REUTERS NEWS SCHEDULE AT 6:15 a.m. GMT/2:15 p.m. SGT

Here are the top stories and upcoming coverage plans for Reuters text service as of 6 a.m. GMT/2 p.m. SGT. For a full schedule of news and events, go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning.

TOP STORIES

GLOBAL

THAILAND-PROTESTS/ROYALISTS

Twitter suspends Thai royalist account linked to influence campaign

BANGKOK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Twitter has suspended a Thai pro-royalist account linked to the palace that a Reuters analysis found was connected to thousands of others created in recent weeks spreading posts in favour of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the monarchy.

HEALTH CORONAVIRUS/AUSTRALIA

In first for Australia, prime minister speaks to parliament on video link

SYDNEY, (Reuters) - Prime Minister Scott Morrison became Australia's first leader on Monday to make an appearance before parliament by video link, as he spends time in quarantine following a recent trip to Japan.

U.S.

USA-ELECTION/

Biden identifies more administration officials, Trump vows continued election fight

WASHINGTON/WILMINGTON, (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden chose more senior aides to lead his administration's efforts to defeat the coronavirus and rebuild the U.S. economy, and his office confirmed on Sunday he would begin receiving classified briefings that are an essential step toward taking control of national security.

USA-BIDEN/ADVISERS

Biden to nominate Tanden, Rouse and others to economic team -WSJ

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name Neera Tanden, who was an adviser to former President Barack Obama, as director of the White House budget office, and economist Cecilia Rouse as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers as soon as Monday, according to a person familiar with the process.

BUSINESS

CHINA-ECONOMY/PMI

China's factory activity expands at fastest pace in over 3 years

BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November, while growth in the services sector also hit a multi-year high, as the country's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic stepped up.

JAPAN-ECONOMY/OUTPUT

Japan factory output grows for 5th month, retail sales surge

TOKYO, (Reuters) - Japan's industrial output rose for the fifth straight month in October and retail sales in the same month grew the most in over a year, signalling the economy was recovering further from the damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

ENTERTAINMENT

UTAH-MONOLITH/

Monolith mystery deepens as Utah desert object vanishes

No word as to whether Star Trek's Scotty "beamed it up," but the mysterious, shiny monolith that was spotted in a remote southeastern Utah desert two weeks ago is gone.

AFGHANISTAN-WOMEN/TATTOO ARTIST

Afghan female artist breaks tattoo taboo in Kabul studio

KABUL, (Reuters) - Soraya Shahidy carefully lays a stencil on Nargis Merzayi's arm before inking the latest tattoo in her salon in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

SPORTS

CRICKET-ODI-AUS-IND/

Labuschagne ready to open for Australia after Warner injury

MELBOURNE, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Marnus Labuschagne is ready to step up in David Warner's absence and open the batting for Australia in the remaining white-ball matches against India if called upon.

MOTOR-F1-BAHRAIN/

Grosjean escapes fiery crash in Bahrain, Hamilton wins

MANAMA, (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday after French driver Romain Grosjean had a miraculous escape from a fiery first-lap crash that ripped his car in two.

UPCOMING

BUSINESS / ECONOMICS

BRITAIN-EU/RETAIL-WAREHOUSE (PIX)

FOCUS-Christmas, coronavirus and fear of no-deal Brexit push Europe's warehouses to the limit

Retailers worldwide have never had more reason to pack warehouses to the brim and keep stock closer to shoppers who continue to buy a record number of items online.As well as stocking up for Christmas and any potential coronavirus-related lockdowns, Europe and the UK will soon have Brexit to deal with.British companies are bringing as much as possible into the country before potential disruptions in January, while their European counterparts are piling up goods in pan-European distribution hubs close to ports like Hamburg or Rotterdam.

30 Nov 02:00 ET / 07:00 GMT

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/SPAIN-HOMES (PIX) (TV)

Big, bright and airtight: Spanish homes morph in response to COVID

Ander Echevarria holds up a dusty, pollen-covered filter with pride. "This is an F7 filter - without it, all this dirt would've gotten in. But we can put stronger filters, like F9 or HEPA airplane ones, to block coronavirus particles."

30 Nov 04:00 ET / 09:00 GMT

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/BRITAIN-ARCADIA

Philip Green's Arcadia fights for survival

Watching for any update from Philip Green's Arcadia which is fighting for survival after COVID-19 hammered its retail brands. The group says it is working on contingency options to secure its survival. Sky News reported it could appoint administrators on Monday.

30 Nov 04:00 ET / 09:00 GMT

WORLD-WORK/AI

Mental health in the workplace - saved by bots

Seven in 10 employees say this has been the most stressful year of their working lives, according to a new white paper from Workplace Intelligence and Oracle. For companies, that means the mental-health issues of employees have rocketed from a secondary concern in years past, to a primary one. But making new help available, quickly and at scale, is no easy task.

30 Nov 05:00 ET / 10:00 GMT

CANADA-BUDGET/

Amid surging second wave, Canada to unveil past and future spending plans

Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will unveil her first fiscal update on Monday against the backdrop of a worsening of the economic landscape as a harsh second wave of COVID-19 infections force renewed restrictions across the country.

30 Nov 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

CANADA-BUDGET/FACTBOX

FACTBOX: The main elements of Canada's fall economic statement

The government will outline its fall economic statement, an update on its spending during the pandemic and its plans for future investments. Canada did not put out a budget for the current fiscal year in the spring because of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

30 Nov 16:00 ET / 21:00 GMT

KAZAKHSTAN-INFLATION/

Kazakhstan monthly inflation

Kazakhstan to publish monthly inflation data

Dec 1

MEXICO-ECONOMY/POLL

Mexico central bank issues monthly poll of private economists

Mexico's central bank will issue its monthly poll of private sector economists forecasts on key indicators like inflation, GDP and the peso exchange rate.

Dec 1

GHANA-ELECTION/ECONOMY (PIX) (GRAPHIC)

Eyes on debt pile as Ghana heads to the polls next week

Ghana heads into a presidential election next week with concerns about its rising debt at the top of many investors' minds. The main candidates are promising more spending if they win the tightly contested poll, but that has not stopped some fund managers from buying its bonds on a bet that the incoming government will be able to oversee fiscal recovery. Dec 1

CONFLICTS / WAR / PEACE

ETHIOPIA-CONFLICT/ (PIX) (TV)

Ethiopia's PM to address lawmakers after announcing end of military operations in Tigray

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will address lawmakers on Monday as war drags on in the northern region of Tigray. Rebellious forces from the region said they had shot down a military plane and retaken a town from federal forces on Sunday, a day after Abiy announced that his government's military offensive was over.

30 Nov 03:00 ET / 08:00 GMT

DISASTERS / ACCIDENTS

SOUTH SUDAN-DISASTER/ (TV)

South Sudan's Warrap state hit by floods and food scarcity

South Sudan's Warrap state in the young country's north has been hit by floods, triggering widespread displacement and food insecurity, the United Nation's humanitarian agency OCHA found in a recent visit to the region.

30 Nov 04:00 ET / 09:00 GMT

POLITICS / INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/GERMANY-CABINET

Merkel discusses coronavirus response with cabinet members

German Chancellor Angela Merkel discusses the response to the coronavirus pandemic with members of her cabinet.

30 Nov 05:00 ET / 10:00 GMT

ETHIOPIA-CONFLICT/GOVERNMENT (PIX) (TV)

Ethiopia government spokesperson speaks to Reuters

Redwan Hussein, state minister for foreign affairs and spokesperson for Ethiopia's Tigray crisis task force, speaks to Reuters.

30 Nov 06:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

ABORTION-LATAM/ (PIX) (TV)

FEATURE- Abortion rights "awakening" sweeps Latin America

A movement is sweeping Latin America to loosen some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws, triggered by mass protests in Argentina and rising anger over gender violence.

30 Nov 07:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

HEALTH–CORONAVIRUS/TURKEY

Turkey's Erdogan chairs cabinet meeting, likely to respond to rise in coronavirus cases

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan chairs a cabinet meeting and his expected news conference afterwards is likely to focus in part on a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths.

30 Nov 07:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

GERMANY-EU/MERKEL

Merkel discusses Germany's EU presidency

Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks about Germany's rotating presidency of the European Union at a virtual event organized by the German parliament.

30 Nov 08:00 ET / 13:00 GMT

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/GERMANY-MASKS

German economy minister holds news conference with German mask producer

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier and the CEO of German mask producer Skylotec hold a virtual news conference as the country tries to reduce its dependence on overseas firms by supporting domestic production of protective gear in the pandemic.

30 Nov 08:00 ET / 13:00 GMT

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/MERKEL (PIX) (TV)

German Chancellor Merkel holds virtual dialogue with police

German Chancellor Merkel holds a virtual dialogue with police officers in Berlin

30 Nov 10:00 ET / 15:00 GMT

TURKEY-UKRAINE/

Turkey's Erdogan meets Ukraine Prime Minister Shmygal

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.

30 Nov 12:00 ET / 17:00 GMT

BRAZIL-ENVIRONMENT/

Brazil to announce 2020 official Amazon rainforest deforestation measure

Brazil's national space research agency Inpe and Vice President Hamilton Mourão will release the government's official 2019/2020 annual deforestation figure in a press conference, with preliminary data indicating a major rise from a year earlier.

30 Nov 14:00 ET / 19:00 GMT

USA-ELECTION/WISCONSIN

Wisconsin must certify U.S. presidential election results by Tuesday

The state's election commission has until Dec. 1 to certify the election results. Trump's campaign paid the commission $3 million on Nov. 18 for a recount of the vote in two heavily Democratic counties. Across the state, unofficial results had Biden ahead of Trump by more than 20,000 votes.

Dec 1

BRITAIN-EU/ (PIX) (TV)

Brexit trade deal: Negotiators try to clinch a deal

British and European Union negotiators are trying to clinch a last-minute trade deal just weeks before the United Kingdom casts off from the bloc in its most significant economic and political shift since losing a global empire. Reuters will have full multimedia coverage of any deal including: - BRITAIN-EU/ Fast moving snaps and trunk - BRITAIN-EU/TRUST - Sidebar on how the deal came together and what it means for the future relationship. - BRITAIN-EU (INSTANT VIEW) - BRITAIN-EU/REACTION: leader quotes - BRITAIN-EU/CHARTS: Brexit in 5 charts - BRITAIN-EU/TIMELINE: - BRITAIN-EU/DEAL: summary of a deal. - BRITAIN-EU/EXPLAINER - Fast Q&A style analysis. - BRITAIN-EU/PEOPLE: Brexit is finally done. What does it mean for ordinary Brits or EU citizens?

Dec 1

ITALY-G20PRESIDENCY/

Italy begins G20 Presidency mandate, ends Nov. 30, 2021.

Italy begins G20 Presidency mandate, ends Nov. 30, 2021.

Dec 1

NATO-DIPLOMACY/

NATO foreign ministers hold video conference, over two days

NATO foreign ministers hold two days of video conference talks. Agenda TBC but likely to touch on US election result, Afghanistan and Russia.

Dec 1

CRIME / LAW / JUSTICE

USA-COURT/CENSUS

U.S. Supreme Court hears Trump bid to exclude illegal immigrants from representation

The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments over President Donald Trump's effort to exclude illegal immigrants from the population totals used to allocate congressional districts to states.

30 Nov 10:00 ET / 15:00 GMT

SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/JAPAN-MASK (PIX) (TV)

Japan opens "Tokyo Mask Land", a face mask theme park

From exhibitions on the history of face masks, to unique mask making workshops, Japan takes their enthusiasm for masks to a new level: by opening a face mask theme park, which will run from December 1 in Yokohama for a month.

Dec 1

HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/AUSTRALIA (PIX) (TV)

Queensland to reopen its borders to Sydneysiders and Victorians for first time in several months

The Australian state of Queensland reopens its borders to the country's previous coronavirus hotspot of Victoria, whilst also welcoming residents from Sydney for the first time in several months.

Dec 1