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Europe
France
24 December 2024 Thousands of worshippers will gather inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris at midnight today for the Christmas mass - the first since a major fire nearly destroyed the iconic structure in April 2019. The Paris diocese warned that only 2,700 worshippers would be allowed in for the service - one of several on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The 12th-century monument reopened earlier this month after a five-year restoration program by France's government that cost some €700 million ($728 million). A Neopolitan nativity scene has been installed to help tell the story of Christmas. Since the Cathedral fully reopened on 16 December, some 270,000 people have toured the site. (Source: DW – Germany)
Germany
24 December 2024 In his Christmas mass, the Protestant Bishop of Germany's northwestern city of Oldenburg, Adomeit, said that the festive season is a protest against pessimism and hopelessness. Adomeit praised those who came together to light candles, pray and mourn for the victims of the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, who he said had shown that the light of humanity is stronger than the darkness of violence. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those who are suffering from this terrible act of violence, he added. Despite everything that frightens us, we want and may dare to trust, Adomeit told the congregation at Oldenburg's St. Lambert's Church. "Christmas is not just an event that we celebrate. It is an invitation to let our lives be shaped by this message." (Source: DW – Germany)
24.12.2024 Christmas market attacker Abdulmohsen in the German city of Magdeburg left will in vehicle he used in rampage. He stated his intention to donate all his assets to the German Red Cross. A further investigation revealed that Abdulmohsen gave a video interview on Dec. 12 at a Magdeburg hotel to a US-based activist group called RAIR Foundation* USA. During the interview, he praised billionaire entrepreneur Musk and Jones, raising further questions about his motivations and ideological leanings. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
* Renamed: Rise Align Ignite Reclaim, or RAIR Foundation - previously known as the Resistance Against Islamic Radicals (RAIR) - organization founded by Mekelburg (born 1972 ?), aka Amy Mek, an American activist, critic of Islam, with accounts banned in France and in Germany due to her postings. (Source: Wikipedia).
Spain
24 December 2024 In his Christmas message, Spain's King Felipe VI urged the public to draw lessons from this year's catastrophic floods. The monarch said the disaster, which killed 231 people, was 'an event difficult to accept, but from which we must all be able to draw the necessary lessons that strengthen us as a society and make us grow." Thousands of people were made homeless in the October 29 floods. "We have realized - and understood - the frustration, the pain, the impatience, the demands for a greater and more efficient coordination by the administrations," Felipe said in a reference to the public anger at the mismanagement of the disaster. (Source: DW – Germany)
Russia
24 December 2024 14:56 The 15 years old Russian vessel Ursa Major left St. Petersburg on Dec. 11. It sinks in Mediterranean, reportedly while en route to withdraw military assets from Syria. (Source: The Insider, Headquartered Riga, Latvia)
24 December 2024 Russia’s full-scale war comes to the North Caucasus. Since July, multiple republics in the North Caucasus have been subjected to drone attacks. Ukraine has declined to claim responsibility. The first republic in the North Caucasus to be targeted by a drone attack was North Ossetia, which was struck twice in July 2024. The attack caused minor destruction and fires at the Mozdok military airfield. The most recent drone attack in North Ossetia occurred on 12 December, the target again being the Mozdok military airfield. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, all three ‘Ukrainian drones’ were shot down. The republic of Daghestan was first targeted in November, when a group of drones attacked the Caspian Sea port city of Kaspiysk two times, which is home to a base of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla. At the time, the head of Daghestan, Melikov, claimed there were no casualties or damage. Ukrainian intelligence, however, told that two missile ships, the Tatarstan and the Daghestan, as well as other small naval vessels, were damaged. On the morning of 15 December, three drones attacked the Chechen capital, Grozny. According to Chechen head Kadyrov, two of the drones were shot down by the city’s air defense systems, the third fell on the territory of the Akhmat Grozny unit of the Russian National Guard. It was the fourth attack in Chechnya since October. Kadyrov has repeatedly promised revenge following drone attacks, including suggesting that Ukrainian POWs should be used as human shields at potential military targets in the republic and beyond. Belokiev, a Chechen political blogger and former spokesman for the Sheikh Mansur Ichkerian battalion fighting for Ukraine believes that specific targets in Chechnya were chosen because the most elite soldiers and commanders are concentrated there. Chechnya, Belokiev notes, constantly uses [these sites] as a PR tool, claiming soldiers are being trained at facilities in the republic. Much more important objects on the territory of Chechnya could be hit from the Ukrainian point of view, Belokiev argues: The Russian military bases that are in the mountains, the FSB building that is located in Grozny, not far from the railway station, and so on. ’Even the residence of Kadyrov!’ According to Belokiev, Ukraine is not taking responsibility for these attacks because ‘Ukraine sees Chechens as its allies rather than enemies’, noting that Ukraine has recognised Chechnya as an occupied territory. ‘The Kadyrovtsy are not afraid to shoot down drones over residential buildings. They don’t try to shoot them down over some fields, or something. This shows that they don’t care about ordinary people. And if these drones fall somewhere and hit the civilian sector and civilians get hurt, it will not be Ukraine’s fault, but the Russian leadership, including the regional leadership,’ Belokiev argues. Not everyone is convinced that Ukraine has been behind the attacks. ‘It makes one wonder why they flew over the whole of Russia, why nobody shot them down or tried to shoot them down. A huge number of different versions arise here, including that it’s the FSB guys themselves shelling Chechnya, that it's not Ukraine. There is a version that perhaps these are saboteurs who somewhere print drones on 3D printers, assemble them, and launch them already from the territory of Russia, and perhaps even from the territory of the North Caucasus’, Belokiev notes. Kutayev, president of the civil society organisation Assembly of Peoples of the Caucasus, is absolutely certain that the FSB is behind the attacks on the North Caucasus republics, referring to ‘precise data’. ‘These are “corn planes”, which have a speed of only 50-70 kilometres per hour at best. To cover 1,300 kilometres, this UAV has to fly for more than a day. This is unreasonable and unrealistic. That is why there is absolutely no doubt that the FSB is launching them in Chechnya, in Grozny, against the Kaydyrovtsy, for its own internal [reasons], not fully understood by us, but there is no doubt that they exist. These are not Ukrainian UAVs, they are Russian UAVs, and they have a registered address - it is the FSB,’ Kutayev tells. Kutayev believes that the attacks on Chechnya are an attempt by the FSB to pressure Kadyrov into sending more people to Ukraine. He cites the targets chosen - mainly police regiments - as an argument. In his opinion, if the drones were Ukrainian, they would have flown to the city of Khankala, where the military leadership is located and where there is an airbase. Another theory promoted by sources from Ukrainian intelligence links the drone attacks in Chechnya to the deadly shooting at the Moscow office of the online retailer Wildberries, centering around a conflict between Kadyrov and lawmakers from neighboring North Caucasian republics. Ukraine has not yet made an official statement about the attacks on Chechnya and North Ossetia. The only target confirmed by Ukrainian journalists, citing their sources, was the attack on the Caspian Flotilla ships in Daghestan. (Source: OC Media /Open Caucasus Media/, headquarters Tbilisi, Georgia)
by Chukharova, born and raised in Vladikavkaz. She now lives in Prague, completing her Master's degree in Russian Studies at Charles University, specialising in the study of military and inter-ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. She has previously worked for RFE/RL.
Note: Semi-fake?
Ukraine
12/24/2024 Ukraine used to celebrate Christmas on January 7. According to reports, around 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers remain at the frontline, out of a total of 2.2 million strong military personnel. Millions of Ukrainian refugees are spending their third Christmas abroad, having been offered shelter in neighboring European countries when the war began. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed. Between them, Ukraine and Russia are estimated to have lost around half a million soldiers during the nearly three-year war. Ukraine is this year celebrating Christmas in December for the second time after the law was changed to move away from the traditional January date observed by the Russian Orthodox Church. President Zelenskyy signed the legislation in 2023 stating the country 'would abandon the Russian heritage'. (Source: DW – Germany)
Vatican
24 December 2024 Pope Francis has opened the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, marking the official beginning of the Catholic Church's Jubilee 2025 year. In a wheelchair due to a severe knee condition, Francis knocked several times on the heavy bronze door, which helpers then opened from the inside. He was then wheeled across the threshold as bells tolled across Rome and the choir inside the basilica began Christmas Eve Mass. Every 25 years, the Catholic Church celebrates a special Holy Year known as a Jubilee. During the year, the Catholic faithful can receive forgiveness for their sins through prayer and penance, including through a ritual that involves passing through the Holy Door. Millions of people are expected to travel to Italy over the next 12 months for the pilgrimage. Pope Francis has dedicated the 2025 Jubilee to the theme of hope. (Source: DW – Germany)
24 December 2024 Pope Francis, the 88-year-old pontiff will appear in front of 30,000 people and a live TV audience worldwide today evening to kick off the occasion, to open the "Holy Door" of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and to launch Jubilee 2025, a year of events which is also known as Holy Year and takes place every 25 years. Catholics can be forgiven for their sins in a ritual that involves walking through the imposing bronze Holy Door, which is normally bricked up. Visitors to the Vatican are expected to draw millions of pilgrims to Rome over the next year. Much of Rome has also been given a facelift in preparation, with monuments such as the Trevi Fountain and the Ponte Sant'Angelo cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic. Some 700 security officers are being deployed for the Jubilee celebrations, with measures further tightened following Friday's deadly car-ramming on a Christmas market in Germany. Later today, Pope Francis will preside over the traditional Christmas Eve mass at St Peter's Square. Tomorrow, he will deliver his traditional Christmas Day blessing, Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world). On Thursday, Francis will open a Holy Door at a prison in Rome and preside over a mass in a show of support for the inmates. (Source: DW – Germany)
Asia
Iran
(Tuesday), Dec 24, 2024, 4:52 PM Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Baghaei has rejected claims that the country is using children as proxy forces to attack targets in Europe. Bloomberg claimed in a report on Saturday that Iran-affiliated groups have been recruiting local criminals, including minors, to target Jewish and Israeli institutions in Europe this year. Baghaei said the claims showed that making "accusations against Iran had entered a new phase" which he described as preposterous and ridiculous. (Source: IRNA - Iran)
Iraq
Dec 24, 2024, 5:12 PM Iran attaches great importance to ties with Iraqi Kurdistan. The head of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Barzani, received Asadi, the new Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Erbil. (Source: MEHR News Agency - Iran)
Syria
24 December 2024 Hope and fears of Christians in Syria under the new Islamist leadership. The country's de facto ruler Sharaa has told visiting Western officials that his government won't seek revenge against Assad's followers or repress other minority groups. However, several recent incidents have targeted Christians, including the burning of a Christmas tree, vandalism and a shooting at a Greek Orthodox church in Hama last week and the blasting of jihadi songs from vehicles in a predominantly Christian neighborhood. Syrian Christians attend first Christmas mass since Assad's ouster. Christmas Eve church services were held in Syria's capital Damascus for the first since President Assad was overthrown. The pews of Lady of Damascus Church were filled with Christian followers, holding candles and singing hymns. The service was an early test of a pledge by Syria's new Islamist rulers to protect the rights of the country's religious minorities. /Video/ (Source: DW – Germany)
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2:32 PM CET, December 24, 2024 The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said today they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist islamic state (is) group scattered across the country’s east. Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of is militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control. (Source: AP - U.S.)
24 Dec 2024 A meeting between Sharaa and the heads of the groups ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all rebel factions and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defence. The Kurdish-led and United States-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group in northeastern Syria is not part of the deal just announced. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)
North America
United States
(Tuesday), Dec 24, 2024 07:02 PM IST American airlines requested that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implement a nationwide ground stop for all American flights and their subsidiary airlines as of 6:49 a.m. ET. ’On Monday’ it grounded all of its flights across the country due to what it described as an unspecified technical issue, drawing ire from the passengers with travel plans on Christmas eve. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)
24 December 2024 US Air Force General Guillot, whose agency traditionally "tracks" Santa on Christmas Eve, has insisted that the recent mystery drone sightings over the northeastern United States won't impact deliveries of gifts. The sightings, which US agencies say are either aircraft, stars or hobbyist drones, have sparked curiosity worldwide that they could be unidentified flying objects (UFOs) from another planet. „Of course, we are concerned about drones and anything else in the air," Guilliot, who is commander of the US-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told. "But I don't foresee any difficulty at all with drones for Santa this year." The Santa tracker began in 1955 and his movements can now be followed by voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. NORAD reported today that Santa and his reindeer were making stops in Russia and Iran after visiting countries in East Asia over the past few hours. (Source: DW – Germany)
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