Global Beat is your weekly stop for news from around the world. Join us every Friday morning for important stories you should know about.

This week, several southern African nations declare states of emergency due to severe drought; Colombia’s FARC rebels agree to free their child soldiers; rising seas due to climate change threaten islands in the Pacific; and more.
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Americas

The Colombian government and the country’s Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels have reached an agreement to free the child soldiers held within the latter’s ranks. Last year the group admitted that it had 13 soldiers under the age of 15, a violation of international humanitarian law. The deal moves the government and the rebels closer to a peace agreement following decades of bloody guerrilla warfare that has killed 220,000 people and displaced six million more. 

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• DEA is investigating an aide to leading Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori for laundering drug money – Simeon Tegel, VICE News

Central & South Asia

Tibetan government-in-exile officials announced this week that Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay was re-elected, sparking renewed hopes that dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Beijing – which stalled in 2010 – will resume. It was the second election since the Dalai Lama stepped down in 2011. Tibetans voted from 40 countries.

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• This week the Obama administration announced it will be lifting sanctions against Burma. That’s a mistake – Matthew Smith and Tom Andrews, Foreign Policy

China & East Asia

The United States, South Korea, and Japan agreed to join forces to detect and track North Korean missiles, including data on missile trajectories. The three countries will hold a test drill on June 28. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department warns Americans against visiting the hermit kingdom.

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• After suffering three recessions in eight years, Japan’s economy is bracing for a fourth – Jeffrey Kleintop, Financial Advisor

Europe & Russia

The 10-day NATO military drill known as “Noble Jump” kicked off in western Poland this week. About 1,500 soldiers from Poland, Spain, and Britain are participating. On Thursday, NATO foreign ministers finalized the biggest military buildup since the end of the Cold War. A former deputy commander of NATO said Russia and the West are on course for war if Russia seizes territory in eastern Ukraine and invades the Baltic states.

Also check out:

• Vladimir Putin is being pressured to prepare for war with the West by Russian elites – Alastair Crooke, The World Post

Middle East & North Africa

The U.S. Senate passed a bill that would allow the families 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for the role it might have played in the devastating terrorist attacks. The White House strongly opposes the bill, but Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he expects Congress to override President Obama’s veto.

Also check out:

• Al Qaeda turns to Syria with a plan to challenge ISIS – Eric Schmitt, The New York Times

Southeast Asia & Oceania

Rising sea levels have submerged five small uninhabited Solomon Islands. Six other islands lost significant land, including two inhabited islands where villages were destroyed and villagers displaced. Australian researchers wrote that this is the first scientific confirmation of the “numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people.”

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• Idyllic Thai island Koh Tachai closed indefinitely due to damage from tourism – Kocha Olarn and Tim Hume, CNN

Sub-Saharan Africa

Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe have all declared states of emergency due to severe drought, as have seven of South Africa’s nine provinces. Mozambique declared a Red Alert, the highest level of national emergency preparedness, in its central and southern provinces. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has announced a major, 110 million Swiss franc, four-year initiative to support National Red Cross Societies responding to the drought that is affecting millions of people across southern Africa.

Also check out:

• Populations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remain at imminent risk of possible mass atrocity crimes perpetrated by armed groups – Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Stay informed. We’ll see you here again next week.