Radioactive Material Missing

Hi Global Recap readers,

Yesterday, as I hit “send” on the newsletter, I realized I’d forgotten to share the video I had planned for the weekend…

I blame the long list of news for that slip-up.

Anyway, here’s the video of Israel’s recent bombing of a Syrian munitions depot—an explosion so massive it registered as a 3.1 magnitude earthquake on seismic sensors.

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Radioactive Material Missing

New Jersey is buzzing (literally) with speculation as drones and missing radioactive material stir up stories and theories.

Belleville Mayor Michael Melham has linked the two, suggesting the drones might be on a hunt for the lost radioactive material.

Drone Sightings

Drones have been spotted all over New Jersey, and people are still wondering why they are seeing swarms of drones.

• Belleville Mayor Michael Melham believes the drones are searching for something, possibly the missing radioactive material.

• The drones have been seen flying in a grid-like pattern.

• Melham assured people, saying, “We know for a fact it’s not little green men.” Very comforting indeed.

Missing Radioactive Material

The radioactive material went missing on December 2, 2024.

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reported the missing material.

• The shipment arrived at its destination damaged and empty.

• The material, a Ge-68 pin source, was licensed to the Nazha Cancer Center.

So no, it’s not a nuclear warhead—as far as we know.

Official Responses

Authorities are on high alert, but answers are still elusive.

• New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas are seeking more information.

• President-elect Donald Trump commented that “the government knows what is happening,” because if it were indeed foreign adversaries flying drones, they would have been shot down already.

🇹🇷 TURKEY
Military Buildup for Incursion?

The US believes Turkey's military buildup along the Syrian border is signaling an imminent incursion into Kurdish-held territories.

Military Buildup

• Turkish forces, including militia fighters and commandos, are massing near Kobani, a Kurdish-majority city in Syria.

• The buildup began after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December.

• US officials are pressing for restraint, fearing a large-scale incursion.

Kurdish Concerns

• Ilham Ahmed, a Syrian Kurdish official, urged President-elect Donald Trump to intervene.

• Ahmed warned that Turkey aims to establish control over Kurdish territory before Trump takes office.

• A Turkish invasion could displace over 200,000 Kurdish civilians in Kobani alone.

Diplomatic Efforts

The US is trying to keep the peace.

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Syria’s future.

• US-brokered cease-fire talks between Syrian Kurds and Turkish-backed rebels collapsed without an agreement.

• The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seeing significant military buildups around Kobani.

Historical Context

The conflict between Turkey and the Kurds has deep roots.

• The Kurdish–Turkish conflict has been ongoing since 1921, involving various Kurdish groups seeking autonomy or independence.

• The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), established in 1978, has been a significant player in the conflict, waging an insurgency against Turkish authorities.

• Turkey views the PKK and its Syrian affiliates, such as the SDF, as terrorist organizations.

🇷🇺 RUSSIA
Ukraine Assassinates
Russian General

A top Russian general, accused of deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine, was killed in a Moscow bombing. Ukraine wasted no time claiming responsibility for the assassination.

Assassination

A bomb planted in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building in Moscow, killing Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and his assistant.

• The bomb exploded early Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

• Kirillov was head of Russia’s radiological, biological, and chemical protection forces.

• The blast occurred 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) southeast of the Kremlin.

Ukrainian Claim

Ukraine's security service, the SBU, claimed responsibility for the attack, calling Kirillov a "war criminal."

• Kirillov was sentenced in absentia by Ukrainian prosecutors for using banned chemical weapons.

• The SBU stated, "Retribution for war crimes is inevitable."

Russian Reaction

Russian officials reacted furiously to the assassination, vowing to find and punish those responsible.

• Dmitry Medvedev called for the destruction of the perpetrators in Kyiv.

• Konstantin Kosacehv and Andrey Kartapolov echoed calls for retribution.

• Maria Zakharova accused the West of complicity in the attack.

Kirillov's Legacy

Kirillov was a controversial figure, known for making unfounded claims about Ukraine's use of chemical weapons.

• He was sanctioned by the US and UK for deploying chemical weapons in Ukraine.

• Kirillov had accused Ukraine of planning to detonate a "dirty bomb" and seizing a nuclear power plant.

🇩🇪 GERMANY
CDU Leader: “Get Out”

Friedrich Merz, head of Germany’s largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for the Syrian refugees who haven’t integrated or found jobs to pack their bags and head back to Syria.

Merz's Call

Merz isn’t mincing words about his stance on Syrian refugees.

• On top of that, Merz warned against accepting more Syrian refugees into Germany.

• He stated, “It is right not to take in more refugees from Syria at this time,” citing concerns about potential Assad supporters.

Integration Debate

• He noted that one-third of Syrian refugees are working and integrated, but two-thirds are not employed, many of whom are young people.

• Critics argue that the CDU is pushing this agenda despite significant evidence of successful Syrian integration in Germany.

• Meanwhile, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on December 15 that over 7,600 Syrian migrants had returned home within five days of rebel forces overthrowing Assad’s regime

Our Poll Result

Incidentally, we recently polled you on whether Syrian refugees should be sent back home now that the Assad regime has fallen. While the poll didn’t differentiate between the “integrated” and the “non-integrated,” the results were overwhelmingly one-sided.

• 72% said “Yes.”

• 11% said “No.”

• 17% were unsure.

🇸🇾 SYRIA
Assad's Machinery of Death

Recently uncovered mass graves in Syria have exposed a state-run “machinery of death” under Bashar al-Assad, with over 100,000 people tortured and murdered since 2013.

Gruesome Discovery

• Former US war crimes ambassador Stephen Rapp visited mass grave sites in Qutayfah and Najha near Damascus.

• Rapp estimates more than 100,000 people were tortured and murdered in this state-run system.

• He likened the scale of these atrocities to those committed by the Nazis.

Systematic Killing

The machinery of death was a well-oiled “system of killing,” according to Rapp.

• Secret police “disappeared” people from their streets and homes.

• Jailers and interrogators starved and tortured them to death.

• Truck drivers and bulldozer operators hid the bodies in mass graves.

Mass Graves

• The International Commission on Missing Persons received data indicating up to 66 mass grave sites in Syria.

• More than 157,000 people have been reported missing to the commission.

• The commission called for the protection of these sites to preserve evidence for potential trials.

Witness Accounts

Eyewitnesses and survivors provide chilling testimonies.

• Abb Khalid, a farmer near Najha cemetery, described seeing refrigeration trucks delivering bodies to long trenches.

• Omar Hujeirati, a former anti-Assad protest leader, suspects several of his missing family members are buried in these graves.