U.S. relaxes China curbs. The U.S. government removed some export restrictions for three semiconductor design firms, dropping a requirement that they ask its permission in order to sell their software in China. Washington had enacted those curbs in response to Beijing’s rare earth export restrictions earlier this year, but both countries later agreed to deescalate trade restrictions during recent bilateral talks in London.
EU climate target. EU leadership officially presented a draft law to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 percent from 1990 levels by 2040. Plans for the draft target were softened in recent months by allowing countries to use carbon credits from overseas in their calculations. Climate action groups opposed such a modification. If the draft target is approved, it’s expected to serve as a reference for a separate 2035 climate target that the EU is due to present by November’s UN climate talks.
Pentagon strike assessment. The top Pentagon spokesperson said yesterday that recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites had set the country’s nuclear program back by one to two years, the latest in a series of U.S. damage assessments. Trump previously claimed the program had been “obliterated.” Iran’s foreign minister said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that the country’s key Fordow site has been “seriously and heavily damaged.”
Chinese FM in Europe. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with EU leaders in Brussels yesterday. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on China to end rare earth export restrictions and support “just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” while Wang said both sides should increase mutual understanding in light of “unilateralism and acts of bullying.” They also discussed nuclear nonproliferation, Brussels said. European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are due to visit Beijing later this month.
Bangladesh’s Hasina convicted. A court sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to six months in prison for contempt of court after she said that murder cases against her gave her “license to kill” in a recording that went viral on social media. She is currently living in India after being ousted from leadership last August. It is the first verdict in any lawsuit against her since the downfall of her government.
Russian official killed. Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy head of Russia’s navy, was killed in Russia’s Kursk border region, Russia’s military said. Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels said Gudkov and others were hit by a Ukrainian missile attack. He is one of Russia’s highest-ranking officers to have died in the war; Kyiv had accused him of war crimes, which Moscow denies.
El Salvador prison account. Lawyers for Kilmar Abrégo García, who was mistakenly expelled to El Salvador in March before being returned to the United States, said in a court filing yesterday that he was beaten, deprived of sleep, and psychologically tortured while in Salvadorian custody. The Trump administration is pursuing criminal charges against Abrégo García that he denies, while seeking to dismiss the lawsuit against it regarding Abrégo García’s expulsion. El Salvador’s government did not immediately comment.
Ruling against asylum ban. A federal judge ruled yesterday that a Trump proclamation banning asylum at the southern border overstepped executive authority. He wrote that Trump could not replace congressionally-approved laws and that asylum-seekers qualified as a class of people subject to nationwide decisions, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling against nationwide injunctions. The administration is expected to appeal. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the judge was trying to “circumvent” the Supreme Court and “the West” should restore its “sovereignty.”
