Contingency provisions | State officials wary of slower-than-usual postal delivery in America are extending mail-in ballot deadlines and making backup plans to smooth early voting. But as Ryan Teague Beckwith reports, experts warn tens of thousands of ballots might still be thrown out. Tech snag | Chinese negotiators plan to bring up Trump's plan to ban WeChat and TikTok when they meet their U.S. counterparts to discuss the implementation of the phase-one trade deal in the coming days, Bloomberg News exclusively reports. While top Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow says the deal's doing just "fine," Chinese purchases of U.S. goods under the agreement are lagging badly. - Key Apple partner Hon Hai Precision Industry plans to split its supply chain, with one segment serving the Chinese market and the other the U.S.
Echoes of racism | The murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence 27 years ago by a gang of White youths is many British people's point of reference in thinking about the Black Lives Matter protests and the death of George Floyd in the U.S. As Robert Hutton explains, it's why the London Metropolitan Police's announcement yesterday that they have moved their investigation to "an inactive phase" is so significant. That sinking feeling | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, already weakened by corruption indictments, is in trouble with opponents and loyalists alike as his support plummets in opinion polls. Ivan Levingston reports that a mismanaged Covid-19 outbreak has galvanized thousands of Israelis into a drum-beating, horn-blowing, cacophony of protests.  Protesters near the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on Aug. 8. Photographer: Ahmad GharabliAFP via Getty Images Deepening crisis | With the pandemic threatening the deepest economic contraction in almost 90 years, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's government faces a choice between embracing radical reform or risking a sovereign debt crisis and more permanent scars. Antony Sguazzin and Prinesha Naidoo set out how the chronic under-performance of what was once dubbed "the rainbow nation" is pushing Africa's powerhouse to the edge of economic and political disaster. What to Watch- Brazil's pro-market economic team was hit by the resignation of two of its senior members in what Economy Minister Paulo Guedes called "a stampede."
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an extraordinary public endorsement of his finance minister yesterday in a bid to quash chatter about a growing rift.
- Beirut's port is starting to resume operations following last week's massive explosion that killed 171 people and injured thousands.
And finally ... Bulk carrier Wakashio was 11 days into a month-long voyage to Brazil when it hit a reef off Mauritius and spilled fuel into the island's crystal clear waters, causing an environmental disaster. As Julian Lee and Adeola Eribake write, geography explains why it was there in the first place: Mauritius lies on the shortest straight-line route between the Malacca Strait, which links Asia to the Indian Ocean, and the southern tip of Africa. "Mauritius is just on the 'highway' of international shipping," says Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at industry group BIMCO.  Indian Ocean shipping lanes. Source: Bloomberg | 
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