Saudi embassy in Kabul resumes full operations

Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced the resumption of activities at its embassy in Kabul, more than three years after withdrawing its diplomats during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

“Based on the desire of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide all services to the brotherly Afghan people, it has been decided to resume the activities of the mission of the Kingdom in Kabul starting on December 22,” the embassy posted on social media site X.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the level of Saudi representation in Kabul.

Riyadh announced on August 15, 2021 that it had withdrawn its diplomats from the Afghan capital because of the “unstable situation” created by the Taliban’s return to power. Later in November, Saudi Arabia said it was resuming only consular services in Afghanistan. It also provides humanitarian aid in the country through its KSRelief organisation.

Earlier this month, Russia moved a step closer towards recognising the Taliban government in Afghanistan after its parliament okayed a law that would make it possible to remove the Taliban from Moscow’s list of banned terrorist organisations.

However, the Taliban government remains unrecognised by any country.

Israel bombs al-Mawasi camps, school amid wave of attacks across Gaza

Israel pounded Gaza overnight with deadly attacks targeting displaced people in two camps and a school, as it ordered the forced evacuation of one of the last hospitals barely operating in the enclave’s besieged north.

The military launched a wave of attacks on the so-called “safe zone” of al-Mawasi in the south, setting refugee tents ablaze in a drone attack that killed seven people, with further strikes on a civilian car and a vehicle carrying security personnel killing four others.

In separate attacks, the military targeted a school housing displaced people in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing one person. It also killed four people in an area north of the camp, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The raids capped a bloody 24 hours in the Strip, with medical sources telling Wafa news agency that a total of 50 people had been killed since early Sunday.

As the attacks continued, the military ordered the closure and forced evacuation of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, endangering about 400 civilians, including babies in incubators.

The hospital is one of the few still functioning in the north, where thousands of people have been trapped under a punishing siege for nearly three months.

Wafa reported on Sunday that Israeli forces had been targeting the hospital with bombs, artillery shells and sniper fire, specifically striking the women’s, maternity, and neonatal wards, killing three civilians.

The head of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safia, told news agency Reuters that the military was directly targeting fuel tanks, which could potentially “cause a large explosion and mass casualties of the civilians inside”.

Obeying the order to shut down was “next to impossible” because there were not enough ambulances to get patients out, he said.

Honda and Nissan officially begin merger talks

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda on Monday announced they had entered into official talks to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales.

In a press conference on Monday, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the companies needed greater scale to compete in the development of new technologies in electric vehicles and intelligent driving. A business integration would give the companies an “edge that will not be possible under the current collaboration framework,” Mibe said, according to a translation.

The deal would aim to share intelligence and resources and deliver economies of scale and synergies while protecting both brands, he said.

A holding company would be formed as the parent company of both Honda and Nissan, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The larger Honda will nominate most of the integrated entity’s board members. The merged group has the potential to deliver revenue of 30 trillion yen ($191.4 billion) and operating profit of over 3 trillion yen, he said.

Mibe added that if approved, the integration would be a mid to long-term project that is currently not expected to show visible progress until 2030 and beyond.

Nissan’s strategic partner Mitsubishi has been offered the chance to join the new group and will take a decision by the end of January 2025.

The companies are grappling with intense global competition in the EV market from the likes of Tesla and China’s BYD.

The proposed deal was first reported by Japan’s Nikkei newspaper on Dec. 17.

According to reports, Nissan shares spiked following the initial report of a merger. Analysts say the potential tie-up is a result of financial underperformance at the company and of the restructure of its longstanding partnership with France’s Renault.

In its most recent quarterly results, Nissan said it would cut 9,000 jobs and reduce global production capacity by a fifth.

Honda CEO Mibe on Monday said some of the company’s shareholders may feel that the deal would represent Honda supporting Nissan, but noted the merger was “based on the assumption that Nissan completes its turnaround action.”

“If Nissan and Honda fail to stand on their own feet the business integration talks will not come to fruition,” he said.

Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida told reporters that the discussion of integration did “not mean we have given up on a turnaround” and was instead about ensuring the company’s competitiveness for the future.

“After doing this turnaround action for future development, future growth, we need to look at ultimate size and growth. This growth will be through partnerships,” he added.

Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal

United States President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal after accusing Panama of charging excessive rates on US ships passing through one of the busiest waterways in the world.

“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

“This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.”

The US largely built the canal in 1914 and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But Washington fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

Trump also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal, which connects the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.

“It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else,” he said. “We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!”

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory.

“It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the moral and legal principles of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump said.

It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

Last month, Trump said he would impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports on day one of his administration and that the measures would remain until the “invasion” of undocumented migrants and drugs came to an end.

“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long-simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Authorities in Panama did not immediately react to Trump’s post.

An estimated 5 percent of global maritime traffic passes through the Panama Canal, which allows ships travelling between Asia and the US East Coast to avoid the long, hazardous route around the southern tip of South America.

The Panama Canal Authority reported in October that the waterway had earned record revenues of nearly $5bn in the last fiscal year.

US judge finds Israeli firm liable for WhatsApp hacking

A US judge ruled on Friday in favour of Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp in a lawsuit accusing Israel’s NSO Group of exploiting a bug in the messaging app to install spy software allowing unauthorised surveillance.

US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted a motion by WhatsApp and found NSO liable for hacking and breach of contract. The case will now proceed to a trial only on the issue of damages, Hamilton said. NSO Group did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, said the ruling is a win for privacy. “We spent five years presenting our case because we firmly believe that spyware companies could not hide behind immunity or avoid accountability for their unlawful actions,” Cathcart said in a social media post.

“Surveillance companies should be on notice that illegal spying will not be tolerated.” Cybersecurity exp­erts welcomed the judgment.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Canadian internet watchdog Citizen Lab which first brought to light NSOs Pegasus spyware in 2016 called the judgment a landmark ruling with huge implications for the spyware industry.

The entire industry has hidden behind the claim that whatever their customers do with their hacking tools, it’s not their responsibility, he said in an instant message. Today’s ruling makes it clear that NSO Group is in fact responsible for breaking numerous laws.

WhatsApp in 2019 sued NSO seeking an injunction and damages, accusing it of accessing WhatsApp servers without permission six months earlier to install the Pegasus software on victims’ mobile devices.

US military 'mistakenly' shoots down own fighter aircraft in 'friendly fire' over Red Sea

The United States military said it mistakenly shot down one of its own fighter aircraft over the Red Sea early on Sunday, forcing both pilots to eject.

Both were rescued, one with minor injuries, after the "apparent case of friendly fire," which is being investigated, US Central Command said in a statement.

The fighter was an F/A-18 Hornet flying off the aircraft carrier Harry S Truman.

One of the carrier's escort ships, the missile cruiser Gettysburg, "mistakenly fired on and hit" the plane, the statement said.

The Red Sea has been a hotbed of military activity for more than a year as US forces battle Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi fighters, who have carried out attacks against shipping in the region.

The US military said it had fired on Houthi drones and missiles over the Red Sea on Saturday, and had attacked command-and-control and missile storage sites in Sanaa.

Israeli forces fire at Syrian protesters in Deraa

Israeli forces have shot and wounded a Syrian protester demonstrating against the army’s presence in a border village in southern Syria, the Israeli military says.

Israeli fire injured the man, identified by local media as Maher al-Hussein, in the leg on Friday as protesters gathered in the town of Maariyah to demand an end to the Israeli military presence in the area.

According to media reports, Maher al-Hussein was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Since opposition forces toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria in what it said is a bid to prevent military equipment from falling into hostile hands.

In a move widely condemned internationally, Israel also sent troops into a United Nations-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights and beyond, calling it a defensive and temporary measure.

“During a protest against [Israeli military] activities in the area of Maariya in southern Syria, [the Israeli army] called on protesters to distance themselves from the troops,” the military said.

The village is just outside the southern point of the UN-patrolled zone.

“After the troops identified a threat, they operated in accordance with standard operating procedures against the threat. … The protester was shot in the leg,” the military said.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a war monitor, said the Israeli soldiers were stationed at a barracks in the village.

“During a protest condemning the Israeli incursion, a young man was injured by Israeli forces’ gunfire in the village of Maariya, in the Daraa region,” the SOHR said.

It remains unclear how Syria’s new interim government, headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, plans to handle Israel’s military actions across the country.