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State Department Declares “Ethnic Cleansing” in Sudan but Won't Say the Same About Israel's War in Gaza (theintercept.com)

How did a raccoon knock out power for large swaths of downtown Toronto last night? (toronto.ctvnews.ca)

A raccoon was behind the massive power outage that knocked out electricity to some 7,000 customers in downtown Toronto for hours Thursday night.

Israel-Hamas war: Germany joins states pausing UNRWA funding (www.dw.com)

Negotiators Close In on Hostage Deal That Would Halt Fighting in Gaza for Weeks (www.nytimes.com)

American-led negotiators are edging closer to an agreement in which Israel would suspend its war in Gaza for about two months in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas, a deal that could be sealed in the next two weeks and would transform the conflict consuming the region....

Japan allows women to participate in ‘naked man’ festival for first time in its 1,250-year history (www.independent.co.uk)

A shrine in Japan that organises the famous Naked Man festival will allow women to participate for the first time in its 1,250-year history....

Germany considers entry ban on Austrian behind mass deportation plan (www.theguardian.com)

Poland Is ‘Next’ After Russia Wins Ukraine War, Putin Ally Says - The Messenger (themessenger.com)

Zelensky calls for seized Russian billions to rebuild Ukraine (www.bbc.com)

President Zelensky has called for some of the Russian billions seized by world banks to be sent to rebuild Ukraine....

Putin says Ukraine's statehood at risk if pattern of war continues (www.reuters.com)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s statehood could suffer an “irreparable blow” if the pattern of the war continued, and Russia would never be forced to abandon the gains it had made. Putin made his televised comments a day after Switzerland agreed to host a global summit at the request of...

Tearful Russian billionaire who spent $2 billion on art tells jurors Sotheby's cheated him (abcnews.go.com)

Day one of the ICJ genocide hearing against Israel: Key takeaways (www.aljazeera.com)

Coverage of Gaza War in the New York Times and Other Major Newspapers Heavily Favored Israel, Analysis Shows (theintercept.com)

The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza showed a consistent bias against Palestinians, according to an Intercept analysis of major media coverage....

Extreme heat is pushing India to the brink of ‘survivability.’ One obvious solution is also a big part of the problem | CNN (www.cnn.com)

Uttar Pradesh: Dalit teen cooked alive for protesting against molestation (www.telegraphindia.com)

State Officials Fear International Court of Justice Could Charge Israel With Genocide in Gaza (www.haaretz.com)

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Hindu bus conductor fired for helping Muslim passengers: Does it reflect an increasingly polarised India? (www.straitstimes.com)

Anti-war candidate barred from Russia’s presidential election (www.theguardian.com)

Yekaterina Duntsova wanted to end the conflict in Ukraine, but her candidacy was rejected over alleged flaws in her application...

US intelligence suggests Iran involved in planning attacks in Red Sea (www.cnn.com)

The US on Friday released newly declassified intelligence that suggests Iran has been “deeply involved in planning the operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN....

Far-right Polish MP uses fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles after Donald Tusk speaks out against xenophobia – Europe live (www.theguardian.com)

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