Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s parliament begins debating a law that envisions lengthy prison terms for any national supporting a United States oil tanker blockade that Caracas has termed piracy. IMAGES
Caracas (AFP) – Dozens of motorcyclists ride through Caracas dressed as pirates to protest against US President Donald Trump for ordering seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers as part of a blockade of “sanctioned oil vessels” sailing to and from Venezuela.
London (AFP) – Swedish activist Greta Thurnberg is arrested under the Terrorism Act at a protest in London after expressing support for the Palestine Action group, banned under UK anti-terror laws. Thunberg, 22, holds a sign reading: “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.”
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Shops sell trees and decorations as Christmas celebrations light up the streets of Kyiv, where war drags on despite renewed diplomatic efforts. “Our children want to want to feel happiness, to feel childhood,” says Svitlana Yakovleva, who came with her two grandchildren. “The children have adapted. Mirochka [her granddaughter] was three years old when the war started. She has already grown up.”
Samjiyon (North Korea) (AFP) – Images broadcast by North Korean state media KCTV show leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Ju Ae, inspecting newly-completed hotels at a mountain resort. Kim dips his hand into a hot tub and tests the firmness of the beds at the new facility in Samjiyon, in the country’s mountainous north.
Phnom Penh (AFP) – Cambodia’s defence ministry spokeswoman says the death toll from border clashes with Thailand has risen to 21 as both sides continue to fight. The Thai army said Cambodia fired dozens of rockets into Thailand on Monday, with Bangkok’s air force responding with air strikes on two Cambodian military targets. The two nations are set to negotiate truce terms after two weeks of deadly border clashes.
Moscow (AFP) – Images released by Russia’s Investigative Committee show a car in Moscow damaged by an explosion that it says killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the training department within the army’s General Staff. The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine, almost four years into Moscow’s assault on its neighbour.
Canberra (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will push for tougher laws against hate speech and extremism in the wake of the country’s deadliest mass shooting in decades.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli bulldozers tear through a four-storey residential building in east Jerusalem, displacing scores of Palestinians in what activists say is the largest such demolition in the area this year. The building, located in the Silwan neighbourhood near the Old City, comprised a dozen apartments housing approximately 100 people, many of them women, children and elderly residents.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – Thailand’s top diplomat says that a now-broken pact with Cambodia to prolong a truce in their deadly border conflict was rushed by Washington ahead of a signing ceremony overseen by US President Donald Trump. “I’ve noted that we were sometimes in a rush to do the (joint) declaration. Because the United States wanted the declaration signed in time by the visit of President Trump,” Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow says of an agreement signed in Kuala Lumpur in October and paused the following month.
Sheffield (United Kingdom) (AFP) – In July, British folk musician Emily Portman received a message congratulating her on a new album, despite her not having released one since 2022. Uploaded to Portman’s streaming profiles, under her name, was an album on AI-generated songs that she believes were modelled on her previous work. The Sheffield-based musician is one of a growing cohort of artists sounding the alarm over AI impersonation. On the other side of the globe, in Melbourne, Australia, bassist Paul Bender has experienced a similar case of AI fraud and believes streaming platforms need enhanced security to prevent scammers using artists’ profiles to make money.
(AFP) – Footage posted on social media by US Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem shows what American authorities say is a second oil tanker being intercepted off the coast of Venezuela. For the second time in two weeks, US forces have seized a tanker in the region, with the latest action coming days after US President Donald Trump announced a blockade of “sanctioned oil tankers” going into or out of Venezuela. Homeland Security has identified the vessel as the Centuries and said it was “suspected of carrying oil subject to US sanctions.”
