Assange

• British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday signed an extradition order to send Julian Assange to stand trial in America. [Link] 
• Julian’s wife Stella vowed to fight the order. “We’re going to fight this. We’re going to use every appeal avenue,” Stella Assange told reporters, calling the decision a “travesty”. “I’m going to spend every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free, until justice is served.” [Link] 
• Assange’s brother said the Assange legal team’s appeal to London’s High Court of the decision to extradite him to the United States would include new information not previously taken to the courts, including claims made in a report last year of plans to assassinate him. [Link]

Russia

• Several Ukrainian officials claimed that Ukrainian forces used two US-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles to sink a Russian tugboat in the Black Sea. The claim has not been verified. Russian officials haven’t commented on the incident. [Link]
• Biden says, “Americans should not be going to Ukraine.” [Link]
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a trip to Kiev to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Johnson offered to launch a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days at the meeting. This is Johnson’s second trip to Kiev since the Russian invasion. [Link]
• A top aid to Zelensky said the president wants military “parity” with Russia. He said if we receive heavy weaponry soon the war could be won in three to six months. [Link]
• Turkish officials will discuss Ankara’s concerns regarding Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids at talks in Brussels on Sunday. Turkey is currently blocking the Nordic states’ applications. Turkey said a trilateral proposal sent by NATO was insufficient. [Link]

China

• Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “Trade over the first half of this year has been [in the tens of billions of U.S. dollars] and we can expect new records in upcoming months, which is a testament to the great cooperation between our two nations.” [Link]
• China launches its third aircraft carrier. It is Beijing’s first flat-top carrier. The carrier will not be deployed for years. [Link]
• Japan and Australia are planning to expand bilateral defence cooperation to be better equipped to respond to the common security challenges in the Asia-Pacific. The Australian Department of Defence “will increasingly engage with Japan on priority strategic capabilities, including space, integrated air and missile defence, and cyber”, a spokesperson for the DoD said. [Link]

Middle East

• An Israeli police investigation into the handling of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral in Jerusalem, where police attacked mourners and nearly caused the pallbearers to drop Abu Akleh’s coffin, concluded that the event amounted to police misconduct. However, none of the commanders overseeing the event will be disciplined. [Link]
• Israeli forces killed three Palestinians and injured several others during a raid overnight in the city of Jenin. An Israeli military convoy raided Jenin in the early predawn hours of Friday morning, and ambushed a car, firing dozens of rounds at the vehicle. [Link]
• President Biden tried to downplay his heavily criticized plans to hold talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by saying he will meet with the de facto ruler as part of a broader “international meeting.” [Link]
• US officials told CNN that Russia notified Washington before launching airstrikes against US-backed Syrian fighters at the al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where drone strikes were reported earlier in the week. [Link] The Wall Street Journal reports some US military officials are concerned that a miscalculation might escalate into an unintended conflict between the U.S. and Russian forces in Syria. [Link]

Africa

• Dozens of people were killed in fierce fighting between residents backed by Somali government forces and al-Shabab in central Somalia. Galguduud regional Governor Ali Elmi Ganey said the joint forces killed about 47 fighters from the extremist group. Residents in the town and officials said three children, a well-known religious scholar and three soldiers were also killed during the fighting. [Link]
• Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta dismissed fears that the tensions with the Congo could lead to war. Recently, a Congolese soldier crossed the border and was killed by Rwandan security forces, while two Rwandan soldiers were wounded. The foreign minister said his country was open to a proposal by the Kenyan leader to deploy a regional force to the Congo. [Link]