The Atlas Newsletter - Volume 41

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Monday, November 27th, 2023

Good morning everyone,

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In Europe, Riots engulfed Dublin following a mass stabbing attack, the Pope received treatment for a lung illness, and six French teenagers will face trial for the beheading of a school teacher.

Over in the Middle East, the US and Japan stop an attempted hijacking and the Turkish area of Cyprus rejects the West using the island to supply Israel.

Meanwhile, in Africa, Somalia joins the EAC, Sierra Leone suffers an attack from unknown assailants, and Burkina Faso claims victories against militants who claim victories against Burkina Faso.

In the Americas, Ecuador’s new president was officially sworn in, three Palestinian college students were shot in what some speculate to be a hate crime, while three Mexican Journalists were released from captivity following weeks of being held hostage.

In Asia and Oceania, the US, Japan, and South Korea hold military exercises after a successful launch of a North Korean satellite, China continues it’s aircraft carrier successes, and New Zealand backtracks on world-leading smoking laws.

It’s just another day at the office. Let's take a look:

- Joshua Paulo, Sebastien Gray, Trent Barr, & the Atlas team

A Temporary Ceasefire

November 27th, 2023: A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Friday, and has thus far held. The ceasefire, established for 4 days, has seen significant amounts of hostages held by Hamas be released, as well as Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons released. Upon establishment, the deal was for Hamas to release 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel to release 150 Palestinians. In addition to these releases, 200 trucks of relief aid alongside 4 fuel trucks were to enter Gaza and deliver aid each day of the ceasefire.

Outside of the initial deal, Hamas has also released a number of foreign nationals. While the foreign nationals have primarily been Thai in origin, they have also released one Filipino, as well as one Russian. Hamas stated the Russian was released as a show of thanks to Russia and Putin for the “Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause”.

One of the Israeli hostages released, a 4 year old girl, was an American-Israeli dual national. As of publication, she is the only American citizen to be released.

Except for accusations of occasional small arms fire, combat between the IDF and Palestinian militant factions within Gaza have ceased. Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in the north have continued, however have slowed down drastically. Clashes between the IDF and militant factions in the West Bank have continued, as the IDF launches its typical raids.

The ceasefire is technically due to end at 7AM local time on Tuesday, however Hamas has expressed wishes to extend it. Prior to the establishment of the ceasefire, Israel stated they would delay operations by one further day for every 10 additional Israeli hostages released outside of the 50. Hamas stated they intend to extend the ceasefire through “serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment”. If any additional extension is to follow the same formula as these previous mutual releases, this means Israel would have to release an additional 30 Palestinian prisoners each day.

It is currently unclear if mediators will be able to extend the ceasefire or not. 

Despite the ceasefire, and it’s prospective extension, both sides have announced their intention to continue the fight after its expiry, with Israel seeking to destroy Hamas completely.

Europe

November 24th, 2023 - A riot engulfed Dublin on Friday following the mass stabbing attack targeting three young children by an alleged immigrant. Police have yet to release any personal information about the attacker, however rumors circulated online that he was an Algerian migrant. Rioters smashed store windows, lit police vehicles on fire, destroyed public transit vehicles, and clashed with police on Dublin’s main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street. 34 people were arrested in connection with the riot, while police guarded looted stores and patrolled the streets in the aftermath of the violence. Police blamed far-right agitators for the riot after a small group of what they claim to be anti-immigrant protesters arrived at the scene of the stabbing and clashed with police. It took authorities hours to quell the riot when youth joined, some of whom were shouting "get them out," while one carried a sign that stated "Irish Lives Matter." The crowd reportedly grew to an estimated 500 people. Police Commissioner Drew Harris stated that 13 shops were damaged or looted, 11 police cars were damaged and destroyed, along with three buses and a tram, and one officer was seriously injured.

November 27th, 2023 - Pope Francis is in “good condition” following an antibiotic treatment for the Pontiff’s lung inflammation, which left him in poor health last week, the Vatican said on Monday. A CT scan at the hospital excluded pneumonia but detected inflammation in his lungs that caused breathing difficulties. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement. His Holiness will continue to take on “easier" institutional tasks while he recovers; however, he is due to attend a UN climate change summit in Dubai on Friday; it is currently unknown if he will still attend. "The pope's condition is good and stable; he does not have a fever, and his respiratory condition is definitely improving," Bruni said.

November 23rd, 2023 - Six French teenagers will go on a closed-door trial on Monday on charges related to the beheading of a French history teacher, Samuel Paty, by a suspected Islamist in 2020. Paty had shown his class depictions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in a class about freedom of expression, which angered Muslim students and their parents. Eight other adults are set to stand trial and will appear in a special criminal court. One of the teenagers, a 15-year-old girl, will stand trial for false accusation after she allegedly told her parents the teacher had shown caricatures of the prophet after it was established that she was not in the class when it happened. Paty was killed outside the school by an 18-year-old Russian native of Chechen origin, who was killed by police following the attack. The others will stand trial for premeditated criminal conspiracy for the ambush after they allegedly pointed out the teacher to the attacker and monitored the area for him.

Middle East

November 26th, 2023 - While traversing the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen, the Liberian-flagged tanker M/V Central Park was approached and boarded by suspected Houthi gunmen in an attempted hijacking. A US destroyer responded and was accompanied by a Japanese destroyer. Unable to take control of the Central Park as the task force arrived, the gunmen attempted to flee the area on a small boat and return to Yemen. The two destroyers caught up with them and were captured following their surrender to the Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) team. The gunmen were taken onboard the USS Mason for interrogation. The crew of the Central Park were released unharmed. Hours later two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the US destroyer but fell short and landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships.

November 27th, 2023 - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar has been verbally outspoken on Cyprus being used by the United Kingdom to give weapons to Israel. He told the Turkish Anadolu Agency that “The UK, as a respected country, must not support such a massacre.” Tatar also reminded the UK to fulfill its responsibilities as a guarantor in exchange for which it got the bases. Israeli outlet Haaretz reported that more than 40 US planes, 20 UK planes and seven cargo helicopters transported weapons, equipment and personnel to the UK’s Akrotiri air base in the Greek Cypriot administration. Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said that the bases on the island were used by the UK and the US for preparations for possible evacuations.

Africa

November 24th, 2023 - Somalia has become the 8th member of the East African Community (EAC), after several months of processes and negotiations. The nation was admitted at the EAC Heads of State summit held in Arusha, Tanzania. Additionally at the summit Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye was succeeded by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit as the chairperson of the bloc. The East African community as it presently stands is largely an economic bloc. However, the eventual plan of the EAC is to federate into one state. Meaning the 8 nations (Tanzania, Rwanda, the DRC, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya) will eventually become 1 nation, known as the East African Federation. According to their plans, at least. The admittance of Somalia to the bloc provides a great economic advantage, giving the EAC access to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

November 26th, 2023 - The government of Sierra Leone announced it had repelled an attack from a group of “renegade soldiers” on the nations largest military barracks within Freetown, the nations’ capital. The group also attacked a prison and police station. The government stated that most of the leaders in the attack have since been arrested. The identity of the assailants, and any reasoning behind the attack, has yet to be released. In response to the attacks, a nationwide curfew was imposed, and airlines were advised to redirect and/or reschedule their flights to the nation. The political situation in the nation has been tense since President Julius Maada Bio was re-elected in June, in an election which some have called into question.

November 27th, 2023 - Conflicting statements have come out of Burkina Faso as the newly founded Alliance of Sahel States (AoSS) claims to have killed 400 Al-Qaeda aligned militants as they were attacking the Djibo military base. The AoSS stated they attacked with an army of 3,000, and that the military was successful in repelling them. Questions have been called into the legitimacy of these numbers. The AoSS's claim, however, is in direct contradiction to the militants claims, who claim to have successfully taken over the base, scoring a significant victory against the AoSS, and digging themselves into the base.

The Americas

November 23rd, 2023 - Daniel Noboa, the son of banana baron and previous presidential hopeful Alvaro Noboa, was sworn into office on Thursday following the country’s October run-off election organized by ex-President Guillermo Lasso, where Noboa won 52% of the vote. Noboa promised the Ecuadorian people to revitalize the staggering economy, which was left in a dire state following the pandemic shutdowns, and restore security following a sharp increase in violent crime within the country. The nation has seen a sharp increase in violent crime as rival drug trafficking groups battle for supremacy, with the violence taking over 3,600 people’s lives and culminating in the killing of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Noboa has said he plans to initiate a state of emergency, eliminating some rights such as freedom of movement and deploying the military to the streets. The President formed two key alliances with both the leftist Citizen Revolution Movement led by the former president and the rightwing Social Christian Party in order to have a majority when it came to making key political appointments.

November 26th, 2023 - Three Palestinian college students were shot on Saturday near the University of Vermont’s campus in the city of Burlington. The motive of the attack is currently unknown; however, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee stated the men were wearing keffiyeh and speaking Arabic before a man began shouting at them and then “proceeded to shoot them.” The three were identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed and studied at different universities in the US. The victims’ families urged authorities to investigate the crime as a hate crime. Two of the victims remain in intensive care while another was released on Saturday; their condition is currently unknown. The Ramallah Friends School, the three’s secondary school in Gaza, said on Facebook, “While we are relieved to know they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of the injuries, as Hisham has been shot in the back, Tahseen in the chest, and Kinnan with minor injuries.”

November 25th, 2023 - Three Mexican journalists were released this week following weeks of being held hostage by a criminal group in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state. The state’s prosecutor said on Saturday that the journalists Silvia Nayssa Arce, Alberto Sanchez, and Marco Antonio Toledo were released unharmed following operations by the Mexican military to find the journalists after their capture earlier this month. Toledo, who is the editor of the weekly newspaper El Espectador, was taken hostage by armed men on November 19 in the tourist town of Taxco, while Silvia Nayssa Arce and Alberto Sanchez, reporters for the digital media site RedSiete, were abducted from their offices on Wednesday in the same city. Toledo’s wife, Guadalupe Denova, was released alongside her husband; however, their son remains missing while authorities continue their search. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists to operate in, with 150 journalists being killed since 2000, many in gruesome manner.

Asia and Oceania

November 26th, 2023 - In light of North Korea's launch of a spy satellite, Japan, South Korea, and the United States collaborated in a joint naval exercise conducted in international waters near the southern coast of South Korea. The trilateral drill, situated southeast of Jeju Island, involved simulations addressing the potential launch of a North Korean missile. Notably, the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which had arrived in the South Korean port of Busan a week earlier, participated in the exercise. This coordinated response ensued following North Korea's perceived successful launch of a reconnaissance satellite into Earth's orbit on November 21. Seoul reacted by suspending a portion of an inter-Korean military agreement, leading to the resumption of reconnaissance and surveillance activities along the North Korean border.

November 26th, 2023 - China’s second domestically produced aircraft carrier and third overall, the Fujian (Type 003) has reportedly conducted its first electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) launch while in outfitting in Shanghai. EMALS is a type of aircraft launching system. Currently, only the United States and China have successfully developed it, and it is installed on the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers and the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult-employing a linear induction motor rather than the conventional steam piston. This is an important development in China’s ability to project power abroad.

November 25th, 2023 - Christopher Luxon, the newly sworn-in prime minister of New Zealand, announced on Monday that the country's ambitious anti-smoking laws, touted as world-leading, would be rescinded. This decision has been labeled a significant victory for the tobacco industry. Luxon cited the anticipated tax revenue from continued cigarette sales as a beneficial source of income for the government. He also expressed apprehension about the potential emergence of a thriving black market, which would operate without taxation, if the ban were to be implemented.

• Finland closes majority of border crossings with Russia amidst migrant surge - Tessaron

• Extreme winter storm in Southern Ukraine - OurWarsToday

• Japan, Britain, and Italy to meet on GCAP - Joshua Paulo

• US CENTCOM confirms retaliatory strikes in Iraq - Atlas

• US warns India over thwarted assassination - Tessaron

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