| Recusal row | Senate Democrats are calling for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to pledge to recuse herself from future cases related to the 2020 election, after Trump said the court might decide the outcome and he expects her to break a tie. The issue is becoming a flash point in Barrett's confirmation battle. Campaign 2020 There are 34 days until the election. Here's the latest on the race for control of the White House and Congress. Trump offered Barrett the nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 21, three days after Ginsburg's death, according to a questionnaire prepared for her Senate confirmation hearings. Other developments Sign up to receive daily election updates as a direct mobile notification on Twitter. Simply click on this link and like the tweet. In the running | Friedrich Merz, a longtime conservative rival to Angela Merkel, is stepping up his bid to lead Germany's ruling party and potentially replace her as chancellor next year. As Arne Delfs reports, Merz sees an opening, and is hitting the phones to persuade party delegates to back him over two other candidates at a December convention that will decide the leadership. Merkel has said she won't run again in the next federal election due in the fall of 2021. Political paralysis | Kuwait's new leader, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 83, takes the reins of one of the world's wealthiest countries as it faces a financial crisis made worse by internal wrangling. He succeeds his half brother, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who died yesterday, and inherits an economy facing the highest budget deficit in its history, brought on by the drop in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.  A portrait of Kuwait's late emir, Sheikh Sabah, in the capital Sept. 29. Photographer: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Defeat looms | Boris Johnson's coronavirus strategy risks being further derailed with Conservative lawmakers threatening a rebellion over the government's emergency powers. More than 100 of the prime minister's fellow Tories are prepared to vote against the government today unless Parliament is allowed more sway over virus restrictions. It's not the only defeat Johnson faces: The upper House of Lords looks set to vote down his plan to rewrite parts of the Brexit divorce deal. Power grab | Sri Lanka's Supreme Court is considering petitions from as many as 40 individuals and organizations challenging President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's plan to restore sweeping executive powers. Rajapaksa — who appointed his brother and former strongman Mahinda as prime minister — wants to concentrate power in the hands of the presidency, which critics say undermines judicial independence and the parliament. What to Watch -
Hong Kong warned against protests on the National Day holiday tomorrow, after denying another application for a demonstration while the city braces for a decision on whether China will charge 12 activists caught in August attempting to flee to Taiwan. -
French President Emmanuel Macron continues his trip to the Baltic states with a visit to Latvia today. -
The European Commission is poised to issue a report critical of the state of democracy in Hungary and Poland, worsening a spat that threatens to delay disbursement of the bloc's $2.1 trillion virus rescue package. And finally ... China's Greater Bay Area is supposed to rival research-and-development clusters like Tokyo Bay and San Francisco-Silicon Valley. But such grand ambitions are intertwined with those of China's flagship technology company, 5G mobile leader Huawei, which has a new 400-acre R&D campus on the south coast. The success of the Greater Bay Area, and of China's push for global technology leadership, now rests on its ability to navigate a U.S.-led backlash against Chinese tech.  A waterway runs through the Huawei campus in Dongguan. Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images | 
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