Cybersecurity; Eastern Europe; Egypt; Europe-Russia; Europe-UK; Huawei-Europe; Hungary; Libya; Malaysia; Russia-Ukraine; Sri Lanka; Turkey; Turkey-Finland; Turkey-Syria; Turkey-USA
- Cybersecurity. London’s Metropolitan Police has led a major anti-fraud operation to dismantle a prolific fraud site that is said to have cost victims over £100m ($121m) globally. The iSpoof site allowed customers to impersonate legitimate entities like banks and government agencies in order to run convincing vishing campaigns. It also enabled them to send recorded messages and intercept one-time passcodes, according to Europol. UK Cops Lead Action Against Fraud Site that Made £100m – Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)
- Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe’s arms industry is churning out guns, artillery shells and other military supplies at a pace not seen since the Cold War as governments in the region lead efforts to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Allies have been supplying Kyiv with weapons and military equipment since Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb. 24, depleting their own inventories along the way. The United States and Britain committed the most direct military aid to Ukraine between Jan. 24 and Oct. 3, a Kiel Institute for the World Economy tracker shows, with Poland in third place and the Czech Republic ninth. Weapons industry booms as Eastern Europe arms Ukraine | Reuters
- Egypt. The Egyptian authorities have failed to protect vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers from pervasive sexual violence, including by failing to investigate rape and sexual assault, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch documented 11 incidents of sexual violence committed in Egypt between 2016 and 2022 against seven Sudanese and Yemeni refugees and asylum seekers, including one child. All six women, including a transgender woman, said that men raped them, and four said they were assaulted in two or more incidents, while the child’s mother said a man raped her 11-year-old daughter. Three said the police refused to file incident reports, three said they were too intimidated to report the incident at all, and one woman said a police employee sexually harassed her when she tried to report a rape. Egypt: Sexually Abused Refugees Find No Justice | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
- Europe-Russia. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had aimed to convene European talks with Vladimir Putin the year before his invasion of Ukraine but in the end did not see any possibility of influencing the Russian president at the end of her term. Merkel told the Spiegel news magazine in an interview published on Thursday that she and French President Emmanuel Macron had planned to hold an independent talk format with Putin within the European Council in 2021, her last summer in office. Germany’s Merkel says didn’t have political strength for pre-invasion Ukraine talks | Reuters
- Europe-UK. After six years of chaos and recrimination since Britons voted to leave the European Union, there are signs the country is showing an unexpected outbreak of common sense in its approach to the bloc. In his first weeks in office, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — a Brexiteer himself — has sent clear signals that he wants a more constructive relationship with Brussels and Paris, and to avoid a trade war with Britain’s biggest economic partner. The UK is starting to get real about Europe – POLITICO
- Huawei-Europe. Huawei is giving up on Europe. The Chinese telecoms giant is pushing out its pedigreed Western lobbyists, retrenching its European operations and putting its ambitions for global leadership on ice. The reasons for doing this have little to do with the company’s commercial potential — Huawei is still able to offer cutting-edge technology at lower costs than its competitors — and everything to do with politics, according to interviews with more than 20 current and former staff and strategic advisers to the company. How Washington chased Huawei out of Europe – POLITICO
- Hungary. Media reports suggest the European Commission has decided to hold firm on the question of whether to maintain a proposal to freeze €7.5 billion in EU cohesion funds for Hungary in light of the country’s corruption and public procurement concerns. We should know next week if the Commission is willing to defend EU values in this case when Commissioners are expected to meet to confirm the decision. The Commission could also approve the Covid recovery plan for Hungary, but could continue to withhold disbursements unless the government addresses well-documented and long-standing rule of law concerns. Hungary’s Half-Promises Should Not Fool EU Commission | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
- Libya. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said the situation in Libya is discouraging in light of no indication of any possible agreement on elections any time soon. Borrell: No indications of an agreement on elections in Libya | The Libya Observer
- Libya. The Deputy Head of the Presidential Council, Mossa Al-Koni, apologized on behalf of Libya to all countries that were affected after 2011 by the flow of weapons from inside the country. Al-Koni’s remarks came in a meeting with the representative of the European Union for the Sahel countries, Emanuela Del Rey, in the presence of the Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army, Mohammed Al-Haddad, on the sidelines of the meetings of the regional conference on border cooperation between Libya and the Sahel countries, which was held Tunisia. Al-Koni apologizes on behalf of Libyans to regional states for spread of weapons | The Libya Observer
- Malaysia. Malaysia’s new prime minister, 75-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, was sworn in on Thursday, bringing to a close his three-decade quest for the job that had eluded him time and again and led to him spending nearly a decade in jail. Anwar Ibrahim: Who is Malaysia’s new prime minister? | Reuters
- Russia-Ukraine. All four of Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants were automatically disconnected from the power grid on Wednesday “as a result of a decrease in frequency in the power system” caused by missile strikes damaging the country’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine ‘doing everything possible to restore nuclear generation as soon as possible’ : Regulation & Safety – World Nuclear News (world-nuclear-news.org)
- Russia-Ukraine. The Kyiv City Council awarded former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the title of the honorary citizen of Kyiv. Boris Johnson becomes honorary citizen of Kyiv (ukrinform.net)
- Russia-Ukraine. As of the morning of November 24, only 44% of base stations of Ukraine’s mobile operators were operating across Ukraine. In Ukraine, only 44% of mobile base stations in service – regulator (ukrinform.net)
- Russia-Ukraine. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has called on Kiev to start negotiations and bring the conflict to an end, because otherwise Ukraine will face “complete destruction.”. “Everything is in Ukraine’s own hands now. I’m saying this not because I want to shift this issue onto Zelensky or Ukraine. It is really so that everything is now in the hands of Ukraine itself,” the Belarusian leader said, while answering Russian journalists’ questions on the sidelines of the CSTO summit in Yerevan regarding the possibility of concluding a peace agreement with Ukraine. An extract of the interview was released by the Pul_1 Telegram channel on Thursday. Lukashenko presses Kiev to end conflict, otherwise Ukraine’s ‘total destruction’ imminent – World – TASS
- Sri Lanka. The dramatic fuel shortages that accompanied mass protests in Sri Lanka earlier this year may have eased, but for millions of Sri Lankans the economic crisis is worse than ever. This month, the United Nations renewed a humanitarian appeal, stating that 28 percent of the population faces food insecurity and that the poverty rate this year has doubled. Sri Lanka at Brink of Humanitarian Crisis | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)
- Turkey. Türkiye will continue fighting terrorism within its borders and beyond until the threat is eliminated, the nation’s president said on Thursday. “We will continue this struggle inside and outside the borders until the terrorist threat to our country is completely over,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a Teachers’ Day address in the capital Ankara. Türkiye to continue fighting terrorism until threat over: President (aa.com.tr)
- Turkey. It is essential to combat disinformation, which has become a mass weapon and national security issue, says Turkish Communications Director Altun. Türkiye wages ‘effective’ fight against terror propaganda (aa.com.tr)
- Turkey-Finland. Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto on Thursday spoke over the phone and discussed the NATO enlargement process, according to diplomatic sources. They also discussed the latest developments in Ukraine as well as the landmark Istanbul grain deal. Turkish, Finnish foreign ministers talk NATO enlargement (aa.com.tr)
- Turkey-Syria. The Pentagon warned on Wednesday that Turkey’s airstrikes against Kurdish forces in northeast Syria endanger US troops and threaten to undermine years of progress in the war against the Islamic State. Press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Defense Department “is deeply concerned” by escalating attacks in Syria, Iraq and Turkey, but did not specify which parties were responsible. Turkey’s strikes in Syria put US troops in danger, Pentagon says – Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East
- Turkey-USA. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Thursday received US Ambassador to Türkiye Jeffry Flake for talks. The ministry shared no further information about the meeting in the capital Ankara, which was closed to the press. Flake has served as ambassador to Türkiye since this January after he was appointed by President Joe Biden. Turkish defense chief receives US envoy for talks (aa.com.tr)
