Germany, Italy, and the United States pushed for a cease-fire in Libya after Egypt threatened military intervention. Additionally, the UN Human Rights Council launched a fact-finding mission to document rights abuses committed during Libya’s war (Associated Press).
In a joint statement with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, Germany and Jordan’s foreign ministers called Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank a violation of international law and said stopping it is a priority. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that other nations could sanction Israel or recognize a Palestinian state if he moves forward with annexation (Haaretz).
The Taliban has not met the conditions for the United States to withdraw its troops in Afghanistan by next May, the commander of U.S. forces in the country said. The withdrawal is part of a deal the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban (Associated Press).
A North Korean official issued a veiled threat to interfere in the U.S. presidential election if Washington “pokes its nose” into Pyongyang’s dispute with Seoul over anti-North Korea leaflets sent across the border (Korea Times).
Protests broke out across Lebanon after the value of its currency plunged, wiping out citizens’ wealth. Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for an emergency cabinet session today (New York Times).
The Trump administration warned that International Criminal Court investigators looking into charges of war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan will face sanctions, including economic penalties and travel restrictions. The ICC called the move an attack on the court that undermined the rule of law (New York Times).
Pyongyang pledged to bolster its military capabilities to counter U.S. threats two years after a summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. North Korea’s foreign minister said the country would never again agree to high-profile meetings with Trump that could be used for political gain (Associated Press).
Protests against the government’s handling of the country’s economic crisis continued over the weekend. Prime Minister Hassan Diab condemned what he called an attempted coup and effort to manipulate the country’s currency (Agence France-Presse).
The Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to hold intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar. A spokesperson for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said only the location of the initial meeting has been agreed to (Voice of America).
The head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran must provide inspectors access to sites where undeclared nuclear material may have been used or stored. He said Iran has denied access to two sites for more than four months and that it refused to engage in discussions for almost a year (Associated Press).