December, 2021

• 29 December

  What Putin Really Wants in Ukraine

  

  Russia Seeks to Stop NATO’s Expansion, Not to Annex More Territory As 2021 came to a close, Russia presented the United States with a list of demands that it said were necessary to stave off the possibility of a large-scale military conflict in Ukraine. In a draft treaty delivered to …

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• 29 December

  Turkey urges Russia to moderate demands on NATO over Ukraine

  

  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is offering to mediate the crisis, but its not clear Turkey has enough leverage to do so effectively. Turkey’s top diplomat publicly urged Russia’s government to drop what he called Moscow’s “one-sided” demands regarding NATO and Ukraine. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russia should take a …

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• 29 December

  Kurdish leaders say poverty ‘biggest threat’ as it drives Syrians into arms of Islamic State

  

  Offers of money by the Islamic State to join its ranks prove “irresistible” to those hit hard by Syria’s collapsed economy. A man being led by security guards shuffles into an interrogation cell in a military prison in the Kurdish-administered city of Hasakah in northeastern Syria. His hands are cuffed, …

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• 29 December

  Saudi-led coalition renews airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthis

  

  Riyadh-led airstrikes came after Yemen’s Houthis launched a projectile into the southern Saudi province of Jizan, killing two people late last week. The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels said it launched renewed airstrikes in response to a projectile attack that killed two people near the southern Saudi …

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• 29 December

  Iraq urged to ‘starve’ those profiting from rising drug trade

  

  An apparent increase in drug trafficking into the country from both its eastern and western borders, with fallout from instability in Afghanistan and ‘mafia’ groups in Syria as well as use of illicit substances in Iraq, has raised concern. In early December, the directorate tasked with drug control in Iraq’s …

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• 29 December

  Kremlin hopes Syria can be a future thorn in NATO’s southern flank

  

  The longer runway at Khmeimim airbase in Syria gives nuclear-capable bombers a place to land, and is one more move in Russia’s plan to expand its capacities in new directions. The end of December is a special month for the Russian military. Every year at this time, practically all the …

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• 29 December

  U.S., Russia set for Jan 10 security talks amid Ukraine tensions

  U.S. and Russian officials will hold security talks on Jan. 10 to discuss concerns about their respective military activity and confront rising tensions over Ukraine, the two countries said. A spokesperson for U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced the date late on Monday, and said Russia and NATO were also …

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• 28 December

  Arab Coalition Releases Footage Showing Hezbollah, Iranian Involvement In Yemen War

  

  The Arab coalition on Sunday released footage and pictures it said provided evidence of Hezbollah and Iran’s involvement in Yemen’s seven-year war and the use of Sanaa airport as a missile launch site. At a press conference in the Saudi capital, coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki showed footage of …

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• 28 December

  Putin To Mull Options If West Doesn’t Meet ‘Security Guarantees’

  

  President Vladimir Putin has said he would ponder various options if the West fails to meet Moscow’s demands for security guarantees, amid heightened tensions involving a massive deployment of Russian troops near Ukraine. Moscow earlier this month submitted draft security documents demanding an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and military …

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• 28 December

  ‘Phase One’ US–China Trade Deal Better Than No Deal – Analysis

  

  The ‘phase one’ trade deal between the United States and China entered into force on 14 February 2020. As part of this agreement, China agreed to make structural reforms, open up its financial services and strengthen intellectual property. China also pledged to buy at least US$200 billion in additional US …

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