December 16, 2021

​​​*) US launches commission to study Afghanistan fiasco The US Congress has voted to set up a commission to assess the failures of the 20-year war in Afghanistan following the Taliban's victory. The commission was part of a $768 billion annual defence package passed by the Senate 89-10 on Wednesday. President Joe Biden controversially pulled out US troops in August to end America's longest war and invasion. *) Iran allows IAEA to install new cameras at nuclear site Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog have reached an agreement on replacing cameras at a nuclear complex that Iran says had been previously damaged by an Israeli attack. There have been multiple warnings from Western powers that time is running out to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, with no significant breakthrough at talks in Vienna. But the issue of cameras may be a start. *) Zelenskyy urges sanctions amid high tensions with Russia Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on European Union leaders to impose new sanctions on Russia 'before it's too late'. Kiev says it's ready for talks with Moscow, though Russian President Vladimir Putin has not committed to any meeting. Ukraine has accused Russia of gathering thousands of soldiers near its border for a possible military offensive. *) EU: Omicron to be dominant variant by mid-January European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned that Omicron is expected to be the dominant coronavirus variant in the EU by mid-January. The head of the EU’s executive branch, however, said that the bloc is well-prepared for the variant, with 66.6 percent of the population now fully vaccinated against Covid. One of the largest studies on Omicron shows it may lead to less severe cases, but data also reveals that it is more contagious than any other variant. And finally … *) Groundbreaking Black feminist writer Bell Hooks dies at 69 Black feminist author and intellectual Bell Hooks, whose work took on new urgency amid the racial justice protests that swept the US, has died at