Xi’s ‘new era’ promises human rights crackdown

CHINA: President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech to the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party last week—at three and a half hours long—left no doubt he will extend his rule well into the next decade. Xi called for a “new era” 36 times in the speech, making no mention of North Korea but signaling a continued hard line toward civil society. Already that has meant a crackdown on human rights lawyers, dissidents, and religious believers.

At the start of the Congress, the government unveiled Xi’s political ideology as a new curriculum required in all schools: “[The thought will] go into textbooks, into classes, and into the brains [of students],” said Education Minister Chen Baosheng.

JAPAN: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retained his supermajority in parliamentary elections, with votes being counted as Typhoon Lan made landfall in southwest Tokyo, killing at least three people and forcing flight cancellations.

NORTH KOREA: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told national security adviser H.R. McMaster that he’s available to go to North Korea if the Trump team will have him.

IRAQ: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called on Iranian militias, which control crucial areas, including those once dominated by Christians, to leave Iraq.

AFGHANISTAN: Civilian deaths and injuries from improvised explosive devices have surged, up nearly 40 percent, with more than 3,000 casualties from April to June.

ZIMBABWE: The World Health Organization has rescinded its appointment of dictator Robert Mugabe as its goodwill ambassador, following a not-surprising public outcry.