UN investigators accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other high-ranking officials of crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions, the jailing of political rivals, and the torture of protesters (Wall Street Journal). They urged the International Criminal Court and other bodies to criminally investigate. Venezuela condemned the investigators’ report (teleSUR).

Authorities said Jerusalem’s holy site, which is known by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, will close tomorrow as Israel’s coronavirus caseload soars and the country begins a second lockdown (Agence France-Presse). Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue will be shuttered for the first time during the Jewish New Year (Agence France-Presse).

The head of Libya’s UN-backed government, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, said he wants to step down by the end of October and urged the swift naming of a new administration (Al Jazeera). His departure could create more political uncertainty and conflict for Libya, which is torn between rival administrations in the east and west (Arab News).

A Taliban spokesperson said the group will not accept a cease-fire, which has been called for by the Afghan government, unless the two sides discuss the root of Afghanistan’s war. Intra-Afghan talks opened last weekend, but negotiation procedures still have not been set (TOLO).

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, acting chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said the bloc failed to reach a deal with Mali’s military junta yesterday, the day by which ECOWAS had said the junta should appoint a new president (Al Jazeera).

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on conflict-torn Libya that called for countries to enforce the UN arms embargo, which UN experts recently called “totally ineffective.” It also urged a cease-fire and demanded countries withdraw their mercenaries (Associated Press).

The military announced that it is investigating “possible wider patterns of violations” committed during its 2017 crackdown in Rakhine State, where security forces allegedly committed genocide against Rohingya Muslims. Myanmar’s army has denied the charge (Reuters).

The Venezuelan government claimed it foiled a plot to blow up oil and power facilities. The government said it detained eight alleged participants, including a U.S. citizen whom Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused of espionage (Washington Post).

The Afghan government strengthened its push for a cease-fire with the Taliban as historic peace talks between the two continue in Qatar. The Taliban has previously resisted calls for a long-term cease-fire (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

 

Israel is set to sign agreements to normalize diplomatic ties with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in a White House ceremony today (CNN). The agreements, championed by the Donald J. Trump administration, offer all three countries political and economic advantages (Financial Times). But they have been roundly rejected by Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, that have recently coalesced in opposition. Protests are planned today in Gaza and the West Bank and outside embassies around the world (Al Jazeera). Separately, a court handed a Jewish settler three life sentences plus additional time in prison for a 2015 firebomb attack that killed three Palestinians, including a toddler (Haaretz). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the attack an act of terrorism (New York Times).