Iran
An annual test of wills between Iran’s morality police and women who dress in ways that are deemed unacceptable has begun in cities across Persia. But this year, the stakes are unusually high. – Washington Post
Iran would not close the Strait of Hormuz as long as it is able to use the vital shipping line itself, a military commander was quoted as saying on Monday, moderating threats by politicians to block the waterway as retaliation for sanctions. – Reuters
Iran’s nuclear chief says more domestically produced nuclear fuel has been supplied to a medical research reactor. – Associated Press
Editorial: If Iran suffers no consequences from its acts of terrorism, they will continue. Israel has said that it will retaliate in a manner of its choosing. But more “shadow war” should not be the only response. The Security Council should review the abundant evidence of involvement by the Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah in this year’s attacks and punish both those groups as well as the Iranian government with sanctions. – Washington Post
Editorial: The wonder is that the U.S. and its allies continue to look for ways to reach a diplomatic understanding with the perpetrators of these unending attacks, rather than calling the regime what it is and working to overthrow it. Iran’s killing of innocents will continue until the world decides to stop it. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Syria
The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad, American officials say. – New York Times
The U.S. has been mounting a secret but limited effort to speed the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad without using force, scrambling spies and diplomats to block arms and oil shipments from Iran and passing intelligence to front-line allies. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The European Union strengthened its arms embargo against Syria on Monday and toughened sanctions against supporters of the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, in response to worsening violence there. – New York Times
With violence reaching new heights in Syria, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a 30-day extension of the monitor mission there on Friday, throwing what amounted to a thin lifeline to Kofi Annan, the special envoy in the Syrian conflict, to save his paralyzed peace plan from total irrelevance. – New York Times
New clashes and military shelling were reported Sunday in Syria’s two major cities, as the warring sides in the country’s escalating conflict intensified their information battle on the airwaves, the Internet and social media. – Los Angeles Times
After pressing for 16 months for a change in government in Syria, the Obama administration is scrambling to prevent growing bloodshed and the apparent unraveling of President Bashar Assad’s hold on power from paving the way to regional calamity. – Los Angeles Times
After the bombing Wednesday that killed four of President Bashar Assad’s top military officials, the uprising has entered a crucial phase. But some question just how prepared the rebels are to sustain an onslaught against the army, security forces and shabiha militia members in the face of enduring challenges such as a shortage of weapons and a lack of unity among scores of armed opposition groups. – Los Angeles Times
[E]ven as some rebel fighters say they are pushing for a “final battle” — and some reports said the Syrian leader had fled to the coastal city of Latakia — others say victory is far off, especially with the opposition still struggling to agree on exactly how to oust Assad and who should lead the way. – Los Angeles Times
From the beginning of the Syrian uprising, the battle has been one of words as well as weapons and, as rebels strike ever closer to the heart of the regime, the state propaganda machine also appears under threat. – Washington Times
Syria’s conflict, increasingly characterized as a Muslim sectarian war, is now also threatening to engulf the country’s estimated 2 million Christians. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
As the fight for control of Damascus escalates, China appears to be gambling that even if Syria’s government falls, respect for Beijing’s “principled position” against outside interference will outweigh any lingering hostility from the Arab street. – Washington Post
Syrian President Bashar Assad is ready to step down but only in a “civilized” manner, Russia’s ambassador to France said Friday. – LA Times’ World Now
Reports that the Syrian government is at risk of losing control of its chemical weapons stockpile have set off alarm bells in Washington. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Syrian troops have driven rebel fighters out of two districts of Damascus a week after the insurgents launched a major assault on the capital. – Reuters
Switzerland on Friday lifted an arms embargo against the United Arab Emirates after the two sides agreed to investigate how Swiss hand grenades sold to the UAE wound up in Syria, the government said. – AFP
Eli Lake reports: Two Syrian rebel commanders interviewed by The Daily Beast say they need advanced weapons to take out President Bashar al-Assad’s regime within the month and transition to a stable government. Khaled Habous, the head of the Damascus military council of the Free Syrian Army, said, “Before the end of this holy month of Ramadan it will be over.” Ramadan ends on Aug. 19. – The Daily Beast
Josh Rogin reports: For the last six months, 40 senior representatives of various Syrian opposition groups have been meeting quietly in Germany under the tutelage of the U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP) to plan for how to set up a post-Assad Syrian government. – The Cable
Rogin also reports: Syrian refugees are pouring into neighboring countries at an alarming and increasing rate, outpacing the international community’s ability to assist them, according to State Department and USAID officials. – The Cable
[Video] – FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly discussed the situation in Syria with Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress – Bloggingheads
Editorial: An internal coup of some kind could avoid a long and bloody siege of major cities and lead to talks for a real transition government. In the event, Mr. Annan shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near that diplomatic effort. Even at this violent stage, genuine U.S. leadership could contribute to a better outcome in Syria. But Mr. Obama first has to shed his self-applied U.N. fetters. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Danielle Pletka writes: The Syrian people have watched their neighbors, the Russians and others prop up the Assads for decades. Washington has been better, if not perfect; working together with an emerging government, we have a chance to serve both principle and interest in promising a better future for all Syrians. – Washington Post
Lee Smith writes: Almost everything that has unfolded in Syria over the last 16 months was predictable. The White House has failed repeatedly to take advantage of the Syrian dictator’s travails. Now with Assad fighting for his life, it’s time for the administration finally to show a killer instinct. If the regime takes flight from Damascus, it should never be allowed to reach safe haven in Latakia. – The Weekly Standard
Egypt
The spreading labor unrest threatens one of Egypt’s key export industries at a time when the country teeters on the brink of a balance of payments crisis. It also signifies how expectations that were raised by last year’s revolution have remained largely unfulfilled, and how that frustration could boil over into more unrest, with further disastrous consequences for the economy. – Washington Post
Yemen
A former top rebel leader in Taiz, Mr. Mikhlafi has taken on a new role as the city’s ultimate arbiter. Part judge, part chieftain, part local political don, he is filling the gap left by the absence of effective judicial institutions in the aftermath of Yemen’s civil conflict last year. Men from all over the surrounding region come to him to resolve disputes and crises, or simply to seek advice. – New York Times
Iraq
In a coordinated display intended to show they remain a viable force, Iraqi insurgents set off car bombs, stormed a military base and ambushed checkpoints in at least 13 separate attacks on Monday, Iraqi authorities said. – New York Times
The first online statement from the new leader of al-Qaida’s affiliate in Iraq claims that the militant network is returning to the old strongholds from which it was driven by U.S. forces and their Sunni allies prior to the American withdrawal at the end of last year, and that it is preparing operations to free prisoners and assassinate court officials. – Associated Press
Israel
Moshe Silman, the desperately indebted Haifa man who set himself aflame last weekend as part of a social justice protest in Tel Aviv, died Friday from the second- and third-degree burns over 94 percent of his body. – New York Times
Israel is on alert for plots to kill more Israelis overseas, after speculation that last week’s deadly bombing of an Israeli tour bus in Bulgaria was a rehearsal for a spectacular attack on Israel’s Olympics team, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhahu said Sunday. – Associated Press
Afghanistan
The powerful men accused of responsibility for these deaths and tens of thousands of others — some said to be directly at their orders, others carried out by men in their chain of command — are named in the pages of a monumental 800-page report on human rights abuses in Afghanistan from the Soviet era in the ’80s to the fall of the Taliban in 2001, according to researchers and officials who helped compile the study over the past six years. – New York Times
The U.S.’s effort to wield economic pressure to influence Iranian leaders is having the unintended consequence of hurting Afghanistan, which relies on remittances from millions of migrants living in the country to its west. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Villages in northeastern Afghanistan — an area thick with competing Taliban factions, operatives from Al Qaeda and other militants — were bombarded with hundreds of rockets fired from Pakistan over the weekend, leaving at least four civilians dead, Afghan officials said. – New York Times
The Army ordered the destruction of a report that praised the performance of an off-the-shelf software program that finds buried explosives in Afghanistan and replaced it with a revised, less-favorable assessment, according to internal Pentagon documents. – Washington Times
The top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said Sunday that this year’s pullout of 23,000 American troops is at the halfway mark. But he cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the drawdown, saying that foreign troops will fight through 2014 when the NATO combat mission ends — and beyond. – Associated Press
South Asia
Pranab Mukherjee became the 13th elected president of India on Sunday, capping a four-decade career as a central figure in Indian politics. Mr. Mukherjee easily won a race for the prestigious but largely ceremonial office, chosen by a nationwide electoral college for a five-year term. – New York Times
A suicide bomber killed at least nine people, including four young children, in Pakistan’s tribal belt on Saturday as part of a rivalry between militant groups, local officials said. – New York Times
China
A French architect caught up in the scandal surrounding Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party official, was taken into custody in China after returning there from Cambodia to cooperate with a murder investigation into Mr. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, Cambodia Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told The Wall Street Journal. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
It is palace intrigue by the sea. In their guarded villas, current and past leaders will negotiate to try to place allies in the 25-member Politburo and its elite Standing Committee, at the top of the party hierarchy. The selections will be announced at the 18th Party Congress this fall in Beijing, heralding what is expected to be only the second orderly leadership transition in more than 60 years of Communist rule. – New York Times
Recent reports of women being coerced into late-term abortions by local officials have thrust China’s population control policy into the spotlight and ignited an outcry among policy advisers and scholars who are seeking to push central officials to fundamentally change or repeal a law that penalizes families for having more than one child. – New York Times
China’s censors have banned coverage of the first anniversary of the collision that killed 40 people and injured nearly 200 others, according to a statement from the International Federation of Journalists. – WSJ’s China Real Time Report
The Obama administration recently notified Congress that it has agreed to license exports of sensitive U.S. space technology to China from a U.S. company that was fined in the past for illegally supplying space support that improved Chinese ballistic missiles. – Washington Free Beacon
North Korea
With tighter border security and harsher punishments for those who cross into China, North Korea has forced a swift and drastic drop-off in defections this year, according to aid groups and South Korean officials. – Washington Post
The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has begun stripping his country’s powerful military of its lucrative export rights in a bold attempt intended to both rejuvenate its staggering economy and curtail top generals’ influence, according to a Seoul-based Web site run by defectors from North Korea. – New York Times
North Korea said Friday it will “review the nuclear issue” after arresting a North Korean defector for allegedly plotting to destroy statues of the late leader Kim Il Sung at the behest of the United States and South Korea. – LA Times’ World Now
Almost as soon as North Korea announced this week that its army chief had been dismissed due to “illness,” the aggressive South Korean media went into hyperdrive. By Friday a newspaper, citing “unconfirmed intelligence reports,” said Ri Yong Ho may have been wounded or killed in a blaze of gunfire when soldiers loyal to him resisted an armed attempt to detain him. – Associated Press
East Asia
Three days before a long-awaited shipment of upgraded U.S. Marine Corps aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Japan, controversy over their deployment is threatening to create a rift in both the ruling Japanese party and the broader security alliance between the two countries. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The $3.7 billion deal between Taiwan and the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the island nation’s 146 F-16 fighters ends two years of often painful negotiations but remains controversial in Taipei, officials and analysts said. – Defense News
Taiwan is scheduled to take delivery next month of a powerful multiple-launch rocket system aimed at neutralizing former rival China’s amphibious landing capabilities, local media reported July 22. – AFP
FPI Director of Democracy and Human Rights Ellen Bork writes: America’s conduct of its foreign policy can never be separated from its identity as the world’s leading democracy. “It is who we are,” President Obama likes to say of America’s commitment to democratic values and human rights…If the United States fails to follow through, the Asia pivot will lose credibility. Asia’s people will lose much more. – The Weekly Standard
Southeast Asia
Philippine President Benigno Aquino refused to budge on Monday on a territorial dispute with China, asking Beijing to respect Manila’s rights in the South China Sea and announcing plans to upgrade military capabilities. – Reuters
Russia
[T]he case of the [three] young punk rockers…is becoming a bellwether event in the Russian capital, signaling an end to the chilly tolerance the Kremlin displayed in response to the winter’s large demonstrations. – New York Times
President Vladimir Putin, whose rhetoric often positions him as sternly anti-Western, is courting foreign investors with enticing promises as he seeks investment that can bring about economic development and insulate Russia from global tremors. – Washington Post
Optimism is rising among lawmakers and trade advocates that Congress can pass a Russian trade bill before the August recess. – The Hill’s On the Money
Europe
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government has gathered “unquestionable” intelligence showing that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, was behind a suicide bombing in Bulgaria last week that killed five Israeli nationals. – Wall Street Journal
Poland’s government welcomed Mitt Romney’s planned visit to the country in late July, when the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is set to meet the Polish leadership and former president Lech Walesa on a leg of his European tour. – WSJ’s Emerging Europe
A Ukrainian court on Monday put off until July 31 the hearings in a tax evasion case against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko because she was unable to attend the trial for health reasons. – Reuters
Jackson Diehl writes: Whatever else happens, Britain is going to put on a show of what it means to have uninhibited media and a robust democracy. A world that was mostly awed by the authoritarian spectacle staged by Beijing in 2008 is going to see a very different exhibition. – Washington Post
United States of America
U.S. intelligence agencies collecting e-mail and other communications under an updated surveillance statute have violated Americans’ constitutional right to privacy at least once, a senior intelligence official acknowledged Friday. – Washington Post
Overseas trips by candidates have almost become an expected part of the “I can be president” process. President Obama and his 2008 rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, each ventured across the Atlantic before their November face-off. But there are risks as well as potential rewards from a trip abroad. Here are some of each – New York Times
The leaders of the House Intelligence Committee criticized Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — a member of the panel — for circulating a letter earlier this week urging an investigation into efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood to secretly infiltrate the upper echelons of the federal government. – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room
Democrats are latching onto some early Bain Capital investors’ alleged family ties to funders of right-wing paramilitaries in El Salvador in the latest effort to hit Mitt Romney over his tax records. – The Hill’s Global Affairs
Former President George W. Bush writes: It would be a sad and terrible thing if the world chose this moment to lose its focus and will. Other countries and local governments in Africa can do more in providing resources and increasing funding — as the new government of Zambia is doing. But to continue the momentum in the fight against AIDS, America must continue to lead. Having seen the need and accepted the challenge, we can’t turn our backs now. – Washington Post
Latin America
More than two decades after Latin America’s last right-wing dictatorships dissolved, a new kind of authoritarian leader is rising in several countries: democratically elected presidents who are ruling in increasingly undemocratic ways. – Washington Post
One of Cuba’s best-known dissidents, Oswaldo Paya, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, died on Sunday in a car crash, government and opposition sources said. – Reuters
West Africa
In a significant expansion of the war on drugs, the United States has begun training an elite unit of counternarcotics police in Ghana and planning similar units in Nigeria and Kenya as part of an effort to combat the Latin American cartels that are increasingly using Africa to smuggle cocaine into Europe. – New York Times
East Africa
The Pentagon plans to provide small drones to Kenya, part of a new package of military assistance for key African partners to combat al Qaeda and al Shabaab militants in Somalia. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
A severe foreign-exchange shortage has thrown South Sudan—the world’s newest nation—into an economic crisis a year after it gained independence from Sudan. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
President Barack Obama has targeted the export of charcoal from war-torn Somalia, the sales of which help finance an al Qaeda-affiliated group, the State Department said Friday. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Somalia’s most powerful terrorist group publicly executed three of its members Sunday, accusing them of spying on the militants for U.S. and British intelligence agencies. – Associated Press
The United States said Saturday that it would cut military aid to Rwanda for the year, citing evidence that the country was supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The move is significant, coming from one of Rwanda’s staunchest allies. – Reuters
