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Weekend Briefing

From Reuters Daily Briefing

By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor

Intro: Welcome to the first Saturday in September. The autumn equinox is three weeks away, and it's the 357th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. Take a look below for some more recent news – and our weekend podcast.

People receive COVID vaccines at Lumen Field Event Center, Seattle, March 13, 2021. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

Who will pay to keep the animal pathogens away?

An expensive ounce of prevention: Health officials from around the world are struggling to agree on funding for developing countries and measures to thwart jumps by pathogens from animals into humans. As they meet in Geneva to tackle pandemic threats in a legally binding accord, they'll likely wrangle over who should pay more and who should pay less.
From the pathological to the meteorological: Typhoon Saola made landfall in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong as winds lashed nearby Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, leaving at least one dead. Idalia swept through Florida and the U.S. southeast before diminishing over the Atlantic. And a wildfire burning for two weeks in Greece has killed at least 20 people, most of them migrants.

Pressure mounts on Gabon junta to relinquish power

Takeover: Military officers replaced President Ali Bongo with their own head of state. Crowds cheered in Libreville at the end of the Bongo family's reign – critics say they hoarded the nation's oil wealth as others went poor in a country rife with corruption – but the main opposition group and foreign powers condemned the seizure of power.
Wave: The coup was the eighth such move in western and central African nations in three years. It could exacerbate poor access to finance for other African nations as well as embolden other military putsches in the region.

Over the rainbow, skies aren't blue

Travel warning: Canada is advising LGBTQ travelers to the United States to be aware of recently passed laws in some states that might affect them. It did not name the states. The first Ugandan charged with 'aggravated homosexuality,' a 20-year-old man, could face the death penalty. And Nigerian police arrested 67 people at an alleged gay wedding.
Work opportunity: Five judges on Hong Kong's highest court are deliberating whether to recognize same-sex marriages conducted overseas. This could lead other Asian financial centers to draft more inclusive laws that could draw global talent to the region. Only Taiwan and Nepal allow same-sex unions in Asia.

The nettles in China's Country Garden

Acres of debt: Country Garden won approval from its creditors to extend payments for an onshore private bond, a major relief for the embattled Chinese developer as well as the struggling property sector.
Why we care: The extension buys time for Country Garden to avoid default, and is good news for financial markets worldwide and the Chinese government.

Before I forget…

Russia will block the final declaration of the G20 summit beginning this Friday unless it reflects Moscow's position on Ukraine and other crises, leaving participants to issue a non-binding or partial communiqué, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

An Ohio police department released body-camera footage showing an officer fatally shooting a pregnant Black woman in the parking lot of a grocery store after she refused to exit her car and bumped him with her vehicle.

Several Proud Boys were sentenced to prison for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

Germany is Europe's biggest economy, so how worried should people be about its stagnation? The Reuters World News podcast will tell you. And find out how a Nazi-era bunker-turned-penthouse embodies Germany's property-market woes.

An ex-Morgan Stanley executive said he was fired because he is white. And California might become the first state to ban caste discrimination.

Canada struck a deal this year to stem the flow of asylum seekers entering from the U.S. It didn't work.

Thank you again, Parrot Heads: 'Margaritaville' songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who brought us changes in attitudes and latitudes, died at the age of 76.

Bungle in the tunnel: The 7-mile long Mont Blanc tunnel is closing for several months for repairs. Imagine how that will turn out for Italy if other crucial links like the Fréjus, Brenner and Gotthard shut down, as they all did last Monday because of bad weather.

Those babies aren't going to make themselves. Changshan County in China is offering couples money if the bride is 25 years or younger, while Chongqing said insured residents no longer must provide marriage certificates to get maternity benefits.

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