Latest news for 23 June 2025

NETHERLANDS

NATO agrees on 5%.

Just ahead of NATO’s summit in The Hague this week, word is NATO leaders will endorse raising their defence spending targets to 5% of GDP. Spain’s leader only agreed after capitals added a bit of wriggle room to the language. (Politico)

Comment: Now comes the hard part: walking the talk. NATO chief Mark Rutte says 2025 will be the first year all NATO members meet their old 2% target.

SYRIA

Is ISIS back?

A suicide bomber has left 20 parishioners dead after an attack on a Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. Syria blames ISIS, which hasn’t yet commented. (France24)

COLOMBIA

Troops kidnapped (again).

Apparently following the orders of a Farc rebel offshoot, locals in the cocaine-producing Micay Canyon have reportedly kidnapped 57 Colombian troops. (BBC)

BELARUS

Prisoners freed.

US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg appeared in Minsk over the weekend, securing the release of 14 political prisoners including a key opposition figure. (Euractiv)

Comment: After stealing his seventh five-year term, maybe Lukashenko feels confident enough to release some of his critics. Or maybe with Western sanctions now really biting, he’s just willing to trade a few critics for some relief. Probably both.

SINGAPORE

A bold first move.

Singapore’s Lawrence Wong has landed in China, where he’ll take part in this week’s World Economic Forum summer conference. (Strait Times)

Comment: Long seen as a bellwether in ongoing US-China competition, DC will note that PM Wong chose Beijing as his first non-ASEAN visit since taking office in May. But we wouldn’t read too much into this just yet.

PANAMA

No protests for you.

Protests against social security reforms have morphed into unrest, prompting Panama to temporarily suspend constitutional protections in one province. There’s been damage to the area’s main airport, as well as to Brazil-owned banana giant Chiquita Brands, which recently fired thousands of striking workers. (AP)

DRC

Peace, but no cobalt.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has (again) extended its three-month ban on exporting cobalt (a critical tech input), citing a need to curb a recent price slump. Meanwhile, Kinshasa and neighbouring Rwanda have agreed to sign a US-brokered peace deal this Friday, aimed at ending decades of enmity. (Bloomberg $)