Political situation in France Macron admits mistakes – will let voters decide
French President Emmanuel Macron admits that it was a stupid decision to call new elections this summer, reports Reuters.
– The dissolution caused more division in parliament than it contributed to solutions for the French people, Macron says in his televised New Year's speech.
To ease the political deadlock that prevails, Macron wants to let French voters have their say in a series of referendums in 2025.
– The hope, prosperity and peace of the coming quarter of a century depend on our choices today [...] And I will ask you to make decisions on some important issues, he says.
Government crisis in Germany Scholz: The election must not be decided by social media owners
The German new elections will not be decided by "social media owners". This is what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says in his New Year's speech, reports The Guardian.
– The fate of German society will be decided by the vast majority of reasonable and decent people, he says.
Scholz does not specifically mention Elon Musk in his speech, but the statement comes after the X owner has repeatedly expressed his support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
North Korea-Russia relations Kim Jong-Un wishes Putin a happy new year – and victory
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has sent a New Year's greeting to Vladimir Putin and the Russian people, Reuters reports, citing state-controlled media in North Korea. The dictator hopes that 2025 will offer new bilateral relations between the countries that have expanded their cooperation this year.
Kim Jong-Un says he wants to see Russia achieve "a great victory" in the war. He does not mention Ukraine specifically but writes that he hopes that the Russian army "defeats neo-Nazism".
The New Space Race Scientist: AI could be the end of humans in space
If AI continues to develop at the rate it is, humans' role in space exploration could become increasingly smaller, reports the BBC.
- Robots are developing rapidly, and the arguments for sending humans into space are becoming increasingly weak, says Britain's Astronomer Royal Martin Rees. He already believes that using tax money to send humans into space is a waste - not to mention how dangerous it is.
According to the BBC, robots have already visited all the planets in the solar system, while humans have only made it to the moon so far.
Other researchers, however, question whether AI will actually be so good that it can completely replace human astronauts.
Ian Crawford, a planetary scientist at the University of London, states that AI can already beat humans at chess, but that we do not know how good the technology can be at exploring unknown environments.
US Elections Trump's Victory Professor: Absolutely certain that US democracy will collapse
Staffan I Lindberg, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg, is 99 percent certain that democracy in the US will collapse with Donald Trump in power.
- For me, it is inconceivable that this is not getting more attention. What will the consequences be? There are almost no protective walls left, he tells DN.
According to Lindberg, the development has already begun. Trump has gotten rid of opponents within his own party and ensured that there are plenty of loyalists in Congress who are ready to back him on all points.
In addition, the president-elect has made it clear that he wants to purge everyone who is not on his side in the Justice Department.
The coming year
Romania and Bulgaria celebrate entry into Schengen
Before
midnight, ceremonies have been held in Romania and Bulgaria to
celebrate the countries now joining the Schengen area, reports AP. Among
other things, the interior ministers met at the Ruse-Giurgiu border
crossing.
From midnight, residents of the countries can travel
freely without border controls to and from the other 25 EU countries as
well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Romania
and Bulgaria partially joined the Schengen area in March, but only
border controls for sea and air were lifted. Those travelling by land
continued to be checked throughout the year, following resistance,
particularly from Austria, which felt that the countries were doing too
little to prevent illegal migration.
ISW: Iran may be betting on sowing division in Syria
There is increasing evidence that Iran is fueling conflicts in Syria that it believes it can use to create influence and gain new allies in the region. This is what the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes in a new situation update.
According to AFP, Iranian state media is also reporting that Iran's security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian says that a "new resistance movement" will emerge in Syria. According to him, this will "manifest itself in the coming years" and participate in Iran's fight against Israel.
According to ISW, the term resistance movement has a very positive connotation for the Iranian regime. The think tank also states that Iranian-linked media have begun to describe Alawites who are critical of Syria's new regime as part of a resistance movement.
Syrian Rebels Take Over Houses from Former Commanders
The families of former commanders in Bashar al-Assad's army are being evicted from their subsidized housing, and instead commanders in the victorious rebel forces and their families are moving in. This is reported by Reuters, which has spoken to both sides.
- I am very sad, my heart is broken, it is our lives, the lives of our children, says Bodur Makid, the wife of a former intelligence officer who states that the family is now forced to look for a new place to live.
Makid's husband has reportedly been released by the new regime after signing a document recognizing the takeover.
The rebel group HTS, which constitutes Syria's de facto government, has not commented on the evictions.
Syria War Fall of the al-Assad regime Minister: France has bombed IS targets in Syria
France carried out airstrikes against IS targets in Syria over the weekend. This was stated by Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on X. It is the first time France has attacked in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The United States has previously carried out a similar attack in Syria after the regime was overthrown in early December.
The al-Assad government fought IS in Syria, and several countries have expressed concern that the terrorist group could grow in the turmoil associated with the change of power.
The world's response Russia's gas supplies to Europe are halted
Today is the last day that Russian gas is being delivered to Europe via Ukraine. Tomorrow, January 1, the gas agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires after five years. The halted gas flow is a loss for Russia, which once had great power over the European gas market, writes the news agency Reuters.
The few remaining countries that depend on Russian gas, such as Slovakia and Austria, have arranged alternative supplies.
The market impact will likely be small, but the shift has major geopolitical significance, writes the news agency.
Analysis: Moscow's investment in Europe has collapsed
Tomorrow, Russian gas supplies via Ukraine to Europe, which have been ongoing for over 40 years, will cease. But Russian gas supplies have already shrunk dramatically in the wake of the Russian invasion, Reuters writes in an analysis.
The gas market share that Moscow spent half a century building up in Europe, which at its peak was about 35 percent, has fallen to about 8 percent. The EU has said that the volume will be replaced by natural gas imports and non-Russian gas pipelines.
“A repeat of the record-high gas prices in 2022 is unlikely, according to the EU, given the current modest volumes of Russian gas,” the news agency writes.
European countries have different ways of tackling this new reality, writes Oksana Bedratenko in an analysis in Voice of America. For example, Germany and the Czech Republic have invested heavily in liquefied natural gas, while countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and Austria are focusing on increasing Russian gas imports from other gas pipelines.
The fighting Russia took 4,000 square kilometers from Ukraine in 2024
Russia advanced almost 4,000 square kilometers into Ukraine in 2024. This is reported by AFP, which made the calculation using data from the Institute for the study of war, ISW.
Most of the successes were made in the fall, but the pace has since slowed down again in December. Despite this, the pace is still four times as high as during the same period last year.
At the same time, Ukraine still controls 482 square kilometers of Russian Kursk.
The coming year Zelenskyj determined: “May 2025 be the year of Ukraine”
Next
year, Ukraine will have to fight to strengthen its position both
militarily and for possible peace talks, President Zelenskyj states in
his New Year’s address.
– May 2025 be the year of Ukraine, he says.
In a post on X, Zelenskyj also writes that 2024 has been a victory in itself because Ukraine is still independent.
“We Ukrainians know what it means to fight for every day and every year of freedom,” he writes.
Despite
the hopeful tones, Ukraine has had a tough year on the battlefield, and
continues to lose ground to the advancing Russian troops in
northeastern Kharkiv and eastern Donetsk, writes Kyiv Independent.
Putin's Russia Putin's New Year's speech: "Everything will be fine"
President Vladimir Putin believes that Russians should be proud of what the country has achieved in the 21st century.
-
Now, on the threshold of a new year, we are thinking about the future.
We are sure that everything will be fine. We will only move forward,
Putin said during his New Year's speech on Tuesday, according to
Reuters.
Today marks exactly 25 years since Putin took power
after Boris Yeltsin, who resigned on New Year's Eve 1999. In connection
with this, Yeltsin urged his successor to "take care of Russia", which
the Russian sitting president believes he has succeeded well.
- I
have not only taken care of, but I believe that we have taken a step
back from the brink, Putin said in connection with a press conference
earlier in December, according to the Washington Post.
Secret documents: Russia prepared for war in the East
Secret
files from 2013 and 2014 show that Russia and its military were
preparing for several different scenarios in a potential war with Japan
and South Korea, reports the Financial Times.
The newspaper has
gained access to 29 secret Russian military files that, among other
things, contain information about how Russian forces were trained for a
potential war on the country's eastern flank. They are still seen as
relevant to Russian strategy, according to the FT.
The plans
include around 160 targets, both military and civilian, that Russia
could attack. 13 power plants, including one nuclear power plant, were
listed as targets in Japan.
Russia's eastern flank is identified as vulnerable in a potential war with the US and its allies.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025 THAI DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT IN SCANDINAVIA
The Finnish police deny that there is any Russian spy equipment on board the ship Eagle S, which is suspected of the cable break in the Baltic Sea.
“We have now conducted an extensive investigation of the ship and have not found any such equipment,” writes detective Elina Katajamäki to Iltalehti.
It was on Friday that the prestigious British shipping magazine Lloyd’s List published information from a source who sold commercial services to Eagle S seven months ago.
The source stated that the ship was at the time fully loaded with spy equipment that monitored NATO air and sea traffic, and handed over around 60 classified documents that Lloyd’s List verified.
According to the source, the equipment was unloaded in Russia before the cable break.
Seven suspected of crimes on Eagle S – receive travel ban
Seven people on the crew of Eagle S are suspected of crimes, Finnish police say, according to Hufvudstadsbladet.
All have been placed under a travel ban. It is not clear what crimes they are suspected of, but the investigation concerns aggravated sabotage and aggravated communication crime.
The crew consists of 24 people in total, and all have not yet been questioned. The police are now investigating what roles they had on the ship.
“The greatest interest is directed at the part that was responsible for the ship’s journey at the time of the incident,” writes Criminal Inspector Elina Katajamäki in an email comment.
Eagle S, which is moored in Finland, is suspected of sabotage of the Estlink 2 submarine cable in the Baltic Sea.
Vladimir Putin Putin's New Year's speech: "Everything will be fine"
Nora Fernstedt
Updated 18.34 | Published 17.37
Vladimir Putin did not mention the invasion of Ukraine in his New Year's speech.
However, he spoke highly of the country's progress over the past 25 years - the same length of time he has been in power.
- We will only continue to move forward, Putin said, according to Reuters.
The speech was given exactly 25 years after Vladimir Putin, 72, took over as president after Boris Yeltsin's resignation.
He assured Russians that their well-being is his top priority, writes Reuters. He spoke of the trials and goals that have strengthened the country over the past 25 years.
- And now, as we stand on the threshold of the new year, we are thinking about the future. We are convinced that everything will be fine, we will just keep moving forward, Putin said.
Paying tribute to the soldiers
He described Russia's soldiers in Ukraine as heroes.
- We are proud of your courage, we believe in you, he said.
But he did not explicitly mention Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is entering its third year, or what the conditions are for ending the war.
US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he will bring about a "quick" end to the war when he takes office on January 20.
US presidential election List: How the world changed in 2024
Wolfgang Hansson
This is a commentary text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.
Published 06.25
Quick version
The re-election of Donald Trump is expected to dominate world politics in 2025, despite his conviction for two crimes in 2024.
The nuclear threat has increased in 2024 with Russia's threat in Ukraine
and China's and Iran's military development, while Norway awards the
Nobel Peace Prize to a group of survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
War crimes and civilian casualties in Gaza have increased, and Israel is
accused of genocide while Netanyahu is facing war crimes in the
International Criminal Court.
Donald Trump. Photo: Alex Brandon / AP
Even by the standards of recent years, 2024 was a rare eventful but also dark year.
New wars started. Old ones intensified.
There were also glimmers of light, such as the fall of the dictatorial Assad family after more than 50 years of tyranny.
But none of what happened is likely to affect the world in 2025 as much as the re-election of Donald Trump.
Picking out the most important foreign policy events of the year is difficult. But here is my personal top list.
1. The US presidential election
The election campaign developed into a rare roller coaster when Joe Biden suddenly and unexpectedly threw in the towel at the end of July. The Democrats managed to avoid an internal battle and quickly nominated Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.
She didn't run a bad campaign, but she had far too little time to make an impression on voters. Another conclusion is that it is extremely difficult for a woman to be elected president in the United States. Harris is the second to fail. Being both a woman and black is obviously even harder.
Donald Trump won a clear victory despite being convicted of two felonies during the year and facing prosecution for three more.
It is only the second time in US history that a president has been re-elected who previously lost an election.
Even though Trump has not even taken office, the world and its leaders have already begun to relate to him. Just like last time, he will dominate much of the news flow in 2025.
Russian cruise missile in Kubinka. Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP
2. The nuclear threat
Russian President Putin has repeatedly indirectly threatened to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine over the past year. Even though the West has largely stopped taking his threats seriously, they always create a certain amount of uncertainty. Especially when in November, in response to the US giving Ukraine the go-ahead to use US weapons to fire at military targets deep inside Russia, Putin fired a new type of missile at Ukraine that he claims no one can shoot down. The missile can be fitted with nuclear warheads but this time it had no nuclear weapons.
Putin's reckless attitude towards nuclear weapons has made it seem for the first time in decades that these terrible weapons could be used.
The US is in the process of modernising its arsenal. China is on the verge of greatly increasing the number of nuclear weapons. Iran has greatly increased its enrichment of uranium to 60 percent and is considered by experts to be very close to the possibility of developing nuclear weapons if it wanted to.
To turn the tide and remind us of the consequences of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final stages of World War II, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded this year's Peace Prize to the survivors' group Nihon Hidankyo.
Funeral in Gaza at the end of December. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana / AP
3. The war in Gaza
In the eyes of many, Israel's warfare has crossed the line into what can be described as genocide. Without a doubt, Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza through its way of waging the war. It doesn't help that Hamas's terrorist act on October 7 last year is also a clear war crime.
Israel blames the many civilian deaths on Hamas using civilians as human shields. Most evidence suggests that this is exactly what Hamas is doing. However, it is still up to Israel, as a belligerent party, to do its utmost to protect the civilian population. It claims to be doing so, but the reality on the ground suggests something completely different.
There are also signs that Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza and may have plans to re-establish settlements in the area.
So far, 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to statistics from the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza. The majority are said to be civilians.
Floods in Valencia, Spain. Photo: Krister Hansson
4. The climate threat
2024 is the warmest year on record. According to the EU's climate service Copernicus, it is also the first year that the world has passed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to pre-industrial times.
The climate agreement that the world's countries reached in Paris in 2015 aims to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100.
During the year, we received further evidence of the increase in extreme weather that scientists have warned about. We had the heavy rains in Valencia that resulted in floods that took the lives of over 200 people.
We had Hurricane Helene in the United States that resulted in extensive damage in states that are not normally hit very hard by hurricanes.
But instead of resulting in rapid action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the world now seems to be shrugging its shoulders.
The major climate summit in Azerbaijan was about to end in total fiasco when the world's rich countries did not want to increase their contributions to climate action in the poor world even close to what impartial observers believe is needed.
Warning sign for mines in Kamyanka, Ukraine. Photo: Niclas Hammarström
5. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine
It is becoming increasingly clear that Vladimir Putin has time on his side. The war has now been going on for almost three years, but despite the fact that Russia's economy is taking a beating, there is no indication that Russia cannot afford to continue despite extensive sanctions from the West.
The Russians are slowly taking more and more territory. The Ukrainians are war-weary and for the first time they no longer seem to believe that they can throw Russia out of the areas they occupy.
Ukraine surprised in late summer by entering Russia and occupying land in the Kursk province. A tactical maneuver that was intended to force Russia to move troops from the front in eastern Ukraine. Instead, Russia deployed soldiers from North Korea to the area.
Now, for the Ukrainian side, Kursk is mainly about having a bargaining chip in case President Trump forces some form of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in 2025.
Support for Ukraine's cause remains strong in the Nordic countries, but in Germany, for example, a third of the population questions the wisdom of continuing to send German weapons to Ukraine. An important election issue when Germany holds elections in February.
Xi Jinping. Photo: Justin Chan / AP
6. China's economic crisis
Hardly anything has dominated the news flow during the year. Probably because dictator Xi Jinping would rather hide the fact that China's old growth model no longer works.
It started with a real estate crisis where many Chinese lost their savings when housing prices collapsed.
This was followed by China stopping publishing statistics on youth unemployment.
But in the long run, China has not been able to hide the fact that many young people who have fought hard to obtain a university education cannot find jobs. An entire generation is losing faith in society.
The world is no longer as dependent on the double-digit economic growth that China used to deliver, but the fact that it is now below five percent will negatively affect the world economy.
But above all, it means that the risk of political instability in China is increasing. Under Xi's rule, repression in China has intensified, but perhaps there is a limit even in China to how far people are prepared to be pressured before they rebel.
Children being treated for malnutrition in Sudan. Photo: Patricia Simon / AP
7. Disaster in total media shadow
The civil war in Sudan is in many ways worse than what is happening in Gaza. For the second year in a row, Sudan tops the UN list of the highest number of internal refugees in the world, almost 15 million. Add to that a number of millions who have fled to neighboring countries such as Chad and Egypt.
The war is a result of the country's army chief and the head of a militia force refusing to hand over power to democratic representatives. Instead, they began to fight each other for power. As usual, the outside world intervenes to promote its interests. The government side is supported by Egypt, among others. While the Rapid Support Forces, RSF militia is supported by the United Arab Emirates, among others. Russia has switched sides from RSF to the government in order to build a naval base in Port Sudan.
The result has been pure hell for the civilian population. Women are raped and kept as sex slaves. Men are executed or forced into military service.
Neither side is allowing enough aid in. Millions of people are threatened with starvation.
But everything is happening beyond the world's eyes. There are no international media outlets on site and, unlike in Gaza, few local journalists manage to get their reports out.
The consequences usually reach us in the end anyway, in the form of increased refugee flows, among other things.
Netanyahu has been indicted for war crimes. Photo: Debbie Hill / AP
8. Netanyahu indicted for war crimes
Never before has a leader of a democratic country been indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the dubious honor of being the first.
One of the charges is that Israel has prevented enough food, medicine and other necessities from reaching the civilian population in Gaza. Israel is accused of using starvation as a weapon. Even US President Joe Biden has repeatedly complained that Netanyahu has not done enough to get aid in.
Neither the US nor Israel has recognized the court, but the indictment still creates major problems for Netanyahu. He cannot travel to any country that has recognized the court. This includes, among others, all 27 EU countries and the UK. If Netanyahu sets foot in any of these, they are obliged to arrest him according to the court's statutes. This also applies to Sweden.
This puts Netanyahu in the same league as Russia's Putin. It is highly doubtful that either of them will end up in one of the court's cells in The Hague, but the indictment itself severely restricts their freedom of movement.
Memorial site for Aleksei Navalny outside the Russian embassy in Stockholm in February. Photo: Christine Olsson/TT
9. The super election year
Rarely have so many people been able to go to the polls in the same year, over half of the world's population. Elections have been held in 76 countries, of which just over half are considered democracies. Elections have been held in everything from Russia to India, from the USA to Iran.
On one level, it has been a show of democracy. But in too many countries, democracy exists only on paper.
In Russia, Putin had opposition leader Alexei Navalny imprisoned, who later died in prison in Siberia.
Venezuela held a presidential election that most agree that incumbent President Maduro lost. But he cheated his way in and forced the real winner to seek asylum in Spain.
A clear trend during the super election year was that incumbents lost. The aftereffects of the pandemic and the high inflation created dissatisfaction among many citizens. It does not matter whether it was the left or the right that was in power. Those who ruled for a long time lost. Except in those countries where elections are just a way to try to give legitimacy to autocrats and tyrants.
The residents of Damascus celebrated when Assad fled the country. Photo: Niclas Hammarström
10. Freedom for Syria with question marks
One of the few positive and hopeful events of the year on the foreign front is the fall of the Syrian dictatorship. After 54 years of extremely brutal regime, the Assad family has been overthrown.
Syrians have gone out of their houses to celebrate.
At the same time, the outside world has noted with some concern that the new rulers are an Islamist rebel group with roots in the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Their leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has said all the right things and assured that the new regime will be inclusive and that all minorities will continue to be able to live in freedom.
But it is too early to say whether this is a real conversion or something he is doing to win the world's approval before turning Syria into a new Taliban country.
Regardless, there is reason to rejoice in the fall of the dictatorship, which came as quickly and surprisingly as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But that is often the case with harsh dictatorships. The cracks are not visible until everything collapses like a house of cards.
Assad's fall is a difficult to predict consequence of the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered Israel's war against Hamas and later against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Neither Hezbollah nor Iran had the power to help Assad.
It feels refreshing that this kind of thing can still happen. Iran next perhaps in 2025?
Israel has presented a plan for a full-scale attack on the Houthi movement in Yemen to the UN Security Council, The Guardian reports.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon is also calling for the group to be designated a terrorist organization.
“Let me be clear: We have had enough. Israel will not stand by and wait for the outside world to react. We will defend our citizens,” he says.
The majority of Security Council member states condemned the Houthi attacks on Israel. However, several countries also criticized Israel’s attacks on Yemen, which they say have not taken sufficient account of the safety of civilians and aid organizations.
Robot fired from Yemen at Israel – shot down
The Israeli military shot down a ballistic missile fired from Yemen last night before it reached Israel, Israeli media reports. Air raid sirens sounded in several regions of central Israel due to the attack.
Large fragments from the shot down missile landed in a residential area in Bet Shemesh where cordons were set up. There are no reports of anyone being injured.
The Times of Israel writes that this is the seventh nighttime attack from Yemen in two weeks. The Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The arrest warrant issued for South Korea's ousted President Yoon Suk-Yeol after he declared a short-lived military emergency earlier in December is invalid, his lawyer said, according to Reuters.
"Unless Yoon voluntarily lets them arrest him, there's no way to do it. Should investigators get into a fight with the security services?" Choi Jin, director of the Presidential Leadership Institute in Seoul, told the AP. Investigators raid military - linked to president
Corruption investigators in South Korea raided the army's counterintelligence unit on Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations against ousted President Yoon Suk-Yeol. AFP reports.
Yoon has been charged with attempting to start a rebellion in connection with his declaration of a short-term martial law earlier in December. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
South Korea's military followed the president's orders during the martial law, but it is unclear exactly what investigators were looking for.
2024 was a “remarkably bad” year for the world’s incumbent governments
In 2024, billions of people went to the polls in over 70 different countries. After all the votes were counted, Rachel Kleinfeld at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank draws a clear conclusion.
“It has been a remarkably bad year for incumbents,” she tells NBC News.
The list is long. Among other things, the Democrats lost the presidential election in the US, the conservative Tory Party lost power in the UK and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party failed to gain a majority in parliament.
Kleinfeld believes, among other things, that social media and the apps’ algorithms have influenced the results in 2024. Anger and dissatisfaction are more easily spread than positive tones, she reasons.
NATO entry, scandals and political assassination attempts – here are the biggest news stories of the year
The news year 2024 has not gone unnoticed. Omni lists some of the biggest and most memorable events of the past year in brief.
January
Accidental Boeing plane. APA Boeing plane from the airline Alaska Airlines was heading to Ontario on January 6 when a window and part of the wall were suddenly torn off and all the air was sucked out of the cabin. The plane made an emergency landing and, miraculously, no one was hurt.
– There was a guy sitting in the same row who had his shirt torn off as he was leaving the plane, and that his mother held him down to make sure he didn't go along, passenger Evan Smith told the New York Times.
The incident was followed by a series of further failures on planes belonging to the manufacturer Boeing, which generated strong criticism.
February
Memorial site for Navalny. Thomas Padilla / APOn February 16, the news came that Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny had died in a Russian prison.
The news sparked strong reactions, protests and condemnations around the world.
– I am not surprised but furious. Putin is responsible, said US President Joe Biden, for example.
March
Joe Biden, Ulf Kristersson and Jens Stoltenberg Javad Parsa / NTB
After many ups and downs, Sweden finally became a member of NATO on March 7, and 200 years of formal military non-alignment were over. Hungary became the last of 31 countries to ratify the Swedish application.
– Unity and solidarity should be Sweden's guiding light as a NATO member. We will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with our allies, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during the ceremony.
April
Protests in Tbilisi. Shakh Aivazov / APThroughout much of April, tens of thousands of people gathered in the Georgian capital Tbilisi to protest the government's controversial "agent law." The law means that organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad will be labeled as organizations that carry out the affairs of a foreign power.
The bill, which is expected to bring the country closer to Russia, was passed in late May.
May
Trump after the verdict. On the right, the charges and the outcome. Seth Wenig/Jon Elswig/APAt the end of May, Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted in a criminal trial in the United States.
He was found guilty of 34 counts of accounting violations, including ordering payments to people who threatened to release sensitive information about him in connection with the 2016 presidential election campaign.
June
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Oscar Olsson/TT / TT News AgencyIn June, it was time for the European elections. There are of course many conclusions to be drawn and analyses to be made based on the election results, but we will content ourselves with the main election winners listed by the Euronews website:
France's far-right National Rally party reaped great successes.
The conservative EPP group remained the largest group in parliament and also gained 13 more seats compared to 2019.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni secured her role as the EU's kingmaker.
Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron Thomas Padilla / APAs a result of the National Rally's successes and his own defeats, French President Emmanuel Macron called new elections.
- I have decided to give you the choice to decide your parliamentary future by voting, he said, describing the whole thing as a democratic moment of fate.
The new elections were not the success Macron had hoped for. Instead, it was the French left-wing alliance and, to some extent, the far-right that had reason to celebrate.
July
Trump injured by gunshot APOn July 14, shots were fired during Donald Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump, who was on stage giving a speech, was hit by a gunshot in the ear.
A person in the audience died after being hit by a gunshot.
20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks has been identified by the FBI as the shooter behind the assassination attempt on Trump. He was shot dead by the Secret Service in connection with the incident. Error message on computers after technical problems at the global cybersecurity company Crowdstrike. Caisa Rasmussen/TT / TT News AgencyOn July 19, problems at the IT security company Crowdstrike caused technical disruptions around the world. The crash resulted in flights being stopped from taking off, payment systems being down and medical technology being disrupted.
Spain celebrates European Championship victory. AP/TT Spain won its fourth European Championship gold medal in July – no other country has won so many times. The final was decided with only four minutes of regulation time remaining, when Mikel Oyarzabal scored 2–1 after a pass from Marc Cucurella.
August
Duplantis sets new WORLD RECORD! | Men's Pole Vault Final | Paris Champions On August 25, Armand Duplantis sets a new world record with a height of 6.26. The Swedish pole vaulter cleared the height on his second attempt during the Diamond League competitions in Katowice, Poland.
– I'm just going to chill and enjoy the evening, Duplantis said after the jump.
September
Sean "Diddy" Combs Jordan Strauss / APOn September 17, rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs is arrested at a hotel in New York. He is suspected of trafficking and of running a criminal organization. Since November last year, the artist has been involved in ten legal cases, nine of which involve sexual assault.
October
Beirut shortly after one of the Israeli attacks on October 1. AP/TTOctober began with Israel's first ground incursion into Lebanon since 2006.
The incident followed nearly a year of airstrikes between Israel and Hezbollah. Fans mourn the death of Liam Payne. Natacha Pisarenko / APIn mid-October, British pop star Liam Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
Five people have been charged with involvement in the singer's death. One of the people is Argentine businessman Rogelio Nores, who has previously described Payne as a "very close friend." The others are the hotel's head receptionist and security manager, as well as two other hotel employees.
November
Donald Trump. Evan Vucci / APDonald Trump won an unexpectedly large victory in the US presidential election. In front of cheering supporters in Florida, Trump declared himself the 47th president of the United States.
- It's a political victory that our country has never seen before, he said.
Republicans also won majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
December
Picture from Damascus after the rebels entered. AP/TTOn December 8, it became clear that President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria had fallen.
"We declare Damascus free from the tyrant," wrote the Islamist rebel group HTS, promising a new era for Syria.
Bashar al-Assad had ruled the country since 2000, when he succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad, who seized power in a coup in 1970.
Gisèle Pelicot. Lewis Joly / APThe Gisèle Pelicot case received a lot of attention around the world. On December 19, her former husband Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for raping his wife while she was sedated and allowing other men to do the same.
All 51 defendants in the high-profile French case were found guilty, most of them for aggravated rape.
Cyberattacks USA: China hacked the Treasury Department
China is accused of orchestrating a cyberattack on the US Treasury Department earlier in December, reports the AP.
According to a spokesperson for the department, state-funded Chinese hackers accessed several workstations and a number of non-classified documents.
The attackers used the cybersecurity service Beyond Trust to remotely control the department's computers and access the documents.
The Syrian War Swedish Reactions Professor: Save Kurdish autonomy in Syria
The Swedish government should work to prevent Turkey from implementing its plans to weaken and abolish Kurdish autonomy in Syria. This is what Jan Hallenberg, professor emeritus of political science, writes on SvD Debatt.
It would be a tragedy if an autonomy that has given a persecuted ethnic group some freedom and self-determination were to be wiped out, writes Hallenberg. In addition to fighting IS in the US, the Kurds are responsible for the prison camps where thousands of IS members are being held, he adds.
“It would be a disaster for the stability of the region, and for US security interests, if these people somehow got out of the prison camps.”
Plane crash in South Korea Data shows: It happened in the last minutes before the crash
At 8:57 a.m. on Sunday, the control tower at Muan airport warned of “bird activity” near the runway. The Mayday call came at 8:59 a.m., writes the Wall Street Journal.
According to data analyzed by Flightradar24, the plane then made a 180-degree turn to approach from the opposite direction. At 9:01 a.m., the control tower gave permission for a second landing from the north. At the same time, passengers sent text messages to their family members. One person wrote that a bird had stuck on the plane’s wing.
The plane touched down about halfway down the runway, without the landing gear extended. The flaps on the leading and trailing edges of the wings, which are used to control speed during landing, were retracted.
Lee Geun-young, who runs a restaurant next to the airport, heard loud bangs and then saw the plane crash into a concrete wall.
“The heat on my face was like steam from a sauna heater,” he says.
The Year Ahead Experts: US Stock Market Loses Momentum – Bodes Badly for 2025
A weak December result for the S&P500, along with several technical indicators, point to a possible decline in 2025. This is the opinion of several experts, according to Market Watch.
Among other things, the percentage of stocks trading above their 200-day moving average on the S&P500 has fallen to its lowest level this year.
– We are concerned about a larger decline in January, and perhaps investors are too, given the declines on Friday, says BTIG technical analyst Jonathan Krinsky.
The fact that the broad US index has failed to break above 6,000 points suggests that the level may have begun to be seen as a “ceiling,” according to the analyst.
Gas prices Cold and windless January suggests higher gas prices
European gas futures are trading higher as weather forecasts point to a cold January with light winds. Bloomberg writes, citing forecaster Maxar Technologies.
According to the news agency, gas prices could rise even more after the New Year when Russian deliveries are expected to cease.
“Higher prices will pressure industrial competitiveness and economic development,” a group of MET analysts wrote in a client letter.
The development of AI Study: Researchers get more done with AI but less satisfied
The impact of AI on the labor market continues to be widely discussed. A new study by 26-year-old doctoral student Aidan Toner-Rodgers shows that AI can increase productivity by accelerating scientific progress.
Toner-Rodgers randomly gave different teams of researchers access to AI and what he found was striking, writes WSJ. After implementing the tool, researchers discovered 44 percent more materials, patent applications increased by 39 percent and the number of product prototypes rose by 17 percent. One negative aspect was that more than eight out of ten researchers reported lower satisfaction in a follow-up survey.
– An important, creative part of the process was automated, Toner-Rodgers tells WSJ.
Russian invasion Sanctions Rounding sanctions and smuggling luxury cars into Russia
Despite EU sanctions against Russia, smugglers continue to import luxury cars from Europe, writes Financial Times. At least five Russian companies offer car smuggling, which now takes longer and more expensive routes, including through Turkey and Georgia – something an anonymous seller confirms.
The FT has, among other things, traced a black Mercedes-Benz S350 that was sold in January 2024 to a Kyrgyz cab company by German car dealer Kessler & Haag. In March, a taxi company in Moscow registered the vehicle.
“We have a buyer, a payer, an exporter, he has export documents. What else should we do?” Artur Kessler, a representative of Kessler & Haag, told the FT.
In 2022, the EU imposed a fourth package of sanctions on Russia, banning the export of certain luxury goods to Russia and tightening restrictions in July from Belarus.
Lina, 40, stood opposite the fire in Bangkok: “It was crazy”
Rebecka Rosengart
Published 2024-12-30 08.43
Three tourists died and several people were injured in the hotel fire in central Bangkok.
Lina Lindfors, 40, had just arrived in the city to stay at a hotel a hundred meters away.
– First a police car came, then another and another and another, she says.
Lina witnessed the hotel fire: “Uncomfortable” 1:09
The hotel is popular for backpackers to stay at. The cause of the fire is unknown, but will be investigated.
Lina Lindfors, 40, who actually lives in Stockholm, has been traveling in Asia for a few weeks. She says it was a coincidence that she went to Bangkok just yesterday. And her hotel was only a hundred meters from the fire, she says.
- I arrived late yesterday by taxi. I saw people standing in the street where the fire was and more police cars just arrived. They came one after another and it seemed to get worse and worse, says Lina.
When she entered her hotel and was in her room on the fifth floor, she saw a lot of smoke.
Lina, 40 Photo: Private
People were evacuated from the roof
Then she saw large fire trucks drive into the street. After a while, the whole street was filled with blue lights. The rescue service began to take people out of the building. Lina says that the hotel guests made their way up to a roof terrace and then jumped onto the fire truck ladders.
- They could only take two or three people at a time, but there were a lot of people waiting, she says.
She says it may have burned in the stairwell, as no one came out that way.
Down on the street, the atmosphere was chaotic, says Lina.
– It was crazy on the street. Lots of people were scared and people were filming.
It was hard to tell how big the fire was – she only saw smoke.
Firefighters on scene at the hotel fire.
Went down from her room: “Felt safer”
Lina also went down from her hotel room after a while.
– I didn’t know the extent of the fire or why it was burning. I felt it was nicer to be on the ground than in a hotel room on the fifth floor.
She went to bed around 4 a.m. The next morning, the fire appeared to be extinguished. But traces of the fire can be seen on the facade. Some windows are broken. From the smoke, Lina thinks.
Three people have died as a result of the fire. All are tourists.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: No Swedes
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware of any of those involved being from Sweden. The embassy in Bangkok is following the incident and is in contact with Thai authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an email to Aftonbladet.
At least three tourists have died and several have been injured in the fire in Bangkok.
Lina was staying at the hotel opposite and the street below was filled with fire trucks and rescue personnel. Photo: Private
