NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 3

NORTH AMERICA UK AUSTRALIA

Presidency still hangs in balance England wakes up to lockdown Vaccine manufacturing ready

Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer People in England will wake up to familiar The Morrison government has entered to the 270 Electoral College votes needed coronavirus restrictions as the country into four agreements with coronavirus to carry the White House, securing heads into a second national lockdown. vaccine makers, paving the way for victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds Pubs, restaurants and non-essential a 2021 rollout if they prove safe and of Wisconsin and Michigan, and shops have once again been forced to effective. Manufacturing of the first narrowing President Donald Trump’s close their doors and members of the coronavirus vaccine for Australians will path. With just a handful of states still public are ordered to stay at home for start in Melbourne next week. Prime up for grabs, Trump tried to press his the next four weeks in a bid to reverse Minister Scott Morrison revealed the case in court in some key swing states, the spread of COVID-19. significant step by AstraZeneca and CSL It was unclear if any of his campaign’s as he announced two more vaccine legal maneuvering over balloting would agreements, taking Australia’s deal total succeed in shifting the race in his favor. to four.

NORTH AMERICA UK NEW ZEALAND

Protesters: ‘Stop the count’ Sunak to unveil economic boost Ardern reveals top priorities

President Donald Trump’s campaign has A new economic boost for the economy The government will prioritise extending filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is the small business loan scheme, and Georgia, laying the groundwork for reportedly set to be unveiled. Chancellor rolling out the flexi-wage job support contesting battleground states as he and the Bank of England will programme and fast-tracking more slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the announce the measures as England goes infrastructure projects in the weeks hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes into a second lockdown for four weeks, leading up to Christmas. In a speech needed to win the White House. The new The Daily Telegraph said, adding the to Business New Zealand in Auckland, filings, joining existing Republican legal move would lead to £100 billion being Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlined challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, pushed into the economy. the top economic priorities for what’s left demand better access for campaign of 2020, with a focus on speeding up job observers to locations where ballots are creation and boosting exports. being processed and counted.

1 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES FROM FRANK NEWS

FULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE AUSTRALIA

US sets virus infections record Slow progress in Brexit talks PM keeps faith in US democracy

New confirmed cases of the coronavirus The European Union’s chief negotiator Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists in the US have climbed to an all-time on the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain he maintains faith in democracy in the high of more than 86,000 per day on has publicly blamed London for a lack United States, as Donald Trump casts average, in a glimpse of the worsening of progress in the two sides’ belated doubts on the result of the presidential crisis that lies ahead for the winner of attempt to reach an even rudimentary election. Joe Biden appears on track the presidential election. Cases and agreement. “At this stage, there are to become US president but Trump hospitalizations are setting records all still too many difficulties remaining on continues to claim the election is being around the country just as the holidays important topics,” Michel Barnier said stolen from him. “It is a great democracy and winter approach, demonstrating the on his way to brief the envoys of the and it does have great institutions,” challenge that either President Donald 27 member states. Morrison told reporters. Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden will face in the coming months.

NORTH AMERICA WORLD NEW ZEALAND

Trump’s inroads with voters Weaker Eta’s deadly mudslides Complaints about travel sky high

The US presidential election highlighted Eta moved into Honduras as a weakened A record number of complaints about sharply different views on the ongoing tropical depression but still bringing travel have been made to the Commerce public health crisis, a stubborn economic the heavy rains that have drenched and Commission in the wake of COVID-19. downturn and racial inequality. But it caused deadly landslides in the country’s Nearly 10,000 complaints were made in also showed that candidates can’t always east and in northern Nicaragua. The the year ending in June, up more than take traditional supporters for granted, storm no longer carried the winds of 10 per cent from last year. Commission according to AP VoteCast, a national the Category 4 hurricane that battered chairperson Anna Rawlings said the survey of the electorate. A majority of Nicaragua’s coast, but it was moving so complaints described difficulty obtaining Latino voters largely supported Democrat slowly and dumping so much rain that travel refunds, offers of credit rather Joe Biden nationally. But President much of Central America was on high than refunds for cancellations due to Donald Trump was able to cut into that alert. Covid-19, and new terms being inserted support in some competitive states. into contracts.

2 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden. - AP Election challengers yell as they look through the windows of the central counting board in Detroit, Michigan. - AP

NORTH AMERICA NORTH AMERICA Biden rebuilding ‘blue Election protesters wall’ in election race chant ‘stop the count’

Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds groundwork for contesting battleground states as of Wisconsin and Michigan, and narrowing President he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt Donald Trump’s path. for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his case in court in some key swing states, It was unclear The new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in if any of his campaign’s legal maneuvering over balloting would Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign succeed in shifting the race in his favor. observers to locations where ballots are being processed and Two days after Election Day, neither candidate had amassed counted, and absentee ballot concerns, the campaign said. the votes needed to win the White House. But Biden’s victories However, at one Michigan location in question The Associated in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one Press observed poll watchers from both sides monitoring. battleground state away – any would do – from becoming The AP called Michigan for Democrat Joe Biden. Nevada, president-elect. Pennsylvania and Georgia are undecided. Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher The Trump campaign also is seeking to intervene in a hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia whether ballots received up to three days after the election can and Nevada. be counted, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said. With millions of votes yet to be tabulated, Biden already The actions reveal an emerging legal strategy that the had received more than 71 million votes, the most in history. president had signaled for weeks, namely that he would attack At a news conference, the former vice president said he the integrity of the voting process in states where the result expected to win the presidency but stopped short of outright could mean his defeat. declaring victory. His campaign also announced that it would ask for a recount “I will govern as an American president,” Biden said. ”There in Wisconsin, a state the AP called for Biden. Campaign will be no red states and blue states when we win. Just the manager Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin United States of America.” counties,” without providing specifics. It was a stark contrast to the approach of Trump, who earlier Biden said the count should continue in all states, adding, falsely claimed that he had won the election. “No one’s going to take our democracy away from us – not Trump’s campaign engaged in a flurry of legal activity to try now, not ever.” to improve the president’s chances and cast doubt on the Campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said legal challenges election results, requesting a recount in Wisconsin and filing were not the behavior of a winning campaign. lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. Statewide “What makes these charades especially pathetic is that while recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally Trump is demanding recounts in places he has already lost, by only a few hundred votes; Biden led by more than 20,000 he’s simultaneously engaged in fruitless attempts to halt the ballots out of nearly 3.3 million counted. ■ counting of votes in other states in which he’s on the road to defeat,” Bates said. ■

3 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

- PA Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak. - PA

UK UK England wakes up to Sunak set to unveil lockdown restrictions new economic boost

People in England will wake up to familiar coronavirus A new economic boost for the economy in the wake of restrictions as the country heads into a second national the COVID-19 pandemic is reportedly set to be unveiled. lockdown. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the Bank of England will announce Pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops have once again the measures as England goes into a second lockdown for four been forced to close their doors and members of the public weeks, The Daily Telegraph said, adding the move would lead are ordered to stay at home for the next four weeks in a bid to to £100 billion being pushed into the economy. reverse the spread of COVID-19. The Chancellor is set to confirm employees on furlough will It comes amid reports that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to receive 80 per cent of their salaries if their employers have confirm in a statement to the Commons that the 80 per cent been made to shut down. furlough scheme will continue for businesses that have been The furlough scheme will be expanded after the scheduled shut due to restrictions beyond this lockdown period. end of the lockdown on December 2, the paper said. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been warned by a group Sunak is ready to guarantee furlough funding for Scotland, of northern Conservative MPs that they do not want their Wales and Northern Ireland if devolved administrations bring constituencies “locked into lockdown” indefinitely. in their own lockdowns. Chairman of the Northern Research Group (NRG) of Tory The paper also said the Bank of England was considering backbenchers, , has called for more clarity from Boris setting negative interest rates. Johnson for a roadmap out of the measures for a second time When Prime Minister announced last weekend in little more than a week, as dissent appears to be growing a second lockdown for England, it was confirmed the job within the Conservative Party. retention furlough scheme would be extended for an Earlier, MPs voted by 516 to 38 – a Government majority extra month. of 478 – for the new restrictions, which are due to expire Since then, the Scottish Government has been pressing UK on December 2. ministers for more clarity on the issue. However, in a bigger-than-expected Commons rebellion, Scottish First Minister has called on the 32 Tory MPs defied the whips to vote against the measures, UK government to state whether the furlough scheme could with two more acting as tellers for the noes. be extended further if Scotland decides to follow England The new restrictions were then cleared through Parliament into a lockdown. after they were approved by the House of Lords. The second lockdown in England will involve bars, pubs, The Bank of England is expected to slash its growth restaurants and non-essential shops being forced to close and forecasts for the economy and pump in another £100 billion of people told to stay at home for the next four weeks in a bid to quantitative easing to boost the economy. reverse the spread of COVID-19. According to The Sun, Sunak will tell MPs the 80 per cent In Wales, people will be able to go to pubs and restaurants, furlough scheme will remain available beyond December 2 to and schools are set to reopen when the nation’s two-and-a-half any area of the UK under the highest COVID-19 restrictions, week “firebreak” is due to come to a close next week. such as Tier 3 areas in England. ■ In Scotland, a regional tiered approach to restrictions is in force. ■

4 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

Prime Minister Scott Morrison tours the Astra Zeneca laboratories in Sydney. – AAP Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. - RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND Vaccine manufacturing Ardern reveals top set to start next week economic priorities

The Morrison government has entered into four The government will prioritise extending the small agreements with coronavirus vaccine makers, paving the business loan scheme, rolling out the flexi-wage way for a 2021 rollout if they prove safe and effective. job support programme and fast-tracking more infrastructure projects in the weeks leading up Manufacturing of the first coronavirus vaccine for Australians to Christmas. will start in Melbourne next week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed the significant step In a speech to Business New Zealand in Auckland, Prime by AstraZeneca and CSL as he announced two more vaccine Minister Jacinda Ardern outlined the top economic priorities agreements, taking Australia’s deal total to four. for what’s left of 2020, with a focus on speeding up job creation “With the arrangement with AstraZeneca ... that process and boosting exports. begins next week, but the vaccines will become available over “Before Christmas we will extend the Small Business Loan the course of next year, starting in quarter one,” Morrison said. Scheme out to three years and extend the interest free period Health Department secretary Professor Brendan Murphy to two years. We will also extend the purpose of the scheme said the first doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University and allow business to borrow to invest in new equipment and vaccine would come from overseas. digital infrastructure,” Ardern said. But then there would be a schedule of delivery over the Making those changes before Christmas would give small course of 2021 for locally made supplies. business owners certainty, especially ahead of a holiday period CSL signed a heads of agreement with AstraZeneca in where income could drop off for many, she said. September to make 30 million doses of the Oxford University- Ardern also pointed to yesterday’s “better than expected developed vaccine candidate. unemployment numbers”, which she said highlighted the It also has an agreement with the University of Queensland relative strength of New Zealand’s economy, with fewer people on another vaccine. unemployed here than in Australia, the US and Canada. Morrison was in Sydney to announce a deal with Novavax “However, we cannot rest on our laurels and we want to to supply 40 million vaccine doses and Pfizer-BioNTech for 10 see more New Zealanders obtain work, which is why we are million doses. prioritising the roll out of the flexi-wage scheme prior to This brings the government’s COVID-19 vaccine investment Christmas,” Ardern said. to more than $3.2 billion, adding to deals with UQ-CSL and The government would invest an additional $311 million Oxford-AstraZeneca. into the programme “to increase the average subsidy paid to Access to the vaccines is subject to clinical trial outcomes on employers to take on a worker and enable an additional 40,000 the safety and effectiveness of each candidate, and approval by unemployed people to take advantage of the programme.” the Therapeutic Goods Administration. “Māori, Pasifika and women have been disproportionately The Novavax vaccine, made in the United States and the impacted by job losses to date. My hope is the expanded flexi- Czech Republic, will require two doses per person, with the first wage scheme will play an important role in helping people from supply expected to arrive in early 2021. these groups to get quickly back into work,” she says. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate is also set to arrive Cabinet will also consider additional projects to go through in a similar time frame and will be made in the United States, the Resource Management Act fast-track process over the Belgium and Germany. ■ next two weeks. ■

5 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

A woman walks among thousands of white flags planted in remembrance of Americans An election inspector looks at an absentee ballot as vote counting in the general election who have died of COVID-19 near Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. - AP continues in Atlanta, Georgia. - AP

NORTH AMERICA NORTH AMERICA US sets record for daily Trump makes inroads coronavirus infections with Latino voters

New confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the US have The US presidential election highlighted sharply different climbed to an all-time high of more than 86,000 per day views on the ongoing public health crisis, a stubborn on average, in a glimpse of the worsening crisis that lies economic downturn and racial inequality. But it also ahead for the winner of the presidential election. showed that candidates can’t always take traditional supporters for granted, according to AP VoteCast, a Cases and hospitalizations are setting records all around national survey of the electorate. the country just as the holidays and winter approach, demonstrating the challenge that either President Donald A majority of Latino voters largely supported Democrat Joe Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden will face in the Biden nationally. But President Donald Trump was able to cut coming months. into that support in some competitive states, like Florida and Daily new confirmed coronavirus cases in the US have Nevada, revealing important shifts among Latino voters from surged 45 per cent over the past two weeks, to a record seven- many different cultural backgrounds. day average of 86,352, according to data compiled by Johns A summer of protests over racism in policing and the Hopkins University. Deaths are also on the rise, up 15 per cent coronavirus pandemic also exposed deep racial divisions. to an average of 846 deaths every day. Trump sought to make inroads into traditionally strong The total US death toll is already more than 232,000, and Latino support for Democrats, courting them with promises total confirmed US cases have surpassed nine million. Those of job growth and misleading claims about Democrats and are the highest totals in the world, and new infections are socialism. increasing in nearly every state. Nationally, Biden earned support from roughly two-thirds Several states reported grim numbers that are fueling the of Latino voters, while Trump got the backing of about a third. national trends. Texas reported 9048 new cases and 126 About three in 10 Latino voters have supported Republican deaths, and the number of coronavirus patients in Missouri, candidates in recent cycles, including in 2018, according to AP Nebraska and Oklahoma hospitals set records. About a third of VoteCast, and in 2016, according to a Pew Research Center the new cases in Texas happened in hard-hit El Paso, where a analysis of voters. top health officials said hospitals are at a “breaking point.” But Latino voters are not a monolithic bloc, given their vastly Public health experts fear potentially dire consequences, at different cultures, and many US-born Latinos have few cultural least in the short term. ties to Latin America. Polls showed the public health crisis and the economy were In winning Florida, Trump was aided by Cuban voters, who top concerns for many Americans. ■ are more likely than other Latinos to back Republicans. Cuban voters were five per cent of the electorate in Florida, and 58 per cent of them supported the president. AP VoteCast also found South Americans made up three per cent of the electorate, and they split about evenly between the two candidates. Puerto Ricans, who backed Biden by about two to one, made up five per cent. In Nevada, Biden received support from just about half of Latinos, and about four in 10 backed Trump. ■

6 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

European Commission’s Head of Task Force for Relations with the A man walks in knee-deep floodwaters carrying belongings in San Manuel, Honduras. - AP Michel Barnier. - AP

EUROPE WORLD Slow progress in Weaker Eta causes Brexit trade talks deadly mudslides

The European Union’s chief negotiator on the post-Brexit Eta moved into Honduras as a weakened tropical trade deal with Britain has publicly blamed London for depression but still bringing the heavy rains that have a lack of progress in the two sides’ belated attempt to drenched and caused deadly landslides in the country’s reach an even rudimentary agreement. east and in northern Nicaragua.

“At this stage, there are still too many difficulties remaining on The storm no longer carried the winds of the Category 4 important topics,” Michel Barnier said on his way to brief the hurricane that battered Nicaragua’s coast, but it was moving envoys of the 27 member states. so slowly and dumping so much rain that much of Central In a Twitter comment later, Barnier said that “Despite EU America was on high alert. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph efforts to find solutions, very serious divergences remain.” (55 kph) and was moving west-northwest at seven mph Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost said he agreed that (11 kph). It was 115 miles (185 kilometers) south-southeast “wide divergences remain on some key issues.” of La Ceiba. “We continue to work to find solutions that fully respect UK The long-term forecast shows Eta taking a turn over sovereignty,” Frost tweeted. Central America and then reforming as a tropical storm in the Barnier’s comments threw a dampener on optimistic reports Caribbean – possibly reaching Cuba and southern Florida. that progress was being made at a rapid pace on issues such Heavy rain was forecast to continue across Honduras as Eta as fisheries rights, one of three remaining major topics that moved northward toward the capital of Tegucigalpa and the need a compromise solution if a deal is to be found before northern city of San Pedro Sula. January 1, when a transition period in the Brexit divorce Before the center of Eta had even reached Honduras, proceedings ends. hundreds of people had been forced from their homes Barnier’s stern words were in complete contradiction to by floodwaters. the olive branch he offered London only two weeks ago after Earlier, a 12-year-old girl died in a mudslide in San British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that the EU Pedro Sula, said Marvin Aparicio of Honduras’ emergency and Barnier fundamentally had to change tack to continue management agency. the negotiations. Later, confirmation came from Honduras’ emergency Both sides have been intensely negotiating since, but, as management agency of the death of a 15-year-old boy in the Barnier pointed out, to little effect. central Honduras town of Sulaco. Mayor Edy Chacón said The lack of progress on fisheries and on the need to have the boy drowned trying to cross a rain-swollen river. That common regulatory standards and fair competition to make brought the storm’s death toll to at least four in Nicaragua sure Britain won’t undercut EU businesses has befuddled the and Honduras. negotiating teams for months, as both sides have been trying Aparicio said that some 379 homes had been destroyed, to strike a trade deal since the UK left the EU on Jan. 31. mostly by floodwaters. There were 38 communities cut off by They must do so within weeks if an agreement is to be washed out roads and five bridges in the country were wiped ratified by the end of the year, when a post-Brexit transition out by swollen rivers. period ends. ■ Francisco Argeñal chief of meteorology at Honduras’ Center for Atmospheric, Oceanographic and Seismic Studies, said he expected more of the country’s rivers to jump their banks. ■

7 NOVEMBER 5 (GMT) – NOVEMBER 6 (AEST), 2020

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. – AAP - 123RF

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND Morrison keeps faith Complaints about travel in US democracy sky high amid pandemic

Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists he maintains faith A record number of complaints about travel have in democracy in the United States, as Donald Trump been made to the Commerce Commission in the casts doubts on the result of the presidential election. wake of COVID-19.

Joe Biden appears on track to become US president but Trump Nearly 10,000 complaints were made in the year ending in continues to claim the election is being stolen from him. June, up more than 10 per cent from last year. “It is a great democracy and it does have great institutions,” Commission chairperson Anna Rawlings said the complaints Morrison said. described difficulty obtaining travel refunds, offers of credit “I have great confidence in the democracy of the United rather than refunds for cancellations due to COVID-19, and States and I have great confidence in their institutions.” new terms being inserted into contracts. The prime minister said record turnout in the US election “Travel-related complaints include those about airlines, showed their democracy was working. booking agents, motor vehicle rentals and accommodation,” “We’ll be patient and we’ll await the outcome of their Rawlings said. process. It’s not for me to run a commentary on those things “Not all of the travel complaints we received related to and I won’t,” he said. COVID-19, but the travel sector was strongly affected by the “This is a democracy that has withstood the demands of pandemic and that has caused a large increase in travel- centuries and I had have doubt it will continue to prevail.” related complaints.” Morrison would not buy into suggestions of voter fraud in A fifth of all the complaints were related to the pandemic. the United States, and said it was not yet appropriate for him Some complaints were about claims products could protect to contact either candidate. consumers from the virus, while others were over delays in He said Australia would remain patient and respectful until delivery of goods purchased online during lockdown, she said. the election outcome is determined. If it had not been for the pandemic, telecommunications Foreign Minister Marise Payne remains confident of a service providers would have again been the most complained- clear result. about industry. “I’m confident that the US systems and processes that There were 761 complaints about telecommunications, up have stood the test of time will deliver an outcome and it is more than four per cent from last year. important that we wait for that,” Payne said. “We welcome information from consumers and businesses “It’s important that we respect that process, that every vote is about conduct that they consider might breach competition or counted, and I’m sure that they will be.” consumer laws,” Rawlings said. Biden has pulled ahead in crucial swing states but “We do not investigate every complaint we receive, but the president continues to peddle baseless claims of every complaint helps us to understand what conduct is electoral fraud. of greatest concern to consumers and businesses, and to Payne said there was no doubt the election stalemate was a identify where to focus our activity and resources to have “difficult moment” for the US. the greatest impact.” ■ Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Americans had voted in historic numbers and their votes should be respected. ■

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