Friday, September 18, 2020 *) Dozens killed in Afghanistan clashes despite hope for ceasefire



Fierce fighting between government forces and the Taliban has left dozens killed in Afghanistan even as the two sides continue peace talks in Qatar.



Overnight clashes erupted in three districts of Nangarhar province when Taliban fighters attacked several checkpoints of Afghan forces.



The violence occurred hours after the Afghan government delegation to the peace talks in Doha said they hoped to reach a ceasefire.



*) East Med: Direct Erdogan, Mitsotakis talks a possibility ahead of EU summit



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again stressed the importance of talks with Greece over the dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.



Erdogan's remarks came after Turkish and Greek military delegations continued diplomatic talks to ease tensions at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.



A Greek official has said that direct communication between the Turkish president and Greek prime minister would soon be possible.



*) India asks China to withdraw soldiers from disputed border region



India has urged China to completely disengage their forces from the border region of Ladakh.



India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh has said that China has amassed troops and weapons in Ladakh in violation of agreements reached in the 1990s.



He said that was not acceptable and that India is seeking a peaceful resolution through talks.

*) Hurricane Sally: Gulf Coast braces for second round of flooding



The southern United States is bracing for a second round of flooding in the wake of Hurricane Sally, which has left a trail of devastation in the Gulf Coast.



Officials say Orange Beach in Alabama will remain closed for 10 days as the area sustained significant damage and extensive power outages.



The hurricane is believed to have caused at least one death in Alabama.





And finally,

*) Former model Amy Dorris accuses Trump of sexual assault



A former model has accused US President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting and groping her at the US Open tennis tournament in 1997.



Amy Dorris told Britain's The Guardian that Trump sexually assaulted her in his VIP suite at the US Open tennis tournament in New York.



Trump, who has earlier faced more than a dozen allegations of sexual misconduct, denied the claims via his lawyers.

Thursday, September 17, 2020 *) Over 30 million people have been infected with Covid-19



Coronavirus has now infected more than 30 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometer tracker.



The United States has the highest number of Covid-19 infections, followed by India, Brazil and Russia.



More than 945,000 people have died from the virus so far, while over 21 million have recovered from the disease.



*) Libyan Prime Minister announces plan to resign next month



The head of Libya’s internationally recognised government Fayez al Sarraj has announced his intention to resign by next month.



Sarraj says he wants to hand over power to a new administration in October amid talks on ending the country’s conflict.



His resignation could add to political uncertainty in Tripoli or even infighting among the rivals in the coalition.

*) Hurricane Sally drenches US Gulf coast, trapping hundreds



Hurricane Sally has slammed into the US Gulf coast, bringing catastrophic flooding to areas in Florida and Alabama.



One person has been killed and one other is missing after Sally made landfall as a Category Two storm overnight.



Extensive damage has been recorded as wind speeds hit 165 kilometres per hour.

*) West African leaders give Mali’s military junta an ultimatum



The Economic Community of West African States has demanded the appointment of a civilian president without delay or negotiations in Mali.



During a meeting on Tuesday, West African leaders told Mali's junta they have one week to appoint a leader or an embargo will be imposed on the country.



The embargo by neighbouring states will begin at midnight September 23, according to Colonel Major Ismael Wague.

And finally,

*) Highly anticipated Sony PlayStation 5 gets launch date



Sony has said its next-generation PlayStation 5 console will launch in November, squaring off against Microsoft rival Xbox.



The new PlayStation 5 gaming system will be priced at roughly $500, but will also have a cheaper option that does not include a disk drive, priced at $400.



The pricing announcement sets the stage for a year-end showdown between Xbox and PlayStation as players continue to flock to gaming consoles.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 *) Palestinians slam UAE, Bahrain deals with Israel



The Palestinians have slammed deals between Israel and two Gulf Arab states, calling them a "treacherous stab in the back".



The Palestinian reaction followed a signing ceremony at the White House in Washington that formalised Israel's ties with the UAE and Bahrain.



The Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestine Liberation Front and Fatah all condemned the deals as agreements of "dependency, protection, and obedience with the occupation state".



*) Greece ready for eastern Mediterranean talks with Turkey



Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis says he's ready to enter exploratory talks with Ankara “immediately” over the eastern Mediterranean.



Turkey and Greece have been at loggerheads over maritime zones in the eastern Mediterranean which are potentially rich in natural gas.



The latest standoff began after Turkey deployed the Oruc Reis research vessel and warships to Mediterranean waters on August 10.



*) Japan elects Suga as new PM after Abe resigns



Japan’s parliament has elected Yoshihide Suga as the country’s new prime minister.



Suga was elected head of the ruling Liberal Democrat Party following the resignation of Shinzo Abe and his cabinet.



Abe announced last month that he was stepping down due to health problems.



*) Hurricane Sally threatens Gulf Coast



Hurricane Sally is moving toward the US Gulf Coast, possibly bringing with it "extreme, life-threatening" flash floods.



Sally has strengthened to a Category 2 storm and threatens massive flooding in Alabama and Mississippi.



Authorities in the coastal Alabama city of Gulf Shores warned of life-threatening conditions and ordered a curfew.



And finally,



*) Turkey's flying car completes its first test flight



Turkey's first domestically produced flying car Cezeri [jezerie] has successfully completed its first test flight.



The car is named after Ismail al Jazari, a renowned 12th-century Muslim engineer and polymath.



It's expected to take an estimated 10 to 15 years for the car to hit the roads.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Bahrain and the UAE set to sign normalisation deal with Israel at the White House, and scientists find potential life on Venus.



*) Normalisation deal between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE



Delegates of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel are meeting in Washington to sign a normalisation deal.



The Palestinian Liberation Organization has condemned the move by UAE and Bahrain, calling it a "stab in the back".



The deal has been welcomed by another Gulf country, Oman, leading many to believe it may be the next in line.



*) President Trump and Joe Biden clash over cause of wildfires



President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have clashed over the cause of the deadly wildfires ravaging the US west coast.



Trump has dismissed climate concerns and blamed "poor forest management" as the cause.



In response, Biden called Trump a "climate arsonist" whose reelection would be catastrophic for the environment.



*) Turkish Red Crescent aid worker killed in vehicle attack



A Turkish aid worker was killed, and two others wounded, in an attack on their vehicle by masked assailants in northern Syria.



The vehicle, which bore the Red Crescent emblem, was attacked between Syria's Al Bab and the Turkish border town of Cobanbey.



The Turkish Red Crescent said the two workers who were wounded were not in a critical condition.



*)Blast kills several in Syria’s Afrin



Staying in Syria, at least nine people have been killed and 43 injured in a truck-bomb blast in Syria’s opposition-held Afrin city.



Afrin was largely cleared of YPG/PKK terrorists by Turkey in 2018 in anti-terror Operation Olive Branch.



Local security sources say YPG/PKK terrorists continue to carry out attacks but do not claim responsibility as they end up harming civilians.



And finally,



*) Life on Venus is a possibility



Scientists have discovered potential signs of life in the atmosphere around Earth's neighbouring planet Venus.



Telescopes in Hawaii and Chile spotted signs of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus, hinting at the possible presence of microbes.



The discovery doesn't yet satisfy the “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" standard established by the late Carl Sagan.

Monday, September 14, 2020 US wildfire death toll rises past 30, and Oracle set to purchase TikTok.



*) California wildfires continue to burn West Coast



Wildfires torching the US West Coast have killed at least 35 people.



The fires have been burning for three weeks, spreading from California to Oregon.



Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated with dozens missing.



*) Belarus protests continue for 5th consecutive weekend



Tens of thousands of people have protested in Minsk for the fifth consecutive weekend to demand President Alexander Lukashenko’s resignation.



Approximately more than 100,000 people marched in Minsk on each of the past four weekends after Lukashenko’s disputed election victory.



The Belarusian president is set to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi.



*) Turkey says France is inflaming tensions in eastern Mediterranean



Turkey says France’s President Emmanuel Macron is inflaming tensions between Ankara and Athens.



Comments by Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar follow France's push for EU sanctions on Turkey.



Tensions in the region have been high since Turkey resumed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean after Greece and Egypt signed a controversial maritime delimitation deal.



*) Bahrain opposition rejects Israel normalisation deal



Opposition groups in Bahrain have rejected a decision by the Gulf state to normalise relations with Israel.



The accord between Israel and Bahrain follows a US-brokered deal between the UAE and Israel to form diplomatic ties.



Bahrain's opposition has called on the region to resist the Israel pact, throwing support behind the Palestinian cause.



And finally,



*) Oracle to buy TikTok



Bytedance has rejected Microsoft's bid to buy TikTok's US operations, reportedly choosing Oracle as a buyer or "technology partner".



Bytedance was in talks with Microsoft ever since President Donald Trump threatened to shut down the Chinese-owned app last month.



TokTok's parent company hopes a deal with Oracle will allow the app to be spared from a US ban and appease Beijing at the same time.

Friday, September 10, 2020 *) Mass evacuations underway as wildfires gut US west coast



US firefighters are in a race against the clock to save lives and homes in the states of Washington, Oregon and California.



Half a million people have been evacuated in Oregon where wildfires are burning towns to the ground.



The death toll now stands at 15 and is expected to rise further.



*) China, India agree to disengage thousands of border troops



China and India have agreed to de-escalate tensions on their disputed Himalayan border.



The foreign ministers of both countries vowed to take steps to restore peace and maintain the status quo at a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow.



Border clashes which started in June, have seen dozens of soldiers killed on both sides.



*) EU countries take in refugees displaced from Lesvos



Thousands of refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos spent the third night in the open after the country's largest camp burned down.

The Netherlands, Germany and France agreed to take in hundreds of refugees, while other EU states will take in around 400 minors.



The Moria camp was home to over 12,000 refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.



*) Lebanon launches investigation into Beirut port fire



Lebanon has launched an investigation into a huge warehouse fire at the port of Beirut.



The massive fire started in a building that stored cooking oil, and it took firefighters hours to get under control.



There are no casualties and the cause of the fire is being investigated.



And finally,



*) Serena Williams knocked out of US Open



Serena Williams is out of the US Open after being beaten in the semifinals by Victoria Azarenka.



Williams was hoping to win her 24th Grand Slam to equal the world record held by the greatest player of all time, Margaret Court.



Williams says her focus is now on achieving the milestone at Roland Garros later this month.