International News

Russian air defenses downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the disaster said on December 26. Source link

In 2023, Franco-Beninese chef Georgiana Viou was awarded the prestigious Michelin star for her restaurant in Nîmes. Following her success, she crafted the menu for a new restaurant in Benin. Source link

France has officially handed over its first military base in Faya-Largeau to Chad as part of an ongoing withdrawal of French forces. This move follows Chad’s abrupt termination of military cooperation last month with its former colonial power. French troops are also set to leave bases in Abeche and the capital N’Djamena. Source link

Houthi rebels in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on December 26 targeted the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, following several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel. France 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky tells us more. Source link

A Syria war monitor said 17 people were killed on December 25 in clashes in Tartus province after security forces sought to arrest an officer under deposed leader Bashar al-Assad who was linked to a notorious prison. Sami Nader, director of Political Sciences Institute at Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut, was our guest. Source link

Finnish authorities said Thursday they were investigating an oil tanker that departed Russia in connection with damage to the Estlink 2 power transmission cable. A power line running from Finland to Estonia under the Baltic Sea was broken on Christmas Day. This comes just a month after a telecommunications cable broke in Swedish territorial waters. … Read more

Israeli authorities indicated progress in ongoing negotiations in Qatar. Hamas had previously said along with two other militant groups that a ceasefire agreement was “closer than ever”, before changing its tune on December 25. Source link

Russia sees no point in a weak ceasefire to freeze the war in Ukraine but Moscow wants a legally binding deal for a lasting peace that would ensure the security of both Russia and its neighbors, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on December 26. Source link

Finnish authorities are investigating the oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of “aggravated sabotage” to the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia damaged on Christmas Day. The tanker is thought to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels that transport embargoed Russian oil products. Source link