Four al-Shabab militants incarcerated at Mogadishu’s central prison were killed in a shoot-out with Somali security forces after the inmates launched an attack using weapons smuggled into the facility. Three prison guards were also killed, officials said. Another inmate is believed to have escaped and murdered two civilians (Voice of America).

A tent camp in northeastern Syria housing mostly women and children with allegiance to the Islamic State has recorded its first coronavirus case, according to humanitarian group Save the Children. The organization expects the virus to spread rapidly in the overcrowded camp (Al-Monitor).

After less than eight months in power, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government stepped down following mounting public pressure to resign after explosions devastated Beirut (NPR). Diab’s cabinet will act as a caretaker government until a new one is chosen, a process that has previously taken months due to disagreements among Lebanon’s sectarian political factions (Wall Street Journal). The government’s resignation follows mass demonstrations in which protesters displayed banners reading “resign or hang” (Vox). But the move increases political uncertainty in the country, which is already grappling with a multilayered social and economic crisis. It could further hamstring Lebanon’s financial recovery discussions with the International Monetary Fund (Reuters).

Lebanese officials have detained sixteen port staff workers and frozen the assets of seven port and customs officials amid an investigation of Tuesday’s devastating explosions in the capital city of Beirut. Meanwhile, Cyprus police questioned the Russian owner of the ship that brought Beirut the chemicals that caused the explosion (Deutsche Welle).

Thousands of Afghan leaders gathered in Kabul today to decide whether to release four hundred Taliban prisoners, a move President Ashraf Ghani said could lead to intra-Afghan peace talks within three days. But some legal experts say neither Ghani nor the group of leaders has the power to pardon the prisoners (TOLO).

Over the weekend, explosive-laden balloons were sent from Gaza into Israel, which the Israeli army responded to by striking Hamas targets in northern Gaza. A Hamas official said the explosive-laden balloons were meant to serve as a signal to Israel and international bodies concerning a lack of progress on a cease-fire agreement (Haaretz).

President Ibrahim Boubacer Keita appointed nine new judges to Mali’s Constitutional Court to aid in easing the country’s ongoing political conflict. Heads of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) have urged the judges to settle election disputes; however, the June 5 Movement, Mali’s main opposition group, maintains their demand for Keita’s resignation (Al Jazeera).

Floods killed more than 130 people and displaced more than 160,000 in the governorates of Hajjah and Hodeidah, according to the Houthi rebels. Yemen is already grappling with an urgent humanitarian crisis fueled by years of civil war (Deutsche Welle). 

A UN-supported donor conference attended by more than two dozen countries raised $297.8 million worth of aid that will be delivered directly to the Lebanese people. Criticism of Lebanon’s political elite has intensified since deadly explosions rocked Beirut last week, and protesters are demanding the government be held accountable for the blasts (Wall Street Journal). 

Afghan leaders endorsed the release of four hundred Taliban prisoners, and President Ashraf Ghani vowed to sign a decree freeing them. A Taliban spokesperson said the group is prepared to start intra-Afghan peace negotiations within a week of the release, which U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad expects to be completed within days (TOLO).