The World Health Organization (WHO) announced twenty-six proposed members of a team that will advise a series of studies into the origins of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Top WHO emergency official Mike Ryan called the team the best and potentially last chance (Reuters) to understand the virus’s origins.

Selected from over seven hundred applicants, the members include Chinese, Danish, Dutch, and Vietnamese experts who took part in a mission that visited China earlier this year in an effort to uncover COVID-19’s origins. That group’s findings were inconclusive. It is unclear whether the new team will receive permission to visit China. China’s foreign ministry said today that it will support (AP) new research efforts but warned against possible “political manipulation.”

South Korea’s trade ministry announced that the countries will start official negotiations (Yonhap) on a bilateral trade agreement but did not specify when talks will begin.
 
Japan: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the country’s lower legislative chamber (Kyodo), kicking off the campaign period for an October 31 general election.
 
For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR’s Sheila A. Smith looks at the road ahead for Japan’s new prime minister.

The military government said it will not permit (Reuters) an envoy from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to meet with the country’s former de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on an upcoming visit.
 
Pakistan: The country’s national airline suspended flights (Dawn) to Kabul, citing security reasons. The airline’s flights had recently evacuated around three thousand people from Afghanistan, a spokesperson said.

At least thirty people were also wounded (National) in clashes at a protest organized by Hezbollah that called for the ouster of the judge investigating last year’s explosions in Beirut.
 
Syria: An Israeli air strike in central Syria killed one Syrian soldier (AFP) and three pro-Iran fighters, the United Kingdom–based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state media previously said the attack had killed one soldier and injured three others.

The WHO starts vaccinating people for Ebola today (WHO) after a case was confirmed in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on October 8.
 
Mozambique: The Southern African Development Community said it will extend its troop presence (Bloomberg) in the country indefinitely in order to counter extremists.
 
This Backgrounder examines the role of peace operations in Africa.

An attacker used a bow and arrow to kill five people (CNN) and injure two in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg.
 
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Hearings at the International Court of Justice began today (AP) for a case in which Armenia is accusing Azerbaijan of promoting ethnic hatred. The countries fought a six-week war last year.

The top opposition parties said they will back (Reuters) Xiomara Castro, the wife of former President Manuel Zelaya, in next month’s presidential election.
 
Mexico: A labor strike turned violent (Bloomberg) at the construction site of a $9 billion oil refinery that is critical to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s energy and jobs agenda.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta will meet (Hill) with U.S. President Joe Biden today. The two are expected to discuss the conflict in Ethiopia and the push for increased financial transparency. Kenyatta’s financial dealings appeared in the Pandora Papers investigations earlier this month.
 
In Foreign Affairs, Jon Temin writes that Washington needs to rethink its approach to Africa.