28NOV20 Global Overnight Overwatch Report

Key Storylines

AFRICA: The Ethiopian military claims it has seized control of several towns in the northern region of Tigray.
AMERICAS: A recount in Wisconsin’s largest county demanded by Republican President Donald Trump’s election campaign ended Friday with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden increasing his lead.
ASIA: The Indian government has invited farmers’ unions for talks even as thousands of them protested in and around New Delhi against a set of laws they say will curb their earnings and benefit big corporations.
EUROPE: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is to meet for a two-day party conference, which is expected to be met with an anti-racist demonstration and a large police presence.
MIDDLE EAST: The casualties from fighting among rival Iraqi protesters in the southern hot spot of Nasiriyah increases to six, medics told AFP, as other cities imposed security measures.
TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Netflix will start declaring the £1bn-plus revenues it makes from millions of British subscribers each year to the UK tax authorities, a move likely to increase pressure on tech firms such as Google and Amazon to stop avoiding taxes through loopholes.

Top Story

Iran: Prominent Iranian nuclear official, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, has been assassinated, sparking anger in Iran.
- Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in an ambush by gunmen in the town of Absard, east of the capital city of Tehran.
- Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani accused arch-foe Israel of trying to create “chaos” by assassinating one of the nation’s top nuclear scientists but added that his country would not fall into a “trap.”
- Iran will retaliate for the killing of its prominent nuclear scientist at “the proper time,” President Hassan Rouhani stated in a televised speech, a day after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an ambush near Tehran.
- The former head of the US Central Intelligence, John Brennan, labeled the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist a “criminal” act that risks sparking conflict in the region.
- Israel put its embassies worldwide on high alert after Iranian threats of reprisal attacks following the killing of a nuclear scientist near Tehran, Israeli N12 news reported.
- Reporting; BBC, AFP, AFP, Reuters, Reuters

Africa

Burkina Faso: President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré announced he had received the congratulations of the leader of the opposition, a day after official results showed him being re-elected by a landslide. (AFP)
Ethiopia: The military claims it has seized control of several towns in the northern region of Tigray. (BBC)
Rwanda: Former Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 892.2 million francs (about 926,000 U.S. dollars) for issuing bounced checks, the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court in the Rwandan capital city Kigali ruled. (Xinhua)

Americas

Argentina: The nation reported 275 additional COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 38,216, the country’s Health Ministry reported. (Xinhua)
Brazil: Guilherme Boulos, Brazilian Socialism and Liberty Party’s candidate for mayor of São Paulo, tested positive for COVID-19, his campaign said. (Xinhua)
United States: A recount in Wisconsin’s largest county demanded by Republican President Donald Trump’s election campaign ended Friday with Democratic President-elect Joe Biden increasing his lead. (Reuters)

Asia

Australia: Two people have been newly diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Australia, while New South Wales has announced eight new cases, all in hotel quarantine. (The Guardian)
Hong Kong: City leader Carrie Lam said she has “piles of cash” at home as she has no bank account after the United States slapped sanctions on her in response to a draconian security law China imposed on the city. (AFP)
India: The government has invited farmers’ unions for talks even as thousands of them protested in and around New Delhi against a set of laws they say will curb their earnings and benefit big corporations. (DPA)
South Korea: The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the nation exceeded 500 for the third straight day, increasing pressure on authorities to toughen social distancing restrictions amid continued sporadic infections across the country. (YNA)

Europe

France: President Emmanuel Macron said video images showing police officers beating up a Black man “shame us,” and condemned violence both by and against the police. (AP)
Germany: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is to meet for a two-day party conference, which is expected to be met with an anti-racist demonstration and a large police presence. (DPA)
Russia: Moscow’s COVID-19 recoveries grew by 6,633, reaching 441,535, the city’s anti-COVID-19 crisis center reported. (TASS)
United Kingdom: Hospitals in England risk being overwhelmed if lawmakers do not support the government’s new plan for restrictions, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove announced. (Reuters)

Middle East

Region: U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was deployed to the Gulf this week, days before the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, although the U.S. Navy said the deployment was not related to any specific threat. (Reuters)
Iraq: The toll from clashes among rival protesters in the southern hot spot of Nasiriyah rose to six dead, medics told AFP, as other cities imposed security measures. (AFP)
Israel: Major shopping malls, markets, and museums in the nation reopened to reduce the full lockdown currently imposed. (Xinhua)

Tech & Communications

Internet Regulation: Netflix will start declaring the £1bn-plus revenues it makes from millions of British subscribers each year to the UK tax authorities, a move likely to increase pressure on tech firms such as Google and Amazon to stop avoiding taxes through loopholes. (The Guardian

World

Tomorrow’s Outlook (29NOV20)

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