#BREAKING

🇮🇶🇸🇾❗️ — Iraqi Government declares the shut down of all border crossings between Syria and Iraq!

❗️🇷🇺🇸🇾 Crisis in Syria (Hama province): Offensive by militants east of Hama, SAA loses Kalaat al-Madiq
Situation as of the end of December 2, 2024

The situation in Hama province was extremely difficult throughout the day and worsened by the evening.

▪️The militants moved reinforcements to the area north of Kalaat al-Madiq the day before and occupied Karaket and El-Arim. The enemy planned to attack Kalaat al-Madiq in the morning of this day, and ultimately carried it out, despite strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The militants' initial attacks failed, but at the moment the Syrians confirm the loss of Kalaat al-Madiq and that the fighting is now actually taking place south of the settlement, which indicates a difficult situation. Apparently, the enemy is approaching the Christian village of Skalbiya, which will face a massacre if the militants succeed.

▪️Fighting continues in the Al-Mughayr and Berij areas, as well as in the vicinity of Hamamiyat. The militants claim strikes by drones and ATGMs on Syrian tanks. At the same time, the Syrians, based on the available information and footage, are still holding back the attacks of the groups.

▪️The presence of militants remains in Kafr Zita and Al-Lataminah, while the Syrian armed forces are working with barrel bombs on Khan Sheikhoun and Maarrat An-Nu'man. The situation is stable in Halfaya, Taybat Al-Imam and Ma'ardes, the cities are under government control.

🔻At the same time, the militants consistently claim and post footage of drone strikes on the territory of Halfaya, Hama and the Hama military airfield. There were also reports today of the destruction of several tanks and other equipment, as well as one helicopter. The provincial capital was also subjected to shelling. In the Baas area, five people were killed and three were injured.

▪️The most difficult situation is observed northeast of Hama, where large concentrations of militants are recorded in the vicinity of the settlement of Maar Ash-Shihur and further north in Mrewad and Al-Mibattan. Apparently, they are trying to break through to the mountain range east of Hama, which could facilitate their further fighting in the vicinity of the city.

▪️At the same time, fighting continued in Fan Kubla throughout the day. Both the Syrians and the militant groups reported heavy fighting in the settlement. However, no one has yet claimed control over the city. In addition, information continues to emerge about the further advance of the militants to the east. However, so far they remain just words without objective control footage.

High-resolution map
English version
⭐️ Online maps are available by subnoscription at map.rybar.ru

#digest #map #Idlib #Syria #Hama
@rybar

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🇷🇺🔫🔫📈💸— 🇩🇪 BILD:

"Last year, Russia increased its arms sales by 40%

In 2023, military-industrial complex enterprises recorded a significant increase in sales, according to the new annual Top 100 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

The total volume of arms sales by the world's largest defense companies increased by 4.2% and amounted to 632 billion US dollars last year. At the same time, arms sales increased the most in Russia — by 40%.

“The sharp increase in arms sales by Russian companies in 2023 is associated with an increase in the production of various types of weapons, including air defense systems, some types of missiles, fighters, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems and weapons for ground forces”

— Sipri experts explained.

The rating also included four companies from Germany: their defense sales in 2023 amounted to 10 billion euros, which is 7.5% more than in the previous year. The largest growth was recorded by Diehl (83rd place, +30%), and Rheinmetall (26th place, +10%) also improved its position due to the growth in demand for weapons in Ukraine.

In 2023, the 41 U.S. companies in the Top 100 increased their defense sales by 2.5% to $314 billion, accounting for 31% of total sales.

At the same time, the two largest defense companies in the world — Lockheed Martin (-1.6%) and RTX (-1.3%) — recorded a decline.

“Many large defense companies producing complex weapons systems continued to struggle with rising costs and ongoing supply chain disruptions in 2023”

— the experts explain in their report."

🔗 Source:

🗣🆗🇺🇦🕊🇷🇺 — 🇩🇪 BILD:

"Former NATO chief backs idea of ​​Ukraine making temporary concessions to end war

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's temporary territorial concessions could be a step toward ending the war with Russia. In his opinion, such a measure does not mean that Kyiv will give up these territories forever.

"It is important that Ukraine receives security guarantees in return. This could be NATO membership or other measures to arm and support Ukrainians"

— Stoltenberg said in an interview with Table.Briefings.

The former NATO chief supported Zelensky's demand not to cede any territory to Russia in the event of a ceasefire, but stressed that this would be difficult to implement in practice.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously stated that a ceasefire along the front line is possible if Ukraine receives guarantees of joining NATO within internationally recognized borders. According to Zelensky, the restoration of the country's full territorial integrity is possible in the future through diplomatic means."

🔗 Source:

🆕🪙📍🇨🇳 — 🏴 ZeroHedge | China Discovers World's Largest Gold Deposit Worth $83 Billion | November 29, 2024:

"Chinese scientists have uncovered a "supergiant" deposit of high-quality gold ore hidden near some of the country's existing gold mines. The vast reserve, which could be the largest single reservoir of the valuable metal left anywhere on Earth, could end up being the largest known deposit of the precious metal anywhere in the world, and is worth more than $80 billion.

As LiveScience reports, the new deposit was uncovered at the Wangu gold field in the northeast of Hunan province, representatives from the Geological Bureau of Hunan Province (GBHP) told Chinese state media on Nov. 20. Workers detected more than 40 gold veins, which contained around 330 tons (300 metric tons) of gold down to a depth of 6,600 feet (2,000 meters). However, using 3D computer models, mining experts have predicted that there could be up to 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of gold — roughly eight times heavier than the Statute of Liberty — hidden at depths of up to 9,800 feet (3,000 m).

If true, the entire deposit is likely worth around 600 billion yuan ($83 billion), GBHP officials said."

#Geoeconomics

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🔗 Full:

🇻🇪🇻🇪❗️🇺🇸 — Nicolás Maduro stated that María Corina Machado has returned to Venezuela and is currently "at the headquarters of the United States Embassy."

🇧🇪 Belgium found guilty of crimes against humanity in colonial Congo

The Belgian state has been found guilty of crimes against humanity for the forced removal of five mixed-race children from their mothers in colonial Congo.

“This is a victory and a historic judgment,” Michèle Hirsch, one of the lawyers for the women, told local media. “It is the first time in Belgium and probably in Europe that a court has condemned the Belgian colonial state for crimes against humanity.”

Reversing an earlier decision, the court of appeal said their forced removal was “an inhuman act” and “persecution constituting a crime against humanity” in accordance with the Nuremberg tribunal statute, recognised by the UN general assembly in 1946.

The court of appeal rejected these arguments, noting that Belgium had been a signatory of the Nuremberg tribunal statue set up to convict Nazi crimes, which introduced the concept of crimes against humanity. The court ordered the state to pay the women €50,000 in damages each for the suffering caused by breaking their ties to their mothers, home environments and loss of identity. It also said the government must pay “more than €1m” in legal costs.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/02/belgium-found-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity-in-colonial-congo

GE Vernova's plans and projections for its BWRX-300 reactor: The picture presents projected deployments (number of reactors) in the US, Canada, UK and EU by 2035 and by 2050.

📎 James Hopf

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/30/ge-vernova-plans-for-small-nuclear-plants-across-the-developed-world.html

🇺🇦🌐📝❗️ — Ukraine officially renounces a set of guarantees that are substitutes for membership in NATO, says a statement of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The only real guarantee of security and a deterrent to further Russian aggression is Ukraine's full membership in NATO. Having the bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum behind us, we will not settle for any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for it."

➡️ The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that it was made "on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum."

"The memorandum was to be a significant step in strengthening global nuclear disarmament and to set an example for other states in renouncing nuclear weapons... However, it failed to prevent the aggression of the Russian Federation as a nuclear-weapon state against Ukraine as a state that renounced its nuclear arsenal." ,