.
Europe
France
06 December 24 "The steps taken by the authorities expose Georgia to external and internal instability,' The joint statement of Foreign Ministers of the Weimar Triangle - France, Germany and Poland - expresses regret considering the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream party not to pursue EU accession talks and to reject EU 'financial support' until 2028. (Source: Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs - France)
United Kingdom
93mph storm Darragh. Brits have been urged to stay at home in a rare red warning - with flights and trains axed. /Video/ (Source: The Sun - United Kingdom)
773 997 views
Vatican
(Saturday, 07.12.2024) Pope Francis has appointed 21 clergy from five continents to the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals. With the new additions, the pope will have created 110 of the 140 cardinals under the age of 80 permitted to choose his successor. Five bishops from Latin America, including from Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, two from Africa's Ivory Coast and Algeria and the archbishop of Tehran are among those being elevated to cardinal. The Asia-Pacific region - where Catholicism is growing the fastest - has got several new cardinals with the elevation of the archbishop of Tokyo, the bishop of Kalookan, Philippines, and the bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Melbourne, Australia. Francis has also tapped Indian prelate Koovakad - who belongs to the southern Indian state of Kerala and has been organizing the pope's foreign travels - to become a cardinal. (Source: DW - Germany)
Asia
China
2024. december 7. The Western press has long been used in propaganda wars by communist countries. In October 2022, right before the 20th National Congress, Chinese leader Xi held a secret meeting instructing top state officials - overseeing political, intelligence, and influence operations - on a new strategy to target the Falun Gong religious group internationally. It led to an escalation in the long-running operation against Falun Gong practitioners abroad - a campaign that has cast a shadow over the lives of those who’ve sought refuge in America and elsewhere. Xi believes using CCP state media is not effective overseas because it comes across as propaganda. He instructed officials to use lawfare and disinformation, deploying media with no traceable ties to the CCP, and social media to attack Falun Gong. /Source: New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD) – United States/
South Korea
December 7, 20243:03 PM GMT+1 South Korean President Yoon survived an impeachment vote in the opposition-led parliament today after members of his party boycotted the session. Too few lawmakers participate - only 195 votes were cast, below the 200 needed for the vote to count. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
Syria
18:56 ET, Dec 7 2024 Southern militants took the major southern city of Daraa yesterday evening and allowed government forces to retreat back to Damascus. Yesterday and today those rebels have continued to capture smaller villages and towns on the road to the capital as government forces withdraw. Some 2,000 of Assad's troops fled across the border to Iraq. Rebels now control Syria's border with Israel and almost the entire southwest of the country. The southern rebels claim to also hold a number of towns in the Damascus countryside. Earlier, the Syrian military said it was repositioning in the south, without acknowledging territorial losses, and denied it was withdrawing from areas near Damascus. A spokesperson labelled the claim 'a false media campaign… by armed terrorist organizations… with the aim of spreading panic and fear among civilians in the Damascus countryside.' Government defences are focused on Homs, with state television and Syrian military sources reporting massive air strikes on rebel positions and a wave of reinforcements arriving to dig in around the city. (Source: The U.S. Sun)
07 Dec 2024 - 09:28 am More areas in Daraa province, including Daraa city was taken by local armed groups. They now control more than 90 percent of the province which borders Jordan. (Source: The Peninsula - Qatar)
07.12.2024 Forces of the regime of Syrian President Assad withdrew from the provincial center of the al-Hasakah province and Qamishli district in the country’s northeast, east of the Euphrates River. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
North America
United States
18:56 ET, Dec 7 2024 In a post to Truth Social, the incoming US president, who is in Paris today, said that the US should stay out of Syria. "In any event, Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & the United States should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved!" (Source: The U.S. Sun)
. 4 12 8 09:23
