World breaking news today (December 25): Shinzo Abe Aide faces fine for campaign finance allegations

World breaking news today (December 25): Shinzo Abe Aide faces fine for campaign finance allegations. Meanwhile, frustrated Trump met with Pence, Russia reopens Soviet-era laboratory to test weapons in Arctic conditions, Syrian air defense responds to alleged Israeli airstrike and gold price also make headlines today.

Jasmine Le

lehang1997hanu@gmail.com December 25, 2020 | 10:06

	World breaking news today (December 23): Trump issues 26 more pardons
	World breaking news today (December 22): Joe Biden receives Covid vaccine on live television
	World breaking news today (December 21): US planning to close last consulates in Russia

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Photo: France 24)

Shinzo Abe Aide faces fine for campaign finance allegations in Japan

On Twitter, users pilloried the prosecutor’s decision to drop charges against Mr Abe. The tweets demanding that the authorities file a complaint Thursday morning, accompanied by the hashtag “#abenomics”, a play on the name of the campaign for the economic revitalization of the former prime minister. Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University and outspoken critic of the former leader, said his Christmas wish was for Santa to imprison Mr Abe at the North Pole.

Outrage reflected widespread frustration with Mr Abe, who had weathered several influence peddling scandals during his tenure as the country’s longest-serving prime minister – a record he set thanks to strong economic growth, in part due to his reform efforts and skillful management of President Trump, according to France 24.

Most famously, he has been accused of the abusive sale of public land at heavily discounted prices to a political ally. A government official caught up in the scandal committed suicide.

The scandals were never conclusively linked to the former chief, who denied any wrongdoing, but they fueled growing public anger that nearly cost Mr Abe his job.

His reputation had also been tarnished by his allies’ run-ins with the law. Earlier this year, Anri Kawai, one of his political proteges and the wife of a former justice minister in his cabinet, was accused of buying votes to win elections to the upper house of parliament . She is currently on trial in Tokyo, where she has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Frustrated Trump met with Pence before holiday break

Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to "act" in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence, whom he has complained recently isn't doing enough to support his bid to overturn the election, CNN reported.

The discussion was "entirely unrelated" to the eventual tweet, one person familiar with the matter said, though would not specify whether the issue of the January 6 ratification in Congress arose. The two men went separate ways for the holiday.

As Trump enters the holiday stretch as fixated as ever on overturning the results of the election, the Electoral College certification is becoming a focal point for his efforts.

Donald Trump (Photo: CNN)

On Wednesday evening, as he was flying to Florida for his vacation, Trump retweeted a call from one of his supporters for Pence to refuse to ratify the Electoral College results on January 6 -- a prospect that has captured his imagination even if it remains completely impossible.

Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was with Trump aboard Air Force One before the President sent out the tweet. Giuliani is joining Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate for the holidays, where the men are expected to discuss their election efforts.

Arriving at his golf club Thursday afternoon, Trump received a warm welcome from members and vowed to continue fighting to overturn the election, a person familiar with the matter said.

"He's very resolute in continuing to want to fight the Electoral College," this person said. "And he still thinks it's not over."

Later, he spent much of Christmas Eve tweeting grievances, including one aimed at Senate Republicans, vowing that he will "NEVER FORGET!" what he sees as their abandonment.

Russia reopens Soviet-era laboratory to test weapons in Arctic conditions

Russia has reopened a Soviet-era laboratory to test weapons in extreme Arctic conditions, the military-industrial company which will run the facility said on Thursday, amid a push by the Kremlin to beef up its defences in the resource-rich region, as reported by Reuters.

President Vladimir Putin has touted the Arctic as a vital region for Russian interests as climate change makes it more accessible, presiding over a buildup of military infrastructure and pushing to increase cargo volumes shipped via the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank.

Russia has reopened a Soviet-era laboratory to test weapons in extreme Arctic conditions (Photo: Reuters)

The Central Scientific-Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering, that makes weapons for Russia’s military, said it had restored testing chambers to simulate extreme conditions. The chambers were closed after the Soviet breakup in 1991.

Simulated conditions include extreme heat, cold and wet weather.

Maintenance funding for the testing chambers dried up in the early 1990s and they had fallen into a state of disrepair, it said.

“Certification was the final technical stage in restoring the unique testing technology that was lost after the Soviet collapse and that was only owned by our institute,” Sergei Karasev, a senior official at the centre, said in a statement.

Syrian air defense responds to an alleged Israeli airstrike

Syrian air defense systems reportedly responded to an alleged Israeli airstrike in north-western Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported late Thursday.

Initially reported as explosions heard north of Masyaf in north-western Syria, SANA later confirmed that the Syrian air defense was activated against an alleged airstrike, The Jerysalem Post said.

A security source told Sputnik news that the airstrike targeted the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in the Masyaf area.

The Syrian Defense Ministry stated that an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted the Masyaf area from north of Tripoli in Lebanon, according to SANA, claiming that Syrian air defenses succeeded in intercepting most of the missiles. Unlike previous reports, the ministry's usual statement of "only material damage was caused" was lacking from the report.

MISSILES ARE seen at a Syrian air defense base (Photo: Reuters)

The area of Masyaf has been considered a target for several attacks in recent years, mostly attributed to the Israeli Air Force (IAF.) The last time an airstrike attributed to Israel targeted the area of Masyaf was in early June, when alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted Syrian defense factories near the city. At least nine people, including four Syrian nationals, were reported dead as a result.

In November, Syrian state news agency SANA blamed Israel for a series of airstrikes on locations south of the capital Damascus, near the village of Rwihinah, south of Quneitra near the Israeli border, and near Jabal Mane near the town of Kiswah south of Damascus. Eight pro-Iranian fighters were reportedly killed in the strikes.

Israel has allegedly struck targets in Syria several times over the years as part of its “war between the wars” campaign against the continued entrenchment of Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah in Syria.

Gold price forecast – gold markets bounce from the 50 day EMA

Gold bounced on Wednesday, as the 50 day EMA has offered a significant amount of support. Furthermore, there is a short-term gap just below that has held.

(Photo: NDTV)

Gold markets have shown a bit of resiliency near the 50 day EMA during the Wednesday session, as we have formed a bit of gap just below there as well. By doing so, it suggests that the market is going to continue to go towards the $1900 level and beyond. All things being equal, this is a market that will continue to get a bit of a boost due to the stimulus efforts around the world, not the least of which would be American stimulus. At the end of the day, we have tested the 200 day EMA underneath and bounced significantly from it, suggesting that the longer-term trend is very much intact, FX Empire said.

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Jasmine Le