news

nothing ever happens

notre-dame was such a gathering of ghouls, wow

After 25 years, Mercosur and the EU have sealed a historic agreement. The deal must be approved by all Mercosur legislatures, receive the green light from the European Council (with 27 heads of state), and pass through the European Parliament with its 720 votes.

The EU-Mercosur agreement will create one of the largest free-trade areas in the world, with tariffs removed for key EU exporting industries. Kicked off in 1999, negotiations for the EU-Mercosur deal yielded a first 'political agreement' in 2019. Its ratification by member states was, however, withheld due to widespread farmers' discontent and continued concerns over the discrepancies of environmental standards between the EU and the South American bloc.

The agreement is meant to create one of the largest free-trade areas in the world, with tariffs removed for key EU exporting industries, such as cars, machinery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. In total, the deal will eliminate import duties on 91% of EU exports to Mercosur countries, as well as 92% of Mercosur exports to the EU, according to Commission data.

In the agri-food sector, the agreement will gradually eliminate 93% of tariffs on EU exports to Mercosur countries, including on wine, spirits, olive oil and canned peaches, while also liberalising 82% of agricultural imports. Critics of the agreement, including the governments of France and Poland, have warned against increased cheap food imports from the Mercosur bloc, which they argue create unfair competition for European farmers due to differences in environmental standards.

Seeking to assuage ongoing concerns, in 2019, the Commission proposed a financial support package of up to €1 billion in the event of market disturbance. However, von der Leyen did not refer to this package during Friday's press conference. Meanwhile, over the last few weeks, France was aiming to build a so-called “blocking minority” against the deal – consisting of at least four countries representing at least 35% of the EU population. While only Poland explicitly spoke out against the deal, other countries are also said to have reservations, including Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The United States was not given a heads up about the declaration of martial law in South Korea, per NSC. Lee Jae-myung, Han Dong-hoon, and Woo Won-sik have been arrested. - Yonhap

It's Yoonback???!

New Mercouris video https://youtu.be/o9-jvZo8EUM

Russian allied troops pour into Syria; Counter offensive coming

From what I understand I'm going to try to spitball some possible scenarios for the future in Syria, I'm not gonna bother attributing probabilities to them cos fuck if I know.

This is all based on the assumption that the rebel and oppositions groups are not 100% beholden to US/Israel interests, the guy they had on Radio War Nerd stated that this offensive was most likely a rebel initiative, and that their backers in Turkey were not itching to depose Assad immediately.

-Islamist rebels and opposition groups manage to stabilize the country, islamists make some deal with the kurds so they don't have to fight

-Rebels attempt to break into kurd territory (civil war)

-Infighting among rebel groups escalates (civil war)

-Israel and turkey say fuck it and both annex whatever chunk of syrian land they want

-Rebels make some type of deal with Iran, for example allowing the land bridge to lebanon to continue in exchance for non-interference

-Rebels keep their sectarianism and al-qaeda past in check and don't commit many serious massacres or sectarian discrimination

-Rebels are literally al-qaeda in syria and commit many serious massacres and sectarian discrimination

-Assad is still alive and does government in exile, either gets abandoned by every ally as they recognize the rebel government or doesn't, no in-between.

-Rebels do 9/11 for russia or iran as reprisal for backing assad.

-Iraq scenario: Unstable and impoverished country that nevertheless manages to keep civil war at bay, becomes political battle ground for american and iranian proxies

-Afghanistan scenario: Rebel government is left mostly alone but is too politically unseemly to be fully integrated into the "rules based order"

-Libya scenario: Eventually another civil war

-New scenario: Syria becomes a total US/Israel proxy

If anyone want to add to this be my guest

Does anyone have info on drone usage in the 2015 syrian fighting?

Asking because video after video of FPV drones is coming out and I'm concerned that this was not hugely occurring in the last conflict but because of the success of drones vs armour in Ukraine has now become standard warfare that Syria is perhaps not currently equipped or trained in dealing with.

My concern right now is that the side with the most drones and the capabilities to deal with or at least mitigate them is the side that will win any modern war that doesn't become trench and artillery warfare, which I suspect is mainly because of the terrain in Europe lending itself to it.

Vice-Chair Of Denmark's Naturalization Committee Resigns In Protest Over Racist Interviews

Helene Brydensholt, MP for the small green radlib "Alternative" party and vice-chair of the Integration and Naturalization Committee in Denmark's rubber-stamp parliament, has resigned in protest against new "mindset interviews" being conducted for the first time as part of the Danish citizenship process. These interviews target three applicants who, despite meeting all stated criteria for citizenship, have been singled out for questioning by the parliamentary committee about their "democratic mindset" due to controversial social media posts. Legal experts have warned that the interviews violates several basic legal principles and can be in violation of international law.

• Source: DR (state media), December 2nd 2024

Starting up the next news mega early given the bombshell that's happened.

Russian Channel One, quoting sources in the Kremlin: 'Former President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived safely in Moscow'

'Iran warned Assad two months ago that HTS was preparing to make a move, but he dismissed the threat. So the Turkish Foreign Minister gave us assurances that nothing will take place, which turned out to be a lie. After HTS entered Western Aleppo, Iran expected Assad to ask for military assistance, and we were fully prepared to oblige with troops and whatever else was needed – but no such request came. After Aleppo fell, it became clear that Assad had no real intentions of staying in power, so we started to engage in diplomatic talks with the opposition, and arranged the safe exit of our troops from Syria. If the SAA does not fight, neither will we risk our soldiers' lives. Russia and the UAE had managed to convince him to step down, so there was nothing we could do.' – Iranian Officials

Idk if this is true, could be Iranian cope or Assad really was this dumb

do you think the dictator willl relent or do we have to send Al-Quaida ?

https://nitter.poast.org/paulnovosad/status/1865110654446899640

South Korea - Majority Wins As President's Putsch Fails | Moon of Alabama

good summary of the six-hour attempt to seize power in occupied korea. no brainworms that I noticed

Kinda funny how all the opposition I see in English online against Georgia joining the EU is complaining about woke and immigrants