World News at a Glance

North Korea Keeps Building Missiles Despite U.S. Overtures

President Donald Trump has consistently touted the results of his North Korean diplomacy, insisting since his June summit with Kim Jong Un that Pyongyang is no longer a nuclear threat and noting that its missile tests have stopped. But like other assertions from the White House, reality has proved more complicated. North Korea has continued its work on missile and weapons programs since the leaders met, U.S. officials say, including manufacturing new intercontinental ballistic missiles at a facility near Pyongyang, the capital, according to one Defense Department official. And North Korea continues to produce nuclear fuel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told senators last week.

China’s Troubles Pile Up, and Xi Hears a Rare Rebuke

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, seemed indomitable when lawmakers abolished a term limit on his power early this year. But months later, China has been struck by economic headwinds, a vaccine scandal and trade battles with Washington, emboldening critics in Beijing. Censorship and punishment have muted dissent in China since Xi came to power. So Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, took a big risk last week when he delivered in an essay the fiercest denunciation yet from a Chinese academic of Xi’s hard-line policies, revival of communist orthodoxies and adulatory propaganda image. The essay has spread through Chinese social media, despite censors.

Struggling Iranians See Possible Lifeline in Trump’s Offer of Talks

Iran’s leaders cannot stand the thought of talking to the United States, and say President Donald Trump cannot be trusted. But Jamshid Moniri, a building contractor sweating under the Tehran summer sun, summed up what many ordinary Iranians think. “Of course we should talk to Trump,” he said Tuesday. “What is wrong with talks?" The day before, Trump, who withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran in May despite Iran’s documented compliance, said he was ready to sit down with Iran’s leaders “without preconditions.” On Tuesday, in Tehran, many say they would welcome any option that could ease Iran’s economic quagmire.

Israeli Law Shuns Druze Too

In mid-July, Israel’s Parliament enacted legislation that declares Israel “the nation-state of the Jewish people” and omits any mention of democracy or equality for all citizens. Israel’s tiny, Arabic-speaking Druze minority, a generally quiescent religious group of about 145,000 citizens for whom loyalty to the state is an article of faith, have denounced the legislation as a stinging insult and a betrayal. And now they are spearheading a swelling backlash against the law that is roiling the country and posing a stiff challenge for the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. Critic Rises in Pakistan

The rise of Imran Khan, a former cricket star who is Pakistan’s likely next leader, could complicate new talks between U.S. diplomats and the Taliban about ending the war in Afghanistan, officials said. Tensions between Pakistan and the United States were exacerbated in January when the Trump administration suspended nearly all U.S. security aid to Islamabad. But the relationship threatens to be further inflamed by Khan, who has voiced past support for the Taliban’s fight in Afghanistan, calling it “justified.” He also has accused the United States of recklessness in its use of drone strikes on suspected extremists in Pakistan, signaling he wants them to stop.

Afghan Army to Step In After Attacks From Islamic State

The Afghan army will take over security in the eastern city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan officials said Tuesday, hours after attackers overran a government refugee office there, killing 15 people. It was at least the 10th such assault on civilian targets this year. The assault was part of a series of attacks attributed to the Islamic State in or near Jalalabad, where the extremists have been mostly attacking civilians rather than confronting Afghan security forces. Officials were so concerned that a decision was made to hand over security for the area to the Afghan National Army, according to Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.

Tajikistan Attackers Purportedly Pledged Their Allegiance to Islamic State in Video

A day after claiming its first attack in Tajikistan, the Islamic State released a video on Tuesday that purports to show the five attackers joining hands and pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the terrorist group’s leader. The video was released by the Islamic State’s internal news agency and suggests that the attackers had at least a digital connection to the group. Using a Daewoo sedan, the attackers in Tajikistan ran over the group of seven cyclists on a scenic mountain road in Tajikistan on Sunday, killing four of them. Two were Americans, one was a Swiss citizen and one was a Dutch citizen.

Thailand Asks U.K. to Extradite Its Former Leader

Thailand’s military government is seeking the extradition of the country’s last elected prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who fled to Britain rather than go to prison for five years on negligence charges. Yingluck, who was forced from office in 2014, was put on trial in Thailand last year, accused of costing the country $8 billion by mismanaging a rice subsidy initiative while prime minister. She fled the country shortly before the verdict was announced, and the court sentenced her in absentia. It was unclear why the Thai government decided to issue the extradition request now, nearly a year after she fled the country.