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem for Palestinians. Nik Barkat is currently in Washington, D.C. “meeting with bipartisan lawmakers to promote legislation he introduced last week in Israel that would ban countries from opening new diplomatic missions for Palestinians in Jerusalem,” Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.

Cybersecurity

Hackers working for the Chinese government compromised more than a dozen U.S. pipeline operators nearly a decade ago in 2011, President Biden’s administration revealed yesterday. “The disclosure of previously classified information about the aggressive Chinese hacking campaign, though dated, underscored the severity of foreign cyber threats to the nation’s infrastructure, current and former officials said,” Dustin Volz reports for the Wall Street Journal.

The Transportation Security Administration yesterday issued a second security directive meant to strengthen critical pipelines against cyberattacks. “Under the directive, owners and operators of critical pipelines transporting gasoline or other hazardous liquids are required to take specific security measures to protect against ransomware attacks, develop recovery plans in the event of an attack and review their existing cybersecurity plans,” Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) yesterday announced the launch of a bipartisan investigation into the recent string of ransomware attacks against U.S. companies. The investigation will examine how cryptocurrencies are used in ransomware attacks to exploit victims. “My investigation will help us better understand how cryptocurrency can embolden cybercriminals, and identify possible policy changes that would help disrupt the incentive cryptocurrencies provide for criminal organizations and foreign adversaries to target critical public and private sector systems,” Peters said. Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

The House yesterday approved five bipartisan measures designed to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity in the wake of recent major cyberattacks. “The cyber-related package passed in a 319-105 vote. It included measures to fund cybersecurity at the state and local level, bolster reporting requirements and test critical infrastructure,” Maggie Miller reports The Hill.

Biden has been forced to put cybersecurity at the center of his agenda as a series of disruptive cyberattacks have targeted sectors from food to energy to technology. During Biden’s second Cabinet meeting yesterday since taking office, Biden told reporters that “we’ve been very clear to other nations as to what we expect in terms of their conduct.” Morgan Chalfant and Maggie Miller report for The Hill.

NSO Group – Pegasus

U.S. and E.U. security officials are wary of NSO Group’s links to Israeli intelligence, despite the ability of its spyware technology to help combat terrorists and violent criminals. “In interviews, several current and former officials said they presumed that the company, which was founded by former Israeli intelligence officers, provides at least some information to the government in Jerusalem about who is using its spying products and what information they’re collecting,” Shane Harris and Souad Mekhennet report for the Washington Post.

The list of 50,000 phone numbers of potential targets of Pegasus spyware sold by NSO Group, including fourteen heads of states of government: three sitting presidents, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Iraq’s Barham Salih and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa; three current prime ministers, Pakistan’s Imran Khan, Egypt’s Mostafa Madbouly and Morocco’s Saad-Eddine El Othmani; seven former prime ministers and one king, Morocco’s Mohammed VI. Craig Timberg, Michael Birnbaum, Drew Harwell and Dan Sabbagh report for the Washington Post.

Mexican President Andres Lopez Obrador has decried the alleged spying using the Pegasus spyware sold by NSO Group as “shameful,” following reports from the Guardian “that at least 50 people close to Lopez Obrador, among many others, were potentially targeted by the previous administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto after it purchased Pegasus spying software from Israel-based NSO Group,” Al Jazeera reports.

Afghanistan

The U.S. has “completed more than 95% of the entire withdrawal process” of the U.S. military from Afghanistan. The U.S. has now also “officially handed over seven facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense,” the U.S. Central Command has said in an update statement.

Russia deployed tanks near Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan yesterday as it prepares for military exercises with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan over the next month, according to state media outlet TASS Russian News Agency. T-72 tanks from Russia’s military base in Tajikistan drove roughly 124 miles to the country’s Kharb-Maidon practice range, less than 15 miles from the border with Afghanistan. Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

Russia will reinforce its military base in Tajikistan with 17 infantry fighting vehicles, Interfax news agency has reported, citing the Russian military, amid increasing gains by the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. “The base will receive new BMP-2 vehicles this month, Interfax quoted Alexander Lapin, commander of Russia’s Central Military District, which will ‘significantly boost the combat capacity’ of its units,” Reuters reports.

Haiti

Police in Haiti have arrested three police officers in connection to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Haiti’s police named the three police officers arrested but did not elaborate on the specific role they were suspected of playing in the plot. Dan Bilefsky reports for the New York Times.

Haiti has inaugurated its new Prime Minister Ariel Henry, following the political tussle between Henry and Claude Joseph, Haiti’s interim Prime Minister at the time of the attack on Moïse. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Henry called for unity and stated that one his “priority tasks” would be “reassure the people that [his government] will do everything to restore order and security.” BBC News reports.

Haiti’s elections minister Mathias Pierre has said that the “big fishes” behind the assassination of Moïse still remain at large. Pierre has said that he doubts Christian Emmanuel Sanon and Joseph Felix Badio, the two key suspects named by Haiti’s police, were the main architects of the assassination plot. “We know that there are big fishes out there that wanted the death and are part of the plot to kill the president … There are more powerful people behind this,” the politician said. Pierre admitted the identity of those conspirators remained unknown but said that “we do believe that the president had a lot of enemies – people who didn’t agree with his plan and programs, and certainly with his agenda. And we believe they might be linked to this crime.” Tom Phillips reports for the Guardian.

Myanmar

Myanmar’s military leaders are again seeking to replace Myanmar’s ambassador to the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun, who opposed the military’s Feb. 1 ouster of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and takeover of the government. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres that Tun’s position was “terminated on Feb. 27, 2021, due to abuses of his assigned duty and mandate.” In a separate letter to Guterres, Lwin said that “he has appointed Aung Thurein, who left the military this year after 26 years, as Myanmar’s U.N. ambassador,” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP.

Russia is cooperating closely with Myanmar to supply military hardware, including aircrafts, the Interfax news agency has reported, citing Alexander Mikheev, the head of Russian state arms trader Rosoboronexport. “Speaking on the sidelines of Russia’s annual MAKS air show, which President Vladimir Putin attended on Tuesday, Mikheev said Myanmar is one of Rosoboronexport’s key customers in south east Asia and a key partner of Rostec, Russia’s state aerospace and defense conglomerate,” Reuters reports.

Global Developments

Turkish Cypriot authorities announced yesterday the partial reopening of Varosha for potential resettlement, drawing a strong rebuke from rival Greek Cypriots of orchestrating a land grab by stealth and objection from the U.S., U.K. and E.U.. Varosha is located in a military zone that nobody has been allowed to enter and has been deserted since the 1974 war split the island. Greece’s Foreign Ministry said it condemned the move “in the strongest terms,” and the U.K. said it was “deeply concerned” by the announcement and would be discussing the issue as a matter of urgency with other U.N. Security Council members. E.U. foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell also expressed concern on twitter and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the announcement “provocative” and “unacceptable,” saying that the U.S. “will urge a strong response” from the U.N. Security Council. Michele Kambas reports for Reuters.

Syria’s air defense forces shot down seven out of 8 missiles launched by Israeli warplanes during a raid that targeted the Syrian province of Aleppo, the Russian military said yesterday. One of the missiles damaged the building of a scientific research center in Safira, in the Aleppo Governorate, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, the head of the Russian military’s Reconciliation Center in Syria said. AP reports.

Hong Kong’s police have arrested the former executive editor-in-chief of the now-closed pro-democracy Apple Daily tabloid today, local media have reported. Reuters reporting.

Police in Nigeria have said that they have freed 100 women and children, mainly mothers and nursing infants, who were seized by bandits on June 8 in the Zamfara state. “The Zamfara state government said they were released without any ransom being paid, but gave no further details,” BBC News reports.

The U.K. is to permanently deploy two warships to Asian waters, where China is currently vying with the U.S. and Japan for influence. Reuters reporting.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the “horrific bomb attack targeting civilians” at a busy market in Baghdad, just before the Eid al-Adha holiday. In a statement Guterres called the attack, which killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens of others, “a reminder to us all that the scourge of terrorism knows no bounds.” UN News Centre reports.

Tanzania’s main opposition party’s leader along with ten other party figures have been arrested, the Chadema party said today. The arrests are proof that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is persisting with the authoritarianism of her late predecessor John Magufuli, the Chadema party said in a statement published on its Twitter page. Reuters reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed Russia’s air power as a prototype of a new fighter jet that features stealth capabilities and other advanced characteristics was unveiled yesterday. The prototype is set to make its maiden flight in 2023 and deliveries, including to foreign buyers, could start in 2026. Vladimir Isachenkov  reports for AP.

DDSR: 20.7.21 Tuesday but still shitty Monday feeling

World

Afghanistan

President Biden’s administration plans to evacuate Afghans who helped the U.S. military in Afghanistan and who now face reprisal from the Taliban to Fort Lee, Va., a military base in Virginia, as their visa applications are processed, the State and Defense Departments said yesterday. Nearly 2,500 Afghans interpreters, drivers and others who helped the U.S., as well as their family members will be sent to the base. “This is a group who have completed that step, the security vetting process, the rigorous process that is required before we bring the applicants and their families to the United States,” Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson, told reporters. Eric Schmitt reports for the New York Times.

Rockets have landed near the presidential palace in Kabul, with the Taliban denying responsibility for the attack. The rockets landed outside the palace during the prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and many others calmly continued praying at an outdoor gathering. There were no reports of injuries. Reuters reporting.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called on the U.S. to meet Turkey’s “conditions,” including financial, logistical and diplomatic support, so that Turkey can run and guard Kabul’s international airport after other foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan. Turkey has been in talks with the U.S. for several weeks over its offer to deploy troops to the airport. The Taliban have warned Turkey against guarding the airport, however Erdogan has said that Turkey would nonetheless carry out the mission if the U.S. met its requirements. Reuters reporting.

Russia and Uzbekistan are to hold joint military drills near the Afghan border in Uzbekistan from July 30 to Aug. 10, the Interfax news agency has said, citing Russia’s armed forces. In addition, “on Monday, Russia’s armed forces said Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan would hold military drills 20 km (12 miles) from the Afghanistan border in Tajikistan from Aug. 5-10,” Reuters reports.

China

The U.S., E.U., NATO, U.K. and other world powers yesterday accused the Chinese government of a broad array of malicious cyber activities, including the attack on Microsoft’s email server software earlier this year and condoning other attacks. China’s “pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace is inconsistent with its stated objective of being seen as a responsible leader in the world,” the White House said in a statement. The joint statements, the largest joint condemnation to date of China’s cyber aggression and the first time Washington and other U.S. allies have assigned blame for the Microsoft Exchange hack, however stopped short of punishing China for its alleged actions. John Hudson and Ellen Nakashima report for the Washington Post.

Chinese authorities have criticized the “groundless” claims that it carried out a major cyber attack against Microsoft. The Chinese embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, said in a statement that “the Chinese government is a staunch defender of cyber security,” and that “making accusations without [proof] is malicious.” “The Chinese embassy in Australia echoed these remarks, describing Washington as ‘the world champion of malicious cyber attacks,’”BBC News reports.

The Justice Department has accused three Chinese state security officials of coordinating a vast hacking campaign to steal sensitive and secret information from government entities, universities and corporations around the world. “In an indictment that had been sealed since May, the Justice Department accused officers in a provincial foreign intelligence bureau, the Hainan Province Ministry of State Security, of creating a sham information security company that they used as a front for a sprawling hacking operation,” Katie Brenner reports for the New York Times.

Biden’s administration is debating internally whether and how to sanction China for ransomware attacks the U.S. and its allies say that China is responsible for, as experts question why the U.S. has not gone further in penalizing China for its alleged hack of the Microsoft Exchange Server earlier this year. Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak and Brian Fung, report for CNN.

President Biden has opened a new cyber fight with China and is putting pressure on China, as the U.S. publicly attributes the Microsoft Exchange Server cyberattack to hackers affiliated with Beijing. “We’ve crossed the line on what can be tolerated anymore. China is more aggressive when it comes to espionage,” James Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Hill. “This is to make sure that the Chinese don’t think we forgot about them and they had an open door.” Maggie Miler and Morgan Chalfant report for The Hill.

The Norwegian government yesterday formally attributed a breach of Norwegian parliament email accounts earlier this year to Chinese hackers involved in the exploitation of vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange Server. “This was a very serious incident affecting our most important democratic institution,” Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide said in a statement. “Following a detailed intelligence assessment, it is our view that the vulnerabilities have been exploited by actors operating out of China.” Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

US Relations

The U.S. and Russia have agreed to have their first round of nuclear strategic stability talks on July 28 in Geneva, the Russian Kommersant newspaper has reported. President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at the summit in Geneva last month to commence a bilateral dialogue aimed at laying the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures. Reuters reports.

A U.S. drone attack targeted a truck belonging to Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iran-backed militia group in eastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi militia officials have said. The drone destroyed the vehicle but did not cause any casualties, having first fired a warning short after which the driver jumped out. The officials refused to say what the truck was carrying. Qassim Abdul-Zahra reports for AP.

The U.S. is considering imposing tighter sanctions on Iranian oil sales to China as a way of encouraging Tehran to agree to reviving the 2015 nuclear deal and to raise the costs of Tehran abandoning the stalled negotiations over the deal, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter. “The new steps would take place if nuclear talks fail, the officials said. The plan would involve the aggressive enforcement of current sanctions already banning dealings with Iran’s oil and shipping industry through new designations or legal actions, the officials said,” Benoit Faucon and Ian Talley report for the Wall Street Journal.  

Three Senators, Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Bernie Sanders (VT) will unveil their “National Security Powers Act” today as part of their campaign to clamp down on foreign weapons sales and pare back military action without congressional approval. “The legislation has three parts – one to increase Congress’ control over the authorization of military actions, another to reform the review of major foreign weapons sales and a third to increase Congress’ control over the declaration of ‘national emergencies,’ which can be used to justify weapons sales or military strikes,” Reuters reports.

Biden met Jordan’s King Abdullah II yesterday at the White House to discuss various issues in relation to the Middle East; a sign that the U.S wants to elevate Jordan back to its traditional role as a regional peacemaker following former President Trump. Biden praised Abdullah as a “loyal and decent friend,” adding that “it’s good to have him back in the White House.” Annie Karni reports for the New York Times.

The U.S’s peace envoy to Afghanistan made a brief visit to Pakistan yesterday as relations between Islamabad and Kabul reached a new low, following Afghanistan’s decision to withdraw its ambassadors from Pakistan after a diplomat’s daughter was kidnapped and brutally attacked last week. “The U.S. envoy met with Pakistan’s powerful army chief of staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa but nothing was immediately known of their discussions,” Kathy Gannon reports for AP.

The U.S. is expected to soon announce initial steps as part of Biden’s administration’s review of the U.S.’s policy towards Cuba and in response to the Cuban government’s crackdown on the biggest street protests in Cuba in decades, State Department officials have said. The officials’ comments also signaled that Biden is not ready to soften the U.S. approach and that “the Biden administration is still seeking ways to ease the humanitarian plight of the Cuban people while keeping pressure on the Communist-led government in Havana,” Matt Spetalnick, Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis report for Reuters.

The U.S. and Germany are expected to announce a deal resolving their longstanding dispute over Russia’s $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in the coming days, sources said yesterday. Andrea Shalal reports for Reuters.

NSO Group and Pegasus

An influential network of Washington consultants, lawyers, lobbyists and other prominent personalities have earned money from the Israeli surveillance giant NSO Group and companies linked to it, a review of government and company filings have shown. Though, the company’s attempts to secure U.S. contracts appear to have been unsuccessful. Drew Harwell reports for the Washington Post.

The Pegasus surveillance tool sold by NSO Group infiltrated mobile phone belonging to at least seven people in India, and hundreds of Indian phone numbers appeared on a list of potential surveillance suspects for clients of NSO Group. The Indian numbers on the list include those of journalists, activists, opposition politicians, senior officials, business executives, public health experts, Tibetan exiles and foreign diplomats, and include the numbers for Rahul Gandhi, India’s main opposition leader and Ashok Lavasa, a key election official considered an obstacle to the ruling party. Joanna Slater and Niha Masih report for the Washington Post.

What is known about some of those on the 50,000 phone numbers of people believed to be targeted by clients of NSO Group and who might have been targeted by users of the spyware software Pegasus, is reported on by BBC News.

The U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said that the apparent widespread use of the Pegasus spy software to illegally undermine including journalists and politicians, is “extremely alarming.” In a statement Bachelet also confirmed that the reports confirmed “some of the worst fears” surrounding the potential misuse of such technology. UN News Centre reports.

Pakistan’s government has said that it is probing whether a mobile phone number once used by Prime Minister Imran Khan was part of a surveillance hacking attempt using the Pegasus software, the country’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said. A number used by Khan was among a list of numbers potentially signaled out as using NSO Group’s Pegasus phone infiltration and surveillance software. AL Jazeera reports.

“The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a probe on Tuesday into allegations by investigative news website Mediapart and two of its journalists that they had been spied on by Morocco using the Pegasus spyware at the heart of a global scandal,” Reuters reports.

Haiti

Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner has opened an investigation into Antonio Emmanuel Intriago Valera, the owner of a Miami-based security firm linked to the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. Valera, who was accused by the head of Haiti’s National Police last week of visiting Haiti several times to take part in a plot to kill Moïse, “reportedly hired more than 20 ex-soldiers from Colombia who were later killed or detained by Haitian authorities in the aftermath of the assassination,” Andrew Atterbury and David Kihara report for POLITICO.

Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has agreed to step down and hand power to the designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had been appointed as the next prime minister a little more than a day before Moïse’s assassination. “The country’s elections minister, Mathias Pierre, said on Monday that Mr. Joseph’s resignation forms part of a broad political agreement encouraged by the U.S. and other powers aimed at bringing stability and presidential elections in about four months,” Juan Montes and Ryan Dube report for the Wall Street Journal.

Global Developments

At least 35 people have been killed and more than 60 wounded by a suicide bomber in a crowded market in Baghdad yesterday. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Nasheer news agency said on Telegram. Reuters reports.

Two rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel early this morning, setting off sirens in Israel’s north, the Israeli military have said. One missile was shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system and the other landed in an open area causing no damage. “We remain prepared to defend Israel on all fronts,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a Twitter post on its official account. The New York Times reports.

Israel’s military has said that it sent artillery shells into southern Lebanon early today, after two rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. “Lebanon’s army said Israel fired 12 artillery shells at the Wadi Hammoul area, causing no damage or casualties. The army said its units there had found three launching pads for Grad rockets,” Ilan Ben Zion reports for AP.

Israel carried out an aerial attack in Syria’s northern Aleppo province late yesterday, a Syrian military official has said. The unidentified military official, quoted by a state news agency, said Syrian air defenses shot down most of the missiles in the attack and that the targets are still being identified. “The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor that has activists on the ground in Syria, said the Israeli strikes targeted weapons depots that belong to Iranian-backed militia operating in Aleppo’s Safira region,” AP reports.

Pedro Castillo has been confirmed as the winner of Peru’s presidential elections, after the country’s longest electoral count in 40 years. In his first comments as president-elect, he called for national unity. “I ask for effort and sacrifice in the struggle to make this a just and sovereign country,” he said. The Guardian reports.

US

Trump, The Crimes, and The Big Lie

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has chosen his five Republican nominees for the Democratic party led select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. McCarthy’s choices for the panel are led by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), chair of the Republican Study Committee. The other members include Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Troy Nehls (R-TX). Olivia Beavers and Heather Caygle report for POLITICO.

The first person to be convicted of a felony for their role in the Jan.6 attack has been sentenced to eight months in prison. “Paul Hodgkins, a 38-year-old Floridian, is now the first Capitol rioter convicted of a felony to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty last month to obstructing congressional proceedings – specifically, the counting of the electoral votes, which he helped delay on January 6. He spent about 15 minutes inside the Senate chamber, wearing a Donald Trump shirt and carrying a Trump flag,” Marshall Cohen reports for CNN.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has issued a memo to federal prosecutors sharply limiting their ability to obtain records of reporters’ contacts when investigating government leaks of sensitive information, subject to certain exceptions. In the memo “Garland said the agency’s prior policies hadn’t properly weighed the national interest in protecting journalists from forced disclosure of their sources, saying they needed such protection ‘to apprise the American people of the workings of their government,’” Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha report for the Wall Street Journal.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is declining to prosecute officials from former President Trump’s administration, including former Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross for misrepresentations he made to Congress about the origins of the Trump administration’s failed push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The decision not to prosecute was made in January 2020 by the DOJ under former Attorney General William Barr and was revealed in a letter dated July 15 made public yesterday from the Commerce Department Inspector General, Peggy Gustafson, to Democratic lawmakers. Tierney Sneed reports for CNN.

The Associated Press: A new Capitol Police chief has been chosen in the wake of Jan. 6 riot.

Politics

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators and senior White House officials is struggling to finish work on an infrastructure package that is now set to get its first vote as soon as Wednesday. Read the full story here.

It’s been six months since President Biden took office, and one Cabinet position remains vacant: director of the Office of Management and Budget. Biden’s first choice for the job, Neera Tanden, withdrew from consideration in early March as her path to confirmation seemed to hit a dead end. He has yet to put forward another nominee for the role as the agency gears up to work with congressional Democrats on a sprawling multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill. Read the full story here.

Biden’s nominee for chief nuclear negotiator, Bonnie Jenkins, has not been confirmed by the Senate as the administration approaches a July 28 meeting between U.S. and Russian officials aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear weapons. Nuclear nonproliferation experts are raising the alarm that Jenkins’s appointment needs to be prioritized (The Hill).

US Developments

The White House is considering “all available avenues” to transfer prisoners and close the Guantánamo Bay military base in Cuba, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters yesterday. “Our goal is to close Guantanamo Bay,” Psaki said. “I don’t have a timeline for you. As you know, there’s a process, there are different layers of the process, but that remains our goal and we are considering all available avenues to responsibly transfer detainees and of course close Guantánamo Bay,” she explained. Morgan Chalfant reports for The Hill.

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 34.10 million and has now killed over 609,200 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been close to 191.00 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.09 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

Canada will open its border to fully vaccinated Americans next month.

Stocks in the U.S. and Europe had their worst day in months yesterday as investors worried about the Delta variant.

A leading pediatrics group recommended that everyone older than 2 wear masks in school, regardless of vaccination status. Other experts disagree.

Twitter suspended Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours after she purposely posted misinformation about the virus.

More than two dozen athletes, coaches and officials have tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Fox has quietly implemented its own version of a vaccine passport while its top personalities attack them,” by CNN’s Oliver Darcy: “Fox employees, including those who work at Fox News, received an email, obtained by CNN Business, from the company’s Human Resources department in early June that said Fox had ‘developed a secure, voluntary way for employees to self-attest their vaccination status.’ The system allows for employees to self-report to Fox the dates their shots were administered and which vaccines were used.

Climate

The summer of 2021 appears to be on pace to be the hottest on record. Last month was the hottest June since at least the 1890s (when federal records begin). The temperature reached 116 degrees in Portland, Ore., at one point and 121 in British Columbia, Canada. Climate researchers concluded that those levels of heat would have been “virtually impossible without climate change.”

DDSR 19.7.21 Same Shit Different Monday

US

Guantánamo Bay

President Biden’s administration has today transferred its first detainee out of Guantánamo Bay. Abdul Latif Nasser is being repatriated to Morocco after he was recommended for discharge from the wartime prison starting in 2016 but nevertheless remained there during former President Trump’s years. Carol Rosenberg and Charlie Savage report for the New York Times.

Military prosecutors have asked to be wiped from the record information gleaned from the torture of a detainee now held at Guantánamo Bay. The request is a reversal of the prosecutors’ earlier position that the information could be used in pretrial proceedings against the man. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.

Trump Crimes

A federal judge on Friday denied a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to share grand jury materials from investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack with a contractor who was hired to organize them into a database. The DOJ in a court filing revealed that it planned to pay Deloitte Financial Advisory Services to create a database organizing videos, photos, emails and other evidence federal authorities have acquired in their ongoing probe into the Jan. 6 attack. However, “the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said in a 54-page memorandum opinion that the DOJ was incorrect in arguing that employees of Deloitte contracted to work on the project could be considered ‘government personnel,’ which would grant them access to the grand jury evidence,” Celine Castronuovo reports for The Hill.

National Guard troops’ training and maintenance operations continue to be in danger over a continuing stalemate in Congress on Capitol security funding legislation. “The Guard’s deployment to the Capitol in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection left it with a $521 million bill that, absent new funding from Congress, it has had to pay out of its existing budget. Already, processes are in motion that could lead to those events being canceled as lawmakers struggle to find a way forward on legislation that would reimburse the Guard,” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

Politics

A federal office inside the Commerce Department conducted unauthorized surveillance and investigations into the agency’s employees that targeted people of Chinese and Middle Eastern descent for more than a decade, State Investigators have said in a new report. The report, informed by more than two dozen whistle-blowers and released this week by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), “concluded that the Investigations and Threat Management Service functioned for more than a decade as ‘a rogue, unaccountable police force,’ opening thousands of unauthorized investigations into department employees, often for specious reasons,” Catie Edmondson reports for the New York Times.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has affirmed President Biden’s administration’s policy of letting unaccompanied children enter the U.S., as an exception to the so-called Title 42 order, which allows border officials to quickly expel migrants crossing the border, including asylum-seekers, on the basis of Covid-19. Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.

Democrats are ramping up their sales pitch to voters as they bet big on government spending and lay the groundwork for their 2022 midterm message. They are trying to distill two complex, massive legislative priorities — the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law and a $4.1 trillion infrastructure and social spending package — into a fairly simple message: This wouldn’t be happening without President Biden and Democrats at the helm. Read the full story here.

Republicans are seizing on rising inflation as they attempt to derail President Biden’s economic agenda and take back control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections.GOP lawmakers have highlighted quickly rising prices and strategists believe the issue could resonate deeply with a broad range of voters while congressional Democrats push ahead with plans to spend trillions more. But many economists expect prices to cool off well before voters head to the polls, posing risks for the GOP’s strategy. Read the full story here.

World

Afghanistan

Fifteen diplomatic missions and NATO representatives have issued a joint call urging the Taliban to halt their military offensives. The joint call today followed the Taliban and representatives of the Afghan government failing to agree on a ceasefire at the latest peace talks meeting in Doha. “This Eid al-Adha, the Taliban should lay down their weapons for good and show the world their commitment to the peace process,” the statement said, as well as condemning rights violations, such as efforts to shut schools and media outlets in areas recently captured by the Taliban. Reuters reports.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin offered President Biden the use of Russian military bases in Central Asia for information gathering from Afghanistan, the Russian Kommersant newspaper has reported. Putin apparently made the offer that the two countries coordinate on Afghanistan and put Russia’s bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to “practical use” during the June 16 talks between the two leaders in Geneva. “The newspaper said this could involve the exchange of information obtained using drones but that there had been no concrete response from the U.S. side. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” Alexander Marrow reports for Reuters.

The daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan was abducted in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad on Friday, held for several hours and brutally attacked. There have not yet been any arrests in connect with the assault on Silsila Alikhil, aged 26. The Afghan foreign ministry issued a statement demanding a quick investigation and saying Alikhil was “severely tortured”. Alikhil was released and is now receiving medical care in a hospital. AP reports.

In response to the kidnapping of Alikhil, Afghanistan is withdrawing its senior diplomats from Pakistan, the Afghan foreign ministry announced yesterday. The diplomats will be withdrawn from Afghanistan “until all threats are addressed,” according to the foreign ministry statement. Pakistan’s foreign ministry had initially appeared to confirm the incident against Alikhil in a statement on Saturday, saying that Alikhil had been “assaulted while riding a rented vehicle” and that it was trying to apprehend suspects. However, on Sunday night, Pakistan’s interior minister denied the incident and expressed skepticism toward Alikhil’s account of what happened. Sophia Saifi and Ehsan Popalzai report for CNN.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has described Afghanistan’s decision to withdraw its diplomats from Pakistan as “unfortunate and regrettable” and has urged Afghanistan to reconsider its decision. In the statement released late yesterday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry also said that the incident was being investigated “at the highest level.” Al Jazeera reports.

Delegations from the Afghan government and the Taliban said in a joint statement issued yesterday that they will meet again after two days of inconclusive peace talks in Doha Qatar. The negotiators from both sides said that the two sides remained “committed to continue negotiations at a high level until a settlement is reached,” and that they “will work to provide humanitarian assistance throughout Afghanistan,” as well as planning to expedite peace negotiations. Al Jazeera reports.

The Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzada said on Sunday that he “strenuously favors” a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, as the negotiators from the Taliban and Afghan government met in Doha for another round of peace talks over the weekend. “In spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] strenuously favors a political settlement in the country,” Akhunzada said in a message released ahead of the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. “Every opportunity for the establishment of an Islamic system, peace and security that presents itself will be made use of by the Islamic Emirate,” he added. Al Jazeera reports.

A spokesperson from the Taliban’s political office has disputed claims that the Taliban had offered a three-month ceasefire during the Doha peace talks. Speaking to Al Jazeera TV yesterday, the spokesperson also said “that the meetings with the Afghan government delegation would continue in the future and that the talks were ‘a good opportunity to bring views closer,’” Reuters reports.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said today that the Taliban should “end the occupation of their brothers’ soil.” Speaking to reporters, Erdogan also “played down a warning from the militant group of consequences if Turkish troops remain in Afghanistan to run Kabul airport,” Reuters report.

Cybersecurity

Rights activists, journalists and lawyers around the world have been targeted by authoritarian government using phone malware and hacking software called Pegasus, which was sold by an Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, according to an investigation into a massive data leak. A leaked list of more than 50,000 phone numbers, that is believed to identify people of interest of clients of NSO Group since 2016, though not necessarily whether the device was infiltrated by Pegasus or subject to an attempted hack, was obtained by Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based nonprofit media organization, and Amnesty International who shared access with media partners as part of the Pegasus project, a reporting consortium. “The investigation by the Guardian and 16 other media organizations suggests widespread and continuing abuse of NSO’s hacking spyware, Pegasus, which the company insists is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists,” Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Paul Lewis, David Pegg, Sam Cutler, Nina Lakhani and Michael Safi report for the Guardian.

Israel secretly authorized a group of cyber-surveillance firms, including NSO Group, to work for the government of Saudi Arabia despite international condemnation of the kingdom’s abuse of surveillance software and even after the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, government officials and others familiar with the contracts said. Following Khashoggi’s murder, “NSO Group, canceled its contracts with Saudi Arabia amid accusations that its hacking tools were being misused to abet heinous crimes. But the Israeli government encouraged NSO and two other companies to continue working with Saudi Arabia, and issued a new license for a fourth to do similar work,” Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti report for the New York Times

The Pegasus spyware has been used in Hungary to monitor journalists and others who may challenge Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. More than 300 Hungarian phone numbers — connected to journalists, lawyers, business titans and activists, among others — appeared on the leaked list of numbers selected for surveillance by clients of NSO Group. “The records do not indicate how many of those numbers were targeted or successfully compromised. But forensic examination of six Hungarian phones associated with numbers on the list found that three had been infected with Pegasus spyware, a tool marketed to governments by NSO. Two other phones showed signs of attempted targeting with Pegasus,” Michael Birnbaum, Andras Petho and Jean-Baptiste Chastand report for the Washington Post.

The head of NSO Group has pledged to investigate potential spyware abuse and cases of human-rights abuse following the revelations of the Pegasus Project investigation. Shalev Hulio, NSO Group’s chief executive and co-founder, has said that some of reported allegations were “disturbing,” including the surveillance of journalists, however he continued to dispute that a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers accessed during the investigation had any relevance to NSO Group. Drew Harwell and Craig Timberg report for the Washington Post.

Using spyware against journalists would be “completely unacceptable” the head of the E.U. Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said, following reports that NSO Group’s spyware was used to hack the smartphones of journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world. Reuters reports.

US Relations

President Biden is to host Jordan’s King Abdullah II today for a broad array of talks on the Middle East. Abdullah will also have a working breakfast with Vice President Harris and will meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department tomorrow. Steve Holland reports for Reuters.

The head of the United States Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, on Friday met with Abdullah in Tampa. “The leaders discussed shared challenges originating in the Middle East – from combating extremism to improving border security – and agreed to explore creative ways to expand bilateral coordination between the two nations,” the Central Command Statement said.

A spokesperson for the State Department has criticized Iran in response to claims from Iran that the U.S. and the U.K. are linking a humanitarian prisoners’ exchange with talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, in a tweet on Saturday, accused the U.S. and U.K. governments of holding a proposed prisoner swap “hostage” over negotiations for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. However State Department spokesperson Ned Price called the allegations an “outrageous effort to deflect blame for the current impasse on a potential mutual return to compliance with the [2015 nuclear deal],” as well as denying that a deal for a prisoner swap was on the table and saying that the U.S. is willing to continue talks regarding prisoners. Mychael Schnell reports for The Hill.

In response to the State Department’s criticisms of Iran, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson yesterday insisted that a prisoner exchange deal had been agreed with the U.S. “‘Outrageous’ = the U.S. denying simple fact that there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees. Even on how to announce it,” the spokesperson said in a tweet. “Humanitarian swap was agreed with U.S. & U.K. in Vienna-separate from [the 2015 nuclear deal] on release of 10 prisoners on all sides. Iran is ready to proceed TODAY,” he added. Parisa Hafezi reports for Reuters.

There have been about two dozen reports of mysterious health incidents, similar to the “Havana syndrome” reported among U.S. diplomats, among intelligence officials and other government personnel in Vienna since the beginning of this year, according to sources. “A handful of the impacted personnel have had to be medevacked from Vienna and are now receiving medical assistance in the U.S., the sources said,” Kylie Atwood reports for CNN.

The U.S. is investigating the reported cases of “Havana syndrome” in Austria. The State Department announced on Friday that the series of cases among the U.S. embassy community in Vienna will be investigated by multiple U.S. agencies. “In coordination with our partners across the U.S. government, we are vigorously investigating reports of possible unexplained health incidents among the U.S. Embassy Vienna community,” the State Department said in their announcement of the investigation. Lexi Lonas reports for The Hill.

Biden is to host Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House on July 26. “The visit will highlight the strategic partnership between the two countries and advance bilateral cooperation under a 2008 agreement that governed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said,” Reuters report

The head of the U.K. Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston, has said that the U.K. is “very interested” in hosting a U.S. Space Force radar station. Wigston is currently in the U.S. to discuss a U.S. Space Force plan to develop a global monitoring system to track objects up to 22,000 miles from Earth and that could establish radar stations in the U.S, U.K. and Australia. Matta Busby reports for the Guardian.

China and Hong Kong

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Friday against seven Chinese officials in relation to Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, in the U.S.’s “latest effort to hold China accountable for what it calls an erosion of rule of law in the former British colony,” Michael Martina and David Brunnstrom report for Reuters.

A Chinese official in Hong Kong has said the latest U.S. sanctions and the updated business advisory warning U.S. companies of the risks of operating in Hong Kong are “extremely rude” and “extremely unreasonable” bullying acts with “despicable intention.” Clare Jim reports for Reuters.

The U.S. will have to work with China, as well as U.S. regional allies of South Korea and Japan, if it wants to make progress on North Korea, a senior State Department official said on Friday. The comments were made ahead of Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s visit to Japan, South Korea and Mongolia this week. Daphne Psaledakis reports for Reuters.

Haiti

A group of international diplomats have urged Haiti’s designated Prime Minister Ariel Henry to form a government, as the political uncertainty in Haiti continues following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The group, composed of ambassadors from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Spain, the United States, France, the European Union and representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of American States, called for the creation of “a consensual and inclusive government” in Haiti and strongly encouraged Henry “to continue the mission entrusted to him to form such a government.” “Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has been leading the country with the backing of police and the military despite the fact that Moïse had announced his replacement a day before the president was killed. Joseph and his allies argue that the designated successor, Henry, was never sworn in, though he pledged to work with him and with Joseph Lambert, the head of Haiti’s inactive Senate,” Al Jazeera report.

A former Haitian justice ministry official, Joseph Felix Badio, may have ordered Moïse’s assassination, a Colombian police chief said on Friday, citing a preliminary investigation by Haitian and Colombian authorities, alongside Interpol into the assassination. General Jorge Vargas said in an audio message sent to news outlets by the police that the investigation had revealed that Badio appeared to have given an order for the assassination three days before the attack. Reuters reporting.

A group of more than 200 current and former Haitian American elected officials have reached out to President Biden’s administration in a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and have requested an “urgent” meeting to discuss U.S. policy toward Haiti in the wake of the assassination. The group in the letter said they are “weary and frustrated” over the lack of engagement from the Biden administration on the U.S.’s approach to Haiti, amid the country’s political turmoil, ongoing gang violence and struggle against Covid-19. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.

At least four top Haitian security officials responsible for presidential protection have been banned from leaving Haiti amid the investigation into the assassination of Moïse, Haitian prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude said on Friday. “In a letter addressed to Joseph Cianciulli, the country’s director of immigration and emigration, Claude issued a ban, affecting officials under investigation, on ‘leaving the national territory by air, sea and land’ due to ‘serious suspicion of assassination of the President of the Republic,’” Widlore Merancourt and Sammy Westfall report for the Washington Post.

Global Developments

Forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have released around 1,000 captured government soldiers, the leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Debretsion Gebremichael, has said. “More than 5,000 [soldiers] are still with us, and we will keep the senior officers who will face trial,” Gebremichael added. Giulia Paravicini and George Obulutsa report for Reuters.

Ethiopia’s Tigray forces have mounted attacks in the neighboring region of Afar, a spokesperson for Afar said today. The alleged attacks mark an expansion of the Tigray conflict into a previously untouched area. Dawit Endeshaw reports for Reuters.

Team 29, a Russian rights group linked to Kremlin-critic Alexie Navalny, has closed amid prosecution fears after authorities blocked its website for allegedly publishing content from an “undesirable” organization. “Team 29 – an association of lawyers and journalists specializing in treason and espionage cases and freedom of information issues – said on Sunday that Russian authorities accused it of spreading content from a Czech non-governmental organization that had been declared “undesirable” in Russia,” AP reports.

Algeria has recalled its ambassador to Morocco and has hinted at possible further measures in the latest flare-up in the tensions between the two countries over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The move is linked to comments from the Moroccan envoy to the U.N. who drew Algeria’s Kabylie region into the decades-old row over Western Sahara, by calling for “the right of self-determination for the people living in the Kabylie region.” Reuters reporting.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday that calm has been restored to most places in South Africa and the unrest that ripped through the country last week was stabilizing. Ramaphosa added that the destruction caused by the riots and looting would cost the country billions of rand. Olivia Kumwenda-mtambo and Wendell Roelf report for Reuters

Russia has said it has successfully tested a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which has previously been praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a new generation of missile systems without equal in the world. “The defense ministry said in a statement that the missile had been fired from the Admiral Gorshkov, a warship located in the White Sea, and travelled at around seven times the speed of sound before hitting a ground target on the coastline of the Barents Sea more than 350 km (217 miles) away,” Reuters report.

Syrian President Bashar Assad was sworn in to begin his fourth seven-year term as head of the country on Saturday. Assad’s most recent election in May has been described by his opposition and Western observers as illegitimate and a sham. Albert Aji reports for the Associated Press.

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 34.00 million and has now killed over 609,000 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been close to 190.50 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.08 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

The federal government is increasing the pressure on social media companies to crack down on health misinformation, as President Biden makes a push to encourage reluctant Americans to get Covid-19 vaccines, Rebecca Klar reports for The Hill.

As of this morning, 56 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 48.6 percent is fully vaccinated, according to the Bloomberg News global vaccine tracker.

The Hill: Public health experts believe cases of the rampaging delta variant are undercounted in the United States because testing in the absence of serious illness is rare.

Two Americas — vaccinated and unvaccinated — face uncertainties about rising infections, health risks and mitigation strategies. Los Angeles County (pictured below) and Las Vegas say their respective requirements to wear masks indoors in public spaces are not punishment but prevention. Public health experts are of two minds. They worry that requiring vaccinated people to wear masks could backfire and leave the vaccine holdouts even less inclined to get doses (The Hill). Orange County, Fla., Mayor Jerry Demings, the Democratic spouse of Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who is running for the Senate, also urged unvaccinated and vaccinated residents to wear masks indoors while in public locations (The Hill).

Arkansas leads states suffering through a surge of infections (The New York Times) and Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican and chairman of the National Governors Association, is delivering straight-up advice to get vaccinated to occasionally hostile constituents (The Associated Press).

In Tokyo, the Olympic Village confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 among athletes over the weekend. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said last week there was “zero” risk of athletes passing on the virus to Japanese or other residents of the village. But that bold statement is already being tested (The Associated Press). Tokyo is experiencing Olympic protests, animosity and examples of xenophobia as 11,000 athletes prepare to compete (The Washington Post).

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reversed his position on Sunday and said he would self-isolate after being exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 contracted by U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid. The spread of COVID-19 while Johnson and his government are today lifting coronavirus restrictions is under tremendous scrutiny in Great Britain (Reuters). Johnson previously was hospitalized for COVID-19 and was vaccinated in March. … Doubts cloud England’s “Freedom Day” as restrictions are replaced with recommendations (The Associated Press).

Climate

Flooding in Western Europe killed at least 183 people, with hundreds still missing. “The German language has no words, I think, for the devastation,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Burned-out landscapes and dwindling water supplies are threatening Napa Valley, the heart of America’s wine industry.

Here’s the latest on the extreme heat and wildfires in the West.

The green economy is shaping up to be filled with grueling work schedules, few unions, middling wages and limited benefits, The Times’s Noam Scheiber reports.

In Oregon, where wildfires rage, climate change is being met with skepticism (The Washington Post). In Montana, temperatures exceeded 100 degrees during an especially dry summer and the heat is building this week (WeatherNation).

In parched, scorched California wine country, the effects of climate change threaten to put wineries out of business. Smoke from wildfires miles away can penetrate the skins of grapes and change the crop (The New York Times).

Climate scientists warn the biblical floods that killed at least 188 people in Germany and other parts of Europe (Reuters), are the latest sign of the crises humanity will face in the years ahead while also cautioning that it is too soon to directly blame the July floods on climate change. They argue the science is clear that such disasters from extreme weather events could become more common. German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel (The Hill) and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, called for greater efforts to combat global warming (NBC News).

In Canada, farmers are bracing for another extreme heat wave as crops bake in the fields. The temperature this summer reached a record 115 degrees in one village in British Columbia (The Washington Post).

DDSR: 14.7.21…the McDonalds of shitty news aggregators

US

Politics

File under GOP hate women of any color: Republicans on the campaign trail are zeroing in on Vice President Harris as their political target of choice as the midterm battle draws closer. The attacks against Harris come as Republicans have struggled to define President Biden, who enjoys higher approval ratings than his vice president and who has largely managed to sidestep any major controversies so far. Harris, on the other hand, has drawn intense and persistent criticism over everything from her handling of the surge of migrants from Central America to her recent suggestion that voter ID laws make voting “almost impossible” for people in rural areas. Read the full story here

“We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War,” President Biden said of Republican-passed laws that change election rules.

Democrats agreed on a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint, which could pave the way for an infrastructure bill that would not require Republican support.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, will propose legislation decriminalizing marijuana.

Biden plans to nominate Dr. Rahul Gupta, who led West Virginia’s opioid crisis response and is an ally of Senator Joe Manchin, as the nation’s drug czar.

U.S. prosecutors charged four Iranians with conspiring to kidnap a journalist living in Brooklyn.

It’s not often that the NRCC outraises the DCCC. This morning, though, the NRCC is announcing it raised $45.4 million in Q2 and more than $20 million in June, a record-breaking sum and, more importantly to them, more than the Dems raised. (Last week, the DCCC announced its own record haul of $36.5 million in Q2 and nearly $14.4 million in June.) The numbers come well before the battle for the House kicks into high gear, but signal that the fight is on for Democrats, who already face an uphill battle in keeping the majority.

While Washington focuses on Democrats’ budget agreement, a group of Senate Republicans are heading to the border today in what’s expected to be a sizzling political issue this summer: Biden’s move to lift an order allowing Homeland Security officials to expel immigrants with the coronavirus. Trump instituted the order invoking public health authority in Title 42, arguing that having infected individuals in close proximity to others was bad not only for immigrants but for the nation. Many Dems viewed it as an excuse to crack down on asylum-seekers. Now, even Biden allies are worried about the avalanche of GOP attacks he’ll endure for reversing the order.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has set a new deadline of the end of this month for the bipartisan police reform legislation to pass through Congress. Scott told reporters that “I don’t think we can do this, after this month, if we’re not finished.” “Asked if the Senate needs to have the bipartisan bill pass by the end of the month, Scott said: ‘that’s what I would hope,’” Alayna Treene reports for Axios.

An appeals court has ruled that a 21-year minimum age for handgun purchases is unconstitutional as it violates the Second Amendment. Judge Julius Richardson, who was appointed by Trump, wrote the majority opinion in the ruling, which contended that the protections provided by the Second Amendment should apply “whatever the age,” and that 18 to 20 year olds have Second Amendment rights. Mychael Schnell reports for The Hill.

As the president was preparing to speak in Pennsylvania yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) met in his Capitol office with Texas state Democrats who exited Austin on Monday for Washington in a dramatic quorum-busting blockade of a GOP voting rights bill. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has threatened to arrest the state legislators when they return (The Hill). The Hill: Acknowledging few options at home, Texas Democrats urge congressional action.

Government inflation data released Tuesday was the highest since August 2008, complicating ongoing legislative and economic debates (The Hill). Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers (D), who is persistently and publicly outspoken about the risks of rising inflation and Democrats’ big-ticket agenda, met at the White House Tuesday with the president’s top economic policy adviser and the Council of Economic Advisers chairwoman (The Hill).

The president plans to nominate former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a Trump critic, to serve as ambassador to Turkey (Arizona Republic).

GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin says he will not participate in this month’s anticipated debate with Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, which was going to be moderated by PBS’s Judy Woodruff. Youngkin says he objects to Woodruff because of her $250 donation in 2010 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, an earthquake relief fund supported by former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. McAuliffe, a former governor seeking a second but non consecutive term, has agreed to participate in five debates. Youngkin has said he is willing to do up to three. PBS’s “NewsHour” defended Woodruff, saying the respected anchor has never contributed to a candidate or political party (The Washington Post). 

Trump Crimes

The Trump Justice Department sought the email records of Washington Post reporters, a day before William Barr stepped down as attorney general. Former President Trump’s Justice Department sought the email records of three Washington Post reporters in the final days of William P. Barr’s tenure as attorney general. The request for the email records were aimed at identifying the sources for articles from 2017 about conversations between Trump campaign officials and the Russian ambassador, newly unsealed court documents show. The papers also reveal that Proofpoint Corporation, a firm that supplies data security services, was the recipient of the secret court order. “In addition, the documents indicate the extent to which federal investigators strongly suspected the disclosures of classified information were coming from Congress,” Devlin Barrett and Spencer S. Hsu report for the Washington Post.

A banker has been convicted of bribery for a plot to obtain a job in the Trump administration. Stephen Calk was convicted yesterday for a scheme to arrange $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in exchange for a high-level position in the Trump administration. Chalk used the federally insured bank he ran “as his personal piggybank to try and buy himself prestige and power,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. Tom Winter reports for NBC News.

Trump’s final days in office are documented in three books on Trump’s last year in office: Michael Bender’s “Frankly We Did Win This Election,” and Michael Wolff’s “Landslide,” both went on sale yesterday, with a third book “I Alone Can Fix It” by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker is scheduled to be released next week. The books show that Trump’s final days in office where “even worse than we thought,” Chris Cillizza provides analysis for CNN.

Other US Developments

Consumer prices jumped 5.4 percent in June, the biggest rise since 2008.

A judge blocked New York City’s plan to move 8,000 homeless people out of hotels and into barracks-style shelters.

Major U.S. airlines are experiencing delays and cancellations, despite receiving $54 billion from taxpayers under federal relief legislation to help them retain employees and resume more normal operations this year. Industry executives have blamed poor weather, such as Tropical Storm Elsa (below), and a shortage of pilots, but union leaders say many passenger delays could have been avoided (The Hill).

Virus

Tennessee’s top immunization official suggested some teenagers might be eligible for vaccinations without parental consent. Then she lost her job.

Norwegian Cruise Line sued Florida over the state’s ban on vaccine requirements.

The coronavirus has infected over 33.90 million and has now killed over 607,500 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 187.80 million confirmed coronavirus cases and close to 4.05 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

A Covid-19 outbreak has been confirmed on the U.K. navy’s flagship warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. There have been around 100 cases on the aircraft carrier, which is part way through a world tour. The ship has now entered the Indian Ocean and is due to continue on its voyage to Japan. U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said that “all crew on the deployment had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine and the outbreak was being managed,” Jonathan Beale & Hazel Shearing report for BBC News.

World

Afghanistan

The U.S. has completed “more than 95% of the entire withdrawal process” of troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. Central Command has said in a press release published yesterday.

Taliban fighters have said today that they have taken control of an important Afghan border crossing with Pakistan, the latest trading town that the Taliban have seized. Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry have denied the report and have insisted that they have repelled the Taliban’s attack and are still in control. However, Pakistani authorities have told Al Jazeera that they have sealed their side of the country’s border crossing with Afghanistan at the Chaman-Spin Boldak frontier, and a local administration official said that “the Taliban presence can be seen at Afghan border along with Pakistan in Chaman and no Afghan [government] forces are there at the Afghan border side.” Al Jazeera reports.

An Afghan delegation and representatives from the Taliban are to meet in Doha, Qatar, to restart a long-stalled peace protest, an Afghan official has said. The meeting could happen this Friday and the Taliban is expected to bring their senior leaders to the table, while the Afghan government delegation will include the head of the country’s reconciliation council, the official said. Kathy Gannon reports for AP.

Russia has strongly warned the U.S. against deploying troops in Central Asia after U.S. troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said. Ryabkov said in remarks published yesterday that the warning had been issued by Russia last month during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit with President Biden. “I would emphasize that the redeployment of the American permanent military presence to the countries neighboring Afghanistan is unacceptable,” Ryabkov said. Vladimir Isachenkov reports for AP.

U.S. and Turkish officials have made progress in talks on a plan for Turkish troops to run Kabul’s international airport, Turkey’s defense minister Hulusi Akar has said. The intention is that the Turkish troops’ protection of the airport would enable foreign embassies to remain open in Afghanistan after the U.S. military’s withdrawal. “A framework was drawn and work continues in specified fields,” Akar said in remarks reported by Turkey’s official news agency. “We made quite constructive, quite positive talks. There are other countries that want to help Afghanistan, we are talking to them as well. It is a versatile process.” Jared Malsin and Gordon Lubold report for the Wall Street Journal.

Russia has told the Afghan government to negotiate with the Taliban, accusing the Afghan government of being “hypocritical.” The Kremlin’s most senior Afghanistan official said that the Afghan government needed to start proper negotiations with the Taliban about the country’s future before it was too late. Reuters report.

France has urged all its citizens in Afghanistan to leave immediately amid growing security risks as U.S. troops withdraw and the Taliban make gains. “The French Embassy in Kabul published a message urging ‘the entire French community’ in Afghanistan to leave, citing ‘the evolution of the security situation in the country’ and the ‘short-term prospects’ for Afghanistan,” AP reports.

The U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace has said that the U.K. will work with the Taliban should they come to power. Wallace made the comments in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. “Whatever the government of the day is, provided it adheres to certain international norms, the U.K. government will engage with it,” Wallace is quoted as saying. Reuters reports.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries has called for an end to the violence against civilians and the authorities in Afghanistan. The foreign ministries of the SCO have also urged the Afghan government to strengthen its position for the sake of stability. Reuters reporting.

Iran

Federal prosecutors have charged four Iranian intelligence operatives with plotting to kidnap a U.S. based author and human rights activist who has been critical of the Iranian regime. A fifth individual is accused of providing financial support to the plot. The author was not named in the indictment but Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American author and activist based in New York, told reporters that she was the subject of the plot. A law enforcement official familiar with the case also identified the author as Alinejad. Pete Williams and Jonathan Dienst report for NBC News.

The conspirators also allegedly plotted to lure a person based in the U.K. and three others in Canada to Iran. The conspirators all live in Iran and remain at large. BBC News reports.

U.S. officials also allege that before the kidnapping plot, Tehran attempted to financially induce Alinejad’s relatives, who reside in Iran, to lure her to travel to a third country where it might be easier to abduct her. Her relatives did not accept the offer. The indictment states that the plotters used private investigators to surveil Alinejad’s home in Brooklyn and other members of her household. Rachel Pannett reports for the Washington Post.

Iran has said that it could enrich uranium up to 90% purity, which is weapons grade, if its nuclear reactors needed it. Iranian President Hassan Rouhan made the comments to a cabinet meeting, where he also added that Iran was still seeking the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that would limit its atomic activities in return for a lifting of sanctions. Parisa Hafezi reports for Reuters.

“Indirect but active” talks are being held between the U.S. and Iran on U.S. detainees, the State Department has confirmed. The State Department spokesperson Ned Price added that Washington was treating the talks independently from the nuclear talks to revive the 2015 Nuclear Deal. Reuters reports.

US Relations

The U.S. is slowing its anti-terrorist campaign in Somalia as it weighs national security policies and grapples with former President Trump’s last-minute decision to withdraw roughly 650 U.S. special-operations and other troops from Somalia, where they had been training an elite local commando unit to fight al-Shabaab. “We’re committed to Somalia,” a senior U.S. official has said, however, “what exactly that will look like is still under discussion,” he added. Michael M. Phillips reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Strategic stability talks between the U.S. and Russia are expected to take place next week, the RIA news agency has reported, citing sources in a Russian delegation at talks in Tajikistan. “Russia wants to discuss all types of weapons, including nuclear, non-nuclear, offensive and defensive weapons, that can affect strategic stability and global security, RIA reported,” Reuters reports.

A House panel has voted to repeal the 2001 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations, the latest in a broader push in Congress for presidential war powers to be reined in. “The House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote both amendments from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) to sunset the 2001 authorization for the use of military force after eight months and to immediately repeal the 2002 [authorization],” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

The U.S. and U.K. have condemned the detention of Venezuelan opposition politician Freddy Guevara. Guevara faces charges of terrorism and treason following his arrest on a Caracas highway on Monday. “The United States strongly condemns the unjust detention of 2015 National Assembly representative Freddy Guevara and harassment of interim President Juan Guaido in Venezuela,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters. Reuters reports.

Biden’s administration is taking a softer stance towards the Saudi Arabia leader Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as the administration rolls out the red carpet for Prince bin Salman’s younger brother, the Deputy Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salma. The softer stance is in contrast to Biden’s stance on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Biden’s authorization of the release in February of a damning U.S. intelligence report that pointed the finger of suspicion for the murder at the Saudi Crown Prince. Frank Gardner provides analysis for BBC News.

President Biden’s nominee to be Navy Secretary, Carlos Del Toro, has pledged to be “exclusively focused on the China threat,” if he is confirmed. Del Toro also told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing that the U.S. needed to provide support to Taiwan, saying that “it’s incredibly important to defend Taiwan in every way possible,” “it takes a holistic view of our national commitment to Taiwan. We should be focused on providing Taiwan with as much self-defensive measures as humanly possible,” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

President Biden will nominate Jeff Flake, the former Republican senator from Arizona, to serve as ambassador to Turkey, the White House has announced. Flake was one of the most vocal Republican critics of Trump and his expected nomination will place “a prominent, moderate Republican in line to assume a high-profile diplomatic role,” Zach Montague reports for the New York Times.

China and Hong Kong

The U.S. has warned businesses with supply chains and investments in the Chinese region of Xinjiang run a “high risk” of violating U.S. laws on forced labor. The updated advisory, which has been issued by the State Department and five other federal agencies, calls upon businesses to engage in “heightened due diligence” with respect to dealings in Xinjiang. Zachary Basu reports for Axios.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said in a press statement that the updated advisory notes that the Chinese “government is perpetrating genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” BBC News reports.

Blinken has said that the U.S. rejects China’s “unlawful” maritime claims in the South China Sea and stands with Southeast Asian nations faced with Beijing’s “coercion.” During a video conference with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), the first since President Biden’s administration took office, Blinken also said the United States has “deep concerns” about the situation in Myanmar and urged the ASEAN group to take action to end violence and restore democracy in the country. James Pearson reports for Reuters.

The State Department has said that the U.S. will continue to hold Hong Kong authorities accountable for the erosion of rule of law in the territory. “State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a regular news briefing that risks to the rule of law that were formerly limited to mainland China are now increasingly a concern for Hong Kong,” Reuters reports.

Haiti

U.S. personnel have been sent to protect the U.S. embassy in Haiti amid turmoil following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, officials have said. “The officials said fewer than a dozen people were deployed in the days after Moïse was killed last Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear how many have since returned to the U.S,” Jordan Williams reports for The Hill.

Haiti is seeking five fugitives suspected in the assassination of Moïse. The suspects include a former Haitian senator who is a well-known opponent to the Tet Kale party that Moïse belonged to, a fired government official and an informant for the U.S. government. Haiti’s police have said that the five fugitives are armed and dangerous. DÁnica Coto reports for AP.

Haitians are apprehensive of foreign troops being sent to Haiti as the Haitian government seeks help from U.S. and U.N. troops. The request for assistance from foreign troops by Haiti’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has been met with resistance from civil society groups, as well as retired soldiers in Haiti and ordinary citizens. David Alire Garcia and Andre Paultre report for Reuters.

U.S. intervention in Haiti would be a “disaster,” Jonathan M. Katz provides analysis for Foreign Policy.

Christian Emmanuel Sanon, the arrested American citizen who has been accused by Haitian authorities of orchestrating to the assassination of Haiti’s President to realize his own political ambitions, has continued to insist on his innocence, according to a source close to the investigation. Inside a complex linked to Sanon the Haiti police found implicating evidence, including ammunition, 24 unused shooting targets and a cap labeled “DEA.” However, “Sanon told police that he had no knowledge of the attack on the President and that he hadn’t known the weaponry and other seized materials were in the building, according to the source. He also told police that he was a Christian pastor, and emphasized that the building was neither his home nor his property, the source said,” Caitlin Hu, Etant Dupain and David Shortell report for CNN.

Cuba

One man died during the recent anti-government protests on the outskirts of Havana, the Cuban Interior Ministry has said. “The Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that it ‘mourns the death’ of a 36-year-old man named as Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, who the state news agency said had taken part in the ‘disturbances,’” Al Jazeera reports.

The U.S. State Department yesterday called for calm in Cuba, and said it was concerned by images of violence it had seen over the past few days. “We call for calm and we condemn any violence against those protesting peacefully, and we equally call on the Cuban government to release anyone detained for peaceful protest,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a regular news briefing. Reuters reporting.

Cuban dissidents continue to feel emboldened from the recent protests, despite the Cuban government’s crackdown on protesters, Ernesto Londoño and Frances Robles report for the New York Times.

Demonstrators have blocked a major highway and staged protests in the Miami area in support of the protesters in Cuba. The protesters in the Miami area, which is home to the largest Cuban exile community, sought to replicate the protests of thousands of Cubans on Sunday, “if Cuba is in the street, Miami is too,” many chanted. Reuters reporting.

Cuba has restricted access to social media and messaging platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, to curb the protests, the global internet monitoring firm NetBlocks has said. NetBlocks, based in London, said on its website on Tuesday that the platforms in Cuba were partially disrupted on Monday and Tuesday. “The pattern of restrictions observed in Cuba indicate an ongoing crackdown on messaging platforms used to organize and share news of protests in real-time,” NetBlocks director Alp Toker said. “At the same time, some connectivity is preserved to maintain a semblance of normality,” he added. Al Jazeera reports.

Global Developments

Europe will introduce aggressive legislation to phase out fossil fuels.

A Russian ransomware group blamed for attacks on the U.S. suddenly went offline. It’s unclear who made that happen. REvil, the Russian cyber gang blamed for the global ransomware attacks, including on global meat supplier JBS and IT software company Kaseya, has gone offline and disappeared from the web. As of yesterday, “the group’s public website, the dark-web portal that facilitated its ransom negotiations with victims and the site that victims used to pay those ransoms were offline. In addition to REvil’s websites, ‘all of their infrastructure’ used to control their hacking operations is also dark, said Allan Liska, an intelligence analyst who tracks ransomware for the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. REvil’s public spokesperson, who goes by the pseudonym ‘Unknown,’ ‘hasn’t been active on message boards since last Thursday,’ Liska said,” Eric Geller reports for POLITICO.

The timing of REVil’s disappearance is noteworthy as President Biden has repeatedly insisted that he plans to take action against ransomware hackers, many of whom are believed to reside in Russia. “On Friday, Biden told reporters the U.S. may attack the ‘servers’ used to carry out attacks, but he didn’t give specifics,” Kevin Collier reports for NBC News.

The U.N. is to form a panel to investigate systemic racism in policing against people of African descent. “A panel of three experts in law enforcement and human rights will have a three-year mandate to investigate the root causes and effects of systemic racism in policing, including the legacies of slavery and colonialism, and to make recommendations for change,” Nick Cumming-Bruce reports for the New York Times.

The head of M15, the U.K. security service, is to say in a speech today that the U.K. public is at risk from threats from “hostile states,” which are a form of terrorism. Ken McCallum is to warn the U.K. public that the threats, often linked to Russia and China and which include disruptive cyber-attacks, misinformation, espionage and interference in politics, are “less visible” but “have the potential to affect us all.” It is expected that McCallum will seek to challenge the idea that the activity only affects governments or certain institution, but rather that the threats are affecting U.K. jobs and public services and could even lead to a loss of life. Gordon Corera reports for BBC News.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday hosted a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. The meeting comes amid sanctions imposed on Belarus by the U.S. and other nations over the country’s diversion of a flight to arrest an opposition journalist. “We will deal with terrorism and all that, but the economy is the most important thing,” Lukashenko said, voicing hope that Belarus “will resist that economic blow together with Russia” and adding that the West will not succeed in trying to “monopolize the

The death toll has risen to 72 in South Africa as violence triggered by the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma continues to escalate. Crowds looting and setting alight to shopping centers have clashed with police and the military has been deployed to assist the police. “South African police said in a statement they had identified 12 people suspected of provoking the riots, and that a total of 1,234 people had been arrested,” BBC News reports.

The unrest in South Africa is also disrupting hospitals struggling to cope with a third wave of Covid-19 and has forced the closure of a refinery, as shopping malls and warehouses have also been ransacked or set ablaze in several cities. Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Tanisha Heiberg report for Reuters.

DDSR: 13.7.21…just another Tuesday

US

Politics

Republicans are zeroing in on Loudoun County, Va., ahead of the state’s competitive gubernatorial race as the affluent, Democratic-leaning area finds itself at the center of America’s culture wars. School board meetings in the county, an exurb of Washington, D.C., have garnered national media attention amid the contentious and at times raucous debates over critical race theory and transgender issues in the classroom. Republicans say these concerns will potentially help turn blue areas like Loudoun red in what could be a test case for the power of hot-button cultural issues ahead of next year’s midterms. Read the full story here

Tensions are bubbling up between moderate and progressive House Democrats ahead of a busy end-of-summer legislative session critical to the party’s agenda. Read the full story here

The breakneck pace of US consumer price increases seen since the start of the year accelerated in June, challenging the Federal Reserve’s case that the burst of inflationary pressures accompanying the economic reopening will prove temporary. Read the full story here.

First lady Jill Biden will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony of the 2021 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, the White House said on Tuesday.
The Tokyo Games, which were postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will not have fans. Read the developing report here

Senate Republican leaders have tried to put former President Trump in the rearview mirror, rarely mentioning his name and keeping focused instead on the Democratic agenda, but Trump’s iron grip on the party’s grassroots is making it tougher and tougher to keep ignoring him. Read the full story here

In 17 states, Republican lawmakers have recently enacted laws limiting ballot access, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Texas could become the 18th. Republican officials have justified these new laws by saying that they want to crack down on voter fraud. But voter fraud is not a widespread problem, studies have found. Some of the very few cases have involved Republicans trying to vote more than once. The substance of the laws makes their true intent clear: They are generally meant to help Republicans win more elections.

Texas House Democrats fled the state in private planes on Monday bound for Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., in a dramatic move to try to halt passage of a voting restrictions bill by putting the state legislative session into limbo without a quorum. By leaving Austin, Democrats again denied the GOP majority a quorum barely a month after a walkout thwarted the first push for sweeping new voting restrictions, including outlawing 24-hour polling places, banning ballot drop boxes and empowering partisan poll watchers (The Texas Tribune). The decision by some Lone Star State Democratic lawmakers to hole up in Washington is aimed at ratcheting up pressure in the nation’s capital on Biden and Congress to act on voting at the federal level. Biden is set to deliver a major address on the issue today in Philadelphia (The Associated Press).

According to a Harvard study reported by Foreign Policy, “nearly a third of the U.S. State Department’s diplomats and professional support staff are considering leaving the department and are actively looking for new jobs.” The study argues that the problems at State go beyond the Trump years, “pointing to systemic management problems that will hinder the State Department’s ability to recruit and retain talent.”

Trump Crimes

The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has been removed from top roles in at least 28 Trump Organization subsidiaries. “A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that the Trump Organization took a ‘prudent corporate governance approach’ for the time being to avoid any potential issues in Florida but added that Weisselberg’s overall role with the Trump Organization remains unchanged,” Dareh Gregorian and Hallie Jackson report for NBC News.

The top charge in the prosecution of Weisselberg, a single count of second-degree grand larceny, also carries the most uncertainty according to legal scholars and white-collar defense attorneys. The indictment of grand larceny relates to around $95,000 in federal tax refunds that prosecutors say Weisselberg illegally obtained in annual sums over a period from 2010 to 2018. Although concerning a much smaller amount of money than the other tax related indictments, grand larceny in the second degree is the highest level felony Weisselberg faces and carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. There is also uncertainty as to whether prosecutors will be able to prove it as well as whether the charges are within the limitation period for the offence. Jacob Gershman reports for the Wall Street Journal.

A federal judge in Michigan has pressed Trump-allied lawyers bringing 2020 election fraud claims. U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker called one allegation in the filing, a statement from a witness who swore he saw individuals placing clear plastic bags into a mail truck which could be ballots, as “really fantastical,” and asked detailed and skeptical questions of several pro-Trump lawyers she is considering imposing sanctions against for filing the suit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results. Rosalind S. Helderman reports for the Washington Post.

A rioter in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has pleaded guilty yesterday to a misdemeanor related to the attack. The rioter, Michael Curzio, had previously joined a white supremacist gang while in prison for attempted murder. Curzio was sentenced to six months in jail but will be released tomorrow because he has been in jail since mid-January and will receive credit for time already served. Marshall Cohen reports for CNN

Former President Trump was wrong to suggest on Sunday that the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol was the “head of security” for a “high-ranking” Democratic member of Congress, a senior law enforcement official has said. The officer, who has not yet returned to duty, was not a member of a security detail provided to a specific member of congress, the official said. Tom Winter reports for NBC News.

Government lawyers have said that investigating and prosecuting cases relating to the Jan. 6 attack is requiring a huge effort. Prosecutors said that it is “not only the largest such effort in American history but also presents a huge logistical challenge in sharing evidence with attorneys for the hundreds of defendants who face criminal charges,” Pete Williams reports for NBC News.

US Developments

Defense lawyers are moving to block the force-feeding of a prisoner in Guantánamo Bay. The individual is one of the five men accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11 attacks and is refusing to eat after being placed in isolation. He has been told that as a result he could be force-fed, his lawyers have said in a legal filing that asked the military court to intervene. His lawyers “described the threat of force-feeding as the first of its kind in the long-running death-penalty case, and psychologically traumatizing for their client,” Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.

The U.S. will soon begin sending monthly checks to most American families, worth up to $300 per child.

Another heat wave in the West is fueling dozens of wildfires. The U.S. West suffered through the fourth consecutive day of scorching heat on Monday as wildfires burned in drought-stricken Oregon and electricity grids strained to supply power (Reuters and The Hill).

The E.P.A. has let fracking companies pump chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects into the ground, documents show.

The Federal Aviation Administration late on Monday said it found new manufacturing quality issues in some undelivered 787 Dreamliner aircraft that must be fixed before the planes are delivered. The discovery is likely to create delays (Reuters and Fox Business). 

World

Cuba

President Biden yesterday expressed support for the Cuban people amid rare protests over a lack of freedoms, a worsening economy, hunger and the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden called on Cuban President Miguel Diàz-Canel’s regime to “hear their people and serve their needs.” “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” Biden said in a statement. Betsy Klein reports for CNN.

The Cuban government stepped up its crackdown against demonstrators and activists yesterday, including “cutting off most communications with the outside world, deploying security forces across the country and arresting more than 100 people, many of whose whereabouts remain unknown, activists said,” José de Córdoba and Santiago Pérez report for the Wall Street Journal.

Cuba’s President has blamed the historic protests on “economic asphyxiation” by the U.S. Diàz-Canel has attacked what he calls Washington’s hypocrisy for expressing concern about Cuba when it was fueling the crisis in Cuba with its trade embargo. “Is it not very hypocritical and cynical that you block me… and you want to present yourself as the big savior?” he said. Sarah Marsh and Nelson Acosta reports for Reuters.

Cuba’s President has accused Cuban Americans of using social media to spur on the rare protests, as police patrols are increased on the country’s streets. “We’ve seen how the campaign against Cuba was growing on social media in the past few weeks,’’ Díaz-Canel said Monday in a nationally televised appearance in which his entire Cabinet was present. “That’s the way it’s done: try to create inconformity, dissatisfaction by manipulating emotions and feelings.” Andrea Rodriguez reports for AP.

Dozens of people have been arrested in Cuba after thousands joined the protests against Cuba’s communist government, media and opposition sources have said. Cuba’s President called those protesting “mercenaries” and figures compiled by legal help center Cubalex suggest around 100 people were arrested on Sunday. “Images on social media showed what appeared to be security forces detaining, beating and pepper-spraying some of the protesters,” BBC News reports.

The protests in Cuba have escalated U.S.-Cuba tensions, with U.S. officials expressing their support for the protesters. Rebecca Beitsch, Laura Kelly and Rafael Bernal report for The Hill.

Biden has signaled a tougher tone towards Cuba than he has previously pledged, with a statement praising Cubans’ “clarion call for freedom.” “By siding so starkly with the dissidents, Biden seized on what some Democrats see as an unexpected opening for their party to chart a course correction on Cuba and rebrand its strategy after years of being seen by some voters — particularly in Florida — as too accommodating of the authoritarian regime and perhaps too soft on communism in general,” Sean Sullivan, Karen DeYoung and Felicia Sonmez report for the Washington Post.

Haiti

The U.S. is still reviewing a request from Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph for U.S. troops to go to Haiti to help secure its airport and other infrastructure after the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday. “Psaki said Haiti’s political leadership remains unclear and that it was vital for the country’s leaders to come together to chart a united path forward. ‘It’s still under review,’ she said of Haiti’s request to send troops. Asked if it had been ruled out, Psaki said, No,’” Andre Paultre and Jeff Mason report for Reuters.

President Biden was briefed yesterday morning by the interagency U.S. delegation to Haiti after they returned from Port-au-Prince, Psaki confirmed. The U.S. delegation, which included representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State, and National Security Council, traveled to Haiti Sunday at the Haitian government’s request. Psaki said that the group is now working “to get a better understanding of the request for assistance.” Betsy Klein reports for CNN.

The U.S. delegation to Haiti met with all three politicians who have claimed stakes to lead Haiti’s government, Psaki stated. Reuters reporting.

The DOJ has announced that it is investigating “whether there were any violations of U.S. criminal law in connection with [the assassination].” The announcement comes in a DOJ statement confirming that: “at the request of the Haitian government, the Department of Justice, along with its U.S. government partners, is assisting the Haitian National Police in the investigation of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. An initial assessment has been conducted in Haiti by senior U.S. officials. The department will continue to support the Haitian government in its review of the facts and circumstances surrounding this heinous attack.”

Haiti is on the brink of anarchy amid increasing hunger and gang violence, as the power vacuum in the country continues. Kejal Vyas reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Several of the men involved in the assassination of Haiti’s President previously worked as U.S. law enforcement informants, according to sources briefed on the matter. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has confirmed that at least one of the men previously worked as an informant for the DEA and had reached out to his contacts at the DEA following the assassination. “Other suspects also had U.S. ties, including working as informants for the FBI, the people briefed on the matter said. The FBI said in response to CNN’s reporting that it doesn’t comment on informants, except to say that it uses ‘lawful sources to collect intelligence’ as part of its investigations,” Evan Perez reports for CNN.

President Biden’s administration is having to confront a new and complicated foreign crisis in Haiti, with the political turmoil continuing and Haiti already contending with the “Covid-19 pandemic, the Atlantic hurricane season and a plague of gang violence, all of which have been made worse by the country’s dysfunctional political system. ‘It is a tinderbox really ready to explode,’ said Jenna Ben-Yehuda, president and CEO of the Truman National Security Project,” Morgan Chalfant and Laura Kelly report for The Hill.

Haiti advocates are rejecting the U.S.’s push for elections after the assassination of Moïse. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Haitian leaders “to bring the country together around a more inclusive, peaceful and secure vision and pave the road toward free and fair elections this year.” However, top civil society activists in Haiti and other experts have pushed back on the call for elections, amid the deep political instability in the country. Al Jazeera reports.

US Relations

Iran has said that it is holding talks on prisoner exchanges with the U.S., aimed at securing the release of Iranians held in U.S. jails and other countries over violations of U.S. sanctions. “Because of its humanitarian aims, Iran is ready to exchange all American political prisoners in exchange for the release of all Iranian prisoners who have been detained around the world at the behest of America,” an Iranian government spokesperson told a news conference. Reuters reporting.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-NJ) will be moving ahead with a panel vote to repeal the 1991 and 2002 resolutions authorizing military force against Iraq. However, although both President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) support the repeal, there remains significant opposition within the Senate, including from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). John Bresnahan, Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Max Cohen and Christian Hall report for Punchbowl News AM.

The U.S. has announced visa restrictions on 100 members of Nicaragua’s political and judicial elite who are believed to have aided the regime of Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega. The restrictions are part of a wide-ranging measure meant to crack down on government corruption and human rights abuses. “These visa revocations demonstrate that the United States will promote accountability not only for regime leaders but also for officials who enable the regime’s assaults on democracy and human rights,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have called on President Biden to clarify the specific threats that led to airstrikes conducted against targets in Iraq and Syria last month. The two representatives from opposite sides of the political spectrum penned a letter to Biden together saying the airstrikes “raise major constitutional concerns.” Rafael Bernal reports for The Hill.

Afghanistan

The Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby yesterday said that the Taliban believe that they can win the war in Afghanistan. At a press briefing yesterday, Kirby commented that “it is clear from what they are doing that they have governance designs, certainly, of a national scale.” “It is clear from what they are doing that they believe there is a military solution to the end of this conflict,” he added. Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

A video has emerged of Taliban fighters executing 22 members of an Afghan Special Forces unit as they tried to surrender. The killings took place on June 16 in the town of Dawlat Abad in Faryab province, close to Afghanistan’s border with Turkmenistan. Anna Coren, Sandi Sidhu and Tim Lister report for CNN.

Afghanistan is “stunned by scale and speed of security forces’ collapse,” Emma Graham-Harrison provides analysis for the Guardian.

Afghanistan is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned today, as more Afghans are likely to flee their homes due to escalating violence and as the Taliban gain control of more territory. “A failure to reach a peace agreement in Afghanistan and stem the current violence will lead to further displacement within the country, as well as to neighboring countries and beyond,” the spokesperson for the UNHCR told a Geneva news briefing. The UNHRC has said that “an estimated 270,000 Afghans had been newly displaced inside the country since January, bringing the total population forced from their homes to more than 3.5 million,” Reuters report.

For U.S. diplomats in Kabul it is still business as usual, despite the recent Taliban gains in Afghanistan. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul last week started processing immigration visas for Afghan interpreters and others who could be targeted by the Taliban for working with the U.S., and officials are planning to interview as many as 200 applicants a day. Lara Jakes reports for the New York Times.

Ethiopia

The U.N. rights council has approved today a resolution expressing deep concerns about abuses in the Tigray region and calling for a swift withdrawal of Eritrean troops which it said are “exacerbating the conflict.” The resolution was brought to the U.N. by the E.U. delegation, which was passed in a vote with 20 countries in favor, 14 against and 13 abstentions. Emma Farge reports for Reuters.

The U.S. has condemned “any retaliatory attacks” against civilians in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. State department spokesperson Ned Price said that the U.S. is “gravely concerned” over rising tensions in Tigray and that the U.S. continues to call for a negotiated ceasefire. Secretary of State Blinken also told reporters that the U.S. review into whether to call events in Tigray crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide was ongoing. Daphne Psaledakis and Doyinsola Oladipo report for Reuters.

Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region said yesterday that they are pushing south and have recaptured a town from government forces. The announcement, which could not be independently verified by Reuters as communications in the region are down, underscores the Tigray forces’ determination to continue fighting until the region’s pre-war borders are restored. Dawit Endeshaw and Maggie Fick report for Reuters.

China and Hong Kong

President Biden is expected to warn U.S. companies this week of the increasing risks of operating in Hong Kong as China asserts greater control over the financial hub. These risks include the Chinese government’s ability to gain access to data that foreign companies store in Hong Kong and a new law that allows Beijing to impose sanctions against anyone that enables foreign penalties to be implemented against Chinese groups and officials. Biden is also expected to “impose more sanctions this week in response to Beijing’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and the genocide the U.S. has accused Beijing of committing against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang,” Demetri Sevastopulo and Primrose Riordan report for the Financial Times.

China has said that it opposes U.S. interference in its internal affairs relating to Hong Kong. The statements were made in response to the Financial Times report that Washington will warn U.S. companies of the risks of operating in Hong Kong. Yew Lun Tian report for Reuters.

Japan has warned that growing military tensions around Taiwan and growing economic and technological rivalry between the U.S. and China, could threaten peach and stability in East Asia. The warnings were made in Japan’s annual defense paper, approved by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government today, and marks the first time that the defense report has taken up the issue of stability around Taiwan. Al Jazeera reports.

Global Developments

Protests, violence and looting have continued in South Africa in response to the arrest of Jacob Zuma, as the country’s government deploys the army to quell the unrest. Criminals have ransacked shops, arsonists have burnt trucks along a major motorway, and rioters have blocked roads used by healthcare staff, with vaccination sites, businesses and offices being forced to close. “At least six people have been killed and hundreds have been arrested,” the Economist reports.

Myanmar’s disposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to face four new corruption charges, according to her lawyers. One of Suu Kyi’s lawyers told reporters that there would be a first hearing on the new charges on July 22 in the High Court in Mandalay. She said two of the charges are solely against Suu Kyi, and the other two include additional people, but no other details were given her team. AP reports.

Freddy Guevara, a key Venezuela opposition figure, has been arrested by Venezuelan agents on charges of terrorism and treason. “The left-wing government accuses him of having ties to ‘extremist groups’ and foreign governments. Guevara is a close ally of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who said that he was threatened by armed men as he went to help Guevara,” BBC News reports.

Germany had opened a new space command today, following the lead of other Western countries. The opening of the space command comes “amid growing concerns over Russian and Chinese military advances in outer space and a surge in satellite launches,” Sabine Siebold reports for Reuters.

The E.U. has said yesterday that it hopes to develop the legal framework for sanctions targeting Lebanese leaders, on the first anniversary of the deadly explosion in Beirut. Helen Sullivan reports for the Guardian.

Cybersecurity

Former National Security Agency Deputy Director Chris Inglis was formally sworn in as the first White House national cyber director yesterday. The Senate unanimously approved Inglis’s nomination nearly a month ago. Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

The Senate yesterday unanimously approved Jen Easterly to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity division. Easterly was nominated by President Biden in April to be the second director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and her “confirmation comes at a crucial time for the administration as it works to respond to a flood of recent ransomware and cybersecurity incidents,” Geneva Sands reports for CNN.

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 33.85 million and has now killed close to 607,500 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 187.20 million confirmed coronavirus cases and close to 4.04 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that it is “extremely disappointing” to see countries that have vaccinated most of their population with two doses looking to obtain booster vaccines. There is a “hugely uneven and inequitable” global gap in vaccine supply, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said. “We’re in the midst of a growing two-track pandemic where the haves and have-nots within and between countries are increasingly divergent,” he added. UN News Centre reports.

U.S. officials told Pfizer they needed more data about potential booster shots. Experts say they aren’t necessary right now.

The F.D.A. says Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine can increase the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological condition, though the shot’s benefits still far outweigh the dangers. (Here’s more information.)

As The Hill’s Justine Coleman reports, 41 states and the District of Columbia have documented an increase in average daily cases over the past two weeks. But nine in particular, including seven in the South, have seen cases at least double in that time period (The New York Times). In Los Angeles County alone, officials recorded more than 1,000 new cases for three consecutive days this week for the first time since March. Arkansas also reported more than 1,000 new cases for a third straight day on Friday.

DDSR: 12.7.21 Monday…

World

Haiti

Police in Haiti have said that they have arrested a Florida-based doctor they believe is a key suspect in organizing the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. The Haitian police have said that Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a 63-year-old Haitian national, flew into Haiti on a private jet in early June with “political motives.” Haiti’s police chief Léon Charles said that Sanon’s initial plan had been to arrest Moïse, but “the mission then changed.” “When we, the police, blocked the progress of these bandits after they committed their crime, the first person that one of the assailants called was Christian Emmanuel Sanon,” Charles said. “He contacted two other people that we consider to be the masterminds of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” Charles added without saying who the other two people were. BBC News reports.

Haiti’s interim government has asked the U.S. and the U.N. to deploy troops to protect key infrastructure as it tries to stabilize the country and prepare for elections. “Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s elections minister, defended the government’s request for military assistance, saying in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press that the local police force is weak and lacks resources,” DÁnica Coto and Joshua Goodman report for AP.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that senior FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials would be dispatched to Haiti and that the U.S. would be providing financial resources to Haiti. However, numerous reports confirm that Biden’s administration will not currently be sending any military troops to Haiti. Jordan Williams reports for The Hill.

President Biden’s administration has “no plans to provide U.S. military assistance at this time” to Haiti, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday. A similar request for troops to be deployed was sent to the U.N. political mission in Haiti. A spokesperson for the U.N. Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs confirmed that the letter had been received and it was being examined. Steve Holland and Andre Paultre report for Reuters.

The Pentagon yesterday confirmed that a team of U.S. security and law enforcement experts were traveling to Haiti to determine what assistance the U.S. can provide. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told Fox News that “an inter-agency team largely from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are heading down to Haiti right now to see what we can to do help in the investigative process.” “That’s really where our energies are best applied right now – in helping them get their arms around investigating this incident and figuring out who’s culpable … and how best to hold them accountable,” Kirby added. Reuters reporting.

The crisis and uncertainty in Haiti is worsening, with the power vacuum left by the assassination turning into a power struggle between two prime-ministerial claimants. The powerful leader of an alliance of gangs has also urged his followers to take to the streets in protest of Moïse’s killing, risking an increase to the country’s turmoil. Ishaan Tharoor reports for the Washington Post.

The Haitian police have said that Sanon was acting as a middleman between the alleged hitman and the plot’s unnamed masterminds. The Police have also “said that among the items found by officers at Sanon’s house in Haiti were a hat emblazoned with the logo of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 20 boxes of bullets, gun parts, four vehicle license plates from the Dominican Republic, two cars and correspondence with unidentified people,” the Guardian reports.

Haitian police have said that Sanon planned to assume the presidency of Haiti and hire some of the men in the hit-squad who carried out the assassination as his security team. Widlore Merancourt and Samantha Schmidt report for the Washington Post.

The request from Haiti for the U.S. to send troops to stabilize the country “presents a difficult choice for President Biden: send forces to aid a neighbor even as he is trying to pare down America’s military footprint overseas, or refrain and risk allowing the chaos unfolding there to escalate into a refugee crisis,” Michael Crowley, Michael D. Shear and Eric Schmitt provide analysis for the New York Times.

Afghanistan

The Taliban have surrounded the city of Ghazni, a provincial capital, in central Afghanistan, taking over civilians’ homes to fight security forces, officials have said today. “The situation in Ghazni city is very critical…the Taliban use civilian houses as hideouts and fire upon the ANDSF [Afghan security forces], this makes the situation very difficult for the ANDSF to operate against the Taliban,” a member of Ghazni’s provincial council has said. Reuters reporting.

Afghan security forces with the help of air strikes have repelled yesterday an assault by Taliban fighters on the provincial capital of a key northern province bordering Tajikistan, Afghan officials have said. Reuters reporting.

The top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan is stepping down today, marking a symbolic end to the war in Afghanistan. “Army Gen. Austin ‘Scott’ Miller has commanded the military coalition in Afghanistan since August 2018, longer than any previous commanding general in that position. He turns over command of U.S. Forces Afghanistan to the commander of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie,” Courtney Kube reports for NBC News.

73% of voters support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a poll conducted by Hill/HarrisX poll has found. 31% of voters said they strongly support the move, while 42% said they somewhat support the decision. In contrast, 7% said they strongly oppose the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and 20% somewhat oppose. The Hill reports.

McKenzie, the general who overseas the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, has warned that intelligence gathering in Afghanistan is suffering as U.S. troops withdraw. “My knowledge of what’s going on in Afghanistan is not nearly what it was 180 days ago,” McKenzie said while traveling to Kabul on Sunday. Courtney Kube reports for NBC News.

The Taliban has said that it is targeting Afghan pilots for assassination. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters that the Taliban’s campaign was meant to make sure that Afghan Air Force pilots are “targeted and eliminated because all of them do bombardment against their people.” Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Hamid Shalizi report for Reuters.

The Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) has that he believes Kabul “will hold” against the Taliban’s advances. Reed, who was speaking on NBC News, said that “the question is, can it hold long enough to create a political solution between the sides? What is — what you’ve seen is the encroachment of the Taliban, most of that has been without military action, most of that has been essentially going in and persuading or paying off the local leadership and, and they’ve been preparing for that for many, many months.” Joseph Choi reports for The Hill.iHill.

Reed also defended President Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan saying that Biden “made a difficult, but the best of many poor choices,” in Afghanistan. Caroline Vakil reports for The Hill.

The Pentagon’s top spokesperson John Kirby has acknowledged a “deteriorating security situation on the ground” in Afghanistan. In an interview with CNN, Kirby stated that “the Taliban continues to take district centers,” adding that “we are seeing them continue to advance on district centers around the country, and it is concerning.” Rebecca Kheel reports for The Hill.

China and Hong Kong

China has said that its military today “drove away” a U.S. warship that it says illegally entered Chinese waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Today is the anniversary of the international court ruling that held Beijing had no claim over the South China Sea. “The USS Benfold entered the waters without China’s approval, seriously violating its sovereignty and undermining the stability of the South China Sea, the southern theater command of the People’s Liberation Army said. ‘We urge the United States to immediately stop such provocative actions,’ it said in a statement,” Reuters reporting.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to defending the Philippines’ armed forces from attack in the South China Sea. “Underscoring the U.S. stance, the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold performed a freedom on navigation operation (FONOP) near the Paracel Islands in the northwestern part of the South China Sea on Monday, the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said in a statement,” Jennifer Hansler and Brad Lendon report for CNN.

China has vowed that it will take “necessary measures” in response to the U.S. Commerce Department’s announcement on Friday that it would add further Chinese companies to an economic blacklist over their alleged roles in human rights abuses and supporting military modernization. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement yesterday that it “resolutely opposes” the addition of the Chinese entities to the backlist, which is a “serious breach of international economic and trade rules” and an “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese companies. Reuters reporting.

The leaders of North Korea and China have vowed to strengthen ties between the two countries. Messages of support were exchanged between the two leaders yesterday as they marked the 60th anniversary of their countries’ defense treaty. “In a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it is ‘the fixed stand’ of his government to ‘ceaselessly develop the friendly and cooperative relations’ between the countries, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Xi said in his message that China and North Korea have ‘unswervingly supported each other,’ according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency,” Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP.

The U.S. and 20 other nations have condemned Beijing over its closer of the pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. The statement issued by the 21 governments expresses “strong concerns about the forced closure of the Apple Daily newspaper, and the arrest of its staff by the Hong Kong authorities.” Jordan Williams reports for The Hill.

Cybersecurity

President Biden has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “take action to disrupt criminal hackers based in Russia and has said that the U.S. reserves the right to respond to hackers who launch ransomware attacks from insider Russia. A White House statement on a telephone call between the two leaders states that “Biden underscored the need for Russia to take action to disrupt ransomware groups operating in Russia and emphasized that he is committed to continued engagement on the broader threat posed by ransomware.” “President Biden reiterated that the United States will take any necessary action to defend its people and its critical infrastructure in the face of this continuing challenge,” the statement added. Michael D. Shear reports for the New York Times.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has said that Russian-linked hackers attacked its navy’s website and published a series of fake reports about the ongoing Sea Breeze military drills taking place in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the “entire Kremlin propaganda machine” was involved in the alleged hacking and that the “threats have been eliminated.” Russia’s foreign ministry has not publicly commented on the incident. Celine Castronuovo reports for The Hill.

US Relations

U.S. troops in eastern Syria came under indirect fire attack on Saturday, though initial reports have not indicated any injuries or casualties. A U.S. defense official told Reuters that the attack, the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria in recent days, occurred in Conoco, Syria. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Reuters reports.

A North Korean researcher has dismissed U.S. humanitarian aid as a “sinister political scheme” to put pressure on other countries. The comments follow “suggestions from U.S. allies such as South Korea that coronavirus vaccines or other help could promote cooperation,” Josh Smith reports for Reuters.

Other Global Developments

Thousands of Cubans have joined the biggest protest in the country for decades against Cuba’s government. The protests were in response to the collapse of the country’s economy, food and medicine shortages, the Cuban government’s restrictions on civil liberties and the authorities’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, including demands from protestors for a faster Covid-19 vaccination program. The protesters have marched through cities shouting for the end of the Communist government in the country. BBC News reports.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel has blamed the U.S. for agitating the population and has called on Cuba’s “revolutionary” citizens to take to the streets. “We are prepared to do anything,” he said in a national address, “we will be battling in the streets.” Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, tweeted: “we are deeply concerned by ‘calls to combat’ in Cuba. We stand by the Cuban people’s right for peaceful assembly. We call for calm and condemn any violence.” Anthony Faiola reports for the Washington Post.

Demonstrations have broken out in Miami Florida in solidarity with the Cuban protests. “Thousands of people in the Little Havana neighborhood on Sunday to demonstrate in solidarity with the Cubans,” Mychael Schnell reports for The Hill.

Abiy Ahmed has won a landslide victory in the Ethiopian election, despite drawing international criticism for his handling of the crisis in the Tigray region in Ethiopia. “The National Election Board of Ethiopia announced on Saturday night that the ruling party won 410 seats out of 436 in the federal parliament, which will see some seats remain vacant because no vote was held as a result of unrest or logistical reasons,” AP reports.

Violent protests and looting have erupted in two South African provinces following the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma. Supporters of Zuma have blocked roads and looted shops. “The rioting by Zuma’s supporters began in his home region of KwaZulu-Natal province last week and spread during the weekend to Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city,” Al Jazeera reports.

The South African National Defense Force (SANDF) has said that it will deploy soldiers in the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces to help law enforcement agencies quell the unrest. “The SANDF said in a statement that the duration of the deployment and number of soldiers would depend on the situation on the ground,” Reuters reports.

A Jordanian court has found a royal court chief and a relative of King Abdullah II guilty of sedition and incitement against the monarchy. “Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, who denied the charges, were both sentenced to 15 years in prison,” BBC News reporting.

Awadallah, a U.S. citizen and former top aide to Jordan’s King Abdullah II, has alleged that he was tortured in Jordanian detention and fears for his life, his U.S.-based lawyer said on the eve of the court’s verdict. Along with the mistreatment allegations, the closed-door trial before Jordan’s state security court “has been completely unfair,” his lawyer Michael Sullivan told The Associated Press. Karin Laub and Omar Akour report for AP.

The E.U. has agreed to set up a military training mission in Mozambique to help the government tackle a growing Islamist insurgency and to protect civilians. The formal decision was taken at a meeting in Brussels today, however it is not currently clear which countries will provide the necessary troops. “The mandate of the mission will initially last two years,” the European Council said in a statement. Sabine Siebold and Robin Emmott report for Reuters.

Israel’s Security Cabinet has frozen nearly $200 million in tax transfers to the Palestinians on the basis that the Palestinian Authority transferred the same amount to the families of alleged attackers last year. AP reports.

US

Politics

An emerging proposal from the White House and Senate Democratic leaders to pay for President Biden’s infrastructure agenda is setting the stage for a major battle in Congress that will test the support of moderates concerned about hiking taxes. Read the full story here

Josh Kraushaar, National Journal: New polling shows Democrats alarmed about crime, too.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) would like to tether Republican candidates to Trump’s divisive behavior, and to GOP opposition to proposals for gun safety, expanded health care access and climate change. He’s also intent on raising tens of millions of dollars for Democrats in the second half of this year, and more beyond (The Hill).

The Hill: Gubernatorial candidates who support Trump have launched campaigns in key states ahead of the midterm contests, testing Trump’s influence with voters — and their own.

The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers to determine fate of infrastructure, anti-poverty plans.

On Tuesday, the president will travel to Philadelphia to try to reassure Democrats that he will use his bully pulpit to assail GOP legislative efforts in the states to make it harder for some Americans to vote in the next cycle. The White House, which in June released a list of actions on the issue, says Biden will again outline steps his administration is taking to “protect the sacred constitutional right to vote.” It is unclear how much the White House can do at the federal level after Republicans in Congress recently blocked sweeping efforts by Democrats to pass voting rights legislation (CNN).

On Thursday, the IRS will begin to send monthly payments to U.S. families as part of the expanded child tax credit signed into law as part of the coronavirus relief measure, reports The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda. Parents with an income of less than $150,000 (married and filing jointly) will get a maximum of $300 for each child under the age of 6 and $250 for each child ages 6 to 17 in monthly advance payments through the end of the year. The other half of the money will be a part of filers’ tax refunds in 2022. Families with higher incomes or with older dependents will get smaller payments.

“Global Tax Deal Heads Down Perilous Path in Congress,” by WSJ’s Richard Rubin: “Both pillars present tricky legislative challenges. They likely will move separately through Congress, but the international consensus rests on pairing them and completing both tasks.

“Kristi Noem criticizes GOP governors who enacted Covid-19 mandates while accusing some of rewriting their history,” by CNN’s Maeve Reston: “South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem questioned the grit and instinct of fellow GOP governors who enacted Covid-19 measures like mask mandates and business closures to stop the spread of the virus … The state had 14,090 cases per 100,000 people, ranking South Dakota with the third highest rate in the nation.

Trump and Crimes

President Biden’s administration has pulled back from a claim made under former President Trump that detainees in Guantánamo Bay have no due process rights under the Constitution. In a brief before the full Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Justice Department took no position on the question, which followed an internal debate among Biden’s legal team. According to people familiar with internal deliberations some officials at the Justice Department resisted changing the Trump-era position because that could make it harder to win such cases. However, “other officials contend that it would clash with the Biden administration’s values not to clearly say that detainees have due process rights. Lawyers for the Pentagon and the State Department are said to have pressed to declare that the clause protects detainees in the context of habeas corpus proceedings — while also saying that the standard had been met. And lawyers for intelligence agencies are said to have taken the less forceful position that they would not object to a brief narrowly saying detainees have due process rights in that context, while leaving other contexts — like military commissions and medical issues — unaddressed,” Charlie Savage reports for the New York Times.

The remaining high-security fencing around the U.S. Capitol has been removed six months after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Linda So reporting for Reuters.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) faces a daunting task as he weighs his options for appointing Republicans to a special committee to investigate the Capitol attack of Jan. 6. Read the full story here

Alaska Republican leaders endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a Trumpist challenging the party’s incumbent senator, Lisa Murkowski.

“An American Kingdom,” by WaPo’s Stephanie McCrummen, going long in Fort Worth: “A new and rapidly growing Christian movement is openly political, wants a nation under God’s authority, and is central to Donald Trump’s GOP.”

“GOP voting bills advance in Texas House and Senate after overnight committee hearings,” Texas Tribune: “[A] Texas House committee voted early Sunday morning to advance a revived GOP-backed bill that would bring back many of the proposals that failed to pass in the spring. A panel of Senate lawmakers followed suit later in the day … The votes from the Republican-majority committees put the bills on a path to be voted on by the full chamber this week.

US Developments

The temperature in Death Valley, which reached 130 degrees on Sunday, nearly set a new record. Journalists flocked to bear witness (The New York Times).

Fires raged in several states over the weekend as the heat wave broiled Western regions (Mercury News).

June this year was the hottest it has ever been in North America (AccuWeather).

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 33.85 million and now killed over 607,000 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 186.80 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.03 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

Israel plans to offer boosters of the Pfizer vaccine to adults with weakened immune systems. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. had no plans for booster shots.

Less than 10 percent of U.S. hospitals offer ECMO, an intensive treatment for gravely ill Covid patients.

DDSR: 9.7.21 TGIF

US

Politics

President Biden will sign a sweeping executive order on Friday, aimed at promoting competition in the economy through 72 initiatives cracking down on anti-competitive practices in multiple industries. The order aims to bolster competition and make broadband services affordable, encourage innovation and competition among tech companies, address prescription drug pricing, allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter at drug stores, ban or limit non-compete agreements for workers, and make it easier for people to get refunds from airlines, among other provisions. Read the full story here

IRS controversies from the Obama era and much more recently that have left Republicans even more disillusioned with the nation’s tax collecting army are emerging as a real problem for getting a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal done. The IRS has long been a favorite boogeyman among conservative politicians who love to bash it, and Democrats might see it as a convenient target for GOP lawmakers who in their view do not want to back an infrastructure deal that if passed by Congress would be a significant victory for President Biden. Read the full story here.

Bipartisan enthusiasm in the Senate for a plan to fund roads, bridges, rail, ports, airports and broadband has begun to fall apart among some Republicans over a proposal to rely on bulked-up IRS tax enforcement to bring in revenues that could help defray the overall costs of Biden’s agenda. Democrats are leaning heavily on the idea of adding personnel to the IRS to claw back some of the tax revenues that they say major tax cheats and corporations should be paying by law. The centerpiece infrastructure plan calls for spending $40 billion to potentially put $100 billion in federal coffers. The idea is not sitting well with some Republicans, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

The Hill: Proposed police reform legislation in Congress needs more work, according to 29 civil rights groups. The Washington Post: Representatives of civil rights groups, who met at the White House on Thursday, say they want to see more prominent congressional and executive strategies to combat Republican efforts to change voting laws around the country. Democratic voting legislation has stalled in Congress, as courts have ruled against their efforts, and as the party heads into the 2022 midterm elections facing historical trends that put their tenuous House and Senate majorities at risk.

Republicans are making hay out of rising gas prices as they look to counter economic messaging on the Democratic side ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, reports The Hill’s Max Greenwood. 

The Texas Tribune: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) campaign says it raised $18.7 million in 10 days.

Reid Wilson, The Hill: What’s in the new Texas voting rights overhaul.

The Associated Press: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R): Voters “know what the truth is.”

Trump and Crimes

Five people from Florida have been indicted on charges of assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. According to court documents unsealed this week, “federal prosecutors charged Jonathan Pollock, Joseph Hutchinson III, Joshua Doolin, Michael Perkins and Olivia Pollock with assaulting law enforcement officers, stealing government property, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct,” Joseph Choi reports for The Hill.

Toyota, a major donor to Republicans, says it will stop giving to those who disputed the 2020 presidential vote.

The remaining security fencing visible around the U.S. Capitol, which was installed following riots on Jan. 6, will be removed beginning as soon as today, Capitol Police announced on Wednesday. Dismantlement should take about three days to complete (CNN).

The Associated Press: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) parts with Trump in response to Surfside tragedy.

US Developments

Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from Louisiana, became the first Black American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The winning word: murraya. (Zaila has also set Guinness world records for her basketball skills. Read more about her.)

The F.D.A. narrowed its recommendation of a new Alzheimer’s drug, saying only patients with mild memory loss should receive it.

California is bracing for another heat wave. And across the country, nights are warming faster than days. Here’s why that matters.

State legislatures are moving to ban high school sports teams from adopting mascots that exploit the names and likenesses of Native Americans. Supporters and Native American advocates say the new trend is something positive that has come from the otherwise disastrous Washington Football Team, whose botched name change put a new spotlight on ugly and derogatory mascot names and logos (The Hill).

Seeking to support Maine’s commercial fishing industry, Gov. Janet Mills (D) said she backs a ban on offshore wind projects in state waters. She says she favors wind power projects in federal waters further off Maine’s coast (The Associated Press).  

World

Afghanistan (Graveyard of Empires)

The Taliban have captured a district in western Afghanistan with a key border crossing with Iran, Afghan security officials have said. The Islam Qala border crossing with Iran, located in Herat province, is one of the biggest trade gateways into Iran. Officials said that the gateway had fallen to the Taliban and that Afghan security and customs officials had fled across the border. “All Afghan security forces including the border units are present in the area, and efforts are under way to recapture the site,” Afghan interior ministry spokesperson Tareq Arian has said. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said the crossing was “under our full control.” BBC News reports.

President Biden has forcefully defended the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, despite recent Taliban gains. In his first speech on the issue since announcing the decision to withdraw troops in April, Biden said that hurdles were to be expected but that did not undermine the case for withdrawal. Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Dan Lamothe and John Wagner report for the Washington Post.

In his speech Biden rejected the idea that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is “inevitable,” saying that it was “highly unlikely.” “Biden said that the objectives of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan were achieved — namely, that terrorism was not emanating from Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden was killed — but rejected the notion that his speech represented a ‘mission accomplished’ moment,” Rebecca Kheel and Morgan Chalfant report for The Hill.

Biden said in his speech that the U.S. will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by August 31. “Our military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on August 31,” Biden said, pledging that he would not send “another generation of Americans” to war in Afghanistan. Joan E Greve and Joanna Walters report for the Guardian.

Biden in his defense of the U.S. withdrawal has explained that the U.S. “did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build.” Biden insisted that “no amount of sustained American presence there could resolve the country’s own intractable problems,” Kevin Liptak reports for CNN.

Biden is putting his faith in Afghan troops, expressing his confidence in the Afghan leaders. “The Afghan government and leadership has to come together. They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place,” Biden said. “The question is, will they generate the kind of cohesion to do it?” “It’s not a question of whether they have the capacity,” he continued, “they have the capacity. They have the forces. They have the equipment. The question is, will they do it?” Quint Forgey and Andrew Desiderio report for POLITICO.

Biden pledged to move thousands of potentially endangered Afghan interpreters out of Afghanistan next month as they await U.S. visas, if they wish. However, “President Biden’s announcement, to evacuate interpreters from Afghanistan into third countries, does not reassure us unless they provide specifics of how they will do it, and the data backs up their claims,” said James Miervaldis, board chairman of No One Left Behind, which works on behalf of Afghan and Iraqi interpreters. Andrew Restuccia and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. is to prop up the Afghan air force after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. “Afghanistan will get an injection of contractor support and planes for its beleaguered Air Force,” Jack Detsch reports for Foreign Policy.

“Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Russia have moved to fill the military and diplomatic vacuum opening up in Afghanistan as a result of the departure of U.S. forces and military advances by the Taliban,” Patrick Wintour reports for the Guardian.

A delegation of the Taliban visited Moscow yesterday to offer assurances that their gains in Afghanistan do not threaten Russia or its allies in Central Asia. “The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Kremlin envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, met with the Taliban delegation to express concern about the escalation and tensions in northern Afghanistan. The ministry said Kabulov urged the Taliban ‘to prevent them from spreading beyond the country’s borders,’” Vladimir Isachenkov reports for AP.

Torghundi, a northern town on the Afghan border with Turkmenistan, has been captured by the Taliban overnight, Afghan and Taliban officials have said. “Taliban insurgents were now in complete control of the police headquarters, intelligence services, customs operations and the municipal center, they said. Hundreds of Afghan security personnel and refugees continued to flee across the border into neighboring Iran and Tajikistan, causing concern in Moscow and other foreign capitals that radical Islamists could infiltrate Central Asia,” Reuters report.

As the Taliban seize more territory, its officials have said that the group has taken control of 85% of territory in Afghanistan and its fighters are tightening their grip on strategic areas. The claims, which were made by a Taliban delegation visiting Moscow as part of a propaganda campaign, have been rejected by Aghan government officials and anti-Taliban militia commanders who are rushing to aid Afghan forces against Taliban. Reuters reports.

The U.K. has withdrawn nearly all its troops from Afghanistan, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the U.K. parliament yesterday. “For obvious reasons, I will not disclose the timetable of our departure, though I can tell the house (parliament) that most of our personnel have already left,” Johnson said, adding that he did not underestimate the challenges facing Afghanistan and that the U.K. government would continue to provide development assistance. Andrew Macaskill and William James report for Reuters.

China is evacuating its nationals from Afghanistan amid the U.S. troops’ withdrawal and recent Taliban gains, state media reported. AP reports.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the worsening access to provide life-saving medicines and supplies and attacks on health care facilities in Afghanistan, a WHO official has said. “It is a terribly concerning situation and it’s very fluid right now,” the official said. Reuters reporting.

Haiti

Two U.S.-Haitians are among those arrested in connection with the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse. Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s minister of elections, identified the Haitian American suspects as James Solages, 35, and Joseph Vincent, 55. No details have been released of the basis for their arrests. Solages is believed to be a former bodyguard at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince and describes himself as a “certified diplomatic agent,” an advocate for children and budding politician on a website for a charity he established in 2019. “The pursuit of the mercenaries continues,” said Léon Charles, director of Haiti’s National Police, in announcing the arrest of suspects, adding that “their fate is fixed: they will fall in the fighting or will be arrested.” AP reports.

Haitian authorities have said that 26 Columbians took part in Moïse’s assassination. 15 Columbians have been arrested as well as U.S.-Haitians Solages and Vincent, with all 17 men paraded in front of journalists at a news conference late yesterday. “Foreigners came to our country to kill the president,” Léon Charles said, “there were 26 Colombians, identified by their passports, and two Haitian Americans as well.” Tom Phillips, Peter Beaumont and Jean Daniel Delone report for the Guardian.

Colombia’s government confirmed late yesterday that six of the suspects it had been asked about were retired members of the Columbian military. The identities of the suspects, including two who had been killed in a shootout with police, were not released. Columbia’s government confirmed that they would send information to aid in Haiti’s investigation. Evens Sanon, Dánica Coto and Joshua Goodman report for AP.

Haitian authorities have sought international assistance in their hunt for the masterminds behind the assassination of Moïse, Rachel Pannett, Anthony Faiola, Shawn Boburg and Widlore Merancourt report for the Washington Post.

The U.S. is responding to requests for assistance in investigating Moïse’s assassination from the Haitian National Police. “We are aware of the Haitian national police’s request for investigative assistance and the United States is responding,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. “The situation on the ground is evolving rapidly. We’ve remained in regular contact with Haitian officials including the investigative authorities to discuss how the United States can assist going forward,” he added. It is not currently clear which agency will help the Haitian police with the investigation, but it is likely to go through law enforcement channels, including the FBI. Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.

Civilians are protesting the assassination of Moïse, with increasing anger at the foreign hit squad that Haiti’s police have said are responsible for the assassination. Angry civilians had joined the police’s search for the gunmen, and helped the police track down some who were hiding in bushes. “The crowd later set fire to three of the suspects’ cars and destroyed evidence. The police chief called for calm, saying the public should not take the law into their own hands,” BBC News reports.

The political crisis in Haiti has deepened as rival prime ministers struggle for power. Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph is saying that he has taken command of the police and the army, declaring a “state of siege” that essentially puts the country under martial law. However, two days before his death, Moïse had appointed a new prime minister, Ariel Henry, who was supposed to take up the role this week. Constant Méheut, Michael Crowley, Natalie Kitroeff, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Catherine Porter report for the New York Times.

The U.N. Special Representative for Haiti has acknowledged the legitimacy of Joseph to lead Haiti and has welcomed his government’s commitment to hold national elections later this year. “Speaking via video link to reporters in New York, Ms. La Lime said that ‘all efforts must be made’ to bring those responsible for the assassination of the president to justice, and that a national investigation led by Haitian police, was now underway, following a number of arrests,” UN News Centre reports.

The White House has offered assistance to Haiti and has renewed U.S. support for legislative and presidential elections in Haiti that had been scheduled for this September. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, did not say if the U.S. recognized Joseph, Haiti’s interim prime minister, as the leader of the country. Chris Cameron reports for The New York Times.

Iraq, Syria and Iran

The Pentagon is “deeply concerned” by the recent attacks on personnel in Iraq and Syria. U.S. diplomats and troops in Iraq and Syria were targeted in three rocket and drone attacks yesterday. “They are using lethal weaponry. I don’t know how you can say anything other than it is a serious threat,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Reuters report.

The increasing drone attacks against the U.S. in military basis in Iraq and Syria by Iraqi militias are suggestive of Iran’s waning hold over the group. The attacks are in contrast to the message from Iran’s expeditionary Quds Force commander to Iraqi militia faction leaders long beholden to Tehran, when he gathered with them in Baghdad last month: to maintain calm, until after the conclusion of the indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kulla report for AP.

The U.N. Security Council is to vote today on aid access to Syria. “Russia has proposed that the U.N. Security Council extend aid access into Syria from Turkey for six months in response to a rival bid by Western council members to renew the long-running U.N. cross-border aid operation for 12 months, diplomats said,” Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.

Iran’s increasing nuclear activity is concerning, a Saudi foreign ministry official has said. After Tehran announced that it had started the process of producing enriched uranium metal, the Saudi official, in response to a Reuters request for comment, said that Riyadh “is greatly concerned about the increased pace of Iran’s nuclear activities and development of capabilities … that are not consistent with peaceful purposes.” Ghaida Ghantous reports for Reuters.

China

The U.S. is set to blacklist more Chinese companies over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, sources have said. Five further companies will be added to the blacklist by the U.S. Commerce Department. Humeyra Pamuk and David Shepardson report for Reuters.

China has said that it will take necessary steps to protect its firms after reports that further companies will be added to the U.S. blacklist. “The Chinese side will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and rejects U.S. attempts to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. Reuters reports.

China’s presence around the Philippines is growing, five years after a landmark international arbitration court ruling repudiated China’s claims to the South China Sea waters around the Philippines, Karen Lema reports for Reuters.

The E.U. parliament has passed a resolution calling for diplomatic officials to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China in response to human rights abuses by the Chinese government. The non-binding resolution also calls for E.U. governments to impose further sanctions on China as tensions rise. Helen Davidson reports for the Guardian.

US Relations

President Biden’s legal team is divided on whether to say that Guantánamo Bay detainees have due process rights under the U.S. constitution, sources familiar with the internal deliberations have said. “The Justice Department is set to file a brief by Friday night that is supposed to take a position on that question for a case involving a 53-year-old Yemeni man, Abdulsalam al-Hela, who has been held without charge or trial at the wartime prison since 2004. During the Trump administration, the department had argued to an appeals court panel that he had no due process rights,” Charlie Savage and Carol Rosenberg report for the New York Times.

The U.S. and French ambassadors to Beirut have held talks with Saudi Arabia officials in Riyadh. The rare joint visit was aimed at finding a unified strategy to help Lebanon out of its unprecedented economic and political crises. The embassies tweeted that the “important trilateral consultations” aimed to find ways how they can together “support the Lebanese people and stabilize the economy.” Sarah El Deeb reports for AP.

Cybersecurity

Russian President Vladimir Putin is testing President Biden’s resolve on tackling cybercrime. Less than a month after the Geneva summit where Biden warned Putin that there would be “consequences” for future cyberattacks, Biden does not seem to know how to respond to the fresh series of attacks on U.S. entities, reportedly emanating from Russia. Michael Hirsh provides analysis for Foreign Policy.

The top lawyer for the U.S. Cyber Command has called for the U.S. to respond to transnational criminal hackers with military cyber operations. “Marine Lt. Col. Kurt Sanger, general counsel at the command, wrote in a recent article published to Lawfare.com that ransomware attacks and other threats such as SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline hacks highlight ‘the broad and severe impacts criminals can inflict through cyberspace,’” Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

New York City has opened a real-time operation center to protect against cybersecurity threats, regional officials have said. “The center is staffed by a coalition of government agencies and private businesses, with 282 partners overall sharing intelligence on potential cyber threats,” Deanna Paul reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Global Developments

The jihadi threat in the Sahel region of Africa is growing as France plans to reduce its forces in the region, Sam Mednick reports for AP.

A Biafra separatist leader and U.K. national was arrested by Nigerian authorities in Kenya and taken to Nigeria in an act of extraordinary rendition, his family and lawyers have claimed. Nigerian authorities have declined to say where Nnamdi Kanu, a British-Nigerian citizen, was taken from. “Kanu fled Nigeria in 2017 while on bail facing charges of terrorism and incitement. He was arrested last week and brought to Nigeria’s capital, Abujam,” Emmanuel Akinwotu reports for the Guardian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lifted a ban on charter flights to Egypt, six years after suspending them for national security concerns. The flights were stopped following a plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, which killed 224 people and which Russia concluded was caused by a bomb. A group affiliated with Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the crash. Reuters reporting.

Lithuania has started building a barrier along its border with Belarus to stop migrants illegally entering the country. Lithuania has accused Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the European Union. “Belarus in May decided to allow migrants to enter EU member Lithuania in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the bloc after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board,” Andrius Sytas reports for Reuters.

A Palestinian man held in Israel is to be released following a hunger strike for more than two months, his supported have said. A spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Club, “said Ghadanfar Abu Atwan, 28, will be released from an Israeli hospital in the ‘coming hours’ and transferred to a hospital in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered,” Laurie Kellman and Ami Bentov report for AP.

Israeli and Jordanian leaders secretly met last week in a push to improve ties between the two countries. The two countries have announced new agreements on water and trade, which were concluded during the meeting. Omar Akour reports for AP.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma could be freed from prison in four months, South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has said. The statement comes a day after Zuma handed himself into the police to commence a 15-month sentence for contempt of court. Wendell Roelf, Tim Cocks report for Reuters.

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 33.75 million and now killed close to 606,500 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 185.50 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.00 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN. 

With cases rising in Tokyo, Olympic organizers said they would not allow spectators at most events.

Pfizer says it is developing a version of its Covid vaccine against the Delta variant.

The U.S. is still closed to European travelers. It’s unclear when that’ll change.

The Associated Press: COVID-19 vaccines still work against mutation, researchers find. 

Axios: Trump country continues to fall behind on COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Hill: Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra: “Absolutely the government’s business” to know people’s vaccine status.

DDSR: 8.7.21 TS Elsa Blew Through Edition

World

Iraq and Syria

Bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have been subject to a series of attacks over the past 24 hours. “U.S.-backed Syrian fighters and American troops foiled an attack with drones Wednesday on a base housing members of the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces said. In neighboring Iraq, rockets hit a base housing U.S. troops, inflicting two minor injuries,” Qassim Abdul-Zahra reports for AP.

The al-Assad Air Base in western Iraq, which houses U.S. troops, was hit by 14 rockets yesterday, wounding two U.S. service members, Col. Wayne Marotto, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition Operation Inherent Resolve, confirmed on Twitter. The Iraqi government has called the rocket strike a “terrorist attack.” “A separate statement tweeted by Security Media Cell, affiliated with Iraq’s government, said the attackers used a rocket launcher hidden in a truck filled with bags of flour parked nearby in the village of Baghdadi. While 14 rockets were fired toward al-Assad, some exploded on the truck, damaging local homes and a mosque,” Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

Two rockets were fired at the U.S. Embassy inside Baghdad’s Green Zone early today, Iraqi security sources have told Reuters. The embassy’s anti-rocket system diverted one of the rockets and the second rocket fell near the zone’s perimeter, with sirens blaring from the U.S. Embassy compound inside the zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, security officials have said. Ahmed Rasheed reports for Reuters.

Russia, Iran, Turkey will continue their cooperation against the Islamic State (IS) and other militants in Syria, the RIA news agency has said. Citing a joint statement from the nations. Reuters reporting.

Haiti

Haiti’s president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated yesterday, and his wife injured. Moïse, who was previously a banana producer, had ruled Haiti for four years. “Moïse was assassinated at his private home during ‘a highly coordinated attack by a highly trained and heavily armed group,’ interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has said. His wife, Martine, was injured in the attack and remained hospitalized,” DÁnica Coto and Evens Sanon reports for AP.

Four suspects in the assassination of Haiti’s president have been killed, and two have been arrested. Haiti’s government has blamed mercenaries for the attack and Léon Charles, director of Haiti’s national police, also said that three police officers had been held hostage but that police had freed them. Phil Helsel reports for NBC News.

Haitian interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has called on the U.N. to hold a U.N. Security Council meeting as soon as possible on Moïse’s assassination. Joseph in a statement also called on the international community to launch an investigation into the assassination. Reuters reporting.

The assailants behind the assassination of Moïse claimed to be part of an operation with the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to videos taken by people in the area of the president’s home, someone with an American accent is heard yelling in English over a megaphone, “DEA operation. Everybody stand down. DEA operation. Everybody back up, stand down.” Jacqueline Charles and Johnny Fils-Aimé report for the Miami Herald.

Members of congress are expressing shock and devastation at the assassination of Haiti’s president, warning of the possibility of further turmoil in Haiti. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the entire federal government condemns the assassination as a “barbaric act” and that the U.S. stands “ready to provide support and assistance to the people of Haiti during this challenging time.” Laura Kelly reports for The Hill.

President Biden said yesterday that he was shocked by the “heinous” assassination of Haiti’s president and wounding of his wife. “We condemn this heinous attack and I am sending my sincere wishes for First Lady Moise’s recovery,” Biden said in a statement. “The United States offers condolences to the people of Haiti and we stand ready to assist as we continue to work for a safe and secure Haiti,” he added. Patricia Zengerle and Daphne Psaledakis report for Reuters.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned in the strongest terms the assassination as “abhorrent,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric. “The Secretary-General calls on all Haitians to preserve the constitutional order, remain united in the face of this abhorrent act and reject all violence,” the statement said. UN News Centre reports.

Fears of increased turmoil in Haiti are mounting. “The assassination left a political void that deepened the turmoil and violence that has gripped Haiti for months, threatening to tip one of the world’s most troubled nations further into lawlessness,” Catherine Porter, Michael Crowley and Constant Méheut report for the New York Times.

Moïse’s wife, Haitian first lady Martine Moïse, has been taken to Miami for treatment. The U.S. ambassador to Haiti, Bocchit Edmond, has said that the Haitian first lady was in a critical but stable condition. NBC Miami reports.

Afghanistan

The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is complete “for all intents and purposes,” officials have said. Other than 600 troops in Afghanistan, most of whom are providing security at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, “the only U.S. military personnel left to withdraw by the Sept. 11 deadline Biden set in May are Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, and a handful of staff, the two officials said,” Lara Seligman reports for POLITICO.

The Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan is putting key cities at risk of being overtaken. Clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban reached the city center of the Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, yesterday, but Afghan government officials said the city remains in government control. Susannah George reports for the Washington Post.

Afghan forces have said that Afghan troops have recaptured government buildings in the western city of Qala-e-Naw and Taliban troops have been driven out of the city. A spokesperson from the Ministry of Interior Affairs said the city had been cleared of Taliban fighters and that it was now fully under the control of Afghan security forces. The Taliban had briefly entered Qala-e-Naw yesterday and had gained access to the city’s prisons, freeing about 400 inmates, including more than 100 of their own fighters, local reports have said. Provincial Governor Hisamudin Shams said the headquarters of the intelligence service had been set on fire, but he denied reports that the city had fallen to the Taliban. BBC News reports.

Some fighting is continuing on the fringes of Qala-e-Naw, the Afghan Defense Ministry has said. The ministry said 69 Taliban fighters had been killed in fresh operations on the edge of Qala-e-Naw and that a large quantity of Taliban arms and ammunition were also seized by Afghan government forces. Reuters reporting.

President Biden is expected to make an update statement today on the situation in Afghanistan, however no major policy pronouncements are expected. Biden is due to speak at 1:45pm ET and has “been under pressure from critics to give a more expansive explanation for his decision to withdraw,” Steve Holland reports for Reuters.

The U.S. is leaving Afghanistan on the brink of collapse, as Afghan forces struggle with the rise of the Taliban, the Economist provides analysis.

Iran is hosting high-level peace talks between Afghan forces and Taliban representatives as the fighting in Afghanistan surges. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted after the talks that the meeting had been “cordial” and he promised Iran would stand with Afghans on their road to peace. Nasser Karimi and Rahim Faiez report for AP.

Tajikistan has taken in over 1,000 Afghan refugees as they flee the Taliban, the government of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan province has said. The refugees have fled the violence in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province on the border with Tajikistan. The Gorno-Badakhshan province’s government said that most of the refugees are “women, children, and elderly people,” and that they have been placed in safe areas away from the conflict. Reuters reports.

Cybersecurity

President Biden is weighing his response to the recent ransomware attacks which are believed to have come from Russia. Biden yesterday said, following a meeting in the Situation Room with his top cybersecurity advisers, that he “will deliver” a response to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the wave of ransomware attacks hitting U.S. companies. However, it is unclear what response Biden is intending. David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth report for the New York Times.

The White House said yesterday that Biden has a “range of options” on how to respond to the new Russia-linked cyberattacks, but has not yet decided whether and how to take action. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force One that Biden had not decided on a course of action, saying that “in terms of operational considerations, obviously it is not in our interest to preview those, or preview our punches as I like to say. The president has a range of options should he determine to take action.” Maggie Miller and Morgan Chalfant report for The Hill.

Kaseya, the IT company that was subject to a breach carried out by Russia-linked hackers, was warned in early April of the cybersecurity vulnerability that was taken advantage of by the hackers. “The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) said in blog posts this week that it had discovered seven vulnerabilities in Kaseya’s system in April and confidentially informed the company,” Joseph Choi reports for The Hill.

The Russia-linked hackers REvil associated with the ransomware attack on Kesaya used a code that avoids targeting systems that use Russian and other former Soviet-era languages as a default. The new report published yesterday by cybersecurity company Trustwave appears to be the first report to publicly identify this feature of the latest attack. “They don’t want to annoy the local authorities, and they know they will be able to run their business much longer if they do it this way,” said Ziv Mador, Trustwave SpiderLabs’ vice president of security research. Ken Dilanian reports for NBC News.

US Relations

A U.K. court has allowed the U.S. to appeal a recent decision against extraditing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. No date has yet been set for a hearing of Assange’s case. “Wednesday’s ruling comes after a lower court ruled against extraditing Assange in January, arguing that he would pose a risk to himself while detained in the United States due to his mental health,” Jordan Williams reports for The Hill.

The U.S. government has made assurance to the U.K. that Assange would not be held under the strictest maximum-security conditions if extradited to the U.S. In a concession aimed at resolving the years’ long battle to put the WikiLeaks founder on trial in the U.S. for espionage charges, the U.S. also assured British authorities that Assange, if convicted, would be permitted to serve any jail time in his native Australia. Jason Douglas reports for the Wall Street Journal.

The Deputy Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Khalid bin Salman has said that he had “a great meeting” with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkin. During the meeting Prince Khalid and Blinkin explored strengthening of U.S.-Saudi ties and reviewed regional developments, Prince Khalid has said. Reuters reporting.

President Biden’s new Cold War with China will result in climate collapse, progressives have warned. “Over 40 progressive groups sent a letter to President Biden and lawmakers on Wednesday urging them to prioritize cooperation with China on climate change and curb its confrontational approach over issues like Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong and forced detention of Uyghur Muslims,” Alexander Ward reports for POLITICO.

President Biden is set to welcome King Abdullah II of Jordan and his family at the White House on July 19. “His Majesty’s visit will highlight the enduring and strategic partnership between the United States and Jordan, a key security partner and ally of the United States,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said in a statement. Alex Gangitano reports for The Hill.

Succession in South Sudan which was “America’s greatest success story in Africa has degenerated into its biggest failure,” Colum Lynch provides analysis for Foreign Policy.

Global Developments

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has handed himself in to police and will now serve 15 months in jail for contempt of court, authorities say. “It is the first time a former president has been jailed in post-apartheid South Africa and will be seen as a landmark for rule of law in the troubled country, as well as a victory for the president, Cyril Ramaphosa,” Jason Burke reports for the Guardian.

New photos have confirmed that North Korea has demoted a military leader in a reshuffle that has left the ruling party’s top body dominated by civilians. Analysts have said that the reshuffle suggests that military policy is no longer North Korea’s top policy with a move to a focus on the economy and bureaucratic failures. Josh Smith reports for Reuters.

A news conference of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at a Lithuanian air base has been interrupted when Spanish jets were scrambled to respond to the launch of a Russian warplane. “Spanish jets, based in Lithuania on a NATO mission to police Baltic air space, took off at 0855 GMT after reports that a military jet had taken off from Russia’s Kaliningrad region without filing a flight plan, said a spokesperson for the Lithuanian army’s joint chiefs of staff,” Andrius Sytas and Inti Landauro report for Reuters.

The U.K. government has been urged by a group of U.K. lawmakers to hold China “to account” over its treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the province of Xinjiang. The cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report that the “atrocities” being committed in Xinjiang “represent an international crisis of profound urgency, making it unconscionable for any civilized government to look the other way.” Pan Pylas reports for AP.

The national security court case against 47 democracy activists will resume in September, a judge has ruled today. The 47 activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, most of whom have been in custody for more than four months and denied bail. They were arrested “on charges of participating in an unofficial, non-binding and independently organized primary vote last year to select candidates for a since-postponed city election, which authorities say was a ‘vicious plot’ to subvert the government,” Jessie Pang reports for Reuters.

Pope Francis is recovering satisfactorily following intestinal surgery, with no signs of cancer following tests, the Vatican said. The 84-year-old pontiff was continuing to eat regularly on Wednesday following Sunday’s surgery to remove half his colon (The Associated Press).

US

Federal Departments

A federal judge has ruled that the negligence of the U.S. government and Air Force was mostly responsible for the 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent history. “U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez for the Western District of Texas concluded the Air Force failed to exercise reasonable care when it didn’t submit the shooter’s criminal history to the FBI’s background check system, which increased the risk of physical harm to the general public,” Ashley Killough and Paul LeBlanc report for CNN.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to end its legal defense of the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Durbin urged Garland to reconsider the DOJ’s position. “The Department’s legal positions should reflect our nation’s commitment to liberty and the rule of law, recognizing that our nation is strongest when it adheres to its core values,” Durbin wrote. Harper Neidig reports for The Hill.

The Pentagon has said that humans will always be in control of AI weapons, however autonomous war is already here. Gerrit De Vynck provides analysis for the Washington Post

Trump, Criminal Associates, and Crimes

Trump has announced a lawsuit against Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for alleged censorship over their suspension of his accounts following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The suits filed in a federal court in Florida call for the court “to order an immediate halt to social media companies’ illegal, shameful censorship of the American people,” Trump said at a news conference. Shannon Bond reports for NPR.

A Washington D.C. court has suspended the law license for Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s attorney, following Giuliani’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 elections. The decision comes just weeks after New York took similar action against Giuliani. Jaclyn Diaz reports for NPR.

“Fencing will come down, but Capitol still closed to visitors,” by AP’s Lisa Mascaro

Politics

A federal judge has let parts of Georgia’s sweeping voting law stand, declining to block them from taking effect a week before runoff elections for state legislative seats. Maggie Astor reports for the New York Times.

State Republican Party chairs who have bought into former President Donald Trump’s lies of widespread election malfeasance are turning their fire on fellow Republicans who have acknowledged the reality of Trump’s defeat, in a turn that has longtime party leaders and strategists worried about the future of the conservative coalition. Read the full story here

President Biden plans to direct federal regulators to crack down on noncompete clauses to bolster worker power.

Dozens of states sued Google, claiming its mobile app store abuses its market power. It’s the fourth state or federal antitrust suit against Google since October.

With the Senate and House out until next week, Biden took center stage and appeared in suburban Chicago to promote the $1.8 trillion plan —– the genesis of what is expected to be a bill passed later this year via budget reconciliation with only Democratic support (The Hill).

The Washington Post: Conservative groups mount opposition to increase in the IRS budget, threatening the White House infrastructure plan. (IRS’s enforcement staff declined by 30 percent between 2010 and 2018, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)

“U.S. promises not to imprison Julian Assange under harsh conditions if Britain extradites him,” by NYT’s Charlie Savage: “If a British court permits the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder JULIAN ASSANGE to face criminal charges in the United States, the Biden administration has pledged that it will not hold him under the most austere conditions reserved for high-security prisoners and that, if he is convicted, it will let him serve his sentence in his native Australia.

US Developments

Crews searching the rubble of the collapsed high-rise in Surfside, Fla., said they did not expect to find more survivors. Search efforts for survivors ended after two weeks on Wednesday and recovery operations began at Surfside, Fla.’s Champlain Towers South, site of a collapse that killed a confirmed 54 people as of Wednesday night. Eighty-six people remained missing. Recovery is expected to take several more weeks (NBC News and The New York Times).

Tropical Storm Elsa dumped heavy rain on the Southeast and prompted warnings as far north as Massachusetts and I walked the dogs (minus the chihuahua) in it. The chihuahua said “fuck it…I’m gonna shit inside today.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning, defeating the Montreal Canadiens, won the Stanley Cup.

Virus

The coronavirus has infected over 33.75 million and now killed over 606,000 people in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there have been over 185.10 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 4.00 million deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean O’Key, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report for CNN.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm as the global deaths from Covid-19 pass 4 million and the delta variant spreads to more than 100 countries. WHO officials have issued stern warnings to nations planning to relax Covid-19 restrictions and cautioned that more contagious variants were “currently winning the race against vaccines,” as most of the world’s population has yet to be immunized. Erin Cunningham reports for the Washington Post.

Russia has offered North Korea Covid-19 vaccines once again, amid reports that the harsh lockdown, along with international trade sanctions, is leading to food shortages and extreme hunger in North Korea. North Korea has previously rejected vaccines and aid from several countries, and has sealed its borders to try and keep the virus out. Laura Bicker reports for BBC News.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared a Covid-19 state of emergency in Tokyo, putting in restrictions aimed at curbing Covid-19 infections in place through to August 22. Reuters reports.

Delta is now the dominant variant of the virus in the U.S., the C.D.C. estimates. A study from Israel found that the Pfizer vaccine was effective against it.

The official Covid death toll in U.S. prisons is over 2,700 people. The real number is probably higher, as some facilities released very ill inmates before they died.