PUTIN ACCUSES POLAND OF COLLUDING WITH HITLER President Vladimir Putin upped the ante in a war of words with Europe on Tuesday, accusing Poland of colluding with Hitler and of anti-Semitism. Tensions are running high between Moscow and Warsaw, with NATO and EU member Poland fearing what it has described as Russian military adventurism and imperialist tendencies. Speaking to military top brass and using bad language at one point, Putin said Poland was in cahoots with Hitler during World War II. “Essentially they colluded with Hitler. This is clear from documents, archival documents,” Putin said in an emotional end-of-year speech at the defence ministry. Resorting to bad language, Putin said a war-time Polish ambassador allegedly promised to put up a statue of Hitler in Warsaw for his pledges to send Jews to Africa. “A bastard, an anti-Semitic pig, you cannot put it any other way,” Putin said, referring to what he said were the diaries of the Polish ambassador in Germany. “He expressed full solidarity with Hitler in his anti-Semitic views,” the Russian leader said. He slammed what he called attempts to erase the memory of Soviet victory in countries in Moscow’s former sphere of influence. “It is people like those who negotiated with Hitler—it is people like that who today are tearing down monuments to the liberating warriors, the Red Army soldiers who freed Europe and the European people from the Nazis,” Putin fumed. “Little has changed and we should take this into account when we build our armed forces, among other things.” U.S. READY TO DEAL WITH ANY NORTH KOREAN 'CHRISTMAS GIFT', SAYS TRUMP President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed off North Korea’s warning of a “Christmas gift”, saying that the United States would “deal with it very successfully,” amid concerns that Pyongyang might be preparing a missile test. “We’ll find out what the surprise is and we’ll deal with it very successfully,” Mr. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “We’ll see what happens.” “Maybe it’s a nice present,” he quipped. “Maybe it’s a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test.” North Korea warned Washington earlier this month of a possible Christmas gift after its leader Kim Jong-un gave the U.S. until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country’s nuclear arsenal and reducing tensions between the two long-time adversaries. SENATORS SPAR OVER IMPEACHMENT TRIAL US senators sparred over the shape of an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, with Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying he has not ruled out hearing from witnesses as Democrats have demanded. McConnell stopped short of agreeing to a Democratic request for the Senate to agree ahead of time to take testimony during the trial expected to begin in early 2020. He cited the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, which ended in acquittal, as a model. “We haven't ruled out witnesses," McConnell said in an interview with “Fox & Friends.” “We’ve said, ‘Let's handle this case just like we did with President Clinton.’ Fair is fair.” In that 1999 trial, he said, senators went through opening arguments, had a written question period and then decided what witnesses to call. There was limited testimony by video. Allowing witness testimony, particularly from current and former administration officials, was likely to prolong the trial and could bring up new evidence damaging to Republican Trump who was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last week. Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said the trial must include witnesses. He urged his Senate colleagues to call for the release of relevant Trump administration documents. “It’s hard to imagine a trial not having documents and witnesses. If it doesn't have documents and witnesses, it's going to seem — to most of the American people —that it is a sham trial, a show trial,” Schumer said at a press conference in New York RUSSIA SAYS INTERNET CAN WORK IF CUT OFF FROM WORLDWIDE WEB Russia completed a series of tests on Monday checking that its internet services could function if the country were to get cut off from the worldwide web, Deputy Communications Minister Aleksei Sokolov said. The review, conducted over the course of several days on specially designated networks, follows a "sovereign internet" bill introduced in November in response to what Russia calls the "aggressive nature" of US national cyber security strategy. According to the law, state-run institutions and security services, as well as all communications operators, messengers and email providers, must participate in the tests, which do not affect regular internet users. "Our goal was to provide an uninterrupted internet service on Russian territory under any circumstances," Sokolov told a press briefing. "The outcomes of the review showed that government agencies and communications operators are ready to respond effectively to threats and to ensure the internet and communications operate effectively," Sokolov said. The Communications Ministry will produce a report on the outcomes of the test to be reviewed by President Vladimir Putin, he added. EYEING NUCLEAR NORTH, CHINA HOSTS JAPAN, S KOREA China hosted leaders of squabbling neighbours South Korea and Japan on Tuesday, flexing its diplomatic muscle with America's two key military allies in Asia and seeking regional unity on how to deal with a belligerent North Korea. The gathering in the southwestern city of Chengdu was held with the clock ticking on a threatened "Christmas gift" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that would reignite global tensions over its nuclear programme. Kim has promised the unidentified "gift", which analysts and American officials believe could be a provocative missile test, if the United States does not act make concessions in their nuclear talks by the end of the year. At the opening ceremony with South Korea's Moon Jae-in and Japans Shinzo Abe on Tuesday morning, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said he hoped cooperation among their nations would "protect the region's safety and stability". South Korean President Moon Jae-in said it was important they worked together at a "turbulent" time. PAKISTAN REJECTS U.S. REPORT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Pakistan on Tuesday denounced the U.S. for placing it on a list of countries violating religious freedoms, calling the move “unilateral and arbitrary“. The U.S. has re-designated Pakistan and China among seven other countries that are of particular concern for violation of religious freedom, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday. Pakistan and China along with Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were placed in the list for having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.” The Foreign Office condemned the move, saying it was not only detached from ground realities of Pakistan but also raised questions about the credibility and transparency of the entire exercise. The designation is reflective of selective targeting of countries, and thus unlikely to be helpful to the professed cause of advancing religious freedom, it said. The Foreign Office said Pakistan is a multi-religious and pluralistic country where people of all faiths enjoy religious freedom under constitutional protections and concerted efforts were made to ensure that all citizens of Pakistan profess and practice their religion in full freedom. It said Pakistan was also engaged with the international community, including the US for better understanding on religious freedom issues and regretted that constructive engagement were overlooked. Pakistan also said that challenges to religious freedom were a global concern and only cooperative efforts could help address them. POPE FRANCIS: GOD STILL LOVES US ALL, EVEN THE WORST OF US Pope Francis has ushered in Christmas by saying God loves everyone - "even the worst of us". He was speaking to thousands of people during Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. "You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things... but the Lord continues to love you," the Argentine pontiff said. This will be interpreted by some as a reference to Church scandals, including sex abuse, our correspondent says. Pope Francis will return to St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day to deliver the traditional papal message to the world. Last week, the Pope introduced sweeping changes to remove the rule of "pontifical secrecy" that has pervaded the issue of clerical child abuse. TRUMP CALLS TROOPS AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY President Donald Trump is calling members of the military stationed across the world to share greetings ahead of the Christmas holiday. Trump is speaking by video conference with service members from all five branches from his private club in Florida, where is he is on a more than two-week vacation. Trump has been largely out of the spotlight since delivering a speech to conservative students in nearby West Palm Beach on Saturday, spending his days golfing on his private course and greeting the well-heeled members of his clubs. “I want to wish you an amazing Christmas,” Trump told the group, which included Marines in Afghanistan, an Army unit in Kuwait, a Navy unit in the Gulf of Aden and a Coast Guard station in Alaska. Trump was also asked what he’d bought his wife, first lady Melania Trump, for Christmas. He said he’d bought her a “beautiful card,” but was “still working on a Christmas present”. “You made me think. I’m going to have to start working on that real fast,” he said. VALPARAÍSO WILDFIRE: RAGING FOREST FIRES ENGULF CHILEAN CITY At least 120 houses have been destroyed by fast moving forest fires in the Chilean city of Valparaíso, prompting a mass evacuation. All the city's firefighters have been deployed to tackle the fires in the Rocuant and San Roque areas. Power was cut to about 90,000 customers in the area as a precautionary measure. Valparaíso Mayor Jorge Sharp told Canal 24 Horas that the fires had been started "intentionally". There have been no reports of any casualties. "At the moment, emergency teams from all over Valparaíso are working, using land and air resources, in two areas in the higher part of the city," the mayor said. The mayor added that strong winds and high temperatures were exacerbating the situation. Valparaíso is one of Chile's largest cities and a major port on the Pacific. HONG KONG POLICE FIRE TEAR GAS AMID UNREST ON CHRISTMAS EVE Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas at crowds in popular shopping districts on Christmas Eve as protesters took to streets and malls to demand greater democracy. Officers used the gas to disperse demonstrators in Mong Kok and outside the Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. They also clashed with protesters inside shopping malls, loosed pepper spray and made a few arrests. Hundreds of demonstrators, many wearing masks, turned up at multiple locations and set a fire at a subway station entrance. An HSBC building in Mong Kok was vandalized, with the message “Don’t forget Spark Alliance” spray-painted on walls, Radio Television Hong Kong reported. The slogan refers to a fund linked to pro-democracy protests. Protests will likely continue into the new year. Civil Human Rights Front, organizer of some of Hong Kong’s biggest peaceful protests, is calling for a march through the city’s center on Jan. 1. The organizer said it has applied for a police permit. BRAZIL PRESIDENT BOLSONARO DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER LOSING MEMORY IN FALL Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from a hospital Tuesday after recovering from a fall at the presidential palace that affected his memory. Bolsonaro, 64, had a quiet night and left the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia following about ten hours under observation, according to a statement from the presidency. The president temporarily lost his memory after the fall but later recovered it, he said in a televised interview to Band TV on Tuesday. “I didn’t know, for instance, what I had done during the day yesterday,” Bolsonaro said. “I fell on my back. I slipped forward and fell on my back. I lost my memory, but thank God, everything is in peace.” The president was rushed to the hospital shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Monday after falling in the bathroom of the presidential palace. No lesions were found during a brain scan and doctors recommended he rest at home following his release, according to the presidency. Bolsonaro was elected last year. He has been hospitalized several times since being stabbed on the campaign trail in September 2018, mostly related to the attack. Doctors ruled out skin cancer after Bolsonaro underwent a dermatological medical evaluation earlier this month. NEPAL DY PM UPENDRA YADAV QUITS AS HIS KEY MADHESI PARTY WITHDRAWS OLI BACKING After weeks of failed talks, Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Upendra Yadav resigned on Tuesday from the Cabinet, and announced the withdrawal of his Madhes-based party’s support to the K P Oli government. Yadav said he resigned due to Oli’s reluctance to amend the Constitution, which was the condition for his joining the Cabinet. While joining the government last year, the Samajwadi Party had had reached a three-point agreement with the leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party. The party’s demands include restructuring of the state, federalism along with ethnic identity and rights of Madhesis and other marginalised groups and citizenship, the party’s vice-chairperson, Hisila Yami said. The party’s move comes after the Nepal Communist Party struck an electoral deal with another Madhes-based Party — Rastriya Janata Party — for the upcoming by-election to the National Assembly, the Upper House of Parliament. GOOGLE, APPLE REMOVE UAE SPYING CHAT APP Google and Apple have removed the popular messaging app ToTok amid claims that it is being used for spying by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government for mass surveillance. The app has been downloaded five million times on Android before it was removed from the Google Play Store. App-tracking platform App Annie said that ToTok was one of the most downloaded chat apps in the US last week. Earlier, a New York Times report said that ToTok (do not confuse it with TikTok) which is billed as a secure way to chat by video or text message with friends and family is allegedly being used by the UAE government as a spying tool for mass surveillance. ToTok “is used by the government of the UAE to try to track every conversation, movement, relationship, appointment, sound and image of those who install it on their phones”. “ToTok surged to become one of the most downloaded social apps in the United States last week,” the report said.