Thousands of people gathered in cities across Nigeria yesterday for protests against police brutality (Daily Trust) that have increasingly become marred by violence.

​What began as a protest against the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which was accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings and other abuses, has since grown into a broader call for societal reform. President Muhammadu Buhari backed the demonstrations (Guardian) and said young people’s right to protest should be protected. Protesters shut down Lagos (WSJ), Africa’s largest city, and barricaded major highways. Groups of armed men reportedly attacked protesters, who police have allegedly fired upon. Rights group Amnesty International raised concerns about the escalating violence (BBC), including the death of a seventeen-year-old in police custody who had allegedly been tortured.

Australia will join naval exercises (Reuters) with India, Japan, and the United States—which together form the so-called Quad—in a move expected to further inflame tensions with China. Australia last participated in the joint exercises in 2007.

​China/Taiwan: Beijing and Taipei accused each other (SCMP) of instigating a physical altercation between their officials in Fiji.

India’s army captured a Chinese soldier (PTI) after he crossed the unmarked, disputed China-India border. Indian officials pledged to release the soldier and said he had been given medical care and food. China and India have each deployed over fifty thousand troops to the border following clashes earlier this year.

​CFR’s Alyssa Ayres explains the China-India border dispute.

Pakistan: The country lifted a ban (Dawn) on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok after ten days, though authorities said they would reinstate it if the app was used to spread vulgar or indecent content.

Unnamed officials said a high-level U.S. delegation traveled to Syria in August to negotiate the release of American citizens (NYT) held prisoner there, with little progress made so far. The talks focused on journalist Austin Tice and psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz, both of whom the Syrian government has not acknowledged holding.

​Turkey/UAE: Turkey detained a Jordanian citizen accused of spying (WaPo) for the United Arab Emirates, highlighting the rivalry between the two countries. It is the third time in the past two years that Turkey has arrested someone suspected of spying for the UAE.

The U.S. State Department will remove Sudan (NYT) from its list of countries that sponsor terrorism, paving the way for the country to seek foreign aid and potentially normalize relations with Israel. Sudan also agreed to pay more than $300 million to the victims of terrorist attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the Navy destroyer USS Cole in 2000.

The United States unveiled charges against six Russian intelligence officers for their suspected involvement in several high-profile cyberattacks (Politico). The officials allegedly disrupted Ukraine’s power grid, targeted the 2017 French presidential election, and hacked computers used for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

​CFR’s Cyber Operations Tracker monitors state-sponsored cyberattacks.

France: Fifteen people, including four students, were arrested (BBC) in connection to the beheading of a teacher. Prosecutors said the teacher, Samuel Paty, had been threatened after showing his students cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which are forbidden in Islam.

Argentina has become the fifth country to record more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases (Buenos Aires Times). The country ranks behind the United States, India, Brazil, and Russia, though those countries have far larger populations.

​Bolivia: Exiled former President Evo Morales signaled his intent to return to Bolivia (MercoPress) following the apparent victory of his socialist party heir Luis Arce Catacora in Sunday’s presidential election. Arce’s rival conceded yesterday, though official results have not yet been released.

The Supreme Court announced it would hear challenges (WaPo) next year against President Donald J. Trump’s use of military funding for border wall construction and his policy requiring thousands of asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their applications are processed.