Daily News Brief

November 22, 2022

Editor’s note: There will be no Daily Brief until Monday, November 28, in observance of Thanksgiving.

Top of the Agenda

A quarter of Ukraine’s population lacks electricity, and the World Health Organization (WHO) expects up to three million Ukrainians will flee their homes in search of warmth and safety this winter, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge warned yesterday. Russian attacks have destroyed or damaged half the country’s energy grid, Kluge said. He called on both Kyiv and Moscow to ensure humanitarian access to Ukraine as the country’s health system faces “its darkest days in the war so far.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday urged local authorities to reduce their power use (FT) as the state energy utility warned that rolling blackouts will continue. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s government has begun evacuating civilians (AP) from the recently recaptured regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, where Russian shelling has severely damaged the regions’ heat, power, and water infrastructure. 

Analysis

“The ‘electricity war’ phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is intensifying,” Bloomberg’s Javier Blas tweets.

“The United States and Europe must act now to ensure that Ukraine survives the winter,” the Atlantic Council’s Melinda Haring and the National Interest’s Jacob Heilbrunn write for Foreign Affairs. “Sufficient aid to Ukraine will ensure that the country can emerge from a daunting winter battered but primed for recovery, just as West Berlin did in 1949.” 

Pacific Rim

They discussed (Nikkei) “the need to responsibly manage competition and maintain open lines of communication,” according to a Pentagon readout of the meeting. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met last week on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Indonesia: At least 268 people were killed (BBC) and more than a thousand others were wounded after a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the island of Java yesterday.

South and Central Asia

The shift occurred during the first half of the 2022–23 fiscal year as Russia offered discounts on its fertilizer exports, unnamed government and industry sources told Reuters.

Pakistan: Residents of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, say a long-running insurgency and neglect from the central government have hampered international efforts (AP) to provide aid to the region after widespread flooding over the summer. 

Middle East and North Africa

The players did not sing along (WaPo) as Iran’s national anthem was played ahead of their first game in the FIFA World Cup yesterday, and their captain told reporters that the team supports Iran’s ongoing protests (Reuters). 

This In Brief examines the power of Iran’s women protesters.

U.S./Russia/Turkey: Washington and Moscow urged Turkey (Bloomberg) to de-escalate tensions in northern Syria after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened further action against Kurdish militants whom Turkey blames for last week’s bombing in Istanbul. Over the weekend, Turkey bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The ban on the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) comes amid worsening relations (AFP) between the two countries. France pulled its anti-insurgency forces from Mali earlier this year over Bamako’s alleged reliance on Russian mercenaries and last week announced it would halt development aid to the country.

South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa received the majority of nominations (Bloomberg) for leadership of his party, the African National Congress, putting him on track to secure a second term as party head.

Europe

Madrid is set to reduce interest rates (FT) for five years, among other measures that aim to mitigate rising borrowing costs for mortgage holders.

For Foreign Affairs, Mohamed A. El-Erian looks at the new era of economic instability.

Americas

The government and the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group began talks in Venezuela’s capital (MercoPress) after a four-year pause in negotiations. The talks are slated to rotate between guarantor countries Venezuela, Cuba, and Norway.

Argentina: The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected that drought will cause Argentina’s wheat production to drop some 30 percent (FT) compared to last season. Argentina accounted for 8 percent of global wheat exports in 2021.

United States

Central California’s Diablo Canyon plant was previously scheduled to be decommissioned (LA Times) beginning in 2024, but Governor Gavin Newsom has pushed to keep the plant open for five more years as the state deals with power shortages and heat waves worsened by climate change. The plant supplied 8 percent of California’s electricity last year. 

This Backgrounder explains how the U.S. power grid works.

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