Biden administration expected to lift ‘terror’ designation for Cuba: Report
The decision would reverse a move during Donald Trump's first term to re-name Cuba a 'state sponsor of terrorism'.
Police seeking to arrest South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol clash with supporters
Officials move to detain impeached president after previous failure to execute warrant
South Korean investigators seeking to arrest the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, have clashed with his supporters as they launched a fresh attempt to execute an arrest warrant over insurrection accusations related to his 3 December declaration of martial law.
Video footage showed investigating officers from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) trying to push through a crowd of Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his hillside villa in Seoul, where he has been holed up for weeks behind barbed wire and a small army of personal security.
Continue reading...FBI releases more details on how New Orleans attacker planned his rampage
Authorities piece together timeline of radicalization of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the US army veteran behind the attack
Before plowing a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans and killing 14 people, the man who carried out the Islamic State group-inspired attack had researched how to access a balcony on the city’s famed Bourbon Street and looked up information about a similar attack at a Christmas market in Germany, the FBI said.
Nearly two weeks after Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s rampage, the FBI continues to uncover new information detailing the extensive planning by the 42-year-old US army veteran who scouted out the area multiple times in the months leading up to the attack. Authorities have also been piecing together a timeline of his radicalization.
Continue reading...NATO launches new naval operation in Baltic Sea after severing of cables – The Washington Post
- NATO launches new naval operation in Baltic Sea after severing of cables The Washington Post
- International underwater cable attacks by Russia, China are no ‘mere coincidence’ warns EU’s top diplomat Fox News
- News: NATO launches 'Baltic Sentry' to increase critical infrastructure security, 14-Jan.-2025 NATO HQ
- US allies' undersea cables are cut, world looks to Russia and China NBC News
- The shadowy war on subsea cables and pipelines Financial Times
Video: Hope in Gaza amid talk of ceasefire
Palestinians in Deir el-Balah share hopes for what is to come after the war on Gaza ends.
France’s Bayrou buys himself time with overture to Socialists – POLITICO Europe
- France’s Bayrou buys himself time with overture to Socialists POLITICO Europe
- French Socialist Party raises threat of backing no-confidence vote against government Reuters.com
- French Prime Minister Signals He Will Revisit Unpopular Retirement Law The New York Times
- France’s new prime minister says he'll renegotiate a contested plan to raise the retirement age The Associated Press
- French PM Bayrou to re-open talks on Macron's unpopular pension reform FRANCE 24 English
Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope as Gaza deal reportedly close
Mediator Qatar says there are no major issues blocking a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement.
Palestinians and Israelis dare to hope as Gaza deal reportedly close
Mediator Qatar says there are no major issues blocking a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
Russia is on pace to run out of financial reserves by this fall, which would cripple war efforts, economist says – Business Insider
- Russia is on pace to run out of financial reserves by this fall, which would cripple war efforts, economist says Business Insider
- Russia's Hidden War Debt Creates a Looming Credit Crisis The Moscow Times
- Russia Inflation Set to Jump at Year-End as Ukraine War Pushes Up Prices Bloomberg
- Russian Economy Time Bomb: Putin Warned of 'Seismically Disruptive' War Debt Newsweek
- Russia’s economic dilemmas give Trump important leverage in negotiations on Ukraine. But will he use it? Chatham House
Who is Tulip Siddiq, niece of deposed Bangladeshi PM who quit Treasury role?
Former Labour minister’s family background is indelibly bound up with Bangladesh
When Keir Starmer became the Labour leader in 2020, Tulip Siddiq described him in her local paper as a “good friend through thick and thin”.
On Tuesday, she found out where the limits of that friendship lay after the prime minister accepted her resignation from the government after weeks of revelations about Siddiq’s closeness to her aunt, the former prime minister of Bangladesh.
Continue reading...Ukraine launches largest air attacks on Russia since start of war
The Russian military says the attacks will not go unanswered and launches more projectiles towards Ukraine.
UK minister resigns after being named in Bangladesh corruption probe
Anticorruption minister Tulip Siddiq quits amid questions over ties to toppled Bangladeshi leader, Sheikh Hasina.
Analysis: Sudan faces possible Darfur division as war progresses
A de facto partition of Sudan between army and RSF could lead to total state disintegration, analysts say.
Trump announces ‘external revenue service’ to collect foreign tariffs
Trump said on social media that the new department would be created on his first day when he takes office on January 20.
From Greenland to Panama and Mexico, leaders are in shock – The Economist
- From Greenland to Panama and Mexico, leaders are in shock The Economist
- Why Trump Turned to Manifest Destiny The New York Times
- Trump’s “Americas First” Plan Isn’t All Bad American Enterprise Institute
- Trump Is Opening Pandora’s Box Foreign Policy
- Breakingviews - Trump and Musk’s ally-bullying weakens the West Reuters
Giving Tulip Siddiq anti-corruption job seen by insiders as own goal
Some in No 10 wish they had thought a bit more about how it looked before giving job to niece of ousted Bangladesh PM
The warning signs were always there. When a photo of Tulip Siddiq standing alongside Vladimir Putin and her aunt, the now ousted leader of Bangladesh, emerged in 2015, alarm bells rang within the Labour party.
At the time, Siddiq was the Labour candidate for the marginal seat of Hampstead and Kilburn. Yet she brushed aside concerns over her presence at the signing of a billion-dollar arms deal and nuclear power project at the Kremlin two years earlier.
Continue reading...Andrew Malkinson calls miscarriage of justice watchdog’s ex-head ‘shameless’
Helen Pitcher resigned from the CCRC saying she had been ‘scapegoated’ over Malkinson’s case
Andrew Malkinson has called the former head of the miscarriage of justice watchdog “shameless” as she resigned from the job saying she had been “scapegoated for entirely legitimate decisions” taken over his case.
Helen Pitcher handed in her resignation as chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) on Tuesday afternoon after learning that an independent panel had concluded by a majority of two to one that she was no longer fit to be chair.
Continue reading...Insurance firms are sending firefighters to defend homes amid LA wildfires
Private efforts to combat wildfires are not just for the superrich – many work for insurers seeking to minimize the policies they’d have to pay out
When a wildfire started spreading through the Pacific Palisades last Tuesday morning, employees of Wildfire Defense Systems, which provides “loss intervention services” to insurance companies, were already nearby, Dave Torgerson, the company’s founder, said.
Once they arrived at the scene, the private company’s workers stood back for a while, waiting for the government firefighters to complete the most urgent life-saving efforts. When they got clearance from public fire officials, they started their job, which focuses on protecting insured homes and businesses, Torgerson said.
Continue reading...How the Trump administration threatens internet freedoms
Trump picks to lead gov't agencies like FCC, FTC may censor speech and make the internet less free.
Ban on naming Sara Sharif care case judges would have ‘corrosive impact’, court told
Media organisations are challenging ruling that they cannot name three judges involved in proceedings relating to 10-year-old who was later murdered
A unprecedented ban on naming judges who oversaw proceedings related to the care of Sara Sharif before she was murdered is likely to have a “corrosive impact” on public confidence in the justice system, the court of appeal has been told.
Mr Justice Williams ruled in December that the media could not name three judges who oversaw three sets of family court proceedings relating to the 10-year-old schoolgirl over concerns they would be subject to a “virtual lynch mob”. He also said he did not believe the media could be trusted to report matters in a fair, accurate and responsible way.
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