22NOV20 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: The Ethiopian military plans to use tanks to encircle Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, and is warning civilians it may also conduct artillery attacks on the city, state media reported.
AMERICAS: Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19 and then receiving an inconclusive result the next day, a spokesman for her campaign reported.
ASIA: China should explain why it appears to have singled out Australia with new import restrictions that have disrupted trade flows and undermined trust in the economic relationship, the trade minister stated.
EUROPE: A World Health Organization (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021 if governments repeat policies that failed to prevent the second wave of infections.
MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian insurgents fired a rocket into Israel, drawing Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the military announced.
TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon since the 1970s.

Top Story

United States: President Trump continues attempts to deny President-Elect Biden election certification in key states.
- The Trump campaign requested a formal machine recount of the 5 million presidential votes in Georgia in another effort to exhaust its options for challenging the results in the state.
- A judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump campaign that sought to invalidate millions of mail-in votes in the battleground saying,381,822,381,822,381,822,381,822,381,822of irregularities were “without merit.”
- The Republican National Committee and the Michigan Republican Party wrote to Michigan’s state board of canvassers to ask it to adjourn for 14 days to allow for an audit of ballots in the state’s largest county.
- Reporting: AP, BBC, Reuters

Africa

Algeria: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 hit 24 km WSW of Azzaba, Algeria at 4:53 on Sunday morning local time (0353 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey reported. (Xinhua)
Burkina Faso: Citizens heads to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election dominated by jihadist violence, which has cost over 2,000 lives this year and will prevent voting in hundreds of villages. (Reuters)
Ethiopia: The military plans to use tanks to encircle Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, and is warning civilians it may also conduct artillery attacks on the city, state media reported. (Reuters)
Ethiopia: Tigrayan forces fighting government troops are standing firm on the southern front and engaging soldiers round the town of Adigrat to the north, said Debretsion Gebremichael, head of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, via text message. (Reuters)

Americas

Argentina: The nation reported 112 additional COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 36,902, the country’s Health Ministry reported. (Xinhua)
Brazil: The nation has registered 376 additional COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 168,989, the Ministry of Health recorded. (Xinhua)
United States: Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19 and then receiving an inconclusive result the next day, a spokesman for her campaign reported. (WaPo)

Asia

Australia: South Australia’s opposition leader has called for a halt on putting returned travelers in hotel quarantine until a safer system can be put in place, as the state emerged from its temporary lockdown. (The Guardian)
Australia: China should explain why it appears to have singled out the country with new import restrictions that have disrupted trade flows and undermined trust in the economic relationship, the trade minister stated. (The Guardian)
North Korea: The nation called for tighter border controls against the coronavirus, urging its officials to stay on “high alert at all times” amid a global resurgence in the virus cases. (YNA)
South Korea: Authorities are discussing whether to enforce tighter distancing regulations for the greater Seoul area and the southwestern region, the prime minister said, as the country fights a resurgence of the new coronavirus. (YNA)

Europe

Region: A World Health Organization (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021 if governments repeat policies that failed to prevent the second wave of infections. (Reuters)
Russia: The nation recorded a daily increase of 24,581 new COVID-19 infections, taking the national tally to 2,089,329. (Reuters)
United Kingdom: The nation signed a preliminary trade agreement with Canada to ensure the continuity of their economic relations after the end of the Brexit transition phase in six weeks. (DPA)

Middle East

Israel: Palestinian insurgents fired a rocket into the nation, drawing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the military announced. (Reuters)
Syria: Terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group (outlawed in Russia) shelled Idlib state’s de-escalation zone 31 times in the past 24 hours, deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria Alexander Grinkevich said at a briefing. (TASS)
Yemen: Intensified shelling by the Houthi militia sparked a new wave of family displacement from areas of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a government official reports. (Xinhua)

Tech & Communications

Space: China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks in the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon since the 1970s. (Reuters)

World

Tomorrow’s Outlook (23NOV20)

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