🇰🇷✈️ 179 dead in South Korea’s worst plane crash in years

The final death toll from the plane crash in South Korea is 179, meaning just two people survived, the fire service says.

Two crew members survived the Jeju Air crash after being pulled from the plane’s tail, the fire service previously said. Both are in hospital, but their condition is not yet known.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/south-korea-plane-crash-12-29-24-intl-hnk/index.html

🇵🇱🪖 Poland Signs Nearly $4B in Contracts for Howitzers, Vehicles, Drones

In a major move to strengthen its military capabilities, Poland has signed contracts worth nearly 3.9-billion euros ($4 billion) with domestic suppliers to acquire cutting-edge howitzers, military vehicles, and advanced drones.

The first contract, signed with Polish Armaments Group subsidiary Huta Stalowa Wola, includes the delivery of 96 Krab self-propelled howitzers organized into four artillery modules, each consisting of 24 howitzers.

In addition to howitzers, the Polish government has also contracted Huta Stalowa Wola to supply more than 250 vehicles accompanying its K9 self-propelled howitzers.

Additionally, Poland’s armaments agency has signed a separate agreement with WB Electronics for 12 Force Protection drone systems valued at 117-million euros ($122 million).

Poland is among the NATO member states that has significantly increased its defense spending in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

https://thedefensepost.com/2024/12/27/poland-howitzers-vehicles-drones/

🇵🇱🪖🚜 Polish tractor maker turns to military production

The Ursus tractor factory in Poland, which faced bankruptcy earlier this year, will not be shutting down but instead will embark on a new chapter: producing military equipment.

The announcement comes after the factory’s acquisition by MI Crow, a company connected to Ukrainian entrepreneur Oleh Krot, for 74 million zloty.

After months of uncertainty for its employees, Ursus has confirmed that it will pivot from manufacturing tractors to producing military technology. The decision marks a return to the company’s historical roots. Before World War II, Zaklady Mechaniczne Ursus manufactured military equipment, including tank engines, chassis, and components for the Sokol motorcycle used by the Polish Army.

The transition of Ursus is part of a broader trend of Ukrainian enterprises establishing a footprint in Poland’s defense industry. Several Ukrainian companies already operate in Poland, producing reconnaissance drones, anti-tank missiles, and armored vehicles such as the Oncilla.

https://defence-blog.com/polish-tractor-maker-turns-to-military-production/

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia is intensifying its air war in Ukraine. A secretive factory is ramping up drone production to fuel the offensive

Over the last six months, Russia’s drone attacks have increased from around 400 in May to more than 2,400 in November, according to a CNN tally of data from Ukraine’s armed forces. There have been at least 1,700 drone strikes so far in December.

As the onslaught escalates, CNN has discovered new details about the expansion of a secretive factory fueling Moscow’s drone war. The plant at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, in Russia’s southern Tatarstan region, has significantly scaled up its production of Iranian-designed attack and surveillance drones, using a range of Chinese components, and recruiting a very young, low-skilled workforce of Russian teenagers and African women, according to CNN’s analysis of associated social media accounts and assessments by Ukrainian defense intelligence sources.

The sources, who spoke to CNN anonymously out of fear for their safety, said that the factory is now also producing thousands of “decoy” drones, designed to exhaust Ukrainian defenses. Satellite imagery analyzed by CNN and experts shows that two additional buildings have been constructed at the site, and security increased.

Alabuga is now the main plant for producing the Shahed-136 drone – or Geran-2, as Russia refers to it – with an agreement to produce 6,000 units by September 2025, according to the leaked documents. Alabuga appears to have already fulfilled that contract. The factory produced 2,738 Shahed drones in 2023, and more than doubled that number in the first nine months of 2024, producing 5,760 between January and September, according to the Ukrainian defense intelligence sources.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/27/europe/russia-ukraine-war-drones-alabuga-factory-intl-invs/index.html

🇵🇰Pro-Pakistan accounts call for military action against 🇦🇫Afghanistan

📈 Tensions are escalating online as pro-Pakistan social media accounts advocate for aggressive military action against Afghanistan.

These calls include demands for the Pakistani military to invade Afghan territory, establish a 30-kilometer "buffer zone" along the border and neutralise Afghanistan’s military assets.

👉 Some users are even suggesting to carry out targeted assassinations of senior Taliban leadership.

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#BREAKING

🇺🇸⚰️❗️ — Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, has passed away peacefully.

➡️ Chip Carter, a son of the former president, said his father died about 3:40 p.m. on Sunday in his Plains home.

🇮🇱❌🇾🇪 Israel is looking into mobilizing Navy to impose naval blockade on Houthis in Yemen; IDF warships & submarines are equipped for remote operations

Israel is boosting intelligence collection in Yemen, in cooperation with friendly intel agencies, report says; IDF estimates: Houthis will try to launch daily missile and/or drone attacks on Israel in coming week

🔗 Israel Radar

🇨🇳 China’s first commercial heavy-water reactor for isotopes begins production

China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC) first-ever commercial reactor for the production of isotopes has officially opened. Called the Qinshan Nuclear Power Base plant, it has already produced its first batch of Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) medical isotopes.

The plant opened for business on December 26 and uses online irradiation to produce isotopes like Lutetium-177. At the heart of the facility is a kind of heavy-water reactor known for its high neutron flux.

This reactor, it is reported, can be continuously refueled without being shut down and operate stably for long periods. It offers high efficiency, large output, high specific activity, continuous production, and a stable supply of isotopes for mass production.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-first-commercial-heavy-water-103028619.html?guccounter=1

🇷🇺🇪🇺 Telegram blocks Russian state-owned media channels in several EU countries

A number of major Russian news outlets had their Telegram channels blocked across several European Union countries on Dec. 28. Users attempting to access these channels now see a notice saying that the content has been restricted and is no longer available.

Restrictions apply to several Russian state-run or controlled media outlets, including RIA Novosti, Izvestia, Rossiya 1, Channel One, NTV, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

https://kyivindependent.com/telegram-blocks-russian-state-owned-media-channels-in-eu/

🇪🇬 Egypt completes trial run of new Suez Canal channel extension

Egypt said on Saturday it had successfully tested a new 10 km channel near the southern end of the Suez Canal, even as its revenue from the waterway has plunged since Yemen's Houthi militants began attacking vessels in the Red Sea.

The Suez Canal Authority said in a statement that during a trial run two ships passed through a new stretch of the canal's two-way section without incident.

Following the 2021 grounding of the container ship Ever Given that blocked the vital waterway for six days, Egypt accelerated plans to extend the second channel in the southern reaches of the canal and widen the existing channel.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypt-completes-trial-run-new-suez-canal-channel-extension-2024-12-28/

https://archive.ph/IZPEL

🏴❌🇦🇷❗️ — Argentine media reports that an Unknown armed group raided the Infantry base of the Third Regional Unit in Eldorado, Misiones, near the aeroclub, and stole its weapons.

➡️ During the assault, they killed Mauricio Miñarro, a non-commissioned officer who was on guard duty at the site.

➡️ According to reports, at the time of the attack, the victim was alone, since his colleagues were not present.

➡️ The attackers took FAL rifles and shotguns, and investigations suggest that they could be of foreign origin, presumably from Paraguay and Brazil.

➡️ A major security operation is currently underway, involving 1,600 police officers, drones and helicopters, to locate those responsible.