UN Security Council members condemn Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
Most United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members have slammed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland at a meeting convened in response to the move, which several countries said may also have serious implications for Palestinians in Gaza. The United States was the only member of the 15-member body not to condemn Israel’s formal recognition of the breakaway region of Somalia at the emergency meeting in New York City on Monday, although it said its own position on Somaliland had not changed. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Addressing the UNSC, Somalia’s UN ambassador, Abu Bakr Dahir Osman, implored members to firmly reject Israel’s “act of aggression”, which he said not only threatened to fragment Somalia but also to destabilise the wider Horn of Africa and the Red Sea regions. In particular, Osman said that Somalia was concerned the move could be aimed at advancing Israel’s plans to forcibly “relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia”. “This utter disdain for law and morality must be stopped now,” he said. The emergency meeting was called after Israel last week became the first and only country to recognise the self-declared Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from UN headquarters in New York, said that “14 of the 15 council members condemned Israel’s recognition of Somaliland”, while the US “defended Israel’s action but stopped short of following Israel’s lead”. Tammy Bruce, the US deputy representative to the UN, told the council that “Israel has the same right to establish diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state”. Advertisement However, Bruce added, the US had “no announcement to make regarding US recognition of Somaliland, and there has been no change in American policy”. Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Miller, told the council that Israel’s decision was “not a hostile step toward Somalia, nor does it preclude future dialogue between the parties”. “Recognition is not an act of defiance. It is an opportunity,” Miller claimed. Many other countries expressed concerns about Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, including the implications for Palestinians, in statements presented to the UNSC. Speaking on behalf of the 22-member Arab League, its UN envoy, Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, said the group rejected “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people, or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases”. Pakistan’s deputy UN ambassador, Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, said at the meeting that Israel’s “unlawful recognition of [the] Somaliland region of Somalia is deeply troubling”, considering it was made “against the backdrop of Israel’s previous references to Somaliland of the Federal Republic of Somalia as a destination for the deportation of Palestinian people, especially from Gaza”. China and the United Kingdom were among the permanent UNSC members to reject the move, with China’s UN envoy, Sun Lei, saying his country “opposes any act to split” Somalia’s territory. “No country should aid and abet separatist forces in other countries to further their own geopolitical interests,” Sun Lei said. Some non-members of the UNSC also requested to speak, including South Africa, whose UN envoy, Mathu Joyini, said that her country “reaffirmed” Somalia’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” in line with international law, the UN Charter and the constitutive act of the African Union. Comparison with Palestinian recognition In addition to defending Israel’s decision, US envoy Bruce compared the move to recognise Somaliland with Palestine, which has been recognised by more than 150 of the UN’s member states. “Several countries, including members of this council, have unilaterally recognised a non-existent Palestinian state, yet no emergency meeting has been convened,” Bruce said, criticising what she described as the UNSC’s “double standards”. However, Slovenia’s UN ambassador, Samuel Zbogar, rejected the comparison, saying, “Palestine is not part of any state. It is illegally occupied territory… Palestine is also an observer state in this organisation [the UN].” Advertisement “Somaliland, on the other hand, is a part of a UN member state, and recognising it goes against… the UN Charter,” Zbogar added. The self-declared Republic of Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, after a civil war under military leader Siad Barre. Adblock test (Why?)
China kicks off second day of military drills around Taiwan
Day two of the ‘Justice Mission 2025’ drills will include 10 hours of live-fire exercises and a simulated blockade of Taiwan’s major ports. China has begun a second day of military drills around Taiwan in the latest escalation of tensions over the self-governing island. China’s military said on Tuesday that it had deployed navy destroyers, bombers and other forces as part of the war games, which Beijing claims are aimed at “separatist” and “external” forces. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The drills were due to include live-fire exercises between 8am and 6pm local time (00:00 to 10:00 GMT) in five maritime and airspace zones around Taiwan, as well as air and sea patrols, simulated precision strikes and anti-submarine manoeuvres, according to Chinese state media. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said some of the live-fire drills would take place in what Taiwan considers its territorial waters, or within 12 nautical miles (22km) from the coastline, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. More than 80 domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday, many to Taiwan’s outlying islands, and more than 300 international flights could face delays due to rerouted air traffic during the drills, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration. The exercises, code-named “Justice Mission 2025”, began early Monday and came days after the United States announced its largest-ever weapons package for Taiwan, worth $11.1bn. State news outlet The China Daily said the drills were “part of a series of Beijing’s responses to the US arms sales to Taiwan as well as a warning to the [Taiwanese president] Lai Ching-te authorities in Taiwan”, in an editorial on Monday. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, also told reporters on Monday that the exercises were “a punitive and deterrent action against separatist forces who seek Taiwan independence through military buildup, and a necessary move to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Advertisement Justice Mission 2025 marks the sixth time China has staged large-scale military drills around Taiwan since then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022. A key focus of the “Justice Mission 2025” exercises will be “anti-access and area denial capability” to ensure that Taiwan cannot receive supplies from allies like Japan and the US during a conflict, according to William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the Crisis Group. They will also include simulating a blockade of Taiwan’s major ports in the north and south, and taking control of strategically important waterways, like the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, through which Taiwan imports much of its energy supplies, Yang said. China’s Eastern Theatre Command released a poster on Tuesday, titled “Hammer of Justice: Seal the Ports, Cut the Lines”, showing large metal hammers hitting the port of Keelung in the north and the port of Kaohsiung in the south. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it had tracked 130 air sorties by Chinese aircraft, 14 naval ships and eight “official ships” between 6am on Monday (22:00 GMT, Sunday) and 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday). The exercises were also monitored by Taiwanese coastguard ships and an undisclosed number of naval vessels, according to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,405
These are the key developments from day 1,405 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 30 Dec 202530 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Tuesday, December 30: Alleged attack on Putin’s residence Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said that an attack took place on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia’s Novgorod on Sunday, “practically immediately after” talks in Florida between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The strike “will not go unanswered”, Ushakov said in remarks reported by Russian media, following a call between Trump and Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russian air defence systems shot down 91 long-range strike drones used in the attack and that no one was injured. Zelenskyy denied the claim, accusing Russia of trying to derail peace talks. However, Trump expressed anger over the alleged attack, telling reporters: “I was very angry about it.” When asked if the United States had evidence of the attack, Trump said, “We’ll find out.” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that “the response to Kyiv’s attacks will not be diplomatic” and that Russia would be revising its negotiating position in the attack’s wake. The United Arab Emirates’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it “strongly condemned” the “deplorable attack” and “the threat it poses to security and stability”. Diplomacy White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that a phone call between Putin and Trump on the issue of Ukraine on Monday was “positive”, without elaborating. Zelenskyy said he spoke by phone with the leaders of Germany, Latvia and Finland to update them on the outcomes of his meeting with Trump and where peace negotiations stood. Lavrov said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA Novosti that “Kyiv and its Western backers must recognise the new territorial realities that have emerged following the incorporation of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, and the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation.” He was referring to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, which include Donetsk and Luhansk, renamed by Russian-backed separatists as the DPR and LPR. A survey published by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), a Ukrainian think tank, on Monday showed that recognising occupied Ukrainian territories “as part of the Russian Federation” remained deeply unpopular in Ukraine, with 76 percent of Ukrainians saying they considered it “unacceptable”. Advertisement Fighting Russian forces attacked the front-line town of Orikhiv in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, killing a 46-year-old man and wounding a 49-year-old woman, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. Russian forces killed one person and injured five in attacks on Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Sunday, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Facebook. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, said on Telegram that Russian forces killed seven civilians who had been hiding in a basement in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk. Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said it had launched an investigation into reports that Russian soldiers shot dead two captured Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Shakhove, Pokrovsky, on Saturday. “The deliberate killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualifies as a grave international crime,” the prosecutor general’s office said. Ukrainian attacks injured five civilians in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency, citing local officials. Ukrainian attacks also injured four civilians in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia, and three civilians in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk, TASS reported, citing local officials. In a televised address from the Kremlin, Putin made a wide range of claims about Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine, including that Russian troops were advancing towards the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s army chief, said during the same address that Russian forces had captured 6,460 square kilometres (2,494sq miles) of territory in Ukraine in 2025, including 334 villages. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quoted its director general, Rafael Grossi, as saying that power line repairs near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant had been successfully completed. Adblock test (Why?)
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Unearthed surveillance exposes how parents were allegedly involved in Minnesota’s daycare fraud scheme
As federal authorities investigate reports of massive fraud taking place in Minnesota daycares, an unearthed video from a 2018 fraud case shows parents and providers involved in a fraud scheme dating all the way back to 2015. The video, taken from a local Fox report from 2018, shows parents checking their children into a daycare center in Hennepin County, Minnesota, only to leave with their children minutes later. The video was taken from a surveillance camera as part of a case prosecuted by Hennepin County, according to the 2018 Fox 9 report. Under the scheme, low-income parents would sign in their children for daycare services so that providers could then claim reimbursement for services that were never truly provided, per Fox 9. The outlet said that, according to surveillance video, some days no families would show up, but that the daycares would claim reimbursements from the government nonetheless. The time stamp on the surveillance video shows March 2015. MAGNITUDE ‘CANNOT BE OVERSTATED’: FEDS SAY MINNESOTA FRAUD MAY BE MORE THAN $9B Another video in the broadcast showed a man handing an envelope to a parent with an alleged kickback payment for participation in the scheme. This comes amid widespread outrage over a viral video posted by Nick Shirley on Friday showing visits to multiple childcare centers in Minnesota, including one that allegedly received millions of dollars in state funding despite appearing largely inactive. The video has sparked widespread backlash, drawing criticism of Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz throughout the weekend from several high-profile figures, including Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk. LABOR SECRETARY ANNOUNCES ‘STRIKE TEAM’ GOING TO MINNESOTA TO INVESTIGATE RAMPANT FRAUD The White House on Sunday reposted an X post from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who called the alleged fraud a “breathtaking failure.” At the time of the video’s release, Walz was already under heavy fire amid the scandal enveloping his administration that notably included at least $1 billion lost to alleged social services fraud largely tied to Minneapolis’ Somali community. Commenting on the resurfaced video, conservative strategist Greg Price wrote on X, “Somali fraudsters have been stealing from taxpayers for years and it’s clear that the entire Somali community is in on it.” HHS PROBES MINNESOTA’S USE OF BILLIONS IN FEDERAL SOCIAL SERVICE FUNDS AMID FRAUD CONCERNS: REPORT A TIMELINE OF THE ‘LARGEST COVID-19 FRAUD SCHEME’ IN THE UNITED STATES FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency has surged additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota as part of an ongoing effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.” Patel said Sunday that the bureau moved resources into the state before recent online attention intensified, pointing to the Feeding Our Future investigation, which uncovered a $250 million scheme that siphoned federal food aid intended for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case has already resulted in 78 indictments and 57 convictions, with prosecutors also charging defendants in a separate plot to bribe a juror with $120,000 in cash, Patel said, adding that the investigation remains ongoing. “The FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. We will continue to follow the money and protect children, and this investigation very much remains ongoing,” he wrote on X. “Furthermore, many are also being referred to immigration officials for possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings where eligible.”