Seychelles and Israel sign visa-free accord, islanders now have one of strongest passports in the world - Seychelles News Agency (m.seychellesnewsagency.com)
‘He disappeared for a year’: The survivors of China’s prison camps in Xinjiang – in pictures (theguardian.com)
Since 2014, millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other minorities have been locked up in China and subjected to torture and forced labour. Some of those freed talk about trying to rebuild their lives in neighbouring Kazakhstan
Ruling-party candidate emerges victorious in Taiwan's presidential election (apnews.com)
Huge fire rips through Russian online retailer's warehouse in St. Petersburg (www.reuters.com)
Elephant-Sized Apes That Once Roamed the Land Mysteriously Vanished. Now, Scientists Have an Answer. (www.vice.com)
Some 330,000 years ago, giant apes the size of elephants roamed the forests of southern China. Their massive teeth—once sold as a “dragon tooth” by a Hong Kong apothecary—gnawed tough leaves and devoured fruit. Then suddenly, while other primates were thriving, these supersized orangutan-like creatures vanished with...
Norway to allow mining waste to be dumped in fjords (www.theguardian.com)
After a 15-year dispute, the private company Nordic Mining has been given the go-ahead to dispose of 170m tons of mining waste at the bottom of the Førde fjord, which critics say will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk....
Africa's Catholic hierarchy refuses same-sex blessings, says such unions are contrary to God's will (apnews.com)
In the greatest rebuke yet to Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar issued a unified statement Thursday refusing to follow his declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples and asserting that such unions are “contrary to the will of God.”...
Cape Verde becomes fourth African country to eliminate malaria (www.theguardian.com)
With no recorded cases since 2017, the archipelago has had a long journey to become free of the disease, which killed 608,000 people globally in 2022...
US assistance to Ukraine has ‘ground to a halt’ amid political infighting, White House says (www.independent.co.uk)
‘This used to be a calm place’: killing continues in Ecuador’s week of chaos (www.theguardian.com)
As cartels and crime syndicates flock to Ecuador for cocaine trade profits, its murder rate has soared, with a TV station assault the crescendo of a week of bloodshed...
Houthis mistakenly target tanker carrying Russian oil - Ambrey report (www.reuters.com)
Britain to increase Ukraine support to £2.5bn, Rishi Sunak announces (www.bbc.com)
The UK will provide £2.5bn of military aid to Ukraine over the coming year, Rishi Sunak has said - Britain’s largest annual commitment since Russia’s invasion....
US explores options to seize Russian assets and funnel them to Ukraine (www.cnn.com)
Top Biden administration officials have spent the last year quietly trying to figure out how to divert billions of dollars in frozen Russian money to cash-starved Ukraine....
Biden’s Strikes in Yemen Are Unconstitutional, Bipartisan Members of Congress Say (theintercept.com)
Slovakia: Surgery once again a condition for gender change – DW – 01/12/2024 (www.dw.com)
Amy Zoyomi is a 29-year-old transgender woman from Lucenec, a town with 30,000 inhabitants in southern Slovakia. As an adult, Amy decided to move to the capital, Bratislava. Her gender identity was one of the main reasons for leaving her hometown....
US Navy helicopter with 6 on board crashes into bay in Southern California (www.foxnews.com)
Israel must act now to let aid through and save lives in Gaza. Britain has a plan to help that happen: article by the Foreign Secretary (www.gov.uk)
It was heartbreaking to read the latest independent assessment of hunger in Gaza. The situation is desperate – and projected to get worse. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 9 out of every 10 Palestinians in northern Gaza may be eating less than 1 meal a day....
China’s Solar Dominance Faces New Rival: An Ultrathin Film (www.wsj.com)
As renewable energy becomes a geopolitical tool, Japan looks to recover its technological edge...
Smersh: why Putin has reinstated Stalin's notorious and much-feared anti-spy unit (theconversation.com)
A man under arrest by Russian internal security forces was seen confessing to a “crime”, in a video posted on January 2. He had been apprehended after allegedly posting a video on social media that purportedly showed air defences near the Russian city of Belgorod. This city, on the border with Ukraine, was the target of...
Chinese PLA-linked vessels map the Indian Ocean for submarine warfare (www.washingtonpost.com)
Beijing’s growing research activities in international waters are designed to expand undersea military operations, analysts say...
Neo-Nazis in the US no longer see backing Ukraine as a worthy cause (www.theguardian.com)
U.S. suspends military aid to Ukraine - White House (news.google.com)
Ukrainians are resorting to extreme lengths to flee the war (www.thetimes.co.uk)
Archived link:...
La Colonia De Los Gatos
Una época hubo hambruna, hasta tal punto que, el pueblo de Dios tuvo que mendigar a su nación vecina....