The final results of Afghanistan’s September presidential election declared incumbent President Ashraf Ghani the winner (TOLO) with 50.6 percent of votes to challenger Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s 39.5 percent. Abdullah rejected the results (Guardian) and said he would form his own “inclusive government.” 
 
The uncertainty over leadership comes as Washington is on the brink of a de-escalation agreement (NYT) with the Taliban that would serve as a prelude to peace talks that include the Afghan government. It also echoes Afghanistan’s disputed election results from five years ago, which were resolved by a U.S.-brokered power-sharing deal between Ghani and Abdullah.

A Chinese firm canceled plans (Reuters) to build a $280 million logistics center in Kyrgyzstan after locals protested against the project. 

Libya’s internationally backed government said in a statement it is suspending cease-fire talks (Reuters) with the rebel army led by commander Khalifa Haftar after the rebels attacked Tripoli’s port, killing three people.
 
This CFR In Brief looks at what’s at stake in Libya’s war.
 
Iran: Eight environmental activists arrested in 2018 received prison sentences (AP) ranging from four and ten years on charges of spying for the United States.

The desert locust infestation that has devastated farmland across East Africa has reached South Sudan (BBC), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said. About 60 percent of South Sudan’s population faces food insecurity, according to the aid group Save the Children.
 
Central African Republic: Twelve fighters from the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa militant group were killed in a clash (Al Jazeera) with UN peacekeepers and government forces in the country’s northeast, a government spokesperson said.

Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine attempted to seize territory (NYT) in an offensive that killed one Ukrainian soldier and wounded four others, the first such assault in the last two years of the region’s gridlocked war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack an attempt to disrupt an ongoing peace process.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Steven Pifer discusses how to end the war in Ukraine.
 
Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch an operation (Al Jazeera) in Syria’s northwestern Idlib region if Damascus does not withdraw its forces by the end of the month. 

Washington added the Russian oil firm Rosneft and its top executive to an economic sanctions blacklist for supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the State Department announced.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Michael J. Camilleri discusses how Washington’s sanctions are hurting the Venezuelan people.
 
Mexico: The country’s lower house of Congress passed a proposal to increase prison sentences (Reuters) for femicide and sexual abuse of minors amid protests denouncing the murders of a seven-year-old girl and twenty-five-year-old woman.

President Donald J. Trump granted presidential pardons (NYT) to seven people and commuted the sentences of four others. The pardoned individuals include bond financier Michael Milken, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.