Bondi Good Samaritan Receives €1.4m Raised by Supporters

December 19, 2025

'Bondi Hero' handed €1.4m collected from fundraising

Bondi’s Quiet Hero: How One Man’s Instincts Turned a Celebration into a Lifeline

On a warm evening when Bondi Beach should have been all candlelight and laughter, a handful of seconds split the world for dozens of families. Voices rose in terror. Sand turned to chaos. And in the middle of it all, a tobacco shop owner with two children tucked under his jacket became, for a beat, the difference between life and death.

His name is Ahmed al Ahmed. He did not expect to be a hero. He didn’t train for headlines or interviews. He left his hometown in Idlib, Syria, nearly two decades ago for work and a future in Australia. He runs a small shop. He’s a father. And he is now, unmistakably, a symbol — of courage, of the migrant contribution to civic life, and of a community’s fierce need to heal.

A moment that changed everything

It was Hanukkah, a festival of lights. Families had gathered near the famous curve of sand and surf that is Bondi, candles flickering, children bundled against a chill wind. Then gunfire ripped through the air. Two men, police later said, opened fire on the crowd. By the time it was over, 15 people were dead and dozens more wounded — a statistic that has stunned a nation where such mass violence is painfully uncommon.

Ahmed’s response was instinctive. Videos and eyewitness accounts show him ducking behind parked cars, then charging. He tackled one of the assailants from behind, wrenching the weapon free and bringing the man to the sand. Another gunman then apparently fired, striking Mr Ahmed. He was rushed to St George Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remained in recovery as communities and leaders visited to pay their respects.

“When I saved the people I did it from the heart,” Ahmed later told visitors at his bedside. “It was a nice day, everyone enjoying… they deserve to enjoy.” He raised his uninjured fist and added, almost defiantly, “This country is the best country in the world… God protect Australia. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.”

The oversized cheque and a global outpouring

Within days, tens of thousands of strangers had decided that a man they had never met deserved more than applause. A GoFundMe campaign set up by social media organiser Zachery Dereniowski quickly became an avalanche of donations. More than 43,000 people from around the world contributed, sending messages of thanks, solidarity, grief and hope.

The fundraiser passed A$2.5 million — enough to stop anyone from pretending the moment was forgettable. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman donated A$99,999 and shared the campaign with his followers, fueling a wave of international support.

At Ahmed’s hospital bed, Mr Dereniowski presented an oversized cheque in a quiet scene that played out like a modern fable: a stranger’s bravery, the internet’s pocketbook, community generosity. “I deserve it?” Ahmed asked, incredulous. “Every penny,” Mr Dereniowski replied.

Quick facts

Casualties: 15 people killed; dozens wounded.
Donors: Over 43,000 contributors to the GoFundMe campaign.
Funds raised: More than A$2.5 million (≈€1.4 million).
Notable donor: Bill Ackman donated A$99,999 and shared the page online.
Suspected attackers: A 50-year-old man, shot dead by police, and his 24-year-old son, critically wounded.

Voices from Bondi

In the days after the attack, the beach — an icon of sun and surf, avocado toast and lifeguards orange flags flying — pulsed with a different kind of energy: grief, bewilderment and a fierce tenderness.

“I’ve worked in Bondi for 12 years. You think you know every sound of this place — the gulls, the waves, kids’ laughter,” said Maria Santos, who runs a small café a block from the sand. “To hear shots here… it felt unreal. But then I saw Ahmed’s face on the news and I thought, there’s our neighbour. That man is us.”

A local lifeguard, who asked not to be named, described how the rescue felt like choreography gone wrong: “We switched from sunscreen to triage. Lifeboat crews became stretcher teams. People were calling for their parents. It was a moment when everyone did what they could.”

What this moment says about Australia

Australia’s modern identity includes the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, an event that reshaped gun policy and national conscience. In the years since, sweeping firearms reforms dramatically reduced the frequency of mass shootings — a rarity that has made this latest attack all the more shocking.

And yet the response to Ahmed’s courage reveals another thread in the nation’s fabric: community solidarity. Thousands donated not because they expected to solve structural problems overnight but because they wanted to give a tangible thank-you to the man who ran toward danger to protect strangers.

“It isn’t just charity,” said a social policy researcher who studies migration and civic participation. “It’s a signal that Australians value bravery and civic action — and that they see migrants, like Ahmed, as integral to the social glue.”

Questions we can’t ignore

How do societies balance the shock of rare violence with long-term prevention? What measures can protect public spaces without smothering the very freedoms they aim to preserve? And perhaps most poignantly: how do we honor acts of courage without reducing people to symbols?

Ahmed himself sidesteps heroics. When asked what he would say to donors, he offered a simple appeal: “To stand with each other, all human beings. And forget everything bad … and keep going to save life.”

That plea is worth sitting with. So much of our public life is now mediated through screens and algorithms. Yet a hospital room in Sydney became the scene of something starkly human — someone wounded, someone thanking strangers, a community pooling resources.

Where do we go from here?

Small acts accumulate. Vigils will be held; legal and security reviews will follow; politicians will make statements and promises. But the more intimate work — the healing, the remembering — will happen in cafés, in schools, on the sand where children will one day run again.

Would you know what to do if terror erupted where you were? How would your community respond? These are uncomfortable questions, but the story of what happened at Bondi — and the man who leapt into danger — offers an answer of sorts: when ordinary people act, they can rewrite fate, if only for a few seconds that mean everything.

Ahmed has not yet said how he will use the money. For now, he remains in hospital, recovering and surrounded by messages and visitors. Across the city, a new chorus has begun: outrage at what happened; gratitude toward those who intervened; and the quiet work of stitching a wounded community back together.

Bondi will return to its rhythm of surf and sun. But it will not forget the night the lights went out, nor the man who chose to charge toward them. In that choice lives a stubborn reminder: human courage is often unspectacular, born of love and habit and the simple desire to protect a stranger’s child. It is, in the end, what binds us.

EU Backs €90bn Ukraine Loan, Rules Out Using Russian Assets

hanad

December 19, 2025

EU agrees €90bn Ukraine loan without using Russian assets — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) speaks as European Council President Antonio Costa (C) and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen listen

In the sleeping heart of Europe, a deal that was almost different was made

It was past midnight in Brussels when the final papers were signed — or, more precisely, when tired leaders nodded and staffers began to type the language that will be parsed for months to come.

For more than a day, negotiators at the European Council huddled, argued, and ran legal scenarios late into the night. The outcome: a €90 billion loan package to keep Ukraine running through 2026–27. What did not happen is almost as important as what did. The summit stopped short of the bold, politically fraught option of underwriting long-term Ukrainian reconstruction using tens of billions in immobilized Russian assets sitting in European accounts.

Two pathways to the same urgent problem

When the summit opened, the math was stark and simple: the EU estimates Ukraine will need roughly €135 billion over the next two years to keep its government, social services and defense functioning. A cash crunch could begin as early as April. Leaders were wrestling with two paths to avert that cliff.

Option one: raise debt on international markets, a joint EU loan backed by untapped funds from the EU’s seven‑year budget framework.
Option two: repurpose frozen Russian assets — estimated by EU officials at up to €210 billion — as a kind of capital pool to underwrite Ukraine’s long-term financing.

Both choices carried political and legal landmines. Calling on frozen Russian securities would have answered a visceral, moral argument: Russia’s aggression has generated the damage — why should Russian capital remain untouched while Ukraine pays the bill? But it would also create a legal minefield: could a future arbitration award in favour of Russia be enforced against EU member states or the entities that hold those assets, such as Euroclear in Belgium?

Belgium, Euroclear and the legal question

Belgium, which hosts Euroclear — the securities depository that holds the bulk of these frozen Russian bonds and equities — insisted on iron‑clad guarantees. “We cannot expose our institutions to a catastrophic legal liability,” an EU official confided. “Belgium wanted a guarantee that if some improbable legal reversal happened, they would not be left holding the bag.”

Technical teams worked through the night to draft indemnities and contingency clauses. They dreamed up insurance schemes, legal shields and backstops. Yet the essential problem remained: you cannot entirely rule out a determined legal challenge from Moscow, and Brussels was not willing to take open‑ended fiscal exposure for a single member state.

Compromise: money now, complicated questions later

In the end the leaders pivoted back to the route they could agree on immediately — a €90 billion loan raised by joint EU borrowing backed by unused resources in the multiannual financial framework. That required concessions. A handful of countries that have been more conciliatory toward Moscow — including Hungary, Slovakia and, late in the day, the Czech Republic — agreed not to block the measure on the condition they would not be party to the joint debt mechanism itself.

“It’s messy, but it’s real money when real money is needed,” said an EU finance minister after the meeting. “We preserved the assets in frozen state and we agreed a mechanism where Ukraine is supported without putting a single EU treasury at unnecessary legal risk.”

Crucially, leaders also insisted the freeze remains firm. The phrasing is tight: the assets will stay immobilized, and if, in a post‑war settlement, Russia is required to pay reparations and does not, then Ukraine could use those funds as a means to repay the EU loan. That conditionality was deliberately engineered — a political signal that the assets are not being simply returned to Russia’s use.

Voices from Kyiv, Brussels and a café in the EU quarter

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked EU leaders in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing that the €90 billion decision “strengthens our resilience” and that keeping Russian assets immobilized was “important”. He had lobbied hard for a direct use of those assets, arguing it was “moral, fair and legal” to use Russian resources to rebuild what Russian bombs destroyed.

An aid worker from Kharkiv reached via video call said the deal was both relief and frustration. “This buys us time to keep hospitals open and salaries paid,” she said, voice low. “But we still feel the weight of the question: who pays for rebuilding lives, streets, schools? That’s not a technical question — it’s about justice.”

Outside the summit, a barista at a small café by the Berlaymont building folded his arms and shrugged. “I don’t want other countries’ money to be used as if it were free. If Russia destroyed it, they should be the ones to pay—but I’m glad we didn’t get into a legal mess,” he said.

German pressure, American timing

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had been one of the leading voices pushing to make the asset option happen. “A decisive move would have sent a strong signal to Moscow,” he told colleagues, according to people in the room. Even so, Merz described the final agreement as “a clear signal” to President Vladimir Putin that Europe will not withdraw support from Kyiv.

Complicating the calculus were parallel diplomatic efforts in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump has been pushing for a quick breakthrough and has publicly urged Kyiv to move quickly toward an agreement he hopes will end the war. Trump’s comments — “I hope Ukraine moves quickly” — were alternatingly perceived as pressure to hurry and as a reminder of how geopolitics is shaping the timetable for both diplomacy and finance.

Legal precedents, moral stakes, and the economics of war

We are watching an unsettled new frontier: what happens to frozen sovereign assets when a state is accused of waging war? There are practical considerations — how will future investors view the safety of assets held in the EU? There are legal questions — can an occupier or aggressor ever win back frozen assets through arbitration? And there are moral dilemmas — is using frozen assets to rebuild the damage the right, and if so, how to do it without undermining the rule of law?

Experts warned that a reckless use of frozen assets could set a dangerous precedent. “Seizure or repurposing of sovereign assets needs an exceptionally robust legal foundation,” said a professor of international law in Brussels. “Otherwise you open the door to tit‑for‑tat seizures down the line.”

What does this mean for the coming months?

The immediate effect is practical: Kyiv receives a lifeline that pushes the worst of the fiscal cliff further out. The longer story is still being written. Will the EU convert this loan into grants later? Will the immobilized assets become the core of a future reparations mechanism? And how will the United States’ own negotiations with Ukraine — now intensifying in Washington and Miami — intersect with Europe’s approach?

As leaders dispersed — some to planes, others to domestic politics — you could feel a rare mix of unity and unease. The deal shows a Europe capable of moving when pressed; it also underscores the hard trade‑offs that modern geopolitics forces democracies to make.

So, what do you think? Is this a cautious, responsible compromise — or a missed moral opportunity to make Russia directly pay for destruction? The answer depends on whether you value legal certainty over moral symmetry, and whether you believe that keeping the rules intact now strengthens the possibility of justice later.

For a people living under bombardment, the technicalities are less abstract: salaries paid, food on shelves, lights in hospitals. For the 27 member states, the calculus is about precedent, unity and the long shadow that the war will cast over European institutions for years to come.

Either way, Brussels will remain a stage where legal theory, moral outrage and raw political power meet — usually after midnight.

Trump seeks to add his name to Washington’s Kennedy Center

hanad

December 19, 2025

Trump adding name to Kennedy Center in Washington DC — Congress must approve any name change to the institution, said one source with ties to the institution

A Name on the Façade and a Debate on the Stage

On a crisp evening in Washington, where the city’s monuments often feel like a chorus of carefully kept memories, one institution suddenly found itself at the center of a very modern quarrel: who gets to put their name on America’s cultural landscape?

Last week the board that now runs the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced — through a terse post on social media — that the venerable institution will henceforth be called the Trump‑Kennedy Center. The declaration arrived not as a ribbon‑cutting but as a rhetorical flourish: a White House spokeswoman praised the move, calling it recognition for the “incredible work” done to restore and renovate the building. But beneath the congratulatory tone lay a thicket of contention.

Conflicting Voices, One Big Question

The announcement was immediate and polarizing.

“The board voted unanimously,” the White House statement read, a claim that landed like a gavel’s rap in partisans’ ears. Within hours, a board member who serves ex officio insisted she had been muted during the vote and denied the process had been on the agenda. “This was not unanimous. I was muted on the call and not allowed to speak,” she wrote on social media, adding that the move had not even been scheduled for discussion.

Across the river and around the country, critics were quicker to frame the decision as a symbolic overreach. “The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president,” wrote a member of the Kennedy family, invoking the law that established the center as a tribute to John F. Kennedy. “It can no sooner be renamed than someone can rename the Lincoln Memorial.”

On the Ground: Reactions from the Front Row

Walk the center’s halls and you’ll find people processing the news in quieter, more human ways.

“I grew up coming here with my parents — we saw Leonard Bernstein, we queued for holiday shows,” said an usher who has worked at the center for a decade. “This place carries other people’s lives. You don’t just stick a new label on that without asking everyone who cares.” Her voice was gentle but edged with fatigue; unions representing performing arts staff here have already raised concerns about governance and morale.

A violinist who performs with regional ensembles and has played the pavilion twice a season for years leaned into the symbolic weight of names. “Names carry a promise,” he told me. “When a building is called a memorial, it’s a contract with history. It’s not a billboard.”

Legal Lines and Congressional Gatekeepers

Names matter not only emotionally but legally. By federal statute the Kennedy Center was established as a living memorial to President Kennedy — a point raised by opponents of the rebranding almost immediately. That matters for two reasons: symbolic sanctity and statutory process. The law that created the center doesn’t disappear simply because a newly constituted board decides to rebrand.

Most observers note that any formal renaming would face a further hurdle: Congress. Even if the board insists on a new moniker, federal legislation would likely be required to alter the institution’s title officially. That means the name change would not only reopen debates about taste and memory; it would become a legislative question, with all the partisan theater that implies.

Politics, Patronage and the New Board

The controversy didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Earlier this year, the presidency reshaped the center’s leadership, installing allies and removing long‑time figures who had stewarded its artistic mission. The new leadership moved quickly to assert control: the previous chair was ousted, a new board installed, and the center’s longtime president replaced with a politically connected figure.

“It’s a classic move,” said a cultural policy scholar at a Washington university. “Control the board, control the agenda. But the arts are not a private enterprise. They sit at the intersection of public memory, civic life and cultural diplomacy. Changing the name of a federally recognized memorial is not the same as changing the name on a stadium.”

What’s at Stake Beyond the Letterhead

On the surface, this is a tussle over branding. But it’s really about how a society keeps and negotiates memory. The Kennedy Center has been, for decades, a place where Presidents and prime ministers have applauded virtuosos and where the country staged its cultural self‑image. Is a memorial a static shrine or a living, alterable thing? Are public symbols safe from political renovation?

Consider the global implications. Across continents, governments and leaders have been re‑naming streets, dismantling statues, or erecting new monuments to reflect changing political winds. In Hong Kong and Kyiv, in Bogotá and Berlin, battles over public memory have both unified and fractured communities. The debate in Washington echoes those struggles — only here the monument is a performing arts center that hosts everything from state ceremonies to experimental dance.

Art, Power and Funding

There’s also a fiscal argument in play. The administration and supporters have pointed to the center’s deferred maintenance and budget shortfalls, framing the rebranding as part of a larger campaign to save a deteriorating public asset. The current director has emphasized fundraising efforts and a push to renovate.

“We want a center that can welcome audiences for the next fifty years,” a board spokesperson told reporters in a briefing. “That requires investment and sometimes, bold decisions.” Bold for whom? For the institution’s artistic community, those decisions feel perilous when they come without consensus.

Invitation to the Reader

So what do you think? When the civic stage is altered by political winds, who gets a say — artists, elected officials, the families tied to a memorial, or the public at large?

Think of the last time you visited a place that felt like a promise: a museum, a memorial, a theatre where history and art folded into one. How would you feel if someone rebranded it in the middle of the night?

Closing Image: A Curtain Not Yet Dropped

For now, a name hangs in the air like an unresolved note. Behind the ornate doors of the center, rehearsals continue, lights are still practiced, and the orchestra still tunes. The center’s staff — electricians, stagehands, box office clerks — will keep doing the work that makes the place sing, even as politicians and lawyers argue about the marquee.

Whatever happens next, this moment exposes a broader question for democracies around the world: how do we protect common places of memory from becoming footholds for partisan identity? Or is that inevitability — the idea that our shared spaces will inevitably reflect the leaders of our time — itself the new American theater?

“A building is not just brick and mortar,” said a longtime patron. “It’s people’s stories.”
The center opened in the early 1970s and has hosted presidents, diplomats, and countless artists over five decades.
Any official renaming would likely require an act of Congress, complicating the board’s unilateral announcement.

Rob and Michele Reiner died from fatal sharp-force injuries

hanad

December 19, 2025

Rob and Michele Reiner died of 'sharp force injuries' — Rob and Michele Reiner died of "multiple sharp force injuries", according to LA County medical examiner records

A Quiet Street in Brentwood, a Family in Ruins: The Reiner Tragedy and the Questions It Leaves

On a sun-stung cul-de-sac in Brentwood, where palm trees lift like slow, polite sentries over manicured lawns, an ordinary Los Angeles Sunday turned brutally, bewilderingly not ordinary.

Neighbors say the house where Rob and Michele Reiner lived felt, until this week, like a pocket of old Hollywood calm — a place of laughter and dinner guests and the gentle traffic of a life lived partly in public and mostly at home. On Sunday morning that calm was ruptured. The couple, 78 and 70, were found dead in their home. Their son, 32-year-old Nick Reiner, has been booked on two counts of first-degree murder. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office has ruled the manner of death “homicide” and listed the cause as multiple sharp force injuries, saying more investigation is needed before more details are released.

What we know — and what we mustn’t rush to decide

Nick Reiner’s brief court appearance this week was a study in contrasts: soft voice, blue protective vest, a single response — “Yes, your honor” — when asked to confirm the date of his next hearing, scheduled for 7 January. He has not entered a plea, and his attorney told the court he missed an earlier hearing because of unspecified health reasons. For now, the charges stand; a man is accused but not convicted.

“We are heartbroken and bewildered,” a quiet statement from Nick’s siblings, Jake and Romy, read. “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day.” They asked for privacy — a request that, given the family’s profile, will be impossible to fully honor.

At a press conference, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said no decision had been made on whether the prosecution would seek the death penalty. That word — death penalty — hung in the air like a second wound: part legal calculus, part moral reckoning in a nation that still cannot agree on how to punish its most serious crimes.

Neighbors, friends and the public reaction

Outside the home, a neighbor who asked not to be named told me, “I saw the lights, the commotion. It’s Brentwood — everyone keeps to themselves, but everyone knows each other enough to be shaken when something like this happens.” Another long-time resident, Mary Alvarez, added, “They were always the couple hosting birthdays, political dinners. It’s unreal. You look at the house — the porch lights, the gate — and you think about what family is supposed to be, and this doesn’t fit.”

Friends from the entertainment world issued moving tributes. The tone was consistent: disbelief, gratitude and grief. “Rob was a force — creative, generous, principled,” said a fellow filmmaker in a short statement. “Michele was his anchor. I can’t fathom the hole this leaves.”

The shadow of addiction and a son’s troubled past

The story of the Reiner family is not only a story of celebrity and sudden loss. It’s also threaded with very human struggle. Nick worked with his father on the 2016 film Being Charlie, a drama Rob directed and which Nick co-wrote. The film drew on Nick’s own history with addiction and rehab, chronicling a young man’s attempts to claw his way back from substance dependency.

In interviews years ago, Nick spoke candidly about time spent in rehab, nights on the streets, and what recovery felt like in the hard light of day. Those admissions, and the film they inspired, connected to a larger American narrative: addiction is common and persistent. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, relapse rates for substance use disorders can be as high as 40–60% — similar to other chronic medical conditions like asthma or hypertension — underscoring how complex and recurring the condition can be.

“Addiction doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” said Dr. Leila Morgan, a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and substance use. “There are family dynamics, histories of mental health, access to care, and often shame that prevents honest intervention. Tragedies like this force us to look harder at how we support — or fail to support — people who are struggling.”

Legal questions, public grief, and the broader backdrop

As investigators comb through forensic details and prosecutors weigh charges, the case touches on broader themes that ripple beyond one household: how our justice system deals with alleged familial homicide, how communities react to loss, and how the public consumes grief when the victims are famous.

There are roughly tens of thousands of homicides in the United States each year, and the rate has been a focal point of policy and cultural debates for decades. Local crimes that once might have been contained now echo across social media timelines, talk shows and editorial pages — magnified by fame.

“There’s always a voyeuristic element when celebrities are involved,” said Jana Patel, a criminologist who studies media and crime. “That complicates the families’ ability to grieve privately and can sometimes distort the public’s understanding of the underlying issues: mental health, addiction, familial conflict, or other factors that contribute to these tragedies.”

Remembering Rob and Michele — the human center of a public story

Rob Reiner was known for films that have become woven into American culture — from the satirical This Is Spinal Tap to the courtroom thunder of A Few Good Men to the tender, enduring When Harry Met Sally and the fairy-tale warmth of The Princess Bride. Michele Reiner was often described by friends and colleagues as the steady, luminous partner who kept the household and the heart of their life steady.

“They believed in laughter, in love and in each other,” said a longtime friend. “That’s what makes this so hard to accept.”

In the days after the deaths, tributes poured in: simple remembrances of kindness, of political engagement and of creative generosity. Those notes paint a portrait of a couple who loved fiercely and worked tirelessly, both in public life and in the quiet rooms of family.

Questions for the reader — and for ourselves

How do we balance the public’s right to know with a family’s right to mourn? How do we talk honestly about addiction and mental health without reducing people to their worst moments? And how do communities — especially those with visible wealth and prestige — reckon with violence that arrives at their door?

In the coming weeks, more details will emerge. The medical examiner has released the bodies to the family, and an arraignment is set for January. The legal process will unfold in its own cadence, buffered by lawyers and judges, evidence and procedure. But the private work of grieving has already begun for a family whose losses are seared into public memory.

For now, the street is quiet again, but the question lingers: what happens next for a family whose life became both a film script and a public tragedy? The answer will take time, care and the kind of solemn attention that lets truth — and perhaps, someday, healing — come into the light.

How does the EU plan to repurpose Russia’s frozen assets?

hanad

December 19, 2025

How does the EU want to use Russia's frozen assets? — Euroclear held bonds for the Russian central bank at the outset of the war in Ukraine

Europe’s audacious financial gamble: Turning frozen rubles into a lifeline for Ukraine

On an overcast morning in Brussels, beneath the glass façade of a gray office block where traders once moved in a steady hum, a curious alchemy is being proposed: money that belongs to one state, immobilised by sanctions, being repurposed to help another survive. It is not outright confiscation, European officials say—rather, a legal and financial sleight of hand that would let Ukraine spend now what Russian sovereign assets currently sit idle across the West.

If it sounds like an episode of high finance meets geopolitics, that is because it is. The proposal from the European Commission imagines converting a large slice of frozen Russian central bank cash into a “Reparations Loan” for Kyiv, disbursed in stages during 2026 and 2027. The numbers are staggering: roughly €210 billion of Russian sovereign assets are frozen within Europe, and up to €165 billion could be harnessed under the plan without being formally seized.

How would the mechanism actually work?

Picture Euroclear, the Belgian central securities depository tucked amid Brussels’ stately avenues. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bonds held on behalf of the Russian central bank matured in Euroclear. Under current EU sanctions the proceeds could not just flow back to Moscow. So Euroclear parked the cash with the European Central Bank, earning overnight returns.

Under the Commission’s blueprint, that idle cash would instead be exchanged for zero-coupon bonds issued by the European Commission. These bonds would carry no periodic interest payment because, legally, the Russian central bank would still own the capital; what changes is that the interest — the yield the assets would otherwise create — would not flow back to Moscow. In practice, Euroclear would hold high-rated EU bonds in place of the ruble-denominated deposits, and the proceeds would be channelled into an EU-backed loan to Ukraine.

“It’s a clever workaround,” said a senior EU diplomat involved in the talks. “We’re not taking ownership away from Russia under international law. We’re effectively replacing where the bank’s money sits, so Ukraine can draw on funds it will only be formally owed once a peace settlement and reparations are agreed.”

Numbers, timelines and practicalities

Understanding the scale helps. Independent tallies and EU sources put globally frozen Russian sovereign holdings at around $300 billion (about €257 billion). Europe holds the lion’s share: roughly €210 billion, with about €185 billion tied up in Euroclear. Of that, roughly €176 billion has already converted to cash; the remainder—about €9 billion—consists of securities due to mature in 2026 and 2027.

The Commission initially wanted to limit the scheme to the Euroclear-held amount. Belgium, however, urged that another roughly €25 billion frozen across EU jurisdictions be included, most of which — approximately €18 billion — sits in French banks. That portion complicates the exercise because unlike the Euroclear cash, these assets currently generate interest that legally belongs to Russia.

Meanwhile, the EU and its partners already extended a Group of Seven loan to Ukraine totaling €45 billion last year; €25.3 billion of that has been disbursed so far. Some of the remaining loan tranches are scheduled for early 2026 to keep Kyiv solvent until the proposed Reparations Loan could take effect in the second quarter of that year.

The Commission’s working assumption is to free up about €90 billion for disbursement in 2026–2027, though the infrastructure could stretch to more if needs demand; the Commission estimates Ukraine’s financing gap for those two years at roughly €135.7 billion and expects non-EU partners to contribute the shortfall.

Who bears the risk?

Here, the plan gets very political. EU member states would share liability for the scheme. The key worry is a scenario in which EU governments would be obliged to return frozen funds to Russia (for instance, if a future unanimity vote lifted sanctions) while Ukraine has already spent the loan; that would leave EU treasuries on the hook.

Recognising this, EU capitals agreed on December 12 to keep immobilised Russian assets frozen indefinitely. “We have removed the accidental vote risk,” a European finance official said. “That was the single biggest vulnerability in the architecture.” With the indefinite freeze in place, the immediate likelihood that guarantees would be triggered falls dramatically—liability would only crystalize if EU governments themselves by choice unfreeze the assets before reparations have been paid by Russia.

Voices from the corridors and the street

In Brussels, the plan is debated with a mix of legal rigor and moral urgency. “We are threading a needle between international law and moral responsibility,” said a Belgian legal scholar who has advised several EU ministries. “Sovereign assets are protected by centuries of customary law. Any solution must respect those norms while enabling justice for Ukraine.”

In Kyiv, the mood is understandably different. At a small bakery near Maidan Square, the owner—who asked to be identified only as Olena—brushed flour from her hands and said, “If this means a hospital gets fuel, a child gets medicine, then I support it. We don’t need philosophical debates when the frontline needs electricity.”

Not every voice is convinced. From Moscow, the Kremlin has blasted the proposal as theft, warning of retaliation. “They are stealing our property,” a statement from a Russian foreign ministry spokesman read. “There will be consequences.”

Legal and geopolitical ripple effects

Beyond the immediate fiscal mechanics lie broader implications. If successful, the scheme could set a precedent for how democracies respond to aggression: turning immobilised enemy assets into resources for rebuilding and reparations. That would be a novel chapter in international practice—one that could reshape expectations about accountability after interstate conflict.

But it also raises thorny questions: Are we comfortable recalibrating long-established protections for sovereign assets in pursuit of a moral cause? Could this move be invoked by other states in future disputes? And what does it mean for global financial stability if sequestration becomes a tool of policy?

“There is a tension between rule of law and moral rectitude,” said an international law professor in The Hague. “This proposal tries to square that circle. How other states react will determine whether this becomes a one-off emergency measure or a new norm.”

Where does this leave us?

As negotiators put pen to paper and lawyers test the boundaries of customary practice, one thing is clear: the West is experimenting with creative finance as an instrument of geopolitics. Whether the Reparations Loan becomes an elegant solution that delivers fuel, salaries and medicine to Ukraine—or whether it trips into legal challenges and tit-for-tat retaliation—remains to be seen.

But perhaps the bigger question is moral and simple: when a neighbour is under attack, what are the obligations of the international community? Do we stand by until justice is formally decreed, or do we find lawful, pragmatic ways to give a country the means to survive and rebuild now?

As Brussels debates and Kyiv waits, the eyes of financial markets and foreign ministries are on what could be a defining moment for how the global order responds when war meets the balance sheet. What would you do if you were in charge—hold fast to old rules, or bend them for a cause you believe to be just?

Mercosur treaty signing postponed amid tense clashes and protests

hanad

December 19, 2025

Mercosur treaty signing postponed amid tense scenes — Farmers lit a bonfire of tires and hay and threw items such as root vegetables at the police

Smoke, Potatoes and a Trade Deal: Brussels Becomes the Stage for a Global Fight Over Food

By midmorning the air above Brussels smelled of smoke and diesel. A line of tractors — the iron throaty heartbeat of the European countryside — pushed into the city like a slow-moving tide. Farmers in orange vests tied scarves around their faces as black smoke curled from burning tires and baled hay. Vegetables flew. So did words: angry, weary, defiant.

This was no ordinary protest. Around 7,000 farmers and some 1,000 tractors had converged on the European quarter to send a message: do not sign the EU-Mercosur trade agreement without protecting our livelihoods. What began as a march intended to influence summit-room diplomacy turned, by afternoon, into a volatile standoff outside the European Parliament — and a snapshot of a much bigger debate playing out around the world.

The Deal, in a Nutshell

The agreement under discussion would stitch together the European Union and the Mercosur bloc — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — opening up trade on an unprecedented scale. If finalized, it would bind markets representing more than 700 million consumers and aim to ease duties on cars, machinery, wines, and farm products, among other goods.

For EU policymakers it’s about strategic positioning: keeping export markets open in the face of rising trade friction with other global powers, and securing commercial ties with a region rich in raw materials and agricultural produce. For many farmers on the ground, however, it’s existential.

What farmers fear

“This isn’t theory for us — it’s food on the table and futures for our children,” said Maxime Mabille, a dairy farmer who drove his tractor into the city. “When cheaper beef or soy comes flooding in, prices fall and we are squeezed out.” His hands, crusted with hay, punctuated the point.

Protesters warned that imports of beef, sugar, rice, honey and soy — products where Mercosur countries have competitive advantages — could undercut European producers. Beyond price competition, many cited environmental and sanitary worries: Can we ensure the same deforestation standards, animal welfare rules, and pesticide controls? Who bears the cost of those gaps?

Politics in the Summit Room

The timing was fraught. EU leaders gathered in Brussels to discuss several pressing matters, including support packages for Ukraine. The European Commission had hoped to press the Mercosur accord across the finish line this week, but political lines hardened. Italy joined France in demanding a postponement so that tougher safeguards could be negotiated, striking a blow to a planned signing trip to Brazil.

French President Emmanuel Macron captured the mood in blunt terms on his arrival: “We consider that we are not there yet,” he said, voicing a determination to block any forced ratification without stronger protections. Germany, Spain and many northern states pushed back, arguing that the EU must remain a reliable trade partner. “If the European Union wants to remain credible in global trade policy, then decisions must be made now,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

With Paris, Rome, Hungary and Poland resisting, the bloc no longer had a clear pathway to approval. Diplomats whispered of a tactical pause — signing postponed to January — giving negotiators time to fold in additional safeguards and assuage angry constituencies.

Voices from the Ground and the Experts

“We’re not Luddites opposed to trade,” said Florence Duarte, who milks cows in Picardy. “We want fair rules. If Mercosur producers follow the same environmental and sanitary rules as we do, we’ll compete. But right now there’s too much uncertainty.”

Trade analysts point to a tangle of real concerns. “The agriculture chapter matters, but so do enforcement mechanisms,” said Dr. Ana Silva, who studies international trade and sustainability. “Certification and traceability systems are improving globally, but they’re only as good as the political will to enforce them. The EU has leverage — and critics say it should use it to demand higher standards, not just lower tariffs.”

Environmental groups have their own alarms. They warn that historical patterns show soy expansion and cattle ranching have driven deforestation in parts of South America — a point Brazilian leaders contest, insisting they have concrete plans to curb forest loss. The debate exposes a paradox: Europeans want cheaper, diverse imports but also demand climate responsibility and strong labor protections abroad.

Beyond Brussels: The Global Stakes

What happens in Brussels matters beyond food prices. It is a referendum on globalization in an era of fractured geopolitics. As multilateral trade frameworks face pressure from domestic politics, nationalistic impulses and climate imperatives, the Mercosur saga is a case study.

Consider the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s multi-billion-euro program that underpins farming across the bloc. The CAP — with a budget running into the hundreds of billions across budget cycles — has long shielded farmers from the vagaries of the market. But proposals to reform subsidies, aimed at greening agriculture and shifting payments toward environmental public goods, have left many producers anxious about future incomes.

“We feel squeezed from both sides,” said Florian Poncelet of the Belgian farm union FJA. “Farms face new environmental rules at home and competition from abroad that doesn’t always play by the same rules. We aren’t asking to stop trade. We want fairness.”

What Could Happen Next?

Officials now face a delicate choreography: find legally binding safeguards that satisfy skeptical governments and farmers, while keeping the door open to a deal that would bolster exports in sectors such as automotive and wine. Brazil, whose president has pressed for closure, warned that delay could imperil political momentum on his side, calling the window of opportunity “now or never.”

Negotiators could pursue a range of measures: stricter sanitary checks, enforceable anti-deforestation clauses, phased tariff liberalization, or compensation mechanisms for sectors hit by displacement. Each carries trade-offs, and each will be scrutinized in village cafés and city markets alike.

Questions to Carry Home

As you read this, ask yourself: how do we value food? Is cheap food truly cheap if it comes at environmental or social cost elsewhere? And in democracies that must balance local protection with global engagement, who deserves to be heard at the table — farmers with tractors at the gates, or ministries signing documents in distant capitals?

Brussels will quieten in time. The tractors will roll home. But farmers who brought their livelihoods into the heart of Europe left an unmistakable message: in the age of global trade, local voices still pack force. Whether those voices reshape a pact, or are placated with promises, remains to be seen. The decision will affect plates, pastures, and political fortunes across continents — and it will tell us something about the kind of globalization we are willing to live with.

Quick Facts

Mercosur full members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay.
Combined market: more than 700 million consumers between the EU and Mercosur.
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spans billions in support across member states and is central to farmers’ economic security.
Estimated turnout at the Brussels protest: about 7,000 farmers and roughly 1,000 tractors.

Israel Carries Out Multiple Airstrikes Across Southern Lebanon

hanad

December 18, 2025

Israel oo Duqeymo Cirka ah ka Fulisay Koonfurta Lubnaan

Morning sirens and smoldering fields: another day in the uneasy calm between wars

At first light, the hills east of Tyre were amber with dawn. By mid-morning, the calm had fractured. The crack of explosions stitched the horizon and a plume of smoke rose where farmers had hours before been tending their terraces. Lebanese state television and local reporters described multiple strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon; the Israeli military said it had struck “terror infrastructure sites” and a training compound used by Hezbollah. Four people were reported wounded in one of the strikes near Taybeh; others were injured when a state electricity truck passed by the targeted vehicle.

If this scene feels tragically familiar, it is because it is: a ceasefire that started in November 2024 was supposed to be a promise of pause. Instead, it has become a brittle internet of quiet and sudden violence—moments of almost-normal life interrupted by the thunder of missiles. Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since that ceasefire took effect, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry reports. The numbers are both a statistic and a stack of names, each one a small implosion of a family’s world.

On the ground: stories of fear, resilience and practical heartbreak

“It sounded like an earthquake,” said Rami Khalil, a shopkeeper in the town of Bint Jbeil. “We ran into the street. People were on the phone trying to find out if their children were safe. The generator at the bakery stopped because the power lines were hit. We baked what bread we had and distributed it.” His voice was steady but worn; he has learned to measure his days by what can be salvaged.

Local utility workers — often overlooked in news bulletins — took a particular toll in this round of strikes. An employee for Lebanon’s state electricity company, who asked to be identified as Hassan to avoid reprisals, described a convoys’ routine: “We move between towns, trying to keep hospitals and schools running. Our trucks are marked. We are not combatants. The last thing we expect is to be struck while we are in the middle of doing the job. When the truck was hit, there was fear, and then the miserable task of counting how many can still work tomorrow.”

Lebanon is a country built of layers: religious communities living side by side, generations on contested soil, a coastline of fishermen whose nets feed neighborhoods through fiscal collapses and sieges. The strain of sporadic attacks collapses those layers into a few immediate questions—where will I sleep tonight? Will there be bread in the morning? Can my child go to school tomorrow? For many Lebanese families the answers have become chronically precarious.

The geopolitics beneath the smoke

Israel says it is targeting the military infrastructure of Hezbollah — the Iran-backed group that still holds substantial arms and influence in Lebanon. The Israeli military described strikes on what it called a “military compound used by Hezbollah to conduct training and courses” and reported striking a Hezbollah operative near Taybeh. Israel accuses Hezbollah of rearming and argues that Lebanon’s armed forces lack the capacity to do what the Lebanese government has pledged to do: disarm Hezbollah’s presence south of the Litani River under a plan approved by the Lebanese government.

That plan, delicate and politically fraught, aims first to remove armed non-state actors from the south by the end of this year and then to implement wider disarmament steps across the country. To many Lebanese — especially those in the south — this is not simply about weapons but about identity, patronage, protection and the memory of past wars. “For some people, Hezbollah is their protector against an aggressor. For others, its guns are the reason their village is hit,” noted Lina Mansour, a Beirut-based security analyst. “You cannot parse the military calculus from the social one. Any solution has to be political as well as security-driven.”

International players are actively involved. A committee that monitors the ceasefire — comprised of the United States, France, the United Nations, Lebanon and Israel — is scheduled to meet this week. A separate high-level meeting in Paris convened the Lebanese army chief alongside American and Saudi officials. France and the United States have been pressing Beirut to accelerate the disarmament plan; Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, called the recent Israeli strikes “an Israeli message to the Paris conference dedicated to supporting the Lebanese army.”

What’s at stake beyond Lebanon’s borders?

There is more than a local argument on the line. The intermittent strikes and the river of rhetoric touch on wider regional dynamics: Iran’s influence in the Levant, Israel’s security calculus, and the role of Western powers balancing diplomatic and military pressures. Each flare-up risks entangling other actors, stretching already thin international patience, and resuscitating fears of a wider confrontation that would be devastating for civilians across the eastern Mediterranean.

“Every strike is a reminder that escalation is a single miscalculation away,” said Thomas Reid, a retired NATO planner now consulting on Middle East stability. “The question is how to create incentives for restraint when both parties feel existentially threatened. That’s why the Paris talks matter. But so does what happens on the ground tonight.”

Humanitarian cracks: infrastructure, hospitals and a fragile economy

Lebanon’s public services have been precarious long before these strikes: years of economic collapse, fiscal mismanagement, and chronic power shortages have hollowed out the public sphere. Hospitals run on generators; food imports are subject to currency volatility; the state no longer reliably pays salaries. Add intermittent military strikes, and the practical consequences become acute. Repair crews delay fixes because of safety concerns. Schools shutter sporadically. The cost of living rises when roads are unsafe and commerce halts.

International aid groups warn of the compounding effects. “Even short, localized violence increases displacement, interrupts medical care, and raises food insecurity,” said Miriam Weiss, a humanitarian coordinator who has worked in Lebanon for a decade. “When people cannot work or access services, the humanitarian needs multiply and the social fabric frays.”

340 — the number of people killed by Israeli strikes since the November 2024 ceasefire, per AFP tally.
End of year — the Lebanese government-approved target to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani.
International stakeholders — including the U.S., France, and the U.N. — involved in ceasefire monitoring and diplomatic talks.

Walking forward: fragile talks and the possibility of a different future

There is no single answer here. The coming days will be shaped as much by diplomacy as by strikes. The Paris meeting, the ceasefire committee, and needle-threading conversations in Beirut and Tel Aviv will determine whether these incidents remain localized or push the region toward a larger crisis. For ordinary people on the ground, however, the calculus is simpler: safety, bread, electricity, school — the basics.

“We are tired of being a buffer in other people’s wars,” a teacher in the south, Fatima Gebran, told me, her hands wrapped around a teacup. “We want to teach our children and watch them grow. We don’t want to be a chessboard.”

So how do nations balance legitimate security concerns with the human cost? How can international actors encourage disarmament without destabilizing a delicate political balance? And for readers far from the Levant, what does this pattern tell us about the limits of ceasefires in modern guerrilla-state conflicts?

These are not mere abstract questions. They are proximate to the lives of parents who tuck their children into makeshift beds, of electricians who risk their lives to keep hospitals running, and of diplomats trying to stitch a fragile truce into something more resilient. The world watches. The people in southern Lebanon live it.

When the smoke clears, the negotiations will continue, and the wounds — visible and invisible — will remain. The real challenge is not only halting an immediate escalation, but shaping a path where politics and security converge to protect civilians and restore a semblance of normal life. Until then, mornings will be measured in the sounds of airplanes, and in the quiet courage of those who remain.

Trump Vows Nationwide Economic Boom in Prime-Time Address

hanad

December 18, 2025

Trump promises economic boom in address to nation — US President Donald Trump gave his address to the nation from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House

Christmas Checks, World Cup Dreams and the Price at the Pump: Inside a White House Speech That Tried to Reframe an Economy

It was one of those December evenings that felt theatrically American: fireplace glow on television sets, last-minute shoppers lining drugstore aisles, and the White House bathed in soft light as the President stepped up to the podium. Donald Trump spoke like a campaign rally wrapped in a presidential address—flinty, kinetic, certain. He painted a future of booming growth and promised immediate relief to a constituency that has been telling pollsters they are hurting.

“Eleven months ago I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” he said, a line meant to stitch the past to a brighter future. Then came the surprise: 1.45 million active-duty service members would each receive a $1,776 “warrior dividend”—a Christmas‑time bonus the administration says will be funded by tariff revenue. The number was deliberate, a nod to 1776 and America’s 250th birthday next year, an image meant to fuse patriotism and economic policy into one tidy visual.

The politics of affordability

But no rhetorical flourish can fully erase the hum of grocery store receipts or the sting at the gas pump. Two recent polls—one from PBS News/NPR/Marist and another from YouGov—captured that worry: roughly 57% of Americans disapproved of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy in one survey, while 52% told another pollster they felt the economy was getting worse. Those numbers are not mere footnotes; they are the kind of raw data that shapes campaign strategy and keeps political operatives up at night.

“People are watching every cent,” said Maria Lopez, who runs a deli in Scranton, Pennsylvania. “I saw a carton of eggs at three different prices this week. My regulars come in and ask if we’re lowering prices. I tell them ‘not yet.’ They get mad, then they laugh—because what else do you do?”

For the President, the economic narrative has been a tug of war between promise and perception. He insisted that gas and grocery costs “are falling rapidly,” and forecast “an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen”—not in 2024, not even next year, but in 2026, when the U.S. will co-host the FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico. It’s an audacious bet: tie national pride, global sporting spectacle and the claim of economic revival into one political arc.

Tariffs, prices and realities

Economists will tell you the mechanics of price increases are rarely single-cause. But tariffs—taxes on imports—are an obvious lever. When tariffs rise, importers often pass costs downstream to retailers and eventually consumers. In an economy as integrated as America’s, higher import costs can ripple across supermarket shelves and manufacturer invoices.

“Tariffs are a blunt instrument,” said Dr. Aisha Rahman, an economist at a Midwestern university. “They can raise revenue, sure, but they also raise input costs for businesses. That can translate into higher prices for households, especially for goods that are heavily imported.”

That line of critique goes hand in hand with the central political tension: the Administration claims tariffs will pay for bonuses and bolster domestic production, while critics warn of inflationary side effects. The President’s pledge to use tariff revenue to fund $1,776 checks to service members is a vivid example of that trade-off—the kind of populist move that appeals directly to military families but also recalls broader trade-offs for ordinary shoppers.

Foreign policy, domestic politics

The address was not purely economic. Mr. Trump spent a fair amount of time reprising foreign policy victories—boasting, as he put it, about progress toward a Gaza ceasefire, strikes that he said degraded Iran’s nuclear program, and a “war on drug traffickers” that included a recent U.S. strike in the eastern Pacific which the military said killed four alleged narco‑traffickers.

Back home, though, the stakes are less abstract. Republicans suffered stinging losses in several off-year races this past November, surprising strategists and stirring unease about the midterm landscape in 2026, when Democrats will try to flip seats and voters often express anger over everyday pocketbook issues.

“Our message has to be about affordability,” said one Republican strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “Winning the argument over economic reality isn’t just about slogans; it’s about making people feel safe in their budgets and confident about the future.”

Voices on the ground

Outside the Beltway, reactions were as varied as the country itself. A nurse in Cleveland named Jamal Turner said the military checks were “a beautiful gesture” but that Americans needed relief that reached everyone. “My sister’s rent went up again,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with boosting the troops. But if you’re going to talk affordability, do it for all of us.”

At a gas station in Tucson, local attendant Rosa Estrada gestured at the pumps between customers. “People complain about the price, then they still need to go to work,” she said. “You tell them things are getting better and they ask, ‘When? Show me the proof.'”

What this moment reveals

There is a larger narrative tucked inside these campaign-style promises and ceremonial bonuses. It speaks to questions about what citizens expect from government in times of strain. Do they want one-off payments and patriotic symbolism? Or systemic fixes that reduce costs and raise wages? The White House is, at least rhetorically, offering both: immediate cash for troops and a promise of a later boom tied to global events and trade policy.

Consider these facts to anchor the conversation:

1.45 million U.S. service members are slated to receive $1,776 checks, the administration says.
Polls cited show roughly 57% disapprove of the President’s economic stewardship and about 52% believe the economy is getting worse.
Tariffs are cited by experts and opponents as a contributing factor to higher consumer prices, though evidence is complex and mixed.

Policy, politics and public perception are braided together. A big sporting event—like the 2026 World Cup—can be framed as an engine for commerce. But the road from hosting matches to measurable household relief runs through trade policy, investment, wages and, crucially, trust. People need to feel the difference in their day-to-day lives.

Questions worth asking

So I ask you, reader: When a leader promises prosperity timed to a future spectacle, do you see a plan or a promise? Are immediate, symbolic payments to select groups enough to offset the slow burn of higher grocery bills? And how much weight should tariffs carry in a broader economic strategy?

All of these decisions—who gets a bonus, which industries are taxed, how to balance foreign policy and domestic needs—shape the texture of everyday life. For too many Americans right now, that texture feels frayed. Political theater will continue; policy will keep marching. The question remains whether either will translate into calm at the kitchen table this winter.

At the deli, Maria swept the counter and shook her head. “They can give checks, and that’s good,” she said. “But I want to know if next month my customers will still be able to afford a sandwich. That’s what matters to me.” And, for millions across the country, that’s exactly what matters.

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