Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s Islamist Ennahda party, postponed a council meeting after senior members called for his resignation over his handling of the political crisis.
- AMERICAS: Peru’s Economy and Finance Minister Pedro Francke said the new government of President Pedro Castillo will implement an economic policy that will promote private and public investment.
- ASIA: Myanmar’s military leader declared himself prime minister and said he would lead the country under a state of emergency until elections are held in 2023.
- EUROPE: The death toll from wildfires on Turkey’s southern coast rose to eight as firefighters for a fifth day attempt to contain blazes still raging in coastal beach towns.
- MIDDLE EAST: Iran’s outgoing president Hassan Rouhani admitted that his nation “did not tell part of the truth” to its people during his eight-year tenure.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: YouTube has blocked Sky News Australia for a week because of its coronavirus coverage.
Top Story
- North Korea: Pyongyang Warned Seoul about conducting military drills with the United States.
- Pyongyang has warned Seoul against holding joint military exercises with the US days after direct communication channels were restored between the two countries.
- Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, said that if South Korea carries out a planned joint military exercise with the United States it will damage the ability for the two Koreas to restore diplomatic ties.
- In a statement, Kim Yo-Jong called the drills scheduled for next month an “undesirable prelude which seriously undermines the will of the top leaders of the North and the South wishing to see a step taken toward restoring mutual trust and which further beclouds the way ahead of North-South relations.”
- The statement carried out by Kim Jong-Un’s sister may be a signal aimed at Seoul to convince Washington to make concessions while nuclear diplomacy remains at a stalemate.
- Reporting: DPA, Reuters, CNBC, AP
Africa
- Morocco: King Mohammed IV urged Algeria to work with Rabat towards the normalization of ties between the two North African countries. (Xinhua)
- Zambia: President Edgar Lungu deployed the army and two defense wings to help police curb the violence in the run-up to the August 12 elections. (Xinhua)
- Tunisia: Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the country’s Islamist Ennahda party, postponed a council meeting after senior members called for his resignation over his handling of the political crisis. (Reuters)
- Madagascar: Twenty-one people, including five generals and several active police officers were arrested and are now being investigated over last month’s foiled assassination of the country’s president Andry Rajoelina. (BBC)
Americas
- Colombia: The country’s attorney general’s office charged former army commander General Mario Montoya for overseeing 104 extrajudicial executions. (Reuters)
- Mexico: Citizens began to vote on whether to probe five of the country’s former leaders in a referendum championed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the midst of low turnout. (Reuters)
- Peru: Economy and Finance Minister Pedro Francke said the new government of President Pedro Castillo will implement an economic policy that will promote private and public investment. (Xinhua)
- Cuba: The Country set a new record of 9,747 cases and 87 deaths from COVID-19, taking the total number of infections to 394,343 and the death toll to 2,845. (Xinhua)
Asia
- India: The country assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the month of August, with meetings on maritime security, technology, and peacekeeping being held during its tenure. (Xinhua)
- Afghanistan: The Taliban is increasingly putting pressure on some of the country’s largest cities, hitting transit hubs and pushing towards urban areas for the first time in almost two decades. (Washington Post)
- Myanmar: The country’s military leader declared himself prime minister and said he would lead the country under a state of emergency until elections are held in 2023. (AP)
- New Zealand: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern apologized for the 1970s immigration raids that targeted Pacific Islanders and expressed the government’s “sorrow, remorse and regret” over the raids. (NPR)
- Australia: A snap three-day lockdown in Brisbane will be extended until Sunday as officials asked for more time to curb an outbreak of the Delta variant. (Reuters)
Europe
- Germany: Thousands of people took to the streets of Berlin, including those from the Querdenken (Lateral Thinking) movement to demonstrate against the government’s anti-coronavirus measures. (DPA)
- France: Police in Paris used tear gas as thousands of protesters demonstrated to denounce plans for vaccine health passes. (Washington Post)
- Turkey: The death toll from wildfires on the country’s southern coast rose to eight as firefighters for a fifth day attempt to contain blazes still raging in coastal beach towns. (Reuters)
- Italy: The region of Lazio reported that its health system, which manages COVID-19 vaccination appointments, was attacked, and shut down by hackers. (Xinhua)
Middle East
- Iran: The country’s outgoing president Hassan Rouhani admitted that his nation “did not tell part of the truth” to its people during his eight-year tenure. (AP)
- Israel: A court will decide the fate of Palestinians facing eviction in East Jerusalem which has become a center of focus for international attention. (BBC)
- Syria: President Bashar al-Assad appointed Hussein Arnous as prime minister and ordered him to form a new government. (Xinhua)
- Lebanon: Security authorities said that three people were killed in an ambush on Shi’ite mourners in a town south of Beirut. (Reuters)
Tech & Communications
- Media: YouTube has blocked Sky News Australia for a week because of its coronavirus coverage. (DPA)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 02AUG21)
- Confirmed cases: 198,385,991
- Deaths: 4,225,602
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 02AUG21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (03AUG21)
- Canada: Huawei CFO extradition case hearings resume in Canada.
- United States: President Biden meets Latino community leaders and speaks on increasing vaccinations.
- Asia: ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (Virtual). (To AUG 07)
- Barbados: Emancipation Day.
- British Virgin Islands: Emancipation Tuesday.
- Guinea-Bissau: Pidjiguiti Day.
- Niger: Independence Day
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