Turkey blocks sweeden's Nato application

The Swedish Supreme Court has blocked the extradition of exiled journalist Bullnet Pennish, sought by Turkey, which could complicate Sweden's bid to join NATO. Turkey wants Sweden to extradite Pennish, a former editor of the Zaman Daily Newspaper, whom the Turkish government accuses of being involved in the 2016 attempt to topple President Erdogan. However, the Swedish Supreme Court cited several hindrances to sending Pennish back to Turkey, including the political nature of the case and the risk of persecution based on his political beliefs. This decision could prove difficult for Sweden as it needs Hungary and Turkey to ratify its and Finland's accession into the military alliance; Hungary is set to do so in early 2023, but Turkey is the only NATO member that has threatened to veto the accession bids. An agreement was reached between the countries in June, but Turkey is still holding back on ratifying the applications. Turkey has also accused Sweden, in particular, of being a safe haven for Kurdish partisan groups it considers terrorists and wants Sweden to take tougher action on extradition. The Swedish government has repeatedly said that its independent judiciary makes the final decisions on issues like this, but it could make their NATO application a little harder.

Trump's charges

Nearly two years after the attack and following 18 months of investigation and nine public hearings with over 70 witnesses, the House Select Committee, tasked with looking into the January 6th attack on the Capitol, held its final public meeting yesterday. The committee unanimously voted to refer former President Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for at least four criminal charges: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement, and inciting, assisting, aiding, or comforting an insurrection. These referrals mark the first time in U.S. history that Congress or a Congressional committee has recommended criminal charges against a former president. Announcing the committee's decision, Democrat Jamie Raskin stressed that the committee understood the gravity of each and every referral it was making, just as it understood the magnitude of the crime against democracy described in its report. Raskin highlighted that the committee had gone where the facts and law led them, and inescapably, they led to these referrals.

The accompanying report, set to be published in full later this week, further adds evidence that has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion: the central cause of January 6 was former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6 would have happened without him. Alongside the former president, the committee decided to refer five other Trump allies for potential prosecution: Mark Meadows, Trump's final chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, and Kenneth Chesbrough. It must be noted that the DOJ is under no obligation to follow through on the committee's referrals, as they are politically important but carry no legal weight. It will be up to the DOJ alone to determine whether or not to actually bring criminal charges against Trump.

At a time when the department is already under immense political pressure, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that special counsel Jack Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, will be appointed to oversee the DOJ's criminal investigations into former President Trump, both relating to the classified documents held at Mar-a-Lago and Trump's alleged role in the January 6th Capitol attack. This move was justified as being in the public interest in light of Trump's announcement that he would stand for president in 2024 and the intention of the incumbent president to do the same. If Jack Smith green lights charging Trump, it is likely to set off an almighty political and legal fight with the potential of destroying any chance of Trump becoming president again.

Netherlands Slavery Apology

On Monday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutter issued an apology on behalf of the government for the Netherlands' historic role in slavery and the slave trade. In a 20-minute speech at the Dutch National Archives, Rutter said "history is often ugly, painful, and even downright shameful," adding that for centuries, the Dutch state and its representatives facilitated, stimulated, preserved, and profited from slavery, which must be recognized in the clearest terms as a crime against humanity. "I apologize," Rutter said, "to enslaved people in the past, as well as to their daughters and sons, and all the way to their descendants up to the present day." However, the full apology has been met with some criticism. Some campaigners have said that there has been a lack of consolation from the government and that the apology should have been made by the king on July 1, 2023, in the former colony of Suriname to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery there.

China 0-Covid policy

The Chinese government rolled back their "zero COVID" policy due to protests threatening President Xi's regime, and as a result, coronavirus cases are increasing massively in the country, putting China's health system under huge strain. It is difficult to get an exact number of cases, but it has been suggested that several major city hospitals are frantically trying to source ventilators and emergency equipment. In Guangzhou, for example, the number of ICU beds has been increased to 110,000 from only 40,000 in an attempt to keep up with the number of newly infected people with the virus. This is happening in cities across the country, demonstrating the severity of the situation.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/politics/jan-6-trump-justice-dept.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-19/donald-trump-s-doj-referral-spotlights-insurrection-ban-on-officeholders
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/19/dutch-pm-apologises-for-netherlands-role-in-slave-trade
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221219-sweden-blocks-extradition-of-journalist-sought-by-erdogan
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/china-rushes-to-boost-intensive-care-beds-doctors-and-stocks-of-medicine-as-covid-surges