The big picture: The Trump administration has been forcing a sale of TikTok due to ongoing national security concerns over ByteDance, it's Chinese owner. The app is most popular with young people who could be the future of Walmart's customer base, AP notes.
Several European countries have reported a jump in new coronavirus cases in recent weeks after a drop in cases over June and July, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Why it matters: The surge could indicate that Europe is on the verge of a second wave, though currently fewer people are dying from the virus and new cases have needed less medical treatment than those who got it in the spring, according to the Washington Post.
Flash flooding in Afghanistan killed at least 160 people and injured hundreds of others this week, though rescuers are continuing to search for missing people on Saturday, Reuters reports.
The big picture: The Ministry for Disaster Management said thirteen provinces were affected by flooding, including Parwan Province — just north of country's capital Kabul — where 116 people were killed, more than 120 injured and 15 people still missing.
United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed issued a decree on Saturday abolishing the 1972 Israel boycott law, which banned any commercial and finance contacts with Israel.
Why it matters: The announcement comes 48 hours before U.S. and Israeli government delegations are expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi for talks on the U.S.-brokered normalization deal. The delegations will arrive on El Al flight 971 — the first-ever flight to the UAE by an Israeli commercial airliner.
Israel’s airport authority on Friday listed the departure of a commercial Israeli airliner to the United Arab Emirates on its planned schedule for the first time.
Why it matters: The milestone flight is another sign of progress in the U.S.-brokered normalization deal between the two countries that was announced two weeks ago.
Most people across 14 wealthy countries surveyed by Pew tend to think their country has handled the pandemic well — and in Denmark and Australia that view is near-universal.
The flipside: There are two exceptions to the generally positive outlook: the U.S. and U.K. Americans were also by far the most likely to say the pandemic has divided their country (77%), rather than uniting it (18%).
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that he will resign once a new leader of his party is elected due to ongoing health issues with ulcerative colitis, per the AP.
Why it matters: Abe, who many thought might retire when his term ended in 2021, has been a key international ally of President Trump and a steady hand at the top of Japanese politics for a long time. The country had been known for its frequent prime ministerial turnover, but Abe has been in power since 2012 — following a short stint from 2006 to 2007.
