Six In The Morning Friday 15 December 2023

Ukraine confident it will secure €50bn in EU aid despite Orbán veto

Kyiv hopeful ‘all necessary legal procedures’ will be completed at EU summit in January

Ukraine has expressed confidence it will receive a €50bn aid package from the EU, despite Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbánvetoing the funding at a crucial summit in Brussels.

In a statement, the foreign ministry in Kyiv shrugged off Orbán’s blocking tactics. It said it expected “all necessary legal procedures” to be completed at an EU summit in January, with the aid delivered “as soon as possible”.

“This is a clear signal that the financial support of Ukraine from the EU will continue,” it said. It added that the cash would be used to “modernise” the state and speed up its integration into the EU bloc.

Yemen: Maersk halts Red Sea shipping after another attack

Maersk has paused Red Sea container shipments after two incidents in as many days, the first involving one of its vessels. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have intensified attacks on ships in the area in recent weeks.

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday that it was pausing container shipments through the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen until further notice.

This comes a day after one of its ships suffered a near-miss, and as another vessel belonging to Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd sustained damage but no injuries on Friday.

“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” the company said in a statement.

The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump

A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.

In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found.

Afghanistan: Taliban sends abused women to prison – UN

By Nicholas Yong BBC News

The Taliban government in Afghanistan is putting women abuse survivors in prison and claiming it is for their protection, according to a UN report.


The UN said the practice harms the survivors’ mental and physical health.
There are also no more state-sponsored women’s shelters as the Taliban government sees no need for such centres, the report noted.
The Taliban’s suppression of women’s rights in Afghanistan is one of the harshest in the world.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) said that gender-based violence against Afghan women and girls was known to be high even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Kishida’s gamble to oust powerful LDP faction may plague gov’t

By Tomoyuki Tachikawa

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s gamble to replace all ministers from the largest faction within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party over a political fundraising scandal could make it more difficult for him to manage the government.

Kishida aimed to end political distrust by excluding lawmakers belonging to the faction, previously led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but opposition from the biggest intraparty group has intensified, which could prevent him from achieving key policies.

Criticism of Kishida’s leadership over the latest scandal has also been mounting, prompting more politicians within the LDP to keep their distance from the administration as speculation has been rife that he would be compelled to resign around the spring.

Police officer stoned to death after rescuing FGM survivors in Kenya

Activists see the killing as a setback in the efforts to eliminate the practice, despite it being illegal in the east African country

Efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation in Kenya have suffered a setback after a police officer was killed in a confrontation with a gang of youths.

Activists and local leaders condemned the murder, calling it a backward step in the fight to eradicate the practice in the country. Police in Elgeyo Marakwet county, in the Rift Valley region, had taken a group of girls who had been forced to undergo the illegal procedure to hospital when a mob of young men stormed a police station and stoned Cpl Mushote Boma to death.

“They are told the cut makes women more mature and avoid promiscuity. They are also told that they will lose any respect within the community by marrying an uncut woman. That is why they will kill anyone, including a policeman, who interferes with the cut,” Mwebia said.