Assault on Khan Younis intensifies

• At least 190 people killed and 340 wounded in Gaza over the last 24 hours.
• Dozens reported killed in the besieged southern city of Khan Younis as Israeli forces target hospitals, ambulances, and schools where thousands of civilians are sheltering.

• An Israeli raid has targeted a house adjacent to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. At least 40 bodies were transferred to the medical complex, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.
• Netanyahu has told relatives of captives “there is no real proposal by Hamas” after recent media speculation that a truce and prisoner swap are in the works.
• The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees has said that telecommunication services in Gaza have been down for the past seven days.
• The US has announced its fifth round of sanctions since October 7 on what the Department of the Treasury says are Hamas-linked individuals and businesses.
• Washington has also targeted four officials and supporters of Kataib Hezbollah (KH) as well as Fly Baghdad, accusing the airline of “providing assistance” to Iran-backed “proxy groups” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Gaza activist tells of beating and abuse in Israeli detention

Mine Clearing in Ukraine“Dead Soldiers Lay Everywhere in the Fields, Ours and Russian”

By Alexander Epp, Oliver Imhof und Max Heber in Lypivka, Ukraine, and Hamburg, Germany

On a cold and sunny late autumn day in Lypivka, the non-governmental organization HALO is handing out bulky protective clothing. Here, to the west of Kyiv, the men are preparing to clear mines. All they have left to do is to go through a short safety briefing before they set about their task. The fields and farmland in the region are covered with all kinds of explosives, including booby traps, mines and unexploded ordnance. Indeed, even HALO isn’t totally sure about what is lurking beneath the surface.

An elderly woman who goes by the nickname Baba Katja (“Grandmother Katja”) is here to greet the mine-removing personnel. Everyone here knows her. With a smile, she explains how, each day, she brings the mine sweepers walnuts and apples from her garden. Or she bakes something to thank them for their work.

Diana Salazar, the prosecutor spearheading Ecuador’s fight against ‘narcopolitics’

Attorney General Diana Salazar is the leading figure in Ecuador’s fight against “narcopolitics”. As the country’s top prosecutor, her revelations have already led to the arrest of several high-level officials, including judges and other prosecutors accused of involvement in organised crime linked to drug trafficking.

Ecuador is waging a war against the rise of narcopolitics and the powerful drug gangs who have infiltrated the country’s political system. Leading the fight is Attorney General Diana Salazar, who has launched what she described as the country’s “largest operation against corruption and drug trafficking in history”.

Nicknamed the “Ecuadorian Loretta Lynch” after the US attorney general who served under Barack Obama, Salazar launched “Caso Metastasis” – a vast investigation into collusion between drug traffickers and government officials – following the October 2022 death in prison of powerful drug lord Leandro Norero.

Germany sees second day of large anti far-right protests

The weekend of protests against right-wing extremism continued in Germany, as tens of thousands took to the streets on Sunday, with the largest protests likely to be in Berlin.

After two days of mass protests, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of German cities on Sunday to demonstrate against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its anti-immigration agenda.

From Friday through the weekend, demonstrations were called in about 100 locations across Germany. On Sunday, rallies were held in major cities such as Cologne, Munich and Berlin. Several other German cities, including Cottbus, Dresden and Chemnitz in the east, also planned to hold demonstrations.

Police in Munich said that some 80,000 people participated in the march, while organizers put the figure at 200,000. The march had to be called off due to overcrowding.

Japanese journalist brings lonely #MeToo battle to Sundance

By Andrew MARSZAL

When Japanese journalist Shiori Ito accused a prominent TV reporter of rape, becoming a rare high-profile #MeToo voice in her homeland, she was initially ignored by police, prosecutors and even much of the media.

Defying taboos, she investigated her own case, secretly recording phone calls and meetings, and compiling enough evidence to eventually win 3.3 million yen ($30,000) in damages in a civil case that made headlines around the world.

That remarkable victory, which was followed last year by a toughening in Japan’s antiquated rape laws, is the subject of “Black Box Diaries,” a new film premiering at the Sundance festival, directed by Ito herself.

Ayodhya’s Muslims confront grief and anxiety as Ram Temple inauguration nears

Saffron flags are flying in the majority Hindu town of Ayodhya as excited locals prepare to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of a new multimillion-dollar temple.

But like many of the town’s 500,000 Muslims, 65-year-old Maulana Badshah Khan says he’ll be staying at home.

He fears a repeat of the religious violence that erupted more than 30 years ago, when Hindu nationalists destroyed the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, triggering riots across the country.

At least 16 cemeteries in Gaza have been desecrated by Israeli forces, satellite imagery and videos reveal

The Israeli military has desecrated at least 16 cemeteries in its ground offensive in Gaza, a CNN investigation has found, leaving gravestones ruined, soil upturned, and, in some cases, bodies unearthed.

In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, where fighting escalated earlier this week, Israeli forces destroyed a cemetery, removing bodies in what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN was part of a search for the remains of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 terror attacks.

CNN has reviewed satellite imagery and social media footage showing the destruction of cemeteries and witnessed it firsthand while traveling with the IDF in a convoy. Together the evidence reveals a systemic practice where Israeli ground forces have advanced across the Gaza Strip.

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, Israel has stepped up its raids in the occupied West Bank, storming refugee camps and arresting dozens of people. Human rights groups say at least 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the last three months. The Israeli military insists its soldiers are defending themselves from militants holed up in the camps. But residents of Palestinian camps who spoke to FRANCE 24 accuse Israel of terrorising the population.

Video footage released by an organisation that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years’ hard labour for watching South Korean videos.

The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean films and music videos, was released by the South and North Development Institute (Sand).

Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage, which was first reported by the BBC.

Brazil: Probe shows Bolsonaro faked his COVID vaccine record

An investigation reveals that the vaccination records of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro were forged. Although Bolsonaro publicly opposed the vaccine, records had shown that he received the COVID-19 shot.

The Brazilian Comptroller General’s office (CGU) said on Thursday that the COVID-19 vaccination records of former President Jair Bolsonaro were forged.

Health records state that Bolsonaro, a COVID-19 skeptic who opposed the vaccine in public, received a shot of the vaccine at a public healthcare center in Sao Paulo in July 2021.

However, the CGU investigation revealed several inconsistencies in the entry, which allowed the president to dodge travel and other restrictions.

Sweden’s call for population to prepare for war sparks panic and criticism

It’s been described as a bombshell moment. The upper echelons of Sweden’s government and defence forces last week shocked the nation by explicitly warning that war might come to Sweden, and that each and every Swede should prepare themselves. While some have taken the warning seriously and flocked to the stores to stock up on fuel and survival kits, others have accused the country’s leaders of fear-mongering.

Gustav Wallbom, a 37-year-old entrepreneur and farmer who was conscripted into Sweden’s compulsory military service before it was put on hold between 2010 and 2017, was not the least bit surprised by the call for Swedes to ready themselves for war.

“The fact that Russia, which is very near Sweden, is unreliable is not something new, and all the cases of espionage lately and Russia’s attempts to influence [public opinion] just add to that,” he said.

Heeding the call from officials, Wallbom, like many other Swedes, immediately headed to the hardware store to stock up on equipment for his and his family’s “crisis kit”.

After six months in Saudi Arabia, Jordan Henderson has returned to European soccer

‘I never lost a fight against a man’: The story of the only woman to join Japan’s notorious yakuza

By Martina Baradel

Mako Nishimura is a petite woman in her late 50s, with flowing hair and a delicate face. But you soon notice that she is no traditional Japanese lady – she is tattooed up to her neck and hands and her little finger is missing. These are signs of affiliation to the yakuza – Japan’s notorious criminal syndicates.

The yakuza is dominated by men and leaves only informal roles to women. Typically a woman involved with the yakuza might be an anesan, a boss’ wife who takes care of young affiliates and mediates between them and her husband. Wives and partners of the members support the group in a peripheral way. Some get involved to the extent that they manage yakuza-owned clubs or deal drugs.

When I interviewed Nishimura recently as part of my research, she told me that when she had become involved with the yakuza at 20, she took up both roles. But she went one step further – Nishimura is the only woman who has ever partaken in the sakazuki ceremony of exchanging sake cups. This is the ritual that confirms formal affiliation with a yakuza group.

Situation in Gaza ‘probably worse even than we can see’: Top UN humanitarian official

With the Israel-Hamas war now having passed its 100-day mark, FRANCE 24 spoke to Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. “We can see the desolation” of Gaza thanks to the media, Griffiths said. “We can hear the cries of a generation of hatred being created by this terrible, terrible tragedy. But in fact, the figures tell us it’s probably worse even than we can see”. The UN’s top humanitarian official added that “we have some really alarming indicators of the extreme suffering” of Gaza’s population, such as “the incredible rapidity of the increase in famine numbers”.

US designates Yemen’s Houthis ‘terrorist group’

• US designates Yemen’s Houthis as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” after the group’s attack on shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
• The Jordanian army says its military field hospital in Khan Younis was badly damaged as a result of Israeli shelling in the vicinity.

Houthis say attacks on ships will continue after US ‘terrorist’ designation

As a fifth night of anti-AfD protests saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets of German cities, with more expected later on Wednesday, Habeck appeared to support calls to outlaw the party, while stressing the risks of such a move “dangerously backfiring” were it to fail.

China: Population drops for 2nd straight year

Plunging birth rates and COVID-related deaths have led to a population decline of over 2 million. However, Beijing says it has hit economic growth targets.

Official data released on Wednesday showed that China’s population was on the decline for a second consecutive year.

China’s economy rose slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023, allowing the government to hit its growth target after it missed the mark last year. However, China’s growth was one of its slowest in over 30 years.

China’s population figures

Falling birth rates and a wave of deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic has quickened a downtourn in population that is projected to have long-term effects on the economy’s growth potential.

“By the end of 2023, the national population was 1,409.67 million… a decrease of 2.08 million over that at the end of 2022,” Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

U.S. military joins relief efforts for Noto quake victims

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

January 17, 2024 at 16:53 JST

U.S. military forces stationed in Japan started transporting relief supplies to areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Using the Komatsu Air Base of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force in the prefecture, the U.S. military brought emergency supplies to Noto Airport via helicopter on Jan. 17.

“We’ve made the request for U.S. cooperation to avoid any interruption in supply transportation that has been carried out by the SDF,” Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said on Jan. 16.

Russian riot police clash with protesters after activist sentenced

Riot police fired tear gas, flash grenades and used batons to disperse demonstrators in Russia’s Bashkortostan region after a local activist was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison.

Videos showed supporters of Fail Alsynov clashing with police near the court where he had been convicted of inciting ethnic hatred, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

Bashkortostan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs called the demonstrations an “unauthorized rally” and said police have begun investigating “mass unrest,” in a post on Telegram.