A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News. Delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Leading the week
There are a host of events taking place next week as Americans prepare to mark Thanksgiving (as well as the Native American National Day of Mourning) on Thursday (November 24), starting on Monday (November 21) with the traditional White House Turkey pardoning ceremony with President Joe Biden.
Both the pardoned turkey and its alternate will live out the rest of their days at a ‘first-class retirement home’ at North Carolina State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Traffic jams are likely to peak on Wednesday (November 23) as an estimated 55 million Americans travel to spend the holiday with loved ones. On Thursday itself, beyond arguing about politics, there’s the Macy’s parade – this year including a debut of a giant ‘Bluey’ balloon – as well as a triple header of Thanksgiving football. Black Friday rounds things off on, well, Friday (November 25) though in reality most deals are available all week.
As the 2022 World Cup in Qatar gets underway, the US play their first game of the tournament against Wales on Monday (November 21) with Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to attend the match. Controversy surrounding the Qatari government’s human rights abuses has not escaped the attention of the USMNT hierarchy, and a specially designed rainbow crest has been incorporated into the team’s onsite presence, although it will not be worn on the pitch. With coach Gregg Berhalter’s young side being relatively untested against teams outside the Concacaf region, team captain Christian Pulisic – a relative veteran, even at 24 – will be relied upon to navigate the team through a difficult game on Friday (November 25) against 2018 semi-finalists England. From there, preparations begin for what will undoubtedly be a politically charged match against Iran to round off the group the following week.
Looking abroad
The UN Human Rights Council holds a rare special session on Iran on Thursday (November 24) to discuss the government’s violent suppression of protests prompted by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian arrested on September 13 for violating the country’s severe dress code. Her death has sparked unprecedented nationwide protests that have rocked authorities who have in turn responded with brutality, with at least 362 protesters believed to have been killed, including two young boys earlier this week.
On Friday (November 25), European Union interior ministers are due to gather for an extraordinary meeting to discuss migration following the high-profile row between France and Italy over Italy’s refusal to allow a boat carrying rescued migrants to dock in its territory. The incident happened shortly after new far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office and suggests the debate over burden-sharing among EU nations regarding migrants and asylum seekers is likely to heat up again. Friday’s meeting will come two days after the European Parliament’s debate on the subject, scheduled for Wednesday (November 23).