U.S. software giant Microsoft announced it is negotiating (CNBC) to buy the U.S. arm of Chinese-owned social media application TikTok, a move that could improve Microsoft’s standing in the technology sector and escalate U.S.-China tensions. President Donald J. Trump reportedly gave Microsoft and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, forty-five days to seal the deal (Bloomberg).

Trump had previously vowed to ban TikTok in the United States, a move Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said would be necessary (SCMP) if the social media platform is not sold to another company. Washington worries TikTok could share user data (WSJ) with Beijing or tailor content to serve Chinese interests. The application faces similar concerns (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) in Australia and was recently banned by India. U.S.-China ties have reached a fever pitch in recent weeks amid allegations of Chinese espionage and the shuttering of consulates in Houston, Texas, and Chengdu, China.

Chinese factory activity rose at its fastest rate (FT) in more than nine years in July, as Japanese and South Korean manufacturing recorded their best months since February. The new figures indicate Asian economies are recovering from the coronavirus crisis.
 
Hong Kong: A top Chinese government official is meeting with experts (SCMP) in Hong Kong to discuss the legal ramifications of postponing the city’s legislative elections. The controversial one-year delay has raised questions, including whether to extend current legislators’ terms, that Beijing is expected to resolve next week.
 
This CFR Backgrounder examines democracy in Hong Kong.

Nearly thirty people died (TOLO) and dozens more were wounded in an attack on a major prison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Hundreds of prisoners reportedly escaped before being recaptured. The self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault, though Afghan officials told the Washington Post a Taliban splinter group might have attacked the prison to stymie intra-Afghan peace talks.
 
India: Indian military officials reportedly met with their Chinese counterparts (Hindustan Times) to discuss de-escalation along their countries’ shared border. Talks have stalled over both sides’ disengagement from certain cliffs in the Himalayas, according to an unnamed official.
 
CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains what to know about the China-India border dispute.

Israel’s army said it struck four people who allegedly tried to plant explosives (Haaretz) near the country’s border with Syria. Israeli warplanes also reportedly hit Hamas facilities (Times of Israel) in the Gaza Strip after Palestinians launched a rocket into Israel from the territory.
 
Iran: Nearly three times as many people have died of the coronavirus (BBC) in Iran than officials have claimed, according to leaked government data. The country has also apparently underreported infections.

Suspected Boko Haram militants lobbed a grenade (Reuters) at people sleeping in a displaced persons camp near Cameroon’s border with Nigeria, killing sixteen and wounding seven others.
 
Mali: Five soldiers were killed and another five injured in twin attacks (AFP) blamed on jihadis in central Mali. The country’s eight-year struggle against jihadis has spurred calls for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign.

Roughly twenty thousand people protested in Berlin (DW) against coronavirus control measures, with some calling the virus a “false alarm.” German politicians rebuked protesters (Politico) and warned of the country’s growing caseload.
 
France: The country’s European affairs minister, Clement Beaune, said France will back a rule-of-law mechanism (FT) that would make access to the European Union’s coronavirus recovery fund contingent on countries’ respect for fundamental values. Hungary and Poland oppose such a measure, which could target them, while the Netherlands and Nordic countries support France.

Opposition politician Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in as president (Miami Herald) of Guyana after the country’s election commission declared him the winner of March’s presidential election. The decision, which former President David Granger vowed to challenge, ends the clash over election results that threatened to dampen Guyana’s oil boom and escalate ethnic tensions.
 
Mexico: Security forces arrested the alleged leader (WSJ) of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, Jose Antonio Yepez Ortiz, and five other people in an operation that also freed a kidnapped businesswoman. The detention of Yepez Ortiz, whose violent criminal network stole gasoline from the state oil company, is expected to help restore peace in Guanajuato, Mexico’s most violent state.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at Mexico’s drug war.