Key Storylines
- AFRICA: The South African State Security Agency reported that it had found no evidence to support a media report that Iran was planning to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to Pretoria.
- AMERICAS: Peru’s Congress voted against the ouster of President Martín Vizcarra in an impeachment trial that increased political tensions in the world’s second-largest copper producer.
- ASIA: A top US diplomat attended the funeral for former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui which featured a eulogy by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama before ending a visit overshadowed by Chinese military exercise
- EUROPE: The regional government of the Spanish capital city of Madrid ordered a lockdown from Monday in some of the poorer areas of the city and its outskirts that are home to about 850,000 people, after an increase in cases there.
- MIDDLE EAST: The US has ramped up its military presence in Syria after several skirmishes with Russian forces intensified tensions in the country.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Popular video-sharing app TikTok has asked a U.S. judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on the Chinese social media network, Bloomberg News reported.
Top Story
- United States: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died, causing tension over choosing a replacement before the 2020 elections.
- President Donald Trump is expected to put forth a nominee to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming days, ABC News reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.
- Hundreds of people gathered near the Supreme Court, singing in a candlelight vigil, and crying together as they mourned the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
- On Friday, President Donald Trump praised the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a “titan of the law” whose legal expertise and historical decisions have inspired generations of Americans.
- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed support that “there is no doubt” that the winner of November’s presidential election should pick Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement.
- The US Senate will approve a new judge nominated by the president; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says if a nominee was put forward before the election despite promises in 2016 against election-year nominees.
- Democrats break the ActBlue site’s donation record in the hours after Ginsburg’s death.
- Reporting: Reuters, AP, AFP, Reuters, BBC, NYT,
Africa
- Morocco: The nation recorded 2,760 new COVID-19 cases, the biggest single-day increase so far, taking the number of infections in the country since March 2 to 97,264. (Xinhua)
- Somalia: Witnesses claim a cargo plane has crashed at the international airport in Mogadishu. (AP)
- South Africa: The State Security Agency reported that it had found no evidence to support a media report that Iran was planning to assassinate the U.S. ambassador to Pretoria. (RFE)
Americas
- Peru: Congress voted against the removal of President Martín Vizcarra in an impeachment trial that increased political tensions in the world’s second-largest copper producer. (Reuters)
- United States: President Donald Trump said border restrictions between Canada and his nation because of the COVID-19 pandemic would be lifted “pretty soon,” just hours after the two countries confirmed they would remain in place until Oct. 21. (Reuters)
- United States: Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L halted some oil production and began evacuating workers from a Gulf of Mexico platform, the company reported, as a new tropical storm Beta approaches. (Reuters)
Asia
- Afghanistan: Gunmen shot and killed a deputy provincial council in Gardez city, the capital of eastern Paktia province, the latest in a string of targeted attacks in the country, the provincial government announced. (Xinhua)
- South Korea: New COVID-19 cases stayed in the 100s for the 17th consecutive day, with local infections continuing in the greater Seoul area. (YNA)
- Taiwan: A top US diplomat attended the funeral for former president Lee Teng-hui which featured a eulogy by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama before ending a visit overshadowed by Chinese military exercises. (AFP)
- Thailand: Protesters congregated in Bangkok for the largest rally so far in a pro-democracy campaign that has riled the government and the conservative establishment. (AP)
Europe
- Czech Republic: The nation’s daily count of new COVID-19 cases slowed to 2,111 after four days of growth, data from the health ministry showed. (Reuters)
- Spain: The regional government of the capital city of Madrid ordered a lockdown from Monday in some of the poorer areas of the city and its outskirts that are home to about 850,000 people, after an increase in cases there. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom: It is “increasingly likely” that lockdown restrictions will soon be needed to slow the coronavirus spread in London; the capital’s mayor has warned. (Telegraph)
Middle East
- Egypt: The nation confirmed 131 additional COVID-19 cases, raising its total infections to 101,772, said its Health Ministry. (Xinhua)
- Lebanon: The nation’s number of COVID-19 infections increased by 750 cases to 27,518 while the death toll went up by 18 to 281, the Health Ministry reported (Xinhua)
- Syria: The US has ramped up its military presence in Syria after a number of skirmishes with Russian forces ratchet intensified tensions in the country. (BBC)
Tech & Communications
- Social Media: Popular video-sharing app TikTok has asked a U.S. judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on the Chinese social media network, Bloomberg News reported. (Reuters)
World
- Cyclones:
- Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Teddy
- Location: 24.9 N 58.2 W
- Movement: NW at 12 mph
- Wind: 125mph
- Map
- Hurricane Teddy
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 19SEP20: 30,531,855
- Total Recovered Cases as of 19SEP20: 20,795,412
- Deaths as of 19SEP20: 952,404
- 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 (20SEP20)
- United States: US-imposed date for UN sanctions on Iran to return; the deadline was triggered by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on August 20; the UN Security Council has rejected the US sanctions campaign, and key US allies who were part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have also said no to Washington’s demand
- Germany: Mass demonstration against coronavirus hygiene measures in the western city of Dusseldorf
- Italy: Italy holds elections in 7 out of 20 regions: Venetia, Liguria, Tuscany, Marche, Campania, Apulia, and Valle d’Aosta; also, a referendum on the reduction of the size of the parliament in Rome and numerous local elections
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