FinPol Digest

 According to a source acquainted with the situation, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is planning to create a number of long-range missiles with a maximum range of roughly 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) and hopes to deploy them in the 2030s. According to Kyodo, the government intends to deploy a missile with a range of 2,000 km by the early 2030s and a 3,000 km hypersonic missile with a range that can reach any location in North Korea and some areas of China by 2035. As regional tensions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine fuel war worries, Japan this month launched its largest military build-up since World War Two with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and prepare it for sustained battle.

 Authorities from Turkiye and France discussed recent violent events that have taken place in Paris since last week, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. In a phone call with his French counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu underlined that France had now seen the "true face" of terrorist organisations following violent protests by supporters of the PKK terror group in Paris that left dozens injured. Cavusoglu told Catherine Colonna that "black propaganda" against Ankara since the violence erupted was "unacceptable" and urged Paris not to allow its spread. He further emphasised that it was "unacceptable" for French politicians to make appearances in photos with the ringleader and banners of the terrorist group displayed behind them. Last Friday, supporters of the PKK terror group amassed the site of a deadly shooting in the French capital, perpetrating acts of violence and clashing with security in protests that ens...

 The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas issued a statement yesterday criticizing the EU over Resolution no. 2949/2022 (RSP), on the prospects for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. In a political memorandum, Hamas said the resolution "contained several inaccuracies and contradictions about the Palestinian issue", noting that it "is heavily biased against the Palestinians' inherent and legitimate rights to freedom, return and self-determination." Among the issues raised with the resolution, the movement said it has sided with the Israeli occupation's narrative while ignoring the Palestinian people's legitimate right to resistance and self-defense. "Voting against this right is considered a great sin that Europeans have committed, once again. This vote also reflects the double standards with which the European Union deals with issues of peoples and freedoms around the world." "In recent months, we have seen the European posit...

Russian forces can store frozen sperm in a cryobank for free, according to a Russian lawyer. Igor Trunov, the head of the Russian Union of Lawyers, said that the health ministry responded to his appeal for a free cryobank. According to the lawyer, the soldiers can go to clinics to have their sperm frozen. Russia’s health ministry responded to his appeal and said that the soldiers can avail of those services. The demand for sperm freezing first emerged in October, according to the BBC. Russia’s Moskovskij Komsomolets newspaper also claimed that there had been a surge in sperm freezing after Russian President Vladimir Putin called Russian soldiers to support the war in Ukraine. BBC’s Russian correspondent Steve Rosenberg earlier reported that healthy men wanted to freeze their sperm because they wanted the possibility of being a father in the future. The US (United States) General, Mark Milley, said that around 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since Russia’s invasion...

 More than 600 Palestinian children were kept by Israeli courts under house arrest in 2022, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Commission said that the Israeli occupation authorities resort to house arrest in occupied East Jerusalem as a form of punishment for children under the age of 14 because Israeli law does not permit their imprisonment. Courts usually order the detention of children in their homes for a period during which the cases against them are examined and a ruling is issued. This process may take a few days or up to a year or more. The sentence issued against the child does not, however, take into account the period spent in house detention. During this period, children are forced not to leave their homes;  they must wear a tracking device, and will not be allowed to attend a school or even go to a clinic without being accompanied by a supervisor. Very often, parents are forced to sell their homes or use the...

 Polls opened in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as residents began voting in Sunday's local elections. A total of 208,236 registered voters are eligible to cast their votes in 768 ballot boxes across the country. Voters will choose 18 mayors, 220 city council members, 240 headmen and 960 council of elders, according to the country's Supreme Election Board (YSK). Turkish Cypriots will decide on 67 candidates, six of them women, for the mayoral posts. Voting started at 8 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), with polls to close at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). Partners in the TRNC's ruling coalition — the National Unity Party, Democrat Party, and Rebirth Party — are participating in the elections as a full alliance. Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, with the TRNC founded in 1983, several years after Turkiye's military intervention on the island as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution, violence, and eth...

Israel's Contact Office in Rabat coordinated on Thursday an occasion to praise the second commemoration of standardization among Israel and Morocco. The occasion was facilitated by Mohammad V Public Auditorium in Rabat and a few conciliatory and political figures conveyed discourses. Many individuals from Israel and Morocco went to the occasion to praise their obligation to progress territorial success and harmony between the two nations, Morocco World News detailed. Top of the Israeli Contact Office in Rabat, Alona Fisher Kamm, said: "This occasion is an extraordinary chance to commend the extraordinary accomplishments of the most recent two years between our two nations." She expressed that the two years saw visits by priests, consenting to arrangements, and the improvement of the travel industry, and social and monetary relations. On 10 December 2020, Israel and Morocco declared the resumption of their discretionary relations, which were stopped in 2000.

 Jimmy 'MrBeast' Donaldson, the most subscribed YouTuber, has asked if he can be the new CEO of Twitter. His statement came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk launched a poll asking Twitter users if he should remain the CEO of the micro-blogging platform. Around 57 percent of voters, or 10 million votes, favored Musk stepping down from the post of the Twitter CEO. Sharing the poll, Musk reportedly said that he would step down as the CEO of Twitter once he finds a suitable replacement for the post. He reportedly wrote on Twitter , “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” Subsequently, the YouTuber asked on Twitter, "Can I be the new Twitter CEO?" Responding to his tweet, Twitter's current CEO said, "It's not out of the question." Since taking over Twitter, Musk has turned to polls for various questions. He often turns to social media polls and shares answers on Twitter. Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is a fa...

  Israeli occupation authorities yesterday banned 12 and 13-year-old Palestinian boys from Jerusalem's Old City for ten days, Safa news agency reported. The two boys, who were identified as Izzidin Jamjoum and his cousin Anas Jamjoum, were first detained over claims that they had played with the Hanukkah menorah. Later, Izzidin's mother was summoned to the Israeli detention center in the Old City and was told that the two boys will be released on condition that they are banned from the Old City for ten days. Safa reported local sources saying that the two boys were detained as they exited Al-Aqsa Mosque. They were taken to an Israeli interrogation center and remained in custody for three hours.

 Algerian Sports Minister Abdel Razzak Sabkak announced on Tuesday that the new football stadium currently under construction near Algiers will be named after the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, Anadolu news agency has reported. Sabkak made the announcement at a press conference. The new stadium will have a 40,000 capacity and will host the opening ceremony of the next African Nations Championship. The tournament is scheduled to be held in stadiums across Algeria from 13 January to 4 February 2023. Mandela was a revolutionary politician who struggled against the apartheid regime in South Africa. After his release from prison and the fall of apartheid he served as president between 1994 and 1999. He had a special relationship with the Algerian Liberation Revolution (1954-1962). In 1961, Mandela received his first military training in the ranks of the National Liberation Army in Algeria. He also sent a number of African National Congress resistance fighters to Algeria to re...

  The Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) in Tunisia yesterday announced that 21 candidates won in the first round of the legislative elections, and the second round of voting was to open in 133 constituencies, according to preliminary data. ISIE spokesman, Mohamed Tlili Mansri, said: "The preliminary data relating to counting the election results showed that 21 candidates won in the first round." "The second round of these elections will include 133 out of 161 constituencies," Mansri added. He continued, "19 candidates out of the 21 who won in this round, ran the elections in constituencies in which one or two candidates ran." According to the ISIE on Saturday, only 803,638 voters out of 9,163,502 participated in the elections; making up only 8.8 percent of the electorate. The figure was revised to 11.2 percent yesterday.

 Qatar welcomed more than 1.4 million visitors from around the world during the FIFA World Cup tournament which ended yesterday with Argentina beating France to lift the trophy, the Qatar News Agency has reported. The total attendance figure for all matches combined was 3.4m people. The average attendance was above 53,000 per match, more than 96 percent of the total capacity. "We organized an exceptional, impressive tournament," said Hassan Al-Thawadi, Secretary General of Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. "It will represent a milestone in hosting major international events," Al-Thawadi added that the historic event will leave a sustainable social, economic, and environmental legacy for the country and, in fact, the whole region. Sixty-three matches were played in eight stadiums across the 28 days of the tournament. The stadiums were all within an hour's drive of central Doha.

 Israeli occupation officers have been forcing Palestinians to strip at military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Maan News Agency reported on Friday. Palestinian residents have complained to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and asked it to urgently interfere to stop this humiliating practice, but nothing has yet been done. Bassam Abu Eisha, one of the residents of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, shared: "Men, women, and children are being harassed by the Israeli occupation at Tel Rumeida Checkpoint." Speaking to Maan, he added: "Harassing Palestinians at this checkpoint has increased as the Israeli occupation officers have started to ask all the people who pass through the checkpoint to take off their clothes." Abu Eisha said that harassment increased in the evening: "We are running out of patience and started to organize protests every night in front of the checkpoints, but nothing has changed. We feel that we are alone. However, we will co...

 On Thursday, Libya's acting prime minister confirmed and defended the extradition of the man who is thought to have built the bomb that brought down a Pan Am aircraft over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.  Premier Abdelhamid Dbeibah of Tripoli claimed that by cooperating "when it comes to crimes done outside of its jurisdiction," he has "behaved with respect for the sovereignty of Libya."  Since his extradition, Dbeibah has faced harsh condemnation from both political opponents and human rights advocates.  The suspected intelligence agent for Muammar Qaddafi's government in Libya, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, 71, appeared in a US court on Monday to answer charges related to the terror attack that claimed 270 lives.  Two years ago, the US brought charges against him in connection with the Lockerbie bombing.  Masud was "responsible for the bomb-making cell" under Qaddafi's rule, according to Dbeibah, who made the claim in a speech that was aired on n...

 President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has asked the US to help pressure Ethiopia to reach an agreement with Egypt regarding the Renaissance Dam, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of reaching a diplomatic solution between all parties. On the sidelines of his visit to Washington to attend the US-Africa summit, Al-Sisi raised the Renaissance Dam file with Blinken and noted: "This is a very vital and existential matter to us." He added: "Reaching a legally binding agreement can achieve something good in accordance with international standards and norms. We are not asking for anything other than that. We need your support on this matter." The US State Department shared in a statement after the meeting that Blinken: "Stressed the importance of reaching a diplomatic settlement that protects the interests of all parties." It added that the US Secretary raised with Al-Sisi the issue of respect for human rights in Egypt, emphasizing: ...

 A Spanish court yesterday acquitted Brazilian football star Neymar and other defendants in a fraud and corruption case over his 2013 transfer to Barcelona from Santos after prosecutors dropped all charges, Reuters reported. The suit had been brought by Brazilian investment firm DIS, the owner of 40 percent of the rights to Neymar when he was at Santos. He now plays for Paris Saint-Germain. DIS argued it had lost out on a cut from the transfer because its true value was understated and sought a five-year jail term for Neymar and a total fine of €149 million ($157 million) for the defendants. In October, prosecutor Luis Garcia Canton asked the Barcelona court to acquit all defendants as there was "not the slightest hint of a crime". In addition to Neymar, the list of co-defendants included both his parents and their company, N&N, which manages the Brazilian player's affairs, in addition to former Barcelona executives Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu and former Santos ...

 Notorious pro-Israel campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has protested against the waving of the Palestinian flag by the Moroccan football team at the 2022 Qatar World Cup . According to the Jewish Chronicle, the London-based charity wrote to FIFA Disciplinary Committee Chair Jorge Palacio accusing the North African country of breaching FIFA rules. Palacio was asked by UKLFI to open an immediate investigation and that he pronounce interim measures to prevent any repetition of such violations at the semi-final tomorrow and at the final of the third-place playoff on Saturday. UKLFI claims that Morocco has breached Article 11.2 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code which says that anyone who uses "a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature" may be subject to disciplinary measures. Morocco was also accused of breaching several other disciplinary codes. The Palestinian flag has been ubiquitous throughout the tournament in Qatar. The red, white, black, and green ...

 Two pro-government Yemeni soldiers have been killed in an ambush while escorting a United Nations official convoy in eastern Yemen, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said yesterday. The IOM spokesperson told Russia Today (RT) that the two soldiers were killed while escorting a convoy traveling west from Yemen's Seiyun to Marib. "No IOM staff, who were on an unspecified humanitarian mission , were injured in the attack," the spokesperson added. The Associated Press quoted the region's tribal leader and a UN official as saying that the ambush took place near Al-Abr town in Yemen's eastern province of Hadhramaut.

 Israeli media has reported that Israel has threatened to bomb Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, claiming it was used to smuggle weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. It suggested that Iran is trying to use a new smuggling passageway through Beirut after the failure of the Damascus passageway, adding that Tel Aviv is investigating Tehran's attempt to smuggle weapons through civilian flights to Beirut. On Thursday, the Lebanese authorities denied news that the Iranian Meraj Airlines had transported weapons to the Hezbollah group through Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. This came during a press conference at the airport, where Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi and Director General of Civil Aviation Fadi Al-Hassan were present. Mawlawi denied transporting weapons through Meraj Airlines, stressing: "The airport security apparatus is aware of everything that enters and exits Lebanon." Saudi Arabia's Al-Hadath channel had discussed the use of Iran...

 The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Syria announced that it will distribute one-time emergency cash assistance to the Palestinian families of persons with disabilities. "This assistance comes within the framework of the Winter Assistance Project funded by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations, to support a specific group of the neediest people, in coordination with the General Authority for Palestinian Arab Refugees," the Agency said in a statement. "The distribution process will start from 11 to 18 December, where each family with one or more people with disabilities will receive an amount of 321,000 Syrian pounds ($56), for one time only", it added. UNRWA noted that "messages will be sent to the beneficiary families, including details of the place and date of receipt," calling on the beneficiaries to "monitor their mobile phones, and to always be in coverage mod...

 The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Gaza started an archaeological excavation project yesterday in a Roman cemetery in the north of the coastal enclave. The project is funded by the French School of Antiquities. The director-general of the ministry, Jamal Abu Rida, pointed out that details about funerals during the Roman era have been discovered through the initial excavations. He said that the way that the remains of the bodies are arranged suggests that the people buried in the cemetery were high-ranking Romans. Abu Rida explained previously that "several discoveries" have been made in the past, but this is the "most important" archaeological discovery in the past ten years. The work at the cemetery has been supervised by a team of French experts. It was discovered by a construction crew working on an Egyptian-funded housing project in February this year. The Hamas-run government in Gaza stopped the construction project immediately and closed...

 Former Cameroon and Barcelona football star Samuel Eto'o issued an apology yesterday after he was filmed kneeing an Algerian YouTuber in the face, after being approached by the social media personality following Brazil's 4-1 win over South Korea during the World Cup knockout stages in Doha, Qatar, the night before. In the video, which has been widely shared on social media, the 41-year-old who is currently the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation and an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup, was approached by fans for selfies as he left Stadium 974. He was then approached by Said Mamouni who was holding a video camera and reportedly asked whether Eto'o had bribed the referee prior to Cameroon's World Cup qualifying playoff victory over Algeria in March. Eto'o has criticized Algerian fans since the contentious match, while Algeria complained to FIFA over the refereeing, initially demanding a re-match. An enraged Eto'o can then be seen trying to pursue...

 The Iranian judiciary has closed a jewelry store and restaurant belonging to football legend Ali Daei after he supported protesters' calls for strikes this week, local media reported yesterday. The ISNA news agency, quoting the judiciary media center, said Daei's shop and restaurant in Tehran's fashionable north end had been ordered to close. ISNA added that "after cooperating with anti-revolutionary groups in cyberspace to obstruct peace and business of the market, a court order was issued to close the Noor Jewelry Showroom." It added that an order had been issued to close a restaurant linked to Daei, without providing further details. Daei said last week that he had been targeted with threats after supporting the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died on 16 September while in the custody of the morality police, for violating the strict dress code imposed on women in the Islamic Republic. Protests have been ongoing since her death. Da...

 Egypt and Sudan have launched a joint military exercise dubbed Guardian of the South-2 at the border guard training fields complex in Egypt , Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson, Colonel Gharib Abdel Hafez, announced yesterday. "The Egyptian border guards and the Sudanese infantry are participating in the exercise, which will last for several days," Colonel Abdel Hafez said in a statement. The first phase of the training included an "exhibition of weapons and equipment used by border security to combat smuggling and infiltration, as well as lectures and practical exercises for both sides to exchange combat expertise," the statement added. This comes within the framework of the "joint training plan to transfer and exchange experiences, enhance aspects of military cooperation, and develop joint action between the Egyptian and Sudanese armed forces." Over the past two years, the Egyptian and Sudanese armies have increased joint exercises, in light of tension...

 Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has stated that he would not take lessons on democracy from Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli media reported on Friday. "Mr. Netanyahu, I will not take lessons in democracy from you. Not from someone who runs a foreign-funded poison machine that deals in slander and defamation of the lowest kind," Lapid posted on Facebook. Lapid added that he would not take lessons: "From one who stood on the steps of the courthouse and incited against the rule of law. Not from the one who currently appointed a person convicted of supporting terror to be the minister of internal security and a serial convicted felon to the minister of the interior." Lapid refers to the far-right religious newly elected MKs Itamar Ben-Gvir, Aryeh Deri, and Bezalel Smotrich, who will become ministers in the next Likud-led government. Furiously, Lapid added: "Not from someone who broke every promise he ever made, and even his ...

 The head of the Libyan Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, yesterday said his country intends to pay its outstanding debts to Tunisia this month, in addition to unifying the border customs point between the two countries. This came during Dbeibeh's meeting in Tunis with the head of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), Samir Majoul, and members of the union, according to the Libyan Hakomitna platform. "The Libyan government will pay $250 million outstanding debt to Tunisia before the end of this year, and the amount is related to medical debts for Libyan patients and electricity dues," Dbeibeh said. Tunisian hospitals received wounded Libyans during the wars that Libya witnessed in the past years. Libya also linked its electrical network in the west of the country with Tunisia to compensate for the shortage of production due to the damage to the electrical transmission towers. He added: "Customs officials in Libya and Tunisia...

 Israel's defence minister has warned the country that he is "worried" about the strength and solidity of the Israel Defence Forces. "If the rumours are real," said Benny Gantz yesterday, "then I am very worried about the existence of the Israeli army as a people's army." Far-right hardliners close to the leader of the extremist Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been criticising the army lately in an apparent attempt to force senior officers to adopt more extreme measures in the occupied Palestinian territories. There is an emerging rift between the army elite and the settler militias led by Ben-Gvir and his wife. Addressing the Israeli people, former chief of staff Gantz stressed that whoever cares for Israeli soldiers does not harm their commanders, and does not play "dangerous political games" behind their backs.