Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister favored by leaders in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), won a tight election (Kyodo) to lead the party and thus become Japan’s next prime minister. Kishida has promised continuity (Nikkei) with LDP policies of recent years, pledged to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, and voiced concern over China’s aggressive behavior.
 
Party members chose Kishida as their leader despite polls that showed the public favored Taro Kono, who led Japan’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout and has espoused left-leaning views (NYT) on social issues. Kishida’s political positions are more similar to those of outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who resigned earlier this month amid waning popularity.

Thirty-five percent of infrastructure projects financed through China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) struggle with corruption (Reuters), labor violations, environmental pollution, and public opposition, according to a study by William & Mary’s AidData research lab.

Myanmar’s currency has lost more than 60 percent of its value (Reuters) since the beginning of September, and the World Bank predicts that the country’s economy will contract by 18 percent this year.
 
CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick explains why Myanmar is a failing state.
 
Afghanistan: The Taliban warned of consequences (Al Jazeera) if the United States does not stop flying drones over Afghanistan’s airspace, saying doing so violates U.S. commitments to the group.

The UN-facilitated initiative (AP) comes after five previous meetings of the Syrian government, the opposition, and civil society representatives failed to produce results.
 
Tunisia: President Kais Saied named engineer Najla Bouden Romdhane (Al Jazeera) the country’s new prime minister. She is the first woman to serve in the position.

An independent investigation found that the World Health Organization (WHO) employed twenty-one of the eighty-three aid workers who allegedly committed sexual abuse (NYT) while tackling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2018 and 2020. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pledged to reform how the organization handles abuse.
 
Guinea: The country’s military junta announced a transitional charter (AFP) that it says will move Guinea back toward civilian rule, though it did not include a timeline for doing so.

Before the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today, a Turkish official said Erdogan would urge Putin (Bloomberg) to prevent attacks on Turkish soldiers fighting in Syria. The leaders are also due to discuss (TASS) the situations in Afghanistan and Libya.
 
U.S./Brussels: Senior U.S. and European Union officials will hold the inaugural meeting (Reuters) of a new trade and technology council, during which France is reportedly seeking to water down a joint declaration.

A U.S. judge ruled that former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo must return to Peru (BBC) to be tried for corruption. He was arrested in the United States in 2019.
 
This In Brief examines the sprawling South American anticorruption probe that implicated Toledo.
 
Ecuador: At least twenty-four inmates were killed in a prison riot (WaPo) in the city of Guayaquil. It was the country’s third deadly riot this year.

In testimony to the Senate, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark A. Milley and General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said they recommended (Axios) keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan rather than withdrawing fully. Milley also said al-Qaeda is still present in Afghanistan.
 
This timeline traces the U.S. war in Afghanistan.