November 12, 2021

*) Sudan's army chief appoints himself head of new ruling council Sudan’s military ruler Abdel Fattah al Burhan has formed a new transitional council headed by himself to lead the country following last month's military coup. The council includes representatives of rebel groups that reached a peace deal with the government last year, as well as regional Sudanese figures. Last month’s takeover ended a power-sharing deal between the military and civilians that was meant to lead to elections in late 2023. *) Ukraine to deploy thousands of guards for drills at Belarus border Kiev has said that it would deploy thousands of border guards and security personnel to its border with Belarus. The decision comes as EU blames Belarus for pushing migrants into the bloc via its Polish border in retaliation for sanctions against Lukashenko's government. Polish authorities said they stopped at least two groups of migrants from crossing the border from Belarus overnight. *) Russian air strike on Syria farm kills civilians Russian air strikes have killed five members of a family in Syria’s opposition-held region Idlib. The bombings targeted a farm in the country’s northwestern province, leaving three children dead, according to a Syrian opposition aircraft observatory. Air strikes also targeted the town of Maarrat Misrin in northern Idlib where most refugee camps are concentrated. *) US, Gulf states and Israel hold first joint naval drills A year after normalising ties with Tel-Aviv, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have held their first joint naval exercise with Israel. The US Navy, which also participated, said the five-day manoeuvres in the Red Sea began on Wednesday and are linked to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. The US said the drills are intended to "enhance inter-operability between participating forces". And finally... *) Niantic kicks off Lightship to build AR App Gaming company Niantic is releasing a platform for building what it calls “real-world metaverse” apps, stitching together the d