Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Ethiopian lawmakers have endorsed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s six-month-long declaration of emergency in the Tigray region amid an escalation of a long-running conflict.
- AMERICAS: Canadian health officials reported the country’s first human case of the rare H1N2 swine flu strain but said “there is no increased risk” to citizens currently.
- ASIA: Indonesia’s economy has fallen into a recession for the first time in 22 years as it grapples with the fallout of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.
- EUROPE: The Bank of England increased its stimulus package by $195 billion in a bid to help the UK’s economy through another coronavirus lockdown.
- MIDDLE EAST: The UN said Israel’s forces have forcibly displaced 73 people after burning a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: An online petition by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calling for an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s media monopoly in Australia has been signed by a record number of people.
Top Story
- United States: Vote counting continues in key states.
- Election results remain inconclusive as votes continue to be counted in the key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, with the vote counting expected to continue in the coming days.
- President Donald Trump’s campaign has launched legal bids to stop the counting of votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Michigan, after President Trump made voter fraud allegations without providing any proof.
- Former Vice President Joe Biden meanwhile predicted victory for himself after he won the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
- Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets across some battleground states, demanding vote counting to end or continue depending on which state the protests took place in.
- Anti-President Trump protesters held demonstrations in New York, Seattle, Portland, and other cities, demanding a complete tally of all the ballots.
- Meanwhile, pro-President Trump protesters in Michigan demanded that vote counting be stopped when the President still held a lead in the state, while in Arizona pro-President Trump protesters demanded that vote counting continue, as the President trailed former VP Biden in that state.
- Reporting: AP, PBS/AP, ABC, Reuters, NYT, WSJ, WaPo, BBC
Africa
- Region: Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have not made any progress on resolving their long-running dispute over Ethiopia’s controversial new Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam on the river Nile. (AP)
- Ethiopia: Lawmakers have endorsed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s six-month-long declaration of emergency in the Tigray region amid an escalation of a long-running conflict. (AFP)
- Ivory Coast: The country is stuck in a post-election crisis over President Alassane Ouattara’s contested reelection, as two government supporters were killed in post-election violence and a minister’s convoy was struck by gunfire. (AFP)
- Tanzania: Populist President John Magufuli was sworn-in for a controversial second term in office despite calls for a new election, the disbandment of the electoral commission and an “endless peaceful demonstration” over the recent election. (AP)
Americas
- Region: Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are joining together to tackle illegal fishing off their coasts by Chinese fishing vessels. (AFP)
- Region: A weakened Hurricane Eta has crossed into Honduras from neighboring Nicaragua, still bringing with it heavy rainfall. (AP)
- Bolivia: Opponents of the leftist president-elect Luis Arce have gone on a two-day strike over alleged electoral fraud. (AFP)
- Canada: Health officials reported the country’s first human case of the rare H1N2 swine flu strain but said “there is no increased risk” to citizens currently. (AFP)
- United States: Daily new coronavirus cases have risen to an all-time high in the country according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (AP)
Asia
- Region: Bangladesh has agreed to a deal with neighboring India’s Serum Institute to supply 30 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine to Dhaka. (Reuters)
- Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen and four Cabinet members are in quarantine due to their meeting with the COVID-19 positive Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. (AP)
- China: Beijing has barred entry to non-Chinese travelers from Britain, Belgium and the Philippines and demanded new travelers from the US, France, and Germany to present results proving they do not have the new coronavirus prior to entering the country. (Reuters)
- Indonesia: The country’s economy has fallen into a recession for the first time in 22 years as it grapples with the fallout of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. (BBC)
Europe
- Austria: Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the country made critical intel mistakes over the suspected terrorist behind the recent attack in capital city Vienna. (Reuters)
- Denmark: The country is set to kill its mink population after a mutated version of the new coronavirus was found in mink farms which has already infected 12 people. (BBC)
- The Netherlands: The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered the culling of 200,000 chickens across the country’s farms after an increasing number of bird flu cases were discovered in the eastern town of Puiflijk. (Reuters)
- Turkey: Finance Minister Berat Albayrak ruled out government intervention to support the country’s record-low Lira currency and reiterated that raising interest rates could hurt the country’s economy. (Reuters)
- United Kingdom: The Bank of England increased its stimulus package by $195 billion in a bid to help the country’s economy through another coronavirus lockdown. (AP)
Middle East
- Region: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said billions of dollars of deposits held by his country’s citizens in Lebanon’s financial sector that were blocked after a major financial crisis were a major cause of Syria’s deepening economic crisis. (Reuters)
- Iran: The country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once again took aim at US democracy as he mocked the divisiveness of the election results and said the vote had exposed the reality of US democracy. (AFP)
- Israel: The UN said the country’s forces have forcibly displaced 73 people after burning a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank. (Guardian)
Tech & Communications
- Media: An online petition by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calling for an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s media monopoly in Australia has been signed by a record number of people. (BBC)
World
- Cyclones:
- Hurricanes:
- Hurricane Eta
- Location: 90 miles S of La Ceiba, Honduras
- Wind: 30 mph
- Movement: W-NW at 7 mph
- Map
- Hurricane Eta
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
- Confirmed Cases as of 05NOV20: 48,175,559
- Total Recovered Cases as of 05NOV20: 31,938,785
- Deaths as of 05NOV20: 1,226,444
- Countries with Confirmed Cases: 190
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- Ebola Virus Disease: DR Congo (11th Ebola outbreak figures from Equateur Province)
- Confirmed Cases as of 17OCT20: 119
- Probable Cases as of 17OCT20: 9
- Deaths as of 17OCT20: 53
- Sourcing: WHO
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global
Tomorrow’s Outlook (06NOV20)
- Global: The Finance Ministers of The Asia-Europe Meeting members will hold a virtual meeting.
- Global: The Commonwealth of Independent States of former Soviet nations will hold their annual summit virtually.
- Global: The UN’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict – 2002
- Africa: A report on the situation in the Sahel region is expected to be introduced at the UN Security Council.
- Africa: Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia will resume talks over Ethiopia’s GERD dam on the river Nile. (to 07NOV)
- Europe: The EU’s Ambassador to Belarus Dirk Schuebel will speak during an Atlantic Council event on Belarus and Russian integration.
- Europe: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak at the 12th German Economic Forum.
- Europe: The 39th Baltic Assembly session will be held.
- Bolivia: The opposition will hold a strike over alleged electoral fraud.
- Egypt: The second phase of the country’s legislative elections will be held.
- Malaysia: The 2021 budget is expected to be introduced to Parliament.
- New Zealand: The official results of the country’s two recent referendums will be released.
- United States: The government will release monthly unemployment data.
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