US and UK launch strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen - BBC News (www.bbc.com)
From link:...
China and forced labor, UN report on Xinjiang abuses leaves no room for plausible deniability (businessdailymedia.com)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10731283
I.R.S. to Begin Trial of Its Own Free Tax-Filing System (www.nytimes.com)
Residents of 12 states are eligible to participate if they meet certain criteria. But the agency’s plans have already met resistance from tax preparation companies.
Cheap and They Don't Snitch: Drones Are the New Drug Mules (www.vice.com)
“Surprising absolutely no one …”
Israel's plan to "destroy" Gaza comes from "the highest level of state", the UN's top court has heard (www.bbc.co.uk)
The claims were made by South African lawyers as it presented its case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a lawyer for the High Court of South Africa, told the ICJ Israel’s “genocidal intent” was evident “from the way in which this military attack is being...
Israeli prime minister says “no intention of permanently occupying Gaza” – as it happened (www.theguardian.com)
Afghan girls as young as 16 arrested in shops, classes and markets in Kabul by the Taliban, who labelled them ‘infidels’ for wearing ‘bad hijab’ (www.theguardian.com)
The girls – who were detained in shopping centres, classes and street markets – were accused of “spreading and encouraging others to wear a bad hijab” and wearing makeup....
Coverage of Gaza War in the New York Times and Other Major Newspapers Heavily Favored Israel, Analysis Shows (theintercept.com)
Belarus accused of illegally transferring Ukrainian children (www.euronews.com)
Armed gang storms Ecuador TV station as state of ‘internal armed conflict’ declared (www.theguardian.com)
Escaping Xi’s China by paddleboard: ‘I rushed into the water and thought if they catch me, they catch me’ (www.theguardian.com)
2023 confirmed as world's hottest year on record (www.bbc.co.uk)
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba: ‘Putin does not want a frozen conflict, or peace’ (english.elpais.com)
On February 1, the EU will again discuss a €50 billion financial lifeline for Ukraine — currently blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — while another similar aid package remains frozen in Washington. Kuleba believes the funds will come. “We do not have a plan B,” he insists.
‘I’m afraid every day for my children’: As antisemitism soars, French Jews flee to Israel (www.timesofisrael.com)
With over 1,500 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and mid-November – three times the reported number in the entire 2022 – more French Jews seek to escape the climate of fear
Meet New Zealand's youngest MP whose parliamentary war cry went viral (www.sbs.com.au)
The 21-year-old New Zealand MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, her country’s youngest MP since 1853, honoured the Indigenous people of New Zealand by performing a traditional haka, or war cry, as part of her maiden speech in December. In the resurfaced video, the chant reverberates around the parliamentary chamber as other Māori...
Alaska Airlines grounds 737 Max 9 planes after section blows out mid-air (www.bbc.com)
Hamza, son of Al Jazeera’s Wael Dahdouh, killed in Israeli attack in Gaza (www.aljazeera.com)
China feels the country isn’t patriotic enough. A new law aims to change that. (edition.cnn.com)
Cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/10848936...
Chinese election interference tests Taiwan’s capability to defend freedom of speech (www.indexoncensorship.org)
As Taiwan gears up for the presidential and legislative election on 13 January, the Chinese government is also ramping up its efforts to interfere. From sponsored trips to China for local leaders, economic coercion, fake opinion polls, and disinformation campaigns, some analysts say the wide-ranging tactics that Beijing has...
Mexican cartel forces locals to pay for makeshift Wi-Fi under threat of death (apnews.com)
Ukraine-Russia war: Putin citizenship decree violates children's rights, Ukraine says (www.bbc.com)
Satellite images show China made an apparent USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier target out in the desert (www.businessinsider.com)
Today 4 years ago, Dr. Li Wenliang warned of a suspected SARS patient in a Wuhan WeChat group. Soon later, he was arrested for “making false comments on the Internet about unconfirmed SARS outbreak.” (harakahdaily.net)
Dr. Wenliang’s message went viral, becoming the earliest warning of what we now know today as Covid-19. He returned to work, but contracted Covid from a patient, and died on February 7, 2020....
China deployed over 1,700 military planes around Taiwan in 2023 (www.newsweek.com)
This aerial activity, which now occurs on a near-daily basis, is reported by the Taiwan Defense Ministry. The Taiwan ADIZ Violations Database, compiled by independent defense analyst Benjamin Lewis, illustrates a marked escalation in Chinese military operations near Taiwan in recent years.
