06JUL21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

• AFRICA: Egypt said Ethiopia notified Cairo it was beginning to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir.
• AMERICAS: US President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington’s support for Venezuela’s Juan Guaido.
• ASIA: Six school students and three other people were arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb courts, tunnels and trash cans in Hong Kong.
• EUROPE: Former banker Viktor Babaryko, who sought to challenge Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in an election last year, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for alleged corruption and money-laundering.
• MIDDLE EAST: Iran accused Israel of conducting last month’s attack that reportedly targeted a civilian nuclear facility near Tehran.
• TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The Asia Internet Coalition industry group, which includes Google, Facebook and Twitter, warned Hong Kong that tech companies could stop providing services to the city if it proceeds with planned privacy law amendments.

Top Story

• Israel: Parliament fails to extend controversial citizenship law.
  • Israel’s Parliament failed to extend a controversial law that barred the granting of Israeli citizenship and residency rights to Palestinians from the occupied West Bank or Gaza who are married to Israeli citizens.
  • Parliament voted 59-59 on the extension of the law and the tight vote marked the first major setback for Israel’s new coalition government.
  • Critics of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which was first enacted in 2003 as a temporary measure, have called the law discriminatory.
  • Proponents of the law have called it necessary, as they believe that Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza were susceptible to recruitment by armed groups.
  • The vote means that the law is now set to expire at midnight today.
  • Reporting: BBC, NYT, AP, AFP, DPA

Africa

• Region: Egypt said Ethiopia notified Cairo it was beginning to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir. (Reuters)
• Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s party is leading in the early results of the country’s recent elections. (Bloomberg)
• Eswatini: The UN expressed alarm at the protest violence in the country and called for an investigation into all alleged rights abuses, including by law enforcement. (AFP)
• South Africa: Former President Jacob Zuma is said to be exploring all legal avenues following his 15-month jail sentence for defying an order to appear at a corruption inquiry. (Reuters)

Americas

• Region: US President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington’s support for Venezuela’s Juan Guaido. (AFP)
• Honduras: Roberto David Castillo, the former head of the Desarrollos Energéticos construction firm, was found guilty of collaborating in the murder of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres. (Reuters)
• Mexico: State oil company Pemex said the recent massive ocean surface fire near a Pemex oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico did not cause environmental damage due to quick action by the company’s workers. (Reuters)
• United States: Tropical Storm Elsa is expected to move near the lower Florida Keys today. (AP)
• Venezuela: A new UN human rights report accused the country’s security forces of a continued pattern of torture and enforced disappearances. (AP)

Asia  

• Region: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow backed ASEAN’s diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in Myanmar. (Reuters)
• Region: Tajikistan ordered the mobilization of 20,000 military reservists to reinforce the country’s border with Afghanistan. (AP)
• Region: Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said Tokyo would need to defend Taiwan along with the United States if the island nation was invaded. (Reuters)
• Bangladesh: The country’s exports increased by 15% in value in the financial year that ended in June, according to government data. (Reuters)
• China: Six school students and three other people were arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb courts, tunnels and trash cans in Hong Kong. (AP)

Europe

• Region: The Ocean Viking charity rescue ship was seeking a safe harbour in the Mediterranean after picking up almost 600 migrants at sea. (DPA)
• Austria: Right-wing politician and former Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache will go on trial today over corruption allegations. (BBC)
• Belarus: Former banker Viktor Babaryko, who sought to challenge the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko in last year’s election, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for alleged corruption and money-laundering. (BBC)
• Germany: An academic who ran a think-tank was charged with spying for China by exploiting the high-level official contacts made through his think-tank’s operations. (AFP)
• Russia: The wreckage of a plane that went missing was found around three miles away from the runway of its intended destination in the country’s Far East region. (AP)

Middle East

• Region: Iran accused Israel of conducting last month’s attack that reportedly targeted a civilian nuclear facility near Tehran. (AP) 
• Region: Iran said there was “good progress” being made in talks with regional rivals Saudi Arabia but added that some of the disputes between the two countries may take time to resolve. (Reuters)
• Iraq: US forces shot down an armed drone that was flying above the US embassy in Baghdad. (AFP) 
• Israel: The country agreed to supply 700,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to South Korea in exchange for a future shipment of vaccines from South Korea. (AP)
• Saudi Arabia: Transport Minister Saleh bin Nasser al-Jasser said the government will invest more than a hundred billion in airports, sea ports, rail and other infrastructure by the end of the decade. (Reuters)

Tech & Communications

• Social Media: The Asia Internet Coalition industry group, which includes Google, Facebook and Twitter, warned Hong Kong that tech companies could stop providing services to the city if it proceeds with planned privacy law amendments. (Guardian)

World

• Cyclones: Nothing to report.
• Hurricanes: 
  • Tropical Storm Elsa
    • Location: 50 miles SW of Key West, Florida
    • Wind: 60 mph
    • Movement: N-NW at 10 mph
    • Map
• Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
• Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
• Global Disease Outbreaks:
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 06JUL21)
    • Confirmed cases: 184,185,105
    • Deaths: 3,985,483
    • Countries with confirmed cases: 192 
    • Sourcing: John Hopkins University

Tomorrow’s Outlook (07JUL21)

• Global: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar will discuss plans for Turkey to operate and guard Kabul’s international airport in Afghanistan.
• Global: The UN will hold a high-level online meeting on countering disinformation.
• Americas: The Economic Ministers & Central Bank Presidents of Mercosur countries will hold a meeting.
• Canada: The Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly will be held virtually. (to 08JUL)
• Egypt: The Ever Given, the vessel that blocked the Suez Canal earlier this year, will be released.
• Germany: Dutch King and Queen Willem-Alexander and Maxima will visit and meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Guatemala: US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will visit.
• Israel: President-elect Isaac Herzog will be sworn-in.
• Ivory Coast: Independence Day – 1960
• Laos: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit.
• Lithuania: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit to attend the Ukraine Investment Conference.
• Myanmar: UN human rights chief Michele Bachelet is expected to brief the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in the country.
• Syria: Astana-format talks on the country will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan. (to 08JUL)
• United States: President Joe Biden will visit Crystal Lake, Illinois.
• Zambia: The burial of the country’s first president Kenneth Kaunda will be held.

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