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Türkiye Says it Will ‘Hold Israel Accountable’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conference in Berlin (epa)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conference in Berlin (epa)
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Türkiye Says it Will ‘Hold Israel Accountable’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conference in Berlin (epa)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conference in Berlin (epa)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that his country will work to hold Israel accountable for the heinous massacres it committed in Gaza.

Speaking at the National Turkish Students' Union in Istanbul, Erdogan said that Türkiye is currently working with more than 2,000 lawyers to file a complaint with the relevant authorities regarding the Israeli massacres in Gaza.

The President touched on his visit to Germany, saying the West, bound by crusader imperialist ideals, stands united against Gaza, while the Islamic countries do not present serious and practical positions regarding Jerusalem and the Strip.

Israel is holding hostage about 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, said Erdogan, adding that Germany should work to free them, and in turn, Türkiye would help release those detained by the Hamas movement.

Erdogan said: "Take this step. And we shall take the mutual step. There is no other solution."

Erdogan continued that Türkiye enjoys a strategic location with significant historical, political, and diplomatic responsibilities.

He saw that his country was in a "ring of fire," which must be strong.

Erdogan added that anyone who says the country does not care "about Syria, Iraq, Karabakh, Libya, Bosnia, and al-Quds is either intentionally or unintentionally impeding Türkiye's great march."

- Israel's nuclear weapons

Erdogan pointed out, in statements to journalists who accompanied him on his return trip from Germany, that Israel is not a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

He indicated that member countries can contact the International Atomic Energy Agency and request a monitoring mechanism, and "we will activate it."

"It is quite possible that the US will side with Israel and veto this issue," at the Security Council, he added, noting that the fact that this issue has become the subject of controversy is a huge event.

Erdogan continued that Türkiye would exert pressure to ensure Israel is adequately inspected for nuclear weapons.

Türkiye and Egypt were negotiating to transfer patients from Gaza, said the President, adding that Ankara will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Strip via the Rafah crossing.

He pointed out that Türkiye is currently working on the health situation in Gaza.

Erdogan reiterated that Türkiye will continue to make efforts to rebuild the damaged infrastructure, destroyed schools, hospitals, and water and energy facilities in Gaza.

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World

Iran Plan to Kill Israelis in Cyprus Foiled, Says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (AP)
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Iran Plan to Kill Israelis in Cyprus Foiled, Says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (AP)

Israel and Cyprus have foiled an Iranian plan to kill Israelis on the east Mediterranean island, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Sunday.

"The Cypriot security and law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with the Mossad (Israeli intelligence), thwarted an Iranian terrorist infrastructure that planned to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus," the statement said.

It followed confirmation by Cyprus police in Nicosia that they had arrested two people for "national security" reasons, after a media report that two Iranians were being held on suspicion of plotting to attack Israelis.

The newspaper Kathimerini Cyprus said the two Iranians were awaiting deportation.

It said they were political refugees with probable links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and had been in the early stages of gathering intelligence about targets.

Netanyahu's office said that after the arrests, "considerable information was obtained, which led to the discovery of the attackers, their modus operandi, the targets of the attack and the Iranian plan to kill innocents in Cyprus and elsewhere".

Cyprus police would only confirm to AFP that they made arrests.

"Two people have been arrested. We are investigating a terrorism-related case," a spokesperson said.

Israel's statement, issued on behalf of Mossad and the National Security Council, said Iran "has expanded its efforts to advance terrorism around the world" since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Israel has vowed to destroy the Iran-backed Hamas after the attack, which it says killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Israel's military offensive in Gaza has since killed at least 17,700 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Cyprus has a sizable Israeli community as political ties have grown in recent years based on tapping regional energy resources.

The island also served as a transfer hub for foreign nationals evacuated from Israel following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

The statement from Netanyahu's office said Israel's National Security Council "and the intelligence community recently updated the threat level toward Israelis abroad and are continuing to instruct Israeli citizens accordingly".

Sunday's was the third reported case of plots against Israelis in Cyprus over the past two years.

In June, Mossad said it had detained an Iranian planning a terrorist attack against Israeli targets on the island.

In September 2021, Cyprus police arrested an Azeri with a gun who was trying to cross to the Turkish-occupied north of the island.

Mossad said it had actively prevented the contract killing of Israeli business people living in Cyprus.

World

Nobel Winner Mohammadi Denounces ‘Tyrannical’ Regime in Iran

Ali and Kiana Rahmani, children of Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, hold the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 award, accepting it on behalf of their mother at Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Fredrik Varfjell via Reuters)
Ali and Kiana Rahmani, children of Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, hold the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 award, accepting it on behalf of their mother at Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Fredrik Varfjell via Reuters)
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Nobel Winner Mohammadi Denounces ‘Tyrannical’ Regime in Iran

Ali and Kiana Rahmani, children of Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, hold the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 award, accepting it on behalf of their mother at Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Fredrik Varfjell via Reuters)
Ali and Kiana Rahmani, children of Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, hold the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 award, accepting it on behalf of their mother at Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Fredrik Varfjell via Reuters)

Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi denounced Sunday a "tyrannical and anti-women religious" government in Iran, in a speech delivered by her children who accepted the award in her absence.

Mohammadi, who has campaigned against the compulsory wearing of the hijab and the death penalty in Iran, has been held since 2021 in Tehran's Evin prison.

Instead, her 17-year-old twins Ali and Kiana, both living in exile in France since 2015, received the award on her behalf, reading a speech she managed to smuggle out of her cell.

"I am a Middle Eastern woman, and come from a region which, despite its rich civilization, is now trapped amid war, the fire of terrorism, and extremism," she said in a message that was written "behind the high, cold walls of a prison".

"The Iranian people will dismantle obstruction and despotism through their persistence," Mohammadi said in her speech.

"Have no doubt -- this is certain," she said.

Mohammadi has been arrested and convicted several times in recent decades, and her twin children have not seen their mother for almost nine years.

"Personally I'm rather pessimistic," Kiana Mohammadi told reporters on Saturday, while his brother Ali said he remained "very, very optimistic".

The "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement seeks the end of Iran's imposition of a headscarf on all women and an end to the cleric-led government in Tehran.

Empty chair

"I am an Iranian woman, a proud and honorable contributor to civilization, who is currently under the oppression of a despotic religious government," she said.

A chair was left symbolically empty at the ceremony, where a portrait of Mohammadi was displayed.

Mohammadi is one of the women spearheading the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising, which saw months-long protests across Iran triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, died on September 16, 2022, while being held by Iran's religious police for allegedly breaching the country’s dress code for women.

"The mandatory hijab imposed by the government is neither a religious obligation or a cultural tradition, but rather a means of maintaining authority and submission throughout society," Mohammadi said in the speech read before the Norwegian royal family and foreign dignitaries.

She said Iran "is fundamentally alienating itself from its people", denouncing government repression, the lack of an independent judicial system, propaganda and censorship, and corruption.

Mohammadi is currently carrying out a hunger strike in solidarity with the Baha'i community, according to her family.

In Mandela's footsteps

Mohammadi is the fifth laureate in the more than 120-year history of the Nobel Peace Prize to receive the award while detained.

She follows Germany's Carl von Ossietzky, Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, China's Liu Xiaobo and Belarus's Ales Beliatski.

"Narges Mohammadi's struggle is also comparable to that of Albert Lutuli, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, which took place over a period of more than 30 years before the apartheid system in South Africa came to an end," the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said in a speech.

Protests in Iran triggered by Amini's death have been severely repressed.

The Iran Human Rights group (IHR) says 551 demonstrators, including dozens of women and children, have been killed by security forces, and thousands have been arrested.

On Saturday, the lawyer for Amini's family said her parents and brother, who were due to receive the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought on Amini's behalf at a ceremony on December 13, was being prohibited from leaving Iran.

The other Nobel prizes, in literature, chemistry, medicine, physics and economics, were to be awarded later Sunday at ceremonies in Stockholm.

World

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Heads to Argentina in Bid to Win Support from Developing Nations

06 December 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honors fallen defenders on the Day of the Armed Forces at the Wall of Remembrance near St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral. (Ukrainian Presidential Pool/dpa)
06 December 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honors fallen defenders on the Day of the Armed Forces at the Wall of Remembrance near St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral. (Ukrainian Presidential Pool/dpa)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Heads to Argentina in Bid to Win Support from Developing Nations

06 December 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honors fallen defenders on the Day of the Armed Forces at the Wall of Remembrance near St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral. (Ukrainian Presidential Pool/dpa)
06 December 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honors fallen defenders on the Day of the Armed Forces at the Wall of Remembrance near St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral. (Ukrainian Presidential Pool/dpa)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Buenos Aires to witness the swearing-in on Sunday of Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei.

It is the Ukrainian leader’s first-ever trip to Latin America as Kyiv continues to court support among developing nations for its 21-month-old fight against Russia's invading forces.

A political outsider who has railed against what he calls entrenched official corruption in Argentina and promised to uproot the political establishment, Milei ran on a pro-Western foreign policy platform, repeatedly expressing distrust of Moscow and Beijing.

Zelenskyy phoned Milei shortly after the Argentinian’s electoral victory, thanking him for his “clear support for Ukraine” which he described in social media posts as “well-noticed and appreciated by Ukrainians.”

In its readout of the call published shortly afterwards, Milei’s office said he had offered to host a summit between Ukraine and Latin American states, a potential boon to Kyiv’s monthslong effort to strengthen its relationships with countries of the global south.

Zelenskyy and other senior Ukrainian officials have repeatedly presented Ukraine’s war against Russia as resistance against colonial aggression, hoping to win support from Asian, African and Latin American states that in the past struggled to free themselves from foreign domination, sometimes turning to Moscow for support against Western powers.

Zelenskyy used the trip to Argentina to meet leaders of several developing countries. He met the prime minister of the West African country of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, on his way to Buenos Aires. Once in Argentina, Zelenskyy met separately with the presidents of Paraguay, Ecuador and Uruguay, his office said.

“The support and strong united voice of Latin American countries that stand with the people of Ukraine in the war for our freedom and democracy is very important for us,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.

He also had a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, discussing "the details of the next defense package from the French Republic, which will significantly enhance Ukraine’s firepower, and the current needs of our country in armaments,” Zelenskyy’s office said.

World

Blinken Defends Bypassing Congress to Sell Weapons to Israel, Presses Lawmakers to Help Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers questions during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the State Department December 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers questions during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the State Department December 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Blinken Defends Bypassing Congress to Sell Weapons to Israel, Presses Lawmakers to Help Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers questions during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the State Department December 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers questions during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the State Department December 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday defended the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition and also called for quick congressional approval of more than $100 billion in aid for Israel, Ukraine and other national security priorities.

Blinken said the needs of Israel's military operations in Gaza justify the rare decision to bypass Congress. “Israel is in combat right now with Hamas,” he said during television interviews. “And we want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas."

The tank ammunition and related support constitute only a small portion of military sales to Israel, Blinken said, and that the rest remains subject to congressional review. "It’s very important that Congress‘s voice be heard in this,” he said.

The decision to proceed with the sale of more than $106 million for tank shells came as the Biden administration's larger aid package is caught up in a debate over US immigration policy and border security.

Blinken noted that President Joe Biden has said he is willing to make significant compromises to get the aid package moving. “It’s something the president is fully prepared to engage on,” Blinken said.

The stakes are especially high for Ukraine, America's top diplomat said, given that “we are running out of funding” for the Ukrainians.

“This is a time to really step up because if we don’t, we know what happens. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be able to move forward with impunity and we know he won't stop in Ukraine.”

Blinken appeared on ABC's “This Week” and CNN's “State of the Union.”

World

Iran Tries Swedish EU Employee for ‘Spying for Israel’

Swedish citizen Johan Floderus (C) attends a court hearing in Enghelab court in Tehran, Iran, 10 December 2023. (EPA)
Swedish citizen Johan Floderus (C) attends a court hearing in Enghelab court in Tehran, Iran, 10 December 2023. (EPA)
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Iran Tries Swedish EU Employee for ‘Spying for Israel’

Swedish citizen Johan Floderus (C) attends a court hearing in Enghelab court in Tehran, Iran, 10 December 2023. (EPA)
Swedish citizen Johan Floderus (C) attends a court hearing in Enghelab court in Tehran, Iran, 10 December 2023. (EPA)

Iran said on Sunday that it had begun the trial of a Swedish national employed by the European Union who is charged with spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime that carries the death penalty.

Sweden said on Saturday that the trial had begun of Johan Floderus, who was detained in April 2022 while on holiday in Iran, but did not say what he was charged with.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said in an online report on Sunday that Floderus's trial had begun and that he was indicted "based on corruption on earth, widespread activities against national security (and) wide intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime", a reference to Israel.

Corruption on earth is a capital offense under Iran's religious laws.

Sweden's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Saturday the ministry said there were "no grounds whatsoever to detain Johan Floderus, let alone put him on trial."

Floderus' family has said he was detained "without any justifiable cause or due process."

Rights groups and Western governments have accused the Islamic Republic of trying to extract political concessions from other countries through arrests on security charges that may have been trumped up. Tehran says such arrests are based on its criminal code and it denies holding people for political reasons.

Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense since 2019 when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official for his part in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s.

The judiciary said Floderus had operated through projects by US and European institutions to gather intelligence for Israel. It said another hearing would be announced at a later date.

World

Russia Calls for International Monitoring Mission in Gaza

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov waits before a meeting of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan October 12, 2023. (Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov waits before a meeting of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan October 12, 2023. (Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Kremlin via Reuters)
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Russia Calls for International Monitoring Mission in Gaza

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov waits before a meeting of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan October 12, 2023. (Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov waits before a meeting of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan October 12, 2023. (Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Kremlin via Reuters)

Russia on Sunday called for an international monitoring mission to go to Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation, and said it was unacceptable for Israel to use Hamas' Oct. 7 attack as justification for punishing the Palestinian people.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed at least 17,000 people, Gaza health authorities say.

The United States on Friday vetoed a proposed UN Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"We strongly condemned the terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Al Jazeera in an interview aired on Sunday at the Doha Forum conference.

"At the same time, we do not believe it is acceptable to use this event for the collective punishment of the millions of Palestinian people with indiscriminate shelling."

Lavrov said that for there to be "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza "some kind of monitoring on the ground" was needed.

"We addressed the Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] suggesting that he use his authority to consider some kind of monitoring - but so far to no avail," Lavrov said.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly accused the United States and the West of ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. Putin on Sunday spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Gaza.

"This happened not in a vacuum," Lavrov said, pointing to decades of blockade and unfulfilled promises about a Palestinian state.

The UN's Guterres has previously said that the Hamas attack did not happen in a vacuum. Israel said Guterres had justified the Hamas attacks with such words. Guterres rejected the Israeli accusations.

Ukraine

Asked in the Al Jazeera interview if Russia was being hypocritical with its criticism about that fate of the Palestinians while Russia fights a war in Ukraine, Lavrov said neither he nor Russia were hypocritical.

Lavrov said that the West was trying to exhaust Russia in Ukraine by supplying weapons and that if peace talks were to take place then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would have to annul his own presidential decree.

"It is up to the Ukrainians to recognize how deep they are in the hole where the Americans put them," Lavrov said when asked if the war was at a stalemate.

When asked by Al Jazeera what the chances were of diplomacy to bring about a ceasefire or peace in Ukraine, he said: "You'll have to call Mr. Zelenskiy because a year and half ago he signed a decree prohibiting any negotiations with Putin."

Lavrov said that a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia was almost reached in Istanbul in March and April 2022 based on the idea of Ukrainian neutrality.

"This deal was aborted - it was cancelled because the Americans and the Brits decided that if Putin is ready to sign it then let's exhaust him more. That's what they are doing now. Stalemate or no stalemate - that is the fact," Lavrov said.

Asked in the interview about the August plane crash which killed Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Lavrov said investigators had probed the crash.

"As regards the soldiers from Wagner group... quite a number of them went to Belarus and started to serve there," Lavrov said "Others joined the regular structures of the Russian army - and they continue to serve." 

World

Milei Takes Office as Argentina Braces for Economic Reforms

Javier Milei has said his first set of measures will be presented to parliament in a matter of days. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP
Javier Milei has said his first set of measures will be presented to parliament in a matter of days. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP
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Milei Takes Office as Argentina Braces for Economic Reforms

Javier Milei has said his first set of measures will be presented to parliament in a matter of days. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP
Javier Milei has said his first set of measures will be presented to parliament in a matter of days. JUAN MABROMATA / AFP

Javier Milei will on Sunday be sworn in as Argentina's president, as the country steels itself for harsh spending cuts and economic reforms aimed at curbing rampant inflation.
The 53-year-old libertarian economist has vowed there will be no "half-measures" as he tackles decades of overspending, debt, and convoluted currency controls in Latin America's third-biggest economy, AFP reported.
The inauguration ceremony in Buenos Aires is bringing together a diverse handful of world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- the only EU leader who has maintained close ties to the Kremlin.
Chile's leftist leader Gabriel Boric and the King of Spain Felipe VI are also attending, as is Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro.
After taking the oath of office, Milei will give his first speech as president from the steps of parliament. He will later swear in a cabinet of nine ministers -- a major slimdown from the current 18.
He has said his first set of measures will be presented to parliament in a matter of days.
Milei's inauguration caps a meteoric rise for the former television panelist who entered politics only two years ago after grabbing public attention with his rants against the "thieving" establishment.
With his deliberately disheveled mop of hair and rock star persona, he would wave a powered-up chainsaw at political rallies, vowing to slash public spending and a bloated cabinet.
He vowed to "dynamite" the central bank, replace the ailing peso with the US dollar, and ditch key government ministries.
His red-faced fury struck a chord with voters fed up with economic crisis -- a phenomenon as Argentine as Malbec or the tango.
'Lights all flashing red'
Inflation has hit almost 140 percent year-on-year and 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.
"Like many of his predecessors, Milei will take office with the warning lights all flashing red," said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Argentina Project at the Washington-based Wilson Center.
But for Argentines, the future is mired in uncertainty over what exactly their new president plans to do.
With few lawmakers in Congress the hard reality of politics has quickly set in, and Milei has softened many of his stances, and allied with politicians he previously insulted, incorporating some into his cabinet.
Talk of shutting the Central Bank, dollarization, and welfare cuts have dissipated.
"Milei 2.0 will still face an uphill climb, but he appears to have adopted a more pragmatic agenda and sought the advice of more experienced political figures," said Gedan.
However, with central bank reserves in the red and no credit line Milei is facing "bare cupboards," added the analyst.
"His rescue strategy, including a rapid downsizing of the government, will be tough to swallow for a long-suffering population. Either way, the next few months will almost certainly see social and political turmoil."
'Stagflation'
Among the questions hanging over Argentines' heads in the coming days will be whether Milei will devaluate the strictly controlled peso and loosen the currency controls which have birthed a multitude of dollar exchanges.
Economist Victor Beker of the University of Belgrano said the first "litmus test" for Milei will be if he actually halts the money printing by the Central Bank that he has so derided, which funds much of the government's spending.
Milei has warned that it could take between 18 and 24 months to bring the country's inflation under control, warning of months of rising prices coupled with economic stagnation.
"There is going to be stagflation, because when you do a fiscal reordering, it will have a negative impact on economic activity," he added.
For 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a contraction of 2.5 percent in Argentine GDP.
Milei has said his first priority was eliminating the budget deficit -- 2.4 percent of GDP at the end of 2022 -- by the end of next year.
Many Argentines are worried about what comes next.
"I think inflation will continue, perhaps worse than before. I see nothing good in the future," said Martina Soto, 66, ahead of the inauguration.

World

Philippines, China Trade Accusations over South China Sea Collision

This frame grab taken from video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) via AFPTV on December 9, 2023 shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship (R) using a water cannon on a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This frame grab taken from video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) via AFPTV on December 9, 2023 shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship (R) using a water cannon on a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
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Philippines, China Trade Accusations over South China Sea Collision

This frame grab taken from video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) via AFPTV on December 9, 2023 shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship (R) using a water cannon on a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This frame grab taken from video footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) via AFPTV on December 9, 2023 shows a Chinese Coast Guard ship (R) using a water cannon on a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Sunday over a collision of their vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.
The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing "serious engine damage" to one, while China's coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship, Reuters said.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis.
Beijing and Manila have been playing cat-and-mouse around the uninhabited Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone when the Philippines deploys resupply missions for Filipino soldiers living aboard an aging warship deliberately run aground in 1999 to protect Manila's maritime claims.
The shoal is part of what are known internationally as the Spratly Islands.
On Saturday, the Philippines accused China of "illegal and aggressive actions" by China for firing water cannon at a civilian-operated government fishing vessel, a move Beijing called legitimate "control measures".
In Sunday's incident, China's coast guard said in a statement that two Philippine vessels, ignoring repeated warnings, had "illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren'ai Reef in the Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government."
It said the Unaizah Mae 1 "made an unprofessional and dangerous sudden turn, intentionally ramming into China Coast Guard vessel 21556." It said the Philippine side bore full responsibility.
Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela posted on the social media platform X that the "M/L Kalayaan suffered serious engine damage. Contrary to China Coast Guard disinformation, UM1 rammed by CCG vessel."
A Philippine government task force condemned "China's latest unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers against a legitimate and routine" resupply mission. China's action "puts into question and significant doubt the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue", it said in a statement.
The National Task Force-West Philippine Sea said a coast guard ship was towing the Kalayaan back to Palawan province and that coast guard vessel BRP Cabra had "suffered damage to its mast after being directly targeted by the full strength of the water cannon".
US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson posted on X that China's "aggression undermines regional stability in defiance of a free and open Indo-Pacific".
Around 200 Philippine fishermen, youth leaders and civil society groups have joined a Christmas mission to the area, organized by the Atin Ito ("This is ours") a civilian-led network asserting the country's rights in the South China Sea.
Ten fishing boats have decided to pull out as they "erred on the side of caution", the group said on Sunday.

World

University of Pennsylvania President Resigns after Antisemitism Testimony

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill (Reuters)
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill (Reuters)
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University of Pennsylvania President Resigns after Antisemitism Testimony

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill (Reuters)
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill (Reuters)

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who came under fire for her stance on antisemitism on campus, has resigned, the Ivy League school said on Saturday.

Magill was one of three top university presidents who were criticized after they testified at a congressional hearing on Tuesday about a rise in antisemitism on college campuses following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

She has agreed to stay on until an interim president is appointed, Scott Bok, chair of the Philadelphia-based university's board of trustees, said on Saturday in a statement posted on the university's website. Bok also stepped down.

“I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania,” Bok said in the announcement released by the university. Magill will remain a tenured faculty member at the university's law school, Bok said.

Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth testified before a US House of Representatives committee on Tuesday.

Calls for Magill's and Gay's resignations in particular mounted in the days after that testimony.

As they tried to walk a line that protected freedom of speech, they declined to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer to Republican Representative Elise Stefanik's question of whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools' codes of conduct regarding bullying and harassment.

Jewish students, families and alumni have accused the schools of tolerating antisemitism, especially in statements by pro-Palestinian demonstrators since the Hamas Movement attacked Israel on Oct. 7. That attack prompted a massive counterattack by Israel that has left over 17,700 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Magill released a video on Wednesday in which she expressed regret, Gay apologized on Friday.

Stefanik said on social media site X that Magill's resignation was the “bare minimum of what is required” and urged Harvard and MIT to take similar action.

Antisemitism has risen sharply in the United States and elsewhere since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.

World

Refinery Reservoirs Near Eastern Iranian City of Birjand Catch Fire

A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo/File Photo
A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo/File Photo
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Refinery Reservoirs Near Eastern Iranian City of Birjand Catch Fire

A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo/File Photo
A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo/File Photo

Refinery reservoirs located in eastern Iran's Birjand special economic zone have caught fire on Sunday, according to Iran's state media.
IRNA said firefighters have been dispatched to extinguish the fire at the mini-refinery, with smoke visible from several kilometers away, reported Reuters.
The news report didn't say what caused the fire.