The Political Thread

[Chris]

Putin apologises over Azerbaijan plane crash as Kremlin says Russian air defences were repelling Ukrainian attack – live

Kremlin say Russian air defences were repelling attacks while plane was trying to land – but stops short of admitting Russian forces shot plane

www.theguardian.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for what the Kremlin said was a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on 25 December.

The Kremlin said as the aircraft attempted to land in Grozny, Ukrainian drones were attacking Russia and Russian air defence forces repelled the attacks.

“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin said Putin told Aliyev, without saying that Russian air defence hit the plane.

 

[Samoa Looch]

What an asshole

 

[Chris]

South Korea plane crash: casualties reported after Jeju Air flight veers off runway at Muan airport – live updates

At least 20 casualties reported by Yonhap news agency, after plane with 174 passengers and six crews hits airport fence

www.theguardian.com

Casualties are being reported after an aircraft carrying 175 passengers and six flight attendants veered off the runway and crashed into a fence in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

The agency said 23 casualties had been reported so far and that rescues were under way from Jeju Air flight 2216 from Bangkok.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the sky in early unverified images emerging on social media.

Emergency services received the call at Muan international airport in South Jeolla province at around 9am.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/29/asia/azerbaijan-airlines-crash-russia-intl/index.html

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Russia of accidentally shooting down an airliner on Christmas Day in a disaster that killed 38 people, and covering up the cause.

“We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia. This is a fact,” Aliyev said in a televised interview, according to a transcript posted on Azerbaijan’s presidential website.

“No one can deny this fact,” Aliyev continued. “Again, we are not saying that this was done intentionally, but it was done.”

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Putin doesn't have any accountability whatsoever tbh.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Jimmy Carter has passed away

 

[Road Runner]

An arrest warrant for South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been requested due to him enacting marital law earlier this month.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-joint-investigation-unit-requests-arrest-warrant-yoon-over-martial-law-2024-12-30/

 

[Chris]

Donald Trump loses appeal against E Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict

Federal appeals court upholds $5m sexual assault and defamation verdict in setback for president-elect

www.theguardian.com

A federal appeals court has upheld the $5m verdict against Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming the magazine writer E Jean Carroll, dealing a legal setback to the president-elect.

The three-judge panel at the second US circuit court of appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s arguments for a new trial, ruling that evidence including testimony from other accusers – as well as the infamous Access Hollywood tape that captured him boasting about how it was normal for him to “grab [women] by the pussy” – was properly admitted.

The May 2023 verdict found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a New York department store dressing room in about 1996, 20 years before winning his first presidency, though the jury stopped short of calling the case a rape. The verdict included $2.02m for sexual assault and $2.98m for defaming Carroll in an October 2022 social media post where he called her allegations a “hoax”.

 

[Chris]

Pentagon Releases Detainee Held at Guantánamo Since Day 1

The prisoner, who was repatriated to Tunisia, was never charged. His transfer is part of a Biden administration push to further reduce the dwindling detainee population at the wartime prison.

www.nytimes.com

The Pentagon on Monday repatriated a Tunisian detainee who was brought to the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the day it opened, was never charged at the war court and was approved for transfer more than a decade ago.

Ridah Bin Saleh al Yazidi, 59, spent years languishing at the wartime prison because deals could not be made to repatriate or resettle him.

He was airlifted from the base in a secret operation that was completed 11 months after the Defense Department notified Congress that it had reached an agreement to return him to Tunisian custody, the Pentagon said. It offered no details on the security arrangements surrounding his return.

 

[Samoa Looch]

An arrest warrant for South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been requested due to him enacting marital law earlier this month.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-joint-investigation-unit-requests-arrest-warrant-yoon-over-martial-law-2024-12-30/

Timeline of martial law fallout :
Dec. 3: Yoon declares martial law
Dec. 4: Yoon lifts martial law after parliament vote
Dec. 9: Yoon banned from leaving the country
Dec. 14: Yoon impeached by parliament & suspended
Dec. 31: Court issues arrest for Yoon

Madness to think this all happened and was done (more or less) in less than one month... especially compared to some stuff that happened in other countries.

 

[Road Runner]

Madness to think this all happened and was done (more or less) in less than one month... especially compared to some stuff that happened in other countries.

January is going to be a shit show here. Who knows, riots occuring because Trump assumes office. It will get worse for that guy in South Korea.

 

[Chris]

Man critically injured after being pushed onto subway tracks in Chelsea

The suspect ran away but authorities said they had a man in custody who was being questioned.

abc7ny.com

A man is in custody and being questioned after another man was pushed onto the subway tracks in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.

It happened on the southbound No. 1 tracks at the 18th Street station in Chelsea just after 1:30 p.m.

The victim was taken to Bellevue in critical condition.

The suspect ran away but authorities said they had a man in custody who was being questioned shortly before 4 p.m.

Few other details were immediately released.

 

[Road Runner]

Man critically injured after being pushed onto subway tracks in Chelsea

The suspect ran away but authorities said they had a man in custody who was being questioned.

abc7ny.com

A man is in custody and being questioned after another man was pushed onto the subway tracks in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.

It happened on the southbound No. 1 tracks at the 18th Street station in Chelsea just after 1:30 p.m.

The victim was taken to Bellevue in critical condition.

The suspect ran away but authorities said they had a man in custody who was being questioned shortly before 4 p.m.

Few other details were immediately released.

Ugh, people are getting more and more unhinged.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Ugh, people are getting more and more unhinged.

It's what happens when the incoming leader of the free world is an unhinged fascist who perpetually condones violence on others, regardless if they're minorities, the out group, etc.

He would openly call for his followers to all cannibalize (metaphorically) each other and they would all happily dance to his tune.

 

[Samoa Looch]

...probably not just "metaphorically" tbh