RUSSIA – Russia successfully launched the Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome of Russia’s Far East early Saturday, placing the Kondor-FKA No. 2 radar satellite into its designated orbit. Equipped with advanced radar technology, the Kondor-FKA satellites enable all-weather, round-the-clock Earth observation. “The second radar satellite Kondor-FKA has reached orbit! The launch systems worked as planned,” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced in a statement. Unlike optical satellites, the Kondor-FKA series can penetrate cloud cover and operate in darkness, making them indispensable for a variety of tasks, including mapping, environmental monitoring, natural resource exploration, and guiding vessels through ice-covered routes, such as the Northern Sea Route during polar nights.

The Kondor series, developed by the NPO Mashinostroyeniya design bureau, has seen steady advancements since its inception. The first two satellites were launched in 2013 and 2014, while Kondor-FKA No. 1 entered orbit in 2023. Two more satellites are currently under construction, with the third Kondor-FKA launch planned for 2026. Each Kondor-FKA satellite weighs approximately 1,050 kg and has a five-year operational lifespan. (Xinhua)

UKRAINE – EPA President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference after attending the European Council summit in Brussels in OctoberEPA

President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that the parts of Ukraine under his control should be taken “under the Nato umbrella” to try and stop the “hot phase” of the war. In a long, wide-ranging interview with Sky News, the Ukrainian president was asked whether he would accept Nato membership, but only on the territory that Kyiv currently holds. Zelensky said he would, but only if Nato membership was offered to the whole of Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders, first. Ukraine could then attempt to negotiate the return of territory currently under Russian control “in a diplomatic way”, he said. But the suggestion is highly theoretical. As Zelensky pointed out, no-one has yet made such an offer. Whether Nato would ever consider such a move is highly doubtful. “Ukraine has never considered such a proposal, because no-one has officially offered it to us,” Zelensky said.

Nato would need to offer membership to the whole country, including those parts currently under Russian control, he said. “You can’t give [an] invitation to just one part of a country,” the president said, according to a translation provided by Sky News. “Why? Because thus, you would recognise that Ukraine is only that territory of Ukraine, and the other one is Russia.” Lots of people were proposing ceasefires, he said, but without a mechanism to prevent Russia from attacking again, ceasefires were simply too dangerous. Only NATO membership, he said, could offer that kind of guarantee. The Ukrainian president has already said that he thinks the war could end in the coming year if Ukraine’s allies show sufficient resolve. Reports suggest that discussion of the so-called West German model – Nato membership offered to a divided country – has been going on in Western circles for more than a year. But no formal proposals have yet been made. While on the campaign trail, US President-elect Trump vowed to end the war within “24 hours”.(BBC)

AMMAN – The Syrian military said on Saturday that dozens of its troops had been killed during an insurgent attack in northwestern Syria and that rebels had managed to enter large parts of Aleppo city, forcing the army to redeploy.

The Syrian military statement was the first public acknowledgement by the army that insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had entered the government-held city of Aleppo in a surprise attack that began earlier this week. “The large numbers of terrorists and the multiplicity of battlefronts prompted our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defence lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack,” the army said. The insurgent attack marks the most significant challenge in years to President Bashar al-Assad, jolting the frontlines of the Syrian civil war that have largely been frozen since 2020.

The Syrian military statement said that the insurgents had not been able to establish fixed positions in Aleppo city due to the army’s continued bombardment of their positions. Two Syrian military sources said earlier that Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted insurgents in an Aleppo suburb on Saturday. Russia deployed its air force to Syria in 2015 to aid Assad in the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011. (Reuters)

Photo: Syrian opposition fighters stand in front of University of Aleppo, after rebels opposed to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo, Syria. (Reuters)

MALAYSIA – Huge flooding caused by heavy rain in Malaysia has forced more than 122,000 people out of their homes across the country. Three people have also died, according to disaster officials. There are fears the number could rise, as heavy rain and storm warnings remain in place. Thousands of emergency services personnel have been deployed to help rescue people stranded and shelters are being provided.

Photo shows cars and houses submerged, and people wading through waist-deep water. The flooding, which began earlier in the week, is mostly concentrated on the north-eastern state of Kelantan, which borders Thailand. There, the National Disaster Management Agency says the evacuees count for 63% of the total number. So far, the number of those displaced surpasses that of 2014, which saw one of the worst floods in the country. The disaster agency has set up 679 emergency shelters for those affected. Also affected are Terengganu, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Perlis, Selangr, johor, Melaka and Perak. Provisions for disaster management have been sent to Terengganu and Kelantan State Governments, according to the prime minister’s office. (BBC)

PARAMARIBO – Social Affairs and Housing (Sozavo) Minister Ines Pane on Thursday responded indifferently when asked about the recent reports of child abuse that is taking place in several children’s homes.

She repeatedly made it clear that the children’s homes can only be inspected after the councils of supervision have been installed. “Until that time there is very little that the ministry can do about the situation because it has received little to no evidence from the victims who reported the abuse. The story of a woman who shared her traumatic experiences recently went viral. Multiple people then came forward and confirmed that they were also abused and assaulted when they were younger and staying in a children’s time.

 Although the Inspection Division of  Sozavo is tasked with enforcing the law to protect the children, its operations are not on the desired level. Reports indicate that some children are burnt with boiling water and are also abused sexually but the watchdog has failed to protect these children. A growing number of victims, parents, foreign interns and former employees are stepping forward to share their stories but officials do not believe their statements and even fail to launch investigations to uncover the truth.

GEORGETOWN – Vice President (VP) and Chief Policy maker in the oil and gas sector, Bharrat Jagdeo maintained his government’s position that windfall taxes will not be instituted at this time. Windfall tax is a tax levied by governments against certain industries when economic conditions allow those industries to experience above average or projected profits. Jagdeo, in response to a question posed by Kaieteur News on why the government is not implementing windfall taxes since it does not breach the existing Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil and its partners, Jagdeo said: “I have dealt with windfall profits in the past, and why we believe that windfall taxation should not be pursued at this time. I dealt with it in the past, if you go back and read.”

In May 2022, Kaieteur News questioned the Vice President on the issue and at that time he admitted that citizens in Canada, and the United States had forced their governments to increase their royalties charged to oil operators. In the United Kingdom, the government increased the one-off tax slapped on oil companies. At that time, this publication reported extensively on the changes in the fiscal regimes for the oil operators in those countries. Canada had moved its royalty charged between five and 40%, the US in December of 2021 raised its royalty rate higher than the 18.75% it had been receiving while the UK slapped a one-off 25 percent tax on the oil companies there. Jagdeo had told the media that the windfall tax that some countries are exploring only came after intense pressure from their populations. However, he explained why the institution of the tax could not be replicated in Guyana.  “We are bound by a PSA with very specific terms on the taxation side.”  To this end, he suggested “if you change the taxation here, it’s considered a breach of the contract.”

Seeking to draw a distinction between Guyana and the ABC countries, Jagdeo suggested that the oil companies would have been operating for decades in those jurisdictions and as such would have come under the standard tax regime for the respective countries within which they operate. According to the Vice President, under such a situation the parliaments of those countries could by way of legislation easily make the changes to institute for example a windfall tax. He was adamant, this is the key reason the same cannot be done in Guyana if the administration did in fact go ahead and make the legislative changes; it would be considered a breach of the contract and “we would run afoul of the agreement.”

Notwithstanding, the occurrences in other oil producing countries, Jagdeo remains firm in his stance that going after windfall taxes will affect the sanctity of the contract, despite industry experts sharing a different opinion. Trinidadian Energy Expert and International Consultant, Anthony Paul recently shared his perspective with Kaieteur News. (Kaieteur News)

Photo: Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. (Kaieteur News)

PARIS – The resurrection of Notre Dame – the treasured Gothic gem in the heart of Paris struck by a devastating fire in 2019 – has been a closely guarded secret. Few had seen the meticulous work of architects, artisans and master craftspeople who have carefully brought the cathedral back to life. Until now. On Friday, the world got the first glimpses of the revamped Unesco World Heritage Site as French President Emmanuel Macron carried out his final site visit ahead of its grand reopening on December 7 and 8. Many will remember watching in horror five years ago as bright orange flames engulfed the 860-year-old Gothic cathedral, its famed spire toppling from the Paris skyline.

At the time, Macron vowed the beloved building would be restored and set an ambitious deadline of five years. Fast forward 2,055 days, the seemingly impossible has been achieved and the 700 million euro (USD 737 million) restoration is complete. (CNN)

HONG KONG – Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun on Friday fulfilled a promise he made after spending USD 6.2 million on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall — by eating the fruit. At one of Hong Kong’s priciest hotels, Sun chomped down on a banana in front of dozens of journalists and influencers after giving a speech hailing the work as “iconic” and drew parallels between conceptual art and cryptocurrency. “It’s much better than other bananas,” Sun said after getting his first taste.  “It’s really quite good.” Titled “Comedian”, the conceptual work created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York last week, with Sun among seven bidders. Sun said he felt “disbelief” in the first 10 seconds after he won the bid, before realising “this could become something big”.

In the 10 seconds after that, he decided he would eat the banana. “Eating it at a press conference can also become a part of the artwork’s history,” he said Friday. The debut of the edible creation at the 2019 Art Basel show in Miami Beach sparked controversy and raised questions about whether it should be considered art — Cattelan’s stated aim. And Sun on Friday compared conceptual art like “Comedian” to NFT art and decentralised block chain technology. “Most of its objects and ideas exist as (intellectual property) and on the internet, as opposed to something physical,” he said. (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Chinese-born crypto founder Justin Sun eats a banana artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape, in Hong Kong on November 29, 2024, after buying the provocative work of conceptual art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at a New York auction for USD 6.2 million. (Photo: AFP)

UNITED STATES – President Joe Biden on Thursday warned against damaging relations with Canada and Mexico, after Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on both US neighbours when he takes office in January. “I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Biden told reporters when asked about his successor’s plan. “The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships. I think we got them in a good place,” he said during a visit to a fire department in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he is spending his last Thanksgiving holiday as president. Trump sent jitters through global markets on Monday when he announced on social media that one of his first presidential actions would be to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada — which share a free trade pact with the United States — and add a 10 per cent tariff on China.

Pledging that tariffs would only be removed from the US neighbours when illegal immigration and drug trafficking stop, Trump reaffirmed his intent to use trade as a cudgel against allies and rivals alike. After expressing opposition to Trump’s threats in a letter, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke by phone with the Republican president-elect on Wednesday. Both leaders described the call positively, though there was disagreement in what had actually been discussed. Trump claimed that Sheinbaum had agreed to “stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border”.

The Mexican president quickly pointed out that she had only explained Mexico’s current “comprehensive strategy” on migration. “Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are attended to before they reach the border,” she said on X. “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between government and peoples,” she added. (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he visits the Nantucket Fire Department in Nantucket, Massachusetts. (Photo: AFP)

SWEDEN –  Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with an investigation into suspected sabotage over the sudden disruption of two submarine internet cables in the Baltic Sea earlier this month, after tracking data linked a Chinese ship to the incidents. “Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with Swedish authorities in order to create clarity on what has happened,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters on Thursday.

Kristersson also said that Sweden has asked for the Chinese ship to return to Swedish waters in order to aid its investigation. The vessel is currently anchored in international waters in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden.

The two cables – one named Arelion, which links Finland and Germany, and the other named C-Lion 1 connecting Sweden to Lithuania – were severed within 24 hours of each other on November 17 and 18.

The incidents came just weeks after the United States warned that Moscow was likely to target critical undersea infrastructure. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time that “no one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged.”

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said last Tuesday that the country’s National Unit against International and Organized Crime had opened a preliminary investigation into suspected sabotage over the cut cables. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation also said it had launched an investigation. (CNN)

Photo: The Chinese bulk carrier ship Yi Peng 3, in the Kattegat strait near Denmark, on November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

BRASILIA  –  Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has expressed hope that United States President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January will help bolster his own political comeback, amid accusations that he took part in a failed coup in the South American nation. The Wall Street Journal reported late last Thursday that Bolsonaro is banking on Trump pressuring Brazil with sanctions to delay enforcing a court ruling that bars him from office until 2030 for baselessly attacking the country’s voting system before the 2022 elections he lost.

“Trump is back, and it’s a sign we’ll be back, too,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with the US newspaper. Bolsonaro’s remarks come just days after Brazilian police released a report implicating the former president in an alleged criminal organisation designed to overturn the 2022 election that he lost to his left-wing rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro “planned, acted and was directly and effectively aware of the actions of the criminal organisation aiming to launch a coup d’etat and eliminate the democratic rule of law”, the report said.

The former army captain, who served as president from 2019 to 2022, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed to be the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt. Despite the coup accusations and other investigations against him, Trump’s electoral victory earlier this month in the US has injected new energy into Brazil’s far-right and stirred hopes that Bolsonaro can mirror his return to power. Bolsonaro often expressed admiration for Trump during the Republican’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021, and he was widely dubbed “Trump of the Tropics” during his own presidency.

Similarly to Trump, who continues to say the 2020 election he lost to President Joe Biden was stolen from him, Bolsonaro spent months in the run-up to the 2022 vote in Brazil falsely claiming that the country’s voting system was vulnerable to widespread fraud. Shortly after his left-wing challenger Lula took office in January 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro’s supporters who were angered over the election results stormed the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in the capital, Brasilia. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach. (Getty Images)

SYRIA – Rebel forces in Syria say they have entered Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, in the biggest offensive against the government in years. Video posted on a channel affiliated with the rebels appears to show their fighters in vehicles inside the city. The footage has been geolocated by the BBC to a suburb in Western Aleppo. A UK-based group says fighters set off two car bombs before advancing into neighbourhoods on Friday. Government forces meanwhile say they have regained positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following an offensive launched by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions on Wednesday.

A statement posted on the rebel-affiliated channel on Friday said: “Our forces have begun entering the city of Aleppo”. Earlier, the monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which uses a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that Syrian and Russian planes carried out 23 air strikes on the Aleppo region on Friday. The SOHR said 255 people, mostly combatants, had been killed in the fighting, the deadliest between rebels and pro-government forces in Syria for years. It said opposition forces had taken control of more than 50 towns and villages since Wednesday. (BBC)

Photo: Rebels have been advancing on the city of Aleppo.

JAMAICA – Jamaica is to seek to build deeper ties with The Philippines with talks to be had on a Memorandum of Understanding on collaborating on tourism. Tourism Minister Edmond Bartlett says the collaboration will focus on key tourism outcomes such as human capital development, training and certification in customer service excellence, craft development, resilience and sustainability and community tourism. “The importance of human capital development is a key pillar of the potential agreement, especially given the Philippines’ remarkable success in training over 170,000 tourism workers annually,” Bartlett told The Gleaner. He was speaking against the background of being recognised on Wednesday by the Gusi Peace Prize Foundation as one of its 2024 awardees. The accolade celebrates Bartlett’s visionary leadership and ground-breaking contributions to the global tourism industry. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Photo: Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett (left), and Secretary of Tourism for the Philippines, Christina Garcia-Frasco, shared lens time after he received his global Gusi Peace Prize.