02JAN20 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: The ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum will face former president Mahamane Ousmane in a presidential election runoff in February, according to provisional results of the first round of Niger’s election the electoral commission announced.
AMERICAS: An appeals court has approved the execution for the only woman on federal death row before U.S president-elect Joe Biden takes office.
ASIA: China’s relationship with the United States has reached a “new crossroads” and could improve following a period of “unprecedented difficulty”, senior diplomat Wang Yi said in official comments published.
EUROPE: Britain reactivated emergency hospitals built at the start of the pandemic and shut primary schools in London on Friday to counter the rapid spread of a much more infectious variant of the coronavirus.
MIDDLE EAST: Five women were killed when a projectile exploded at a wedding held on New Year’s Day in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, Yemen officials reported.
TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: The US Senate voted on Friday to override US President Donald Trump’s veto and pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a major national security bill worth 740 billion dollars without repealing liability protections from social media companies

Top Story

United States: COVID-19 cases continue to increase throughout the nation.
- U.S. COVID-19 cases surpassed 20 million infections.
- About another 115,000 people could die over the next month from COVID-19, according to projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
- California reported 535 deaths from covid-19, the 2nd most single-day death toll for a state, topped only by New York set in mid-April.
- U.S. Senator Mitt Romney urged the U.S. government to immediately enlist veterinarians, combat medics, and others in an all-out national campaign to administer COVID-19 vaccinations and fight the rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
- Reporting: Reuters, CNN, WaPo, Reuters,

Africa

Region: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the friendship between China and Africa emerged stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua)
Niger: The ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum will face former president Mahamane Ousmane in a presidential election runoff in February, according to provisional results of the first round of the election announced by the electoral commission. (Reuters)
Rwanda: A curfew is imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kigali. (Xinhua)

Americas

Brazil: The nation’s COVID-19 death toll totaled 195,411 after 462 more patients died in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported. (Xinhua)
United States: State Sen. A. Benton Chafin Jr., a Southwest Virginia cattle farmer and lawyer who went against fellow Republicans by agreeing to expand Medicaid in 2018, died at VCU Medical Center of COVID-19. (WaPo)
United States: An appeals court has approved the execution for the only woman on federal death row before president-elect Joe Biden takes office. (The Guardian)
Venezuela: The nation will implement a week of hard lockdown starting on Monday to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez reported. (DPA)

Asia

China: The country’s relationship with the United States has reached a “new crossroads” and could improve following a period of “unprecedented difficulty”, senior diplomat Wang Yi said in official comments published. (Reuters)
India: The nation staged nationwide drills to begin one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 programs as the government prepared to approve the first vaccine. (AFP)
Kazakhstan: The nation abolished its death penalty, making permanent a nearly two-decade freeze on capital punishment in the Central Asian country, a notice on the presidential website announced. (AFP)
Vietnam: The nation has detected its first imported case of the new COVID-19 variant that is spreading rapidly around Britain, the health ministry reported. (Reuters)

Europe

Germany: On New Year’s Day, health authorities reported 12,690 new coronavirus cases and 336 new deaths linked to the disease, lower than on previous days. (DPA)
Russia: Oil production declined last year for the first time since 2008 and reached its lowest level since 2011 following a global deal to cut output and sluggish demand caused by COVID-19, statistics reported. (Reuters)
United Kingdom: The nation reactivated emergency hospitals built at the start of the pandemic and shut primary schools in London to counter the rapid spread of a much more infectious variant of the coronavirus. (Reuters)

Middle East

Region: Members of the OPEC group of oil producers and their partners will meet via videoconference on Monday to decide on production levels for February, hoping to move on from a difficult year. (AFP)
Iran: 1st anniversary of the death of Qasem Soleimani is being acknowledged in an event in Tehran. (Xinhua)
Yemen: Five women were killed when a projectile exploded at a wedding held on New Year’s Day in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, officials reported. (AFP)

Tech & Communications

Cybersecurity: The US Senate voted to override US President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), without repealing liability protections from social media companies. (DPA)

World

Cyclones:
- Tropical Storm Danilo
  - Location:10.5S 72.2E
  - Movement: NNE
  - Wind:50 mph
  - MAP
Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
Global Disease Outbreaks:

Tomorrow’s Outlook (03JAN21)

Global: OPEC Joint Technical Committee meeting
Global: 1st anniversary of U.S. killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad airport drone strike
Asia: 3rd anniversary of North and South Korea reopening hotline
United States: Opening Day of the 117th Congress

END