Four months after US-Israeli strikes killed him, Iran's 86-year-old supreme leader finally got his funeral over the weekend. But it was less casseroles and condolences, and more a regime flex for the ages, starting with…
Read this story2 July
BELGIUM
Belgium’s football body (with rumoured European backing to come) has said it’s “astonished” by FIFA’s decision to suspend a red card issued against star US striker Folarin Balogun, meaning Balogun can now play in today’s critical knockout against Belgium. The New York Times is reporting FIFA suspended the red card after President Trump made a call to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. (RBFA)
CHINA
After more than 250 days in custody amid a Party crackdown on his large underground church, prominent Beijing pastor Ezra Jin has now reunited with his family in the US. His release comes a few weeks after President Trump raised the case directly with Xi Jinping in Beijing. (NYT $)
SUDAN
The UN has warned of another catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, where the country’s notorious RSF paramilitary is besieging yet another city (al-Obeid), home to half a million people. When RSF forces besieged a city last year, they massacred 6,000 locals within three days of its fall. (UN News)
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur has introduced new import rules that effectively block many low-cost China-made EVs from the Malaysian market. (CarNewsChina)
AUSTRALIA
China has test-launched a nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a submarine in the South Pacific, just hours after Australia signed a security pact with Fiji. (Independent)
INDONESIA
Papuan separatists have claimed responsibility for the shooting of a US pilot who made an emergency landing in a remote area of Indonesia’s Papua province. (BBC)
TURKEY
Ahead of tomorrow’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkish authorities have arrested 100+ protestors in an anti-NATO march led by local communists. (Reuters)
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2 July
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