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US Proposes "Free Economic Zone" in E. Donbas as part of Ukraine Withdrawal + Report: Taiwan's Foreign Minister Visits Israel + Armor Not Dead: Croatia to Procure Leopard 2A8 Tanks + More
For review:1. US President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly planning to appoint an American two-star general to command the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza.2. Taiwan’s high-profile Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu made a previously unpublicized visit to Israel recently, three sources familiar with the trip told Reuters, at a time when Taiwan is looking to Jerusalem for defense cooperation.3. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Thursday that he would travel to Beirut for talks after his Lebanese counterpart had declined a day earlier to visit Tehran.4. The United States has suggested creating a “free economic zone” in parts of the eastern Donbas region from which Ukraine would withdraw under a negotiated peace with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.5. The Croatian Ministry of Defense has placed an order for 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks, a deal valued at almost €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).6. Russian and Chinese bombers conducted a joint patrol Tuesday, flying over the East China Sea and Western Pacific, prompting Seoul and Tokyo to scramble fighter aircraft to monitor the flights.7. — South Korea’s Hanwha is set to invest in a new $1 billion plant in the United States to produce Modular Charge Systems (MCS) for 155mm howitzer ammunition.8. The House passed the fiscal 2026 defense policy authorization bill, setting up passage in the Senate before Congress goes on holiday break.Lawmakers voted 312-112 to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes $900.6 billion in defense funds, or about $8 billion more than the White House’s request.
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President Trump Scolds European Leaders: "They talk, but they don't produce" + Armor Not Dead: Australian Army's 3d Brigade (Armored) Transformation
For review:1. Latest in Ukraine/US/European negotiations to end war.2. A Hamas source told The Times of Israel on Sunday that the group will only agree to give up its weapons through negotiations that result in the establishment of a Palestinian state.3. Armor Not Dead: Australian Army's 3d Brigade (Armored) Transformation.The first tranche of the new AS9 Huntsman SP 155mm howitzers is set to reach the 3d Brigade by the end of 2027,.Other new kit heading the brigade’s way includes M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks, AS21 Redback infantry fighting vehicles, several types of Abrams-based combat engineering vehicles, and Boxer 8x8 combat reconnaissance vehicles.
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Ukrainian President to Meet with E3 Leaders in London + US Envoy Kellogg Says Deal Close; Sticking Points include Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant + Hamas Ready to Discuss "Freezing or Storing" Weapons
For review:1. Ukrainian President to Meet with E3 Leaders in London to discuss last week's US Negotiations (Miami).2. US Envoy Kellogg Says Deal Close; Sticking Points include Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant.3. The Russian and Chinese militaries conducted joint anti-missile drills in on Russian territory in early December as part of scheduled military exercises, China's Defense Ministry said on Dec. 6.These drills followed joint artillery and anti-submarine exercises that were conducted in the Sea of Japan in August.4. Hamas is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons as part of its ceasefire with Israel, a senior official says, offering a possible formula to resolve one of the thorniest issues in the US-brokered agreement.5. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza is “almost” complete, and that he expects to move on to its second phase soon.6. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani suggested Sunday that his country will not foot the bill for rebuilding Gaza, despite speculation that it would be the main backer of reconstruction.“We are not the ones who are going to write the check to rebuild what others destroyed,” Al Thani said during an onstage interview at the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference. 7. During a visit to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that the Yellow Line, demarcating where the Israeli military withdrew to under the terms of the ongoing ceasefire, is “a new border line.”“We will not allow Hamas to reestablish itself. We control large parts of the Gaza Strip and stand along [strategic] lines. The Yellow Line is a new border line, a forward defensive line for the communities and an offensive line.”8. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean. 9. President Javier Milei on Saturday hailed the arrival of Argentina’s first six F-16 jets purchased from Denmark, describing them as “guardian angels” that will strengthen the South American country’s armed forces.The US-built aircraft are among the 24 fighters bought last year from Copenhagen for roughly $300 million.
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Remains of Thai Hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak Returned From Gaza Strip + US & Ukraine to Continue Third Day of Talks in Miami + Iran Launches Cruise & Ballistic Missiles During Naval Drill Near Strait of Hormuz
For review:1. Remains of Thai Hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak Returned From Gaza Strip.2. Israel has told mediators in Cairo that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad know how to reach the remains of Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in the Gaza Strip, Israeli television reported Friday. 3. The Israel Defense Forces carried out a wave of airstrikes against what it said were Hezbollah weapons depots in southern Lebanon on Thursday.4. The head of the US military’s Central Command congratulated Syria’s security forces on Friday for thwarting several weapons shipments to Lebanon’s Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. 5. Iran Launches Cruise & Ballistic Missiles During Naval Drill Near Strait of Hormuz.6. US & Ukraine to Continue Third Day of Talks in Miami on Saturday.7. The United States has offered to sell Poland 250 used Stryker vehicles for a single ceremonial dollar, and Warsaw is preparing to accept that deal as soon as the logistics can be worked out, according to Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense.8. UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said today he would order a review into advice he received from top military officials that the Ajax armored vehicle was “demonstrably safe to operate"- just weeks before many soldiers grew sick from riding in the vehicle that the program had to be paused.
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President Trump: US Preparing for Land Operations Against Narcotics Manufacturers in Venezuela + US - Russian Talks in Moscow "Useful & Constructive" - But No Concrete Deal + Arrow 3 AD Systems Arrive in Germany
For review:1. President Trump: US is Preparing for Land Operations Against Narcotics Manufacturers in Venezuela.2. US - Russian Talks in Moscow "Useful & Constructive" - But No Concrete Deal.3. The Israel Ministry of Defense delivered the first operational Arrow 3 Air Defense System to Germany in a formal ceremony at a German Air Force base near Berlin, Israel’s Ministry of Defense said today. 4. The Red Cross transferred the body of a presumed hostage from Hamas to Israeli security forces in Gaza on Wednesday evening.5. The family of Sudthisak Rinthalak, one of the two remaining hostages whose bodies are held in the Gaza Strip, spoke Wednesday about the long wait for the return of their son and brother.Mr. Rinthalak came from the town of Ratnawee in northern Thailand.6. Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades Wednesday, part of a year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism in the war with Hezbollah.The meeting was held at the UN peacekeeping force’s headquarters in Naqoura in Lebanon, near the border with Israel.7. Australia is launching a new independent acquisition system to better cope with increasingly complex weapons systems, one that will report directly to the defense minister and not pass through the secretary of the Defense Department.“It is the biggest reform to the Defense Organization in 50 years,” Pat Conroy, Minister for the Defense Industry, told reporters on Monday,
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