04OCT21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been sworn in for a second five-year term running a country in the grip of a nearly year-long war.
AMERICAS: Ecuadorian government minister Alexandra Vela urged the justice department to punish the perpetrators of the prison riot that occurred Tuesday at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil that left 118 inmates dead and 79 wounded.
ASIA: Fumio Kishida has been elected Japan’s new prime minister in a parliamentary vote and will be tasked with quickly tackling the pandemic and leading a national election.
EUROPE: Russia successfully test launched a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a submarine for the first time.
MIDDLE EAST: Taliban government forces destroyed an Islamic State cell in the north of Kabul after a blast outside a mosque killed and wounded civilians.
TECH AND COMMUNICATIONS: A Facebook whistleblower accused the social media giant of repeatedly prioritizing profit over clamping down on hate speech and misinformation.

Top Story

Global: Pandora Papers reveal the links of world leaders to secret wealth.
- Documents revealed that hundreds of world leaders and powerful politicians have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts, and other assets in the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history.
- The individuals tied to secret stores of wealth include King Abdullah of Jordan, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- King Abdullah II denied any wrongdoing in his purchases of luxury homes abroad, saying no public funds were used.
- Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is under pressure to explain a convoluted offshore structure he used to finance his purchase of a £13m mansion in southern France but denied any wrongdoing.
- The documents also show how ex-UK PM Tony Blair and his wife saved £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a London office.
- The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists obtained more than 11.9 million confidential files from 14 offshore services firms around the world.
- AP, Reuters, AFP, The Guardian, BBC, ICIJ

Africa

Algeria: The country refused permission for France to fly military planes in its airspace and recalled its ambassador from Paris in the wake of “inadmissible” comments attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP)
Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been sworn in for a second five-year term running a country in the grip of a nearly year-long war. (AP)
Kenya: The Pandora Papers found that the family of President Uhuru Kenyatta secretly owned a network of offshore companies for decades. (BBC)
Tunisia: Thousands of citizens protested in Tunis and other cities to support President Kais Saied’s consolidation of power. (AP)

Americas

Cuba: The numbers of daily COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in the country continue to decrease amid the government’s efforts to slow the spread of the pandemic. (Xinhua)
Ecuador: Government minister Alexandra Vela urged the justice department to punish the perpetrators of the prison riot that occurred Tuesday at the Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil that left 118 inmates dead and 79 wounded. (Xinhua)
United States: A large oil spill off the southern California coast left fish dead, birds mired in petroleum, and wetlands contaminated, in what local officials called an environmental catastrophe. (Reuters)
United States: Scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Medicine Prize for discoveries on receptors for temperature and touch. (AFP)

Asia

Japan: Fumio Kishida has been elected the country’s new prime minister in a parliamentary vote and will be tasked with quickly tackling the pandemic and leading a national election. (AP)
New Zealand: The country dropped its long-standing objective of eliminating COVID-19 amid a persistent Delta outbreak, and will instead look to live with the virus and control its spread as its vaccination rate rises. (Reuters)
Philippines: The popular mayor of Manila has registered his candidacy for the presidency in next year’s elections. (AP)
Singapore: The People’s Action Party defended a proposed law aimed at preventing foreign interference in domestic politics, which the opposition and activists have criticized as a tool to crush dissent. (AFP)
Thailand: The military said six day of gun battles between soldiers and militants in the south have left six people dead as troops hunt insurgents hiding in a swampy forest. (AFP)

Europe

Greece: A 58-year-old man has been arrested after he drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk in front of the country’s parliament building and threatened police. (AP)
Georgia: Authorities said jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili will have to serve out his six-year sentence in full and warned he risked fresh charges if he did not “behave.” (AFP)
Russia: Moscow successfully test launched a Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a submarine for the first time. (Reuters)
United Kingdom: The country warned the European Union it would trigger safeguard measures in their divorce deal if the bloc failed to agree to changes on transparent trade with Northern Ireland. (Reuters)
Vatican City: Pope Francis and other religious leaders are making a joint appeal to governments to commit to ambitious targets at the upcoming U.N. climate conference. (AP)

Middle East

Afghanistan: Taliban government forces destroyed an Islamic State cell in the north of Kabul after a blast outside a mosque killed and wounded civilians.(Reuters)
Iran: Germany rejected Tehran’s demands for the United States to release frozen assets as a condition for nuclear talks to resume. (Reuters)
Israel: An EgyptAir plane landed in Tel Aviv marking the first official direct flight since the two countries signed an historic 1979 peace treaty. (AP)
Oman: Cyclone Shaheen slammed into the country with heavy rain and winds, flooding streets, prompting evacuations from coastal areas, and suspending flights to and from the capital Muscat. (Al Ja zeera)

Tech & Communications

Technology: A Facebook whistleblower accused the social media giant of repeatedly prioritizing profit over clamping down on hate speech and misinformation. (Reuters)

World

Cyclones: Nothing to report
Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Sam
Location: 40.8N 48.7W
Movement: NE
Wind: 105 mph
Map
Tropical Storm Victor
- Location: 18.1N 43.6W
- Movement: WNW
- Wind: 30 mph
- Map
Cyclone Shaheen-Gulab
- Location: 23.8N 57.4E
- Movement: WSW
- Wind: 65 mph
- Map
Earthquakes: Nothing to report
Volcanoes:
- La Palma, Spain
  - Explosive activity continues
  - Erupting
  - Source
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
  - COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 04OCT21)
    - Confirmed cases: 234,987,662
    - Deaths: 4,803,145
    - Countries with confirmed cases: 192
    - Sourcing: John Hopkins University

Tomorrow’s Outlook (05OCT21)

Event: Stimson Center and the British Embassy Washington host discussion on COP26.
Event: Hudson Institute discussion on Iran’s ‘nuclear showdown’.
Event: Georgetown and Brookings host conversation with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg.
Americas: Inter-American Dialogue hosts Latin America Energy Conference.
Cambodia: Ancestors’ Day.
China: Chinese National Day Holiday. (to 07OCT)
Europe: ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers.
Honduras: Semana Morazánica.
Iran: Death of Prophet Muhammed / Martyrdom of Imam Hassan.
Israel: Israeli president to visit Ukraine.
Morocco: Indirect Senate elections.
Portugal: Republic Day.
United Kingdom: Conservative Party annual conference. (to 06OCT)
United States: Secretary of State Antony Blinken visit to France. (to 08OCT)
United States: ‘Facebook whistleblower’ testifies to Senate Commerce subcommittee.
United States: House Foreign Affairs Committee latest hearing on Afghanistan.
Vanuatu: Constitution Day.

END