November 24, 2022

Daily News Brief

*) Anwar Ibrahim is Malaysia's new prime minister After days of political impasse, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been appointed as Malaysia’s new prime minister. King Al Sultan Abdullah confirmed his appointment on Thursday, five days after parliamentary election left no party with a clear majority to form a government. Anwar is set to be sworn in at 9∂ GMT. *) Ceasefire in eastern DRC to begin Friday African leaders gathered in Angola’s capital Luanda have called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Democratic Republic of Congo to start on Friday evening. The agreement aims to end the conflict between the Congolese army and M23 rebels in the east of the country. The conflict has raised tensions between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda. The DRC accuses Rwanda of backing the armed group, which Rwanda denies. More than 5.5 million people have been displaced in the DRC, one of the world’s most neglected humanitarian crises. *) President Erdogan on operation against Syria-based terrorists President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Türkiye could soon launch a land operation against terror groups in neighbouring Syria to protect its citizens and territory. Speaking to AK Party members, the Turkish president said that the fight against terrorism will go to wherever there’s a threat against Turkiye. His comments come three days after the start of Operation Claw-Sword, which so far has seen multiple air strikes against the PKK/YPG terror group in northern Syria and Iraq. *) Kosovo and Serbia finally settle car licence plate dispute Kosovo and Serbia have now reached a deal to end a two-year dispute over car licence plates. The dispute could have triggered one of the worst regional crises in years. The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who helped with the negotiations, says both countries have agreed to avoid further escalation and concentrate on normalising relations. Thousands of ethnic Serbs living in northern Kosovo had refused to switch from Serbian license plates to Kosovar ones - even though Serbia required the same for Kosovars living there. And finally… *) China's daily Covid infections highest since pandemic began China has recorded more than 31,000 Covid-19 cases, its highest number since the pandemic began. This comes despite the government’s zero-tolerance approach, including strict lockdowns and travel restrictions which have sparked sporadic protests. On Wednesday, workers at the world’s largest iPhone factory in central China, Foxconn, were seen protesting against the restrictions. Clashes with police continued into the night.