Russia targets Kyiv with ballistic missiles
KYIV, Dec 11: Russia fired eight ballistic missiles at Kyiv early Monday, all of which were shot down, Ukraine's Air Force said. The thwarted attack still left one person injured by shrapnel and three more suffered severe stress reactions, officials said. A series of loud explosions rang out in Ukraine's capital just after 4 a.m., as the city was under its nightly curfew, followed by air raid sirens. Elsewhere in Ukraine on Monday, Russia fired 18 drones overnight, and the Air Force intercepted all of them, mostly over the southern Mykolaiv region. — AP
Consensus reached on COP28 draft deal
DUBAI, Dec 11: UN climate talks enter their endgame on Monday as negotiators seek to convince an increasingly isolated Saudi Arabia and other holdouts to give up their opposition to a historic phase-out of fossil fuels. With 24 hours to go before the official end of COP28 in Dubai, a new draft deal was expected in the morning in the hope that the right language may have finally been found to achieve a consensus among nearly 200 countries. The annual Conference of the Parties, or COP, has rarely finished on schedule in its 28-year history, but COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber has called on countries to wrap things up on time on Tuesday. — AFP
Trump will not testify in NY fraud trial
NEW YORK, Dec 11: Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would not testify in a New York courtroom this week, where he had been expected to appear for a second time to make the case that his company did not misrepresent the value of its properties to win favourable financing. The civil fraud trial, which began in October, is one of several legal challenges the former president faces as he mounts a comeback bid for the White House. Trump said on social media on Sunday that "I will not be testifying on Monday." The former president and Republican frontrunner said that he had already testified and had "nothing more to say other than that this is a complete and total election interference." — Reuters
Australia to halve immigration
SYDNEY, Dec 11: The Australian government says it will halve the migration intake within two years in an attempt to fix the country's "broken" immigration system. It aims to slash the annual intake to 250,000 - roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels - by June 2025. Visa rules for international students and low-skilled workers will also be tightened under the new plan. Migration has climbed to record levels in Australia, adding pressure to housing and infrastructure woes. But there remains a shortage of skilled workers, and the country struggles to attract them. Unveiling a new 10-year immigration strategy at a media briefing on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the migration system had been left "in tatters" by the previous government. — BBC
US F-16 crashes into sea off S Korea
SEOUL, Dec 11: A U.S. Air Force pilot safely ejected on Monday before his F-16 fighter jet crashed into the sea off South Korea's southwestern coast, U.S. and South Korean military officials said. The unidentified pilot was recovered by South Korean maritime forces and was "awake and in stable condition," the U.S. 8th Fighter Wing said in a statement. It said the pilot was being returned to Kunsan Air Base near the southwestern port city of Gunsan, where he would be evaluated further. —AP
HK 'patriots only' election falls flat
HONG KONG, Dec 11: A "patriots only" district election in Hong Kong that barred opposition democrats from the ballot sheet amid a national security squeeze had a record low voter turnout of 27.5% as many voters spurned what was seen as an undemocratic poll. The sharp slide in turnout since the last such election in 2019 comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and overhauled the electoral system to shut out democrats and other liberals. — Reuters
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