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World In Brief

On Friday, Iran and Russia signed a 2-decade "strategic partnership" treaty on defense, technology, energy and trade, pledging cooperation on military and security threats.

As of Friday afternoon, at least 27 people are confirmed dead and 18 missing, as firefighters continue battling fires on 45 square miles of LA County. About 82,000 people are still under mandatory evacuation.

A Friday ruling from the US Supreme Court rejected the appeal from TikTok's owners, allowing the app to be banned in the US from January 19th.

Israel's security cabinet voted Friday afternoon to approve the Gaza ceasefire/captive exchange agreement with Hamas. It also recommended the government approve it.

During its seventh test flight, SpaceX’s Starship lost communication while ascending into space and then experienced "a rapid unscheduled disassembly" (i.e., it blew up).

Arab Americans are expressing anger at President Biden as incoming president Donald Trump claims credit for pressuring Israel into accepting a Gaza ceasefire set to begin Sunday.

Arab states are urging Israel and the US to allow the Palestinian Authority to lead reconstruction efforts in Gaza. They stress this as key to stability, avoiding fragmented aid, and supporting Palestinian governance.

There have been conflicting reports as to whether the high-ranking Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is on the list of Palestinians held by Israel to be released as part of the ceasefire deal. Barghouti is not on the list.

BREAKING Israel has delayed a meeting by the Israeli cabinet to approve the Gaza ceasefire deal announced last night, with Netanyahu claiming that Hamas is reneging on the agreement. A Hamas official rejected the claim, saying that it is committed to the deal and the accusation is a fabrication. Meanwhile, Israel killed 73 Gazas in overnight air strikes since the agreement was announced.

BREAKING Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reports that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani will hold a press conference late Wednesday in Doha to announce that Hamas and Israel have reached a ceasefire-hostage exchange agreement.

As very strong winds continue to complicate the effort to fight LA's fires, more than 6 million people in Southern California are now under a critical fire threat.

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested, after a weeks-long standoff between insurrection investigators and Yoon's security team.

The White House announced yesterday that as part of a prisoner release deal, President Joe Biden will remove Cuba from the US list of "state sponsors of terrorism."

In his confirmation hearing today, Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is coming under fire from Democratic senators as well as protestors for financial mismanagement, sexual assault and lack of qualifications for the position.

150 Nobel and World Food prize laureates have signed an open letter urging financial and political backing for the immediate ramping up of food production in order to avert a global hunger catastrophe.

MENA

The Gaza ceasefire likely won't last

Responsible Statecraft

+2 glocal

MENA

Antony Blinken’s Mental Prison

The Beinart Notebook

+3 glocal

Tech/Sci

With Gaza war and Trump’s return, Silicon Valley embraces a military renaissance

+972 Magazine

+4 glocal

MENA

UNRWA Preparing to Shutter Gaza, West Bank Operations Over Israeli Laws

Common Dreams

+4 glocal

Climate

Blowback

The American Prospect

+4 glocal

Climate

Will Biden Ignore Corporate Prosecution Of Environmental Activist?

Breaking Points

+2 glocal

MENA

Iraq once devastated Iran with chemical weapons as the world stood by

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

+1 glocal

Newstream

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Wow the latest twist in the TikTok ban saga — “approved content creators” (aka those contracted by the Pentagon) will still be allowed to post on TikTok in order to shape the perception of the US to foreign audiences abroad. 🫠

From leaked document obtained by @kenklippenstein pic.twitter.com/7TsCw4xDhL
— James Li (@5149jamesli) January 15, 2025

Unofficial draft of emerging ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel https://t.co/zMfJXZ1zMK
— Newscoop (@newscoop) January 15, 2025

Mike Johnson thinks there should be "conditions" on aid to California but not on aid to Israel.🇮🇱🇺🇸 https://t.co/d7sX9a7DN9
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 13, 2025

Here another absolute irrefutable shocking evidence: The TikTok ban had been proposed under Trump but lacked support.

Then the horrors in Gaza started getting exposed on TikTok and the Israel lobby backed it, and it immediately passed with full bipartisan support. pic.twitter.com/JVq6prbYO2
— Furkan Gözükara (@GozukaraFurkan) January 12, 2025

The Lancet estimates long term deaths to be 311,904 pic.twitter.com/E4dz7vGa1K
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) January 10, 2025

How @realDonaldTrump could succeed with Iran where other U.S. presidents failed:

1- Avoid basing policies on narratives and analyses that portray Iran as weak or vulnerable.
Underestimating Iran’s resilience and power will lead to miscalculations, with serious consequences for…
— Reza Nasri (@RezaNasri1) January 6, 2025

Scenes from the massive rally that healthcare workers staged outside the US embassy in London to demand Free Dr Hussam AbuSafiya. pic.twitter.com/OFgSy66bUt
— Sara Rey (@SaraReyi) January 5, 2025

Ta-Nahesi Coates is not equivocating on Israel’s treatment of Palestinians#Palestine #FreePalestine #Israel #humanrights pic.twitter.com/X91oO4qHcL
— Newscoop (@newscoop) January 5, 2025

Forests are our shields against the climate crisis. They are unique, irreplaceable ecosystems that are home to millions of people and billions of species.

Nature is vital to survival. Protect it.#ActOnClimate #climate #biodiversity #rewilding #conservation pic.twitter.com/tqp7xNtCrq
— Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) January 4, 2025

The last photo of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, detained after refusing to abandon his colleagues and patients.

In just one image, we see both the power of Palestinian humanity and the moral weakness of all those complicit in genocide.

End all arms sales to Israel, now. pic.twitter.com/zxDqgUt1S9
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 29, 2024

The more repressive Israel grows, the more important groups like @btselem--which fight occupation and apartheid—become. Please consider supporting them. https://t.co/g2kciRsPYQ
— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) December 30, 2024

Healthcare staff across the world call for the immediate release of Kamal Adwan Hospital chief Dr Hussam Abu Safiya #FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya pic.twitter.com/fqPrgKHlmZ
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) December 31, 2024

This is not just great progress for Zimbabwe, it is also a beacon of hope for the abolitionist movement in the region, and a major milestone in the global collective pursuit for an end to this ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.https://t.co/B4wrU1pb4A
— Amnesty International USA (@amnestyusa) December 31, 2024

Jimmy Carter:

"The word 'apartheid' is exactly accurate…they are absolutely & totally separated…the Israelis completely dominate the life of the Palestinian people."

"There are powerful political forces in America that prevent any objective analysis…"pic.twitter.com/58qIJBWcmy
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) December 29, 2024

Where is the world? Humanity is dead https://t.co/Mxaa5LFxhV
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) December 28, 2024

WHERE IS HUMANITY pic.twitter.com/9t0qYLGtFq
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) December 25, 2024

@ryangrim @TheProspect @alon_mizrahi
For all the student protestors, journalists, NGOs, indie news outlets, and the few policymakers of conscience who continue swimming against the strong tide of corruption, greed and now genocide...

"...so the country won't change me." pic.twitter.com/OvxYggYT9f
— Newscoop (@newscoop) December 23, 2024

Stunned that this story has not gotten more attention!

The US prepared a rebel force to join the offensive that overthrew Assad.

It indicates not only that DC knew about the offensive led by (HTS), but that it had precise intelligence about its scale.https://t.co/LEkACIK8jN
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) December 20, 2024

For me, the background of this image is just as horrible as what we see in the front. This line of photographers, clearly used to these scenes by now, forced to constantly share with a completely indifferent world some of the most horrific scenes humans ever watched, featuring… https://t.co/GcnjkOtM4N
— Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) December 18, 2024

this is what it must have felt like to hear robin hood stories in like 1370 https://t.co/bQ5MTRxoSl
— katewagner.bsky.social (@mcmansionhell) December 8, 2024