Visa said it will begin operating in Syria after agreeing with the country’s central bank on a roadmap to build a digital payments system.

The company plans to work with licensed financial institutions to issue payment cards and enable digital wallets.

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution Wednesday calling on Russia to immediately return all Ukrainian children it has “forcibly transferred or deported,” saying the actions violate international law.

The measure was adopted with 91 votes in favor, 12 against, and 57 abstentions during the Emergency Special Session on Ukraine.

A new report from Israel’s Public Defender’s Office says conditions for Palestinian security prisoners have sharply worsened since October 7, 2023.

The Israel Prison Service cut food rations, causing severe hunger, major weight loss, fainting, and restricted access to water.

Overcrowding also spiked after mass arrests: 90% of security prisoners lived in spaces under 3 square meters, and thousands had no bed, sleeping on floors in dark, poorly ventilated cells with almost no personal belongings.

Source: Haaretz

Joesley Batista, co-owner of meat giant JBS, quietly traveled to Caracas on Nov. 23 to urge Venezuelan President Maduro to follow Trump’s call to step down and allow a peaceful transition.

Batista acted on his own initiative, though US officials knew of the visit.

Source: Bloomberg

📸 Putin and Modi share a car ride.

Putin to India Today:

One cannot talk to India the way they used to talk to it 77 years ago.

India is a great power, not an English or British colony.

Putin to India Today:

The head of the Indian government, Prime Minister Modi, is not one to give in to pressure.

The Indian nation can take pride in their Prime Minister.

Putin to India Today:

We are simply trying to defend our legitimate interests, and that is exactly what India is doing.

U.S. authorities have arrested a man suspected of planting two pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on the night before the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The FBI had spent years searching for the suspect, releasing surveillance footage, collecting hundreds of tips and offering a $500,000 reward.

Video from Jan. 5, 2021 showed the individual placing explosives near both the Democratic and Republican national committee headquarters, close to the Capitol.

The bombs were discovered and safely deactivated on Jan. 6 as pro-Trump rioters stormed Congress to block certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

Ukraine’s population has dropped from 42 million before Russia’s 2022 invasion to under 36 million, and demographers warn it could fall to 25 million by 2051.

Births have collapsed, deaths now outnumber births three to one, and male life expectancy has plunged to 57.3 years.

Millions have fled abroad and hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded, leaving schools, clinics, and villages empty.

Government forecasts show a looming shortage of 4.5 million workers, threatening post-war reconstruction and future defense capacity.

Source: Reuters

India Today: Has India reduced Russian intake of oil after pressure from the West?

Putin: Overall, our trade turnover stands almost at the same level as before.

Putin to India Today:

The U.S. itself still buys nuclear fuel from us for its own nuclear power plants.

If the U.S. has the right to buy our fuel, why shouldn’t India have the same privilege?

India Today: Can you talk about your meeting with Witkoff?

Putin: I doubt it would interest you to hear about it as it lasted 5 hours. Frankly, even I grew weary of it. 5 hours is too much.

Putin to India Today:

Our “Special Military Operation” is not the start of a war, but rather an attempt to end one that the West ignited using Ukrainian nationalists.

Putin to India Today:

Extreme nationalism and neo-Nazism are almost indistinguishable concepts.

NEW: Russia has blocked Snapchat.

LEAKED: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Zelensky during a now leaked call:

“You need to be extremely careful in the coming days.

They [the Americans] are playing games, both with you and with us.”

Other leaders echoed alarm:

Macron: The U.S. might “betray Ukraine on the issue of territory”

Stubb: “We must not leave Ukraine—or Volodymyr—alone with these guys.”

Rutte: “We have to protect Volodymyr.”

Source: German media reports