BREXIT: INTERNAL MARKET BILL CLEARS FIRST HURDLE IN COMMONS

A proposed law giving Boris Johnson's government the power to override parts

of the Brexit agreement with the EU has passed its first hurdle in the

Commons.

MPs backed the Internal Market Bill by 340 votes to 263.

Ministers say it contains vital safeguards to protect Northern Ireland and

the rest of the UK, if negotiations on a future trade deal break down.

But critics, including a number of Tory MPs, warned it risks damaging the UK

by breaching international law.

Although the government has a majority of 80 in the Commons, it is braced

for rebellions in the coming weeks as the legislation receives detailed

scrutiny.

Several prominent Conservatives, including former Chancellor Sajid Javid,

have said they could not support the final bill unless it is amended, with a

number expected to have abstained in Monday's vote.

YOSHIHIDE SUGA WINS PARTY VOTE FOR JAPAN PRIME MINISTER

Yoshihide Suga was elected as the new head of Japan's ruling party on

Monday, virtually guaranteeing him parliamentary election as the country's

next prime minister.

Suga received 377 votes in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party election to

pick a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced last month that

he would resign due to health problems. The other two contenders received a

combined 157 votes.

The expected victory in the party vote by Suga, currently the chief Cabinet

secretary of Abe's government, all but guarantees his election in a

parliamentary vote Wednesday because of the majority held by the Liberal

Democrats' ruling coalition.

Despite his low-key image as Abe's right-hand man, Suga is actually known

for his iron-fist approach to getting jobs done as a policy coordinator and

influencing bureaucrats by using the centralised power of the prime

minister's office.

Suga says that he is a reformist and that he has worked to achieve policies

by breaking territorial barriers of bureaucracy. He has credited himself for

those efforts in achieving a booming foreign tourism industry in Japan,

lowering cellphone bills and bolstering agricultural exports.

Compared to his political skills at home, Suga has hardly travelled

overseas, and his diplomatic skills are unknown, though he is largely

expected to pursue Abe's priorities.

DONALD TRUMP DISMISSES CLIMATE CONCERNS AS HE VISITS FIRE-RAVAGED WESTERN US

President Donald Trump on Monday suggested global warming will reverse

itself and dismissed climate change as a cause of ferocious fires engulfing

swaths of the US West, during a briefing in California on the deadly blazes.

Trump, who flew into Sacramento on the third day of a reelection campaign

swing, pushed back against state officials arguing that a heating climate

underlies the ever-stronger blazes, which have killed at least 35 people

since the start of summer and forced hundreds of thousands of people out of

their homes.

"It will start getting cooler. You just watch," Trump said.

"I wish science agreed with you," responded Wade Crowfoot, the head of the

California Natural Resources Agency, to which Trump replied: "I don't think

science knows, actually."

Trump on his arrival also repeated his argument that the wildfires are due

to poor maintenance of forest areas, making them more combustible.

"There has to be strong forest management," he said.

"With regard to the forests, when trees fall down after a short period of

time, about 18 months, they become very dry. They become really like a match

stick," he added. "They just explode."

Minutes earlier, Democratic challenger Joe Biden assailed Trump from the

opposite coast as a "climate arsonist" whose reelection would be

catastrophic for the environment.

"If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why

would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze?" Biden said,

savaging Trump for failing to "take responsibility" for the ongoing wildfire

crisis.

"We need a president who respects science, who understands that the damage

from climate change is already here," added Biden, who was speaking in

Delaware.

Despite Monday's attention, the environment still ranks behind issues like

healthcare and the economy for most Americans. It is, however, an important

topic for younger voters - a group that Biden, in particular, is eager to

get to the polls in November.

ISRAEL TO SET NEW NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN AS VIRUS CASES SURGE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced a new

countrywide lockdown will be imposed amid a stubborn surge in coronavirus

cases, with schools and parts of the economy expected to shut down in a bid

to bring down infection rates.

Beginning Friday, the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, schools,

restaurants and hotels will shut down, among other businesses, and Israelis

will face restrictions on movement. Our goal is to stop the increase (in

cases) and lower morbidity,

Mr. Netanyahu said in a nationally broadcast statement. "I know that these

steps come at a difficult price for all of us. This is not the holiday we

are used to.

"The tightening of measures marks the second time Israel is being plunged

into a lockdown, after a lengthy shutdown in the spring.

"That lockdown is credited with having brought down what were much lower

infection numbers, but it wreaked havoc on the country's economy, sending

unemployment skyrocketing.

"The lockdown will remain in place for at least three weeks, at which point

officials are expected to relax measures if numbers are seen declining.

Israel has had more than 150,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more

than 1,100 deaths.

Mr. Netanyahu said "Given its population of 9 million, the country now has

one of the world's worst outbreaks. It is now seeing more than 4,000 daily

cases of the virus.

GERMANY BREAK RANKS WITH CHINA, SHIFTS TO ADOPTING INDIA-PACIFIC STRATEGY

In a major diplomatic jolt to China, Germany has decided to focus on

maintaining stronger partnerships with democratic countries in the

India-Pacific region in order to promote the rule of law.

Berlin's drift towards the India-Pacific strategy comes as Europe has

expressed concerns over China's track record on human rights and its

economic dependence on the Asian country, Nikkei Asian Review reported.

"We want to help shape (the future global order) so that it is based on

rules and international cooperation, not on the law of the strong. That is

why we have intensified cooperation with those countries that share our

democratic and liberal values," German foreign minister Heiko Maas said on

September 2.

That day, Germany adopted the new guidelines pertaining to the India-Pacific

approach, stressing the importance of promoting the rule of law and open

markets in the region. The India-Pacific strategy has been endorsed by other

countries including India, Japan, Australia and ASEAN members.

Germany's new India-Pacific approach takes a tough stand on China, including

criticism of the huge debt burden of countries participating in Beijing's

Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

German firms have also expressed concerns about doing business and

protecting their intellectual property in China, especially after Chinese

appliance maker Midea Group bought German robot maker Kuka in late 2016.

Germany now plans to work with France regarding EU-wide strategy on

India-Pacific. Berlin will be looking to strengthen its influence on this

issue by having the bloc on its side.

NAVALNY ALLIES CLAIM SYMBOLIC WIN IN POLLS

Russia's political opposition on Monday claimed a symbolic victory in

regional elections while the ruling party said exit polls showed it was

headed for a win in a vote observers said was marred by fraud.

The elections were overshadowed by the alleged poisoning of opposition

leader Alexei Navalny in the Siberian city of Tomsk ahead of the vote.

Germany said on Monday that lab tests in France and Sweden confirmed the

Kremlin critic was attacked with a Novichok nerve agent. He is regaining

mobility and able to leave his bed, the Berlin hospital treating him said.

Russians in dozens of the country's 85 regions voted over several days for

governors and lawmakers in regional and city legislatures as well as in

several by-elections for national MPs.

The polls came a year ahead of parliamentary elections and were seen as a

test for President Vladimir Putin as the ruling United Russia party faces

sinking popularity and public anger over economic woes.

In an effort to fight Mr. Putin's electoral machine, Mr. Navalny urged

voters back candidates against the ruling party.

The 44-year-old lawyer and Kremlin critic had been in Siberia to promote a

"smart voting" campaign when he was poisoned last month.

Two allies of the opposition leader won local Parliament seats in the

Siberian city of Tomsk, where Mr. Navalny fell ill, according to early poll

results.