ONS: 26 November 2018

By TRG Alerts Admin

KEY STORYLINES

AFRICA: Authorities arrested four Burundi army officers suspected of a role in the 1993 assassination of the country’s first democratically elected President Melchior Ndadaye.
AMERICAS: US Border Patrol agents fired tear gas at hundreds of Central American migrants that climbed over a fence and attempted to rush the border.
ASIA: At least 22 Afghan police were killed in a Taliban ambush on a convoy in the western province of Farah, adding to a rapidly growing toll among security forces.
EUROPE: Four Turkish soldiers were killed and another was wounded after a military helicopter crashed in a central district of Istanbul, as part of a training mission.
MIDDLE EAST: The UAE pardoned a British academic jailed for life on spying charges, minutes after releasing a video of him confessing to being an MI6 agent.
TECHNOLOGY: Papua New Guinea said it will uphold its agreement with China’s Huawei Technologies to build its internet infrastructure, dismissing offers from Western countries.

TOP STORY

Ukraine: Russian navy fires on and seizes three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea.
- The Russian FSB coast guard fired on and captured two Ukrainian warships and a tugboat approaching the Kerch Strait, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
- A total of 23 Ukrainians were on board and taken into Russian custody, with six wounded receiving treatment.
- The Ukrainian government appealed to the UN Security Council to intervene.
- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko summoned his military cabinet, and the government is debating whether to enact martial law.
- The ships are being held at the Black Sea port of Kerch.
- Russia rebuffed international demands to release the ships and sailor, alleging they had deliberately provoked Russia.
- Reporting: RFE-RL, BBC, NYT, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters

AFRICA

Region: Egypt and Sudan, which face cross-border threats from militias operating in Libya, agreed to set up joint military patrols on their border. (Reuters)
Burundi: Authorities have arrested four retired army officers suspected of a role in the 1993 assassination of the country’s first democratically elected President Melchior Ndadaye. (AFP)
Somalia: At least 15 people were killed and ten others wounded in the central town of Galkayo when al-Shabaab militants attacked a Sufi religious centre, officials said. (AFP)

AMERICAS

Mexico: The Interior Ministry said it will deport about 500 Central American migrants who tried to “violently” and “illegally” cross the U.S. border. (Reuters)
United States: Border Patrol agents fired tear gas at hundreds of Central American migrants that climbed over a fence and attempted to rush the border. (AFP)
Venezuela: The government settled a $1.2 billion arbitration claim that will protect its key foreign asset, the Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corp refining business, from being stripped away by a creditor. (Reuters)

ASIA

Region: Chinese media blamed the electoral defeat of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s party on her “separatist stance”, saying it must make an “about-face” on ties with the mainland. (AFP)
Afghanistan: At least 22 police were killed in a Taliban ambush on a convoy in the western province of Farah, adding to a rapidly growing toll among security forces. (Reuters)
Sri Lanka: President Maithripala Sirisena said that he will appoint a commission to probe into the alleged fraud and malpractices which took place under the previous government of ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. (Xinhua)

EUROPE

Italy: Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said that the government had received “positive feedback” from Brussels about lowering its 2019 deficit target, but he declined to talk about numbers. (Reuters)
Russia: The foreign ministry denied having any missiles that violate the INF arms control treaty. (Reuters)
Turkey: Four soldiers were killed and another was wounded after a military helicopter crashed in a central district of Istanbul, as part of a training mission. (Reuters)

MIDDLE EAST

Egypt: A court upheld death sentences for nine people convicted of the murder of a top prosecutor in a car bombing three years ago. (AFP)
Iran: Authorities said that the number of injured from the magnitude 6.3 earthquake near the western border the previous night has risen to 716. (AP)
Syria: Russia has carried out air strikes against Syrian rebels it accuses of launching a chemical attack on the government-held city of Aleppo. (BBC)
UAE: The country pardoned a British academic jailed for life on spying charges, minutes after releasing a video of him confessing to being an MI6 agent. (Reuters)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: Papua New Guinea said it will uphold its agreement with China’s Huawei Technologies to build its internet infrastructure, dismissing offers from Western countries. (Reuters)

WORLD

Cyclones:
- Tropical Storm Man-Yi
  - Location: 455 NM SE of Kadena AB
  - Movement: NW at 8 mph
  - Wind: 45 mph
  - Map
Hurricanes: Nothing to report.
Earthquakes:
- Magnitude: 6.3
  - Location: 20km SSW of Sarpol-e Zahab, Iran
  - Depth: 10.0 km
  - Map
Volcanoes: Nothing to report.
Global Disease Outbreaks:

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK (27 NOV)

END