Ethiopia
Things are moving very fast between Ethiopia and Eritrea and a disastrous war may be looming. Ethiopia today informed the U.N. Security Council that Eritrea was conducting an “all-out invasion” of its territory to which it had no choice but to respond, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The letter follows two weeks of fighting between Ethiopian government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the local authority in the Tigray region, which borders Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998 to 2000 in which up to 300,000 people were killed. Landlocked Ethiopia has made several bellicose statements in recent years, saying it must have access to the sea. Eritrea has a long coastline along the increasingly contested and strategic Red Sea.
More from Reuters here.
Brazil
The Brazilian Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant for Eduardo Bolsonaro, a brother of presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, in a move that is sure to add more fire to an already red-hot contest. The warrant, issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, comes just weeks before a runoff between incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro, who is the favorite. The Supreme Court in June convicted Eduardo Bolsonaro of lobbying the U.S. to interfere in the trial of his father, former right-wing president and Donald Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Eswatini
The leader of Eswatini, King Mswati III, today vowed to strengthen his small country’s “enduring friendship” with Taiwan, while on a reciprocal visit to Taipei after Taiwan’s president traveled to Eswatini in May despite Chinese attempts to thwart the trip. Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, is Taiwan’s only ally in Africa and one of only 12 small nations, mostly in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific, that have diplomatic relations with the self-governing island that Beijing claims is part of its territory. In April, Taiwan accused China of pressuring three African countries to refuse overflight permission for President Lai Ching-te. He later made a surprise trip in what is often referred to as an “arrive, then announce” approach, ordinarily used by leaders visiting war zones.
More from Reuters here.