Unlikely political ‘Thor’ emerges from South Korea’s martial law crisis
Seoul – South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik has emerged as an unlikely symbol of leadership during the country’s ongoing political turmoil, triggered by President Yoon Suk-yeol’s brief declaration of martial law on December 3. Despite holding South Korea’s second-highest office after the presidency, the assembly’s speaker has historically had a low-profile role, operating behind the scenes of political life. Unlike the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, who drives Washington’s legislative agenda as the leader of the majority party, South Korea’s parliamentary speaker is required by law to renounce party affiliation upon election to maintain neutrality. The majority of speakers also retire after their term. But Woo’s decisive yet measured actions throughout the recent crisis appear to have upended the traditional view of the speaker and their role. “Seeing someone like him step up and act decisively in such a critical moment was refreshing,” Yoo Junghoon, a lawyer and political columnist, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “It allowed voters – both young and old – to realise that such capable politicians still exist,” Yoo said. South Korean youth even gave Woo the nickname “National Assembly Thor” — a nod to his gavel of office and the Marvel superhero’s wielding of his mighty hammer. A recent Gallup Korea poll showed that 56 percent of respondents expressed trust in Woo, an unusual figure in a country where trust in the National Assembly has fallen to just 20.6 percent, according to an OECD survey 2024. Student protester to ‘Thor’ of constitutional procedure As a young student activist, Woo was imprisoned for three years after protesting against the military dictatorship that expanded martial law in 1980, following the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979. The crackdown culminated in the deadly Gwangju Uprising of May 1980. After President Yoon declared martial law on the night of December 3, the 67-year-old Woo scaled the National Assembly fence after police barricaded the entrance to try and prevent lawmakers from entering and holding a vote to overturn the president’s order. “I knew we had the constitutional authority to lift martial law,” Woo recalled later in a news conference. “I didn’t hesitate. I had to get inside the assembly, no matter what,” he said. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik during a news conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on December 19, 2024 [Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters] Even as South Korean special forces soldiers advanced on the assembly building, Woo insisted on following the correct legislative procedures despite mounting pressure from anxious politicians urging him to speed up the process by possibly cutting a few corners. Advertisement “In moments like this, following the correct procedure without error is even more vital,” Woo told his worried colleagues in the surrounding assembly chamber. At one point, troops came dangerously close to entering the main chamber where lawmakers were voting, prompting a tense standoff with assembly staff. The crucial vote proceeded, with all of the 190 lawmakers present – of the 300-seat Assembly – voting in favour of repealing martial law. A military helicopter flies around the National Assembly in Seoul after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law on December 3, 2024 [Yonhap via Reuters] “There were many reactions on social media questioning why [Woo] was so fixated on following legislative procedures,” Yoo, the political columnist said. “But now, even those opposing impeachment [against President Yoon] can’t find fault with the process he upheld,” Yoo said. Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies, attributed the peaceful resolution of the chaotic situation, without civilian casualties, to Woo’s emphasis on adhering diligently to constitutional procedures. “In such an unexpected and grave situation, both conservatives and progressives found Woo trustworthy,” Bong said. “We saw that this approach worked exactly as intended,” he said. ‘South Korea is strong. Its people are resilient’ Woo also adhered to strict constitutional procedures during the first, failed impeachment vote against President Yoon, on December 7, for declaring martial law and plunging the country into crisis. Advertisement With Yoon’s governing party boycotting the vote to block the impeachment attempt, Woo kept the legislative session open for hours, an unusual move, urging politicians to return and fulfil their constitutional duty to cast a vote. Two governing party lawmakers did return to the chamber to cast their ballots. Woo only closed the session at about 9:20pm, explaining that he could no longer let the protesters, who had gathered outside the assembly in freezing weather to demand Yoon’s impeachment, wait indefinitely for a result. After the successful, second impeachment vote held a week later, Woo called for a return to normalcy in all aspects of life in South Korea and for the public to move forward together. “I hope your year-end is a bit happier,” Woo said at the time, encouraging South Koreans to resume Christmas holiday celebrations and gatherings, mindful of the toll the turmoil had taken on struggling small businesses at a key time of year. “His words conveyed meaning instantly,” said Yoo, the political columnist. Woo has acknowledged his rising public profile and newfound popularity, but with rare humility. “I heard young people call me the ‘National Assembly Thor’. I find it amusing,” he said during a recent news conference. He attributed the newfound public attention on the speaker’s role in politics not to himself personally, but to the collective efforts of the assembly’s lawmakers, staff, as well as engaged citizens. Asked about his own future ambitions, including a potential presidential bid, Woo dismissed the idea. Advertisement Instead, he emphasised the need for constitutional reform to address the recurring instability that has plagued South Korea’s presidencies since its transition to democracy in 1987. People celebrate after the South Korean parliament passed a second impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol over his martial law decree, on December 14, 2024 [Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters] “Our current constitution, drafted in 1987, is outdated,” he said, adding that it needed “reforms that reflect the societal changes of the past four decades”. Woo also had
South Korea’s acting president faces impeachment vote as currency plunges
Main opposition Democratic Party’s bid to suspend acting leader Han Duck-soo plunges country into further uncertainty. South Korea’s legislature is set to vote on the impeachment of its acting president as ongoing turmoil in Asia’s fourth-largest economy sent the won plunging to levels not seen since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) is pushing to impeach Han Duck-soo, the prime minister, in a vote at the National Assembly on Friday after accusing the acting president of being complicit in an attempted insurrection by suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol. The DP, which holds 170 seats in the 300-member legislature, submitted the impeachment motion on Thursday after Han refused to fill three judicial vacancies on the court set to adjudicate Yoon’s impeachment trial following his short-lived declaration of martial law. Han’s People Power Party (PPP) has argued that only the elected president has the authority to appoint justices to the Constitutional Court. At least six judges on the court must uphold Yoon’s impeachment to remove him from office. The court currently only has six justices following the retirement of three judges earlier this year, meaning that the bench would have to deliver a unanimous ruling to strip Yoon of the presidency. Advertisement The court is set to hold its first hearing on Yoon’s impeachment on Friday and could take up to six months to deliver its ruling. Yoon, who has defended his martial law declaration as legal and aimed at tackling “anti-state forces”, is also under criminal investigation on suspicion of insurrection and abuse of power. The bid to impeach Han, less than two weeks after he took up his role following Yoon’s impeachment, plunges South Korea into further political uncertainty as the country is still reeling from Yoon’s martial law decree on December 4. While a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly is required to impeach a sitting president, there is no consensus on whether the same threshold applies to an acting leader. The PPP has argued that two-thirds of lawmakers must approve Han’s impeachment. DP contends that he can be suspended if 151 lawmakers back impeachment since the constitution provides for the removal of Cabinet members by a simple majority vote. With the DP, minor opposition parties and independents holding 192 seats, at least eight PPP lawmakers would need to cross the aisle to reach the two-thirds threshold. If Han is impeached, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok will assume presidential duties. Choi on Friday warned that impeaching Han would deal a serious blow to the country’s economic standing and urged the opposition to reconsider its bid. “The economy and the people’s livelihoods are walking on thin ice under a national state of emergency, and it cannot cope with any greater political uncertainty that will result from another acting president assuming the acting presidency,” Choi said. Advertisement The South Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar on Friday, falling below 1,480 won for the first time since March 2009. Adblock test (Why?)
Record number of migrants died in attempt to reach Spain this year
More than 10,000 migrants perished – an average of 30 a day – in 2024 while trying to reach Spain, NGO says in new report. More than 10,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report released by a Spanish migration rights group has revealed, the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007. On average, that means 30 migrants died every day this year attempting to reach the country by boat, the NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said on Thursday. Overall deaths rose by 58 percent compared with last year, the report added. Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe. Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until December 15 took place along that crossing, the so-called Atlantic route – considered one of the world’s most dangerous. The organisation compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said. Advertisement It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths. “These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement. The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan. Many migrants, including women, also experience “violence, discrimination, racism, deportations and sexual violence, being forced to survive in extreme conditions” before departing, the report said. Caminando Fronteras also noted a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats leaving from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point en route to the Canary Islands. Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X. In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros ($218m) in aid to Mauritania to help it crack down on human smugglers and prevent boats from taking off. At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100km (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries. But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of strong currents. Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three main European gateways for migrant arrivals. Advertisement Spain’s Ministry of Interior says more than 57,700 migrants reached Spain by boat until December 15 this year, a roughly 12 percent increase from the same period last year. The majority of them came through the Atlantic route. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s former PM Manmohan Singh dies aged 92
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who governed the South Asian country for two terms and liberalised its economy in an earlier stint as finance minister, has died. He was 92. Singh, an economist-turned-politician who also served as the governor of the Central Bank of India, was ailing and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi late on Thursday. His health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home”, the hospital said in a statement. He was “being treated for age-related medical conditions”, the statement added. With profound grief, we inform the demise of the former Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, aged 92. He was being treated for age-related medical conditions and had a sudden loss of consciousness at home on 26 December 2024. Resuscitative measures were started immediately… pic.twitter.com/ZX9NakKo7Y — ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2024 A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest serving prime ministers, holding the office from 2004 to 2014 and earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. Advertisement Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister. He is survived by his wife and three daughters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years”. “As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on X. He called Singh’s interventions in parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible”. India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. Rising from humble origins, he rose to become a respected economist. He served in various government positions as well, including as Finance Minister, leaving a strong imprint on our economic… pic.twitter.com/clW00Yv6oP — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 26, 2024 Born in 1932 into a poor family in a part of British-ruled India now in Pakistan, Singh studied by candlelight to win a place at Cambridge University before heading to Oxford, earning a doctorate with a thesis on the role of exports and free trade in India’s economy. He became a respected economist, then India’s Central Bank governor and a government adviser but had no apparent plans for a political career when he was suddenly tapped to become finance minister in 1991. During that tenure to 1996, Singh was the architect of reforms that saved India’s economy from a severe balance of payments crisis and promoted deregulation and other measures that opened an insular country to the world. Manmohan Singh Ji led India with immense wisdom and integrity. His humility and deep understanding of economics inspired the nation. My heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Kaur and the family. I have lost a mentor and guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the… pic.twitter.com/bYT5o1ZN2R — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 26, 2024 Advertisement Singh’s ascension to prime minister in 2004 was even more unexpected. He was asked to take on the job by Sonia Gandhi after she led the centre-left Indian National Congress party to a surprise victory. Italian by birth, she feared her ancestry would be used by Hindu-nationalist opponents to attack the government if she were to lead the country. Riding an unprecedented period of economic growth, Singh’s government shared the spoils of the country’s new-found wealth, introducing welfare schemes such as a jobs programme for the rural poor. In 2008, his government also clinched a landmark deal that permitted peaceful trade in nuclear energy with the United States for the first time in three decades, paving the way for strong relations between New Delhi and Washington. However, his efforts to further open up the Indian economy were frequently frustrated by political wrangling within his own party and demands made by coalition partners. In 2012, his government was tipped into a minority after the Congress party’s biggest ally quit their coalition in protest at the entry of foreign supermarkets. Two years later, Congress was decisively swept aside by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. At a news conference months before he left office, Singh insisted he had done the best he could for the country. “I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
Sudan’s war came to represent the worst of humanity
In Sudan, 20 months of armed conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army (SAF) have killed at least 20,000 people and left some 25 million – half of the country’s population – suffering from severe hunger and in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, 14 million Sudanese have been displaced, with about 3.1 million seeking refuge outside the country, mainly in Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, and Egypt. As is often the case, children are bearing the brunt of this brutal war. According to medical organisation Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, approximately one in six of those treated at the Bashair Teaching Hospital in South Khartoum for war-related injuries, such as gunshot, shrapnel and blast wounds, between January and September 2024 were aged 15 or below. The medical team revealed that they recently treated an 18-month-old baby, Riyad, who was hit by a stray bullet while napping in his family’s home. They said they managed to stabilise him but were unable to remove the bullet from his chest. Amid ongoing conflict and limited access to medical care, the future of Riyad, like thousands of other war-wounded, traumatised and orphaned children across the country, remains uncertain. Advertisement Sexual violence is also rife in Sudan’s conflict. Forces commanded by both the RSF and the SAF have committed rape and other acts of sexual and gender-based violence, revealed the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan in its report published in October. The report accused both sides of using rape as a weapon of war but said the RSF was behind the “large majority” of documented cases and was responsible for “sexual violence on a large scale”, including “gang rapes and abducting and detaining victims in conditions that amount to sexual slavery”. Amid ongoing conflict, survivors of rape and other sexual violence struggle to access medical treatment, essential medication, and psychological support services. Many are left wounded, traumatised, and homeless. With war crimes and other atrocities committed against men, women and even children on a daily basis with impunity, Sudan’s conflict has come to represent the worst of humanity. As the people of Sudan prepare to begin another year hungry, wounded and scared, the international community, and especially the African organisations allegedly committed to ensuring peace and stability in the region, have a responsibility to take meaningful action – including direct intervention. So far, efforts to put an end to the suffering of the Sudanese by mediating between the warring parties have all been fruitless. Peace initiatives led by the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United States, Egypt and Switzerland have all failed to secure a sustainable ceasefire, a comprehensive peace agreement or meaningful protections for the civilian population. Advertisement In May 2023, just one month into the conflict, the two warring sides appeared to have reached a pivotal agreement in Saudi Arabia. They signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, agreeing to “distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military targets”. As part of the agreement they also pledged to “refrain from any attack that may be expected to cause incidental civilian harm” and to “protect all public and private facilities, such as hospitals and water and electricity installations”. The agreement was supposed to result in at least a weeklong ceasefire, but in the end could not stop atrocities against civilians, let alone the relentless fighting between SAF and RSF, even for 48 hours. Since this US- and Saudi Arabia-led initiative failed some 19 months ago, no peace initiative has come anywhere near putting an end to the carnage in Sudan. In August, talks convened by the US in Switzerland to end the war achieved some progress on aid access, but once again failed to secure a ceasefire. Efforts to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table and appeals to their humanity to demand an end to the attacks on civilians are clearly not working. More needs to be done. In its harrowing report, based on testimonies from the ground, the UN fact-finding mission made clear what the country needs: An international peacekeeping force to be deployed to protect civilians. “Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay,” the UN mission’s lead, Chande Othman, said in September. Advertisement Regrettably, the Sudanese government rejected the call, just as it rejected IGAD’s similar call for the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force back in July 2023. The military government in Khartoum – which has been in office since seizing power from a civilian-led transitional authority in an October 2021 coup – frames any potential external intervention, including peacekeeping missions solely focused on the protection of the civilian population, as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. If the Sudanese government was able to provide protection to civilians, its rejection of outside intervention would be understandable. But it is obvious – after 20 months of devastating war fought with no regard for international humanitarian law – that no party in this war is capable of, or sufficiently concerned about, providing safety, security and dignity to Sudan’s beleaguered civilian population. Without the deployment of a regional peacekeeping mission backed by the international community – a mission committed to and clearly tasked with putting an immediate end to the relentless attacks on civilians – the suffering of the Sudanese civilians will not come to an end in the foreseeable future. Today, the global community, and especially the AU, faces a simple choice: Remain passive while the death toll in Sudan continues to rise, or take meaningful and decisive measures – even if it upsets the Sudanese government – to address the crisis. The regional body would lose any legitimacy if it chooses to watch idly as innocent lives are lost to senseless violence in a war without end. Advertisement As
Japan Airlines hit by cyber attack, delaying some flights
JAL says it has suspended ticket sales for all services on Thursday following incident. Japan Airlines (JAL) has reported being hit with a cyber attack, causing delays to some flights. The airline has been experiencing “malfunctions in systems communicating with external systems” since shortly before 7:30am local time (23:30 GMT, Wednesday), JAL said on Thursday. JAL temporarily isolated a router that was causing the disruption shortly before 9am and is currently “checking the status of the system recovery”, the Tokyo-based airline said. “We have identified the scope of the impact and are currently checking the status of the system recovery,” JAL said. The airline added that there were delays to both domestic and international flights and that it had suspended ticket sales for all services scheduled for Thursday. More than a dozen flights were delayed at several Japanese airports, but there were no mass cancellations, public broadcaster NHK reported. All Nippon Airways, JAL’s main rival, said that it had not been affected by any cyber incidents and that services were operating as normal. Advertisement American Airlines briefly grounded all flights on Christmas Eve after experiencing a technical glitch involving its network hardware. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,036
Here are the key developments on the 1,036th day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here is the situation on Thursday, December 26: Fighting: Russian and Ukrainian forces have once again engaged in fierce battles around the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s General Staff said that 35 Russian attacks were reported around the city on Wednesday. “Three Russian armies are concentrated here against us,” Ukraine’s regional commander Viktor Trehubov was quoted as saying. Russia launched a huge Christmas Day attack on Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones. The Russian attack wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the “inhumane” attack from Russia, which included more than 170 missiles and drones, some of which knocked out power in several regions of the country. United States President Joe Biden said the “outrageous attack was designed to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardise the safety of its grid”. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, saying there was “no respite even at Christmas”. Russia meanwhile said five people were killed by Ukrainian missile strikes and from a falling drone in the border region of Kursk and North Ossetia in the Caucasus. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Australia had contacted Moscow about the possible capture by the Russian army of an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces and that it was looking into the matter. Advertisement Military aid: Biden said that he had asked the US Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after condemning Russia’s Christmas Day attack on Ukraine. Diplomacy: Pope Francis called for “arms to be silenced” around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza. Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was released in a prisoner swap by Moscow in August, has been placed on Russia’s “wanted” list, according to an Interior Ministry database seen by the AFP news agency. Yashin, 41, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison at the end of 2022 for denouncing “the murder of civilians” in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Regional security: Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused NATO of trying to turn Moldova into a logistical centre to supply the Ukrainian army and of seeking to bring the Western alliance’s military infrastructure closer to Russia. Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid, told the country’s public broadcaster Yle that “the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out” after an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia broke down. It is the latest in a series of incidents involving telecom cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea. A “terrorist act” sank the Russian cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean this week, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said. The Oboronlogistika company said it “thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major”, without indicating who may have been behind the act or why. The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, was earlier diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks. Authorities in two Russian regions adjacent to Chechnya, Ingushetia and North Ossetia, reported drone strikes on Wednesday morning. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Why did an Azerbaijan Airline plane crash in Kazakhstan? What we know
Azerbaijan is marking a day of mourning after a local airline’s passenger plane crashed off the coast of the Caspian Sea. Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating the emergency landing on Wednesday morning that killed at least 38 people. Here’s what we know about the crash. Where did the passenger plane crash? The plane crashed about 3km (1.8 miles) from the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. It was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia. (Al Jazeera) Who was on board? The Embraer 190 aircraft, flight number J2-8243, carried 62 passengers and five crew members. According to Kazakh officials, the people on board were citizens of four different countries: 42 Azerbaijani citizens 16 Russian citizens 6 Kazakh citizens 3 Kyrgyz citizens How many of them survived? There are 32 survivors, including two children, who have been hospitalised, with many in critical condition. Many were pulled out from the wreckage, while some, according to first responders and video footage, dragged themselves out, bloodied. Advertisement Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev announced that 38 people had been killed. Russian news agency Interfax quoted emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash. Why did the plane crash? The crash was reportedly due to an “emergency situation” onboard after a bird strike, Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Telegram. The plane had to divert from its original route because of heavy fog in Grozny, its intended destination, and make an emergency landing. Commercial aviation-tracking websites recorded the flight travelling north along its scheduled route on the west coast before it disappeared. It later reappeared on the east coast, circling near Aktau airport before ultimately crashing. “According to preliminary reports, the plane requested landing at an alternative airport before the accident … due to heavy fog in Grozny,” Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova reported from Moscow. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement that “according to the information provided to me, the AZAL airline plane, flying on the Baku-Grozny route, changed its course due to worsening weather conditions and began heading toward Aktau airport, where the crash occurred during landing”. The nearest Russian airport, Makhachkala, was closed earlier in the day due to drone activity. Strong GPS jamming in the region, which has been linked to past incidents, may have further complicated navigation and contributed to the crash, according to an online post by FlightRadar24. Advertisement Aliyev acknowledged that there were multiple theories over what might have caused the crash, but cautioned against speculation. “There are videos of the plane crash available in the media and on social networks, and everyone can watch them. However, the reasons for the crash are not yet known to us,” the Azerbaijani president said. “There are various theories, but I believe it is premature to discuss them.” What is the latest on the ground? Emergency services have been actively responding to the situation. Firefighters extinguished the blaze caused by the crash, while 150 emergency workers and medical teams, including specialist doctors flown in from Astana, are treating the injured. Azerbaijan Airlines said it is suspending all its flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as Baku and Makhachkala until the investigation is concluded. The airline has also set up a hotline for family members of the passengers and posted all their names on its social media pages. Aliyev also signed a decree declaring December 26 a day of mourning in the country. The Azerbaijani president, who was flying to Russia for a summit at the time, said he was informed of the crash while he was in midair. “I immediately gave instructions for the plane to return to Baku,” Aliyev said in a statement issued by his office. Kazakhstan emergency specialists work at the crash site of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau [Handout/ Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry via AFP] What investigations are taking place? Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Advertisement “An investigative team, led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan, has been dispatched to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site,” the Prosecutor General’s Office in Azerbaijan said in a statement. Azerbaijan’s state news agency, Azertac, said that the team dispatched to Aktau for an “on-site investigation” also included Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines. Azertac said that the plane’s black box – a flight recorder that investigators use to determine the causes of aviation accidents – had been found. Aliyev, in his statement, said that a “criminal case has been launched” and that the Azerbaijani public would be “regularly informed” about progress in the investigation. Kazakhstan has formed a government commission to examine the cause of the disaster and ensure that the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed. The investigations are focusing on potential technical problems and the closure of nearby airspace. Embraer, the Brazilian manufacturer of the aircraft, has expressed its willingness to assist with the inquiries. Adblock test (Why?)
Is Russia planning a ‘false flag’ attack on Moldova?
Russia has accused Moldova of plotting a military operation in Transnistria, a Russian-backed secessionist region, setting off concerns among some analysts that Moscow might be a “false flag” attack in Moldova. Russian intelligence said earlier this week that Moldova’s President Maia Sandu was planning a military operation in Transnistria, which borders Ukraine. Sandu was sworn in for her second term as president on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that NATO was turning Moldova into a weapons hub for Ukraine, an accusation that is only likely to further fuel fears that Moscow might be seeking a justification for potential action against its smaller neighbour. Here is more about what is going on with Russia and Moldova — and what to expect. What has Russia alleged? On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said that Moldova’s Sandu was planning a military operation in Transnistria. Russian intelligence speculated that the military operation could escalate into war. Advertisement Sandu’s chief of staff, Adrian Balutel, refuted the claims, insisting that the country had no such plans to militarily enter Transnistria, even though it claims the territory as a part of Moldova. Then, on Wednesday, Russia added a new allegation — that the US-led NATO had transferred a large number of weapons to Moldova in recent months. Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, said that Moscow believed these weapons were ultimately intended for Ukraine. She cited Sandu’s pro-Western leanings to bolster her claims. In recent months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has increasingly suggested that not just Ukraine, but other countries that help it in its war against Moscow could potentially be treated by the Kremlin as enemies that it might attack. What are the ‘false flag’ concerns? Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sandu has raised the alarm that Moldova could be Moscow’s next target, urging Western leaders to address Moldova’s concerns. When Sandu was sworn in for her second term this week in the capital Chisinau, she said, “We managed to open the door wide to the European Union.” Moldova has been a candidate country for the EU since June 2022, waiting for Brussels to formally accept its request to join the group. The Kremlin’s latest accusations, say analysts from the Washington, DC, based Institute for the Study of War, could be part of a larger plan to disrupt Moldova’s accession into the European Union (EU), by destabilising it. The Kremlin, the ISW cautioned in a report, could also be setting conditions “for a false flag operation in Transnistria”. Advertisement What is Transnistria? Transnistria is a Russia-allied breakaway region of Moldova, sandwiched between part of the Dniester River in Moldova, and Ukraine. Romania lies to its West. The region broke away from Moldova in 1990. In September 2006, it passed a referendum reasserting its independence and calling for a union with Russia. This referendum was not recognised by Moldova. In February 2022, leaders of Transnistria issued an appeal to Russia for protection. The appeal came days after the Ukraine war broke out, and was similar to appeals made to Russia by pro-Moscow leaders in parts of Ukraine, which Russia used as justification to take over Crimea in 2014, and large chunks of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in 2022. Internationally, Transnistria is recognised as belonging to Moldova, but Europe views the region as occupied by Russia since 2022. Transnistria hosts Russian troops, as well as a major Russian weapons storage facility, the Cobasna ammunition depot. Presently, 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed within the breakaway Moldovan region, according to a report published by Harvard International Review in October. What are other ways Russia is pressuring Moldova? Political: Moldova voted in a presidential election last month amid claims of Russia meddling. However, the pro-Western Sandu won 55.33 percent of the vote, defeating former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who had the backing of the Russia-leaning Socialist Party. In a report published earlier this year, London-based think tank Chatham House said that research by the think tank “suggests that Moscow is also targeting the Moldovan public information space with toxic disinformation”. Advertisement Moldova’s national security service has also alleged that pro-Russian oligarchs in Moldova have paid millions of euros to stage antigovernment protests and commit election fraud. These include former Moldovan parliamentarian Ilan Shor, who was convicted in absentia for fraud charges in January. Energy: Meanwhile, Moldova faces an energy crisis. Moldova receives about 2 billion cubic metres (71 billion cubic feet) of gas from Russia annually. Since 2022, all this gas is sent into Transnistria. Transnistria then sells electricity, generated using Russian gas, to Moldova. However, this gas comes through a pipeline that passes through Ukraine. Kyiv has now decided that it will no longer allow the transit of this gas. Sandu has accused Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, of refusing to consider the use of an alternative pipeline, and has tried to prepare Moldova for what she has said will be a “harsh” winter without Russian gas. Russia’s gas supply to Moldova is expected to end on January 1, 2025. Earlier in December, Moldova declared a state of emergency over the impending shortage. Transnistria then sells electricity, fuelled by Russian gas, to Moldova. Violence: In April 2022, explosions targeted the Ministry of State Security in Tiraspol, the largest city in Transnistria. A day later, more explosions destroyed two powerful radio antennas among other facilities in Transnistria. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alongside other allies of Ukraine, said these explosions were also false flag attacks orchestrated by Russia to portray Transnistria as being under attack from Moldova — because of Moldova’s support for Ukraine. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli forces kill dozens in Gaza as ceasefire talks face challenges
Israeli forces are pounding the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas face more obstacles. Medics in the bombarded enclave said the Israeli military targeted yet another school sheltering displaced families on Wednesday in the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan. The strike killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured several others. The attack came shortly after an earlier strike targeted a residential home in Gaza City, killing a pregnant woman. According to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, medics were able to save the baby but “lost the mother”. “The situation is dire on every level across the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said. “Elsewhere, a very famous Palestinian writer [Walaa Jumaa al-Ifranji] was killed along with her husband [Ahmed Saeed Salama] in an Israeli attack on their home south of the Nuseirat refugee camp,” in central Gaza, she added. Advertisement An Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza also killed two people on Wednesday. Separately, several Palestinians were killed and wounded in al-Mawasi, an area Israel has declared a “safe zone” for people forced to flee their homes in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where the military said it carried out a strike against a Hamas fighter. The Israeli military routinely targets displacement camps as well as schools-turned-shelters, killing mostly women and children in its genocide since October last year, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. The military also targets hospitals and medical facilities. In the besieged north, where Israeli forces launched a renewed ground offensive more than two months ago, one of the last partially operating hospitals in Gaza has come under intense Israeli attack. An Israeli siege on Kamal Adwan Hospital has intensified over the past few days, and Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports that it has now been “rendered nonoperational given all the constant attacks and the use of explosive devices”. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli forces have also continued to besiege two other medical facilities that are barely operational as they surround Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia. The Israeli army forced officials at the Indonesian Hospital to evacuate patients and staff on Tuesday and continued to operate close to nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. They also ordered the emptying of that hospital, but officials there have refused, citing risks to dozens of patients. Advertisement Palestinians have accused Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone. The Israeli attacks came as Palestinians in Gaza saw yet another sombre Christmas. Pope Francis denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza and appealed for the freeing of Israeli captives held by Hamas in his traditional Christmas address at the Vatican. “May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war,” he said. Ceasefire talks hampered Meanwhile, Hamas and Israel traded blame on Wednesday over the failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in the past days. Hamas said Israel had set new conditions while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of going back on understandings already reached. “The occupation has set new conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available,” Hamas said in a statement. Hamas said, however, that it was showing flexibility and the talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, were going in a serious direction. Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the group “continues to lie, is reneging on understandings that have already been reached and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations”. Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for consultations about a deal after a significant week of talks, Netanyahu’s office said on Tuesday. Advertisement The United States and the two Arab mediators have stepped up efforts to conclude a deal in the past two weeks. Adblock test (Why?)