Friday, January 3, 2025
Six In The Morning Friday 3 January 2025
A dawn stand-off, a human wall and a failed arrest: South Korea enters uncharted territory
Jean Mackenzie
The stand-off started long before dawn. By the time we arrived in the dark, an army of police had pushed back suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol's angry supporters, who'd camped out overnight hoping to stop his arrest. Some of those I spoke to were crying, others wailing, at what they feared was about to unfold.
As dawn broke, the first officers ran up to the house, but were instantly thwarted - blocked by a wall of soldiers protecting the compound. Reinforcements came, but could not help. The doors to Yoon's house stayed tightly sealed, his security team refusing the police officers entry.
For several hours the investigators waited, the crowds outside growing more agitated - until, after a series of scuffles between the police and security officials, they decided their mission was futile, and gave up.
Smuggled Starlink devices allegedly used to defy India’s internet shutdowns
Civilian and armed groups in conflict-ridden state of Manipur using SpaceX’s satellite internet, sources say
Fri 3 Jan 2025 13.19 GMT
Elon Musk’s satellite-based Starlink – currently unlicensed for use in India – is being used by militant groups in the conflict-ridden state of Manipur to circumvent government internet shutdowns, fighters and security sources have said.
The satellite internet service provider, operated by Musk’s SpaceX company, is not permitted to legally operate in India amid security concerns but is allowed by Myanmar, which neighbours Manipur.
German, French foreign ministers meet Syria's new leaders
Germany's top diplomat Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart met members of Syria's rebel-formed transition government. The pair are the first EU diplomats to visit Syria since Bashar Assad's ouster.
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and France's Jean-Noel Barrot met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria on Friday.
The two top diplomats are the first EU ministers to visit Syria since the toppling of President Bashar Assad in December.
"My trip today — together with my French counterpart and on behalf of the EU — is a clear signal to the Syrians: A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible," Baerbock said, according to a ministry statement issued before she left for Damascus.
French police to face trial for 'suffocating' death of delivery driver during arrest
Three police officers will face trial in Paris for the 2020 death of Cédric Chouviat, who died in hospital after losing consciousness while being arrested. The 42-year-old was tackled to the ground during his arrest and repeatedly told police offices he was "suffocating". The case has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd in the US.
Three police officers will be tried in Paris for the involuntary homicide of a man who repeatedly said "I'm suffocating" during his arrest in January 2020, a source close to the case told AFP Friday.
At least two of the officers have already lodged appeals to that decision.
The death of 42-year-old Cédric Chouviat after being tackled to the ground by a policeman has drawn comparisons to the May 2020 death in the US of George Floyd, video footage of which sparked global demonstrations.
Syria's 'Princesses of Freedom'
In years past, the metallic pops of automatic gunfire outside the window would have meant something sinister.
Perhaps, an attack by the regime of Bashar al-Assad on the al-Khateeb family’s once-besieged hometown just south of Damascus.
It would have meant a call to action for al-Khateeb sisters Khijou, 52, and Samar, 45 - time to rescue and give first aid to the wounded, at the risk of their own lives.
‘Mystery volcano’ that erupted and cooled Earth in 1831 has finally been identified
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Investigators arrive at home of South Korean president to arrest him
Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint team of investigators that include the police and prosecutors, had arrived at the gates of Yoon’s compound shortly after 7am (22.00 GMT Thursday), according to Reuters witnesses.
Yonhap News Agency reported that about 3,000 police had been mobilised in preparation.
Media reports said the CIO vehicles did not immediately enter the compound.
Yoon Suk Yeol, whose supporters are trying to deny access to his home, is under investigation for attempting to impose martial law
Six In The Morning Thursday 2 January 2025
The endgame in Ukraine: How the war could come to a close in 2025
"I must say that the situation is changing dramatically," Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, declared at his end-of-year news conference in December. "There is movement along the entire front line. Every day."
In eastern Ukraine, Moscow's war machine is gradually churning mile by mile through the wide open fields of the Donbas, enveloping and overwhelming villages and towns.
Some civilians are fleeing before the war reaches them. Others wait until the shells start exploding all around them before packing what belongings they can carry and boarding trains and buses to safety further west.
‘Safe zone’ among areas targeted as Israeli airstrikes kill at least 43 in Gaza
Director general of Gaza police among 11 reportedly killed in al-Mawasi
Thu 2 Jan 2025 15.13 GMT
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 43 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including 11 people in the sprawling al-Mawasi tent encampment designated as a humanitarian safe zone for civilians.
Among those killed in the al-Mawasi strike was the director general of Gaza’s police department, Mahmoud Salah, and his deputy, Hussam Shahwan, according to the Hamas-run Gaza interior ministry.
“By committing the crime of assassinating the director general of police in the Gaza Strip, the occupation is insisting on spreading chaos … and deepening the human suffering of citizens,” Hamas added in a statement.
Germany: Nearly 190 members of far-right groups wanted
The arrest warrants are mostly against suspected members of Reichsbürger and Selbstverwalter, far-right groups rejecting the existence of the modern German state.
Germany's Interior Ministry had outstanding arrest warrants against 189 suspects deemed members of far-right groups that do not recognize the modern German state, media group RND reported on Thursday.
Authorities said the suspects were part of "Reichsbürger" ("citizens of the Reich") or "Selbstverwalter" ("self-administrators") groups, which claim either to live in the defunct German Empire, or on soil they have unilaterally declared to be independent within Germany.
The figure was published on September 30, 2024 in response to a parliamentary request for information from the socialist Left Party.
South Korea's impeached president Yoon defies arrest over failed martial law bid
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol continued on Thursday to resist arrest inside his residence for a third day following his impeachment over a failed martial law bid on December 3. Facing possible arrest, imprisonment, or the death penalty, Yoon remains defiant, vowing to "fight" authorities.
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained defiantly inside his residence resisting arrest for a third day on Thursday after vowing to "fight" authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.
The embattled leader issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.
Supporters and opponents of Yoon have since camped outside his presidential residence, while members of his security team have blocked attempted police raids in a dramatic stand-off.
‘Crime against journalism’: Gaza Journalists decry PA’s Al Jazeera ban
Journalists in Gaza say the Palestinian Authority must reverse decision to ban Al Jazeera in the occupied territory.
Journalists gathered at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital expressed outrage and confusion about the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank.
“Shutting down a major outlet like Al Jazeera is a crime against journalism,” said freelance journalist Ikhlas al-Qarnawi.
“Al Jazeera coverage has documented Israeli crimes against Palestinians, especially during the ongoing genocide,” the 28-year-old journalist told Al Jazeera at the hospital, the most reliable internet connection in the Strip to file stories from.
Changes to Syria’s school curriculum spark online outrage
Syria’s new government is facing backlash after announcing changes to the school curriculum, including introducing what some critics say is an Islamist slant to teaching.
The changes, published in a list of amendments on the education ministry’s official Facebook page, include changing the phrases “path of goodness” to “Islamic path,” and “those who have are damned and have gone astray” to “Jews and Christians” – which pertains to an ultra-conservative interpretation of a verse in Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Behind the Register at a Japanese Shoe Repair Shop
Six In The Morning Wednesday 1 January 2025
Suspect in New Orleans attack that killed 10 is dead and FBI investigating as 'act of terrorism'
Summary
The FBI are investigating this morning's deadly attack in New Orleans as an "act of terrorism" as they confirm the suspect is dead
Ten people were killed and at least 35 injured after a man drove a pick-up truck into a large crowd
The incident occurred at approximately 03:15 local time (09:15 GMT) in the French Quarter - an area popular with visitors to the city
Police say the driver was "hell-bent on creating the carnage he did" and also opened fire on officers
In an earlier press conference, the FBI had said an improvised explosive device was found at the scene and agents are assessing its viability
State's top prosecutor labels incident as 'brutal intentional slaughter'
Louisiana's top state prosecutor, Attorney Liz Murrill, says she is praying for the victims of the attack in New Orleans, and "will ensure they get justice for this appalling act."
In a post on X, she describes the incident as "the brutal intentional slaughter of innocent people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans."
Fate of endangered monkey hinges on Brazilian city’s planning policy
Pied tamarin has narrow range and is found only around borders of Manaus in the Amazon rainforest
Wed 1 Jan 2025 11.41 GMT
The fate of one of the world’s most threatened primates will be on the line in the coming months when Brazilian authorities decide whether to incorporate the pied tamarin into the urban planning policies of Manaus.
Conservationists say the inclusion is crucial not just to protect the critically endangered monkey but as an indicator of the Amazonian city’s willingness to create green spaces that will benefit the lives of its people.
The pied tamarin – which has a small, fluffy white upper body and a black, hairless face – has one of the narrowest ranges of any primate and is found only around the borders of the city.
Russian gas stops flowing to Europe via Ukraine
Gas deliveries to Europe through a pipeline in Ukraine have stopped as a deal signed five years ago expires. Ukraine called the halt of Russian gas transiting through the country a "historic event."
The remaining Russian gas deliveries using its oldest transit pipeline, through Ukraine to Europe, stopped entirely on Wednesday as the 2019 contracts expired, the national energy giant Gazprom said.
"Due to the repeated and clearly expressed refusal of the Ukrainian side to renew these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1, 2025," Gazprom said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
It said the flow stopped at 8 a.m. Moscow time, mirroring comments from Ukraine.
French forces to withdraw from Ivory Coast, President Ouattara says
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said in an end-of-year address on Tuesday that the French military would hand over control of its military base in the capital Abidjan in January 2025 and noted that Ivorians should be proud of their own armed forces.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said on Tuesday that French forces would withdraw from the West African nation, continuing the former colonial power’s military exit from the region.
Speaking in an end-of-year address to the nation, Ouattara said Ivorians should be proud of the modernised state of their own armed forces.
“In this context, we have decided on the coordinated and organised withdrawal of French forces,” he said.
Japan marks 1 year since powerful Noto quake; rebuilding remains slow
Japan on Wednesday marked one year since a powerful earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan, leaving at least 500 dead, including those who succumbed to health issues afterward, as efforts toward full recovery continue in the hardest-hit areas.
Some 21,000 residents in Ishikawa Prefecture, which faces the Sea of Japan, remain evacuated or in temporary housing as of late December, with infrastructure restoration and the demolition of collapsed homes still incomplete.
The Ishikawa prefectural government held a ceremony in Wajima, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, to offer condolences to the victims and pledge efforts toward reconstruction.
Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in Gaza
- At least 29 Palestinians, including children and women, are killed throughout Gaza on New Year’s Day in Israeli attacks in northern Jabalia, the central Bureij refugee camp, Gaza City, and southern Khan Younis.
- Days of heavy rain have flooded hundreds of makeshift shelters across the Strip, piling more misery on displaced Palestinians as Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid.
- The United Nations says Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s hospitals have pushed its healthcare system to “the brink of total collapse”, and Israeli justifications that Palestinian armed groups use the facilities are “vague, broad” and “contradicted by publicly available information”.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,553 Palestinians and wounded 108,379 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 taken captive.