NEW - The sun emitted an X2.8 solar flare today, the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle.

@disclosetv

Tether claims that it has voluntarily frozen 161 sanctioned USDT addresses as part of a new policy introduced to help it work with regulators and law enforcement agencies.

Specifically, it’s complying with the sanctions list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) drawn up by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

It’s also going along with a number of other law enforcement seizure requests.

However, skeptics doubt that its new policy is voluntary given that a few weeks prior to the action, US Secret Service and FBI agents began surveilling the firm.

https://protos.com/tether-rarely-minded-law-enforcement-now-it-suddenly-does/

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇱🇧 BREAKING: The U.S. National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan has told Israeli Officials that Washington will back an Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah if a diplomatic deal fails - Ynet

@Middle_East_Spectator

🇨🇦 🇭🇰 A rising trend of immigrants leaving Canada risks undermining one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's signature policies, which granted permanent residency to a record 2.5 million people in just eight years

🔶️ Hong Kong people and other immigrants are fleeing Canada because of the high cost of living. In just the first six months of 2023, about 42,000 individuals of various origins left the country, the Canadian government reported. This was on top of 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 who headed for the exit in 2021, said Statistics Canada.

🔶️ Reuters interviewed a Hong Kong woman named Cara, 25, who came to Canada in 2022. She pays C$650 (US$474 or HK$3,700) in monthly rent for a single-room basement apartment in Scarborough, north of Toronto, which is about 30 per cent of her monthly take-home salary. “I never realized that living in a Western country, you can only afford renting a room in the basement,” she said.

📎 Reuters

⚔️ 🇹🇩 🌍 Will Africa’s Next Coup Be in Chad?

🔶️ "Chad is holding a constitutional referendum on Sunday, the outcome of which could further destabilize the Sahel."

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/13/africa-deby-coup-chad-sudan-darfur

https://archive.ph/mS7G9

🇪🇺 EU says it will take in slightly more refugees from third countries

Ylva Johansson, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, said at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva that some 61,000 places for resettlement and humanitarian admission would be granted.

Resettlement is the transfer of refugees from an asylum country to another state. Some wealthy countries, including non-EU member Switzerland, have temporarily suspended such admissions, citing pressure on their asylum systems.

"I am happy to announce that for 2024 and 2025 I have from 14 Member States pledges for resettlement and humanitarian admission (for) more than 60,000 actually almost 61,000 people," she told reporters.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-says-it-will-take-slightly-more-refugees-third-countries-2023-12-14/

🇬🇾🇻🇪 Meeting between Maduro and the president of Guyana concluded with a willingness to "settle the territorial controversy" over Essequibo

The Chavista Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez, reported the culmination of the bilateral meeting, in a brief message that he published on the social network X, where he shared a video that shows both leaders standing up and shaking hands.

The Communication portfolio pointed out that in the "successful bilateral meeting" it was demonstrated that "the only way to resolve the territorial controversy is dialogue, with understanding and respect, free of interventionist intervention, prioritizing the well-being" of the region.

Ali insisted on the 1899 arbitration award

The president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, insisted this Thursday that the border between his country and Venezuela was defined with the Arbitration Award of 1899, before his meeting with Maduro

Governments have been secretly tracking the app activity of an unknown number of people using Apple and Google smartphones, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed today.

In a letter demanding that the Department of Justice update or repeal policies prohibiting companies from informing the public about these covert government requests, Wyden warned that "Apple and Google are in a unique position to facilitate government surveillance of how users are using particular apps."

Push notifications are used to provide a wide variety of alerts to app users. A friendly ding or text alert on the home screen notifies users about new text messages, emails, social media comments, news updates, packages delivered, gameplay nudges—basically any app activity where notifications have been enabled could be tracked by governments, Wyden said.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-secretly-giving-governments-push-notification-data/

🇻🇪🇬🇾Venezuela, Guyana agree not to use arms while talks continue

Venezuela and Guyana agreed not to use arms against each other in a first meeting to reduce tensions over the disputed Essequibo territory.

The initial talks between the countries’ presidents, Nicolás Maduro and Irfaan Ali, took place Thursday in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The two leaders are expected to meet again in Brazil within the next three months, according to a joint statement.

The parties also agreed to refrain from action or rhetoric that might escalate tensions, according to the statement.

Last week, during the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro - a customs union made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - South American countries released a statement urging “both parties to dialog and seek a peaceful solution to the dispute, in order to avoid unilateral actions and initiatives that could worsen it.”

🔎 Source
#Venezuela #Guyana

☠️ Blood Meridian

🚢 🇺🇸 🇾🇪 According to U.S. officials to Axios, the U.S. is expected to announce an upgraded multinational task force that will start operating in the Red Sea to deter and counter the Houthis.

🇾🇪 The additional naval ships is expected to boost the response time to Houthi attacks.

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/14/us-warns-yemens-houthis-stop-red-sea-attacks

📎 Global: Military-Info

JUST IN - Many injured after lawmaker detonates multiple grenades during a council meeting in Transcarpathia, western Ukraine.

Preliminary reasons why Transcarpathia MP Batryn detonated grenades became known

Deputies approved the budget for 2024 at the session. The mass media write that Batryn argued with them very strongly - he demanded that the deputies report on the budget for 2023, and then approve the budget for 2024.

A few minutes before the explosion, the deputy argued with his colleagues that it is not possible to give the village head a 50% bonus and a monthly bonus of 100% of his salary during the war. At some point, Batryn left the hall and returned 2 minutes and 40 seconds later.

*MAERSK TELLS ALL ITS CONTAINER SHIPS TO PAUSE RED SEA VOYAGES ...

🚢 🌍 Global Maritime Routes and Chokepoints

https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part1/interoceanic-passages/

📢 🇵🇭 🇨🇳 Philippine defense chief: Beijing is “converting the South China Sea into a lake of China.”

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/224375/china-is-converting-south-china-sea-into-a-lake-of-china-says-teodoro

⚡🇾🇪 Following Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd Shipping Company has stated that it will suspend all travel of it's commerical freighters through the Red Sea for the next three days, as they're examining whether to suspend it for the foreseeable future or not, as no final decision has been made.

This company is the 5th largest shipping company in the world.

@themediterraneanman

🚢 🌍 🇺🇸 "We shared this slide yesterday, but here are some (very basic) routing options from Asia to the USEC."

📎 Nathan Strang

🇵🇦 🚢 Over in the western hemisphere, meanwhile, the volume of ships willing to wait for the severely restricted Panama Canal has plummeted in recent weeks. Drought has forced the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to slash transits leading to a huge migration of ships transiting via other longer routes, something that is now about to play out in a large way at the Suez.

https://splash247.com/red-sea-traffic-comes-to-a-halt-for-many-seeking-naval-assistance/