Key Storylines
- AFRICA: A new report by the UN’s commission of inquiry for Burundi expressed extreme concern over Burundi’s new President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s appointment of senior officials who face international sanctions for alleged human rights abuses during the country’s 2015 political turmoil.
- AMERICAS: UN investigators implicated Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and other high ranking officials for crimes against humanity, citing cases of torture and killings conducted by their security forces who used techniques like electric shocks, genital mutilation and asphyxiation.
- ASIA: New Zealand fell into its deepest recession since 1987 as its GDP contracted by 12.2% between April and June.
- EUROPE: Police on the Greek island of Lesbos started moving thousands of migrants and refugees, who were sleeping on a roadside since a fire ravaged their previous camp, to a new facility on the island.
- MIDDLE EAST: The US is preparing to declare a restoration of all international sanctions on Iran, even as it faces international opposition over the decision.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The US charged a group of hackers linked to the Chinese government for targeting more than 100 companies, pro-democracy organizations and universities across the world in an attempt to steal proprietary information and digital currency.
Top Story
- Europe: Russian opposition leader Navalny was poisoned at hotel, his team says.
- Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team say a water bottle they collected from his hotel room in the city of Tomsk after Navalny fell ill, was tainted with poison.
- His team said traces of the nerve agent Novichok were found by a German laboratory “precisely on the bottle of water from the Tomsk hotel room,”.
- It was previously suspected that Navalny was poisoned at the Tomsk airport and not the hotel.
- Meanwhile, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Germany asked for its assistance in its investigation into Navalny’s suspected poisoning.
- Germany previously stated it had proof that Navalny was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent.
- Reporting: Reuters, DPA, WaPo, NYT, Reuters2
Africa
- Angola: The IMF is set to provide an immediate $1 billion to the country, and also increase the country’s total funding access by $765 million to help it tackle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
- Burundi: A new report by the UN’s commission of inquiry for the country expressed extreme concern over new President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s appointment of senior officials who face international sanctions for alleged human rights abuses during the country’s 2015 political turmoil. (AP)
- Ivory Coast: Former rebel leader and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro insisted his presidential bid was “irrevocable”, even though his candidacy was invalidated by a court. (AFP)
- Somalia: Money transfer companies located in the country reportedly shifted more than $3.7 million in cash between suspected weapons traffickers in recent years. (Reuters)
- South Sudan: President Salva Kiir fired his longtime Finance Minister Salvatore Garang Mabiordit Wol, as well as Erjok Bullen, the acting Commissioner of the National Revenue Authority, and Chol Deng Thon Abel, head of the country’s oil company Nilepet, amid a looming economic crisis. (VOA)
Americas
- Region: Mexico formally requested information from the US regarding the recent claims of migrants being subjected to hysterectomies at a detention center in Georgia. (AP)
- Brazil: General Eduardo Pazuello, who has no prior health or medical experience, was confirmed as the country’s new Health Minister amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, after spending four months in the position on an interim basis. (AP)
- Colombia: A group of indigenous protesters toppled a statue of Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar in the city of Popayan. (BBC)
- United States: Hurricane Sally made landfall along the Alabama-Florida coast, bringing with it what the National Hurricane Center called “historic and catastrophic” flooding. (Reuters)
- Venezuela: UN investigators implicated Nicolas Maduro and other high ranking officials for crimes against humanity, citing cases of torture and killings conducted by their security forces who used techniques like electric shocks, genital mutilation and asphyxiation. (AP)
Asia
- Region: China’s Foreign Ministry lodged a complaint with the US and said it would make a “necessary response” over the visit of Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach to Taiwan. (Reuters)
- Australia: Several of the country’s states are set to relax their coronavirus restrictions, as the country reported its lowest one-day increase in new coronavirus cases. (Reuters)
- New Zealand: The country fell into its deepest recession since 1987 as its GDP contracted by 12.2% between April and June. (BBC)
- Taiwan: US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft met with the country’s top representative in New York City, in a meeting Ambassador Craft called “historic”. (AP)
Europe
- Region: The European Parliament allocated new tax revenues to the European Union to help repay the bloc’s intended joint borrowing for a post-coronavirus pandemic economic recovery. (Reuters)
- Greece: Police on the island of Lesbos started moving thousands of migrants and refugees, who were sleeping on a roadside since a fire ravaged their previous camp, to a new facility on the island. (AP)
- Spain: The Supreme Court is set to consider Catalonian President Quim Torra’s appeal against a disobedience conviction barring him from public office for 18 months. (AFP)
Middle East
- Region: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Palestine to seize the opportunity for negotiations, after the newly agreed diplomatic deals between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. (AP)
- Iran: The US is preparing to declare a restoration of all international sanctions on the country, even as it faces international opposition over the decision. (AP)
- Saudi Arabia: The country reportedly has enough mineable uranium ore reserves to enable the domestic production of nuclear fuel. (Guardian)
Tech & Communications
- Cybersecurity: The US charged a group of hackers linked to the Chinese government for targeting more than 100 companies, pro-democracy organizations and universities across the world in an attempt to steal proprietary information and digital currency. (UPI)
World
- Cyclones:
- Tropical Storm Noul
- Location: 272 nautical miles East of Da Nang, Vietnam
- Wind: 50 mph
- Movement: NW at 17 mph
- Map
- Tropical Storm Noul
- Hurricanes:
- Tropical Depression Sally
- Location: 50 miles E-SE of Montgomery, Alabama
- Wind: 30 mph
- Movement: NE at 10 mph
- Map
- Tropical Depression Sally
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 17SEP20: 29,893,298
- Total Recovered Cases as of 17SEP20: 20,335,410
- Deaths as of 17SEP20: 941,345
- 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 11SEP20: 115
- Probable Cases as of 11SEP20: 6
- Deaths as of 11SEP20: 48
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
Tomorrow’s Outlook (18SEP20)
- Global: The UN Security Council will hold a meeting on Syria.
- Americas: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with CARICOM Secretary-General LaRocque in Guyana, to discuss US-Caribbean issues.
- Europe: EU ministers for internal market will meet to discuss the post-coronavirus pandemic economic recovery.
- Europe: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will hold a meeting in Berlin, Germany.
- Brazil: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to visit and meet with Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo in Boa Vista.
- Guyana: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to visit and meet with Foreign Minister Hugh Todd.
- Israel: The country’s second coronavirus lockdown will come into effect.
- Italy: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will meet with President Sergio Mattarella in Milan.
- United States: South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Mying-hee to visit and discuss her WTO leadership bid and South Korea-US economic ties.
- Zimbabwe: Booker Award-nominated writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, and 11 other people, to appear in court facing charges of inciting violence, which she was charged with after taking part in anti-government protests.
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