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, new footage suggests the Russian government may be arming Taliban militants in Afghanistan; French President Emmanuel Macron gets Libya’s two main rivals to agree to a ceasefire; a U.S. Navy surveillance plane is intercepted by two Chinese fighter jets over the East China Sea; and more.

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Americas

The foreign ministry of Panama announced the opening of its first embassy in China this week. This comes after the South American country cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in June, and is seen as a major victory for Beijing. The announcement was made as a delegation of Chinese business chiefs visited Panama to explore investment opportunities. Only 19 countries and the Vatican now recognize Taiwan. Several of those countries are in Central America, including Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. China refuses to have diplomatic ties with countries that officially recognize Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

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• Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has convened a national vote this Sunday to elect a group to rewrite the constitution in his favor as protests continue – Virginia López and Sibylla Brodzinsky, The Guardian

Central & South Asia

New photos and video footage obtained by CNN suggest that the Russian government may be providing Taliban militants in Afghanistan with sophisticated weaponry to assist in its fight against the U.S.-backed government. The videos show insurgents armed with sniper rifles, heavy machine guns, and Kalashnikov-type guns stripped of any symbols or insignia which could identify their origin. In one video, a masked fighter says he received the arms for free from over the border in Tajikistan. In another, a splinter Taliban group in Herat says the weapons in their possession were originally "supplied by Russian government sources." Moscow has repeatedly denied providing the militant organization with any material or financial aid, but maintains diplomatic ties with Taliban officials in order to push for peace negotiations with the Afghan government and to maintain security.

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• There could be war if conflict between India and China is not handled properly – Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Economic Times

China & East Asia

A U.S. Navy surveillance plane was intercepted by two Chinese fighter jets over the East China Sea this week, with one of the Chinese J-10 aircrafts coming close enough to cause the American aircraft to change course. The interception occurred 80 nautical miles from the Chinese city of Qingdoa. This marks at least the third time in recent months that a Chinese jet has buzzed a U.S. surveillance plane over the East China Sea.  China closely monitors any U.S. military activity around its coastline, and has repeatedly expressed displeasure with U.S. surveillance in the region.

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• Scandals threaten Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s grip on power – Daniel Hurst, The Guardian

Europe & Russia

After days of nationwide protests, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that he would veto two of three judicial reform bills passed by parliament. President Duda did sign the third bill, which gives the Justice Ministry control over local courts. The overhaul of the judiciary, combined with a drive by the ruling eurosceptic Law and Justice Party to expand its powers in other areas, such as control of the media, has provoked a crisis in relations with the European Union. President Duda is expected to introduce his own versions of the vetoed legislation soon, prompting the EU to threaten a halt to the country’s voting rights in the bloc if its far right-wing government gives itself the power to fire its supreme court judges.

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• EU divided on how to answer new U.S. sanctions against Russia – Robin Emmott, Reuters

Middle East & North Africa

After a meeting held by French President Emmanuel Macron, Libya’s two main rivals have agreed to a ceasefire and to hold elections early next year. Although no specific dates have been set for the proposed elections, Fayez al-Sarraj, Libya’s UN-backed prime minister, and Khalifa Haftar, the military strongman whose forces control large tracts of land in the east of the country, accepted that only a political solution can end the crisis and called for all militia to be brought under the reins of a national army under political control. While Macron has insisted that "civil war in Libya is not inevitable," many suspect that a ceasefire agreement will be difficult to enforce among militia groups who are not loyal to either side.

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• EU-Turkey talks fail to ease friction over detentions – Mike Corder, Washington Post

Southeast Asia & Oceania

Adding to a regional pushback against Chinese maritime influence, the Philippines has introduced plans to reopen a tract of the disputed South China Sea for oil and gas exploration. The plans, which were suspended in 2014 to prepare for the country’s case against China’s territorial claims before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, will allow the Philippine Department of Energy to restart drilling at Reed Bank, an 8,866 square kilometer tablemount west of Palawan Island, which The Hague ruled falls within an exclusive Philippine economic zone. Chinese officials have kept quiet about Reed Bank this month, though on July 12 a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said China was "dedicated from start to finish to negotiating with related countries to resolve disputes" related to maritime sovereignty.

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• Extension of Philippine martial law signals long fight against Muslim rebels – Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

Sub-Saharan Africa

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) announced Monday that the HIV epidemic is "coming under control" in  Swaziland. Swaziland’s government says about 27 percent of its population was HIV-positive in 2016, down from 31 percent of adults in 2011. New infections among adults in Swaziland have dropped by nearly half since 2011. According to the deputy director of health services for the Swaziland Ministry of Health, Dr. Velephi Okello, much of the success can be attributed to moving to a test-and-treat strategy, where patients are immediately placed on anti-retroviral drugs regardless of their health status, as well as the ramping up of medical male circumcision programs.

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• Congo rebel leader, wanted for crimes, surrenders – Saleh Mwanamilongo and Carley Petesch, Washington Post

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