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🇸🇾⚡- Ongoing clashes between the Syrian government forces and the SDF in Aleppo. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

🇹🇷🇸🇾⚡- The high-level Turkish delegation has arrived in Damascus, Syria. The delegation includes Foreign Minister Fidan, Defense Minister Guler, and MiT Chief Kalin.

🇸🇾⚡- Large SNA convoys are leaving the cities of Azaz and Mare' towards Aleppo, where fighting is ongoing between the SNA and SDF.

🇸🇴 Al Shabaab has increased the scale of its attacks on Somali federal government (SFG) facilities in Mogadishu in December amid rising tensions between the SFG and opposition over electoral reforms. The group carried out suicide bombings on two separate military bases in Mogadishu on December 10, which were part of at least seven total al Shabaab attacks on SFG facilities from December 10 to 13. Growing tensions over upcoming federal elections in 2026 could create additional security gaps and high-publicity targets for al Shabaab to exploit. Al Shabaab has previously increased activity in Mogadishu amid political tension, including elections, and has already threatened to target election sites as the SFG has rolled out a contentious new direct election system for Mogadishu’s municipal elections in late December 2025. Al Shabaab has consolidated support zones outside of Mogadishu in the Middle Shabelle region and the Afgoi corridor despite earlier SFG and African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) gains in the lower Shabelle River valley in 2025. 📎 Critical Threats

👮‍♂️ 🇮🇹 🚭 Italian police arrest 384, seize 1.5 tons of drugs in nationwide crackdown Italian police said on Saturday they had arrested 384 people and seized 1.4 tonnes (1.54 tons) of drugs in a large-scale operation against drug trafficking. In addition to the arrests, officers had put under investigation 655 individuals, including 39 minors, and confiscated 35 kilograms of cocaine and more than 40 firearms, police said in a statement. The operation, concluded on Friday in several provinces, led to the temporary closure of five cannabis shops in three cities after 312 inspections. During the checks, the police said they had seized 296 kilograms of cannabis products, which initial tests had shown to be illegal drugs. Italy in June approved a security decree banning so-called “legal” cannabis and outlawing the trade of “cannabis light,” or hemp, which unlike marijuana has no psychoactive effects. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/20/europe/italian-police-arrests-drugs-intl

🇺🇸 🇵🇦 🇨🇳 "Because the Centuries is not under U.S. sanctions, a U.S. official told The Washington Post, the Coast Guard relied on a maritime law called “right of visit,” which allows a warship to board and inspect a vessel it suspects is engaging in illicit activity. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. The U.S. got permission from the government of Panama to board the vessel, the official said." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/20/venezuela-boats-coast-guard/

🇺🇸 JD Vance: “You don’t have to apologize for being White anymore.” 📎 AF Post

🏴‍☠️ 🇺🇸 🚢 The BELLA 1 oil tanker has REFUSED to be boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard, who is now in “active pursuit” of the vessel. - Christiaan Triebert The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday tried to intercept an oil tanker linked to Venezuela that is now fleeing in the Caribbean Sea, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation, days after President Trump said he would crack down on sanctioned vessels involved in the country’s oil trade. The tanker, called the Bella 1, was en route to pick up oil in Venezuela and was not carrying cargo, according to one of the officials and ship-tracking data. The tanker has been under U.S. sanctions since last year for transporting Iranian oil, which federal authorities say is sold to finance terrorism. When U.S. forces approached the Bella 1 late on Saturday, it was not flying a valid national flag, the officials said, making it a stateless vessel liable to be boarded at sea under international law. American authorities had obtained a seizure warrant from a federal magistrate judge, which would allow them to take possession of the ship, two of the officials said. The warrant had been sought because of the Bella 1’s previous involvement in the Iranian oil trade, not because of its links to Venezuela. But the ship did not submit to being boarded and continued sailing, one of the officials said. A second official referred to the situation as “an active pursuit.” The Coast Guard had successfully boarded another tanker earlier on Saturday, and the United States had taken possession of a third tanker on Dec. 10 that is now at port in Texas. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/us/politics/us-coast-guard-venezuela-oil-tankers.html

🇷🇺🇺🇦 On December 18th and 19th, Russia targeted two bridges in Odessa Oblast, the Zatoka and Mayaki bridges rendering them impassable to trucks and other heavy road vehicles. The bombings caused the Odessa-Reni highway to become closed for all individuals effectively cutting off the Budzhak region from the rest of Ukraine. Traffic for cars is expected to resume in the future as the neither of the two bridges collapsed. Soon after, the customs with Moldova in the region were closed but not the customs with Romania. The bridge in Mayaki was used frequently by residents of Odessa and other nearby towns and villages to travel to the Moldovan capital, Chișinău, as it is the closest functioning airport and connection with other countries. Now, they have to make a detour around Transnistria and enter Moldova through the north On the same day as the bombings of the bridges in Budzhak, the deputy commander of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine – NSATU, Maj-Gen Maik Keller, announced that in January 2026, a new logistical supply center for Ukraine will be opened by NATO in Romania in an undisclosed location, meant to supplement the logistical supply center in Rzeszów, Poland. The decision to bomb the two bridges in Budzhak is meant to hinder supplies coming from Romania. @CIG_telegram

Oil tanker leaving Maracaibo lake https://t.me/worldconflicts/52170?single

🇮🇷 🇻🇪 🇨🇳 Between October 2021 and September 2025, the US OFAC-sanctioned BELLA 1 (9230880) had directly exported 7.3 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, as well as 3.7 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil; both to China. 🛢 She has also received (via STS transfer) 7.4 million barrels of Iranian crude and 1.9 million barrels of Venezuelan oil prior to delivery to China. 📎 Tanker Trackers

🏴‍☠️ 🇺🇸 🇻🇪 “The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion. It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order,” a U.S. official told Fox News, regarding reports that another vessel had been boarded and seized this morning in the Southern Caribbean. 📎 OSINTdefender

📖 🇺🇸 🇵🇦 On December 20th, 1989, 27,000 American troops invaded Panama to topple the dictator and former U.S. ally Manuel Noriega. The global community condemned the operation as a violation of international law. 📎 Military History Now

🇪🇺 🇷🇺 🇹🇷 ISW continues to assess that Russia is intensifying its covert and overt attacks against Europe and that Russia has entered “Phase Zero” — the informational and psychological condition setting phase — to prepare for a possible NATO-Russia war in the future. Three drones — at least two of which are reportedly Russian drone models — have entered Turkish airspace or crashed into Turkey since December 15. The Turkish Ministry of National Defense reported on December 15 that Turkish and NATO forces shot down a drone approaching Turkish airspace from the Black Sea. Turkish authorities did not specify the type or origin of the drone. The Turkish Interior Ministry reported on December 19 that Turkish authorities found a downed Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone near Izmit in northwestern Turkey. Turkish outlets reported on December 20 that a third drone crashed in Balıkesir Province in northwestern Turkey, possibly on an earlier date, and that there were no identifying markings on the drone. A Russian milblogger claimed that the third drone was a Russian Merlin-VR reconnaissance drone. Turkish authorities have not directly attributed the incidents to Russia as of this writing. 📎 ISW

🇸🇪 ❌️ 🇷🇺 Swedish Customs, joined by the Swedish Security Service, board Russian ship Adler after it anchors off Höganäs in Swedish waters 📎 Rapid Report

🇸🇪 ❌️ 🇷🇺 Swedish authorities boarded the Russian cargo ship Adler overnight after it anchored off Höganäs following an engine failure. The operation involved Customs, the Coast Guard, police special units, and security services. The vessel is owned by M Leasing LLC, a Russian company sanctioned by the EU and US for allegedly transporting North Korean ammunition later used by Russia in Ukraine Swedish Customs said the boarding proceeded calmly and the inspection was still ongoing Sunday morning. No findings have been officially disclosed so far. 📎 GeoInsider

🇺🇸 🇨🇺 🇻🇪 U.S. Oil Blockade of Venezuela Pushes Cuba Toward Collapse The Communist-ruled island was already suffering from food shortages, blackouts and an exodus of people; now it faces the loss of cheap oil from Nicolás Maduro The U.S. is ratcheting up pressure on Havana’s key benefactor, Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which has kept the Communist-ruled nation afloat with cheap oil. Now Venezuelan oil exports are at risk thanks to a partial blockade targeting sanctioned tankers—the kind that carry about 70% of the country’s crude. 🛢 Were Venezuela’s oil shipments to stop, or sharply decline, the Cubans know it would be devastating. “It would be the collapse of the Cuban economy, no question about it,” said Jorge Piñón, a Cuban exile who tracks the island’s energy ties to Venezuela at the University of Texas at Austin. Nearly 90% of people live in extreme poverty, and 70% go without at least a meal a day, said the Social Rights Observatory, a think tank that conducted a month of polling this past summer. For more than 70% of Cubans, their main concerns are the lack of food and the constant blackouts, which can go for 18 hours or more a day in some regions. The observatory found that 78% intend to flee the island. ⚡️ Cuba’s deep reliance on Venezuela means Cuba’s Communist government is doing all it can to prevent Maduro—who trained in Cuba as a young man—from being forced from office in his greatest challenge after nearly 13 years in office. That means ensuring he is always surrounded by security and loyal aides, with no one carrying cellphones or other electronic devices. https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-oil-blockade-of-venezuela-pushes-cuba-toward-collapse-75289b5b 📎 WSJ

🚢 🇺🇸 🇻🇪 UPDATE: SKIPPER (9304667) has now reached the general GOLA (Galveston Offshore Lightering Area) in order to transfer her 1.85 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil to smaller tankers that can then bring the oil into various refinery terminals within Houston, for instance. 🛢 📎 Tanker Trackers

🇺🇸❌🇻🇪🇮🇷 — The vessel, BELLA 1, was under US sanctions and had abruptly turned away from Venezuela following the seizure of the first Venezuela-linked oil tanker on December 10, likely to avoid an attempted seizure. It was traveling to Venezuela from Iran.

🇺🇸 ❌️ 🇻🇪 The U.S. boarded a third tanker near Venezuela. 🇵🇦 The Panama-flagged, US-sanctioned Bella 1, was en route to Venezuela. 🛢 📎 Bloomberg