29SEP21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: Tunisian president Kais Saied named Najla Bouden Romdhane as prime minister and asked her to form a government.
AMERICAS: A gunfight among prisoners left at least 24 inmates dead at Littoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
ASIA: US Envoy Sung Kim said the defense pact between Australia, the United States and Britain (AUKUS) is no threat to Indo-Pacific stability and is not aimed at any one country.
EUROPE: British troops will start driving tankers to replenish empty pumps, as drivers queued again for fuel after days of shortages.
MIDDLE EAST: Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have met again in Iraq, as talks aiming to ease tensions continue.
TECH AND COMMUNICATIONS: The Russian foreign ministry said it would seek retaliatory measures against YouTube and German media outlets after the site blocked RT’s German-language channels for violation of its COVID misinformation policy.

Top Story

Japan: The Liberal Democratic Party elects Fumio Kishida as their new leader and set to become the country’s new prime minister.
- Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party elected former foreign minister Fumio Kishida as its new leader, setting him on course to become the next prime minister of the world’s third-largest economy.
- Fumio Kishida, who served as the country’s former foreign minister from 2012 to 2017, secured 257 votes in a runoff to win over his contender vaccination minister Taro Kono who received 170 votes.
- After the vote, Kishida told LDP lawmakers, “We remain under a national crisis. We must strive and continue our coronavirus response and forge an economic package in the size of dozens of trillions of yen by the end of the year.”
- The new party chief added that other policy areas that he would immediately work on after becoming prime minister were establishing a new capitalism, creating a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and implementing measures to deal with the nation’s declining birthrate.
- Kishida served as foreign minister for four years and seven months in the second administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and earned the second most votes after Suga in last year’s presidential election.
- AFP, Xinhua, Kyodo News, Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun

Africa

Mozambique: Human Rights Watch said Islamic State-linked militants leading an insurgency in the country’s north kidnapped hundreds of boys and forced them to join their ranks as child soldiers. (AFP)
South Africa: Investigators called for a former health minister to be punished and a senior official to face criminal charges over a $10 million Covid fund scandal. (AFP)
Sudan: The Movement for Preaching and Combat jihadist group claimed it killed six Sudanese intelligence officers in a Khartoum shootout that the authorities attributed to the Islamic State group. (AFP)
Tunisia: President Kais Saied named Najla Bouden Romdhane as prime minister and asked her to form a government. (Reuters)

Americas

Brazil: The Senate is investigating allegations that Prevent Senior, a geriatric healthcare provider, compelled doctors to treat COVID-19 with chloroquine and other dubious treatments. (AP)
Canada: A Sri Lankan family who sheltered Edward Snowden in Hong Kong in 2013 were granted asylum in Montreal. (WaPo)
Ecuador: A gunfight among prisoners left at least 24 inmates dead at Littoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil. (AFP)
United States: Aleksei Burkov, a convicted cybercriminal serving a nine-year sentence in federal prison, was extradited to Russia. (WaPo)

Asia

Region: US Envoy Sung Kim said the defense pact between Australia, the United States and Britain (AUKUS) is no threat to Indo-Pacific stability and is not aimed at any one country. (Reuters)
China: A study from Aidata found that Beijing’s ambitious foreign infrastructure push has rattled poor nations with “hidden debt” worth $385 billion, and more than a third of the projects have been hit by alleged corruption scandals and protests. (AFP)
Japan: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the northwest coast, but no tsunami warning was issued. (AFP)
North Korea: State media reported the country’s latest weapons test was of a new hypersonic missile. (AP)
Vietnam: The country’s gross domestic product contracted 6.17% in the third quarter of 2021, the sharpest quarterly decline on record. (Reuters)

Europe

Belarus: Europe’s migration commissioner said the European Union will tighten visa rules for state officials in retaliation for Minsk’s aggressive effort to destabilize the bloc. (Reuters)
France: The Interior Ministry announced plans to shut six mosques and break up several associations suspected of producing radical Islamic propaganda. (AFP)
Germany: The two parties that are expected to determine who will become the country’s next chancellor began talks to resolve their differences and declared that they got off to a good start. (AP)
Spain: The island of La Palma was declared a disaster area as lava neared the coast, destroying hundreds of buildings and evacuating thousands. (DPA)
United Kingdom: Troops will start driving tankers to replenish empty pumps, as drivers queued again for fuel after days of shortages. (Reuters)

Middle East

Region: US national security advisor Jake Sullivan is heading to Egypt for talks regarding rising tensions between Israel and Hamas. (AP)
Region: Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have met again in Iraq, as talks aiming to ease tensions continue. (AFP)
Israel: The country’s top court approved another delay to the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that drew international concern. (AFP)
Lebanon: The country’s banking sector, central bank, and other financial institutions are working in “harmony” to agree on the size and distribution of losses sustained during the country’s economic meltdown. (Reuters)

Tech & Communications

Media: The Russian foreign ministry said it would seek retaliatory measures against YouTube and German media outlets after the site blocked RT’s German-language channels for violation of its COVID misinformation policy. (TASS)

World

Tomorrow’s Outlook (30SEP21)

Global: WTO annual public forum. (to 01OCT)
Global: Final day of the UN General Assembly.
Global: N. Pre-COP26 Milan preparatory meeting. (to 02OCT)
Botswana: Independence Day.
China: Martyrs’ Day.
Europe: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) forum.
Ethiopia: Parliamentary elections in regions where vote was postponed from July.
France: Verdict expected in campaign finance case against former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Greece: Athens Democracy Forum. (to 01OCT)
Haiti: 30th anniversary of coup to oust Haiti’s first elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Japan: PM Yoshihide Suga to resign.
São Tomé e Príncipe: Agricultural Reform Day.
United States: Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chair Powell testify to House Financial Services Committee on COVID-19 response.

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