Key Storylines
- AFRICA: The interim government in Libya’s east resigned, with street protests emerging across the country over poor living standards.
- AMERICAS: Tropical Storm Sally is set to turn into a Category 2 hurricane as it heads towards the US Gulf Coast.
- ASIA: US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad is set to retire and leave the country early next month.
- EUROPE: Authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is visiting Russia and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking more financial and political support from Moscow.
- MIDDLE EAST: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib met with President Michel Aoun for further consultations, raising doubts Adib will be able to meet this week’s deadline to form a new government.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: TikTok’s owner reportedly chose Oracle over Microsoft for its US tech partner that could help the app avoid being banned from the US.
Top Story
- Japan: Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga wins party vote, all but guaranteeing him as next Japan PM.
- Members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected 71-year-old Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as party leader.
- Suga won a landslide victory, taking home 377 votes compared to his main rival former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida who only won 89 votes.
- Suga’s victory in the party leadership contest means he is almost certain to replace resigning PM Abe as Japan’s next Prime Minister.
- During campaigning for the party’s leadership contest, Suga, who is considered to be a loyal aide of the outgoing Abe, promised to maintain Abe’s key economic and foreign policies.
- The lower house of Japan’s parliament, which is dominated by Suga’s Liberal Democratic Party, is expected to officially elect Suga as the next Prime Minister on Wednesday.
- Reporting: Kyodo, AP, BBC, Reuters, DPA, NYT, AFP, WaPo
Africa
- Region: Uganda and Tanzania agreed to an oil pipeline deal worth $3.5 billion that will see the construction of a pipeline connecting Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s port of Tanga. (BBC)
- Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed opened new facility producing coronavirus testing kits made by BGI Health Ethiopia, a joint venture with a Chinese company. (AP)
- Libya: The interim government in the country’s east resigned, with street protests emerging across the country over poor living standards. (BBC)
Americas
- Argentina: Economy Minister Martin Guzman said the government will seek to avoid repayments to the IMF between 2021-24, amid negotiations for a new deal between Buenos Aires and the lender. (Reuters)
- Peru: A bid to remove President Martin Vizcarra from office by the opposition-led Congress hit a stumbling block after Cesar Acuna, the leader of the second-largest party in Congress, said Vizcarra’s removal would “aggravate” the country’s already fragile situation as it reels from the coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
- United States: Tropical Storm Sally is set to turn into a Category 2 hurricane as it heads toward the country’s Gulf Coast. (AP)
Asia
- China: US Ambassador to Beijing Terry Branstad is set to retire and leave the country early next month. (Reuters)
- India: Parliament started a new 18-day session after a five-month break, amid the country facing the world’s largest surge in coronavirus cases, a free-falling economy and increasing tensions with China. (AP)
- Indonesia: Capital city Jakarta started its two weeks of social restrictions to quell a surge in new coronavirus cases. (AP)
Europe
- Region: The German government said laboratories in Sweden and France independently confirmed that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent. (Reuters)
- Region: Authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is visiting Russia and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking more financial and political support from Moscow. (AP)
- Region: European Union officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council Charles Michel, are set to hold a high-level online conference with senior Chinese officials. (DPA)
- Region: Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the departure of Turkish seismic research ship, the Oruc Reis, from the Eastern Mediterranean a “positive first step”, while Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the ship’s departure did not mean Ankara was “giving up on our rights there”. (BBC)
- United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a lawmakers rebellion over the Internal Market Bill that breaks international law by breaching parts of a Brexit agreement. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Iran: The European Union joined international condemnation of Tehran’s execution of wrestler Navid Afkari. (Reuters)
- Israel: With the country facing a continued surge in new coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new coronavirus lockdown that will see the closure of schools, hotels, malls, restaurants and other parts of the country’s economy. (AP)
- Lebanon: Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib met with President Michel Aoun for further consultations, raising doubts Adib will be able to meet this week’s deadline to form a new government. (Reuters)
Tech & Communications
- Social Media: TikTok’s owner reportedly chose Oracle over Microsoft for its US tech partner that could help the app avoid being banned from the US. (AP)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes:
- Tropical Storm Sally
- Location: 175 miles SE of Biloxi, Mississippi
- Wind: 60 mph
- Movement: W-NW at 8 mph
- Map
- Tropical Storm Sally
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 14SEP20: 29,026,240
- Total Recovered Cases as of 14SEP20: 19,644,664
- Deaths as of 14SEP20: 924,643
- 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 (15SEP20)
- Global: The 75th session of the UN General Assembly will open, with many speeches expected to be delivered virtually.
- Global: The UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Yemen.
- Global: The mandate of the UN’s Support Mission for Libya is set to expire, unless renewed.
- Global: The UN will hold a virtual launch for its Fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO5).
- Global: The International Press Institute will hold its 2020 World Congress virtually. (to 08OCT)
- Asia: The Asian Development Bank is expected to release an update to its annual Asian Development Outlook.
- Europe: Belarusian and Russian armed forces will hold military exercises in Belarus.
- Europe: The European Parliament will hold a plenary session. (to 17SEP)
- Middle East: Delegations from Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the UAE, led by UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed, are scheduled to be hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House, where they will sign the deal normalizing relations between them. Also attending this ceremony will be Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, who will sign a similar but separate agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Algeria: A court will deliver its ruling on journalist Khaled Drareni’s appeal against his recent three-year prison sentence.
- China: The government is expected to release data on economic developments in the country in the month of August.
- Greece: The Economist will hold its 24th Roundtable with the Greek government in Athens, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis, Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Hatzidakis, and opposition leader Alexis Tsipras all set to attend, with Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides expected to attend virtually. (to 16SEP)
- Iraq: The UN’s Committee on Enforced Disappearances will hold a special dialogue with the government to discuss enforced disappearances in the country.
- Japan: The opposition parties Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People will hold a convention to complete their merger.
- Lebanon: The final day of the deadline that government officials gave to France for Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib to name his new government.
- The Netherlands: Foreign Minister Stef Blok will discuss the future of US-Europe cooperation in a virtual event hosted by the Heritage Foundation.
- The Netherlands: King Willem-Alexander will deliver his annual Troonrede address inaugurating the new parliamentary year and outlining government policy for the year ahead.
- Pakistan: Schools are expected to be reopened, following their closure due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
- United States: President Donald Trump will take part in an ABC News live town hall.
- United States: The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee will hold a meeting. (to 16SEP)
- United States: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss his recent Central and Eastern Europe visit, as well as the response of European countries to China, in an event hosted by the Atlantic Council.
- United States: A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hold a virtual hearing on the health, economic, and political challenges that Latin America and the Caribbean face.
- United States: South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Mying-hee to visit and discuss her WTO leadership bid and South Korea-US economic ties. (to 18SEP)
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