Belarus prisoner release. The country’s authorities released fifty-two political prisoners to Lithuania yesterday as part of a U.S.-brokered deal, Lithuania’s government said. A U.S. envoy said that Washington would lift sanctions on Belarus’s national airline in return. Belarus has sought to improve its relations with the United States since last year and has pitched itself as a channel of dialogue between Washington and Moscow.
Netanyahu’s West Bank escalation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed plans yesterday to expand a settlement that would cut across the West Bank, saying “there will be no Palestinian state.” In the past, Israel had avoided moving forward with the plan, known as E1, amid international condemnation. Meanwhile, Germany is now among the countries expected to back a France-led proposal for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, unnamed sources told multiple news outlets.
Green investments ruling. The General Court at the European Court of Justice ruled yesterday that natural gas and nuclear energy projects can be considered “green” investments, rejecting a lawsuit by Austria that sought to change the classification. Burning natural gas still causes greenhouse gas emissions, while nuclear energy requires mining and processing uranium. The European Union has set a target of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
Venezuelan pushback on strike. Venezuela’s interior minister said yesterday that nobody killed by the U.S. military in a strike off Venezuela’s coast last week belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, contradicting the Trump administration’s claims. While Rubio said the boat posed an “immediate threat” to the United States, unnamed U.S. officials told multiple news outlets this week that the boat had turned around at the time that it was struck.
EU-India trade talks. Top European Union (EU) trade officials arrived in India yesterday for late-stage negotiations on an agreement to boost trade. The visit comes as the United States plans to ask Group of Seven (G7) countries in a virtual meeting today to increase tariffs on India and China as a way of pressuring their economic ties to Russia, according to unnamed sources in the Financial Times.
UN on Qatar strike. The UN Security Council’s fifteen members agreed to a statement yesterday that condemned Israel’s Tuesday strikes in Doha that targeted Hamas officials. The statement did not name Israel but voiced support for “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.” Qatar’s prime minister is in Washington today for talks with U.S. officials.
U.S.-South Korea visa talks. The two countries are discussing the creation of new visas that could apply to South Koreans temporarily working in the United States, South Korea’s foreign minister said following a dispute over the Trump administration’s raid of a Hyundai plant in Georgia last week. Today, around three hundred workers detained in the raid returned to South Korea.
Iran’s uranium stockpile. Hundreds of kilograms of fissile material is still located underneath the sites of facilities bombed in June by the United States and Israel, Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday. He added that UN nuclear inspectors were assessing whether they could access it. International sanctions on Iran are due to take effect at the end of this month if it does not address concerns about its nuclear fuel.
