On Monday, 26^th September, a referendum about changes in the constitution took place in Azerbaijan. It was proposed by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and concerned changes to 29 articles of the basic law of the country, including the extension of the presidential term from 5 to 7 years. The amendments will pass if they receive a majority of votes. Turnout has to reach at least 25% for the referendum to have an effect. If the changes are passed, a position of vice-president will be created, replacing the prime minister as the person directly below the president. Moreover, the presidential term will be lengthened from five to seven years, and the president will have the right to dissolve the parliament.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) welcomed the Bank of Japan's move to the new principles of monetary policy. Nevertheless, the organization continues to believe that the Bank of Japan will not be able to achieve the inflation target of 2% in the nearest future. Last week, the Bank of Japan following the results of the September meeting and the large-scale review of the monetary policy decided to abandon the monetary base landmark as one of the main targets. Instead, the regulator will begin to target the yield on 10-year government bonds at the current level of about 0%.

The results of Tuesday’s parliamentary elections in Jordan ware announced on Sunday, 25^th September. Most of the seats were won by independent candidates, while the National Coalition for Reforms, consisting of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, representatives of Christian minority and some secular groups, received the best results of all political parties. According to official data, the turnout was 36 percent, 20 pp lower than in 2013. Despite some improvement in the area of transparency, political parties and a journalist group reported numerous irregularities in voting and counting process.

Accusations of 'barbarism' have been addressed to Russia for its recent actions in Syria, concerning a recent intensification of the bombings over Aleppo. The emergency United Nations Security Council meeting was held on the 25th of September. The meeting was called by the ambassadors of France, Britain and the United States who have addressed Russia with criticism concerning the increasing of the attacks over the Northern of the city. The meeting was called soon after the Syrian regime declared their offensive towards Eastern Aleppo, home to 275,000 civilians, 231 of which were killed in the attacks.

On Saturday Li Keqiang, the Chinese PM, paid a two-day visit to Cuba. The aim of the meeting was to strengthen bilateral relations on the line Havana-Beijing and deepen economic ties. It is one among many international trips made to Havana in the recent months by various world leaders. Only last week Shinzo Abe was the first Japanese Prime Minister to come to communist Cuba. The country has become significantly more attractive to foreign investment since the opening up to business-like relations with Washington in the past two years. China is, however, Cuba’s second largest trading partner and strives to keep that position.

China is in close communication with the Philippines about the possible visit of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to China, - said on Friday at a news briefing by a Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang. Previously, the agency Reuters, citing sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines reported that Philippine diplomats are negotiating with counterparts from Japan and China about the possible visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to these countries at the end of October.