U.N. Watchdog Censures Iran Over Nuclear Program Secrecy – The New York Times

  1. U.N. Watchdog Censures Iran Over Nuclear Program Secrecy  The New York Times
  2. Iran says it is activating new centrifuges after being condemned by UN nuclear watchdog  CNN
  3. IAEA Board passes Iran resolution as West pushes Tehran towards talks  Reuters
  4. Iran defies international pressure, increasing its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium, UN says  The Associated Press
  5. For second time in months, UN atomic watchdog censures Iran for failing to cooperate  The Times of Israel
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Brazil’s Bolsonaro and allies indicted in 2022 coup plot probe – CNN

  1. Brazil’s Bolsonaro and allies indicted in 2022 coup plot probe  CNN
  2. Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro charged with plotting coup d’état  The Guardian
  3. Lula Was Target of Assassination Plot, Brazilian Police Say  The New York Times
  4. Brazil police accuse Bolsonaro and ex-ministers of 2022 coup plot  Reuters Canada
  5. Brazilian Police Accuse Former President Bolsonaro of Plotting Coup  The Wall Street Journal
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Those who try to emulate Teflon Trump often come unstuck – just ask Gaetz

The fall of the Florida congressman who was accused of sexual misconduct proves there is one rule for Trump and another for everyone else

When he ran for US president in 2016, Donald Trump boasted that he would “surround myself only with the best and most serious people”, adding: “We want top-of-the-line professionals.”

Second time around, Trump appears to have quality control issues. On Thursday Matt Gaetz, his pick to be attorney general, withdrew from consideration amid allegations including sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl, drug use and misappropriating campaign funds.

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More than 40 killed in north-west Pakistan in gun attack on Shia convoy

Violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follows killing of dozens of people in clashes between Sunnis and minority Shias

At least 42 people have been killed and 20 wounded after gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying Shia Muslims in Pakistan’s restive north-west, in one of the region’s deadliest such attacks in recent years, police said.

The attack happened in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where sectarian clashes between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shias have killed dozens of people in recent months.

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Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general

Gaetz’s withdrawal comes amid intense scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct against cabinet nominee

Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman, withdrew from consideration to serve as Donald Trump’s attorney general on Thursday, amid intense scrutiny of allegations of sexual misconduct, ending the brief nomination of one of Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks.

After meeting with senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Gaetz determined that his nomination was “becoming a distraction to the critical work” of the new Trump administration, he explained on X.

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In Gaza Organized Gangs Make a Bad Situation Even Worse – NPR

  1. In Gaza Organized Gangs Make a Bad Situation Even Worse  NPR
  2. Israel stands by as aid convoys come under attack in Gaza  CBS News
  3. Gangs looting Gaza aid operate in areas under Israeli control, aid groups say  The Washington Post
  4. How was a UN aid convoy robbed near Israeli military positions?  Al Jazeera English
  5. UNRWA Situation Report #148 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem  unrwa
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Judge denies he was asked to give advice about Letby because he is a Freemason

Simon Medland KC told inquiry his membership of organisation was not the reason he was approached by hospital boss

A judge has denied he was asked to give legal advice to hospital bosses over concerns about nurse Lucy Letby because he is a Freemason, a public inquiry has heard.

The Thirlwall inquiry into events surrounding the crimes of Letby heard that both Judge Simon Medland KC and the Countess of Chester’s former director of corporate and legal services, Stephen Cross, are members of the organisation.

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Slapps used to silence whistleblowers should be outlawed, says group of MPs

Cross-party group cites legal threats used to hide Post Office Horizon scandal and allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed

Excessive legal threats used to silence those who tried to expose the Post Office Horizon scandal and allegations against Mohamed Al Fayed should be outlawed, a cross-party group of MPs have said.

MPs raised a series of cases, documented by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, where media outlets and whistleblowers have been prevented from publishing material that they believed was in the public interest.

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Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro charged with plotting coup d’état

Police accuse 37 people of crimes including conspiracy and trying to tear down one of world’s largest democracies

The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest allies are among dozens of people formally accused by federal police of being part of a criminal conspiracy designed to obliterate Brazil’s democratic system through a rightwing coup d’état.

Federal police confirmed on Thursday that investigators had concluded their long-running investigation into what they called a coordinated attempt to “violently dismantle the constitutional state”.

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How Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz unravelled in just eight days

In a Washington farce for the ages, the far-right Republican has withdrawn from consideration for US attorney general – how did it happen?

Donald Trump decided to nominate Matt Gaetz as attorney general last Wednesday, during a flight home from Washington, where the president-elect had visited Joe Biden at the White House. The pick proved as surprising as it was controversial. Just eight days later, after a week of relentless hullabaloo, Gaetz withdrew from contention.

It was a Washington farce for the ages. But how did it happen?

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