NewsBiden's final Christmas tree lighting; global turmoil persists
Biden's final Christmas tree lighting; global turmoil persists
It happened while you were asleep. Here's what global agencies reported overnight from Thursday to Friday.
ed. Mateusz Czmiel
- President Joe Biden ceremoniously illuminated the Christmas tree lights in front of the White House on Thursday for the last time in his term. The ceremony, themed "Season of Peace and Light," was attended by around 12,000 people. Just before pressing the button to illuminate the 12-metre tree at the Ellipse Park near the White House, Biden expressed his hope for Americans to "continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency."
- On Friday, the leader of South Korea's ruling party called for the suspension of President Yoon Suk Yeol's constitutional powers for attempting to declare martial law. This increases the likelihood of the president being removed from office through impeachment.
- The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled not to extradite Chechen Selima Hadisova to Russia, which had issued a warrant for her arrest on terrorism charges, according to the Bosnian portal Vijesti on Thursday. The court determined that the "appropriate legal conditions" for extradition to Russia were not fulfilled. A decision was also made to release Hadisova from custody, where she had been detained for over two months. The 33-year-old was arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29th September when she arrived by plane in Sarajevo with her three children from Istanbul. Moscow seeks her on terrorism charges.
- In the past five years, Serbia has extradited five Chinese citizens. Belgrade and Beijing are working on improving cooperation in this area, reported the Balkan bureau of Radio Free Europe on Thursday. Although the extradition process to China gained attention in 2021 when one Chinese citizen was sent there from Serbia, new data from the Ministry of Justice indicates that extraditions have occurred more frequently than previously thought, according to RFE. For the agreement to become effective, it must be ratified by Serbian parliamentarians. The treaty also requires ratification in China.
- A bronze monument of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin, former leaders of the Wagner Group accused of numerous crimes, has been unveiled in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). Prigozhin is depicted in a bulletproof vest holding three ammunition magazines and a walkie-talkie. His deputy, Utkin, is shown with a slightly lowered AK-47 rifle. Prigozhin and Utkin died in a plane crash northwest of Moscow on 23rd August 2023, two months after a mutiny in which mercenaries they recruited took over the Russian city of Rostov and began a march on the capital, which was ultimately halted.
- Ongoing fighting for over a week between rebels and the government army has forced more than 280,000 residents of northern Syria to become refugees - the UN reported on Thursday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 727 people have already died in the conflict, including 111 civilians. On Thursday, the rebels captured another major city, Hama.
- After 33 years since declaring independence, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have finally agreed on the course of their shared border - authorities in Bishkek and Dushanbe reported. Government delegations from both countries, led by Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Prime Minister Kamchybek Tashiev and Tajikistan's Chairman of the National Security State Committee Saymumin Yatimov, met in Batken, a city in the southwestern part of Kyrgyzstan, and agreed on the final shape of the border delimitation and demarcation. Bishkek and Dushanbe are preparing documentation on this matter. According to statements from both sides, the legal procedures will take several months.
