⊂ EUROPE ⊃

UN Climate Change Conference (COP26): Poorer countries insist on solidarity
bloomberg.com

• On the fourth day of the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, developing countries have called on industrialised countries to keep their financial promises
• The chairman of the group of the poorest countries said COP26 climate talks have so far been disappointing, and even “frightening”
• There is a growing consensus that the private sector must be involved if the world is to avoid catastrophic global warming. Britain’s Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said that while countries such as his are stumping up more cash to fund the shift to low carbon economies around the world, “public investment alone isn’t enough“ apnews.com
• US climate envoy John Kerry, nearly three dozen large corporations including Apple and Amazon, and the World Economic Forum are launching an alliance to build a market for technologies that generate low levels of carbon dioxide ca.finance.yahoo.com
• South Korea and Hungary commit to carbon neutrality by 2050 abcnews.go.com
• China and Russia have rejected US President Joe Biden’s criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for not attending the COP26 france24.com, pbs.org
• China targets 1.8% cut in average coal use at power plants by 2025 reuters.com
• UK’s ‚longest-lasting‘ snow patch melts away bbc.com

Fishing row: UK boat held by French released
bbc.com, theguardian.com

• The British trawler that was detained by France during the post-Brexit fishing row has been released by the French authorities
• The Scottish-registered scallop dredger Cornelis Gert Jan left the northern French port of Le Havre on Wednesday evening
• French authorities held the boat last week, saying it did not have a licence
• The British government has played down hopes of a breakthrough in the row with France over post-Brexit fishing licences
• A UK government spokesperson said the Brexit minister, David Frost, would “reaffirm our existing position” when he meets France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, in Paris on Thursday to discuss the issue

Submarine dispute: Australia leaking French President Emmanuel Macron’s text messages to the media was a “new low” and a warning to other world leaders that their private communications with the Australian government could be weaponised and used against them, French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault said on Wednesday.
apnews.com

Talks on reviving 2015 Iran nuclear deal to resume at the end of November: Talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will resume on 29 November, the country’s top nuclear negotiator said on Wednesday, as Western concerns over Tehran’s nuclear advances grow.
reuters.com

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Health NGOs ask EU Commission to reconsider “crucial aspects” of HERA: 19 European health organisations have asked that the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) be more transparent, prioritise the public interest, and involve the EU Parliament more in the decision-making process, in a joint letter published on Wednesday.
euractiv.com

EU begins military training against Mozambique insurgency: The European Union on Wednesday launched a military training mission in Mozambique to help local troops fight a jihadist insurgency in its gas-rich north. More than 3,100 African, European and US soldiers have already been deployed to the southern African country’s Cabo Delgado province to quell unrest.
euractiv.com

European Central Bank „very unlikely“ to raise rates in 2022, Lagarde says reuters.com
Pegasus spyware: US blacklists Israeli hacking tool vendor NSO Group reuters.com
Afghanistan: Taliban bans foreign currencies; Senior Taliban commander killed bbc.com; france24.com
Pentagon: China’s nuclear arsenal growing faster than predicted dw.com
Ethiopia: Tigray conflict marked by ‚extreme brutality,‘ possible ‚war crimes‘ dw.com

⊂ QUOTE OF THE DAY ⊃

„There is no Green Deal without digital – there is no doubt about this.“
Daniel Mes, an official who works on the staff of Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice-president in charge of the Green Deal.
euractiv.com

⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃

Poland summons Belarus envoy over armed border incursion
reuters.com, dw.com

• Poland accused Belarus on Wednesday of staging an armed cross-border intrusion
• Poland’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it had summoned Belarusian charge d’affaires Alexander Chesnovsky to complain after Belarusian soldiers equipped with long guns crossed into Poland overnight
• Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for Poland’s security services, said that, after crossing approximately 300 metres, the Belarusian personnel were confronted by a Polish patrol. The Belarusians „reloaded their weapons and then departed,“ Zaryn said, adding, „It was enough to assume it was not a mistake“

Belgian authorities raid houses, barracks in far-right military probe: Belgian authorities conducted several raids Wednesday in a bid to uncover far-right elements in the military. Authorities were looking into individuals who have continuously pushed “limits of free speech,” “crossed lines online,” and potentially spread messages “with the intent to incite a terrorism-related offence,” the federal prosecutor said in a press release. No arrests were made, but authorities seized mobile phones and computers.
politico.eu

Czech parties agree coalition deal: The Czech Republic is nearing a new government after liberal parties reached an agreement, three weeks after parliamentary elections. Petr Fiala, a prospective prime minister, announced on Tuesday evening that his centre-right SPOLU alliance would lead any new ruling coalition. The parties, grouped in two coalitions, won 108 seats in the 200-seat lower chamber of parliament in the 8-9 October election, beating the current prime minister Andrej Babis, whose key allies were ousted from the parliament.
euronews.com, theguardian.com

Ukraine now says 90,000 Russian troops not far from border: Ukraine complained Wednesday that Russia has kept tens of thousands of troops not far from the countries’ border after war games, as part of its attempts to exert pressure on its ex-Soviet neighbour.
apnews.com

Criticism over French ex-hostage’s return to Mali: French aid worker Sophie Petronin, who was kidnapped and held hostage in Mali for four years, has returned to the West African country on her own initiative, the French government said Wednesday, calling her decision „irresponsible“. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters that the former aid worker, who has an adopted daughter in Mali, was compromising her own security as well as that of France’s military personnel.
france24.com

Oury Jalloh death: German prosecutors accused of obstructing justice: German police officers must have poured gasoline or another ignitable liquid on Oury Jalloh and set him on fire while he was in his cell, according to investigators who have mounted a new reconstruction of the 36-year-old Sierra Leonean’s death in the eastern German city of Dessau in 2005. Many activists have come to see Jalloh’s death as one of the most egregious cases of Germany’s failure to confront racist police violence.
dw.com

COVID-19 in Europe:

• France reports more than 10,000 new Covid cases for first time in two months reuters.com
• Slovenia records highest daily number of Covid cases reuters.com
• Head of Germany’s disease control agency, Lothar Wieler: „The fourth wave is developing in exactly the way we feared, because not enough people have received the vaccine.“ theguardian.com
• Tougher Covid measures in the Netherlands, Greece and the Czech Republic derstandard.at
• Spain administers more than one million booster shots english.elpais.com
• Health care workers in Greece protest mandatory vaccines abcnews.go.com

Farewell visit: Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the town of Beaune with her host, French President Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday on what is her farewell visit to France as chancellor. dw.com

Bosnia: Leader stokes fears of Balkan breakup bbc.com
Poland plans more judicial reforms as EU dispute rages on ft.com
Portugal: Crisis on the horizon sueddeutsche.de
Romania: Prime Minister-designate Nicolae Ciuca without cabinet de.euronews.com
Spain: Improving employment figures set fresh records during October english.elpais.com
Italy: New prime minister has had a good first nine months economist.com

⊂ POLITJOBS ⊃

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⊂ LAST BUT NOT LEAST ⊃

Council of Europe removes hijab diversity campaign tweets amid backlash: The Council of Europe on Tuesday pulled visuals saying “freedom is in hijab” from an anti-discrimination campaign, after a backlash from France. The Council of Europe says the project aimed to celebrate Europe’s diversity and inclusivity. Social media posts featured split images of young women, with one side of their face wearing an Islamic headscarf, and the other not. Messages alongside the videos and images read, „beauty is in diversity as freedom is in hijab.“ On Wednesday, the French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said the Council of Europe campaign went against common sense. “Reminding that women are free to wear the hijab is one thing,” Socialist Senator Laurence Rossignol said, “but saying freedom is in hijab is another. It’s promoting it. Is this the role of the Council of Europe?”
politico.eu, euronews.com