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United States

News

August 7, 2020

Opinion

August 7, 2020

Trump’s Foreign Policy Team Is Hedging Against a Biden Win

By Josh Rogin | The Washington Post
The Trump foreign policy team is racing the clock to establish facts on the ground on a range of issues. One key aim: to make it as difficult as possible for a potential Biden administration to undo the Trump team’s actions. In the most glaring example, the Trump administration is trying to smash the Iran deal into so many bits that a Biden administration would never be able to piece it back together.

Africa

News

August 7, 2020

Ivory Coast President Ouattara Says He Will Run for Third Term

By Loucoumane Coulibaly | Reuters
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Thursday he would seek reelection in October, formally accepting the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term.

The Americas

News

August 7, 2020

Tensions Flare, Trucks Burn in Chile’s Araucania Region

By The Editors | Reuters
Arsonists burned more than a dozen trucks late Wednesday during an attack on a factory in Chile’s Araucania, authorities said, in a region long convulsed by simmering conflict between the indigenous Mapuche and the Chilean government.

Asia-Pacific

News

August 7, 2020

Chinese Court Sentences Another Canadian to Death for Drugs

By The Editors | Reuters
A Chinese court said Friday it had sentenced a Canadian to death for transporting and manufacturing drugs, the second Canadian in two days to receive a death penalty for drugs and fourth since Canada detained a top Huawei executive in 2018.

Taiwan in Talks to Make First Purchase of Sophisticated U.S. Drones

By Mike Stone | Reuters
The United States is negotiating the sale of at least four sophisticated aerial drones to Taiwan for the first time, according to six U.S. sources familiar with the negotiations, aircraft that can keep watch over huge swathes of sea and land.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

Europe

News

August 7, 2020

EU Contact Tracing Scheme Will Not Include French App

By Mehreen Khan & Leila Abboud | Financial Times (subscription required)
France’s COVID-19 contact tracing app will not be included in a coordinated EU exercise of cross-border information sharing after Paris snubbed a standard created by Apple and Google that has been taken up by most European member states.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

Middle East & North Africa

News

August 7, 2020

Protests Erupt in Beirut as Fury Against Lebanese Authorities Grows

By Chloe Cornish | Financial Times (subscription required)
Security forces tear-gassed protesters trying to reach the parliament building in Beirut on Thursday night as anger against government incompetence raged in the aftermath of the explosion which devastated the city and killed at least 154 people.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

United States

News

August 7, 2020

Taiwan in Talks to Make First Purchase of Sophisticated U.S. Drones

By Mike Stone | Reuters
The United States is negotiating the sale of at least four sophisticated aerial drones to Taiwan for the first time, according to six U.S. sources familiar with the negotiations, aircraft that can keep watch over huge swathes of sea and land.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

Trump’s Foreign Policy Team Is Hedging Against a Biden Win

By Josh Rogin | The Washington Post
The Trump foreign policy team is racing the clock to establish facts on the ground on a range of issues. One key aim: to make it as difficult as possible for a potential Biden administration to undo the Trump team’s actions. In the most glaring example, the Trump administration is trying to smash the Iran deal into so many bits that a Biden administration would never be able to piece it back together.

News

August 6, 2020

Another Inspector General Resigns Amid Questions About Pompeo

By Pranshu Verma & Edward Wong | The New York Times
The State Department’s acting watchdog has resigned from his post less than three months after replacing the previous inspector general, whom President Trump fired in May, the department said Wednesday.

Trump’s Bank Was Subpoenaed by New York Prosecutors in Criminal Inquiry

By David Enrich, Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum & Benjamin Weiser | The New York Times
The New York prosecutors who are seeking President Trump’s tax records have also subpoenaed his longtime lender, a sign that their criminal investigation into Trump’s business practices is more wide-ranging than previously known.

U.S. Puts Sanctions on Ally of Zimbabwe President

By Joseph Cotterill | Financial Times (subscription required)
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a close business ally of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was until this year the partner of global commodity trader Trafigura in the African nation.

Opinion

August 6, 2020

Living in the Shadow of the Bomb

By David Von Drehle | The Washington Post
The nuclear age was always a terrible—yet inevitable—result of the industrialization of war. We must learn to live with it.

The Americas

News

August 7, 2020

Tensions Flare, Trucks Burn in Chile’s Araucania Region

By The Editors | Reuters
Arsonists burned more than a dozen trucks late Wednesday during an attack on a factory in Chile’s Araucania, authorities said, in a region long convulsed by simmering conflict between the indigenous Mapuche and the Chilean government.

Chinese Court Sentences Another Canadian to Death for Drugs

By The Editors | Reuters
A Chinese court said Friday it had sentenced a Canadian to death for transporting and manufacturing drugs, the second Canadian in two days to receive a death penalty for drugs and fourth since Canada detained a top Huawei executive in 2018.
August 6, 2020

Second Journalist Killed in Mexico in Under a Week

By The Editors | Reuters
Unidentified assailants shot a journalist dead outside his home in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, state prosecutors said Wednesday, in the second killing of a reporter in the past week.

Europe

News

August 7, 2020

EU Contact Tracing Scheme Will Not Include French App

By Mehreen Khan & Leila Abboud | Financial Times (subscription required)
France’s COVID-19 contact tracing app will not be included in a coordinated EU exercise of cross-border information sharing after Paris snubbed a standard created by Apple and Google that has been taken up by most European member states.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

News

August 6, 2020

Swiss Examine Fresh Allegations Against Prosecutor Lauber

By Sam Jones & Henry Foy | Financial Times (subscription required)
Switzerland’s judicial authorities are examining allegations that federal prosecutor Michael Lauber sought to improperly disburse $800 million in frozen money connected to the imprisoned daughter of a former Uzbek leader.

U.K. and Japan Rush to Secure Post-Brexit Trade Deal

By George Parker & Leo Lewis | Financial Times (subscription required)
Britain and Japan will on Thursday attempt to thrash out a post-Brexit free trade agreement, although the UK admits a deal might only boost British GDP by 0.07 percent and would be a bigger prize for Japanese exporters.

Opinion

August 6, 2020

How Boris Johnson Lost Control

By Philip Stephens | Financial Times (subscription required)
A powerful prime minister means little without a governing purpose.

Africa

News

August 7, 2020

Ivory Coast President Ouattara Says He Will Run for Third Term

By Loucoumane Coulibaly | Reuters
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Thursday he would seek reelection in October, formally accepting the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term.
August 6, 2020

U.S. Puts Sanctions on Ally of Zimbabwe President

By Joseph Cotterill | Financial Times (subscription required)
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a close business ally of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was until this year the partner of global commodity trader Trafigura in the African nation.

Opinion

August 6, 2020

Middle East & North Africa

News

August 7, 2020

Protests Erupt in Beirut as Fury Against Lebanese Authorities Grows

By Chloe Cornish | Financial Times (subscription required)
Security forces tear-gassed protesters trying to reach the parliament building in Beirut on Thursday night as anger against government incompetence raged in the aftermath of the explosion which devastated the city and killed at least 154 people.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

News

August 6, 2020

Lebanon Tribunal Postpones Verdict in Hariri Case to Aug. 18

By The Editors | Reuters
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Wednesday said it would postpone its verdict in the trial over the 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri to Aug. 18, following the huge explosion in Beirut’s port Tuesday.

After Days of Tension, Israel Offers Aid for Devastated Beirut

By Steve Hendrix | The Washington Post
Israel has offered aid and support to Lebanon following Tuesday’s devastating port explosion in Beirut, a quick turn of sentiment after a recent exchange of attacks with Lebanese militants along a tense border in recent days.

Opinion

August 6, 2020

Asia-Pacific

News

August 7, 2020

Chinese Court Sentences Another Canadian to Death for Drugs

By The Editors | Reuters
A Chinese court said Friday it had sentenced a Canadian to death for transporting and manufacturing drugs, the second Canadian in two days to receive a death penalty for drugs and fourth since Canada detained a top Huawei executive in 2018.

Taiwan in Talks to Make First Purchase of Sophisticated U.S. Drones

By Mike Stone | Reuters
The United States is negotiating the sale of at least four sophisticated aerial drones to Taiwan for the first time, according to six U.S. sources familiar with the negotiations, aircraft that can keep watch over huge swathes of sea and land.

Opinion

August 7, 2020

News

August 6, 2020

U.K. and Japan Rush to Secure Post-Brexit Trade Deal

By George Parker & Leo Lewis | Financial Times (subscription required)
Britain and Japan will on Thursday attempt to thrash out a post-Brexit free trade agreement, although the UK admits a deal might only boost British GDP by 0.07 percent and would be a bigger prize for Japanese exporters.

Hiroshima Marks 75 Years Since Atomic Bombing in Scaled-Back Ceremony

By Elaine Lies | Reuters
Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Thursday for the 75th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, with ceremonies downsized due to the coronavirus and the city’s mayor urging nations to reject selfish nationalism and unite to fight all threats.

Opinion

August 6, 2020

China’s Propaganda Machine in Hong Kong Is Setting Up a Generational Battle

By Arthur Tam | The Washington Post
Although a majority of Hong Kongers favor the pro-democracy movement, support for the establishment increases significantly with age. People who do not have a college education are also more likely to support the government’s tactics. Many of these people are especially susceptible to the Chinese propaganda machine, which went into overdrive last year when the Hong Kong protests began.

More from WPR: Why China’s Xi Opted for the ‘Nuclear Option’ in Hong Kong

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