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Europe
Hungary
December 17, 2024 Hungary has once again vetoed the European Union's (EU) allocation of €6.5bn to member states supplying weapons to Ukraine. Hungary torpedoed the release of the EPF funds, citing alleged discrimination against Hungarian companies in Ukraine and the risk to Hungary's energy supply after Ukraine extended a ban on the transit of oil by Lukoil. Hungary, together with Slovakia's government also blocked sanctions targeting Georgian police officials over violence against pro-Western demonstrators, claiming that Georgia was being targeted because a patriotic and conservative party, rather than liberal forces, had won the recent elections. Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in an election in October.. The government’s announcement of suspending EU accession talks until 2028 sparked protests and a violent crackdown on protesters. Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán was the sole EU leader to congratulate the ruling party for its election victory. He travelled to Tbilisi a day after the vote to support the government in person. Hungary also removed Russia's UN ambassador, the Russian Olympic Committee and two Russian football teams from the latest sanctions list against Moscow, stating, "mixing sports with geopolitics is unacceptable". The EU Foreign Affairs Council approved the 15th sanctions package against Russia yesterday, which targets a total of 84 legal entities and individuals. The sanctions list also includes Chinese companies and North Korean officials. Hungary has become more obstructive to EU assistance to Kyiv and EU sanctions on Russia since Brussels froze part of Hungary's Cohesion Funds and Reconstruction Funds. EU foreign ministers at the meeting did agree to recommend to the Commission the suspension of visa-free travel for Georgian officials holding diplomatic passports following the crackdown in Georgia on pro-EU protests. This decision will only require a majority vote, which could take place next week. Speaking after the council meeting, Foreign Minister Szijjártó said Hungary was the only country to block the disbursement of funds from the EPF and reiterated Budapest's long-standing opposition to mandatory contributions for arms shipments. He stressed that while Hungary would not interfere with member states funding such initiatives voluntarily, it would not support making these contributions compulsory. Hungary also opposes the proposed relocation of an EU coordination unit to Kyiv and the deployment of advisors for security sector reforms, he added. The latest sanctions package against Russia extends the legal option for Hungarian oil and gas company MOL to continue exporting products derived from Russian-origin oil. (Source: bne IntelliNews – Germany)
By Csonka
France
12/17/2024 French farmers were back on the streets dumping manure a few days after European Commission President der Leyen inked a long-pending trade agreement with four Latin American nations. French farmers have resumed protests against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. This time they parked the tractors near the tunnel in Calais that goes through the English Channel. They have vowed to continue their resistance. A so-called Factsheet published by the EU Commission says under the new agreement the EU will import 99,000 tons of beef. Critics have said the deal will contribute to continued rainforest deforestation to produce beef and grow soy to feed cattle. The overall EU-Mercosur deal is far beyond beef and agriculture, extending to all industrial sectors, and services - from A to Z, meats to medicines, vehicles to chemicals, Hegadorn, adjunct professor of global food politics at Sciences Po, Paris said. At the heart of the farmers' protest is an increase in beef imports, as well as poultry and sugar. France's minister for trade, Primas, said the deal with the Mercosur bloc - that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — 'only commits the Commission, not the member states," indicating that France will oppose ratification of the agreement. (Source: DW - Germany)
Russia
17/12/2024 - 07:51 The commander of Russian armed forces' chemical, biological and radiation defence troops, Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy in southeastern Moscow early this morning. 'An explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated on the morning of December 17 on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow,' said the Russian Investigative Committee, responsible for major investigations in the country. Kirillov, who had been in his post since 2017, was sanctioned in October by Britain over the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. (Source: AFP - France)
Note: Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces (NBC)
Vatican
December 17, 2024 Pope Francis escaped two attempts on his life during his historic trip to Iraq in March 2021, according to excerpts from his forthcoming autobiography published today by Italian media. "Hope" goes on sale in over 80 countries in January. (Source: Barron's - U.S. / Agence France-Presse)
Asia
Syria
(17 December 2024) Turkish rescuers begin combing infamous Syria’s Saydnaya prison. The search was being conducted in line with a request made by the Syrian authorities, Memis, the director of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said. The 120-strong disaster relief agency team, which arrived with 43 vehicles, would use ground radar and acoustic listening devices to verify whether there were any as yet undiscovered locations underneath the facility. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people died in Syria’s jails and detention centres from 2011. The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Saydnaya Prison (ADMSP), believes the rumours about as yet undiscovered underground cells are unfounded. (Source: Gulf Today - United Arab Emirates / Agence France-Presse)
Turkey
12/17/2024 Senior U.S. officials say Turkey and its militia allies are building up forces along the border with Syria. The forces include militia fighters, Turkish uniformed commandos and artillery in large numbers that are concentrated near Kobani, a Kurdish-majority city in Syria on the northern border with Turkey. U.S.-brokered cease-fire talks between the Syrian Kurds and Turkish-backed rebels in Kobani collapsed yesterday without an agreement. Ahmed, an official in the Syrian Kurds’ civilian administration, told President-elect Trump yesterday that a Turkish military operation appeared imminent, urging him to press Turkish President Erdogan not to send troops across the border. A Turkish invasion would displace more than 200,000 Kurdish civilians in Kobani alone along with many Christian communities, Ahmed warned Trump, Trump insinuated yesterday that Turkey orchestrated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s takeover of Syria. During his first term, Trump partially withdrew U.S. troops from northeast Syria, paving the way for a large-scale Turkish invasion that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of Syrians. The Trump administration eventually helped broker a cease-fire in exchange for the Kurds ceding miles of border territory to the Turks. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U.S.)
Yemen
(17 December 2024) The US military said it conducted an airstrike yesterday against a command and control facility operated by the Houthis in Yemen. Al-Masirah TV, run by Yemen's Houthi movement, said early today that a strike carried out by the United States targeted al-Ardi complex in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. (Source: Gulf Today - United Arab Emirates / Reuters - United Kingdom)
North America
United States
(17 December 2024) North Korean troops killed fighting Ukraine, says US. The BBC has not independently verified the claims. Yesterday, President Zelensky posted drone footage on Telegram 'that showed a number of men taking cover behind trees, saying' they were North Korean troops who had just taken part in an assault on a Ukrainian position. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)
December 17, 2024 In October 2024 CIA Director Burns said that “No, we do not see evidence today that the supreme leader has reversed the decision that he took at the end of 2003 to suspend the weaponization program… We don’t see evidence today that such a decision [to build a bomb] has been made. We watch it very carefully.” President-elect Trump has reportedly expressed concern that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb on his watch. In considering his options to prevent that, The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump is considering the possibility of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Military considerations are still in their “early stages” and could change as the transition team solidifies into a fixed cabinet, the Journal reports. The U.S. now consistently applies international law inconsistently, prioritizing their own foreign policy interests over universal application of international law. There is brazen hypocrisy in condemning Russia for violating Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity while defending America’s right to violate Iran’s by bombing it preemptively when there has been no Iranian attack or threat of attack on the United States. (Source: AntiWar - U.S.)
by Snider
December 17, 2024 6:52 AM Trump yesterday lost a bid to overturn his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in light of the US Supreme Court's July ruling recognising immunity from prosecution for a president's official acts. Justice Merchan's denial of Trump's motion to dismiss the New York state case forecloses one avenue for the Republican president-elect to enter the White House on Jan 20 for his second four-year term without the stain of a criminal conviction. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)
Pacific Ocean
Vanuatu
2024.12.17 Buildings ‘pancaked’ in Vanuatu as 7.3 magnitude quake that lasted about 30 seconds hits off capital Port Vila. (Source: BenarNews, headquartered in Washington, D.C, - U.S.)
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