Portal:Current events/2021 November 24

November 24, 2021 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Tigray War
- TDF–OLA joint offensive
  - The Greek foreign minstry urges Greek citizens to evacuate from Ethiopia. (Rkathimerini)
Russo-Ukrainian War
- British foreign secretary Liz Truss warns Russia that any attack on Ukraine would be a "grave mistake", and that the UK is working closely with its NATO allies to provide support to Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Ukraine launches a "special operation" on the Belarusian border involving troops from the National Guard, police, and the armed forces, including anti-tank and airborne units, amid fears of a migrant crisis and also due to a Russian military build-up on its borders. (RFE/RL)
Anglophone Crisis
- Gunmen open fire at a school in Ekondo-Titi, Southwest Region, Cameroon, killing three children and a teacher. (AFP via Barron's)
Syrian civil war
- Israel carries out airstrikes in Homs, Syria, killing two civilians and injuring six soldiers and another civilian. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

English Channel migrant crossings
- November 2021 English Channel disaster
  - Twenty-seven people drown after a dinghy carrying migrants sinks in the English Channel near Calais, France. (BBC News)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Andorra
    - The Andorran government decrees to extend the access control with the immunity passport to restaurants, gyms, museums, hotels and hairdressers for those over 16 years of age. (Andorra Difusió)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic
    - The Czech Republic reports a record 25,864 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (The Washington Post)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary
    - Hungary reports a record 12,637 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 1.045 million. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    - The Italian government signs a decree that will ban people who are not vaccinated or who have not recovered from COVID-19 from entering indoor venues (not including workplaces) from December 6 until January 15 and will also extend the vaccine mandate to teachers, police, and the military beginning on December 15. It also imposes the use of the "green pass" to all types of public transport, including for people with negative COVID-19 tests. (Reuters) (ANSA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
    - The Netherlands reimposes mandatory 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) social distancing measures in places where COVID passports are not required, amid an increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases. (Euronews)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia
    - The Slovak government declares a 90-day state of emergency and will impose a two-week lockdown for the entire country beginning tomorrow, which will close all non-essential shops and restaurants and limit a person's movement to specific reasons only as the country reports a record 10,315 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. (Politico.eu)
  - European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic
    - The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommends that the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should be given to all adults aged above 18 years six months after received their second dose, with priority given to those aged above 40 years. (The Wall Street Journal)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
  - COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, COVID-19 drug development
    - It is announced that Merck & Co.'s antiviral drug molnupiravir will be available to Philippine patients after the Food and Drug Administration issued a compassionate special permit for the drug and an agreement was signed between the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines and a local health care provider. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic
    - Singapore and Malaysia agree to the opening of a second quarantine-free vaccinated travel lane through the Johor–Singapore Causeway beginning on November 29 using designated bus lanes, which will mark the reopening of the land border between the two countries. (CNA)
  - COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    - South Korea reports a record 4,116 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 425,065. (CNA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, COVID-19 vaccination in Canada
  - Health Canada grants full approval for the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, making Canada the first country to fully approve the single-dose vaccine. (The Hill)

International relations

Ethiopia–Ireland relations
- The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs advises all Irish citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately, due to the ongoing conflict. (RTÉ)

Law and crime

2015–present Polish constitutional crisis
- 2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis
  - In response to the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Xero Flor w Polsce sp. z o.o. v. Poland, which found that the business was denied the right to fair trial because a judge of the Tribunal was appointed illegally, the Constitutional Tribunal declares that it is not a court within the meaning of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and rules that the ECHR did not have the right to control the validity of appointments of the Tribunal's judges. (Reuters)
Murder of Ahmaud Arbery
- The three men who killed Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, in February 2020 are found guilty of murder and aggravated assault. (BBC News)
2021 Solomon Islands unrest
- Protesters take to the streets in Honiara, Solomon Islands, calling for the resignation of incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare. A building within the Parliament complex is set on fire as protesters engage in looting and arson while law enforcement personnel fire tear gas into crowds. (RNZ) (RNZ)
Two allies of Russian opposition leader and activist Alexei Navalny leave Russia, becoming the latest people to do so after many of Navalny's allies left the country in September. The two people are identified as a woman who helped Navalny represent his organization and a lawyer who said that he was under pressure. (Reuters)
Australia designates the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah and the neo-Nazi paramilitary group The Base as terrorist organisations. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

Aftermath of the 2021 German federal election
- The Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Free Democratic Party of Germany, and Alliance 90/The Greens agree to a "traffic light coalition" to form the next government with Olaf Scholz of the SPD as the next Chancellor, succeeding Angela Merkel. The government will be formally elected by the Bundestag in early December. (Politico)
Sweden's Riksdag votes for Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson to become the first female prime minister of Sweden. However, Andersson resigned several hours later, after the Green Party quit the coalition. The Greens quit the coalition after the opposition budget was approved by the Riksdag. (Radio Sweden) (Reuters)