The Israeli military has been surprised by the extent, depth and quality of the tunnel network beneath Gaza.

By Adam Goldman, Ronen Bergman, Patrick Kingsley and Gal Koplewitz

One tunnel in Gaza was wide enough for a top Hamas official to drive a car inside. Another stretched nearly three football fields long and was hidden beneath a hospital. Under the house of a senior Hamas commander, the Israeli military found a spiral staircase leading to a tunnel approximately seven stories deep.

These details and new information about the tunnels, some made public by the Israeli military and documented by video and photographs, underscore why the tunnels were considered a major threat to the Israeli military in Gaza even before the war started.

But Israeli officials and soldiers who have since been in the tunnels — as well as current and former American officials with experience in the region — say the scope, depth and quality of the tunnels built by Hamas have astonished them. Even some of the machinery that Hamas used to build the tunnels, observed in captured videos, has surprised the Israeli military.

India: Court halts mosque survey wanted by Hindu hard-liners

India’s Supreme Court has stopped a survey of a 17th century mosque to ascertain if it contains Hindu relics. Hindu hard-liners maintain that the mosque is built over the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna.

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday halted plans for a survey to look for Hindu relics in the Shahi Eidgah mosque in the northern city of Mathura, saying that the application filed for appointment of the local commission was “very vague.”

The ruling comes as Hindu hard-liners linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim that Islamic invaders and rulers destroyed Hindu temples over several centuries.

Iran launches missile strikes in northern Iraq and Syria, claims to destroy Israeli spy base

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict.

The strikes were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise.

Iranian forces said the midnight missile strike in Iraq destroyed “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in response to what they said were Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and members of the Iranian resistance front.

North Korea’s Kim shuts agencies working for reunification with South Korea

Kim Jong Un says his country does not want war but does not seek to avoid it.

North Korea has scrapped several government bodies tasked with promoting reconciliation and reunification with South Korea as authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un warned that his secretive country does not seek to avoid war.

In a speech to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim said unification with South Korea is no longer possible and called for a constitutional amendment to change the status of South Korea to a separate, “hostile country”, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday.

“We don’t want war but we have no intention of avoiding it,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.

Women and children who went to live with IS in Syria are being brought home

“Welcome back to Kyrgyzstan,” says Shukur Shermatov, addressing a class of 20 women. He is wearing a traditional felt cap, but there is nothing traditional about this school. It sits inside two rings of military security and the students are women who have been brought home from camps in Syria, where they ended up after living with the Islamic State group.

They were Israel’s ‘eyes on the border’ – but their Hamas warnings went unheard

By Alice Cuddy

Israel-Hamas war: Footballer released after Turkey detention

Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel has been released, after being detained for a gesture made during a match in Turkey. The Antalyaspor defender seemingly showed solidarity with those held hostage by Hamas.

What’s happened?

After scoring a goal against Trabzonspor on Sunday, Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel held up his hand in celebration to show off a bandage that said: “100 days, 7.10”. The text was in relation to the Hamas attack on October 7, 100 days before the match, and appeared next to a Star of David.

Turkish prosecutors later launched an investigation against Jehezkel on charges of “inciting people to hatred and hostility,” according to Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc.

Reformist Arevalo sworn in as Guatemala’s president despite opponents’ efforts to derail transition

Anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president in the early hours of Monday after a chaotic inauguration that was delayed for hours by a last-ditch attempt by Congress opponents to weaken his authority.

The latest in a series of legislative setbacks triggered by opponents underscored the challenges Arevalo faces as leader of Central America’s most populous nation, to which he has pledged to bring sweeping reforms and tackle the rising cost of living and violence, key drivers of migration to the United States.

Arevalo won August elections by a landslide and about 9 hours after his inauguration was scheduled to start, he took the oath as president, replacing conservative politician Alejandro Giammattei whose government has been engulfed in corruption scandals.

Giammattei skipped the ceremony.

Iran lodges hijab case against journalists day after temporary release

New proceedings are launched against the two journalists for posing without the mandatory hijab upon their release after more than a year in prison.

Iran’s judiciary has opened a new case against two jailed female journalists for appearing without a hijab after their temporary release from prison, reports say.

Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi had the new case filed against them on Monday, a day after they were released on bail.

The duo had been sentenced to 13  and 12 years in prison respectively for reporting on the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini in 2022.

The Gazan doctor whose phone call on live TV shook Israelis to the core 15 years ago

When I speak to Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish on the phone, his voice is heavy with jetlag and grief.

Abuelaish — known as the first Palestinian doctor to hold a staff position at an Israeli hospital — has just returned to his adopted home of Toronto.

For the past few days he’s been in Cairo, comforting his brother who is mourning the loss of three of his children killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike.

“Even if he could get back,” Abuelaish says of his brother who left Gaza for Egypt in September for health reasons, “he doesn’t have anything to go back to.”

100 days since Hamas attacked Israel, triggering war in Gaza

By Wyre Davies

BBC Middle East correspondent

One hundred days ago, the previously unthinkable happened in Israel. A state, born out of adversity and war only 75 years ago, woke up to what some have since described as a threat to its very existence.

On Saturday night, in Tel Aviv, the events of 7 October were commemorated by thousands of people. Uppermost on the minds of everyone were the around 130 hostages abducted by Hamas and still being held in Gaza, although some of them may not still be alive.

Just after dawn 100 days ago, thousands of heavily armed Hamas fighters stormed through and over the Gaza border fence in several different places.

The Trouble with AçaíA History of Child Labor Behind the Trendy Superfood

Taiwan tells China to ‘face reality’ and respect election results

Taiwan on Sunday told China to “face reality” and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing’s warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as president.

Voters spurned Beijing’s repeated calls not to vote for Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China‘s ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has never renounced force to bring it under its control, responded to Lai’s victory saying it would not change the “inevitable trend of China’s reunification”.

Lai, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), vowed to defend the island from China’s “intimidation” and on Sunday the island’s foreign ministry told Beijing to accept the result.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Beijing authorities to respect the election results, face reality and give up suppressing Taiwan in order for positive cross-strait interactions to return to the right track,” it said in a statement.

Why Germany has gone into protest mode

The former German chancellor Angela Merkel had a reputation as being a steady hand at the wheel. In her 16 years in office, she was famous for sitting things out rather than taking action. Her pledge to voters was that their lives would continue in peace and affluence and that they had nothing to worry about.

That has turned out to be a fallacy, but past expectations live on.

When it came to power in December 2021, the current center-left government of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) promised progress without the need for any belt-tightening. Nobody was prepared for the war in Ukraine and its knock-on effects.

Elderly woman fights eviction to stay in cherished childhood home

By ISSEI YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer

January 14, 2024 at 07:00 JST

A court here has allowed an 86-year-old woman to remain in the aging wooden “nagaya” (row house) she has lived in most of her life, although she is the last remaining tenant.

The owner, who is seeking to demolish the building, filed an eviction notice, and the court recommended that the two parties negotiate a settlement.

However, the woman refused to leave the home she has lived in since childhood, saying, “I will stay here until I die.”

The owner argued that the row house was too dilapidated and offered the woman an apartment nearby to live in.

But the elderly resident insisted on staying in her home, to which she is deeply attached.

Taiwan elects William Lai president in historic election

By Tessa Wong

BBC News, Taipei

Western Australia: Locals told to evacuate as bushfires rage

People living in Chittering, near Perth, must “act immediately to survive,” Australia’s emergency officials have warned. Dozens of bushfires have been reported in Western Australia as the state goes through a heat wave.

Authorities issued an emergency warning over fires in the state of Western Australia on Saturday, with residents urged to evacuate.

A bushfire burned relentlessly in the shire of Chittering, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Western Australia’s capital, Perth. Over 40 bushfires were raging in the state altogether.

What did officials say about the fire?

Australia’s Fire and Emergency Department urged residents of the parts of Chittering affected by the fire to “act immediately to survive,” warning of a “threat to lives and homes.”

“If the way is clear, leave now for a safer place,” the department said, urging people against postponing leaving to “the last minute.”

Will it be possible for people to live in Gaza after the fighting ends?

Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has been taking a heavy toll not just on its residents but on the infrastructure they rely on to live. Aid groups and researchers are using satellite images to track the scale of the damage – and try and establish whether it will be possible for people to live in Gaza after the fighting ends. Wim Zwijnenburg, a researcher with Dutch peace organisation PAX, has been focusing on water facilities.

Turkey launches airstrikes against Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria after 9 soldiers were killed

By ANDREW WILKS

Turkey carried out airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in neighboring Iraq and Syria on Saturday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. This comes a day after an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq killed nine Turkish soldiers.

Turkey often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq it believes to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a banned Kurdish separatist group that has waged insurgency against Turkey since the 1980s.

The defense ministry said aircraft struck targets in Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil in north Iraq, but didn’t specify areas in Syria. It said fighter jets destroyed caves, bunkers, shelters and oil facilities “to eliminate terrorist attacks against our people and security forces … and to ensure our border security.” The statement added “many” militants were “neutralized” in the strikes.

How Gaza’s hospitals became battlegrounds

By Katie Polglase, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Eliza Mackintosh, Livvy Doherty, Henrik Pettersson, Byron Manley and Lou Robinson, CNN

Published January 12, 2024

Relentless bombardment, power outages and shortages have pushed nearly every hospital in the beleaguered northern Gaza Strip out of service, with evidence of repeated attacks on and in the vicinity of medical facilities despite the presence of doctors, patients and civilians inside, a CNN analysis has found.

At least 20 out of 22 hospitals identified by CNN in northern Gaza were damaged or destroyed in the first two months of Israel’s war against Hamas, from October 7 to December 7, according to a review of 45 satellite images and around 400 videos from the ground, as well as interviews with doctors, eyewitnesses and humanitarian organizations. Fourteen were directly hit, based on the evidence collected and verified by CNN and analyzed by experts.

Israel launched its bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 others taken hostage. In the first two months of the war, at least 17,100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. At the time of publishing, that number was more than 23,400.

Huge rally in Yemen capital after US and UK strike Houthi targets

What moved the dial for the US?

It’s clear from senior administration officials that an attack on an American commercial vessel, being escorted by US military vessels on Tuesday, was the tipping point for last night’s action.

Twenty drones and three missiles were shot down and, had that not happened, officials say the ships could have been sunk, including one that was carrying jet fuel.

The fact that this action was clearly telegraphed in both Washington and London is a clear indication that the US and UK governments, along with the other members of what officials here call “a coalition of the willing”, wanted to minimise any collateral damage and loss of life; degrading facilities and capabilities was, they say, their aim.

Myanmar: China says army and guerillas agreed to cease-fire

The army and rebel groups in Myanmar have agreed to resolve disputes with negotiations, China says. Beijing has been growing concerned over the impact of the conflict on Chinese citizens.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it had mediated an “immediate cease-fire” between the Myanmar national army and rebel guerrilla groups fighting against it.

Talks were held in the Chinese city of Kunming, the capital of the Yunnan province that borders Myanmar, on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The two sides agreed to an immediate cease-fire, to disengage military personnel and resolve relevant disputes and demands through peaceful negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

Taiwan’s political parties rally on eve of pivotal presidential vote

Tens of thousands of supporters flocked to noisy, colourful rallies for Taiwan’s three main political parties on Friday, as the candidates made a last push for votes in an election that China has warned could take the island closer to war.

Taiwan‘s bustling democracy of 23 million people is separated by a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) strait from communist-ruled China, which claims the island as part of its territory.

Saturday’s election is being closely watched around the world as the winner will lead the strategically important island — a major producer of vital semiconductors — as it manages ties with an increasingly assertive China.

Vice President Lai Ching-te, the front-runner candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), paints the election as a choice between “democracy and autocracy” — criticising his main opponent Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) for being too “pro-China”.

Passengers’ cooperation in deadly JAL crash made for ‘miracle’ escape

By Yuki Yamaguchi

When flames rose from outside the window and smoke started to fill the cabin, the possibility of death flickered across the minds of many of the 367 passengers on Japan Airlines’ flight 516, who all escaped a near-fatal catastrophe.

The chaotic scenes of what has been dubbed a “miraculous escape” have become clearer as passengers have spoken more about their experiences and offered a trove of smartphone images in the 10 days since the runway collision between an Airbus A350 jetliner and a Japan Coast Guard plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

“It’s going to be fine. Please calm down,” flight attendants repeatedly called out to panicking passengers, seen in footage of the scene recorded on people’s smartphones. “Don’t take your luggage with you. Crouch low and cover your nose and mouth.”

As Arevalo inauguration approaches, Guatemalans express cautious optimism

Attacks against President-elect Bernardo Arevalo have fuelled fears of election interference ahead of his swearing-in.

Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arevalo is poised to assume office on Sunday, following his landslide victory in the 2023 presidential elections.

But Arevalo’s impending inauguration has been overshadowed by a string of recent legal attacks against him and his party — widely interpreted as attempts to overturn the vote.

Now, as he prepares to be sworn in, analysts question how much the uncertainty of the past months has weakened Guatemala’s fragile democracy and shaken public confidence.

Arevalo, an anticorruption candidate, first catapulted into the international spotlight with a surprise second-place finish in the June general elections.

South Africa accuses Israel of genocide and urges top UN court to halt Gaza war

South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, saying the country’s leadership was “intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza” and calling for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.

On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa on Thursday argued that Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population, and that comments made by Israeli leaders signaled their “genocidal intent.”

Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group’s murderous rampage on October 7, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza. South Africa condemned Hamas’ attacks but said “nothing” could justify Israel’s response, which has killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza

China says Taiwan presidential favorite a ‘severe danger’

Days before Taiwan’s key vote, China has warned that a Lai Ching-te win will trigger a cross-Strait conflict. The Taiwanese government has accused Beijing of interference in the race.

China on Thursday warned voters in Taiwan that an electoral win by the current presidential frontrunner — who supports a sovereign Taiwan — would pose a “severe danger” to cross-Strait relations.

“I sincerely hope the majority of Taiwan compatriots recognize the extreme harm of the DPP’s (Democratic Progressive Party) ‘Taiwan independence’ line and the extreme danger of Lai Ching-te’s triggering of cross-Strait confrontation and conflict, and to make the right choice at the crossroads of cross-Strait relations,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement

“If he comes to power, he will further push for ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities (and create) turbulence in the Taiwan Strait,” it said.

What we know about ‘Fito’, Ecuador’s notorious gang leader who escaped jail

José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of the Ecuadorian gangs considered responsible for a spike in car bombings, kidnappings and slayings, was discovered missing from his prison cell where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking

Macías began serving a 34-year sentence in 2011, but his prison stays have been in style and comfort.

His disappearance Sunday led the government to declare a state of emergency that involved sending the military into prisons, which sparked a wave of at least 30 attacks around the South American country, including an assault at a television station in Guayaquil.

The brazen raid of the station while it was broadcasting a newscast live Tuesday stunned Ecuadorean TV viewers who saw 15 minutes of gang members waving guns, threatening staff and claiming they had bombs. It also led President Daniel Noboa to declare that the country had an “armed internal conflict.”

Inmate on death row sues state for constant video surveillance

By YUHEI KYONO/ Staff Writer

January 11, 2024 at 17:18 JST

A death row inmate here filed a lawsuit against the state for violation of privacy, claiming that he has been held in a cell equipped with a surveillance camera for more than 16 years.

“I have endured it, thinking that I had to because I was a death row inmate, but I believe that there should be a minimum level of privacy for a human being,” Shozo Nishiyama, 70, said in a statement submitted to the Hiroshima District Court, which held the first hearing in the case on Jan. 10.

Mozambique storms: How to cyclone-proof your life

By Nomsa Maseko

BBC News, Beira

Mozambican builder José Joaquim is determined to never again put his family through the terror of living through a cyclone in a flimsy house.

When Cyclone Idai crashed on to Mozambique’s coastline five years ago, he was living with his wife and new-born baby in a shelter with corrugated iron roofing in the city of Beira.

“When the winds intensified, we were inside. Because of the noise we couldn’t be sure what was happening outside. But then suddenly one of the metal roof sheets blew away,” Mr Joaquim told the BBC.

“And then our door cracked in half because of the wind. We realised that we had to get out of there.”

US and UK navies repel largest Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping

By David Gritten

BBC News

UK and US naval forces have repelled the largest attack yet by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says.

Carrier-based jets and warships shot down 21 drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed group overnight.

The Houthis said they targeted a US ship in retaliation for the killing of rebels who tried to attack a container ship by using speed boats last month.

Mr Shapps said he had “no doubt” that Iran was heavily behind such attacks.

Poland: Jailed ex-minister says starting hunger strike

Poland’s former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski has announced he’s going on hunger strike, a day after his dramatic arrest inside the presidential palace. He says the case against him is politically motivated.

Polish former Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Wednesday that he would be starting a hunger strike in prison, a day after he was arrested despite having taken refuge with political ally and President Andrzej Duda in the presidential palace in Warsaw.

Kaminski is a senior politician with Poland’s largest political party, PiS, which lost control of government in recent elections but still holds the presidency.

“I declare that I treat my conviction… as an act of political revenge,” Kaminski said in the statement, read by his former deputy, Blazej Pobozy, at a press conference.

Work to shore up soft seabed for base relocation to Henoko starts

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

January 10, 2024 at 17:44 JST

Ahead of schedule, land reclamation work in Okinawa Prefecture for the relocation of a U.S. military base restarted after the central government approved plan changes over the prefecture’s objection.

The Defense Ministry on Jan. 10 began construction in Oura Bay where soft seabed was found for the relocation of U.S. Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to the Henoko district of Nago, also in the prefecture.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced the ministry’s decision at a news conference.

The ministry on Jan. 9 started preparations and workers installed anti-pollution membranes to prevent fine sand and other substances from leaking out to sea.

As West condemns Bangladesh election, China and Russia embrace Dhaka

The nation of 170 million people is moving closer to Beijing and Moscow amid tensions with the West, say analysts.

Hours after Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League was declared the landslide winner in Sunday’s election, which the opposition had boycotted, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hosted a queue of foreign diplomats, each coming to congratulate her.

The envoys of India, the Philippines, Singapore and other nations were there. Also visiting the prime minister were the ambassadors of Russia and China.

In Washington and London, meanwhile, the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States criticised the election as illegitimate. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, in a statement, said that Washington believed the voting process was “not free and fair, and we regret that not all parties participated”. The UK criticised what it described as “acts of intimidation and violence” during the election.

Snow is disappearing as the planet warms. A new study shows who’s losing the most

Vast swaths of the US have been hit with powerful storms, including blizzards that have blanketed parts of the Midwest and Northeast in snow. But something’s amiss: many states accustomed to white winters are now getting more rain than snow.

A new study published on Wednesday shows that the human-caused climate crisis has reduced snowpack in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere in the last 40 years, threatening crucial water resources for millions of peopl

It might seem logical that a warmer world would be less hospitable to snow, but the relationship between snow and climate change is complex, and scientists have for many years struggled to make a clear connection between the two.