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Politics
Ukrainian service members attend a military exercises during drills at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, November 22, 2024.
Russia has conducted as many as 1,500 strikes on targets in Ukraine in the past two days, according to Kyiv. Ukraine, meanwhile, reportedly launched a fresh volley of US-made long-range ATACMS missiles at Russia, while claiming also to have struck a Russian oil depot with drones.
The ATACMS strike was reportedly on an air base in the Russian border region of Kursk, parts of which have been occupied by Ukrainian troops since August. Since then, Moscow has invited North Korean troops to help it push back the Ukrainians.
Putin, whose forces have been slowly gaining ground in eastern Ukraine for months, had warned that ATACMS strikes would be a significant escalation of the conflict. Last week, in response to their use, he loosened Russia’s nuclear use doctrine and fired into Ukraine a new advanced missile capable of carrying nuclear payloads.
All of this comes as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House. Trump has questioned American support for Ukraine and pledged to end the conflict within “24 hours.” No one is sure what that will entail, but both sides are now in a last-minute frenzy to gain as much territory – and deterrent capacity – as they can before Trump takes office.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith are seen in a combination of file photos in Washington, U.S., in 2023.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed motions on Monday to dismiss both the election interference and classified documents cases against President-elect Donald Trump. The cases were doomed the day Trump was reelected, as a long-standing Justice Department policy prohibits the criminal prosecution of sitting presidents.
Trump spokesperson Steve Cheung said the dismissals represent “a major victory for the rule of law,” while Smith said Trump’s victory set the need for the office of the president to operate unencumbered by prosecution at odds with the principle that “no man is above the law.” Smith is expected to retire before Trump fulfills a campaign promise to fire him. The motions to dismiss also vindicate Trump’s strategy of delay, with the mandate of voters sparing him further time in federal court.
The state cases in Georgia and New York are different. The federal government doesn’t have the power to simply make them go away, and even those who think Trump has the power to pardon himself in federal cases agree that he has no power in state issues. That said, the Georgia appeals court abruptly canceled hearings related to attempts to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Trump has multiple defendants who could face televised trials if the case goes forward, whereas in New York he is the sole defendant.
President-elect Donald Trump attends the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 14, 2024.
25: President-elect Donald Trump took aim at Canada and Mexico via Truth Social on Monday, posting about his plan to charge the countries — currently America’s No. 1 & No. 2 trading partners, — a whopping 25% tariff on all products entering the US. The tariff would be enacted on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump said, and would “remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
49: Uruguay’s left-wing opposition leader Yamandú Orsiwon the small South American country’s presidential election with 49% of the vote in a neck-and-neck runoff contest on Sunday. It was yet another rebuke of an incumbent party — the theme of many global elections this year — but not to worry: Uruguay is remarkably stable, and Orsi is a moderate with no radical plans.
1: One crew member died on Monday when a DHL cargo flight crashed during its attempted landing in Vilnius, Lithuania, with surveillance video showing a huge ball of flames as the plane went down. Lithuanian officials said they could not rule out whether Russia played a role in the crash, following months of suspicions over Moscow’s possible role in other cases of sabotage against the German shipping giant. Germany, meanwhile, is sending investigators to Vilnius to aid with the probe.
3: Human Rights Watch has determined that an Israeli drone strike that killed three journalists in Lebanon last month was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians, which is a war crime. More than 3,500 people in Lebanon have died amid Israel’s invasion, and more than 1 million have been displaced from their homes in the 5.3-million-strong country.
300: Asylum applications in Ireland have spiked 300% so far this year – with a fourfold increase from Nigeria – compared to last. The rise has been driven by tougher immigration stances in the UK, including a quixotic plan to house asylum-seekers in Rwanda. The uptick is becoming a political issue in Ireland, with voters increasingly concerned by the impact of increased migration on scarce housing.Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, November 25, 2024.
There are growing signs that a truce between Israel and Hezbollah – which the US has been pushing hard for – could be imminent. The Israeli cabinet is reportedly set to vote on a cease-fire deal Tuesday, and a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled it’s likely to be accepted.
The deal would involve a 60-day halt to fighting to pave the way for a lasting truce, during which Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah would move heavy weapons north of the Litani River, roughly 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. The area would then be policed by Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers, with a five-country committee — including the US — set to keep an eye on compliance with the terms of the truce.
We’ll be watching for more on the deal — and whether it gets across the finish line as both sides in the fight continue to trade fire. And regardless of whether an agreement is reached, the war in Gaza is raging on with no end in sight. The Gaza conflict fueled the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state last year, and has stoked tensions across the region.
Skykline of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on November 21, 2022 .
Israeli authorities condemned the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan 28-year-old whose body was discovered Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, as an“antisemitic terrorist attack.” They are investigating potential Iranian involvement, including Uzbek nationals with suspected links to Iran. In response, the Iranian embassy in the UAE said it “categorically rejects the allegations of Iran’s involvement in the murder of this individual.”
The UAE has arrested three suspects but has provided no further details. Should a link to Iran be established, it would likely renew calls for retaliation by Israel, and possibly set off a new cycle of escalation.
Meanwhile, Israeli military operations continue in both Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of a suburb of Gaza City on Sunday after Hamas militants fired rockets at Israel,prompting a new wave of displacements in the enclave. Hamasclaimed late Sunday that a female Israeli hostage had been killed in Israeli operations in northern Gaza, but Israel said it was unable to verify the information.
In Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike targeted an army center, resulting in the death of one soldier and injuries to 18 others. Hezbollah retaliated on Sunday by launching 340 drones and rockets into Israel andclaimed to have also destroyed a total of 11 Israeli tanks in a series of ground battles. Talks over a potential cease-fire with Hezbollah have thus far been fruitless, but the Israeli ambassador to the US said a deal could be reached “within days” on Monday.
2024-01-10 Vilnius Lithuania. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visits Lithuania on Wednesday 10 of January 2024. Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis meets Zelensky in airport.No Use Lithuania. No Use Estonia. No Use Latvia.
NATO and Ukrainewill hold emergency talks on Tuesday after Russia attacked a military facility near the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a hypersonic missile last Thursday. The attack came in retaliation forUkraine striking Russia earlier in the week with US-made ATACMS, after US President Joe Biden greenlit the use of the weapons.
Upping the ante. Russian President Vladimir Putin claims Moscow’snewly developed “Oreshnik” missile is “unstoppable” by western defense systems, travels at 10 times the speed of sound, and that even with conventional warheads, “the massive use of the weapon would be comparable in effect to the use of nuclear weapons.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the use of the Oreshnikas a “clear and severe escalation” in the nearly three-year-old war.
But it also represents a new threat to continental Europe. Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed concern. “The war in the east is entering a decisive phase, we feel that the unknown is approaching,” he said, whileHungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — a long-standing pal to Putin — said Russia’s threat of additional strikes should be taken seriously and warned “there will be consequences.” We’ll be watching how NATO leaders balance bolstering Ukraine’s defenses with increasing its offensive capability, given how Putin reacted to long-range strikes.Hard Numbers: North Koreans killed in Russia, Ireland approaches crucial vote, Pakistan locks down over Khan, Bitcoin to the moon!
FILE PHOTO: In the photos taken on January 31, 2024, Ukrainian soldiers are deployed in the middle of the conflict with Russia. Ukrainian Intelligence has stated that Russian forces "have already made use" of some missiles delivered to the country by North Korea as part of the invasion and has stressed that there is "cooperation between the two regimes" at a military and weapons.
500: Ukrainian media reported Sunday that a strike on North Korean forces operating in the Kursk region of Russia killed at least 500 troops, though Pyongyang has not (and probably won’t) confirm the figures. If true, it would be the first major casualty incident for the Korean People’s Army while fighting Ukraine, and the sheer number of deaths at once may be difficult for Pyongyang to explain at home.
20: The left-leaning Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is polling at 20% ahead of elections on the Emerald Isle on Friday, neck-and-neck with the ruling Fine Gael party at 22%. Sinn Fein looks likely to be able to block Fine Gael and its coalition partner from forming a majority government, but it would need to majorly outperform polling to take charge of the government itself as other parties have sworn not to cooperate.
150: Pakistan’s government on Sunday blocked expressways leading into the capital, Islamabad, shut down cell phone and internet service, and placed shipping containers across major thoroughfares amid mass protests calling for the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The ex-cricket-star-turned-politician is facing 150 criminal charges (all of which he denies) and has been serving a three-year prison sentence since last year.
100,000: The cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin reached a value of $100,000 per token on Friday, a record high fueled by the expectation of a friendlier environment for crypto under the incoming Trump administration. Ten years ago, it was trading for about $350.