Key Storylines
- AFRICA: The leader of the Mali military junta government, Colonel Assimi Goita, vowed to establish an 18-month transition government, at the close of talks on returning the country to civilian rule following last month’s coup.
- AMERICAS: Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were shot multiple times, apparently in an ambush, while in their patrol car near a Metro rail station.
- ASIA: Peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government start officially on September 13 and will possibly include a discussion of a lasting cease-fire, according to chief government negotiator Abdullah Abdullah.
- EUROPE: Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins says the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is proof that the European Union must get more realistic about confronting Russia.
- MIDDLE EAST: Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighter jets attacked barracks and military sites of the armed Houthi movement in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, announced it had formed a research consortium with global partners to discover high-performance materials with artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies.
Top Story
- Russia: Local elections are underway in the nation, in a test for Putin’s United Russia Party.
- Nearly 160,000 candidates compete for seats in local parliaments, and Governments are also facing elections in many regions.
- Opposition activist Alexi Navalny has asked to undermine United Russia’s grip on regional power by urging his supporters to vote against it tactically before he fell gravely ill in a possible poisoning attempt.
- For the election, the lowest turnout – 15.94% was recorded in the Irkutsk Region, and the highest turnout was in the Jewish Autonomous Region – 57.89%,” according to the CEC information center.
- In a sign of growing public distrust, a nationwide survey by Russia’s most prominent independent pollster, Levada Centre, showed that more than a quarter of Russians – 29 percent – would participate in anti-government protests if held near their hometown.
- Reporting: BBC, Reuters, TASS, DPA
Africa
- Cameroon: At least six civilians have been killed and ten others injured in a suicide attack in Zeleved, a locality in the Far North region, according to several security sources. (Xinhua)
- Mali: The leader of the current military junta government, Colonel Assimi Goita, vowed to establish an 18-month transition government, at the close of talks on returning the country to civilian rule following last month’s coup. (AFP)
- Mauritius: Thousands of people protested in the island nation over the government’s handling of an offshore oil spill that has become the Indian Ocean island nation’s worst environmental disaster in years. (AP)
Americas
- Mexico: The total number of the COVID-19 confirmed cases in the nation increased 658,299, Mexico’s Health Ministry reported. (Xinhua)
- United States: Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were shot multiple times, apparently in an ambush, while in their patrol car near a Metro rail station. (AP)
- United States: A group of protesters blocked at least two buses chartered by the NBA from entering the Walt Disney World campus briefly, with the group saying it wanted LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and other top players to take notice. (AP)
Asia
- Region: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun has expressed Washington’s support for building peace on the Korean Peninsula at a regional security forum, his office reported. (YNA)
- Afghanistan: Peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government are to start officially on September 13 and will possibly include a discussion of a lasting cease-fire, according to chief government negotiator Abdullah Abdullah. (RFE)
- New Zealand: The nation reported two new cases of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health said in a statement, with one health worker testing positive. (Xinhua)
- Philippines: The country deported a United States Marine convicted of killing a transgender woman in the Southeast Asian country in 2014 after he was granted an absolute pardon by President Rodrigo Duterte. (Reuters)
Europe
- Belarus: Masked men in uniforms confronted a protest in Minsk attended by thousands of women demanding the removal of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. (DPA)
- Czech Republic: The nation reported its largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 infections for a third straight day, reporting 1,541 cases, according to Health Ministry data. (Reuters)
- Latvia: Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins says the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is proof that the European Union must get more realistic about confronting Russia. (RFE)
Middle East
- Region: Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighter jets attacked barracks and military sites of the armed Houthi movement in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported. (Reuters)
- Region: The United Arab Emirates’ Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have agreed to a memorandum of understanding “to work together across a range of fields,” the UAE’s WAM news agency announced. (Reuters)
- Oman: The government welcomes Bahrain’s decision to normalize relations with Israel, state TV reported. (Reuters)
Tech & Communications
- Artificial Intelligence: LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, announced it had formed a research consortium with global partners to discover high-performance materials with artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies. (YNA)
World
- Cyclones:
- Tropical Storm Sally
- Location:22.5N 43.5W
- Movement: NW
- Wind:40 mph
- Map
- Tropical Storm Sally
- Hurricanes:
- Tropical Storm Paulette
- Location:29.3N 60.4W
- Movement: WNW
- Wind:75 mph
- Map
- Tropical Storm Paulette
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 13SEP20: 28,778,319
- Total Recovered Cases as of 13SEP20: 19,469,198
- Deaths as of 13SEP20: 920,544
- Countries with Confirmed Cases: 188
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: DR Congo (11th Ebola outbreak figures from Equateur Province)
- Confirmed Cases as of 06SEP20: 106
- Probable Cases as of 06SEP20: 6
- Deaths as of 06SEP20: 48
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
Tomorrow’s Outlook (14SEP20)
- Europe/Asia-Pacific: EU-China virtual conference.
- Europe: EU-UK free trade negotiations to resume in Brussels.
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Grand Ethiopian Resistance Dam talks to begin.
- Belarus: President Alexander Lukashenko to visit Russia, meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Indonesia: Jakarta will begin a second COVID-19 lockdown.
- Japan: The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will hold a leadership election to choose a replacement for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- Pakistan: Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances mandate to expire.
- United Kingdom: Parliament to debate the Internal Market Bill.
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