A flash drive containing classified data, reportedly discovered hidden in the anus of an agent trying to cross the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, illustrates how Hungary has become a hub for Russian spying.
In late November, at a Ukrainian-Hungarian border crossing checkpoint, Ukrainian special forces armed with machine guns and rifles arrested a suspected Russian agent just as he was trying to cross the state border.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude futures were volatile during the holiday-shortened trading week amid plans to impose a price cap on Russian oil. The policy is poised to go into effect on Dec. 5 when the European Union establishes a boycott on nearly all of Moscow’s petroleum products. Officials are still debating the level, with the proposal in the range of $65 to $70. But while Western governments are championing the idea, will this exacerbate the global energy crisis? The next six months should be fascinating to monitor the international oil and gas markets.
In order to fill the depleted ranks of the Russian army fighting in Ukraine, Moscow is making it easier for persons with dual citizenship to be drafted and serve and for those with citizenship in other countries to volunteer to serve in the Russian armed forces.
On November 21, 2022, Mali’s interim Prime Minister Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga posted a statement on social media to say that Mali has decided “to ban, with immediate effect, all activities carried out by NGOs operating in Mali with funding or material or technical support from France.” A few days before this statement, the French government cut official development assistance (ODA) to Mali because it believed that Mali’s government is “allied to Wagner’s Russian mercenaries.” Colonel Maïga responded by saying that these are “fanciful allegations” and a “subterfuge intended to deceive and manipulate national and international public opinion.”
NATO foreign ministers met in Bucharest, Romania, on Tuesday, along with representatives of the prospective NATO members Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden to discuss a further expansion of the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine and the stationing of more troops on Russia’s Western borders.
As the war in Ukraine has dragged on for nine months and a cold winter is setting in, people all over the world are calling for a Christmas truce, harkening back to the inspirational Christmas Truce of 1914. In the midst of World War I, warring soldiers put down their guns and celebrated the holiday together in the no-man’s land between their trenches.This spontaneous reconciliation and fraternization has been, over the years, a symbol of hope and courage.
Mercenarii din gruparea militară privată Wagner, trimiși oficial în Mali pentru menținerea păcii, au comis, în primul an petrecut în statul african, crime în masă, violuri, jafuri și atacuri asupra civililor, arată un raport întocmit de analiștii implicați în proiectul All Eyes on Wagner (AEOW), scrie publicația rusă independentă Meduza.
Dix-sept députés européens demandent à Ursula von der Leyen et à l’Union européenne de réviser l’Accord d’association avec l’Algérie, au motif qu’elle apporterait un « soutien politique, logistique et financier » à la Russie dans la guerre contre l’Ukraine.
Moscow hopes Turkey will refrain from using of “excessive force” following Turkish strikes against Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq. Ankara is threatening to launch a ground offensive.
Some experts are warning that Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia’s Rosatom, might become a tool to advance Russian interests in the region.
A potential security threat has emerged for NATO and Europe at large: the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant. Experts say the project by Russia and Turkey could allow Moscow to establish a commercial port in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Mersin.