1. Recently, the conflict between Afghan government forces and Taliban forces has become increasingly fierce, and the security situation has deteriorated, resulting in a large number of Afghans becoming refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says insecurity and violence have led to the internal displacement of about 270000 Afghans since January, bringing the total number of Afghan refugees to more than 3.5 million.

2. After rising steadily in the previous few months, inflationary pressure in the euro area eased in June, with an annualized inflation rate of 1.9% (the previous 2%). Euro zone energy prices rose 12.6% year-on-year, which was the main reason for driving up inflation in that month. The ECB said inflation in the eurozone would continue to rise in the second half of this year due to the gradual recovery of the global economy, but the phenomenon would be temporary. The ultra-loose monetary policy will continue to be implemented, including the 1.85 trillion euro emergency asset purchase program launched after the COVID-19 outbreak.

3. The British “Sky News” Australia channel reported on the 17th that before the United States, Australia and other nine countries held large-scale cross-border military exercises in Australia, a Chinese navy reconnaissance ship was approaching the Australian coast. It is reported that this is the second Chinese reconnaissance ship sailing to the waters near Australia recently. From July 15 to July 31, a total of 1800 soldiers from the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Britain, Australia, and nine countries, including France, India, and Indonesia, will conduct a biennial “saber” cross-border military exercise in Australia.

 4.According to the latest epidemic report released by the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 16th local time, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic area increased by 64.3% compared with the previous week, with the largest increase mainly in the 15-24 age group. However, at present, the share of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients remains stable, while the share of critical beds has declined for nine consecutive weeks.

5.On July 15, the South Korean team posted a slogan “Minister still has 50 million national solidarity and support” in the Tokyo Olympic Village, Japan, triggering a dispute between netizens of the two countries. South Korean media said that this sentence was quoted from the Korean anti-Japanese hero Li Shunchen’s “minister still has 12 ships” to show his determination to fight against Japan and defend the country even when there is a great disparity between the enemy and us. Japanese media called the move an “anti-Japanese symbol” and criticized South Korea for conveying political intentions through the Olympic Games.

 6.World Health Organization (WHO): despite the efforts of all countries, regions and the world, the new crown pandemic has not yet come to an end. The emergence of new, potentially more dangerous, more difficult to control variants novel coronavirus, and the possibility of global spread is very high, to contain these new variants of the virus will be more challenging.

7.New Delhi TV: the third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic is likely to hit India at the end of August, but it is unlikely to be as violent as the second wave.

8.The 19th ministerial meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers was held in video format on the 18th, and the participating countries agreed to gradually increase production from August this year.

9.On July 18, local time, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that after the kidnapping of the daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Afghanistan had recalled its ambassador and senior diplomats to Pakistan until the security threats were completely eliminated, including arresting and punishing those involved. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the decision was “regrettable” and expressed the hope that the Afghan government would reconsider. The report pointed out that at a sensitive moment in the peace process in Afghanistan, the incident dealt a new blow to the relations between the two countries.

 10.The three major indexes of US stocks closed sharply lower, with the Dow down 2.09% at 33962.04, the S & P 1.59% at 4258.49 and the Nasdaq down 1.06% at 14274.98.