Situation Reports

Hong Kong authorities have arrested prominent activist Joshua Wong for participating in an unauthorized assembly and violating the anti-mask law, South China Morning Post reported Sept. 24.

The Israeli government approved adding restrictions to the country’s Sept. 18 lockdown mandate that will shut down most services and businesses, as well as limit prayer and close public transport, starting Friday afternoon, Times of Israel reported Sept. 24.

Turkey’s central bank raised interest rates from 8.25 percent to 10.25 percent in a regularly scheduled monetary policy committee meeting, marking its first rate hike since 2018, Bloomberg reported Sept. 24.

Turkey and Greece agreed to restart exploratory talks regarding their territorial disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, the first of their kind in four years, Politico reported Sept. 22.

In his first speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte touted the importance of his country's 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration win, which rejected China's expansive South China Sea claims, Bloomberg reported Sept 22.

The head of Malaysia's opposition Pakatan Harapan bloc, Anwar Ibrahim, announced Sept. 23 that he has garnered the support of nearly two-thirds of the country's 222 parliamentarians and is planning to meet with monarch Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to receive permission to form a new government, South China Morning Post reported Sept 23. 

Royal Dutch Shell is considering cutting the cost of oil and gas production by up to 40 percent in an effort to save money and shift towards renewable energy and power markets, Reuters reported Sept. 22.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not approve the joint deal between Oracle and Walmart for the U.S. operations of Chinese video-sharing app TikTok unless the U.S. companies hold a controlling interest, South China Morning Post reported Sept 22.

Roughly 70 percent of Italians who participated in a Sept. 20-21 referendum voted to cut the total number of members and senators in Italy’s parliament from 945 to 600 after the country’s next general election, which is currently scheduled for 2023, La Repubblica reported Sept. 22. 

Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in Bangkok over the weekend to call for the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, as well as for reforms to the country’s monarchy, Reuters reported Sept 19.