Venezuelan’s vote in unofficial poll, in defiance of Nicolas Maduro

Military officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had seized power on Wednesday, placing President Ali Bongo under house arrest and naming a new leader after the Central African state's election body announced Bongo had won a third term.

Conservative leader Nunez Feijoo had asked the Socialist Sanchez to back his government formation for two years. Spain faces the threat of remaining in political deadlock, since the July general election.

The leaders of Germany's ruling coalition sought to project unity during a two-day retreat outside Berlin. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a major tax cut.

On 17 August 2023, popular protests over the high inflation rate and deteriorating economic situation in Syria erupted in the Druze majority city of Al-Suwayda, with hundreds of participants. These grew, and by 20 August, thousands of protesters chanted slogans demanding the downfall of Assad regime.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has seen its lowest approval ratings since coming to power in 2021. The far-right continues to see a surge in support.

The vote for the largely ceremonial role is widely viewed as a test of support for the ruling People's Action Party.

The regional bloc CCAS, and the country's opposition coalition, have urged international partners to push for a rapid return to civilian rule. Also in this edition: In Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 48 protesters are reported to have been killed in the eastern city of Goma. And finally: In South Africa, the death toll rises to 76 after the devastating Johannesburg fire at an abandoned apartment block that housed dozens of homeless people and squatters.

Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili is facing possible impeachment after she visited leaders in the bloc. The current government is seen by the opposition as taking the country away from Europe and toward Russia.

In a renewed attempt to broker peace, Colombia's leftist President Petro agreed on a ceasefire with an armed dissident group. The EMC is a splinter group that rejected the 2016 deal broadly honored by the larger FARC.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has extensively revised secondary school curricula, removing all mention of the country's Mughal and Muslim history, which spanned some six centuries, as well as the identity of the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi and even Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrives New Delhi ahead of the G-20 Summit in India. He is received by Senior Government officials of the India and Nigerian Governments.

Federal prosecutors are looking to indict President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, before the end of the month. The indictment could serve a blow to Biden's presidential campaign.