November 29, 2021

*) US warns of ‘other options’ to add pressure on Iran as nuclear talks resume The United States has warned it is "prepared to use other options" including military force to ramp up pressure on Iran if nuclear talks collapse. The US National Security Council's coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, issued the warning over the weekend, according to CNN. McGurk said “military force to prevent” Iran “from obtaining a nuclear weapon” is “a very achievable objective” International talks on Iran's nuclear programme will restart in Vienna on Monday with analysts foreseeing major obstacles to any speedy resumption of the 2015 nuclear deal. *) Opposition candidate takes big lead in Honduras presidential election Left-wing opposition candidate Xiomara Castro has taken a commanding lead in Honduras' presidential election, preliminary results showed. With 16 percent of votes counted, former first lady Castro had taken almost 53.5 percent compared to ruling party's Nasry Asfura at 34 percent. Castro, whose husband Manuel Zelaya was deposed in a coup in 2009, is hoping to become the first female president of Honduras. *) EU border agency plane to monitor Channel migrant crossings Ministers from several European countries have agreed to deploy a plane around the clock, to tackle what they call "migrant trafficking" in the English Channel. The aircraft will monitor the area from France to the Netherlands, starting Wednesday. The ministers met in France on Sunday, after 27 people died a few days earlier trying to cross the English Channel to Britain. The British home secretary Priti Patel was disinvited from the meeting after Boris Johnson called on France to take back the people who crossed over to the UK. *) African leaders call for reverse of Omicron-linked travel bans South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on countries to reverse scientifically "unjustified" travel bans linked to the discovery of the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Dozens of nations have blacklisted the