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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave Tigrayan regional forces 72 hours to surrender before the military begins an offensive on the regional capital of Mekelle. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which is refusing to surrender its rule of the northern region, said its forces were digging trenches and standing firm. The conflict erupted on Nov. 4 and has killed hundreds, possibly thousands.
Protesters across California took to the streets last night in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest nighttime curfew orders that went into effect Saturday night to clamp down on resurging coronavirus cases. In Huntington Beach, a crowd of about 400 – dubbing themselves “Curfew Breakers” – gathered in front of the city’s main pier to protest the curfew that took effect at 10 p.m.
Mystery surrounds a secret night-time flight and alleged meeting between the Saudi crown prince and the Israeli prime minister. According to Israeli media reports, a private jet known to be used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was tracked flying from Tel Aviv to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday night. The plane was on the ground for two hours before returning to Tel Aviv just after midnight.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said on Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine could be up to 90 percent effective in preventing the disease. The creators of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which uses a weakened version of a common cold virus, said it could be administered in existing healthcare settings, like medical clinics and local pharmacies, and stored at refrigerator temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least six months.
The head of the Tibetan government in exile has visited the White House for the first time in six decades, a move that could further infuriate China, which has accused the US of trying to destabilize the region. Lobsang Sangay, the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), was invited to Washington to meet officials on Friday, the CTA said.
The first Democrat to take the state since Bill Clinton in 1996, Biden wins its 16 electoral college votes as part of a victory by 306-232. The Associated Press called the race on Thursday evening following the recount, which election officials said reaffirmed Biden’s victory more than two weeks after election day. Trump has inched about 1,400 votes closer to Biden as a result, but remains the loser.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has told Americans to avoid travel for the Thanksgiving holiday amid soaring Covid-19 cases. But the agency stopped short of issuing a travel ban for Americans. The US has so far recorded more than 11.6 million coronavirus infections and more than 250,000 deaths. Thanksgiving typically heralds the busiest week for travel in the US.
South Australia’s drastic six-day coronavirus lockdown was triggered by a “lie” to contact tracers from a man who tested positive and restrictions across the state are set to be lifted much sooner than first planned, authorities said on Friday. The shock announcement came just two days after the state government ordered people to stay at home and shut many businesses to combat what was considered a highly contagious outbreak of coronavirus.
The antiviral remdesivir should not be used as treatment for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, the World Health Organization said Thursday, only a month after the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug to treat patients over age 12 who are hospitalized with Covid-19. Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and the steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorized to treat Covid-19 patients.
The Vatican has launched an inquiry after Pope Francis’ Instagram account liked a photo of a Brazilian bikini model wearing clothes resembling a school uniform. It reports that the Pope’s various social media channels are managed by a communications team of employees – and that an internal inquiry is underway to determine how the incident occurred. The “like” was reported by news outlets this month.