Bill Granger, Australian chef who brought avocado toast to the world, dies at 54 (abc7chicago.com)
SAN FRANCISCO – Bill Granger, the Australian chef, food writer and restaurant owner who brought Aussie-style food to international capitals from London to Seoul, has died. He was 54....
UK preparing for attacks on Houthi rebels with US (www.thetimes.co.uk)
US Navy helicopters destroy Houthi boats in Red Sea after attempted hijack (www.bbc.com)
The US Navy has destroyed Houthi “small boats” attempting to board a container ship in the Red Sea....
Iranian regime accused of raping and violating protesters as young as 12 (www.theguardian.com)
The report by Amnesty International is based on the testimonies of 12 women, 26 men, one girl and six boys who survived rape or other forms of sexual violence. Six survivors of rape were subjected to gang rapes by up to 10 male state agents, according to Amnesty.
North Korea dismisses any reconciliation with the South (www.lemonde.fr)
At the meeting that ended Saturday, Kim accused the United States of posing “various types of military threat” and ordered his armed forces to maintain “overwhelming war response capability,” according to KCNA. It is a “fait accompli that a war can break out at any time on the Korean peninsula due to reckless moves by...
Bolivian court rules that former president Morales cannot seek re-election (www.france24.com)
Bolivia’s Constitutional Court has disqualified former president Evo Morales from running for re-election in 2025, reversing a ruling that had let him seek a fourth term in 2019....
Female Medical students in Afghanistan continue studies secretly (www.khaama.com)
Al Jazeera has reported that female medical students in Afghanistan are continuing their education in secret....
Macron’s defence of Depardieu: conspiracy theories and masculinism (www.mediapart.fr)
Excerpts from the article :...
North Korea says it will no longer seek reunification with South Korea, will launch new spy satellites in 2024 (www.cnn.com)
Seoul, South Korea CNN — North Korea will no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, Kim Jong Un has declared, as his nation vowed to put three new military spy satellites into orbit in 2024....
Exports via Ukraine's Black Sea corridor almost double in December (www.pravda.com.ua)
Exports through the Ukrainian temporary corridor totalled around 13 million tonnes as of the end of December, compared to 7 million tonnes at the beginning of this month....
Renowned Australian journalist John Pilger passes away at 84 (www.aljazeera.com)
The Ruined Landscape of Gaza After Nearly Three Months of Bombing (www.wsj.com)
Archived link: archive.is/…/gaza-destruction-bombing-israel-aa52…
New Polish government stops police covering faces and acting as “security agency” for Kaczyński (notesfrompoland.com)
The interior minister in Poland’s new government has announced that police officers will no longer cover their faces and has declared that the force “will not serve as a security agency” anymore for Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party....
China's military purge deepens (www.axios.com)
China’s leaders are expanding an anti-corruption campaign targeting power centers within the military, risking instability and a crisis of confidence during a sensitive time in China’s foreign relations....
Heaviest snow in South Korea's capital Seoul for more than 40 years (news.sky.com)
South Korea’s weather agency said 12.2cm fell on the capital on Saturday - the heaviest snowfall since 1981.
South Africa Is Right To Invoke the Genocide Convention Against Israel’s War on Gaza [Dec 30 2023 | Rohini Hensman | Jacobin] (jacobin.com)
Iran arms Hezbollah ahead of wider conflict with Israel (www.ynetnews.com)
Advanced weapons include precise missiles, surface to air missiles and air defenses transported mostly via Damascus airport which has come under repeated strikes attributed to Israel...
Assad forces target crowded market, kill two: Syria’s White Helmets (www.aljazeera.com)
Idlib, Syria — Two civilians, including a child, were killed, and 16 others, including four children, were injured in an artillery attack by Syrian regime forces targeting a popular market in the centre of Idlib city on Saturday evening, according to the Syria Civil Defence....
USS Gerald R. Ford to Leave the Eastern Mediterranean (www.bloomberg.com)
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group will leave the eastern Mediterranean Sea more than two months after being sent to the region following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, ABC News reported....
Chinese military purge exposes weakness, could widen (www.reuters.com)
Smotrich touts revival of Gaza settlements after war, wants Gazans encouraged to leave (www.timesofisrael.com)
Finance minister advocates for ‘voluntary emigration’ of enclave’s residents, opposes fuel going into Strip; stands by 2015 comment calling PA a ‘burden’ and Hamas an ‘asset’
Germany mulls reintroduction of compulsory military service (www.dw.com)
At the end of October, the Bundeswehr said it counted 181,383 soldiers in its ranks — that’s still some distance from the target of 203,000 that the German military hopes to reach by 2025. This has given rise to concern in times of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has once again reminded Germans how quickly conflicts...