17SEP21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Guinean junta leaders and called for new elections within six months, as well as the release of ousted president Alpha Conde.
AMERICAS: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he would attend the UN General Assembly despite being unvaccinated, defying New York City authorities.
ASIA: China’s finance ministry announced a seven-month extension of tariff exemptions for 81 products imported from the United States.
EUROPE: The United States acknowledged that it only gave France a few hours’ notice of its nuclear submarine deal with Australia, which officials have called a “huge breach of trust.”
MIDDLE EAST: Senior officials from China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran agreed to step up communication and coordination on Afghanistan at an informal meeting in Tajikistan.
TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Facebook removed 150 accounts and pages linked to anti-lockdown demonstrators in Germany under a new policy focused on groups that spread misinformation or incite violence.

Top Story

Japan: Governing party begins race to pick Suga successor
Official election campaigning began for the new head of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, who typically becomes the national leader because of the party’s control over parliament.
Four veteran lawmakers, including early front-runner Taro Kono, are vying over policy steps to better fight the novel coronavirus and deal with an increasingly assertive China along with other challenges facing the country.
The vote on Sept. 29 will be determined by 766 ballots: 383 distributed to LDP prefectural chapters and the same number to LDP lawmakers.
This will be the first vote featuring two female candidates for the premiership.
The race follows Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s announcement last month that he would not run for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
WaPo, Kyodo News, Asahi Shimbun, The Japan Times, AFP

Africa

Ethiopia: The United Nations said many aid trucks have not returned from Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, and their disappearance is “the primary impediment” to ramping up the humanitarian response. (AFP)
Ghana: President Nana Akufo-Addo will travel to Guinea to meet its new junta leaders, a day after ECOWAS sanctioned them for ousting President Alpha Conde. (Reuters)
Guinea: ECOWAS imposed sanctions on junta leaders and called for new elections within six months, as well as the release of ousted president Alpha Conde. (DPA)
South Africa: The highest court stood by its order to imprison former president Jacob Zuma, accusing him of “litigious skullduggery” in a scathing ruling that accused him of undermining the courts. (AFP)

Americas

Bahamas: Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has conceded defeat to his challenger Philip Davis in the general elections on the Atlantic island chain reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and drop in the tourism-dependent economy. (Al Jazeera)
Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro said he would attend the UN General Assembly despite being unvaccinated, defying New York City authorities. (A FP)
Guyana: Saudi Aramco was awarded a one-year contract to market the government’s share of crude oil production. (Reuters)
Peru: Congress approved a bill allowing authorities to cremate the body of late guerilla leader Abimael Guzman. (France 24)

Asia

China: The finance ministry announced a seven-month extension of tariff exemptions for 81 products imported from the United States. (Reuters)
Indonesia: The country is worried about an arms race in the region after Australia announced plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the United States and Britain. (Reuters)
Myanmar: The junta will put former leader Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for corruption, adding to a list of ongoing cases that could see her jailed for decades. (AFP)
North Korea: The body of former prime minister Kang Song-san was interred in Sinmiri national cemetery nearly 15 years after his death. (Yonhap)
Taiwan: The economy minister expressed concern about China’s decision to apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). (Reuters)

Europe

Region: Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte will visit Poland for security talks on the two countries’ borders with Belarus. (WaPo)
Albania: Parliament voted in the first cabinet to be dominated by women since the multi-party system was introduced 30 years ago. (Reuters)
France: The United States acknowledged that it only gave Paris a few hours’ notice of its nuclear submarine deal with Australia, which officials have called a “huge breach of trust.” (NYT)
Russia: Polls opened for three-day parliamentary elections, in which Kremlin critics have been barred from running following a historic crackdown on opposition. (AFP)
United Kingdom: S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi cautioned the country that there could be no post-Brexit trade deal with the United States if the Northern Ireland peace agreement were destroyed. (Reuters)

Middle East

Region: Senior officials from China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran agreed to step up communication and coordination on Afghanistan at an informal meeting in Tajikistan. (Xinhua)
Iran: Fuel and petrochemical exports have boomed despite crippling U.S. sanctions, leaving the country well placed to expand sales swiftly in Asia and Europe if Washington lifts its curbs. (Reuters)
Saudi Arabia: The U.S. State Department approved a potential agreement covering up to $500 million in military support services to the kingdom. (Reuters)
United Arab Emirates: The country could invest a further 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in the United Kingdom this year after pledging 10 billion pounds this week to its investment partnership with the British government. (Bloomberg)

Tech & Communications

Social Media: Facebook removed 150 accounts and pages linked to anti-lockdown demonstrators in Germany under a new policy focused on groups that spread misinformation or incite violence. (AP)

World

Cyclones: Nothing to report
Hurricanes:
Tropical Storm Chanthu
- Location: 33.4N 129.2E
- Movement: ENE
- Wind: 45 mph
- Map
Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
Volcanoes: Nothing to report
Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 17SEP21)
  - Confirmed cases: 227,132,837
  - Deaths: 4,671,893
  - Countries with confirmed cases: 192
  - Sourcing: John Hopkins University

Tomorrow’s Outlook (18SEP21)

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