⊂ EUROPE ⊃
Meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels: EU foreign ministers held talks Monday on the conflict in Syria, relations with Africa, and migration. Issues with Turkey, however, overshadowed everything else, even important issues such as mass immigration from North Africa. Austria said the credibility of the EU was at stake if it continued to treat Turkey as a potential member. A day before foreign ministers are due to discuss Turkey’s accession negotiations, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastan Kurz demanded the process be stopped. The reaction from his colleagues was split. Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak disagreed with the Austrian view.
dw.com
Arrests after twin bombings in Istanbul: Turkish police have detained 235 people for allegedly acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the interior ministry says. Those detained include officials from the main Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP). The arrests come two days after twin bomb attacks near a football stadium in Istanbul which killed 44 people. Turkish fighter jets have also struck twelve different targets belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. The strikes were expected after the Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings.
bbc.com, cnn.com
Syria expands control to most of Aleppo: The Syrian regime extended its grip on Aleppo to almost all of the city on Monday. The Syrian army and its allies are in the last moments before declaring victory in Aleppo, a Syrian military source said, after rebel defences collapsed on Monday, leaving insurgents in a tiny, heavily bombarded pocket of ground. Syrian state TV says government forces now control 99 percent of the northern city of Aleppo’s formerly rebel-held neighborhoods. Meanwhile, “Islamic State” terrorists have retaken the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria.
reuters.com, nytimes.com, cnn.com (Palmyra)
EU imposes sanctions on Congo officials: The EU has imposed travel bans and asset freezes on seven senior security officials in Congo. EU foreign ministers said in a statement Monday that the seven hold positions of authority in the chain of command over the Congolese security forces which have exercised a disproportionate use of force. The United States imposed sanctions on members of Joseph Kabila’s inner circle for the first time, a week before the Congolese president’s mandate expires.
washingtonpost.com, reuters.com
United Nations: Portugal’s Guterres sworn in as next UN secretary-general reuters.com
US election: Trump condemns CIA Russia hacking report bbc.com
Pact: Cuba and EU sign cooperation pact nbcnews.com
Railway: New legislation to get the sector back on track europarl.europa.eu
Sakharov Prize: Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar to receive this year’s award europarl.europa.eu
⊂ QUOTES ⊃
„If we were to give up the fight for these values, then the terrorists would have won.“
EU Parliament President Martin Schulz has reiterated the need to use the weapons of tolerance, solidarity, friendship and humanity to fight Daesh, al-Shabaab and other terrorist organisations.
europarl.europa.eu
⊂ COUNTRIES ⊃
IMF chief Lagarde in negligence trial in France: Christine Lagarde has gone on trial in France for negligence over a compensation payment made by a state-owned bank to a businessman in 2008. Lagarde faces criminal charges that when she was France’s finance minister, her negligence resulted in the misuse of hundreds of millions of euros in public money. She is accused of negligence by a person in a position of public authority in overseeing a politically charged arbitration case in 2007. French police have detained eleven people in connection with the investigation into last summer’s terrorist attack in the Riviera city of Nice.
nytimes.com, bbc.com, euronews.com
Italy’s Gentiloni unveils new government: Italian Prime Minister-designate Paolo Gentiloni on Monday announced his cabinet for the new government, retaining several lawmakers from former premier Matteo Renzi’s outgoing government. Gentiloni appointed Angelino Alfano, who heads a small center-right party and served as interior minister in Renzi’s cabinet, as foreign minister. Pier Carlo Padoan, who has attempted to defuse a crisis in Italy’s banking sector, will retain his position as finance minister. Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti will retain their positions.
dw.com
Cologne police to deploy 1,500 on New Year : Hundreds of sex offenses were reported in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart last New Year’s Eve, plus incidents of touching and groping while trying to steal phones, purses or bags, according to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office. Almost a year later, security measures aimed at preventing mass sex mob attacks and making sure visitors have a safe and enjoyable start to 2017 are in place for a night that traditionally draws huge crowds to the city on the Rhine.
dw.com
Left scores election comeback in Romania: Romania’s leftist Social Democrats (PSD) have won Sunday’s parliamentary election, with over 45 percent of the vote. Its leader Liviu Dragnea now wants to be prime minister. The problem is that he was convicted of electoral fraud earlier this year and given a two-year suspended jail term. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a liberal, has said he won’t accept any candidate with a criminal past.
euronews.com
Britain: Neo-Nazi group National Action banned theguardian.com
⊂ JOB-BOARD ⊃
politjobs.eu: PlasticsEurope seeks Public Affairs Manager (m/f) *** GIZ seeks Policy Advisor (m/f) *** Siegfried Mureșan MEP offers Traineeship *** European Sunlight Association seeks Communication Officer *** ChildFund Alliance seeks Director – Brussels Office *** Mototrola Solutions seeks Director of Government Affairs – Europe and Africa *** Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft sucht Praktikant (m/w) *** Uni Europa seeks Policy Officer (m/f)
politjobs.eu, politjobs.eu/submit (Inserat schalten)
⊂ MALFUNCTION ⊃
Nobel economics prize winner sees euro as mistake: The EU should embark on a process of decentralisation and return certain areas of decision making to the member states if it wants to survive and thrive, according to Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences winner Oliver Hart. He also argued that the euro was a mistake and added that it wouldn’t be a sad thing at all if in the future Europe abandoned the single currency – and that the British were very clever to stay out of it.
euractiv.com