26OCT21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

• AFRICA: A South African judge dismissed an application by former president Jacob Zuma to have the prosecutor in his arms deal corruption trial removed
• AMERICAS: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will introduce a Cabinet that analysts say should hone in on the fight against climate change.
• ASIA: China’s northwestern city of Lanzhou was placed under lockdown in a bid to curb a domestic COVID-19 spike.
• EUROPE: Germany’s new parliament will sit for the first time after last month’s election, ushering in a post-Merkel era that is more female, younger, and ethnically diverse.
• MIDDLE EAST: Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani pledged “equal citizenship” after some people were excluded from participating in Qatar’s first legislative elections.
• TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The US Department of Justice has accelerated its antitrust probe of Apple in the last several months, increasing the likelihood of a lawsuit.

Top Story

• Sudan: Protests continue after military takeover.
  • At least seven people were killed and over one hundred injured in protests against the military coup.
  • In the capital Khartoum, roads were blocked, shops were shut, phones were down, and the city’s airport suspended international flights.
  • General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan suspended key provisions of the constitutional document governing Sudan’s transitional period.
  • The US condemned the military takeover calling for the return to a civilian-led transitional government and suspended a $700 million emergency assistance package to the country.
  • Mariam al-Mahdi, the foreign minister in the government that the military dissolved, declared that she and other members of Hamdok’s administration remained the legitimate authority in Sudan.
  • BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, WaPo

Africa

• Region: Moderna said it will make up to 110 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine available for African countries. (WaPo)
• Guinea: Colonel Mamady Doumbouya appointed a prominent campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) as foreign minister. (AFP)
• South Africa: A judge dismissed an application by former president Jacob Zuma to have the prosecutor in his arms deal corruption trial removed. (Reuters)
• Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni said the hunt for terrorists in the latest bomb explosion in the country is still on. (Xinhua)

Americas

• Canada: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will introduce a Cabinet that analysts say should hone in on the fight against climate change. (Reuters)
• Honduras: Health authorities reported that over 8,000 Nicaraguans have crossed the border to receive COVID-19 vaccines as supplies ran low in their country. (Reuters)
• Mexico: Health authorities in Mexico City and Baja California began inoculating at-risk minors aged 12 to 17 with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (AFP)
• Peru: Congress postponed its confirmation vote on the country’s new Cabinet to November 4 following the sudden death of lawmaker Fernando Herrera Mamani. (Reuters)

Asia

• China: The northwestern city of Lanzhou was placed under lockdown in a bid to curb a domestic COVID-19 spike. (AFP)
• Hong Kong: Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the city will tighten coronavirus travel restrictions to bring it more in line with the Chinese mainland. (AFP)
• Japan: A panel led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will compile a proposal in early November for a stimulus package aimed at cushioning the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
• Myanmar: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named former undersecretary-general Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore as the new special envoy for the country. (AP)
• South Korea: A Seoul hospital said former President Roh Tae-woo died at the age of 88. (AP)

Europe

• Germany: The new parliament will sit for the first time after last month’s election, ushering in a post-Merkel era that is more female, younger, and ethnically diverse. (AP)
• Greece: The country blamed Turkey for a migrant boat sinking in the Aegean that claimed the lives of four children. (AFP)
• Italy: An Italian nurse tried multiple times over the death of patients has been acquitted by an appeals court in Bologna ordering her release from prison. (AFP)
• Russia: The daily number of COVID-19 deaths in the country has reached another high amid a surge in infections that forced the Kremlin to order most citizens to not work starting this week. (AP)
• United Kingdom: The European Commission’s internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said that Brexit was a “catastrophe” for the country. (Reuters)

Middle East

• Iran: UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman reported that the country executed over 250 people in 2020, and at least 230 this year. (AP)
• Israel: A Foreign Ministry official said the country is sending an envoy to Washington amid a deepening rift with the Biden administration over six outlawed Palestinian rights groups. (AP)
• Palestinian Territories: Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye welcomed the European position that opposes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. (Xinhua)
• Qatar: Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani pledged “equal citizenship” after some people were excluded from participating in the country’s first legislative elections. (AFP)

Tech & Communications

• Technology: The US Department of Justice has accelerated its antitrust probe of Apple in the last several months, increasing the likelihood of a lawsuit. (Reuters)

World

• Cyclones: Nothing to report
• Hurricanes:
  • Tropical Storm Malou
    • Location: 19.5N 138.7W
    • Movement: NE
    • Wind: 60 mph
    • Map
  • Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
  • Volcanoes:
    • La Palma, Spain
      • Explosive activity continues
      • Erupting
      • Source
    • Global Disease Outbreaks:
      • COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 26OCT21)
        • Confirmed cases: 244,171,008
        • Deaths: 4,958,308
        • Countries with confirmed cases: 192
        • Sourcing: John Hopkins University

Tomorrow’s Outlook (27OCT21)

• Global: International Religious Freedom Day.
• Event: USIP discussion on Libyan elections.
• Event: Carnegie Connects discussion with former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.
• Asia: Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, virtual. (to 28OCT)
• Czech Republic: Visit by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
• Germany: Visit by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
• Iran: Conference on Afghanistan with representatives from Russia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Independence Day.
• Saudi Arabia: Future Investment Initiative Event. (to 28OCT)
• Turkmenistan: 30th anniversary of gaining independence from the Soviet Union.
• United Kingdom: United States to appeal High Court ruling to refuse extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. (to 28OCT)
• United States: DIA, CIA, ODNI, and NSA directors testify to the House Intelligence Committee.
• United States: Secretary of State Blinken speaks on ‘modernizing U.S. diplomacy’.

END