Saturday,  Sept. 12th, 2020

The first peace talks between the government and the Taliban start in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban had confirmed it would attend after the final release of six of their prisoners. Abdullah Abdullah, representing the government, says they are seeking a “dignified peace” while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calls the meeting “historic”. (BBC)

Iran executes Navid Afkari, a wrestler who was convicted of killing a security guard during anti-government protests in 2018. According to media, which quoted the judiciary in Fars, the execution was carried out after insistence from the victim’s family. Activists and Afkari’s family claim he made a forced confession to the crime. (DW)

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Friday,  Sept.  11th, 2020

The Brazilian state of Bahia is expected to conduct phase III trails of Russia’s Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine and buy 50 million doses. (Reuters)

It is announced that schools in Los Angeles County will remain closed until the winter. (Patch.com)

It is announced that bars in South Florida counties such as Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County will remain closed. However, bars in the rest of the state will be allowed to reopen at a 50% capacity. (The Sun-Sentinel)

in at a gold mine near Kamituga in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, kills at least 50 miners. (The Guardian)

Governor Jared Polis says that the state might extend its mask mandate in indoor public spaces for another 30 days. (The Denver Post)

For the second time in the same week, Portugal reports the biggest daily increase in new cases since the national lockdown was lifted in May, with 687 new cases and three deaths, bringing the cumulative totals to 62,813 confirmed cases and 1,855 deaths in 193 days since the first infections were detected in the country. (DGS)

The United Kingdom reports 3,539 cases of COVID-19, up from 2,919 a day earlier. Six deaths are also reported. (Reuters)

Japan and the United Kingdom reach a tentative free trade agreement, which British trade secretary Liz Truss hails as the UK’s “first major post-Brexit trade deal”. (CNBC)

Run-off parliamentary elections are being held in Iran. The first round of the election was held in February and provoked criticism as more than 7000 applicants got barred from participating. (Foreign Brief)

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Thursday, Sept. 10th, 2020

A $300 billion stimulus bill proposed by the Republican Party is blocked in a 52–47 vote in the U.S. Senate. (ABC News)

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot says that the vaccine results could be ready by the end of the year if trials resume. Clinical trials were temporarily suspended after a participant in the trials began to develop symptoms associated with transverse myelitis. (Reuters)

Sinopharm began Phase III trials in Peru starting with two dozen people, with the goal to vaccinate 6,000 people between the ages of 18 and 75. So far, Sinopharm has given 30,000 doses to volunteers and another 10,000 participants have received double doses in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, with additional trials planned for Morocco and Argentina. (VOA)

The latest publication of the Living Planet Index reports that the world’s wildlife populations have decreased by an average of 68 percent between 1970 and 2016. The World Wide Fund for Nature cites the increasing deforestation and agricultural expansion for the population decline. (AFP via Manila Bulletin)

United States Marine Corps general Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. announces that the United States will reduce their troop presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000. (NBC News)

India reports its single largest increase in a day, recording 95,735 new infections. The Health Ministry also reported 1,172 deaths in the past 24 hours. The ministry says the increase is due to a surge in testing as experts warn that the virus is spreading to towns and villages. (AP)

Guatemala is expected to reopen their borders after closing them for six months in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. (ABC News)

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