Key Storylines
- AFRICA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that an agreement to reinstate Hamdok was only a “first step” in restoring Sudan’s democratic transition.
- AMERICAS: The White House denied that the US is heading toward another lockdown to curb COVID-19 rates.
- ASIA: China protested the passage of a US Navy destroyer through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a deliberate move to undermine stability in the region.
- EUROPE: French President Emmanuel Macron visits Rome to sign a new treaty with Italy cementing ties between the two countries.
- MIDDLE EAST: Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed will visit Ankara on Wednesday in a sign of rapprochement between the two countries.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Russia has demanded that 13 foreign technology companies be officially represented on Russian soil by the end of the year.
Top Story
- Bulgaria: At least 45 people including 12 children were killed in a bus accident.
- At least 45 people, including 12 children, died as a bus carrying mostly North Macedonian tourists crashed in flames on a highway in western Bulgaria hours before daybreak.
- Bulgarian officials said the bus swerved off the motorway and tore away a 50m (164ft) section of the crash barrier, but it was unclear if that was before or after it caught fire.
- North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the coach party was returning to Skopje from a weekend holiday trip to Istanbul.
- North Macedonia’s chief prosecutor, Lubomir Jovevski, who visited the scene of the accident, said that 12 children were confirmed among the dead.
- North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev spoke to one of the bus survivors and said the passengers were all from North Macedonia but appeared to include a Serbian citizen and a Belgian citizen.
- Reuters, BBC, CNBC, AP, RFE
Africa
- Burkina Faso: The government said that it cut mobile internet access to the country on Saturday under a legal provision related to national defense. (Reuters)
- Ethiopia: US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman returned from the country over the weekend following meetings with senior government officials and African Union representatives. (Reuters)
- Nigeria: The World Bank said the country needs to end its costly petrol subsidy within the next three to six months and improve exchange-rate management to speed up reforms to boost growth. (Reuters)
- Sudan: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan that an agreement to reinstate Hamdok was only a “first step” in restoring Sudan’s democratic transition. (Reuters)
Americas
- Colombia: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paid tribute to the country’s peace deal efforts on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the historic agreement that ended almost six decades of devastating conflict. (AFP)
- Ecuador: President Guillermo Lasso granted a pardon to inmates with serious illnesses and those jailed for traffic violations to alleviate overcrowding in the country’s prisons after recent riots left more than 300 dead. (AFP)
- Mexico: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued an order requiring all federal agencies to approve any public works project deemed to be “in the national interest” or to “involve national security.” (AP)
- Nicaragua: Edgard Parrales, former ambassador to the OAS and critic of President Daniel Ortega, was arrested in Managua. (Reuters)
- United States: The White House denied that the country is heading toward another lockdown to curb COVID-19 rates. (Reuters)
Asia
- Region: Japan and Vietnam signed an agreement to cooperate in space defense and cybersecurity, as the two Asian nations rapidly step up their military ties. (AP)
- China: Beijing said the controversy surrounding tennis star Peng Shuai has been “maliciously hyped up”, in its most direct response to the issue yet. (BBC)
- China: Beijing protested the passage of a US Navy destroyer through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a deliberate move to undermine stability in the region. (AP)
- Philippines: The navy successfully transported food supplies to marines patrolling a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. (AP)
- South Korea: Former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan has died at age 90. (NYT)
Europe
- Region: US, UK, and NATO officials vowed to recover a stealth fighter which last week crashed after takeoff from a British carrier in the Mediterranean before Russia is able to salvage the plane. (AFP)
- France: President Emmanuel Macron visits Rome to sign a new treaty with Italy cementing ties between the two countries. (AFP)
- Germany: The country urged Britain to come to its senses by respecting its commitments under the Brexit divorce agreement with the European Union and resolve differences over Northern Ireland. (Reuters)
- Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the migrant crisis at the Poland-Belarus border, and bilateral energy cooperation in a telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. (Xinhua)
- United Kingdom: Leading royals released a rare joint statement criticizing the BBC over a documentary that claimed a behind-the-scenes briefing war before Prince Harry and his wife Meghan quit frontline duties. (AFP)
Middle East
- Iran: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said that he wanted to deepen cooperation with the country in his talks in Tehran. (Reuters)
- Israel: Health authorities began rolling out COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5 to 11. (AFP)
- Kuwait: Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid has been reappointed prime minister and tasked with forming a cabinet that would be the Gulf OPEC oil producer’s third this year in a domestic political standoff. (Reuters)
- United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed will visit Ankara on Wednesday in a sign of rapprochement between the two countries. (AFP)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: Russia has demanded that 13 foreign technology companies be officially represented on Russian soil by the end of the year. (Reuters)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to report
- Hurricanes: Nothing to report
- Earthquakes: Nothing to report
- Volcanoes:
- La Palma, Spain
- Explosive activity continues
- Erupting
- Source
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 23NOV21)
- Confirmed cases: 258,395,616
- Deaths: 5,162,494
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 23NOV21)
- La Palma, Spain
Tomorrow’s Outlook (24NOV21)
- Global: Evolution Day.
- Colombia: 5th anniversary of Colombian peace deal with FARC rebels.
- Egypt: 4th anniversary of Sinai mosque attack which killed over 300 people.
- Libya: UN Security Council meeting on UN Support Mission in Libya. (UNSMIL)
- Morocco: Visit by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
- Sweden: Visit by King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain. (to 25NOV)
- Turkey: Visit by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi.
END
