Johnnie Walker, BBC radio DJ, dies aged 79

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Pioneering presenter was best known for hosting Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show

The veteran BBC DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced.

Walker, who hosted Radio 2’s Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show, began his career as a pirate DJ in the 60s on the offshore station Swinging Radio England, then Radio Caroline, before joining Radio 1 in 1969. He left the station after causing controversy by describing the Bay City Rollers as “musical garbage” and clashing with his bosses over an insistence on playing album tracks.

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Portraits of catastrophe and courage in 2024 – Yale Climate Connections

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  1. Portraits of catastrophe and courage in 2024  Yale Climate Connections
  2. What climate records were broken in 2024?  Al Jazeera English
  3. A year of extreme weather that challenged billions  BBC.com
  4. World endures 'decade of deadly heat' as 2024 caps hottest years on record  The Guardian
  5. Europe suffered 3 of world’s 10 costliest climate disasters in 2024  Euronews
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Lawmakers take on prior authorization reform as health insurance frustrations mount

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Nearly one in four doctors say the practice of prior authorization has led to serious issues for patients

In the wake of the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and the outpouring of frustration about insurance coverage, prior authorizations have emerged as a particular roadblock in healthcare.

Prior authorization requires medical providers to get an insurer’s approval before patients receive healthcare or medications.

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Houthis claim to ‘hit’ Jerusalem power station, Ben-Gurion Airport – The Jerusalem Post

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  1. Houthis claim to 'hit' Jerusalem power station, Ben-Gurion Airport  The Jerusalem Post
  2. World Health Organization chief caught in Israeli bombing of Yemen  NBC News
  3. Middle East live updates: Israel threatens Houthis with 'miserable fate'  ABC News
  4. How Israel should respond to the Houthis: Make them fear us more than we fear them - opinion  The Jerusalem Post
  5. Houthis claim overnight missile attacks on Israel, US aircraft carrier  The Times of Israel
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One Of Ukraine’s Drone Boats Just Shot Down A Russian Helicopter – Forbes

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  1. One Of Ukraine’s Drone Boats Just Shot Down A Russian Helicopter  Forbes
  2. ‘I’m Hit, I’m Going Down!’ - Naval Drone Downs Russian Helicopter  Forbes
  3. Ukraine Says Drone Downed Russian Military Helicopter at Sea  Bloomberg
  4. Ukraine war latest: In world first, Ukrainian sea drone downs Russian helicopter  Kyiv Independent
  5. Ukraine says it shot down Russian helicopter using a naval drone  The Associated Press
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‘Preying on investors’: how software firm MicroStrategy’s big bet on bitcoin went stratospheric

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Company’s share price has risen twentyfold after it changed its strategy to become first ‘bitcoin treasury company’

In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure US software firm decided to diversify. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough.

Instead, it would branch out by investing up to $250m in alternative assets – “stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as bitcoin or other asset types”.

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South Korea plane crash investigators turn to black boxes in search for vital clues

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Experts hope flight recorders will provide answers to key questions surrounding crash in which 179 died

As investigators set to work unpicking the cause of Sunday’s devastating plane crash in South Korea, the black boxes carried on the aircraft will be of prime importance, with retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder under way.

All but two of the 181 people onboard died in the disaster, with the victims aged from three to 78. The Korean airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, said he wanted “to bow my head and apologise”, according to a statement on the company’s website, adding it was “difficult to determine the cause of the accident”.

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Xi says China’s economy on course to expand by 5% despite Trump concerns

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President seeks to allay fears that world’s second-largest economy will falter in 2025 because of high US tariffs

China’s economy is on course to expand by 5% in 2025, according to its president, Xi Jinping, meeting official growth targets and rebutting concerns that Donald Trump’s incoming US administration will harm Beijing’s prospects in the new year.

Using his annual address to the nation, Xi sought to allay fears that the world’s second-largest economy would falter over the next 12 months after the government battled to prevent a slide towards recession during 2024.

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Manmohan Singh: India’s Last Liberal – Jacobin magazine

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  1. Manmohan Singh: India’s Last Liberal  Jacobin magazine
  2. Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh: In his own words  BBC.com
  3. Govt begins land identification process for Manmohan Singh memorial  The Tribune India
  4. Manmohan Singh was India’s economic freedom fighter  The Economist
  5. Chorus for Bharat Ratna for Manmohan Singh grows in Congress as Telangana House passes resolution  The Indian Express
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Israel’s hospital attacks have put Gaza healthcare on brink of collapse, says UN

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Assaults on medical facilities could amount to war crimes in certain circumstances, human rights office report says

Israel’s pattern of sustained attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and medical workers has brought the coastal strip’s healthcare system to the brink of “total collapse”, according to a report by the UN’s human rights office.

The report, which catalogues the besieging and targeting of hospitals and their immediate grounds with explosive weapons, the killing of hundreds of medical workers, and the destruction of critical life-saving equipment, said that in certain circumstances the attacks could “amount to war crimes”. Israel has consistently denied committing war crimes in Gaza.

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What We Know About Jeju Air Crash: 179 Dead In South Korea As Investigators Probe Cause – Forbes

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  1. What We Know About Jeju Air Crash: 179 Dead In South Korea As Investigators Probe Cause  Forbes
  2. How the Jeju Air Plane Crashed in South Korea: Timeline, Maps and Photos  The New York Times
  3. Grieving families of victims of South Korean plane crash visit site for a memorial service  Yahoo! Voices
  4. Airline says pre-flight inspection of South Korea plane showed 'no issues': report  Fox News
  5. Boeing’s terrible year is ending with the worst aviation tragedy of 2024  CNN
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