Canada and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions (DW) on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son, and six high-level officials, intensifying the international backlash over Belarus’s disputed presidential election. The countries cited both the election and the subsequent crackdown on dissent for the sanctions.
 
Earlier yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and pledged to help mediate (BBC) to release political prisoners and ensure a “peaceful transition.” Lukashenko has faced international criticism since the contested election, with the United States and the European Union also considering penalties (WSJ) against his government. Nonetheless, he retains an ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rebuked international pressure on Belarus.

The event was marred by frequent interruptions by the president, personal insults and questionable claims (PolitiFact) by both candidates, and little discussion of policies that would address the pandemic and recession. President Donald J. Trump also refused to denounce (NYT) white supremacist groups and urged his supporters to go to polls and “watch very carefully.”

A court granted temporary release to Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, who is charged with participating (SCMP) in an unauthorized 2019 rally while illegally wearing a mask. Another activist, Koo Sze-yiu, was also freed. Hong Kong authorities have escalated their crackdown on dissent in recent months.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at democracy in Hong Kong.
 
North Korea: The country’s ambassador to the United Nations said North Korea has secured a “reliable and effective war deterrent.” His statement comes a month after UN monitors reported the country was continuing its nuclear program. North Korea will now focus (Reuters) on economic development.

A special court found thirty-two Hindu activists and politicians, including leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), not guilty (Hindustan Times) for the 1992 razing of a mosque in the city of Ayodhya. Thousands of people, most of them Muslim, died in riots over the demolition. A Hindu temple is now under construction at the site.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at Muslims in India.
 
Sri Lanka: The Supreme Court began hearing petitions (Bloomberg) that oppose President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s efforts to change the constitution and restore expansive presidential powers. Rajapaksa has parliamentary support to pass the amendments.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah died at ninety-one yesterday. Sabah, who served as foreign minister for forty years before becoming Kuwait’s prime minister, is credited with helping solve regional crises (Al Jazeera). Sabah’s brother Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah succeeds him.
 
Israel: In a UN address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah (TOI) of stashing arms in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which he warned could cause an explosion like the one that devastated the city in early August. He also rebuked Iran and praised his country’s normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

More than fifty women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accused aid workers, mostly from the World Health Organization (WHO), of sexual exploitation and abuse during the country’s recent Ebola epidemic, according to a New Humanitarian and Thomson Reuters Foundation report. The WHO is investigating.
 
South Sudan: Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan David Shearer said efforts to unite government and rebel soldiers, whose unification was promised in the country’s 2018 peace deal, have reached a standstill. He warned of new violence (Al Jazeera) as soldiers leave joint training sites.

Armenia and Azerbaijan spurned peace negotiations and accused each other of firing across their border as fighting continues (Al Jazeera) over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The UN Security Council and Germany called for a cease-fire (RFE/RL).
 
For CFR’s Strength Through Peace blog, Carey Cavanaugh writes about the renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hospital workers in the Canadian province of Quebec apparently insulted and swore at (CBC) a dying indigenous Atikamekw woman in an incident livestreamed on Facebook. Quebec announced that the coroner and a local health authority will investigate Joyce Echaquan’s death. A nurse has also been fired.
 
Brazil: A judge suspended the government’s effort to reverse long-standing protections (BBC) on tropical mangroves and sand-dune scrublands, citing “irreparable” environmental damage. Brazil has seen a rollback of environmental protections under President Jair Bolsonaro.