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Europe
Hungary
26 December 2024 "Pole and Hungarian brothers be" is a well-known proverb in both countries. Hungary granted asylum to a wanted Polish ex-minister as a "political refugee." On December 19, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán granted asylum to the former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Romanowski, He has indicated he is open to further cases. In an interview with the conservative pro-government Hungarian news portal Mandiner, he also called the current Polish government a liberal rainbow coalition that 'uses the rule of law and legal means to get even with its political opponents.' Polish-Hungarian relations are at a low point 'because the liberal Polish rainbow coalition is unable to distinguish between party and state politics,' Orbán said. On December 20, Romanowski said he wanted to continue working from Budapest for a "sovereign, Christian and strong Poland." (Source: DW - Germany)
Lithuania
December 26, 2024 Earlier this month, the Lithuanian Defence Materiel Agency under the Ministry of National Defence (DMA) announced it signed a contract with KNDS Deutschland for forty-four Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks (MBTs) valued at €950 million ($988 million) to equip a Lithuanian Army armored unit. Lithuania passed its 2025 state budget, which will allocate 4 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product) to defense. Earlier this month, the German-based Rheinmetall announced it had begun construction of an artillery ammunition plant in the Lithuanian city of Baisogala, in the center of the country. The plant is on track to begin producing 155mm rounds - the NATO standard ordnance for weapons, including the M777 towed howitzer and numerous self-propelled artillery platforms - by the middle of 2026. During a recent visit to Germany Minister of National Defence Šakalien had further pledged that Vilnius would remain committed to hosting a Bundeswehr military brigade near the border of Belarus. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
Spain
26.12.2024 According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, 57,738 migrants reached Spain’s shores as of Dec. 15. At least 10,457 people perished while trying to reach Spain’s coasts irregularly in 2024, migration NGO Caminando Fronteras said today. The vast majority of the migrants - 9,757 - died on the Atlantic route from northwest Africa to the Canary Islands. The group also reported that 131 boats disappeared without a trace. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Azerbaijan
December 26, 2024 Confusion reigns over the causes for the crash of the Azal passenger plane on December 25 that killed 38 from a total of 72 people on board. Conflicting evidence suggests it was either a bird strike, or the plane was possibly shot down by Russian surface-to-air missile defences over the Chechen capital of Grozny. The passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, during a flight from Baku to Grozny. It is possible that a missile exploded near the plane, but then it is likely the passengers would have seen the explosion through the windows. It is also possible the plane was hit by shrapnel from a missile that exploded much further away from the plane out of the line of site, but the concentration of shrapnel damage on the fuselage and in the tail strongly suggests the explosion was close to the plane that strongly supports the theory of an explosion in the engine caused by a bird strike. (Source: bne IntelliNews - Germany)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
26.12.2024 Helez, the defense minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina yesterday said the country is reconsidering mandatory military service due to new global developments. 'Our neighbors Serbia and Croatia announced they will begin introducing mandatory military service. However, it would be very difficult to implement in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to complex constitutional structure," Helez told. Conscription in the Balkan country ended in 2006. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Kazakhstan
Thursday 26 December 2024 18:12 GMT Russia plays down speculation over cause of Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan. Kazakh officials said that those on board the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Five of the 67 were crew. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
Russia
December 26, 2024 2:47pm Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo - all four of Moscow’s airports were been temporarily closed without any reason given, according to Russia’s aviation watchdog. Kaluga airport located just outside of Moscow have also been affected by the ruling. It is believed to be part of a ‘carpet’ plan which has been implemented at Moscow airports in recent years due to threats posed by drone attack, according to Russian media. (Source: Metro - United Kingdom)
Thursday 26 December 2024 11:55 GMT Zelensky said more than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than 100 attack drones were used to strike Ukraine’s power sources. 'US President Biden denounced the attack' and said he asked the US Defense Department to push forward with a new surge of military aid to Kyiv. Washington has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine. Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov said Ukraine launched western-made missiles and drones in the attack today and vowed retaliation. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
Asia
Afghanistan
Dec 26, 2024 15:27 IST Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the Taliban, which was then reared to destabilise the Soviet-backed regime, received significant support and backing from Pakistan. The Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, played a crucial role in the formation and sustenance of the Taliban for decades. In 1996, Pakistan was one of only three countries that recognised the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as a legitimate government. Pakistan provided the Taliban with military advisers, experts, and even combat troops, including members of its Special Services Group commandos. Islamabad has repeatedly denied the claims. This support continued despite international pressure and UN Security Council resolutions calling for an end to aid due to the Taliban's hosting of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. Pakistan, for decades let the radical militants grow along its northwestern borders. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), although a separate terror group from the one in Kabul, is known to have a tacit understanding with the Afghan Taliban. What Pakistan once nurtured as a strategic asset is now a volatile force threatening its own stability. TTP attacked a checkpoint in the country’s northwest, resulting in the deaths of 16 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, specifically in the Paktika province provoked a strong response from Afghanistan's Taliban regime, that has condemned the attacks and vowed retaliation. Pakistan now faces a dual Taliban challenge: the TTP, which operates against Islamabad from areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border and the Taliban that is in power in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, Pakistan has witnessed a spike in terror attacks as the new regime has emboldened and strengthened the TTP. The TTP aims to establish an Islamic emirate in Pakistan, just like its brother-outfit did in Kabul. Over 1,500 were killed, including 500 security personnel in terror attacks in Pakistan in 2023. After Islamabad accused the Kabul regime of cross-border terrorism, it has imposed trade restrictions, expelled some 5,00,000* undocumented Afghan migrants, and put in a stricter visa policy. Military actions on the TTP have continued too. Around 15,000 Taliban fighters from Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat are marching towards the Pakistani Mir Ali border adjoining Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to reports. (Source: India Today)
* Five hundred thousand
Japan
26 December 2024 12:39 pm Japan Airlines said it was hit by a cyberattack today, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights but the carrier said there was no impact on flight safety. (Source: Outlook India)
Myanmar
2024.12.26 About 6.5% of Myanmar’s 57 million people are Christian, many of them members of ethnic minorities in hilly border areas of Chin, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military overthrew an elected government in 2021, with fighting particularly heavy in ethnic minority areas where many Christians live and where generations have battled for self-determination. The chief of the junta, Senior Gen. Min, attended a Christmas dinner on Sunday at St. Mary’s Cathedral in the main city of Yangon and reiterated a call for insurgents to make peace, saying his government was strengthening democracy. Anti-junta forces dismiss his calls as meaningless and say there is no basis for trusting the military, which imprisoned its leaders and has tried to crush all opposition. More than 300 religious buildings, including about 100 churches and numerous Buddhist temples, have been destroyed by the military in attacks since the 2021 coup, shadow government says. Junta forces badly damaged the church in the home village of Myanmar’s most prominent Christian, Cardinal Bo, in an air raid in October. In November, the air force bombed a church where displaced people were sheltering near northern Myanmar’s border with China killing nine of them including children. In northwestern Myanmar’s Chin state, people fear military retaliation for losses to insurgent forces there in recent days and so have cut back their Christmas festivities. Many members of Myanmar’s Christian minority celebrated Christmas in fear this year, worried that the military would unleash airstrikes on them. “Everyone going to church is worried that they’re going to get bombed,' a resident, who declined to be identified, told on Christmas Day. “The sermons are as short as possible, not only at Christmas but every Sunday too,” she said. In an area under the control of anti-junta insurgents in a rebel zone in Myanmar's Kayah state lately religious ceremonies have only been held in Mother’s Cave, which is free from the danger of air strikes. Several hundred people, most of them women and children, crowded into the cave on Christmas Eve. (Source: Radio Free Asia - U.S.)
Syria
Dec 26, 2024, 1:43 PM Protests have erupted across Syria over militants’ desecration of an Alawite shrine in Aleppo, with armed groups belonging to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) opening fire on protesters. Tens of thousands took to the streets in Latakia, Tartus, Homs, Hama, and Qardaha yesterday, resulting in violent confrontations. (Source: MEHR News Agency - Iran)
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