| On the rise | Skyrocketing virus cases in Arizona, Florida and other key 2020 battleground states — coupled with shifting attitudes about the disease and Donald Trump's handling of it — could spell more trouble for the president's re-election effort, Mike Dorning and Gregory Korte report. A slide in support for the president has coincided with him eschewing talking about the virus and masks to focus almost entirely on reopening. Critic detained | China arrested one of President Xi Jinping's most prominent critics as it moved to crack down further on political threats. Xu Zhangrun, a law professor who published a book criticizing Xi and the Communist Party, was taken by police from his house in a Beijing suburb, one of his friends told Bloomberg. The Foreign Ministry said it had not seen the reports of his arrest. Who dunnit? | Iran says it's withholding conclusions over the cause of a fire at its Natanz nuclear facility last week for security reasons. It was the site of expedited work on a project to develop centrifuges ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in June 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal. The incident followed two explosions, including one near the Parchin military base, and another at a medical clinic which killed 19 people. Caribbean shakeup | The Dominican Republic is the latest Latin American country to opt for political change after voters ousted the party that has dominated the tourist mecca for two decades. Luis Abinader, a cement company executive, will be sworn in as president of the Caribbean's largest economy next month. As the region's economic outlook has worsened, incumbent parties have been voted out from Argentina to Uruguay and Suriname. - Argentina's government improved its debt offer to restructure $65 billion of foreign bonds in a bid to reach a deal with its creditors.
Taming Google | Two years on, the European Union's record fine and order to give its citizens more choice in search engines have had little impact: Google still controls the market. As U.S. authorities ready a legal suit to break the company's grip, Aoife White and Natalia Drozdiak examine what they might do differently to curb Google's dominance.  What to Watch This Week -
France's new government is set to be announced today, with President Emmanuel Macron also planning a summit Friday aimed at restarting dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. -
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to cap a term like no other, with potentially blockbuster decisions covering birth control, religious rights and Trump's efforts to keep his financial records private. -
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador travels to Washington, his first overseas trip since coming to power a year and a half ago, and plans to meet with Trump on Wednesday to celebrate the revised North American free trade agreement. -
Croatia's ruling party scored a surprise victory in yesterday's general election, putting it within striking distance of a majority in parliament. -
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will outline the next steps of the government's plans to kick-start the economy in a speech to parliament Wednesday. -
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is vowing to hand over Singapore in "good working order" to the next generation of leaders and urged voters to give his party a fresh mandate in Friday's elections. Thanks to all who responded to our pop quiz Friday and congratulations to Luis Bonnet, who was the first to name Belarus as the country whose long-serving leader is facing opposition via social media posts of an almost century-old portrait, the owner of which is running for president from prison. And finally ... Beyond the more obvious obstacles to developing Africa's biggest investment — a $23 billion project to export Mozambique's natural gas — is a more pressing threat: attacks by militants aligned with Islamic State. A private company is in charge of guarding the area, a predominantly Muslim region 1,900 kilometers from the capital, Maputo, plagued by marginalization of its young men. South Africa, the U.S. and Portugal have indicated willingness to help fight the insurgency.  A woman holds her younger child while standing in a burned-out area after an attack on the northern Mozambican village of Aldeia da Paz on Aug. 24, 2019. Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images | 
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