South Korea said that American troops would remain in the country even if it does reach a deal with North Korea to end the Korean war formally. The statement came a few days after a much-trumpeted meeting between Moon Jae-in, the South’s president, and Kim Jong Un, the North’s dictator, in the demilitarised buffer between the countries. Mr Kim made lots of non-specific pledges about working towards a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. He is expected to meet Donald Trump soon. See article.
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and China’s president, Xi Jinping, held an informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The meeting was aimed at defusing tensions between the two countries, which rose last year during a border dispute. After the summit, Chinese media said the two countries’ armies had agreed to set up a hotline between their headquarters.
The Dominican Republic cut its long-standing ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China. The switch deepens Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation: only 19 countries now recognise it.
In Afghanistan, at least 29 people, including nine journalists, were killed and dozens wounded in suicide-bombings in the capital, Kabul. Islamic State claimed responsibility. See article.
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, visited Australia, where he said the rise of China was “good news”. But he also called for “balance” in the region, and said it was important to preserve “rule-based development” there.
Let us in
Around 150 people in a caravan of migrants from Central America that has been making its way through Mexico arrived at the border with the United States and attempted to claim asylum. Immigration agents initially claimed the checkpoint was at full capacity but later started slowly processing their applications. Donald Trump accused the migrants of “openly defying our border”.
Tens of thousands of people continued to throng Nicaragua’s streets in peaceful demonstrations for and against the authoritarian socialist government of Daniel Ortega. The Catholic church and students groups tried to open talks with the regime. Activists demanded an investigation of the at least 63 deaths in recent riots, during which Mr Ortega’s men used live bullets.
Prosecutors in Brazil filed new corruption charges against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former president who was recently jailed, and other leaders of the Workers’ Party for allegedly accepting bribes from Odebrecht, a construction firm.
A tower block caught fire and collapsed in São Paulo. The abandoned building had been illegally occupied by some 150 families. Dozens of residents were missing.
A straight Rod
Rod Rosenstein, America’s deputy attorney-general, defended Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian links with aides to Donald Trump, and said that the Department of Justice “is not going to be extorted” by threats from congressional Republicans. Agitated congressmen have drafted articles of impeachment against Mr Rosenstein, who a year ago appointed Mr Mueller as the special counsel leading the inquiry.
Relations between the White House and the Mueller investigation could be about to get tetchier, with news that Ty Cobb is to be replaced as the head of Mr Trump’s legal team by Emmet Flood, who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings
Bibi’s big show
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, produced documents suggesting that Iran lied when it said it had never tried to develop a nuclear bomb. The world’s intelligence agencies had long assumed as much, and little of the evidence was new. Mr Netanyahu did not offer evidence that Iran continued bomb-building after signing an agreement with America in 2015 intended to stop it from doing so. A barrage of missiles, suspected to have been fired by Israel, struck Iranian bases in Syria. See article.
Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, said that Jews had suffered persecution in Europe because of their involvement in money-lending and banking. A rash of attacks on Jews in Germany has prompted the country’s new commissioner for fighting anti-Semitism to call for better information about the perpetrators. See article.
Scores of people were killed in suicide-bomb attacks on a mosque and market in north-east Nigeria. The attacks were blamed on Boko Haram, a jihadist group, and came a day after Donald Trump promised more help for Nigeria in its fight against the terrorists.
The government of Burundi campaigned to pass a referendum that would change the constitution and allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to stay in power for another 16 years. A former rebel leader, Mr Nkurunziza has been in charge since 2005 and believes that God wants him to keep ruling.
Cleaning up a Ruddy mess
Amber Rudd resigned as Britain’s home secretary, as the Windrush scandal unfolded. Her position became untenable when targets for enforcing the return of people to Jamaica and other former Commonwealth countries were leaked. Ms Rudd had denied that such targets existed when giving evidence to a parliamentary select committee. She was seen by many as a shield for Theresa May, the prime minister, who ran the Home Office when the “hostile environment” policy for immigrants was introduced. Sajid Javid, whose parents were Pakistani immigrants, was appointed as the new home secretary. See article.
Mr Javid, meanwhile, reportedly threw his support behind the hard Brexiteers on a cabinet committee that scuppered Mrs May’s plan to sign off on a “customs partnership” with the EU when Britain leaves the union. The Brexiteers back a “maximum facilitation” proposal on customs, based on futuristic and untested technology. The cabinet is still discussing the options. See article.
Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, was largely shut down as hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the streets, demanding that the liberal opposition leader, Nikol Pashinian, be made prime minister. The ruling party has so far rejected this. See article.