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Europe
Germany
Mon 25 Nov 2024 16.46 CET 'Germany is drawing up a list of bunkers that could provide emergency shelter for civilians, the interior ministry has said. The list would include underground train stations and car parks as well as state buildings and private properties, a ministry spokesperson said. A digital directory of bunkers and emergency shelters will be drawn up so people can find them quickly using a planned phone app. People would also be encouraged to create protective shelters in their homes by converting basements and garages. The spokesperson declined to give a timetable, saying it was a big project that would take some time, involving the Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and other authorities. Down from about 2,000 bunkers previously, the country of 84 million people has 579 bunkers, mostly from the second world war and the cold war era, which can provide shelter for 480,000 people. The key points of the plan were agreed at a conference of senior officials in June and a special group was looking into it'. In October, German intelligence chiefs warned that Russia would probably be capable of launching an attack on the Nato military alliance by 2030. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom / Agence France-Presse – France)
Romania
(Monday), 25 November 2024 10:59 PM CET Romanian religious and nationalistic Georgescu won a shock first-round victory in the country’s presidential elections. Another ’hard-right’ candidate, Simion, trailed in fourth with 13.86 percent support. Georgescu won with 22.94 percent of the vote, followed by liberal reformist candidate Lasconi on 19.18 percent in second place, after she edged ahead of center-left Minister Marcel Ciolacu on 19.15 percent — a difference of just over 2,700 votes. Turnout across the country and among the Romanian diaspora was 52.5 percent, slightly above the 51.2 percent who voted in the previous presidential election in 2019. The second round is set for Dec. 8 following Romania’s parliamentary election next Sunday. Ciolacu announced his resignation today afternoon. An early exit poll suggested that Ciolacu and Lasconi were set to qualify for the presidential runoff. Georgescu surged into the lead as vote counting continued yesteray night, heralding a result that is set to upend Romanian politics. He campaigned on reducing Romania’s reliance on imports, supporting farmers, and increasing domestic production of food and energy. “The 35-years-long economic uncertainty imposed on the Romanian people became uncertainty for the political parties today,” Georgescu said in his first reaction. He has also argued that the EU and NATO do not properly represent Romanian interests. In 2022, Georgescu claimed that the U.S. anti-missile shield located in the southern Romanian village of Deveselu is part of a confrontation policy and not a peaceful measure. He said at the time that he had no support from Russia but felt close to its culture. He described Putin as “a man who loves his country.” Georgescu claimed Russia’s war in Ukraine, a Romanian neighbor, is manipulated by American military companies. Georgescu also said he admired Hungary because it knows how to negotiate internationally. He is a university professor and international consultant on sustainable development, who worked for different United Nations organizations for more than a dozen years. He leveraged TikTok to rally voters around him. He managed to convince them by a combination of messianic speech, delivered in an elegant way, so as to capitalize on people’s frustrations, said political analyst Magdin. Georgescu has drawn fierce criticism for his previous comments supporting Romania’s 20th-century fascist Legionary Movement, but rejected accusations that he is antisemitic. Over the past decade, Georgescu was rumored several times as a potential prime minister for different parties, including Simion’s AUR. (Source: Politico – U.S.)
Russia
(25 November 2024) Ukraine's military said it had struck a key oil depot, - Kaluganefteprodukt oil depot in Kaluga region southeast of Moscow - with drones.and targets in the Bryansk and Kursk border regions. Eight drones in total were destroyed. Russian military bloggers, said that the Khalino air base in Kursk region had been struck in an attack by eight US-supplied Atacms missiles. Russia's defence ministry said only that it had shot down eight ballistic missiles from Ukraine, without saying where. Russian forces have also been hitting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Russia has made close to 1,500 strikes on Ukraine since yesterday evening on about half of the country's regions causing dozens of injuries, President Zelensky said. In a missile strike on the city of Kharkiv, an S-400 missile was used. In Odesa a missile attack damaged residential buildings, schools and a university sports hall. Strikes were reported on Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Chernihiv regions. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)
Asia
China
25.11.2024 China today blasted plans of the US to set up military bases and deploy missile units in Japan and the Philippines in the event of a Taiwan contingency. Beijing firmly opposes countries using the Taiwan issue as a pretext to increase military deployments in the region, which only stirs up tensions, fosters confrontation, and undermines regional peace and stability, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao told. She was responding to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko's statement that the US is "using the island of Taiwan to stir crisis in Asia, violating the one-China principle and strengthening military-political contacts with the island of Taiwan under the excuse of maintaining the 'status quo' and increasing arms supplies." The new temporary US bases are said to be established along the southwestern Nansei Islands chain, where the US Marine Littoral Regiment will be deployed, stretching from the Kagoshima and Okinawa provinces in Japan toward Taiwan. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are expected to mainly engage in logistical support for the marine unit, including supplying fuel and ammunition. The US Army will also deploy long-range fire units of its Multi-Domain Task Force, which is designed to operate in a multi-domain environment, including air, land, water, space, cyber, and information, in the Philippines. According to the plans, Tokyo and Washington will incorporate the new deployments in their first joint operation plan, scheduled to be formulated next month. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
India
Nov 25, 2024 12:57 pm Apple is doubling down on its efforts to move component manufacturing from China to India, as part of a strategy to avoid Trump's Chinese tariffs. The company has already been in talks with some Indian firms, including Dixon and Amber. The move comes as part of Apple's larger strategy to diversify its supply chain. By January 2024, Apple suppliers had reportedly invested $16 billion in their diversification efforts, benefiting countries like Vietnam in addition to India. The idea is to find potential suppliers who could locally source components. The shift has also made Apple one of the fastest-growing technology companies in India over the last few decades, cementing its place in the market. (Source: NewsBytes - India)
Lebanon
(Monday, 25 November 2024) A military statement late yesterday said the Air Force had struck 12 Hizbollah command centres in south Beirut, including from intelligence, missile and weapons smuggling units. The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hizbollah fired around 250 projectiles into Israel during the day. Hizbollah said it launched attacks using missiles and drones directed at the Ashdod naval base in southern Israel. The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September. On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed. The official National News Agency (NNA) reported two waves of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, which were preceded by Israeli military warnings posted online. Ground battles raged in several areas of the border strip on Sunday, according to the NNA and Hizbollah, which said its fighters had destroyed six Israeli tanks and fired rockets at troops. (Source: Gulf Today - United Arab Emirates / AFP - France)
North America
United States
November 25, 2024 US President-elect Trump pledged a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada from his first day in office, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, citing illegal immigration and the trade of illicit drugs. /Video/ (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
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NATO
11/25/2024 'Speaking at an event of the European Policy Centre think tank, the chair of NATO's military committee, Dutch Admiral Bauer today urged businesses to be prepared for a wartime scenario’ and adjust their production and distribchution lines accordingly, in order to be less vulnerable to blackmail from countries such as Russia and China, because ’while it may be the military who wins battles, it's the economies that win wars.’ Bauer noted western dependencies on supplies from China, with 60% of all rare earth materials produced and 90% processed there. He said chemical ingredients for sedatives, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and low blood pressure medicines were also coming from China. (Source: MSN – U.S. / Reuters – United Kingdom)
Globalization
25/11/2024 - 08:34 The Group of Seven (G7) ministers are meeting near Rome, Italy today, for two days of talks to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea, notably efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. The ministers will also discuss the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s military chief, “and the possible effects on the current crises in Lebanon and Gaza. The officials meet regional counterparts on the Middle East, before turning to Russia and the war in Ukraine. They will also discuss ways to continue support for Kyiv, prospects for peace and initiatives for Ukraine's future reconstruction. US Secretary of State Blinken will attend the talks in Fiuggi and Anagni alongside ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan, hosted by Italy’s Tajani. Monday afternoon will be dedicated to the situation in the Middle East and the Red Sea. One session will include ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League, Rome said. On the second day of talks tomorrow, the discussion will turn to Ukraine in the presence of foreign minister Sybiga. The same day in Brussels, ambassadors from NATO countries and Ukraine will hold talks over Russia’s firing of an experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile. Tensions in the Asia-Pacific are also on the agenda at the G7 meeting, and the Italians have invited foreign ministers from South Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The G7 ministers are also expected to discuss crises in Haiti, Sudan, the political situation in Venezuela. (Source: France 24 / AFP - France)
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