France and Germany have reimposed coronavirus lockdown measures (BBC) as they struggle with the virus’s resurgence across Europe.
 
Beginning Friday, French citizens will only be allowed to leave their homes for essential work or medical reasons. Germany’s restrictions are less severe, but include the closure of bars, restaurants, gyms, and theaters. Both countries plan to keep schools open. Governments across Europe are imposing similar measures to combat the pandemic, which has returned to the continent with a vengeance after subsiding over the summer, but they are trying to avoid complete economic shutdowns (WaPo). Stock markets plunged yesterday (NYT) in Europe and the United States, where cases are also rising.

The U.S. Justice Department announced charges against eight people (NYT) for their alleged involvement in a scheme to harass Chinese political dissidents and fugitives in the United States. Five of the suspects were arrested in the United States yesterday, and the remaining three are believed to be in China.

This CFR timeline tracks U.S.-China relations.

Vietnam: Typhoon Molave has killed at least thirty-five people (AP), including fishermen and people buried by landslides. Dozens more are missing. The heavy rains have also exposed unexploded U.S. bombs (Reuters) left from the Vietnam War.

India’s National Investigation Agency carried out multiple raids (ThePrint) in Jammu and Kashmir, including at the offices of Greater Kashmir, an English-language newspaper, and in the homes of several journalists and activists. The region’s political parties condemned the raids as an attempt to stifle freedom of expression.

Afghanistan: U.S. authorities announced that an Afghan man, Haji Najibullah, has been brought to the United States to face trial (RFE/RL) for allegedly kidnapping a New York Times journalist and two Afghan men in 2008.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a new offensive (Al Jazeera) in northern Syria if armed Kurdish groups are not removed from the Turkey-Syria border. He also condemned recent suspected Russian air strikes targeting Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in the Idlib region.

Algeria: President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been transferred to a hospital in Germany (DW) for “medical checkups,” state media reported, just days before a referendum on constitutional changes he proposed. He had been self-isolating after senior aides tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tanzania’s main opposition presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, has rejected the results (Nation) of yesterday’s election, alleging fraud. He said the vote was “marred by irregularities” and urged his supporters to demonstrate peacefully. Preliminary results show President John Magufuli ahead in the polls.

Mali: A suspected jihadi was sentenced to death (Reuters) after he pleaded guilty to shooting five people in 2015 and planning two other attacks targeting Westerners, in which thirty-seven people died. Fawaz Ould Ahmed told the court that he had sought revenge for cartoons printed in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

The United States and Greenland are close to finalizing a number of deals, including on trade and security, as part of the Donald J. Trump administration’s effort to counter China in the Arctic, an unnamed senior U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. Trump has previously expressed interest in purchasing Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Danish, Greenland, and U.S. officials held a virtual summit yesterday, the official said.

More than four hundred Cuban branches of Western Union, a U.S. financial services company, will close (Miami Herald) due to embargo restrictions the Trump administration imposed this week. The restrictions prevent the Cuban military company Fincimex from handling remittances in the country. Western Union said it would seek alternatives.

Chile: An Australian court ruled that a Chilean woman suspected of involvement in kidnappings during the regime of Augusto Pinochet can be extradited to Chile (BBC) from Australia.

Philadelphia’s mayor imposed a curfew (Philadelphia Inquirer) last night in response to ongoing unrest in the city after police on Monday killed a Black man, Walter Wallace Jr., claiming he had approached officers while holding a knife. The city’s police commissioner pledged to release body-cam footage of the shooting, which the department has never done before.

The Trump administration blocked the selection (Bloomberg) of Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Okonjo-Iweala, who is also a U.S. citizen, had received the backing of the majority of WTO members, but the Trump administration threw its support behind South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, the other remaining contender. The WTO director-general must be chosen by a consensus of all members, so the U.S. veto could lead to months of gridlock.

CFR’s Jennifer Hillman explains what to know about the race to lead the WTO.