Ukraine’s allies fall short of Russia’s on arms help, raising 2024 risks
Europe is supplying Ukraine only a fraction of the shells it needs, while North Korea has stepped up for Russia. That, say analysts, raises challenges for Kyiv next year.
In March of this year, Ukraine asked its European allies for a quarter of a million shells a month. Its full battle plan, then-Defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said, required at least 350,000. Ukraine was then rationing itself to just 110,000 a month and needed Europe to help make up the difference.
The European Union pledged a million shells within a year – a third of what Ukraine had requested. By the end of November, it had delivered 300,000 from the stockpiles of European armies. It has four months to make up the difference, but further deliveries have to come from new production, said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
Ohio grand jury to decide whether to charge woman who miscarried for ‘abuse of a corpse’
Brittany Watts’s water broke prematurely and she miscarried at home; when she went to the hospital a nurse called the police
A grand jury is set to decide whether an Ohio woman who miscarried a nonviable fetus should face criminal consequences.
Brittany Watts, who was reportedly turned into the police after her September miscarriage, has been charged with the fifth-degree felony of “abuse of a corpse” in Trumbull county, Ohio. Her case has been held up as evidence of how easily pregnant people can find themselves in law enforcement’s crosshairs – especially since the overturning of Roe v Wade and amid tightening abortion restrictions in the US.
Brazil militia leader ‘Zinho’ surrenders to police
The state of Rio de Janeiro’s “public enemy Number 1” has turned himself in after years on the run. Luis Antonio da Silva Braga is believed to be the leader of Rio’s largest criminal militia.
One of Brazil’s top criminal leaders has surrendered after negotiations with local authorities, according to the country’s federal police.
Luis Antonio da Silva Braga, better known as “Zinho,” had been on the run since 2018 and is the subject of at least a dozen outstanding warrants, according to a police statement issued late Sunday.
‘Public enemy Number 1’
“Zinho” had been designated the state of Rio de Janeiro’s “public enemy Number 1.” He is now in custody awaiting trial, according to a police statement.
“After the formalities due to his arrest, the inmate was taken for medical forensics and then sent to the state’s prison system, where he will remain available for our courts,” the statement read.
DR Congo’s government bans protests against election ‘irregularities’
Democratic Republic of Congo’s government on Tuesday banned an opposition protest planned for Wednesday over last week’s chaotic national election as early results showed President Felix Tshisekedi in the lead.
Five opposition presidential candidates called the joint demonstration in the capital Kinshasa over alleged election irregularities.
But on Tuesday the government banned the event, saying it did not have a legal basis and aimed at undermining the electoral process while the CENI election commission was still compiling results.
“No government in the world can accept this, so we will not let it happen,” Vice Prime Minister Peter Kazadi told a press conference.
Daihatsu shuts plants over scandal; host towns at a loss
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 26, 2023 at 15:20 JST
Embattled Daihatsu Motor Co. halted domestic vehicle assembly plants after admitting decades of fraudulent certification tests, alarming the municipalities, suppliers and workers that rely on the automaker as a lifeline.
Vehicle production stopped at Daihatsu plants in Ryuo, Shiga Prefecture, and Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, and a subsidiary plant in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
The company’s vehicle assembly operations came to a screeching halt when its plant in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, suspended production on Dec. 26.
Chinese chess: Xiangqi champion suspended for bad behaviour
By Nadia Ragozhina BBC News
The winner of a Xiangqi, or Chinese chess, tournament has been stripped of his title after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Yan Chenglong has also been accused of cheating by using a communication device analogous to anal beads.
The 48-year-old has been stripped of his title and banned from playing for a year.
However, the Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA) says it’s impossible to prove accusations of cheating.
Xiangqi has been hugely popular across Asia for hundreds of years.
According to the CXA, Mr Yan started drinking with friends in his hotel room shortly after winning the title of “Xiangqi King” at a national tournament held on the Chinese island of Hainan last week.
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