Washington (United States) (AFP) – The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation.

President Donald Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions, in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government headed by former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa.

But Sharaa had sought a permanent end to the sanctions, fearing that so long as the measures remained on the books they would deter businesses wary of legal risks in the world's largest economy.

The Senate passed the repeal of the 2019 Caesar Act as part of a sweeping annual defense package. The Senate voted 77 to 20 in favor of the legislation, which was already approved by the House of Representatives and is expected to be signed by Trump.

The repeal, broadly backed by lawmakers of both parties, "is a decisive step toward giving the Syrian people a real chance to rebuild after decades of unimaginable suffering," said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Caesar Act, named after an anonymous photographer who documented atrocities in Assad's prisons, severely restricted investment and cut off Syria from the international banking system.

The law was intended to prevent the influx of foreign businesses to rebuild Syria at a time when it had seemed that Assad had triumphed following more than a decade of brutal civil war that triggered a massive flow of refugees toward Europe and helped spawn the birth of the Islamic State extremist movement.

Sharaa's fighters seized Damascus a year ago in a lightning offensive.

Sharaa -- now dressed in a business suit and seeking better relations with the West -- has impressed Trump, including when they first met during the US leader's May trip to Riyadh.

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One of my students today told me to have a peaceful Christmas. I don’t know if I want to have a peaceful Christmas, as it’s been hectic and filled with visiting family. Furthermore, I think I prefer this to being bored. What type adjectives would y’all use to describe your ideal holiday season vibe?

Call of Duty sold less than last year, too.

> ❗️Spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal:

– "Since the start of the recent severe weather systems, more than 17 residential buildings have completely collapsed."

– "Over 90 residential buildings have suffered serious partial collapses, posing a direct threat to the lives of thousands of residents."

– "Approximately 90% of shelters across the Gaza Strip have been completely flooded due to heavy rains and flash floods."

– "All displacement tents across the Strip have been damaged and flooded, leaving thousands of families without temporary shelter, destroying clothing, bedding, and blankets, and further worsening humanitarian suffering."

– "Civil Defense crews have received more than 5,000 distress calls from residents since the onset of the weather systems."

– "The impacts of these storms have resulted in the deaths of 17 people, including four children who died from extreme cold, while others were killed due to building collapses."

– "We renew our urgent call to the world and the international community to take immediate action to provide relief and meet urgent humanitarian needs."

– "We affirm that tents have proven to be a complete failure in the Gaza Strip and demand that relevant authorities and international institutions refrain entirely from supplying tents."

We call for the immediate launch of reconstruction efforts and the provision of safe housing that preserves human dignity and protects lives.

#drowningGaza
#caravansForGaza
#palestine
#gaza
@palestine@lemmy.ml
@Palestine@masto.ai
@palestine@fedibird.com
@palestine@tagpush.app
@gazanotice

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/post/712889

The long troll

A new set of patches posted today to the Linux kernel mailing list begin adapting the Linux software RAID code paths to begin making use of the folio data structure.

Folios have continued to see continued usage throughout the Linux kernel since their merging back in 2021 with Linux 5.16. Folios allow more efficiently managing a groups of contiguous memory pages for better performance while often simplifying the kernel code too.

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Berlin (AFP) – German lawmakers Wednesday approved about 50 billion euros ($59 billion) in military purchases, as Berlin accelerates defence spending in the face of a hostile Russia and signs of weakening security commitments from Washington.

The extensive list of procurements ranged from missiles to artillery, torpedoes, armoured vehicles, satellite systems and new uniforms as Berlin races to overhaul the long-neglected Bundeswehr.

Officials said that the new purchases, greenlighted by parliament's budget committee, mean a "historic" number of defence acquisitions have been approved this year, worth nearly 83 billion euros.

"We are sending a signal to the (NATO) alliance and our partners: Germany is leading the way," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"We are fulfilling our obligations to the alliance and accepting our responsibility for security and peace in Europe."

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany dropped a long-standing pacifist tradition shaped by its dark World War II past and started ramping up spending to overhaul the armed forces.

Signs of the United States's weakening commitment to Europe's security since US President Donald Trump's return to the White House further pushed Germany, and the rest of the continent, into speeding up its rearmament.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office in May, has given the drive even greater momentum, exempting defence spending from strict debt rules to free up more funds.

The defence budget for this year had already been laid out but Wednesday's purchases had to be approved by parliament's budget commitment, in line with rules that individual acquisitions over 25 million euros must be signed off by MPs.

The purchases spanned more than 30 different projects, including missiles for Patriot and Iris-T air defence systems, artillery, torpedoes, weapon systems for aircraft and unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems, according to the defence ministry.

It also included "combat clothing and equipment" for up to 460,000 troops and protective equipment for 80,000 civilian employees.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said defence spending had a hit a new record this year, adding such "huge investments" were needed in the coming years.

"We must be able to equip each and every individual for their specific mission when they join us," he said after MPs approved the purchases.

"We can't put young soldiers in tracksuits because their uniforms haven't been delivered yet."

The government is seeking to expand the army, which shrank sharply after the end of the Cold War, and German lawmakers this month backed a new scheme aimed at boosting the number of troops.

Officials are not re-introducing mandatory military service but have warned they may do so if they do not get enough people signing up voluntarily.

Germany has dramatically raised its defence spending targets for the coming years.

Berlin announced earlier this year that it will aim to hike core defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2029, in line with a new NATO target that the alliance agreed to under pressure from Trump.

The government is set to spend more than 500 billion euros on defence between this year and 2029.

Pistorius insisted that the government will handle the massive investments "carefully and conscientiously".

"Everyone can rest assured that we are very aware of the scale of what we are talking about," he said.

Artist: Sadamoto Yoshiyuki | twitter | deviantart | danbooru

Lucknow (India) (AFP) – The fourth T20 international between India and South Africa was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to dense fog in the northern Indian city of Lucknow on Wednesday.

The toss was scheduled for 6:30pm local time (1300 GMT) but never took place despite several pitch inspections at the Ekana Stadium. The umpires eventually called off the match at 9:30pm.

T20 world champions India lead the five-match series 2-1 ahead of the final match on Friday in Ahmedabad.

The series is part of the build-up for the T20 World Cup which starts in February in India and Sri Lanka.

A statement said, the match "has been abandoned due to excessive fog, making playing conditions unsafe".

Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya was seen wearing a mask to trigger online discussions on deteriorating pollution levels.

Levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles hit 78 micrograms per cubic metre in parts of Lucknow, according to monitoring organisation IQAir, more than five times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

But recently pollution levels have been found to be much worse in northern India, including in capital Delhi where the PM 2.5 microparticles rose to more than 20 times the WHO levels during football star Lionel Messi's visit on Monday.

Acrid smog blankets parts of northern India, when cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground, creating a deadly mix of emissions from crop burning, factories and heavy traffic.

Players first went through their drills at the ground before moving indoors for most of the inspections as disappointed fans made their way out of the venue.

Adult video platform PornHub is being extorted by the ShinyHunters extortion gang after the search and watch history of its Premium members was reportedly stolen in a recent Mixpanel data breach.

Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – EU plans to seal a vast trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur this week were thrown into disarray Wednesday after Italy joined fellow heavyweight France in seeking a delay.

The last-mile upset drew a stern rebuke from Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who told his European Union partners the time to close the deal was now or never.

"I've already warned them: if we don't do it now, Brazil won't make any more agreements while I'm president," Lula told a cabinet meeting. "We have given in on everything that diplomacy could reasonably concede."

Twenty years in the making, the pact to create the world's biggest free-trade area is backed by Germany and many of the EU's 27 nations, keen to diversify trade in the face of US tariffs.

The deal would allow the EU to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans into Europe.

Fearing negative fallout for its agricultural sector, France has long been a holdout, but had failed to muster enough support to block the accord -- until now.

The European Commission was expecting member states to approve the deal in time for EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to fly to Foz do Iguacu in Brazil to sign it with Mercosur partners on Saturday.

But with just days to go, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni broke cover on Wednesday and said Rome was not ready.

"It would be premature to sign the deal in the coming days," she told parliament, arguing that some of the safeguards Italy wants to protect its farmers were still to be finalised.

That threw von der Leyen's plans for a weekend signature in serious doubt, although a commission spokesman said EU leaders will discuss the matter at a Brussels summit Thursday.

"I hope she has a refundable ticket," quipped one diplomat about the commission chief, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Key power Germany, as well as Spain and the Nordic countries, strongly support the Mercosur pact, eager to boost exports as Europe grapples with Chinese competition and a tariff-happy administration in the White House.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday he would push "intensively" for a sign-off before the end of the year, describing the issue as a test of the "European Union's ability to act".

But Paris had already thrown a spanner in the works by calling for a vote delay, demanding robust safeguard clauses, tighter import controls and more stringent standards for Mercosur producers.

President Emmanuel Macron told a cabinet meeting Wednesday that France would "firmly oppose" the EU forcing through the deal.

With Hungary and Poland also averse, Meloni's move means critics would now have enough clout within the European Council to shoot down the deal, were it to be put to a vote.

Talks "could get pretty heated", a European diplomat said, speaking of the coming Brussels deliberations, which will take place against a background of farmer protests against the deal.

Meloni said Italy does not intend "to block or oppose the agreement as a whole" and was "very confident" the conditions would be met for Rome to sign at the start of 2026.

To allay some concerns, EU lawmakers and member states clinched a deal Wednesday evening on safeguard measures allowing for the temporary suspension of tariff preferences on sensitive goods in case of import surges.

Brussels has insisted on getting the trade deal over the finish line by the end of the year -- calling it a matter of credibility with regard to the EU's South American partners.

And some fear further roadblocks down the road in case of a delay, with Paraguay, which is less keen on the agreement, set to take over as Mercosur head in 2026.

The Prime Minister said Roman Abramovich should make good on his pledge that money from the sale of Chelsea FC would go to benefit Ukrainians

Gender-critical campaigners had hoped that this year’s Supreme Court ruling would tee up US-style bathroom bills across the UK, throwing hundreds of thousands of pounds at lawsuits to exclude trans women from women’s spaces. It’s not working out that way. Rivkah Brown reports.