United States and Indonesia reach agreement on tariffs

Today's headlines: Amazon blocks applications from 1,800 North Korean workers; ASEAN announces meeting between Cambodian and Thai delegations tomorrow to stop the war; Japan uses AI to counter bear attacks; New clashes between government militias and Kurdish forces in Aleppo.

INDONESIA

Indonesia and the United States have reached an agreement on tariffs that exempts certain Indonesian commodities, such as palm oil, tea, coffee and cocoa, said Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, adding that the agreement will be signed in January. In return, the United States will be granted access to Indonesia's rare earths. Indonesia is the world's leading producer of nickel, but also has copper, bauxite and tin.

NORTH KOREA

An Amazon executive said he had blocked 1,800 job applications from alleged North Korean agents who were trying to apply for IT positions using stolen or fake identities. Last year, Amazon saw an increase of nearly a third in applications from North Korean citizens, who are usually forced to transfer their salaries to the regime.

THAILAND-CAMBODIA

Delegations from Cambodia and Thailand - engaged in a border war for more than two weeks that has already claimed dozens of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people - are expected to meet tomorrow in the format of the existing committee for issues related to the July ceasefire.

The announcement of the meeting is the result of a summit promoted by ASEAN foreign ministers. However, Cambodia is insisting that it be held on neutral territory in Kuala Lumpur and not on the border.

JAPAN

Japan is using a new artificial intelligence-based surveillance system to detect the presence of bears near inhabited communities. The technology uses cameras installed near residential areas to monitor the movements of animals and identify bears before accidents occur. Once a bear is detected, local authorities are notified by email, allowing them to issue warnings and respond more quickly.

SYRIA

Last night, the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to work to ease tensions in the city of Aleppo after a wave of attacks (which both sides blamed on each other) left at least two people dead and several injured, including children and civil defence workers. Today, the governor of Aleppo suspended all classes. The SDF claimed that the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government, which used tanks and artillery against residential neighbourhoods in the city. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said it had responded to gunfire from the Kurds.

TURKMENISTAN - TURKEY

Hundreds of students from Turkmenistan took to the streets to protest against their expulsion from Altynbaš University in Istanbul, which they claim recruited more students than it could accommodate in order to obtain money and is now expelling the “excess” students en masse, deciding to get rid of 1,500 students, almost all of whom are Turkmen citizens, despite the fact that they have all already paid their fees and are attending classes regularly, and now risk repatriation.

RUSSIA

As confirmed by the Russian Investigative Committee, on the morning of 22 December, a bomb exploded under the car of General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational section of the Russian army's general staff and a key figure in the wars in the Caucasus and Syria, on Jaseneva Street in Moscow. An investigation is underway, which mainly points to the Ukrainian special services as the culprits, although their role in the current war is unclear.