South Asia
Ijaz Shah, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, who has often been accused of having links with terrorist organisations, threatened opposition parties that are protesting against Prime Minister Imran Khan, with attacks by the Taliban. Leaders of the opposition criticised his statement saying that such statements by Pakistani leaders “validated” allegations that have led to Pakistan being greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force. [Economic Times]
As India’s foreign secretary Harsh Shringla spoke of bolstering bilateral coordination with Germany, Annegret Kramp, Germany’s defence minister, announced her plan to deploy a warship for patrolling in the Indian Ocean to counter Chinese influences in the region. [Hindustan Times]
Central Asia and the Caucasus
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a warning that the Nagorno - Karabakh attacks could amount to war crimes. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have been advised to avoid attacking populated areas in and around the conflict zone as they violate international humanitarian law. [Reuters]
Georgia’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream party has been facing strong opposition after winning the elections for the third time. Election observers and the opposition parties have accused the ruling party of violating election law. [AP News]
East and Southeast Asia
China-Australia tensions escalate after Canberra pushed for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April. From Friday, barley, sugar, red wine, timber, coal, lobster, copper ore, and copper concentrates from Australia, are expected to be barred by China even if the goods have been paid for and have arrived at ports. The ban on wheat is likely to follow. [SCMP]
Indonesian Muslims marched to the heavily guarded French Embassy in Indonesia’s capital on November 2 to protest France’s president and his staunch support of secular laws that deem caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as protected speech. The French Embassy said Macron made a distinction between Islam and militancy. [Channel News Asia]
Chinese mainland reports 3 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. A total of 30 new asymptomatic cases, including 24 arriving from outside the mainland, were reported. As of Sunday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland had reached 86,021. Of them, 363 patients were still being treated, including 12 in severe condition. [EastDay]
Europe
Following a war-of-words with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, France announced its plan to ban “the Grey Wolves,” a Turkish far-right group, also known to be affiliated with the Turkish President. [Al Jazeera]
A new report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) states that there is “overwhelming evidence” that the Belarusian presidential election results were falsified and that the country’s security forces have engaged in “systematic” human rights violations in response to the peaceful protests that have engulfed the nation for 12 consecutive weeks. Belarus’ human rights record is already under scrutiny as the UN Human Rights Council begins its Universal Periodic Review of nations’ rights records. [RFE/RL; VOA]
Latin America and the Caribbean
Over 300 Brazilians took to the streets of São Paulo to protest against the decision of state Governor João Doria’ to back mandatory coronavirus vaccinations and to test the Chinese vaccine produced by Sinovac. [MercoPress]
Ahead of Venezuela’s parliamentary elections in November, President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that his intelligence authorities have uncovered evidence of American attempts to sabotage the electoral process. [Telesur]
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
One year after the attack on the capital of Libya, the warrings sides have decided to participate in face-to-face talks. After a ceasefire agreement was negotiated between the internationally recognised government in Tripoli and Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, the three- day meeting is aimed at discussing the implementation of the ceasefire. [Al Jazeera]
An armed group by the name of OLF Shane killed 32 people and raided 20 houses in the Western Wollega Zone of the Oromiya region in Ethiopia. OLF Shane has been fighting for the rights of the Oromos, the largest ethnic group in the country, however, no immediate motive has been expressed for the recent killings. [Middle East Online]
North America
The hotly anticipated US Election Day is here and more than 96 million people have already cast their ballots likely reducing the number of people who will turn out to vote in person this year. Millions of mail-in ballots are expected to lead to a delay in the counting of votes once the polls close, particularly in some battleground states. [CNN]
Oceania
After China banned timber imports from Queensland, put a halt to trade with an Australian grain exporter, and threatened to throw away $2 million worth of live rock lobsters, trade ties between Australia and China are once again on the rocks. China has already placed strict trade barriers and protectionist measures against Australian barley, wine, meat, dairy, seafood, and fruit. [ABC News]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates from 0.25% to a record low of 0.1% in order to drive growth and boost employment. The RBA also committed to significant quantitative easing measures through the purchase of $100 billion in government bonds. [Business Insider Australia]
Sub-Saharan Africa
The defence ministers of Sudan and South Sudan signed a military cooperation deal that promotes armed training, peace, and development between the two neighboring countries. The deal also aims to improve and increase trade between Khartoum and Juba. [The East African]
A vessel carrying over 200 migrants from West Africa to the Canary Islands sank off the coast of Senegal, resulting in the deaths of at least 140 people. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) described the tragic event as the “deadliest shipwreck” this year. [Africa Times]
World News Monitor: 03 November, 2020
A quick look at events from around the globe.
November 4, 2020
Thousands of demonstrators marched to the French embassy in Indonesia to protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's support for the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed SOURCE: AP