Mexico fired back in response to American President Donald Trump’s tweets demanding that the country pays for the border wall that President Trump promised during his campaign. President Trump said that it was necessary for Mexico to pay, due to high crime rates in the country. He also said that Mexico is being ‘very difficult’ in renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and simultaneously threatening to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Mexico has also released a statement saying that the country will not negotiate any areas of its bilateral relations with the US via social media.

Today Kenyans go to the polls in order to elect a president, members of its legislature, governors, and county assembly members. Tensions run high as this vote holds the potential of sparking ethnic violence that could be a continuation from a decade ago that left some 1,100 dead and more than half a million people displaced. More than 150,000 security forces have been deployed across Kenya’s 47 counties in an effort to ensure that voting takes place peacefully. Former US President Barack Obama has also chimed in, urging the Kenyan people to reject violence and ‘to work for a future defined…by unity and hope’.

A deserted army officer reportedly led approximately 20 individuals in an attack on a military base and acquired with weapons. The attack was an act against President Nicolas Maduro and his ‘murderous tyranny’. Of the 20, two were captured, eight killed and the remaining half escaped. President Maduro claimed the group has ties with the United States and Colombia. This comes soon after the dismissal of Attorney General Luisa Ortega, which, many regional states have sharply criticized the act as being illegal. The United States is accusing Maduro of creating an ‘authoritarian dictatorship’.

According to North Korean state TV, the country has successfully test fired its first long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that is capable of reaching ‘anywhere in the world’, just in time for the United States’ Independence Day celebrations. This launch comes just days before the G20 Summit in Germany, making this missile test the 11^th test in 2017. Russia and China have both made calls for North Korea to cease its missile and nuclear tests, as well as military exercises between the US and South Korea. 

Guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of the many disputed islands in the South China Sea, which China has accused the United States of a “serious political and military provocation.” The incident occurred near Trident Island, part of the Paracel Islands archipelago. While China asserts that this is an encroachment on its sovereignty and negatively impacts the peace and security, the United States says that their freedom-of-navigation operation (FONOP) was previously planned and had no aims in making any statement.

The African Union has pushed for Djibouti and Eritrea to remain calm in a border spat that, up to June 14, was monitored and mediated by Qatari peacekeeping forces. Following the withdrawal, Djibouti has accused Eritrea of occupying an area along the two countries’ border. Djibouti’s Foreign Minister has said “Djibouti is a peaceful country and we have prioritised diplomatic solutions, but if Eritrea insists in seeking military solutions, Djibouti is ready for that.” The African Union has said it will send a fact-finding mission to the border area.