Global News Highlights: Deadly Ambush in Brooklyn, Cybersecurity Alerts, Middle East Tensions, and European Economic Warnings – December 20, 2024

AMERICA

NYPD Officer got killed, I-Phone users, and Government shutdown

1. Two NYPD Officers Fatally Ambushed in Brooklyn; Suspect Takes Own Life

Two police officers sitting in a patrol car in Brooklyn were shot nearby Saturday afternoon by a man who authorities say traveled to the city from Baltimore vowing to kill the officers. Police said the suspect then used the same weapon to commit suicide. Police Chief William J. Bratton said the gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was in a car in the shadow of a nearby high-rise when he walked to the window and abandoned the car as he fired the shots. Authorities said Brinsley shot the officer several times in the head and torso, but the officer never drew his weapon. Brinsley, 28, then ran onto the platform of a nearby subway station and shot himself as police approached.

2. S. Alerts iPhone & Android Users: Major Chinese Hack Uncovered

CISA urged iPhone and Android users to switch from SMS to encrypted messaging apps like Signal or WhatsApp after communications breaches linked to Chinese hackers exposed vulnerabilities in encrypted messaging. The agency recommends using PINs, MFA and new security tools to protect accounts from growing cyber threats, including surveillance targeting U.S. telecoms.

3. CEO murder suspect

Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson, appeared in federal court Thursday to face four charges. Mangione evaded extradition and was flown from Pennsylvania to New York under heavy security. A book found with him reportedly contained unflattering articles targeting the health insurance industry and asset managers. Making the case even more controversial, Mangione could face the death penalty if convicted of federal murder charges.

4. Government shutdown

Congress is facing a federal shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives failed to pass a stimulus package sponsored by President Trump. Tensions flared after Elon Musk briefly attacked House Speaker Mike Johnson on social media, calling him a “criminal,” with Trump’s support. Trump has called for the debt ceiling to be lifted or eliminated before he even begins his term. With deep divisions and time running out, the country is on the verge of a shutdown that could have serious consequences.

ASIA

Pak-USA, Xi Jinping, Lahore smog!

Pakistan Rages against US Sanctions Targeting Ballistic Missile Program!

Pakistan has condemned new US sanctions over its missile programme, describing them as “abhorrent” and warning that they will undermine peace in the region. The State Department has criticised the US for the sanctions as an unsubstantiated “fantasy” and accused it of abandoning “double standards” in allowing other countries to intervene militarily. The sanctions freeze US assets in targeted companies, including the National Development Complex, which has links to Pakistan’s missile development. A US official later said Pakistan’s missile programme could pose a threat to the US because it is developing a long-range missile capability. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jon Feiner warned that Pakistan’s actions signal a new threat to the US.

2. Xi Jinping urges Macau to diversify economy away from casinos

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a differentiation between casinos and gambling in Macau during a speech at the new leader’s meeting. It is the year since Portugal returned to Chinese rule. The former British Empire had greater influence over Beijing’s policies. More than half of the city’s 700,000 people have emigrated from China in recent years. The former judge is Hong Kong’s first leader to have been born and raised in mainland China and raised in southern China’s Guangdong province. He speaks fluent Portuguese.

3. ‘Trapped inside’: The children suffocating in the smog of Lahore

On a Monday morning in November, fourteen-year-old Fatima woke up with a cough and a fever. Her left eye is covered by thick glasses. Outside the window, Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city and the cultural heart of Punjab, is covered in thick smog that has paralyzed residents this winter. While smog has engulfed the city in previous years, this year the air pollution has become so bad that it is beyond human health safety. Higher numbers on the climate index indicate greater health risks. An air quality index (AQI) above 300 is considered hazardous. “Our number is between 2,500 and 2,600,” said Ahmad Rafay Alam, a Pakistani environmental lawyer and activist. “And this is not just a Lahore problem. This is a question from Kabul to Calcutta. This is an annual regional health emergency,” he added.

4.A ‘miracle’: Pakistani survivor of a deadly Mediterranean Sea crossing

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — As Hasan Ali sinks into the ice of the Mediterranean, he thinks of his two children — their smiles, their hugs, their hopes for the future. Then he thinks of others in a small village in Pakistan’s Punjab province who dream of going to Europe and who, too, spend their last moments in the dark sea thinking about their homes and their people.

MENA

Middle East Tensions: Israel, Yemen, Iraq Power Shifts

1. What are the implications of Israel’s attacks on Yemen?

Since the start of the Gaza War, the Houthis have been regularly attacking Israel. Hezbollah’s offensive in Lebanon and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria have put the Houthis’ main ally, Iran, under further pressure.

2. Israeli forces fire at Syrian protesters in Deraa, wounding one

The Israeli army reported that a Syrian rebel was killed and one wounded after he attacked soldiers in a border village in southern Syria. The man, Maher al-Hussein, was wounded in the leg as protesters gathered in the town of Maariyah on Friday to demand an end to the Israeli army’s presence in the area. He is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since rebel forces overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, and has allegedly prevented military equipment from falling into enemy hands. Interim assessment.

3. US charges IRGC officer with killing of American citizen in Iraq

The US has charged an indicted officer from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with “terrorism and murder” over the killing of Americans in Iraq in 2022. The indictment accuses Mohammad Reza Nouri of plotting to kill Stephen Trower in Baghdad in retaliation for the US assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani two years ago. Trower was working at a British university in Iraq and at the time of his death the US said he was in the country working with the Iraqi people in a “special capacity.” Ri appears to “believe” that Trower was a US or Israeli police officer.

4. More than 700 killed in siege of Sudan’s el-Fasher, UN says

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said more than 700 people have been killed in Al Fasher in the North Darfur region of Sudan since May, and called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to end the violence and violence in the city. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said on Friday that the attacks and “continued clashes are destroying lives on a massive scale every day.” – This alarming situation cannot continue. The Rapid Support Forces must put an end to this dangerous offensive. Who governs the region? The report said that the clashes carried out by Doctors without Borders (MSF) in densely populated areas and the Sudanese Army’s airstrikes were causing casualties.

EUROPE

Trump warning to EU, Corruption case, Football, Boxing