الصحف العالمية اليوم: أجسام طائرة غامضة فى سماء ولايات أمريكية وترامب يدعو إلى إسقاطها.. جنرال بريطانى سابق يحذر: المملكة المتحدة غير مستعدة للحرب مع روسيا.. ومخطط استمر لعام سبق الإطاحة بنظام بشار الأسد

Today’s international newspapers covered a number of issues, most notably the controversy surrounding the repeated appearance of mysterious flying objects in the skies of American states, and the warning of a former British general about his country’s inability to enter into a war with Russia.

American newspapers

Mysterious flying objects… growing anger in New Jersey and calling on the White House to intervene… details

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy called on US President Joe Biden to take control of the investigation into the mysterious and recurring appearance of multiple large drones flying over his state amid growing frustration that federal officials are downplaying the incidents.

Democrat Phil Murphy announced a letter he wrote to the White House expressing his “growing concern” after representatives from the Pentagon and the FBI ruled out the involvement of the US military, or hostile foreign entities, in numerous sightings of unexplained flying objects over about a dozen counties since mid-November.

“It has become clear that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” he wrote in the letter, which was published on the same day reports emerged of multiple drones penetrating the airspace at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County.
“I respectfully urge you to continue directing the relevant federal agencies to work together until you uncover answers about what is behind the UAS sightings,” he added.
The Associated Press said that disagreement has grown between politicians and law enforcement officials in New Jersey following widespread reports of drones in recent weeks, including nearly 50 on Sunday night alone, according to NJ.com. The White House downplayed them and said they were, at least mostly, “manned aircraft…operating legally.”

Some accounts described car-sized drones, sometimes in groups, flying over sensitive military installations and critical infrastructure such as railway stations, reservoirs and power plants. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly restrictions over an Army installation in Morris County and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf resort in Bedminster.

A Navy weapons station spokesman told ABC News that no direct threat had been identified, but employees were working closely “with federal agencies to ensure the safety of our personnel and operations.”

The White House, Pentagon and FBI said they could not fully explain the origin of the drones, but indicated they believed they were not dangerous.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety, or have a foreign connection,” John Kirby, a national security spokesman for the Biden administration, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

Mysterious flying objects in the skies of American states… and Trump calls for their downing

US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday evening called on the authorities to shoot down the mysterious drones that were seen in the skies of New Jersey and around the country. He also suggested that the government should know more about the mysterious sightings.
The next US president wrote on his website Truth Social, “Mysterious sightings of drones all over the country. Could this really be happening without our government knowing? I don’t think so! Let the public know, now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”

The American newspaper “The Hill” said that the publication comes at a time when there have been increasing reports of sightings of flying objects in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, and Delaware.

The Pentagon denied on Wednesday that any foreign country was behind the mysterious drones that flew near sensitive US military sites in New Jersey.

Lawmakers from New Jersey and New York — the areas over which the mysterious drones flew — sent a letter Thursday to the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration demanding a briefing on the drones.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York Democrats, along with New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, asked the agencies how they are working to “identify and address the source of recent drone activity.”

The Hill: A Washington court rejects TikTok’s request to delay banning the app in January

The American newspaper “The Hill” said that the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington rejected a request from the social media platform TikTok that would effectively delay the ban on the application next month.

The rejection comes after the company sought to halt the ban on Monday, asking the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to temporarily block a law that could temporarily ban the app next month from taking effect on January 19 as it prepares to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In response to a request for comment, a TikTok spokesperson said the app was prepared to take the case to the Supreme Court.

“As we previously stated, we plan to take this case to the Supreme Court, which has a well-established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free expression,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The voices of more than 170 million Americans will be silenced here in the United States and around the world in January 19, 2025 unless the TikTok ban is stopped.”

The rule was signed into law in April and requires TikTok to cut ties with ByteDance, its China-based parent company, before a deadline next month or else it will be banned in the United States. Some lawmakers have already told Apple and Google they are preparing to remove the app.

The application claimed that the injunction, which would have stopped the ban from taking effect, would “allow the Supreme Court to consider this issue in a more orderly manner” and “give the incoming administration time to determine its position on this very important matter.”

British newspapers

A former British general warns: The United Kingdom is not ready for war with Russia

A retired senior British general has warned that Britain is not properly prepared to defend itself in a war with Russia and cannot rely on the US and NATO.

Writing in The Independent, Sir Richard Shirreff, who served as Deputy Supreme Commander of NATO Europe from 2011 to 2014, said global conflict would only be prevented if there was “a ribbon of deterrent steel from the Baltic to the Sea.” Black” – something he said the UK might be willing to help achieve without Washington’s support.

His dramatic intervention comes alongside warnings from former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Labour’s Admiral Lord West that failing to prioritize defense would be a huge mistake for the Prime Minister.

Lord West’s warning follows an ominous speech by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte who said the West was not prepared to deal with the threat of war from Russia, declaring that “it is time to switch to a war mentality and boost our defense production.”

“Russia is preparing for a long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us,” Rutte said, adding: “We are not prepared for what awaits us in four to five years.”

The newspaper said that there is growing concern about the strength of Donald Trump’s commitment to NATO, in the wake of repeated threats to withdraw from the alliance if member states do not spend more on defense. Sir Richard warned that Britain could not assume “Trump will respect NATO’s principle of collective defence”, adding: “If we are to deter a third world war, Europe must step up to the plate.”

A number of NATO member states have not yet reached the threshold of 2 percent of GDP for defense spending. Meanwhile, there are also concerns about Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, failing to set a timetable regarding his pledge to increase British spending to 2.5 percent.

Sir Richard said the West “will only achieve peace for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren and prevent a third world war between NATO and Russia with a strip of deterrent steel from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.”

How was Assad overthrown? A leader in Tahrir al-Sham reveals to the Guardian the behind-the-scenes of a plan that lasted a year

Under the title “A year-long plot to overthrow the Assad regime,” the British newspaper The Guardian conducted an interview with the commander of the military wing of the armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, in which he revealed how the rebels united to create a unified war effort that included a specialized drone unit.

Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, the top military commander of the main rebel group, revealed that Syrian rebels began planning the military offensive that toppled the Assad regime a year ago, in a highly disciplined operation in which a new drone unit was deployed and there was close coordination between opposition groups across the country.

In his first interview with foreign media since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule, al-Hamawi, head of the military wing of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, spoke about how his group, which was based in the northwest of the country, reached out to rebels in the south to create a unified war room with the aim of eventually encircling Damascus. From both directions.

He said that although planning for the operation to oust Assad, which he called “Deterring Aggression,” began a year ago, the group had been preparing for years.

Since 2019, the armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has been developing a military doctrine that it uses to transform fighters coming from dispersed, disorganized opposition groups into a disciplined fighting force.

Al-Hamwi, 40, who supervised the military wing for five years, said during the interview in Jableh, a stronghold of the former regime, “After the last campaign [أغسطس 2019]During which we lost significant territory, all revolutionary factions realized the critical danger – the fundamental problem was the absence of unified command and control of the battle.”

The Syrian regime launched an operation against opposition forces in northwestern Syria in 2019, and succeeded in pushing loosely linked factions into Idlib Governorate. After a final battle in which Turkey negotiated a ceasefire on behalf of opposition forces in the spring of 2020, the rebels were confined to a small pocket of land in northwestern Syria — where they remained in a stalemate with regime forces until this month.

The newspaper explained that the armed group realized that it needed to instill order in the mixed coalition of opposition factions that had been pushed into Idlib, if it hoped to defeat the regime. It offered other groups the opportunity to integrate under its auspices, and when they refused, it subjugated them. It fought against groups such as Al-Qaeda’s Guardians of Religion, which rejected the more pragmatic approach of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham quickly became the dominant force in northwestern Syria, according to the newspaper.

As the political leadership slowly consolidated, al-Hamawi set to work training the group’s fighters and developing a comprehensive military doctrine.

Anger among Italian politicians after granting citizenship to the President of Argentina… Details

The Italian government granted citizenship to Argentine President Javier Milley because of his Italian family roots, angering opposition politicians who compared his treatment to that of children born in Italy to immigrant parents, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.

Milley will visit Rome to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and participate in the annual festival of her party, “Brothers of Italy,” on Saturday.

A source familiar with the matter said that the government granted Italian citizenship to the Argentine leader, refusing to provide further details.

The news reported by Italian media sparked angry reactions from some politicians and on social media from people who protested against granting citizenship to Millie while it is difficult to obtain it for children born in Italy to migrant parents.

Italian citizenship laws are based on blood ties, which means that even distant descendants of an Italian citizen can obtain an Italian passport. On the other hand, the requirements for foreigners born in or immigrating to Italy are more stringent. Pro-immigrant groups have proposed holding a referendum to ease restrictions, but Meloni’s right-wing coalition opposes any easing.

Riccardo Maggi, a lawmaker from the small opposition party Europe+, said granting citizenship to Millie was “an act of unacceptable discrimination against many young people who will only receive it after many years.”

During a previous trip to Italy in February, Meli said in a television interview that he feels “75% Italian” because three of his grandparents are of Italian descent, and that he has an “incredible passion for Italian opera.”

The liberal Millie and the conservative Meloni developed a close relationship. When they met in Buenos Aires last month, the Argentine leader gave his Italian guest a small statue of himself holding his famous chainsaw.