Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Sudan summoned Ethiopia’s ambassador to Khartoum to inform him that 29 corpses found on the banks of a river abutting Ethiopia were those of Ethiopian citizens from the Tigray ethnic group.
- AMERICAS: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Acapulco, leaving one person dead, causing power outages as far away as Mexico City, and a tsunami warning has been issued for the Pacific coast.
- ASIA: Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi will announce a bid to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which if successful will make her the first female Prime Minister in Japanese history.
- EUROPE: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet at Ramstein U.S. Air Base for talks on Afghanistan.
- MIDDLE EAST: The United States voiced concern about the newly-announced Taliban government but said it would judge them by their actions.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: El Salvador’s historic adoption of bitcoin as legal tender was beset by teething problems, as an angry protest by mistrustful citizens, technological glitches and a dip in the cryptocurrency clouded the rollout.
Top Story
- Afghanistan: World reacts as the Taliban form a new government.
- The Taliban announced an all-male caretaker government drawn exclusively from its inner echelons giving no sign of an olive branch to its opponents.
- The United States is concerned over the track record of some of the cabinet members who will now govern Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
- Qatar said the Taliban have demonstrated “pragmatism” and should be judged on their actions as the undisputed rulers of Afghanistan but stopped short of announcing formal recognition of the Islamists.
- China said it is ready to maintain communication with the leaders of the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, calling its establishment a “necessary step” in reconstruction.
- No foreign government has extended diplomatic recognition to the Taliban, though Russia, China, Qatar, Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan have kept their embassies in Kabul open after all Western missions closed down last month.
- Al Jazeera, Hindustan Times, France24, Reuters, WSJ
Africa
- Region: Sudan summoned Ethiopia’s ambassador to Khartoum to inform him that 29 corpses found on the banks of a river abutting Ethiopia were those of Ethiopian citizens from the Tigray ethnic group. (Reuters)
- DR Congo: The World Health Organization (WHO) said an epidemic of meningitis has been declared in the country’s northeast, where 129 people have died. (AFP)
- Ethiopia: Forces from the Tigray region killed 120 civilians over two days in one village in Amhara region. (Reuters)
- Morocco: National polls opened to predictions of low turnout and fewer seats for the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). (AFP)
- Somalia: Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble accused the country’s president of “obstructing” a high-profile investigation into the fate of an intelligence agent whose disappearance sparked an outcry in the Horn of Africa nation. (AFP)
Americas
- Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro slammed the country’s Supreme Court and cast doubt on the integrity of next year’s elections. (Reuters)
- Guyana: The government has awarded Saudi Aramco a tender to purchase a portion of the country’s nascent oil production. (Reuters)
- Mexico: Flooding and a resulting power outage have killed seventeen patients in a hospital in Tula, Hidalgo. (BBC)
- Mexico: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near Acapulco, leaving one person dead, causing power outages as far away as Mexico City, and a tsunami warning has been issued for the Pacific coast. (WaPo)
Asia
- Hong Kong: Police arrested Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, the group responsible for organizing annual Tiananmen Square commemorations in the city. (Reuters)
- Indonesia: A fire at an overcrowded prison in Banten province killed at least 40 people. (Reuters)
- Japan: Former internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi will announce a bid to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which if successful will make her the first female Prime Minister in the country’s history. (Reuters)
- Philippines: The PDP-Laban governing party opened its national convention on Wednesday with delegates set to choose President Rodrigo Duterte as its vice-presidential candidate in upcoming elections. (AP)
- South Korea: Health officials are drawing up a plan on how to live more normally with COVID-19, expecting 80% of adults to be fully vaccinated by late October. (Reuters)
Europe
- France: The only surviving member of the group that carried out a jihadist rampage across Paris arrived in court amid high security for the start of the trial into the 2015 attacks. (Reuters)
- Germany: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet at Ramstein U.S. Air Base for talks on Afghanistan. (AP)
- Iceland: The world’s largest plant that sucks carbon dioxide directly from the air and deposits it underground is due to start operating in the country. (Reuters)
- Russia: A court plans to consider a request by Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in Russia, to be transferred to the United States to serve his sentence there. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom: Police lifted a cordon set up near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street office after officers saw an undisclosed item discarded nearby. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Afghanistan: The United States voiced concern about the newly-announced Taliban government but said it would judge them by their actions. (AFP)
- Lebanon: The caretaker energy minister said his country was working with the World Bank to secure financing for a scheme to import Egyptian gas to Jordan that will generate power to supply the country. (Reuters)
- Syria: Government shelling killed four and wounded more than a dozen in rebel-held Idlib. (AP)
- Yemen: Nearly 80 rebels and pro-government troops have been killed in fighting for the city of Marib. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: El Salvador’s historic adoption of bitcoin as legal tender was beset by teething problems, as an angry protest by mistrustful citizens, technological glitches and a dip in the cryptocurrency clouded the rollout. (Reuters)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report
- Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Larry
- Location: 26.5N 57.3W
- Movement: NW
- Wind: 115 mph
- Map
- Earthquakes:
- Acapulco, Mexico
- Magnitude: 7.0
- Depth: 20 km
- Map
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 08SEP21)
- Confirmed cases: 222,001,202
- Deaths: 4,587,674
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 08SEP21)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (09SEP21)
- Global: BRICS Annual Summit, virtual.
- Global: UN Security Council debate on Afghanistan.
- Event: Hudson Institute discussion on impact of anti-corruption efforts in Latin America on COVID-19 recovery.
- Event: Washington Post Live discussion on 9/11 with Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- Event: Inter-American Dialogue discussion on the Democratic Charter in the Americas.
- Asia: ASEAN Economic Ministers virtual meeting.
- Austria: Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Vienna.
- Europe: OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum Concluding Meeting. (to 10SEP)
- Germany: Meeting of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.
- Japan: Chrysanthemum Day.
- North Korea: Republic Day.
- Poland: Senate votes on controversial media ownership bill.
- Russia: Visit by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.
- Slovenia: Eurofi Financial Forum in Ljubljana. (to 10SEP)
- South Africa: Trial of former President Jacob Zuma to resume, postponed from 10AUG.
- Tajikistan: Independence Day.
- United Kingdom: G7 Interior and Security Ministers Meeting in London. (to 09SEP)
- United States: US-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue in Washington DC.
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