2017 Week 49

Content

December 3, 2017 (Sunday) edithistorywatch Armed conflicts and attacks Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Battle of Sana'a (2017) The Royal Saudi Air Force bombs Houthi positions in southern Sana'a in support of Ali Abdullah Saleh-headed General People's Congress. (Reuters) Business and economy Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announces the creation of the petro cryptocurrency in a bid to ease the country's ongoing socioeconomic crisis. (BBC) Disasters and accidents A 10-tonne fishing boat collides with a 336-tonne fuel tanker near Yeongheung Island, South Korea, killing 13 of the 22 people on board the fishing boat. Two people remain missing. (Radio New Zealand) International relations History of the Communist Party of China General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping concludes a two-day "high-level dialogue" with party leaders from 120 countries. The program he announces includes the full funding by the Communist Party of China of 15,000 visits from foreign party leaders over the next five years "to deepen exchanges". (The Australian) Law and crime In Tel Aviv, up to 20,000 people demonstrate in front of the home of the Attorney General of Israel, Avichai Mandelblit, against the slow pace of corruption investigations against Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. (Newsweek) The lawyer of Ahmed Shafiq, a candidate for the spring 2018 presidential elections in Egypt, says she met him in a hotel room in Cairo following his arrest the day before in Dubai, U.A.E., after saying earlier today that his family didn't know his whereabouts. (Ahram Online) (BBC) Politics and elections Corsican territorial election The pro-autonomy coalition party Pè a Corsica obtains 45% of the votes in the first round of the Corsican Assembly elections preceding the replacement of the departments of Haute Corse and Corse-du-Sud and the region of Corsica, France, with a single territorial collectivity. Two "miscellaneous right" parties and La République En Marche! also achieve the 7% election threshold to reach the secound round. (France TV Info) (France 3) (Los Angeles Times) Ukrainian crisis Several thousand opposition supporters demonstrate in central Kiev, calling for the parliament to adopt legislation on presidential impeachment. (RFE/RL) Sports Sri Lankan cricket team in India in 2017–18 Sri Lanka cricket players take to wearing masks to combat smog pollution that disrupts the third Test against India in Delhi. (BBC) The Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the NFL's Detroit Lions and the NBA's Detroit Pistons, was to be partially imploded as part of its planned demolition; however, approximately 10% of the explosives do not detonate, and the attempted implosion fails. (NBC) (New York Times) December 4, 2017 (Monday) edithistorywatch Armed conflicts and attacks Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen; Yemeni Civil War Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is killed by Houthi forces in a roadside attack outside Sana'a after an earlier attack on his house. (BBC) (NPR) Israeli intervention in the Syrian Civil War For the second time in three days, Israel carries out a missile strike on military facilities near Damascus. (Daily Star UK) International relations Positions on Jerusalem Jordan's foreign minister Ayman Safadi has warned the U.S. of "dangerous consequences" if it recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (BBC) Hamas calls the U.S. government's plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel "a flagrant attack on the city by the American administration" and threatens to start a Third Intifada. (France 24) Turkey's deputy foreign minister Bekir Bozdag warns of a "major catastrophe" if the U.S. moves its embassy to Jerusalem as planned in the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The last six-month presidential waiver delaying the move was signed on June 1. (Deutsche Welle) (The Daily Mail) 2017 North Korea crisis South Korea and the United States launch their largest-ever annual joint aerial drill. (The Australian) A high-level United Nations delegation led by Department of Political Affairs head Jeffrey D. Feltman travels to North Korea for talks this week. It will be the first such diplomatic visit in six years. (The Guardian) Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 France puts the concern on the E.U. Ecofin agenda that the current version of the United States fiscal act would unduly penalize E.U. companies by taxing their U.S. operations beyond locally produced value added. (Le Figaro) Executive Order 13769 The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the act banning most people from eight countries, six of them Muslim-majority, to travel to the United States can take full effect pending legal challenges. (U.S. News & World Report) Law and crime Syrian Civil War The British government suspends payments to the so-called Free Syrian Police after a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that the cash has been diverted to the Salafist rebel groups of Nour al-Din al-Zenki and Jabhat al-Nusra, police officers being hand-picked by these groups, dead people appearing on the payroll and some police officers participating in summary executions. (BBC) Murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia Malta arrests 10 people over the investigative journalist's murder on October 16. (CNN) 2017 Spanish constitutional crisis The prosecutor in a Brussels court repeats the demand to extradite Carles Puigdemont and four other former Catalan officials to Spain. The defense says that the adduced facts are "not punishable" under Belgian law. The judge delays the decision until December 14. (Politico.eu) The Supreme Court of Spain grants six former Catalan officials bail of €100,000 each. Four other people, Oriol Junqueras, Joaquim Forn and two leading activists, remain in jail over the "risk of re-offending". (Bloomberg) Investigation of Apple's transfer pricing arrangements with Ireland Apple Inc. and Ireland agree on an interim deal to put €13 billion in an escrow fund for the repayment of back taxes, starting early 2018. Still, both parties refute that the alleged "sweetheart" corporate tax deals were illegal. In 2016, the European Commission found that an unfair advantage of €13 billion is to be reimbursed. (SiliconRepublic) Politics and elections The Eurogroup selects Mário Centeno, Portugal's Minister of Finance, to succeed Jeroen Dijsselbloem as their next president. (Chicago Tribune) Federal lands in Utah U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders shrinking the Bears Ears National Monument area by 85% and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by half. (Fox News) Roy Moore sexual abuse allegations Debbie Wesson Gibson, one of the women accusing Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, shares evidence of their relationship when she was 17 to the press. (Washington Post) December 5, 2017 (Tuesday) edithistorywatch Arts and culture The last King of Romania, Michael I, dies at the age of 96. (BBC), (Reuters) A summer 1941 Simon Templar (The Saint) novel by Leslie Charteris, titled The Saint's Second Front, describing a military attack by Japan on America—and subsequently rejected from publication for political reasons—emerges at a private auction after the work was presumed lost. (The Sun) Business and economy Eurofighter GmbH offers Belgium a national cyber defense network—suggesting telecommunications security on par with United Kingdom intelligence, which would save Belgium €1.6 billion per year—in exchange for buying 34 of their multirole combat aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon. (Het Laatste Nieuws) Disasters and accidents 2017 California wildfires Thomas Fire Due to persistent high winds, a fire begins and quickly spreads—at a rate of up to one acre per second—near Santa Paula, California, covering now at least 50,000 acres (200 km2), crawling into the edges of Ventura and cutting power to 260,000 homes. 7,700 houses are under mandatory evacuation. (LA Times) (CNN) Cyclone Ockhi Gujarat and Maharastra are on high alert because of Cyclone Ockhi. (Times of India) Meerbusch train crash A passenger train runs into the rear of a freight train at Meerbusch, Germany. Forty-seven people are injured, three seriously.(BBC) International relations Positions on Jerusalem Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells Donald Trump that Turkey might cut ties with Israel if the United States unilaterally recognizes Jerusalem as its capital. (BBC) According to a Palestinian spokesman, Donald Trump calls Mahmoud Abbas, "outlining his intentions" to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The Palestinian President warns him against the dangers of such a step and says that he will continue reaching out to world leaders to prevent it from happening. (CNN) Gulf Cooperation Council, Qatar–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict At a GCC summit in Kuwait City, the United Arab Emirates announce a political and military alliance with Saudi Arabia. (The Guardian) Russia–United States relations Russia names Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and seven affiliated news media as foreign agents. The move comes after the United States government ordered the Russian government-funded television network RT America to register as a foreign agent. (The Washington Post) Law and crime Ukrainian crisis As police arrive at the stateless Mikheil Saakashvili's house in Kiev to detain him, Saakashvili goes up on the roof to protest verbally. Police then detain him and try to take him away in a blue minivan while hundreds of people block the street. Finally the supporters free him out of the van. Bespeeching the cameras again, he rails against corruption, against Petro Poroshenko and urges Ukrainians to "be afraid of nothing". (The Guardian) (U.S. News & World Report) (Reuters) (Interfax Ukraine) Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko claims in a briefing that Saakashvili received $500,000 from the fugitive Serhiy Kurchenko for his activities in Ukraine. He also says Severion Dangadze, an associate of Saakashvili's Movement of New Forces, had been arrested. (Interfax Ukraine) 2017 Spanish constitutional crisis Spain withdraws the international arrest warrant for five former Catalan officials now residing in Belgium. The charges of sedition and rebellion, however, remain. (BBC) Recognition of same-sex unions in Austria Austria's Constitutional Court rules that the government cannot discriminate against same-sex couples' right to marry. (The New York Times) Politics and elections Aftermath of the Honduran general election, 2017 After several days of violent protests due to allegations of electoral fraud, Honduran police have announced that they will not enforce a government-mandated curfew. (The Guardian) 2017 United States political sexual scandals U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) steps down amid allegations of sexual harassment. (NPR) Science and technology Reinforcement learning In just a few hours, DeepMind's AI AlphaZero learn to master both chess and shogi, beating top chess software Stockfish and Elmo without domain knowledge. (Critical Hit) Sports Sri Lankan cricket team in India in 2017–18, Smog in Delhi Sri Lankan fast bowler Suranga Lakmal vomits and is taken off the field while levels of harmful pollutants exceed World Health Organization safe limits 12 times. Later in the game Indian pacer Mohammed Shami also vomits. December 3 already saw the first forced break in play in international cricket history. (The Guardian) 2018 Winter Olympics, Doping in Russia A 14-person International Olympic Committee panel bans Russia from the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, after a report finds evidence of systemic doping cheating in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Any "clean" Russian athletes will compete under the name "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) and the Olympic flag. (Yahoo! Sports) December 6, 2017 (Wednesday) edithistorywatch Armed conflicts and attacks Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War President Vladimir Putin declares victory over the Islamic State terror group across both banks of the river Euphrates. (TASS) The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Russian air strikes kill 21 people in a village on the eastern side of the Euphrates river in Deir al-Zor province. (Reuters) Arts and culture The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is brought to reply to an online petition signed by thousands of people. The museum refuses to stop displaying a Balthus painting, Thérèse rêvant. (The Telegraph) (Le Nouvel Obs) Finland celebrates its 100 years of independence. (Yle News) Michelin unveils its first Michelin Guide for Bangkok, Thailand, which is the sixth city in Asia and second in Southeast Asia after Singapore. (CNN) Weinstein effect The "Silence Breakers", including those involved in the #MeToo movement, are named Time magazine's 2017 Time Person of the Year. (Time) (AP) Health and environment UNICEF reports that as many as 17 million babies worldwide face potential brain development issues due to their exposure to toxicity levels more than six times higher than considered safe in air. (BBC) International relations United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital U.S. President Donald Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and says the U.S. starts the process of moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The United States Department of State issues an internal travel warning to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank until December 20. The U.S. embassy in Amman temporarily suspends routine public services and stops embassy travel around Jordan. Embassies in Berlin and London issue vigilance warnings to U.S. citizens. (CNN) (Reuters) (BBC) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises the announcement as a "historic landmark." (BBC) President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas says the move undermines the U.S. position as a peace mediator while the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas says that the decision would "open the gates of hell on U.S. interests in the region." (BBC) The Arab League calls it "a dangerous measure that would have repercussions" and also questions the future role of the U.S. as a "trusted mediator" in peace talks. (BBC) Protests against the decision break out in Jordan, State of Palestine, and Turkey. (BBC), (Reuters) The decision draws critical reaction from key U.S. allies that include the EU, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. (Chicago Tribune) (BBC) Pope Francis urges respect for the status quo for Jerusalem and calls for "wisdom and prudence" to avoid further conflict. (ABC News) Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres criticizes the announcement, saying that it "would jeopardise the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians".(BBC) Eight of the 15 current United Nations Security Council members call to hold an urgent meeting on the U.S. decision. The meeting is expected for December 8. (BBC) (The Guardian) Suspected sonic attack on the United States Embassy in Havana Investigators discover brain abnormalities in the victims. They are now carefully not using the term "sonic" to describe the attacks and there is growing skepticism it was caused by a sonic device, with the sound heard by victims being a by-product of the brain damage. The white matter of the brains showed changes which doctors believe could not be caused by sound. (Yahoo News) Sanctions against North Korea An Institute for Science and International Security study indicates that (between March 2014 and September 2017) a total of 49 countries violated United Nations sanctions against North Korea to varying degrees. (CNN) Law and crime Crime in France A French court does not order the custody of Suleyman Kerimov but sets a €40 million bail and tighter controls. Kerimov was arrested on November 21 in a money laundering and tax fraud case. (TASS) Politics and elections Politics of Lebanon The Lebanese cautiously welcome a political agreement that enables Prime Minister Saad Hariri to officially withdraw his unexpected November 4 resignation. (The Daily Star) Ukrainian crisis Police raid the wrong tent of an activist camp in Kiev and fail to arrest the stateless opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili. A police source says police are preparing a special operation and will be unleashed "in the near future". (The Daily Star) (TASS) Politics of Russia President Vladimir Putin announces his participation in the 2018 presidential election. (The Western Journal) Science and technology The U.S. Government Accountability Office starts a study into the (currently unregulated) length of freight trains. (Reuters) ULAS J1342+0928 A study published in Nature and the Astrophysical Journal Letters describes the discovery of the most distant supermassive black hole ever, around 13.1 billion light years away. (The Verge) Sports 2017–18 UEFA Champions League In football, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the shared all-time top scorer in the UEFA Champions League group stage and he is the first person to score in all six group stage matches, by adding to Real Madrid C.F.'s 3–2 win against Borussia Dortmund. With a 7–0 victory over FC Spartak Moscow, Liverpool F.C. is the fifth English club to qualify for the knockout phase; a first too. (De Standaard) (Gazet van Antwerpen) December 7, 2017 (Thursday) edithistorywatch International relations Positions on Jerusalem The Czech Republic recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel's capital "in practice". (Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expresses interest in moving his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (Haaretz) Greek–Turkish relations The President of Turkey embarks on a two-day state visit of Greece. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's démarche is a first in 65 years. (The Guardian) (Reuters) European migrant crisis, Treaty on European Union The European Commission orders Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary to court over their refusal to incorporate more refugees. This is the third step in a process that may lead to fines and loss of the countries' voting rights in the European Union. (De Standaard) (Die Zeit) Economic globalization Fifteen countries ask the World Trade Organization a mandate to negotiate binding rules on e-commerce, days after India turned down negotiations. (Economic Times) Law and crime Same-sex marriage in Australia The Parliament of Australia votes to make same-sex marriage legal in Australia. (The Australian) Aztec High School shooting Three people, including the gunman, are killed in a school shooting at Aztec High School in New Mexico. (MSN) 2016–17 purges in Turkey Peoples’ Democratic Party’s co-chair Selahattin Demirtas remains behind bars until the next hearing, scheduled for February 14, 2018. He risks 142 years in prison. (Turkey Purge) Aftermath of the AMIA bombing In a 491-page ruling, a court indicts former President of Argentina Cristina Fernández for treason and orders for her arrest for "trying to cover up Iran's possible role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people". Former foreign affairs minister Héctor Timerman is also concerned. Both have previously denied wrongdoing. (Reuters) Politics and elections 2017 United States political sexual scandals United States Senator Al Franken announces that he will resign "in the coming weeks" amid sexual harassment allegations. (Time) Arizona Congressman Trent Franks announces that he will resign on January 31, 2018. This announcement comes after two of his employees filed a complaint about his conduct, and the House Ethics Committee opened a sexual harassment investigation. (Fox News) Nepalese legislative election, 2017 Voters in Nepal go to the polls for the second round of a historic legislative election. The turnout is 67%, up from 65% in the first round. (Foreign Affairs) (Economic Times) Cabinet of Germany The Social Democratic Party congress votes to start talks on "whether and in what form" to support a new federal government. (The Washington Post) Politics of Poland Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo resigns just hours after surviving an opposition no-confidence motion. She will be replaced by Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, according to the ruling Law and Justice party. (BBC) Sports UEFA Euro 2020 Eurostadium in Brussels, Belgium, is unselected as a host for the UEFA Euro 2020 football competition, ceding its place for group stage matches to Wembley Stadium in London, England. Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel says the city made the error of wanting to build a stadium outside its territory. (voetbalnieuws.be) (VRT) December 8, 2017 (Friday) edithistorywatch Armed conflicts and attacks Syrian Civil War Russian jets carry out airstrikes in a village in the northwestern Idlib Governorate, where a de-escalation zone exists, killing at least five civilians. (World Bulletin) 2017 Semuliki attack Suspected Allied Democratic Forces militants in North Kivu, DR Congo, kill at least 15 United Nations peacekeepers, mostly Tanzanian, and five Congolese soldiers, and wound 53 other people. An unknown number of the rebels are killed. Over 90 peacekeepers have been killed since the mission started in 1999. (The Guardian) Business and economy Japan–European Union relations The European Union and Japan announce that they concluded negotiations on a trade deal. (Reuters) Disasters and accidents December 2017 Southern California wildfires Donald Trump approves California's request for an emergency declaration, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts across five Southern California counties. (Los Angeles Times) International relations United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov says that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the United States "runs counter to common sense." (Reuters) Clashes erupt in Bethlehem and Hebron. Dozens of people throw stones at Israel Defense Forces who reply with tear gas and water cannon. More than 200 people are wounded. One person was killed. The Health Minister of the Palestinian National Authority named the man killed on the Gaza Strip border. (BBC) (Reuters) Demonstrators across the Arab and Muslim worlds take to the streets on Friday, holy day, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and outrage at the U.S. move. (Reuters) 14 of the 15 United Nations Security Council members denounce the United States' stance on Jerusalem. (The Wall Street Journal) Brexit negotiations The European Union and the United Kingdom reach agreement on the first stage of Brexit including the status of the border between the U.K. and Ireland. (CNN) 2017 North Korean crisis, Japan–North Korea relations The Japanese Minister of Defense says that his country is to procure medium-range missiles. This purchase is controversial for a country that renounced the right to wage war. (Reuters) Treaty on European Union, Politics of Poland Poland's Sejm approves controversial judiciary changes amid accusations of threat to democracy. (The Guardian) Law and crime Crime in Japan Three people are killed in a rampage involving swords near the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in Japan. (The Japan Times) (The Asahi Shimbun) Politics and elections 2017 United States political sexual scandals Trent Franks, a United States representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district, announces his immediate resignation, following allegations that he asked a female staffer to be a surrogate mother for him. Franks previously announced that he would resign from Congress in January 2018. (KSAZ-TV) 2018 United States federal budget Trump signs a continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown for another two weeks. Congress has until December 22 to hash out differences over funding DACA, CHIP, tax reform, and military funding within the limits of the Budget Control Act of 2011. (Fox News) (U.S. News & World Report) Presidency of Donald Trump The White House announces that Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell will leave the Trump administration early 2018. (The Hill) Ukrainian crisis Mikheil Saakashvili is arrested again by the National Police of Ukraine. He was on the run since December 5. He has been leading anti-corruption rallies against Petro Poroshenko. (RTL Nieuws) (BBC) December 9, 2017 (Saturday) edithistorywatch Armed conflicts and attacks United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital Hundreds of people protest on the West Bank and in Gaza for the third day in a row. (BBC) Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017), American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present), Iraq–United States relations Iraq announces that its war against Islamic State (IS) is over. The United States Department of State welcomes the end of the "vile occupation" and says that the fight continues. (BBC) Arts and culture Egyptology Archaeologists in Egypt display items, including figurines, masks and a mummy, from one of two previously unexplored tombs, Kampp 150 and Kampp 161, in the ancient Nile city of Luxor. (BBC) (National Geographic) Business and economy The 1.6-hectare populated hamlet of Alwine in Uebigau-Wahrenbrück district, Germany, is sold for 140,000 € at a public auction. (AFP via Daily Nation) Sports 2017 MLS Cup In association football, Toronto win their first MLS Cup defeating the Seattle Sounders 2–0 in the final, becoming the first MLS team to complete the domestic treble. (AFP via Yahoo! 7) College football In the annual Army–Navy Game, the Army Black Knights defeat the Navy Midshipmen 14–13, winning back to back for the first time since 1995–1996 and winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the first time in 21 years. (CBS Sports) Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield wins the Heisman Trophy as the NCAA’s most outstanding player for the 2017 college football season. (Fox News)

Created 19 Dec 2017 Last updated 11 Feb 2018