January 6, 2023

*) Ukraine dismisses Putin's ceasefire as 'hypocrisy' President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was seeking a truce to use as a cover to stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbass region. Zelenskyy added that the Russians want to stop “the advances of our boys in Donbass” and bring in more men and equipment. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter that Russia "must leave the occupied territories - only then will it have a 'temporary truce'," *) Türkiye, US jointly freeze assets of Daesh affiliates Türkiye and the United States decided to jointly freeze the assets of Daesh terrorist organisation affiliates, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. The ministry said in a statement, “Türkiye and the US decided to take a joint action on freezing the assets of 5 individuals and 2 legal persons who have been identified to finance the Daesh terrorist organization.” The statement said Ankara would "continue to take effective steps on countering terrorism financing and cooperate with its international partners on the issue." *) Israel gets UNSC flak after firebrand minister storms Al Aqsa compound Palestine and many Muslim and non-Muslim supporters have sharply disagreed with Israel at an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the visit of a firebrand Israeli Cabinet minister to Al Aqsa compound. The council members voiced concern and stressed the need to maintain a status quo at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour pushed for the Security Council to take action — a move that was unlikely given the United States traditionally shields Israel. *) Prince Harry reveals he killed 25 people in Afghanistan as Apache pilot Britain's Prince Harry revealed in an upcoming book of his memoirs that he killed 25 people as an Apache helicopter pilot during a tour in Afghanistan. Prince Harry's claim in the book, titled Spare, which will be available at bookstores in the UK next week, came as the book's Spanish version was accidentally put on sale i