A bull jumped onto the tracks in Newark, the main city of New Jersey, this Thursday and interrupted train traffic with New York for almost an hour, before being caught and taken to an animal protection center.. They have named the bull Ricardo.

It is not known where it came from, but around 10:30 a.m. East Coast Time (3:00 p.m. GMT), this bull with red fur and generous antlers appeared running along the tracks in Newark, apparently aimlessly.

Some passengers believed it was an advertising campaign for the Red Bulls team (which means 'red bulls'), since they have the stadium nearby, as Jason Monticelli told the ABC7 channel.. But the truth is that, at the moment, no one has clarified how the animal got there.

In a video published on X (formerly Twitter), the bull appears calmly walking along the tracks of the Newark station, without causing alarm among the passengers on the platform; There are even some who show him a bag as a cape, imitating bullfighters.. Then he is seen jogging on a bridge before the astonished gaze of the neighbors.

Even Newark International Airport has warned that there could be delays in its flights “due to police activity”, without mentioning the animal, which has never approached the airfield's runways.

An hour after his appearance, he was taken without further incident to an animal protection society.

Vladimir Putin, in a live broadcast, before the unfiltered questions of dozens of Russian and foreign journalists. This is what happened this Thursday at the now classic annual meeting of the Russian president with the press (which exceptionally had not occurred in 2022). As expected, being the first major press conference since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, a good part of the four hours of interviews focused on the war. And as all the forecasts also indicated, Putin's answers were clear: “Peace will come when Russia achieves its objectives.”. At the same time that this was happening in Moscow, thousands of kilometers away, the Kremlin's military actions continued and in the context of the attacks on Ukraine, an alleged Russian drone crashed in Romanian territory, a NATO member country, setting off alarms.

“When will there be peace?” one of the moderators asked the Russian president, to which he responded that the objectives declared by Moscow three days before the start of the war “have not changed.” “They are the denazification of Ukraine, its demilitarization and its neutral status,” he said.

The questions about Ukraine continued for minutes and when asked about a possible peace process, Putin assured that kyiv does not want to sit at the negotiating table.. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to dialogue with Russia as long as Putin remains at the head of the Kremlin. For this reason, the Russian president assured that this pushes him to take “military measures.” “Either we agree on demilitarization, we agree on specific parameters, or we decide it by force,” he said.

In response to a question from a Russian war correspondent, Putin stressed that his troops have regained the initiative in almost all sectors. “Even being modest, practically on the entire front line our forces are improving their positions. Almost all of them are in the middle of active military actions,” he said.. Likewise, it estimated that 747 Ukrainian tanks and almost 2,300 armored vehicles had been destroyed since the beginning of kyiv's counteroffensive last June. “They achieved nothing anywhere,” he added. The last Ukrainian operation within the framework of the counteroffensive was the “landing attempt” on the left bank of the Dnieper River, in the Kherson region, Putin recalled. “I don't even know why they do it. They send their people to extermination. The Ukrainian military themselves recognize that it is a journey of no return,” he said.

Western media also attended the press conference, although not many had the opportunity to ask questions.. Regarding relations with the West, Putin assured that the conditions for resuming dialogue are not “yet” met: “It does not depend on us, we were not the ones who spoiled relations.”. “When they begin to respect other people, other countries, when they seek compromises instead of trying to solve their problems through sanctions or warlike actions, then the fundamental foundations will be laid for the restoration of relations,” he said.

Putin was also asked about the disappearance of the opponent Alexei Navalni from the prison where he was, a topic about which he did not want to reveal anything.. “What witch hunt are we talking about? What did (the witch) do that had to be hunted? Is he perhaps an important opposition politician?” he simply commented.

In addition to journalists, the Russian president also responded to some citizens, some of whom were very critical of the situation in the country.. One of the news that affects Russian citizens and that Putin clarified has to do with a possible new mobilization. “Why a mobilization then? Today there is no such need,” he said, adding that every day 1,500 volunteers get ready to fight.. He revealed that currently the Russian contingent in Ukraine is made up of 617,000 men, including career military personnel, mobilized personnel and volunteers.

Russian drone crashes in Romania

While Putin was the center of the conversation in Moscow, the war in Ukraine continued. In addition to the daily fighting that occurs on various fronts in the country, this Thursday a military action caused international concern. A suspected Russian drone crashed early in the morning in southeastern Romania, causing a 1.5-meter-deep crater in the town of Grindu, the Romanian Ministry of Defense acknowledged.

According to the military report, the Romanian Army detected the presence of several Russian drones near its airspace at a low altitude and deployed fighters, such as the F16 and Eurofighter, to monitor the area.. Shortly after, they found the crater with the Russian device and the Ministry of Defense, the Army and the local Police took the relevant security measures at the site of the incident, located 6.5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and which left no one injured.

According to what has been learned, Russia attacked the southwest of Ukraine with dozens of drones overnight, where several export ports are located on the Danube and the Black Sea.. Although Russia has not commented at the moment, one of these attacks could have been diverted to Romanian territory. For its part, the Foreign Ministry vehemently condemned the incident and said it represents a new violation of Romanian airspace. The Russian ambassador in Romania was summoned to Bucharest, although no further information has emerged about the meeting. NATO has not wanted to comment on what happened either.

Seven people have been arrested in an anti-terrorist operation directed against the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) that took place this Thursday simultaneously in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, as reported by local authorities, who attribute to these suspects an alleged collaboration with a view to future attacks.

The operation was announced early in the morning by the Danish authorities, who initially reported three detainees, linked in principle to organized gangs.. Hours later, the intervention in the operation by three countries and the alleged ties with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, were confirmed.

The German Prosecutor's Office has reported in a statement the arrest of four more suspects, identified as Abdelhamid al A., Ibrahim el R., Mohamed B.. and Nazih R., the latter detained by Dutch security forces in Rotterdam.

The seven are accused of belonging to “a foreign terrorist organization”, in particular Hamas, classified as such by the European Union.. German investigators consider that the four suspects identified for their part have participated in operations of the Palestinian group abroad and that they have a “close” relationship with its armed wing, the Ezzeldin al Qassam Brigades.

In fact, “in the name of Hamas,” Abdelhamid al A. had already begun looking for some kind of weapons cache before the spring of 2023, in response to orders it received directly from Lebanon. The Prosecutor's Office has explained that Hamas wanted to bring weapons to Berlin with a view to “potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe.”

In October, both Abdelhamid, Mohamed and Nazih left Berlin on several occasions in search of this weaponry, while Ibrahim was allegedly in charge of providing them with assistance for these trips, says the note from the German Public Prosecutor's Office.

Netanyahu Alert

The office of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been the first institution in fact to confirm that there were seven detainees and announce that they were acting “on behalf of Hamas”, in a statement in which he warned that the group wants to expand its operations around the world to “attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets at any cost.”

For this reason, he recalled that Hamas represents a threat to the security of all European countries and has offered the help of Israel's Intelligence services to dismantle future plots, as would have happened with this Thursday's anti-terrorist operation.

The Netherlands raised the risk of a terrorist attack this week, while in Denmark the Police this Thursday urged citizens to continue with their routines ahead of the Christmas holidays, announcing that in cities like Copenhagen there will be a greater presence of the security forces. security in the streets, reports public television DR.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has acknowledged in statements to the media in Brussels that a serious threat has been reacted to and has praised the actions of the security forces.. Thus, although he has not provided details about the operation, he has recalled that there is a “high risk” of attacks.

The Lower House of the United States, with a Republican majority, approved this Wednesday to formalize the impeachment investigation launched by conservatives against the president, Joe Biden.

Biden's reaction was immediate and he has accused House Republicans of attacking him with “lies.” “Instead of doing anything to help improve the lives of Americans, they are focused on attacking me with lies,” he said in a statement after the vote, which obtained 221 votes in favor and 212 against.

These investigations had been opened in September unilaterally by the then president of that chamber, Kevin McCarthy, and the Republicans now hope that their validation by 221 votes in favor and 212 against will facilitate their access to information, documents and testimonies.

“The White House is blocking key testimonies,” said the president of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, James Comer, in the parliamentary debate, who is leading this investigation and described it as “important and necessary.” .

The opposition to Biden

Republicans have in their sights the Biden family's alleged business dealings with the country's “adversaries” such as China, taking advantage of their political ties.

The opposition accuses the Democratic president of having used his influence when he was vice president of the United States in the Government of Barack Obama (2009-2017) to help his son Hunter and other relatives in alleged irregular businesses with those “enemies.”

Comer coordinates the investigations with the representatives of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, and the Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith.

During this time, according to the now president of the Lower House, also a Republican Mike Johnson, the committees have concluded that the Biden family received more than 15 million dollars from companies and foreign governments from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania and China between 2014 and 2019. His partners would have received another 9 million.

Hunter Biden had been summoned this Wednesday to testify behind closed doors in this regard, but he failed to comply with his subpoena, claiming that he wants his testimony to be public.

As Comer, who plans to sue him for contempt, later noted, the fact that the son refused to speak today reinforces the need for the chamber to formalize the investigation and for the president and his family to “be held accountable for their corruption.”

“These people do not work for the Americans, but for Donald Trump,” lamented Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern in the debate, for whom the ongoing investigation is a continuation of the “crusade” undertaken by Republicans to reverse the results of the elections. 2020 presidential elections.

The United States Constitution states that the president can be removed from office in an impeachment trial if he committed “high crimes or misdemeanors.”

The future of impeachment

If in the coming months the impeachment investigation that the Republicans have just formalized bears any fruit, the committees will have to draft an accusation, what is known as “articles of impeachment”, which will have to be submitted to a vote again in the Lower House. .

If these articles are approved with only a simple majority, the Senate – where Democrats have a majority – must hold an impeachment trial against the president.

Biden would only be removed from office if two-thirds of that chamber votes in that direction, a scenario impossible to imagine in the current political context.

What there is no doubt is that less than a year before the 2024 presidential elections, an impeachment investigation against Biden will serve as a media electoral weapon for the Republicans.

A US federal judge decided this Wednesday to pause the judicial process of electoral interference against former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) while the appeal presented by the Republican politician for the case to be dismissed is decided.

Judge Tanya Chutkan decided to pause all proceedings, according to local media, after Trump's lawyers last week appealed her decision to reject the dismissal of the case against the former president.

Trump alleges that the 2020 election interference case cannot proceed because his actions were protected by presidential immunity, among other reasons.

Chutkan has defended that the request, pending to be resolved, in the Court of Appeals for the Washington DC Circuit. “could harm any future procedures”. However, he has made it clear that this does not affect the gag order imposed against Trump, as reported by the American network NBC News.

“If jurisdiction is returned to this court, consistent with its duty to ensure a speedy and fair trial for all parties, it will consider whether to maintain the deadline dates, including the trial scheduled for March 4,” the decision reads. .

On December 7, Trump's lawyers appealed to that court against Chutkan's decision to consider that the former president does not have presidential immunity in the process of interference in the 2020 elections, which gave victory to Democrat Joe Biden.

Following the maneuver by Trump's legal team, the special prosecutor investigating the former US president's attempts to reverse the results of those elections, Jack Smith, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to decide on his presidential immunity.

With this decision, which would be imposed on that of the Court of Appeal, Smith intends to expedite the resolution of the dispute and avoid delays in the start of the trial.

The former president faces four charges of conspiring against the United States; for preventing Congress from certifying the results collected at the polls; for conspiring against the right to vote, as well as for his attempt to obstruct the certification of the minutes.

The far-right Confederation coalition announced this Wednesday the suspension of deputy Grzegorz Braun, who used a fire extinguisher to extinguish a nine-branched candelabra placed in Parliament to commemorate the Jewish festival of lights.

Braun, who leads the party, argued in extinguishing the candles that he was “restoring a state of normality” and “ending acts of satanic triumphalism.”

The suspension has been confirmed by the co-president of the Confederation, Slawomir Mentzen, on his official profile on the social network of speakers.

“Only the Confederation club will decide who will be a member of our club. We will not allow anyone to blackmail us in this matter,” Mentzen added.

After the incident involving Braun, the deputy intervened from the speakers' gallery during the question of confidence in the new Executive of Donald Tusk, all with the approval of the Sejm board, whose vice-president is the also deputy of the Confederation Kryzstof Bosak.

This episode has put the position of the vice president of the Polish Lower House in danger, since the Left bench presented a motion to remove him from office for allowing Braun to get on the stage and proclaim a speech that they call anti-Semitic, reports the PAP agency. .

For his part, the president of the Sejm, Szymon Holownia, announced that Braun will be punished with the highest penalty that could be imposed for this case, which is the deprivation of half his salary for three months, and the full allowance for half a month. anus.

Likewise, Holownia gave the 'green light' for notification to be submitted to the Prosecutor's Office regarding the possible crime of public disturbance of a religious act.

Links have stopped working on X, formerly Twitter. The links included in the social network posts have started to give errors and not load. If the user clicked on them, they were redirected to a screen indicating that “the page has fallen.”. The failure lasted about half an hour.

In addition, in the notification you could read an ironic message that said: “I scream. You scream. We all shout. “Let's stop making jokes and get this back up and running soon.”

This is not the only fall that X has suffered in recent months. In September, users reported that the platform did not load correctly, did not allow them to publish messages, retweet or follow anyone.. This issue affected the web version and mobile applications.

Furthermore, last March it suffered the biggest drop in its history. The social network witnessed two falls in less than a week. In addition, several users warned of the presence of content containing child abuse and the appearance of repeated tweets in the main interface.

Since Elon Musk bought the app it seems that Twitter has suffered more failures than ever. The owner is giving the platform a complete makeover, with exclusive features for Twitter subscribers, and the preparation of a new paid app programming interface.

The times when Israel saw Western countries unconditionally supporting its offensive in Gaza are now a thing of the past.. This Tuesday the United Nations Assembly said loud and clear that a humanitarian ceasefire had to be promoted as soon as possible. And this Wednesday the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, insisted on it: “I urge the parties to apply the resolution”. Diplomatic pressure on Israel increases by the moment and not even its strongest allies deny the humanitarian crisis.. Despite this, the war continues, and the hand-to-hand combat in the Strip has not only not stopped, but has intensified.

During the day on Tuesday, Israel received several diplomatic blows. On the one hand, the UN resolution, in which 153 countries voted in favor of a ceasefire, including 17 EU States. And on the other hand, the United States' criticism of its Government. US President Joe Biden acknowledged for the first time that the Jewish state was “beginning to lose support”. Furthermore, he criticized that Benjamin Netanyahu's Executive was the “most conservative in the history of Israel” and regretted that “he did not want a two-state solution.”. To top it all off, Biden stated that the Israeli leader should “change” his government to find a solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

Although the resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not binding, the result does confirm Biden's perception, since it has had a much larger result than the vote on November 28 in which a cessation was also requested. of hostilities. Among the countries that voted against, in addition to Israel and the United States, were two European countries, Austria and the Czech Republic; small Pacific countries, Guatemala and Paraguay. Among the abstentionists, Argentina was found for the first time, which joined the position of Italy, Germany and Ukraine, among others.

This Wednesday, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation insisted that the “overwhelming majority” of countries calling for a ceasefire reflects “Israel's evident isolation.”. The vote in the Assembly had been requested after the United States vetoed a resolution of almost similar content in the Security Council last Friday.. A body where the decision would have been binding if all its members had voted in favor.

Fighting intensifies

Despite the pressure, the Israeli Government has assured that they will not stop their efforts to put an end to Hamas and that a ceasefire now would be a mistake. “We will continue until the end. There is no doubt at all. I say this in the face of international pressure. “Nothing will stop us, we will go to the end, to victory, to the destruction of Hamas,” Netanyahu assured his troops this Wednesday.. “It would be a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas, and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also added.

In this context, the war continues. And the Israeli Army claims to have attacked some 250 Islamist organization targets in the last few hours. The fighting is centered in the enclave's second largest city, Khan Yunis, in the south, and in Beit Lahia, Jabalia and Shujaiya, in the north, where the capital of the Palestinian enclave is located. Precisely in Shujaiya, where fighting is taking place street by street, nine Israeli soldiers members of the elite Golani brigade have died in clashes with Hamas. These deceased are joined by another soldier in a town north of Gaza, making this day one of the deadliest for Israeli troops.. A total of 115 soldiers have died since the offensive began.

Among the nine killed in Shujaiya was Colonel Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, commander of the Golani Brigade and the highest ranking officer to have died in Gaza so far. “Golani troops confronted terrorists who threw explosives at the soldiers and shot at them from inside a residential building that also contained underground terrorist infrastructure.. “Commanders on the ground showed bravery and composure, leading from the front and rushing to help wounded soldiers,” a military statement said.

Likewise, the Ezzeldin al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, acknowledged to Al Jazeera this Wednesday that they had carried out a series of attacks against the command rooms of the Israel Defense Forces. “We attacked the enemy's command rooms in the southern axis of Gaza City with large-caliber mortar shells,” they said without adding more details.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 240, Israeli bombings in response have left more than 18,600 Palestinians dead (at least 70% of them civilians) and more than 50,500 injured.