December 22, 2021 - a podcast by TRT World

*) UN: Scores of migrants drown in two shipwrecks off Libya

More than 160 migrants and refugees have drowned in two separate shipwrecks off Libya over the past week.

Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration, said, in one incident, at least 102 migrants were reported dead after their wooden boat capsized off Libya.

At least eight others were rescued and returned to shore, she said.

*) Sudan PM Hamdok intends to resign 'within hours'

Sudan Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has told a group of national political and intellectual figures that he intends to resign in the coming hours.

The group Hamdok spoke to called on him to stay in his position but he insisted he would leave, according to two sources close to the premier.

Hamdok was reinstated on November 21 following a coup a month earlier that saw the military take power and end a transitional partnership with political parties.

*) UN plans to pay 'nearly $6M' to Taliban for safe Afghanistan mission

The United Nations has proposed to pay nearly $6 million for protection in Afghanistan to the Taliban-run Interior Ministry, whose chief is under UN and US sanctions and wanted by the FBI.

The proposed funds would be paid next year mostly to subsidise the monthly wages of Taliban soldiers guarding UN facilities.

It will also provide them with a monthly food allowance under an expansion of an accord with the former US-backed Afghan government, a UN document said.

???*) Turkiye minister reassures holders of lira assets

Turkiye’s lira is moving towards a level where it will find its true balance, Turkiye's Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said.

Nebati's comments came hours after his ministry announced a new measure in which Turkiye will compensate lira depositors for foreign currency fluctuations.

The lira stood at 12.25 to the US dollar at 0539 GMT, from a close of 12.4 on Tuesday when it rose 6 percent in a roller-coaster session.

And finally …

*) Madagascar minister 'swims for 12 hours' after sea crash

A Madagascan minister was one of two survivors to have swum some 12 hours to shore after their helicopter crashed off the island's northeastern coast.

Serge Gelle, the country's secretary of state for police, and a fellow policeman reached land in the seaside town of Mahambo separately, apparently, after ejecting themselves from the aircraft.

A search was still ongoing for two other passengers after the crash, whose cause was not immediately clear, police and port authorities said.

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