Elon Musk has announced that he will defend the H-1B visa program for highly skilled foreign workers, which is increasingly criticized by Trump's supporters. Musk emphasized that this program is crucial to the success of companies like Tesla and SpaceX. The debate highlights a conflict between the needs of the tech industry and calls for stricter immigration rules within Trump's supporters.
Elon Musk supported the AfD in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper and declared that only it could save Germany. The article led to criticism and the resignation of an editor. The editor-in-chief contradicted Musk's view, as the AfD is seeking to leave the EU and is close to Russia, among other things.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev for the crash of a passenger plane in which 38 people died. According to Azerbaijan, the plane was damaged by Russian air defense systems that were deployed against Ukrainian drones. Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims while investigations into the incident are ongoing. The crash highlights the danger to civilian aircraft even far from war zones.
Israeli troops have arrested over 240 Palestinians, including medical staff, during an operation at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza. The Israeli military accuses the hospital of serving as a Hamas command center. The incident paralyzed the last major medical facility in northern Gaza, which the WHO sharply criticized. At the same time, 18 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues.
The Russian domestic intelligence service FSB announced that it had foiled a Ukrainian plot to attack a high-ranking Russian officer and a pro-Russian blogger. According to the FSB, a bomb hidden in a portable loudspeaker was to be used for the attack. A Russian citizen had retrieved the bomb from a hiding place in Moscow on behalf of the Ukrainian secret service GUR. The names of the targets were not disclosed. Kiev regards targeted killings as legitimate measures, while Moscow describes them as “acts of terrorism”.
European oil companies such as BP, Shell and Equinor relied more heavily on oil and gas in 2024, while reducing investments in renewable energies. The reasons for this are high energy prices and faltering climate policy. This jeopardizes climate targets, as CO₂ emissions have reached record levels.
In his Christmas address, Pope Francis called for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. He emphasized the need for courage in order to achieve a “just and lasting peace”. The appeal came after renewed Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
The SIU of the Finnish Border Guard has seized the tanker Eagle S, which belongs to the Russian shadow fleet and is suspected of having damaged the Estlink 2 power cable in the Baltic Sea. According to reports, the ship was equipped with advanced surveillance equipment and was in fact acting as a Russian “spy ship”.
In a retaliatory action, the Taliban captured several checkpoints on the border with Pakistan this morning. In clashes in Khost and Paktia provinces, 19 Pakistani soldiers and 3 Afghan civilians were reportedly killed.
Chad ends military cooperation with France and strengthens relations with Turkey. France has until January 31 to withdraw its troops. This change highlights France's waning influence in Africa, while Turkey continues to expand its presence and provide Chad with military training and defense technology. Since 2003, Turkey has opened 44 embassies in Africa and made cooperation with the continent a strategic priority of its foreign policy.
From New Year's Day, it will no longer be legal to cover your face in public places in Switzerland. Anyone who disregards the ban must expect a fine of up to 1000 Swiss francs (approx. 1064 euros). The ban includes not only religious face coverings, but also a ban on face coverings at demonstrations. However, there are also exceptions, such as covering the face in places of worship, on Shrove Tuesday, for protection against the cold or for health protection.
Due to the non-payment of debts, Gazprom will stop deliveries to Moldova from January 1 of next year. Moldova has repeatedly denied the existence of any debt.
Ukrainian forces have stopped attacking with ATACMS missiles due to the drastically reduced number (about 50 left). The Americans believe the Ukrainians wasted the missiles on unimportant targets while trying to break through the tiered air defense system. The US can no longer resupply missiles - they are needed in the Middle East and its own stocks are limited. According to the Pentagon, the Ukrainian armed forces are currently looking for more accessible targets for attacks so as not to spend the remaining missiles in vain. Although, as experts interviewed by the newspaper acknowledge, the use of such missiles has indeed led to the Russian forces' camps being moved further to the rear, it has not helped the Ukrainian forces in principle - they are still retreating.
Comments
Post a Comment