World
Ukraine's Yermak meets senior Trump advisers, source says
Ukrainian delegation met on Wednesday with senior representatives of President-elect Donald Trump, a source familiar with the meeting said, as Ukraine seeks support from the incoming team in its war to repel Russian invaders.
The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The group met in Washington with Trump’s choice for White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, the source said, without providing details.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.
Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the nearly three-year-old conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but has thus far not provided details.
World
Berlin's new panda twins have been named. Meet Leni and Lotti, or Meng Hao and Meng Tian
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s new panda twins now have names — or rather, two names apiece.
The two female cubs, born at the Berlin Zoo on Aug. 22, were introduced Friday as Meng Hao and Meng Tian (“good dream” and “sweet dream.”) Alternatively, they also answer to the very Berlin names of Leni and Lotti.
The pair, who lay on their bellies on a mattress and peered at photographers as the Chinese ambassador to Germany and Berlin’s mayor unveiled their names, are the second pair of giant pandas born in Germany.
The first were their elder brothers Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, who became far better known by the German names Pit and Paule. The cubs were born in August 2019 and were a star attraction in Berlin until they were flown to China nearly a year ago — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All are the offspring of mother Meng Meng and father Jiao Qing, who arrived in Berlin in 2017.
Zoo director Andreas Knieriem said the youngsters are growing fast, putting on nearly 100 grams (3.5 ounces) per day and now weighing in at almost 6 kilos (13.2 pounds) each.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in March. Female pandas are fertile only for a few days per year at most.
China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy″ policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
World
South Korean lawmakers support suspending president’s powers after short-lived martial law declaration
South Korean lawmakers are calling for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol after his short-lived martial law declaration earlier this week, raising the prospects of impeachment.
Opposition parties are pushing for a parliamentary vote on Yoon’s impeachment on Saturday, calling his martial law declaration an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup.”
President Yoon shocked democratic allies by declaring martial law late Tuesday night, sending the East Asian country into chaos. South Korea’s parliament voted to cancel martial law just six hours later, but the episode has effectively frozen the country’s politics. Thousands of protesters have marched in the streets of Seoul since Wednesday, calling for Yoon to resign and be investigated.
Still, passing an impeachment motion would need support from some members of the president’s People Power Party to get the required two-thirds majority. The opposition parties who jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined. PPP has 108 lawmakers.
SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT’S MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION A ‘BLUNDER,’ COULD EMBOLDEN NORTH KOREA, EXPERT SAYS
During a party meeting, PPP leader Han Dong-hun said it was important to suspend Yoon’s presidential duties and power quickly, saying he poses a “significant risk of extreme actions, like reattempting to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
CNN PANEL SEES ‘PARALLELS’ BETWEEN SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT DECLARING MARTIAL LAW AND TRUMP, JAN. 6 RIOTS
Han said he had received intelligence that the president had ordered the arrests of unspecified politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities” during martial law.
Han leads a minority faction within the ruling party, and 18 lawmakers in his faction voted with opposition lawmakers to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree.
JAPAN SAYS IT WILL WATCH CHINA’S MILITARY ACTIVITY AFTER BEIJING ADMITS VIOLATING JAPANESE AIRSPACE
If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office or restore his presidential power.
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung said in a televised speech Friday that it was crucial to suspend Yoon as “quickly as possible.”
Lee said Yoon’s martial law enforcement amounted to “rebellion and also a self-coup.” He said Yoon’s move caused serious damage to the country’s image and paralyzed foreign policy, pointing to criticism from the Biden administration and foreign leaders canceling their visits to South Korea.
President Yoon has issued no response to Han’s comments. Nor has he made any public appearances since he made a televised announcement that his martial law was lifted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Brussels chides Hungary for significant errors in its fiscal plans
Budapest appears to be dragging its feet over submitting a realistic picture of Hungary’s economic outlook, according to a European Commission letter seen by Euronews – the latest potential quarrel in a pattern of worsening relations with Brussels.
Hungary’s fiscal plans are missing significant information and based on unreliable data, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has said in a letter to Finance Minister Mihály Varga, dated Thursday (5 December) and seen by Euronews.
Budapest appears to be dragging its feet in submitting realistic economic forecasts to Brussels – part of a growing pattern of confrontation between the two.
“At this stage, there are still important elements missing, or requiring further adjustment and specification, for the Commission to finalise its assessment” of Hungary’s medium-term fiscal plan, said Dombrovskis, who is European Commissioner for the Economy.
The Commission also highlights issues with data on economic growth, inflation and interest expenditure, saying that deviations from the Commission’s own methodology need to be “duly justified”.
The analysis is supposed to set out how Viktor Orbán’s government plans to return to fiscal balance over the coming few years, after strict EU spending rules were relaxed amid the covid pandemic and the ensuing energy crisis.
But the EU executive’s full assessment “may take some time … given the breadth of the missing information” – possibly stretching the deadline from the current 12 December into the middle of January next year, the letter said.
Fines for breaches
The EU Treaty limits the debt its member states can incur – and in principle breaches can lead to fines, even if such tough measures are rarely if ever imposed.
The bloc’s Stability and Growth Pact aims to avoid economic turmoil in the eurozone, as seen in Greece following the global financial crisis of 2007-8 – but the rules also apply, albeit less strictly, to those such as Hungary who don’t share the currency.
Under the EU’s ‘Maastricht criteria’ outstanding government debt should not exceed 60% of annual economic output, or GDP, and the budget deficit should be no more than 3%.
These budget strictures were largely suspended during the government splurges of the pandemic and the energy crisis surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but they are back in force as of this year.
Hungary was apparently late submitting its fiscal plans, meaning it couldn’t be assessed in late November alongside most other EU member states.
In light of domestic political issues, the Commission had given five other EU members extra time to submit their deficit proposals. Among them are Germany, which has called a snap poll for February, and Belgium, which is still attempting to form a governing coalition after June federal elections.
Just one of the remaining 21 countries was given a fail grade for its fiscal plans in November. The Commission chastised the Netherlands, traditionally a fiscal hawk, for a deficit predicted to rise from 0.2% this year to 2.4% in 2026, due in part to income tax cuts and a rise in public investment.
Toxic impact
Conforming with Brussels’ demands can have a toxic impact on domestic politics. The government of French prime minister Michel Barnier fell this week after lawmakers refused to support his seven-year plan to bring down France’s deficit, which at 6.2% is the highest in the eurozone.
Hungary is also approaching the end of a complicated six months in which it has chaired discussions among member states in the EU Council.
Budapest has repeatedly vetoed sanctions and other measures taken against Russia in response to the Ukraine invasion, and has refused to implement EU court judgements on asylum rights, leading Brussels to suspend lucrative EU funds.
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