Protests continue for the fourth day in Sudan after the coup d'état. Another protestor is killed, bringing the total number of protestors killed to 11. (Reuters)
Moscow enters its strictest lockdown since June 2020, closing schools, kindergartens, and all non-essential businesses until November 7 due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Deutsche Welle)
Russia reports a record for the third consecutive day of 1,159 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 235,057. The country also reports a record 40,096 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8.39 million. (Anadolu Agency)
The Hungariangovernment announces that it will require face masks to be worn on public transport beginning on November 1 and will also allow companies to impose a vaccine mandate for their employees in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, all non-essential medical appointments will be temporarily suspended. (Euronews)
Ukraine reports a record 26,071 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 2.85 million. (Ukrinform)
Beijing mandates booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for key workers, including cooks, security guards and cleaning personnel, becoming the first major Chinese city to publicly mandate booster doses. (Reuters)
UgandanPresidentYoweri Museveni announces that schools will be reopened in January after being closed for almost two years due to the pandemic, while the rest of the economy will be reopened in the same month. (France 24)
Malaysiangynaecologist John Tang Ing Chinh invents the world's first unisex condom, that can be used by both males and females, which is made from a medical grade material normally used as a dressing for injuries and wounds. (Reuters via Today)
France seizes a British trawler fishing inside its territorial waters without a licence, and fines another vessel amid tensions over post-Brexit fishing rights in the English Channel. The trawler is being held at the Port of Le Havre. The French government also says that, beginning November 2, it will impose extra customs checks on British goods entering France. French Seas Minister Annick Girardin says that "It's not war, but it is a fight". (Reuters)
British environment minister George Eustice condemns the French seizure of the vessel, calling it "disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner" and warned of an "appropriate and calibrated response". (Financial Post)
FrenchPresidentEmmanuel Macron tells AustralianPrime MinisterScott Morrison that Morrison had broken the trust between the two countries and that it was up to Canberra to repair those ties with "tangible actions". France had criticized its allies after Australia opted for nuclear-powered submarines to be built with U.S. and British technology instead of a $A90 billion French diesel-electric submarine program. Macron also urged Australia to stop mining coal. (The Canberra Times)
The European Union accuses Russia of "weaponizing" gas prices in order to "bully" Moldova after negotiations between the two countries failed following the expiration of a Moldovan contract with Gazprom. The Kremlin denied the accusations. (SwissInfo)
China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Ministry of Emergency Management announce in a joint statement that cities with a population of more than three million people are not allowed to construct skyscrapers taller than 500 metres (1,600 ft) and need a special exemption in order to construct a building taller than 250 metres (820 ft). The ministries also announce that cities with a population of less than three million people are not allowed to construct skyscrapers taller than 250 metres (820 ft) and need a special exemption in order to construct a building taller than 150 metres (490 ft). (BBC News)