ONS: 03 October 2018

By TRG Alerts Admin

KEY STORYLINES

AFRICA: The US will continue to support French-led military efforts in Mali against militants and there is no intention to reduce the level of assistance, Defense Secretary Mattis said.
AMERICAS: Brazil’s congressional farm lobby, representing the powerful agribusiness sector in both houses,endorsed far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro.
ASIA: Electricity and gasoline supplies were partially restored in Palu, the Indonesian town affected by the earthquake and tsunami on Sep. 28, while the toll climbed over 1,400.
EUROPE: French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has assumed responsibility for domestic security after interior minister Gerard Collomb resigned in an apparent act of defiance toward President Emmanuel Macron.
MIDDLE EAST: Iraq’s Parliament elected veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih as president, who then announced that he had asked former oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to form the next government.
TECHNOLOGY: Facebook claimed that hackers did not access other sites that use its single sign-on in a massive cyberattack that the company disclosed last week.

TOP STORY

NATO: US ambassador to NATO threatened Russia over development of new missiles.
- Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison said that thy 9M729 system, being developed by Moscow, violates the INF treaty.
- Her initial statement that the US might be forced to “take out” the missile was later clarified to mean countermeasures, not a pre-emptive strike.
- The INF treaty bans mid-range land-based cruise missiles, but the US shared intelligence with its 28 NATO allies that Russia is flouting the terms.
- A Pentagon official further said that the US was prepared to offer its cyber capabilities to NATO if asked, amid heightened concerns about Russian aggression on that front.
- Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the alliance’s biggest exercise since the Cold War at the end of the month, numbering 45,000 troops.
- Reporting: AP, AP, Reuters, Reuters, AFP

AFRICA

Region: A Nigerian UN peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sent home and barred from peacekeeping after an investigation found he had sexually exploited a woman. (AFP)
Libya: Metiga international airport in Tripoli reopened after being shelled by local militants who identified themselves as the “Tripoli Youth Movement” (Xinhua)
Mali: The US will continue to support French-led military efforts in the country against militants and there is no intention to reduce the level of assistance, Defense Secretary Mattis said. (Reuters)

AMERICAS

Region: Experts said that the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement effectively bars China from negotiating agreements of its own with either Canada or Mexico. (Reuters)
Brazil: The congressional farm lobby, representing the country’s powerful agribusiness sector in both houses,endorsed far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro. (Reuters)
Colombia: The man who negotiated FARC’s peace agreement with the government said the rebels had been naive to lay down their weapons before the deal was implemented. (AFP)

ASIA

Region: Myanmar’s neighbours in Southeast Asia have urged the country to hold those responsible for the Rohingya crisis “accountable”, Singapore said in a rare call for justice from within the region. (AFP)
Indonesia: Electricity and gasoline supplies were partially restored in Palu, the main town affected by the earthquake and tsunami on Sep. 28, while the toll climbed over 1,400. (EFE)
North Korea: US Special Representative Stephen Biegun said he will make his first trip to Pyongyang this weekend since being appointed to lead denuclearization negotiations. (Yonhap)

EUROPE

Armenia: Thousands demonstrated as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would resign in protest as MPs approved a bill making it harder to disband parliament and hold snap elections. (AFP)
France: Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has assumed responsibility for domestic security after interior minister Gerard Collomb resigned in an apparent act of defiance toward President Emmanuel Macron. (AP)
France: Redoine Faid, a convict who escaped from prison in a helicopter with the help of armed accomplices, was arrested by police after a three-month hunt. (Reuters)

MIDDLE EAST

Region: Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran Saudi journalist who has been critical of the government, has gone missing after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. (AFP)
Iraq: Parliament elected veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih as president, who then announced that he had asked former oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to form the next government. (WaPo)
Syria: Russia completed delivery of an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Damascus, in defiance of Israeli and US concerns that the arms sale would embolden Iran and escalate the war. (Reuters)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: Facebook claimed that hackers did not access other sites that use its single sign-on in a massive cyberattack that the company disclosed last week. (Reuters)

WORLD

- - - Location: 510 MI E-SE of Bermuda
    - Movement: SW at 3 MPH
    - Wind: 70 MPH
    - Map

- - - Location: 398 NM S-SE of Kadena AB
    - Movement: NW at 9 MPH
    - Wind: 145 MPH
    - Map

- - - Location: 860 MI S-SW of Baja California
    - Movement: W-NW at 9 MPH
    - Wind: 115 MPH
    - Map

- - - Location: 65 MI NW of Johnston Island
    - Movement: N at 11 MPH
    - Wind: 130 MPH
    - Map
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.

- - - Location: North Sulawesi, Indonesia
    - Eruption: 4km
    - Exclusion zone: 6.5 km
    - Reporting

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK (04 OCT)

END