🔍Ukraine violates constitutional right to conscientious objection to draft – OHCHR

Ukraine's actions during the ongoing conflict have drawn criticism from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for violating key constitutional rights.

Among the key concerns raised:

📍Mobilization:
The right to conscientious objection to military service has continued to be subjected to undue restrictions in law and practice.

📍Freedom of religion or belief:
In territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine, new legal provisions regarding religious organizations entered into force; these prohibit the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian religious organizations found to be affiliated with counterparts in the Russian Federation. The law introducing these provisions established disproportionate restrictions on the freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief.

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⚔️Fatah's journey: One movement’s struggle for the liberation of Palestine through decades

January 1 marks the 65th anniversary of the creation of Fatah, the famous Palestinian liberation movement.

Despite Fatah being created sometime in the second half of the 1950s, the movement’s “birthday” is considered to be January 1, 1965 when it carried out its first combat operation on Israeli soil.

The movement’s name, Fatah, is the acronym in reverse for Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini, or “movement for the national liberation of Palestine”.

Established as a military-political organization of Palestinian Arabs, Fatah’s original goal was the expulsion of Jewish settlers from lands that Palestinians regard as their own.

After Israel’s occupation of vast swathes of Palestinian territories following the Six Day War in 1967, Fatah expanded its influence in the region.

Though originally regarded as a radical movement by many countries, Fatah managed to change its image in 1993 when its head Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords with the Israeli leadership – a deal meant to help achieve a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (a coalition to which Fatah belongs).

As a result of this agreement, Fatah gained international recognition and even became the head of the Palestinian National Authority.

Fatah, a nationalist movement, eventually found itself at odds with Hamas, another Palestinian group fighting for the expulsion of the Israelis from the Palestinian territories. Founded in 1987, Hamas is an Islamist organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood*.

Following the loss of the 2006 legislative elections in the Palestinian territories to Hamas, Fatah became embroiled in a violent conflict with them, which resulted in Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip while Fatah (through the PNA) retained control of West Bank.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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💬 Belarus outlines key priorities for EAEU presidency in 2025

Starting on January 1, Belarus will assume the presidency of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, and the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission for the year.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has outlined the following key priorities for the country's leadership of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2025:

📍Completing Integration Projects
Focusing on the establishment of a unified transport space and common energy markets within the union.

📍Strengthening Global Cooperation
Promoting the alignment of the EAEU's integration potential with that of the CIS, SCO, and BRICS.

📍Enhancing Information Coordination
Calling for improved information exchange within the union to effectively counter various destructive influences.

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❗️The Russian Armed Forces struck the infrastructure of energy facility ensuring the work of the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 330 servicemen in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down seven HIMARS missiles and 66 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 250 servicemen in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️The Black Sea Fleet aviation destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned boats.

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🔥WATCH: Lancets in action

Servicemen of the Russia's Zapad Battlegroup used Lancet drones to destroy a Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in the Donetsk People's Republic.

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‘Multipolarity’ and BRICS ‘trade ethics’ are key to a WTO reboot

The World Trade Organization (WTO) must embrace the trade ethics championed by BRICS to achieve a much-needed reboot, financial analyst Paul Goncharoff told Sputnik.

“I feel it is essential to bring the multipolarity and ethics of the trade systems envisioned by BRICS into the WTO as part of its reboot and restructuring,” the general director of consulting firm Goncharoff LLC said.

Issues with the WTO:

🔹 Although the WTO was established 30 years ago to serve as an objective arbiter of trade disputes, it has since been hijacked by the US to serve its own financial and geopolitical interests as a “rubber stamp bureau.”

🔹 Highlighting the need to restart the WTO at the G20 Summit in 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin “put voice to what was long known and seen but as yet insufficiently acknowledged in any open world forum.”

🔹 The WTO's top appeals bench has been effectively paralyzed for years due to Washington's blocking of adjudicator appointments, leaving the organization “unable or unwilling” to play an impartial role in addressing restrictions such as US unipolar sanctions.

What could be next for the organization?

🔸 Countries aligned with BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), ASEAN, etc., would likely become the driving force behind a WTO restart, Goncharoff speculated.

🔸 However, he warned of “intense resistance from the US and its satellites of interest.”

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📹THROWBACK: Biden’s ‘incredibly sharp’ and ‘on top of things’

Who else remembers the PR campaign of the century?

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🎯Houthis claim to have shot down second US MQ-9 Reaper drone in 72 hours

Yemen’s Houthi-led Ansar Allah armed forces shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Marib province, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said as quoted by the Al Masirah TV channel.

He said the drone was conducting hostile operations and was intercepted by Yemeni air defenses.

Saree added this was the second MQ-9 Reaper destroyed by the Houthis in 72 hours, bringing the total to 14 US drones downed since the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

In November last year, Yemeni forces began attacking what they say are ships associated with Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in response to Tel Aviv’s military assault on the Gaza Strip. The US and the UK have since launched a series of strikes at targets in Yemen.

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Ten people were killed and 30 injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street.

According to ABC News, citing police, the driver's actions were likely intentional, and the suspect has not yet been apprehended.

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📍Putin and Xi lead 'new international financial architecture' through BRICS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping may be “remembered as the architects of a new international financial architecture”, Adriel Kasonta, a London-based foreign affairs analyst and former chairman of the International Affairs Committee at the Bow Group think tank, told Sputnik.

📍Russia’s role in BRICS

When it comes to Russia’s role in BRICS development, Moscow “has been a driving force behind this coalition of powerful emerging economies”, Kasonta pointed out.


📍BRICS’ global significance

▪️The organization has already transformed into “a significant force on the global stage”, which is evident in the increasing interest from non-Western countries wanting to join BRICS, according to the analyst.

▪️“The inclusivity of the BRICS project, which contrasts with the exclusivity often found in neoliberal Western institutions, makes it even more appealing to emerging countries that seek to take control of their own geo-economic futures.”

▪️BRICS “offers a renewed opportunity for formerly colonized countries to define their economic future without being further exploited by past colonial powers”, Kasonta concluded.

2024 saw the accession of new members to BRICS, in addition to Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa. The group currently includes these five members plus Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

The group’s summit that took place in the Russian city of Kazan in October set criteria for new members and touted plans to expand the role of BRICS’ National Development Bank, among other decisions.

#2024Overview

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