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Geopolitics

Ukraine Arrests, Pistorius "Besotted," Dinodog

Oscar Pistorius's trial goes on Tuesday
Oscar Pistorius's trial goes on Tuesday
Worldcrunch

"COUNTERTERRORISM" UNDERWAY IN EAST UKRAINE
The Ukrainian police arrested 70 pro-Russian protesters who were occupying government buildings in the eastern city of Kharkiv as part of what acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov described as “a counterterrorism operation,” Ria Novosti reports. According to Reuters, the standoff continues in Luhansk and Donetsk.

  • The recent events have reignited the blame game between the West and Russia, with Kiev accusing Moscow of being behind the separatist movements. In a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry warned Russia that any move to destabilize Ukraine “would incur costs.” Meanwhile, NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Russia “to step back” and to pull back the “tens of thousands of troops” stationed on the border with Ukraine.

  • Lavrov dismissed accusations that Russia was destabilizing Ukraine and said Moscow was ready for negotiations with the U.S., the EU and Ukraine, including representatives of the eastern regions of Ukraine, which “believe that their interests are being ignored by Kiev.” RT reports. In a statement released last night, Russia’s Foreign Ministry urged Kiev “to immediately stop all military preparations which could lead to a civil war,” and claimed that “150 American mercenaries from a private company Greystone Ltd.” were among the operation sent by Kiev to Eastern Ukraine.

  • In today’s editorial,The New York Times draws the parallel between the events in Crimea last month and now in Ukraine’s industrial heartland. “The United States and Europe have said time and again that further Russian aggression would prompt a stern and painful response. Now is the time to prepare it.” Meanwhile, The Washington Postreports that Europe’s dependency on Russian gas is fueling the cause of shale gas, particularly in Britain.

VERBATIM
“I was besotted,” Oscar Pistorius testified this morning in his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, saying he was taken with her than she was with him. Read more from NBC News.

IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS RESUME
Negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program resumed today in the Austrian capital of Vienna. According to PressTV, both sides are expected to discuss a further reduction of the country’s nuclear capabilities as well as mechanisms for inspections, the ultimate goal being to turn the interim deal reached in November into a permanent agreement, AFP reports.

OBAMA AND KERRY TO MEET ABOUT MIDEAST TALKS
Barack Obama and his Secretary of State John Kerry will meet today to discuss the future of the U.S.-backed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which are on the verge of collapse, Al Arabiya reports. This comes as negotiators from both sides failed to reach a breakthrough earlier today, although an Israeli official said they would meet again. Read more from Reuters.

WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
As Radikal’s Ayse Adanali reports, forced marriage of children is still alive and well in Turkey despite laws against it. “I came back home from work,” one woman told the journalist about her own tragic fate. “The man my sister had married one night before brought her back home saying she was not a virgin. He was furious. My father, who was scared to death that his honor would be harmed, offered him my youngest sister. I intervened, saying that I would marry him. What was I going to do? My sister was just a child, 11 years old. I was 14.”
Read the full article:
To Shield Their Daughters, Former Child Brides In Turkey Recount The Horror.

MADURO TO MEET WITH OPPOSITION
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has agreed to meet with an opposition delegation, after a top-level reunion with South American Foreign Ministers, newspaperEl Universalreports. Only the moderate party Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) has so far agreed to the meeting, which will take place today. According to AFP, its leaders seek “change without unseating Maduro.” 39 people have died since the beginning of violent protests in Venezuela two months ago.

MY GRAND-PÈRE'S WORLD

INDEPENDENTS LOSE IN QUEBEC
Quebec’s independent party, Parti Québecois, suffered big losses during yesterday’s election, 18 months after forming a minority government. The Liberal Party is believed to have won 70 of Quebec’s 125 electoral seats, The Montreal Gazette reports. The campaign focused essentially on the independents’ bid for the French-speaking region to become autonomous and the party’s controversial “Charter of Values,” which would have banned public employees from wearing “conspicuous religious symbols.” Some feared the proposed legislation would mean they stood to lose their jobs too.

FAREWELL
British journalist and TV personality Peaches Geldof, the daughter of musician Bob Geldof, died suddenly Monday at age 25.

$44 MILLION
The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is projected to be the most expensive in aviation history.

WITH GREAT POWER…
After Ukraine’s Darth Vader, another superhero is now campaigning from window to window for a parliamentary seat in India.

DINODOG
Yes, someone did groom this poor pooch to look like Yoshi, the dinosaur character in Mario video games.

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FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

Why The U.S. Lost Its Leverage In The Middle East — And May Never Get It Back

In the Israel-Hamas war, Qatar now plays the key role in negotiations, while the United States appears increasingly disengaged. Shifts in the region and beyond require that Washington move quickly or risk ceding influence to China and others for the long term.

Photograph of U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken  shaking hands with sraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

November 30, 2023, Tel Aviv, Israel: U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Chuck Kennedy/U.S State/ZUMA
Sébastien Boussois

-Analysis-

PARIS — Upon assuming office in 2008, then-President Barack Obama declared that United States would gradually begin withdrawing from various conflict zones across the globe, initiating a complex process that has had a major impact on the international landscape ever since.

This started with the American departure from Iraq in 2010, and was followed by Donald Trump's presidency, during which the "Make America Great Again" policy redirected attention to America's domestic interests.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

The withdrawal trend resumed under Joe Biden, who ordered the exit of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021. To maintain a foothold in all intricate regions to the east, America requires secure and stable partnerships. The recent struggle in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demonstrates that Washington increasingly relies on the allied Gulf states for any enduring influence.

Since the collapse of the Camp David Accords in 1999 during Bill Clinton's tenure, Washington has consistently supported Israel without pursuing renewed peace talks that could have led to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

While President Joe Biden's recent challenges in pushing for a Gaza ceasefire met with resistance from an unyielding Benjamin Netanyahu, they also stem from the United States' overall disengagement from the issue over the past two decades. Biden now is seeking to re-engage in the Israel-Palestine matter, yet it is Qatar that is the primary broker for significant negotiations such as the release of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire —a situation the United States lacks the leverage to enforce.

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