Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Human rights groups say Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s critics are being thrown in jail and denied bail.
- AMERICAS: Hurricane Sally continues to move closer to the US Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rains and surging water ahead of its expected landfall as a Category 2 hurricane.
- ASIA: An Indonesian patrol ship confronted a Chinese coast guard vessel that entered its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea and has remained there since for almost three days.
- EUROPE: Germany is reportedly set to admit an additional 1,500 migrants who are currently living in Greece.
- MIDDLE EAST: Iran warned the US to “not make a new strategic mistake and certainly in the case of any strategic mistake, they will witness Iran’s decisive response,” after US President Donald Trump threatened the country following reports Tehran plans to avenge the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Facebook says it is launching a new climate science information center to provide its users facts and resources about climate change.
Top Story
- Middle East: The UAE and Bahrain to sign historic deal with Israel at the White House.
- US President Donald Trump is set to preside over a ceremony at the White House that will see the historic signing of diplomatic agreements between Israel and the UAE, and separately Israel and Bahrain.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani will sign the diplomatic agreements for their respective countries.
- More than 700 people are expected to attend the ceremony at the White House.
- The diplomatic agreements will see both the UAE and Bahrain formally establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and will be the first such major agreement between Arab countries and Israel in 25 years.
- Prior to the UAE and Bahrain normalizing ties with Israel, only two countries in the region – Egypt and Jordan – had normalized ties with Israel.
- Reporting: Reuters, DPA, AP
Africa
- Libya: The UN’s migration agency said a boat with migrants on-board capsized off the country’s coast leaving at least two dozen people drowned or missing and presumed dead. (AP)
- Nigeria: Health workers in the country went on strike just one week after doctors staged a walk out, and are demanding hazard allowance for treating coronavirus patients. (Reuters)
- Zimbabwe: Human rights groups say President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s critics are being thrown in jail and denied bail. (AP)
Americas
- Region: The Chief Prosecutor of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro’s regime charged a US citizen, Matthew John Heath, with terrorism and weapons trafficking, alleging him of plotting attacks against Venezuela’s oil industry and electricity system. (VOA)
- Brazil: Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was charged with money laundering by the Operation Car Wash investigation’s prosecutors, less than a year after the Supreme Court freed him for a jail sentence for a different case. (AP)
- Haiti: Hundreds of police officers and their supporters, many of whom were armed, set cars on fire in the capital Port-au-Prince during a protest for higher salaries and the release of a colleague. (AFP)
- Panama: Police are investigating a mass grave in the country’s remote north-western indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé region, which they say contains the remains of people killed by a religious sect. (BBC)
- United States: Hurricane Sally continues to move closer to the Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rains and surging water ahead of its expected landfall as a Category 2 hurricane. (Reuters)
Asia
- Region: India says China is installing a network of fiber optic cables at flashpoints on their borders in the western Himalayas, despite high-level talks aimed at resolving recent military standoffs. (Reuters)
- Region: An Indonesian patrol ship confronted a Chinese coast guard vessel that entered its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea and has remained there since for almost three days. (AP)
- China: The US issued a new travel advisory warning against going to the country and Hong Kong due to the risk of “arbitrary detention” and “arbitrary enforcement of local laws.” (AP)
Europe
- Region: Germany is reportedly set to admit an additional 1,500 migrants who are currently living in Greece. (DPA)
- Azerbaijan: Leading opposition figure Tofig Yagiblu’s hunger strike in jail entered its second week. (Eurasianet)
- United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed the criticism of his plan to unilaterally rewrite Britain’s Brexit agreement with the European Union, calling the plan “an insurance policy.” (AP)
Middle East
- Iran: Tehran warned the US to “not make a new strategic mistake and certainly in the case of any strategic mistake, they will witness Iran’s decisive response,” after US President Donald Trump threatened the country following reports Tehran plans to avenge the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani. (AFP)
- Iraq: The military said it is stepping-up its cooperation with Kurdish Peshmerga forces in its fight against the Islamic State at the country’s border with Syria. (VOA)
- Lebanon: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that France’s attempt to resolve the country’s crisis would be in vain if it does not tackle the issue of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s weapons in the country. (Reuters)
- Saudi Arabia: Germany, Denmark and other Western countries expressed concern over the government’s detention of women activists and called for justice to be delivered to journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters)
- Syria: A US airstrike in the country’s northwest reportedly killed prominent Tunisian jihadist Sayyaf al-Tunsi. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Social Media: Facebook says it is launching a new climate science information center to provide its users facts and resources about climate change. (NBC)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report.
- Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Sally
- Location: 115 miles S-SE of Biloxi, Mississippi
- Wind: 85 mph
- Movement: W-NW at 2 mph
- Map
- Hurricane Sally
- Earthquakes:
- 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 (16SEP20)
- Global: The Environment Ministers of G20 countries will hold an online meeting.
- Global: The OECD will release its interim Economic Outlook report.
- Global: The UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Syria.
- Americas: The Pan American Health Organization is expected to hold a press conference on the status of the coronavirus pandemic in the region.
- Europe: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver an EU State of the Union address before the European Parliament.
- Europe: The European Parliament will hold a plenary session. (to 17SEP)
- Europe: Education Ministers of EU member-states will hold an informal meeting. (to 17SEP)
- 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.
- Japan: Parliament is expected to vote in favor of new Liberal Democratic party leader Yoshihide Suga becoming the country’s next Prime Minister.
- Mexico: Independence Day – 1810
- Papua New Guinea: Independence Day – 1975
- United States: The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will hold a meeting.
- 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)
- United States: CDC and HHS officials will testify to the Senate on the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- United States: The Senate’s Governmental Affairs Committee will discuss the authorization of subpoenas to individuals linked to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
END
