Latest news for 17 July 2025

SYRIA

Not now, neighbour.

Syria’s leader (al-Sharaa) has withdrawn his troops from sectarian violence in the south, after Israel hit his Damascus defence ministry citing claims his forces have been targeting the Druze minority. Al-Sharaa is accusing Israel of trying to keep Syria weak, as word emerges of a possible sectarian ceasefire in the area. (CNN)

ESWATINI

Short stay.

The tiny African kingdom of Eswatini has announced it’s sending five US deportees to their home countries (Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Yemen, and Cuba), in what’s America’s first third-country deportation since the Supreme Court’s green-light. (NYT)

Comment: The idea is to get the deportees (all felons in this instance) to self-deport to their countries of origin, which otherwise refuse to accept them involuntarily. But we’re curious what the US has offered Eswatini to play middle man — the deal is classified, but we’re guessing it’s a mix of economic incentives plus political support (the ruling family has no shortage of critics at home and abroad).

SOUTH KOREA

Dead spy chief on trial.

A court has kicked off the retrial of former spy chief Kim Jae-gyu, who was executed in 1980 after shooting then-autocrat Park Chung-hee dead in 1979. The assassin’s family wants him remembered not as a power-hungry traitor, but a hero. (Yonhap)

UKRAINE

Everyday I’m (re)shufflin’.

President Zelensky has appointed 39-year-old Yuliia Svyrydenko as his new prime minister, promoting her from deputy PM after she played a key role in closing the minerals deal with the US and getting bilateral ties back on track. (AP)Comment: This broader shuffle potentially solves other problems, with word his defence minister might now replace Ukraine’s current ambassador to the US, who’s been unpopular with Trump’s team since arranging last year’s Zelensky visit to the electoral battleground state of Pennsylvania.

AUSTRALIA

Don’t put words in my mouth.

Responding to state media reporting on his meeting with Xi Jinping, Australia’s Anthony Albanese has clarified that Australia seeks no change to the status quo on Taiwan. Meanwhile, China’s outlets seem to have glossed over what Albanese did say, like raising concerns about China’s recent live fire drills off Australia’s coast, and the plight of a long-detained Australian. (SBS)

Comment: Governments traditionally work together on a joint press release for high-level meetings, but it’s tricky with China given there are topics it doesn’t want its own people to know about (like the ones Albanese raised with Xi). So the reality of a meeting with China these days is both sides often race to get their own version of the discussion out first, hoping to shape public discourse in their own favour.

ZIMBABWE

Lithium fever.

Zimbabwe’s state-owned miner is planning a new $250M lithium processing plant in partnership with two unnamed China-based companies. (BI Africa)Comment: This is the kind of deal Zimbabwe had in mind when it first banned the export of raw lithium in 2022. A tighter ban on semi-processed concentrate is due to kick in from 2027, but the country is setting its sights even higher up the supply chain: it just announced successful testing of its own lithium battery.

CUBA

You can’t say that.

The island’s labour minister has resigned after claiming there were no beggars in Cuba, only people “pretending to be beggars to make easy money”. Her comments sparked outrage in a nation still facing an economic crisis. (BBC)