Tuesday, Dec 24th
Last update09:30:35 AM GMT
International Glance
A Russian tanker carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of oil products has sunk in the Black Sea amid stormy conditions while a second has run aground, threatening an ecological disaster.
The cargo ship Volgoneft-212 snapped in half on Sunday after being hit by a large wave. Video showed its bow end sticking vertically out of the water. The boat got into difficulties off the east coast of occupied Crimea, 5 miles (8km) from the Kerch strait, Russian media reported.
Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes, despite the Syrian rebel leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel.
Jolani’s comments came as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that he had approved a plan to expand settlement building in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops, who seized the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week, would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon – known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh – in positions they occupied last week.
Katz’s office said in a statement that “due to what is happening in Syria, there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak”.
TVNL Comment: When will Biden stop financing Israel's attacks on all the nations he wants to include in his plan for a larger Israel?
Israel will close its Dublin embassy due to the "extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government", Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday, citing its recognition of a Palestinian state and support for legal action against Israel.
Israel’s ambassador to Dublin was recalled following Ireland’s decision on a Palestinian state in May, Saar's statement added. Last week, Dublin announced its support for South Africa's legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of genocide.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the decision was deeply regrettable. "I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-International law," he said in a post on X.
Israel is still attacking homes and schools across the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring several people just one day after dozens were massacred in a strike on Nuseirat camp.
Dawn raids on Saturday killed four members of the Saadallah family in their home in Jabalia, two people in a school northeast of Gaza City and one person sheltering in a tent south of Khan Younis, Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Later that day, the military killed seven people in a strike on Al-Majida Wasila School in the northern Al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City, according to Wafa.
The news agency also reported a drone attack on a group of civilians at the Jalaa Junction northwest of Gaza City, which killed one woman and injured several others. Another civilian was killed in an airstrike west of Al-Nuseirat camp.
A further five citizens were injured in a drone attack on the Al-Mawasi area west of Rafah city.
TVNL Comment: Gaza remains under constant attack. The genocide will soon be completed by these muderers.
Russia has begun using North Korean troops in “significant numbers” to attack Ukrainian forces in Kursk region, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Today, we already have preliminary data that the Russians have begun to use North Korean soldiers in their assaults” he said. “We have information suggesting their use could extend to other parts of the frontline.”
This comes as Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russian defence ministry said today.
Thirteen of the drones were downed over the Black Sea and one each over the Russian border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, the defence ministry said in a post on its Telegram messaging channel.
South Korea’s parliament on Saturday impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his stunning and short-lived martial law decree, a move that ended days of political paralysis but set up an intense debate over Yoon’s fate, as jubilant crowds roared to celebrate another defiant moment in the country’s resilient democracy.
The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85. Yoon’s presidential powers and duties were subsequently suspended and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s No. 2 official, took over presidential powers later Saturday.
Russia has launched a huge attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which authorities said was the 12th large-scale attack on energy facilities this year.
Ninety-three missiles and more than 200 drones were used - but 81 of the missiles were shot down, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The strikes targeted sites in western Ukraine, damaging energy facilities in several regions, some seriously. Authorities in Ivano-Frankivsk said it was the worst attack on the region so far.
Moscow said the attack was in response to a Ukrainian strike on a military airbase in south-west Russia using US-made missiles.
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