Tsunami death toll could reach thousands in Indonesia

INDONESIA: Mobile phone footage shows a powerful tsunami hitting Central Sulawesi after a 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday (more here). Indonesian authorities put the death toll at 1,200 people Monday and say it may number well into the thousands, as the government dispatched a floating power station to assist in recovery.

CHINA: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis canceled a trip to Beijing after the Chinese government declined to make available top military officers for scheduled meetings. The rift comes amid rising tensions over fresh U.S. sanctions, a trade war, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s accusations of Beijing meddling in U.S. elections.

CANADA: NAFTA is back on after U.S. and Canadian officials—with mediation from Mexico—made swift progress following meetings at last week’s UN General Assembly. Now called the United States–Mexico-Canada Agreement, the new trade pact has to pass Congress next year, but for now, let the record show, just about everybody is happy about it.

IRAQ: The United States on Friday ordered diplomatic personnel from Basra, the country’s third largest city, and closed its consulate there following weeks of unrest. The U.S. State Department cited “increasing and specific threats” to Americans coming from Iran.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The risk of Ebola spreading beyond Congo, likely to Uganda, is now “very high.”

SOUTH SUDAN: Nearly 400,000 people have died in the world’s newest country’s civil war, a five-year conflict overshadowed by the Syrian crisis. A new report also shows 4.5 million people displaced by fighting largely based on ethnic rivalries.

PAKISTAN: Muslim neighbors set fire to the home of the only Christian family living in this vicinity of Punjab province, part of a string of attacks that left family members beaten and hospitalized.

MACEDONIA’s name, for now, won’t change because not enough voters turned out for a national referendum.

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