Georgia’s president will not step down until ‘illegitimate’ election rerun
Pro-EU critic of governing Georgian Dream party says she won’t leave office next month as parliament elected fraudulently. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said she will not leave office when her term ends because the parliament is “illegitimate”, while the prime minister warned against a “revolution” amid continuing pro-European Union protests. Thousands of Georgians protested on Saturday for a third straight night after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the government will suspend talks on EU accession. The goal to join the 27-member is now enshrined in Georgia’s constitution, but the prime minister – who has been building closer ties with Russia – suspended the talks for four years and accused Brussels of “blackmail”. In an address on Saturday, Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of the Georgian Dream governing party, said parliament had no right to elect her successor when her term ends in December, and that she would stay in post. The president, whose powers are largely ceremonial, maintains that the country’s October 26 election, which was won by Georgian Dream with 54 percent of the vote, was fraudulent and therefore renders the elected parliament illegitimate. “There is no legitimate parliament, and therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president. Thus, no inauguration can take place, and my mandate continues until a legitimately elected parliament is formed,” she said. Georgia’s election commission earlier this month confirmed the governing party as the winner, but watchdogs and politicians in the EU and the United States have also suggested an investigation needs to look into potential fraud. Demonstrators use firecrackers against police as police block a street to prevent protesters [Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP] The country’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday it had arrested 107 people in the capital, Tblisi, overnight during protests which saw some demonstrators build barricades and throw fireworks at riot police, who used water cannon and tear gas. The unrest came as Kobakhidze, the prime minister, accused opponents of the government’s move to halt EU accession talks of plotting a revolution, similar to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protest, which deposed a pro-Russian president. “In Georgia, the Maidan scenario cannot be realised. Georgia is a state, and the state will not, of course, permit this,” Kobakhidze was quoted as saying by local media. The US State Department said on Saturday it had suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia following the decision by the Georgian Dream party to suspend accession to the EU. “We condemn excessive force used against Georgians rightfully protesting this betrayal of their constitution – EU is a bulwark against Kremlin,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote on X. “We have therefore suspended our Strategic Partnership with Georgia.” Georgia gained independence from neighbouring Russia in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the two countries have not had any diplomatic relations since a brief 2008 war over Moscow-backed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But the Georgian Dream party’s efforts to build closer relations with Russia had already stalled the country’s application to join the EU. The bloc has said laws against “foreign agents” and LGBTQ rights are among the main reasons behind the stall, as they curtail human rights and are modelled after legislation in Russia. Adblock test (Why?)
Will Australia’s ban on under-16s using social media work?
The move has divided opinion internationally on how to protect children online. Under-16s have been banned from using social media under strict new legislation in Australia. The government says it is to protect children, but Big Tech companies and some human rights groups say it will not work. What are the arguments and the views worldwide? Presenter: Bernard Smith Guests: Mark Andrejevic – A professor at Monash University’s School of Media, Film, and Journalism in Melbourne and a specialist on the implications of data mining and online monitoring Nirali Bhatia – A cyberpsychologist and the founder of Cyber BAAP, an anti-cyberbullying campaign in New Delhi Noeline Blackwell – A human rights lawyer and online safety coordinator for the Children’s Rights Alliance in Ireland Adblock test (Why?)
Qatar GP: Formula 1 qualifying – Vestappen gets pole, Piastri wins sprint
Max Verstappen takes pole position for F1’s Qatar GP while Oscar Piastri wins sprint race in Saturday’s qualifying. Lando Norris ignored team orders as he handed his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri the win in the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday, while champion Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Grand Prix. With McLaren eyeing its first Formula 1 constructors’ title in 26 years and George Russell close behind for Mercedes, Norris was told by the team over the radio to “finish in this order”, ahead of Piastri. He chose to gift his teammate the win anyway, easing off to the right on the exit of the final corner and then swooping back across in front of Russell, who finished third. “The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did,” Norris said. “Honestly, I don’t mind. I’m not here to win sprint races. I’m here to win races and the championship, but that’s not gone to plan.” Norris had Brazil on his mind in Qatar Norris was paying Piastri back for doing the same in the sprint race in Brazil when Norris was still fighting Verstappen for the driver’s title. “I made my mind up in Brazil when it happened,” Norris said. “I needed to do something to give it back.” George Russell of Mercedes, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing and Lando Norris of McLaren after qualifying ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Qatar [Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images] Piastri said he had not expected Norris to take the risk. “I was aware it could happen. I was a bit surprised that with George half a second [away], it did,” Piastri said. “It just shows off our teamwork and the lack of egos within the team.” It continues a season where McLaren’s race tactics have often been a talking point, such as when Norris and Piastri swapped for the lead in Hungary after a lengthy and often awkward radio exchange with the team. On Saturday, Norris started in pole position and kept the lead at the start as Piastri squeezed past Russell for second. As Russell repeatedly attacked Piastri, Norris dropped back instead of building a lead. That put Piastri within one second of Norris, allowing the Australian to use the DRS overtaking aid for extra speed. McLaren teamwork ‘frustrates’ Mercedes Russell said he found the McLaren teamwork “pretty infuriating” while stuck behind Piastri and also objected to what he saw as late moves from Piastri to defend the position. “Hopefully, we can have a proper race [on Sunday] rather than this team orders stuff,” Russell said. The F1 champion was not much of a factor in the sprint but he returned to form in qualifying, taking pole for Sunday’s race from Russell by just .055 of a second on his last run. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri crosses the line to win the sprint race ahead of second place McLaren’s Lando Norris [Altaf Qadri/Reuters] It is his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, after McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all put pressure on the previously dominant Red Bull team in the second half of the season. “Crazy. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect that,” Verstappen said. “We did change a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance.” Qatar and Abu Dhabi to play decisive role in F1 championship decider Norris was .252 off the pace and lines up third, with Piastri fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren increased its lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to 30 points, and has both of its drivers ahead of the Ferraris on the grid. Teams can earn a maximum 88 more points from the Grand Prix in Qatar and next week’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull dropped to 67 points behind McLaren in the standings as Verstappen – crowned the drivers’ champion for the fourth time last week in Las Vegas – finished eighth and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was last after a pit stop to change his car’s nose. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel doubles down on its critics
Be it ICC arrest warrants or media criticism, Israel is pushing back hard. Faced with an arrest warrant from the ICC, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – and much of the Israeli media – reflexively dismissed the move as anti-Semitic. While the walls appear to be closing in on Netanyahu, he is a survivor. He knows how to muddy the waters. His government is also going after one of the few Israeli news outlets critical of the war on Gaza – Haaretz. Contributors:Omer Bartov – Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Brown UniversityDiana Buttu – Human Rights Lawyer & AnalystDana Mills – Writer, +972 Magazine & Local CallOri Goldberg – Academic & Political Commentator On our radar Following a deadly crackdown on political dissent in Pakistan, citizens experienced a new type of internet shutdown. Ryan Kohls reports on the Chinese-built internet “firewall”, that gives authorities greater control over what they can restrict – right down to specific features of applications. Three months after a student uprising ousted Bangladesh’s authoritarian prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, many news organisations that once toed the line under her administration have begun speaking truth to power. However, as for any transition, challenges remain. The Listening Post’s Meenakshi Ravi reports on Bangladesh’s newly opened media space and the prospect of lasting change. Featuring: Kamal Ahmed – Head, Media Reform CommissionFaisal Mahmud – Editor, Bangla OutlookZyma Islam – Journalist, The Daily Star Adblock test (Why?)
Syrian army announces temporary withdrawal from Aleppo after rebel assault
Military says dozens of soldiers killed in attacks in northwest and it was regrouping to launch a ‘counterattack’. Syria’s military has announced a “temporary troop withdrawal” in the northwestern city of Aleppo, where rebel groups launched a surprise offensive on government-held positions for the first time in years. The military said on Saturday that dozens of its soldiers had been killed or wounded in fierce battles with “armed terrorist organisations” in the governorates of Aleppo and Idlib over the previous few days and that it was now regrouping, redeploying troops to strengthen its defence lines as it prepared a “counterattack”. It said that rebel groups had launched “a broad attack from multiple axes on the Aleppo and Idlib fronts”, reporting clashes “over a strip exceeding 100km (60 miles)”. The statement marked the military’s first public acknowledgement that opposition fighters led by the Hay’et Tahrir al-Shams (HTS) group had entered “large parts of neighbourhoods” of Aleppo in the lightning attack that began earlier this week. On Saturday, a witness in Aleppo told Al Jazeera that rebel fighters were “combing” the city in search of soldiers. “Last night they had some prisoners of war, regime soldiers, but they took very good care of them and moved them out immediately so they wouldn’t be in any danger,” the witness said. Fighters fire at Syrian army troops in Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo, on November 29, 2024 [Bakr Alkasem/AFP] People in Aleppo were “confused because they hadn’t been following the news” and some “were “really happy that they could now go back to their homes that they had had to flee years ago”, according to the witness. The rebel assault is the most intense fighting seen in northwestern Syria since 2020, when Russia and Turkiye agreed to a deal to de-escalate the conflict, government forces seizing areas previously controlled by opposition fighters. HTS-led fighters carried out a surprise sweep through government-held towns and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after having been forced out of the city, opening the way for civilians to return to their homes. The military had earlier claimed it repelled the major offensive, saying it had inflicted heavy losses on the rebels, who reported they had seized control of dozens of towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib. Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport and cancelled all flights on Saturday, according to three military sources cited by the Reuters news agency. The rebels also captured the Abu al-Duhur airbase in the Idlib governorate, which Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said was “symbolically … extremely important”. Syrian opposition fighters gather around a fire to keep themselves warm at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square in the city of Aleppo, on November 30, 2024 [Mahmoud Hasano/Reuters] Upheaval James Dorsey, a specialist in Middle East politics at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told Al Jazeera that opposition fighters launched their offensive now to take advantage of the current upheaval in the region. Al Jazeer’s Serdar explained that the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was caught off guard by the swift rebel operation, attributing their rapid advance to Hezbollah and Iran being distracted by the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. “Now the question is: will the regime or Russia or Iran let HTS have full control of the second-largest city in Syria, or are they going to hit back?” asked Serdar. While there are still skirmishes in southern Aleppo, the central and northwestern parts of the city, never before captured by the rebels, are now fully under their control, said Serdar. “That this happened in just four days is unbelievable.” HTS has become the strongest opposition group in northwestern Syria, controlling much of Idlib province near the Turkish border. It is considered a “terrorist” organisation by Syria, the United States and Russia. On Friday, Syrian state television said Russia was providing Syria’s military with air support. Adblock test (Why?)
US approves $385m arms sale to Taiwan
Deal includes spare parts for fighter jets and radar systems as President Lai heads to Pacific, with stops in US. The United States has signed off on $385m in new weapons sales to Taiwan, the latest sign of deepening military ties that have unsettled China. The US expects to begin delivering the military equipment, including spare parts for fighter jets and radar systems, in 2025, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement on Friday. The sale approved by the US Department of State will ensure Taiwan can “meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness” of its F-16 fleet, said the DSCA. On Saturday, Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te set off for a trip to the Pacific, with planned stopovers in the US that have prompted fury from China. China claims the self-ruled democracy as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its goal of unification. It has long opposed US arms sales to Taiwan. While heading on Saturday to Pacific allies Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, Lai will make stops in the US state of Hawaii and territory of Guam on his first foreign trip since taking office in May. In a speech shortly before takeoff, Lai said the tour “ushered in a new era of values-based democracy” and he thanked the US government for “helping to make this trip a smooth one”. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it opposes Taiwan’s leaders “scurrying” to the US, which despite lacking formal diplomatic ties is the island’s biggest arms supplier and backer. The US should “handle the Taiwan issue with utmost caution, unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence, and support the peaceful reunification of China”, said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. The State Department responded that it sees “no justification for a private, routine, and unofficial transit to be used as a pretext for provocation”. ‘Consolidate our security partnership’ This is the 18th arms deal announced during the tenure of US President Joe Biden, according to Taiwan, which has increasingly sought to broaden military ties with its ally. Last month, the US approved a $2bn arms sale package for Taiwan, including advanced surface-to-air missile systems and radar. The Ministry of National Defense in Taipei “expressed gratitude” to the US for the weapons support and said it was determined to strengthen its defences in the face of China’s military pressure. “Taiwan and the United States will continue to consolidate our security partnership,” it said. China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan in recent years with near-daily deployments of fighter jets and warships around the island. On Saturday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said 18 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels as well as two balloons were detected in the 24 hours to 6am (22:00 GMT Friday). Adblock test (Why?)
What’s next after Syrian opposition forces’ surprise offensive?
Fighting around Aleppo and Idlib reaches its most intense level in years. Anti-government fighters in northwest Syria launch their biggest offensive in years. The fighting is the most intense since the height of the war almost a decade ago. So why has the violence flared up again, and why now? Could it escalate? Presenter: Bernard Smith Guests: Qutaiba Idlbi – Senior policy adviser at the American Coalition for Syria Omer Ozkizilcik – Director of Turkish studies at the Omran Diraset research organisation Caroline Rose – Director at the New Lines Institute, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, DC Adblock test (Why?)
Fear of Trump tariffs drive shoppers for Black Friday deals
Brushing snowflakes off her hair, Teagan Hickson walked into a Walmart Supercenter in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with hopes of picking up a few holiday deals on Black Friday. The first thing the mother of two spotted: a pallet stacked high with Gourmia digital air fryer ovens for $50 each. Her sister Jordan had been wanting one, she said, but money was tight right now for everyone in her family. She worried about expenses next year after reading posts on Facebook about price hikes if President-elect Donald Trump’s planned tariffs go into effect in January. “I’m trying to not spend too much,” said Hickson, 43. “I don’t want to add to my credit cards, but I don’t want to pay more for stuff next year.” As retailers reopened United States stores after the American Thanksgiving holiday, some locations drew clusters of shoppers. People were eager to see stores’ Black Friday discounts, often comparing them to rivals’ prices for similar merchandise online. Weighing on the minds of many Americans: Should prices rise in 2025 as a result of Trump’s move to implement new tariffs on some US imports, consumers like Hickson could feel the impact at grocery stores and restaurants, potentially driving up their living costs. At the Walmart, Hickson called her husband, Josh, who was sitting in front of his computer at home and ready to compare prices in the store with what they could find online. “Baby, this looks pretty nice,” she told Josh. “What’s it online?” A few seconds later, Josh found a similar model on Amazon for double the price. She grabbed a box, put it in her cart, and headed deeper into the big-box store. Walmart, which operates 4,700 US stores, this year is offering a variety of deals on Samsung TVs, Dyson vacuum cleaners, Lego and Hot Wheels toys, Levi’s jeans, and air fryers, although its pre-Black Friday discounts began on November 11. Cristal Lopez pushed a cart full of clothing and a couple of sling tote bags through the aisles of a North Bergen, New Jersey, Walmart Supercenter, looking for holiday clothes for her two kids.“I find the prices pretty much the same as last year,” she said, adding that she still had some shopping to do to finish her holiday list. She intends to spend $1,000 to $2,000 total – same as last year – mostly on clothing. Shoppers were expected to buy more merchandise online on Friday, and with purchases of $10.8bn, up nearly 10 percent from a year ago, according to projections from Adobe Analytics. People looking to upgrade their TVs may find the best deals on Friday, with discounts peaking at 24 percent off the listed price, according to Adobe’s analysis of retailers’ online prices. Macy’s opened its door three hours earlier than its normal time [File: Heather Khalifa/AP Photo] ‘Spontaneous purchases’ Still, the US retail trade group, the National Retail Federation, expects roughly 85.6 million shoppers to visit stores this year, up from 76 million last year. Shoppers have only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, against a more leisurely 31 days last year. Adding pressure for retailers is inflation-fatigued shoppers’ reluctance to splurge unless they get good deals. “With fewer days to shop, consumers are more likely to make spontaneous purchases, contributing to retail growth during the holiday season,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at Circana, a research firm. Evelyn Contre, 49, waited in a 20-person line at a Lululemon store with her two daughters. Contre had already browsed the websites of Abercrombie & Fitch and Lululemon on Thursday for Black Friday deals before heading into Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. Crowds were sparse early at a Macy’s store in Santa Barbara, California, despite Black Friday discounts reaching 50 percent for home goods and apparel and an early opening of 7am, three hours earlier than typical. John Dillard, 66, was shopping for Levi’s 504 jeans that he said his daughter had suggested for him. Macy’s was offering them for 40 percent off their usual $60 price. Dillard, a local retiree, said he was planning to attend a holiday party and needed new clothes for the occasion. Dillard, who said he had already bought men’s dress pants at Macy’s that were discounted to $35 from $95 and a pair of black men’s dress shoes for just $25, said he typically eschews in-store shopping to avoid the crowds. Deals were important to him because he planned to only buy what he needed for the party. “How often am I going to wear these clothes?” he said. Target cut prices by $100 on products such as a 75-inch Westinghouse TV and Nintendo Switch gaming console, and took more than 50 percent off Barbie dolls, Keurig coffee machines and KitchenAid mixers, deals which started on Thanksgiving and run through Saturday. The retailer is selling a new Taylor Swift Eras Tour book, and exclusive Wicked-related products for Target Circle members. “Black Friday is just not what it used to be,” said Hoss Moss, a 58-year-old chef from New Jersey, who stood outside a Target store for the first time in 15 years to buy Swift’s book for his teenage daughter. “Grocery prices are expensive and … even clothing is not at a price you would get before.” He said his family of four plans to spend $2,000 to $3,000 on gifts this year, mostly at Macy’s and Lululemon. Adblock test (Why?)
Leicester sign van Nistelrooy as manager after his impressive Man Utd spell
Leicester City appoint Ruud van Nistelrooy as their new manager following Dutchman’s release by Manchester United. Leicester City hired Ruud van Nistelrooy as their manager on Friday following his impressive spell as interim coach at former club Manchester United, which included two wins over his new team. The 48-year-old van Nistelrooy joined on a deal until June 2027 and will take over a team in fifth-to-last place in the English Premier League after promotion last season. Van Nistelrooy, a former Netherlands striker who played club football for Man United and Real Madrid, joined United’s coaching staff in July as an assistant to compatriot Erik ten Hag. After Ten Hag was fired last month, Van Nistelrooy took charge on an interim basis and had three wins and a draw in his four games at the helm before Ruben Amorim was hired as Ten Hag’s full-time replacement. Among those victories was a 5-2 thrashing of a weakened Leicester team in the English League Cup and a 3-0 win over the Foxes in the Premier League. “I’m proud, I’m excited. Everybody that I speak to about Leicester is enthusiastic,” Van Nistelrooy said. This will be van Nistelrooy’s second senior full-time managerial role, having led PSV Eindhoven for almost a season and winning the Dutch Cup before quitting near the end of the 2022-23 campaign. “Ruud’s experience, knowledge and winning mentality will undoubtedly bring great value to us,” Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said, “and we look forward to supporting him in achieving success for our fans and our club.” Leicester, which fired Steve Cooper last weekend after just two wins from its 12 league games so far, plays Brentford away on Saturday. Van Nistelrooy will not be in charge then but will be in attendance, with the team being led by first-team coach Ben Dawson. Dawson said the departure of Cooper was “a little bit unexpected” and the players “shared some of that unexpectedness early in the week”. He added the club’s hierarchy “dealt” with the fallout from a Christmas party that Leicester’s players had in Copenhagen last weekend, images of which have circulated on social media. OInone video, a sign bearing the words “Enzo I miss you” was carried around a nightclub where Leicester’s players were partying. Cooper’s predecessor was Enzo Maresca, who joined Chelsea in the offseason. Cooper was fired a day after the party in Copenhagen. British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported this week that Leicester’s Thai owner, Aiyawatt, held a meeting with the players after being left disappointed by the footage. “First and foremost, the lads had a couple of days off and it’s their decision what they do with their time off,” Dawson said. “The issue you mentioned, the club have dealt with pretty quickly early in the week. Everybody has moved on and the lads have been really professional and worked well.” Adblock test (Why?)
Iran plans to install 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, IAEA says
UN nuclear watchdog’s report comes as Iran prepares to hold talks with European nations over its nuclear programme. Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it plans to install more than 6,000 new centrifuges to enrich uranium, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said. The report comes as Iran prepares to hold talks with Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday over its nuclear programme. By also bringing more centrifuges already in place online, the confidential report outlined what Iran meant following a censure by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week at the request of Britain, France, Germany and the United States. Iran had previously agreed to a demand by the UN agency to cap its stock of high-enriched uranium up to only 60 percent purity, well below the weapons-grade enriched level of 90 percent needed for a bomb. According to the IAEA, Iran also intends to install 18 extra cascades of IR-4 centrifuges at that Natanz plant, each with 166 machines, the greater capacity meaning that it can enrich uranium at a faster pace, potentially increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation. Tehran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons. The talks in Geneva will take place two months before US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which eventually resulted in Washington’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers. Iran stepped up its nuclear enrichment in response. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will represent Iran at the meeting. On Thursday, he met with Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary-general of the European Union’s foreign affairs arm. Mora said on social media platform X that they held a “frank exchange … on Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights”. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs who was also at the meeting, said the 27-nation bloc “should abandon its self-centred and irresponsible behaviour” on a range of issues including the Ukraine war and the Iranian nuclear issue. The EU’s “complicit behaviour towards the ongoing genocide in Gaza” leaves it without moral authority to “preach” on human rights, Gharibabadi said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country would do “everything” to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon after Araghchi warned Tehran could end its ban on developing one if Western sanctions are reimposed. Adblock test (Why?)