World Briefing: November 29, 2024

Protesters clashed with police in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi on Thursday after the government suspended talks on its bid to join the European Union for four years. The prime minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, of the Georgian Dream party announced the decision on Thursday in a press conference, stating the long sought after bid to join the bloc will not be on the agenda until the end of 2028.  Kobakhidze insisted that Georgia is a European country and that "it is our responsibility to make Georgia a full-fledged member of the European family," but that "Georgia-EU relations are bilateral and can only be bilateral." - Euronews. Clashes between protesters and police lasted all night, and police reportedly used water cannons and tear gas. Protesters were beaten and violently and 43 were detained. Police also beat up several journalists. RFE/RL said its Georgian Service journalist, Davit Tsagareli, was punched and thrown to the ground by a riot police officer as he reported live from the scene, while earlier RFE/RL captured footage of a police officer repeatedly hitting TV Formula journalist Guram Rogava on the head.

Hezbollah accused Israel of attacking people returning to border villages, with Israel's military saying it had opened fire on an arrival of "suspects" detected in several areas in southern Lebanon – a violation, it said, of the ceasefire declared the day before. The Lebanese army said that Israel had violated the ceasefire "several times" through both air strikes and attacks on Lebanese territory - France 25

Rebel forces have launched a major offensive in north-western Syria, capturing territory from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for the first time in years. The Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions said they had seized control of a number of towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib provinces since Wednesday. The Syrian military said its forces were confronting a “large-scale” attack by “terrorists” and inflicting heavy losses on them. A UK-based monitoring group said more than 180 combatants on both sides had been killed in the fighting. At least 19 civilians had also been killed in Syrian and Russian air strikes on opposition-held areas, it added - BBC

Ukraine says it destroyed 88 out of 132 Russian drones overnight. Civilian injuries were reported in some regions, and port and transport infrastructure was struck in the Odesa region. It followed a massive attack yesterday when some 200 Russian rockets and drones targeted several regions. Before the first of this month’s attacks, on 17 November, Ukraine had already lost 9GW of generation capacity. That’s about half of the power consumed during last winter’s peak heating season, the BBC reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to attack decision-making centres in Kyiv with the new ballistic missile, Oreshnik - calling it a response to the West supplying Ukraine with long range missiles.

Romania's Central Election Bureau says it will recount all ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election by December 1, following an order on November 28 by the Constitutional Court. Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian far-right independent candidate scored a surprise victory in the first round of the election on November 24, garnering nearly 23 percent of the vote. Georgescu is set to face off against center-right Elena Lasconi, a staunch Euro-Atlanticist, in the December 8 runoff after both pushed ahead of favored leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. An official from Lasconi's Save Romania Union party said the Central Election Bureau had rejected a request by the party to film the recounting of the ballots - RFE/RL

Colombia's navy has uncovered a new drug smuggling route from South America to Australia after intercepting a "narco submarine" packed with cocaine in the Pacific Ocean. The discovery was made during a six-week anti-narcotics operation — carried out jointly by Colombian authorities and security officials from dozens of other countries — that resulted in the seizure of at least 225 tonnes of cocaine, according to media reports. "This is perhaps the largest seizure of cocaine in transit made by Colombia in history," Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X. The interception is said to have deprived drug gangs of at least $8.4 billion (€8 billion), according to Colombia's navy - Euronews

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she is confident that a tariff war with the United States can be averted. But her statement — the day after she held a phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump — did not make clear who had offered what. “There will be no potential tariff war,” Sheinbaum said flatly when asked about the issue at her daily morning news briefing. On Wednesday, Trump wrote that Sheinbaum had agreed to stop unauthorized migration across the border into the United States. She wrote on her social media accounts the same day that “migrants and caravans are taken care of before they reach the border.” But whether that constituted a promise, a pledge or a simple statement of reality remains unclear. In recent years, migrants who have been unable to obtain permission to cross Mexico have joined together in caravans to walk or hitchhike north toward the U.S. border, seeking safety in numbers - AP

Australians reacted on Friday with a mixture of anger and relief to a social media ban on children under 16 that the government says is world-leading, but which tech giants like TikTok argue could push young people to "darker corners of the internet". Australia approved the social media ban for children late on Thursday after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech. The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab to TikTok to stop minors from logging in or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million). A trial of enforcement methods will start in January, with the ban to take effect in a year. “Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday - Reuters

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