ASIA: Afghanistan and Pakistan will explore a “comprehensive solution” to their recent conflict, China said on Wednesday after hosting peace talks.
Both countries promised not to escalate and agreed that “terrorism is the core issue affecting the relationship.”
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of supporting the Pakistani Taliban.

RUSSIA: The Supreme Court ruled today that the Memorial organisation, which promotes anti-Soviet historical narratives, is extremist — effectively criminalising it.
The group was set up in the 1980s and has a mainly historical focus, campaigning to honour victims of alleged repression by the Soviet Union and running “topography of terror” tours that depict the Soviet state as a criminal entity.

UNITED STATES: Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is launching a new podcast to promote his eccentric healthcare views.
The Secretary Kennedy Podcast is billed as taking on the “lies” told about medicine in the United States and promises to “name names.”
Critics say it will be a platform for his vaccine-sceptic views in a context where he can’t be challenged by journalists.

ARGENTINA: MPs approved a law today allowing mines to open near glaciers.
The law amends the 2010 Glacier law, which designated glaciers strategic water reserves and banned mining in their vicinity. Now, regional governments will be given powers to loosen criteria, raising fears of a race to the bottom as they compete for corporate investment at the environment’s expense.