Briefly with OZY

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani promised to wipe out the Islamic

State’s safe havens after it claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack on Kabul this year. Meanwhile, China’s semi-autonomous territory is gearing up for fresh

protests this week after a peaceful Sunday rally attracted a purported 1.7 million

people.

New York’s chief medical examiner has determined that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Aug. 10 death was a suicide, but that’s unlikely to satisfy those – including top government officials – who think it’s too convenient that the accused sex trafficker can no longer implicate his powerful friends. Meanwhile the threat of potential Chinese intervention hangs over continuing Hong Kong protests.

The Israeli government denied entry to Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan

Omar yesterday, attracting criticism for complying with a political demand by

President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, North Korea ruled out peace talks with

Seoul today as the South Korean military said it detected the launch of another

two short-range ballistic missiles from the Hermit Kingdom’s east coast.

President Donald Trump suggested that he could help Chinese President Xi Jinping “solve the Hong Kong problem” as a part of trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell about 3 percent yesterday amid fresh signs the global economy is headed for trouble.

Following two straight days of protest-fueled chaos at Hong Kong’s

international airport, operations appeared back on track Wednesday. Meanwhile,

U.S. stocks rallied yesterday after the White House announced it would delay

new tariffs on around $156 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Hong Kong’s international airport canceled all departures for the

second straight day after pro-democracy demonstrators returned on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Attorney General William Barr said investigators found “serious irregularities” at a federal prison in Manhattan where disgraced financier Jeffrey

Epstein apparently committed suicide.

While medical examiners have performed an autopsy on disgraced

financier Jeffrey Epstein, they have yet to release any details surrounding his

death. Meanwhile, footage from the tenth straight weekend of protests in Hong

Kong shows riot police launching tear gas into a subway station and firing non-

lethal ammunition at close range.

This week India changed Jammu and Kashmir’s long-held semi-autonomous status while locking down the disputed territory and infuriating nuclear-armed Pakistan, which also lays claim to the area. Meanwhile, President Trump is due to stop in New Hampshire for a rally next week, but some wonder if he’ll be as conciliatory as he was after last weekend’s mass shootings.

Following last weekend’s shootings in Texas and Ohio, politicians on

both sides of the aisle are feeling pressure to tighten the country’s gun laws.

Meanwhile, reports from Kashmir describe deserted streets blocked with concertina wire and gripped by eerie silence amid New Delhi’s crackdown.

President Donald Trump deflated hopes that he’d use his trip to

Texas and Ohio to push for unity following last weekend’s back-to-back shootings. Meanwhile, a landmark UN report has found that humans must alter their

current practices in agriculture and forestry.