General news

• Ecuador confirms incinerated bodies belong to missing ‘Guayaquil Four’ boys

  31-12-2024 23:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Sixteen air force personnel who apprehended boys being held in custody as inquiry into deaths continuesEcuador’s attorney general’s office has confirmed that incinerated bodies found on Christmas Eve belong to the four children missing since early December, in a case posing a severe challenge to President Daniel Noboa’s “war on drugs”.The four boys – all black, aged between 11 and 15, and residents of Las Malvinas, a poor area in the country’s largest ci
  
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• North Carolina Gov. Cooper commutes sentences of 15 death row inmates

  31-12-2024 22:44 via nbcnews.com
  
  North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, on his last day in office Tuesday, commuted the death sentences of 15 inmates to life in prison without parole.
  
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• Migrants accused of killing Mexican border agent after he asked for their IDs: officials

  31-12-2024 22:31 via foxnews.com
  
  Three suspected migrants were arrested Monday for allegedly killing a Mexican immigration agent who had asked to see their identification documents, Mexican officials say. The migrants — two from Venezuela and one from Colombia — were arrested hours after an alleged attack on the agent, who was found earlier in the day with no signs of life, state security and migration officials said. The attack took place around 30 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.Stat
  
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• At least 66 people die after a truck plunges into a river in southern Ethiopia

  31-12-2024 20:29 via foxnews.com
  
  At least 66 people have died after a truck plunged into a river in southern Ethiopia, a hospital director said Monday.The accident took place Sunday when an old, overcrowded truck that was contracted by wedding guests fell off the Gelan Bridge, where villagers said traffic crashes have happened before.IN ETHIOPIA, AT LEAST 183 KILLED IN 2 MONTHS DUE TO CONFLICT IN AMHARA REGION, UN SAYSThe medical director at Bona General Hospital in the southern Sidama region, Lemma Lagide, told The Associated
  
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• Airline says pre-flight inspection of South Korea plane showed 'no issues': report

  31-12-2024 20:25 via foxnews.com
  
  The site of Sunday's South Korean budget airline Jeju Air's plane crash is being combed through by U.S. investigators, with some from the aircraft's manufacturer. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 died, making it South Korea's most fatal plane crash in decades. Investigators are hoping evidence collected from the scene will help them figure out why the pilot attempted the landing after declaring an emergency.A pre-flight inspection found "no issues," the airline said,
  
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• Palestinian official predicts Trump will 'destroy' Iran, leading to breakdown of remaining Hamas cells: report

  31-12-2024 17:35 via foxnews.com
  
  A Palestinian Authority (PA) official reportedly predicted that President-elect Donald Trump will "destroy Iran" and that Tehran's weakening will effectively break down the remaining Hamas terror cells. Mohammad Hamdan, secretary-general of the PA’s ruling Fatah Party, reportedly made the comments to the New York Post on Dec. 19 during a meeting between the outlet and other top PA leaders in Nablus, about an hour south of the West Bank city of Jenin, where Western-backed PA forces hav
  
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• Johnnie Walker, BBC Radio DJ, dies aged 79

  31-12-2024 17:18 via theguardian.com
  
  The pioneering presenter was best known for hosting Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock ShowVeteran BBC DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced.Walker, who hosted Radio 2’s Sounds of the 70s and The Radio 2 Rock Show, began his career as a pirate DJ in the 60s on Radio Caroline, before joining Radio 1 in 1969. He left the station after causing controversy by describing the Bay City Rollers as “musical garbage” and clashing with his bosses over an i
  
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• ‘Preying on investors’: how software firm MicroStrategy’s big bet on bitcoin went stratospheric

  31-12-2024 17:14 via theguardian.com
  Firm’s share price has risen twentyfold after it changed its strategy to become first ‘bitcoin treasury company’In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure US software firm decided to diversify. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough.Instead, it would branch out b
  
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• Prisoner death spurs plan for state policy reforms by New York governor

  31-12-2024 17:13 via theguardian.com
  
  After reported fatal beating of Robert Brooks, Kathy Hochul says she will not be ‘satisfied’ until system’s culture shiftsNew York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, announced a number of policy changes to the state’s department of corrections and community supervision (DOCCS) on Monday, following the release of brutal footage showing correctional guards apparently beating a detained man to death.Hochul visited the Marcy correctional facility following the death of Robert Br
  
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• New Year’s Eve celebrations: Sydney welcomes 2025 with spectacular fireworks display – live

  31-12-2024 17:13 via theguardian.com
  Thousands of revellers in Australia pack into viewing points to see fireworks as people around the world prepare to celebrate new yearAnd there are many events are taking place around the world ahead of the midnight celebrations.There is already a massive crowd in Chongqing in western China ahead of midnight. Continue reading...
  
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• South Korea plane crash investigators turn to black boxes in search for vital clues

  31-12-2024 17:09 via theguardian.com
  Experts hope flight recorders will provide answers to key questions surrounding crash in which 179 diedAs investigators set to work unpicking the cause of Sunday’s devastating plane crash in South Korea, the black boxes carried on the aircraft will be of prime importance, with retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder under way.All but two of the 181 people onboard died in the disaster, with the victims aged from three to 78. The Korean airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, s
  
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• US imposes sanctions on Russia and Iran groups over election interference

  31-12-2024 17:08 via theguardian.com
  Treasury department said entities tried to ‘stoke socio-political tensions and influence’ the 2024 US electionsThe United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia, accusing them of attempting to interfere in the US election this year.The US treasury department in a statement said the entities – a subsidiary of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and an organization affiliated with Russia’s military intelligence agency – aimed to “
  
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• UK parliament could be next ‘Notre Dame inferno’ unless restoration is expedited

  31-12-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Peter Hain, a former Commons leader, laments news refurbishment plans will not be published until end of 2025Parliament could become the next “Notre Dame inferno”, a former Commons leader has warned, as it was confirmed proposals for a multi-billion restoration will not be published until the end of 2025.Lord Peter Hain, the former Commons leader who was a cabinet minister under Tony Blair, said the restoration of the Paris cathedral showed how fast work could be done when politician
  
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• South Korea plane crash investigations focus on role of airport embankment

  31-12-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Jeju Air flight burst into flames when it hit barrier at end of runway after crash-landing at Muan internationalSouth Korean authorities seeking answers to the country’s deadliest plane disaster are investigating the role of a hardened barrier at the end of a runway that was hit after the jet crash-landed on Sunday.The structure may only partly explain why Sunday’s Jeju Air flight ended in such a violent manner. All but two of the 181 people onboard died when the plane slid down the
  
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• Restoration unlocks vision of Hebden Bridge photographer Alice Longstaff

  31-12-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Vast collection of negatives shed light on working-class pioneer little known outside West Yorkshire townShe was a working-class woman who took amazing photographs for 70 years, yet she is little known precisely because, some would argue, she was a working-class woman.Alice Longstaff, who died in 1992, was well known in her home town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire but not elsewhere. Her fans hope a new book of her photographs will change that. Continue reading...
  
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• Xi says China’s economy on course to expand by 5% despite Trump concerns

  31-12-2024 16:52 via theguardian.com
  
  President seeks to allay fears that world’s second-largest economy will falter in 2025 because of high US tariffsChina’s economy is on course to expand by 5% in 2025, according to its president, Xi Jinping, meeting official growth targets and rebutting concerns that Donald Trump’s incoming US administration will harm Beijing’s prospects in the new year.Using his annual address to the nation, Xi sought to allay fears that the world’s second-largest economy would falt
  
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• Menendez brothers’ lawyer to seek transfer of case citing conflict of interest

  31-12-2024 16:50 via theguardian.com
  Attorney wants case to be transferred to state before new prosecutor takes office as resentencing hearing nearsThe public and legal drive to free Erik and Lyle Menendez, the notorious Los Angeles brothers who murdered their parents Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez in 1989, has taken a new political turn as they await a resentencing hearing a month into the new year.An attorney – representing 24 family members of Kitty and Jose Menendez who support the brothers’ release &nda
  
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• Trump confidant Elon Musk’s China ties pose security risk, ex-general warns

  31-12-2024 16:47 via theguardian.com
  Op-ed highlights business interests of tech billionaire who spent a quarter of a billion dollars to elect TrumpElon Musk’s mounting influence in Donald Trump’s inner circle has triggered alarm from a former US military chief, who warns the tech billionaire and Trump confidant’s deep ties to Beijing could compromise national security.Lt Gen Russel Honoré condemned Musk’s web of Chinese business interests – including $1.4bn in state bank loans and a Tesla facto
  
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• Netanyahu goes against doctor’s orders, appears in Israeli parliament after surgery

  31-12-2024 16:47 via foxnews.com
  
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in the hall of the Israeli parliament on Tuesday for a crucial budget-related vote, despite the objections of doctors following prostate surgery on Sunday night, TPS-IL, The Press Service of Israel reports.Netanyahu, 75, was accompanied to the Knesset Plenum by his personal physician, Dr. Tzvi Berkowitz and appeared in good spirits as he took his seat for a brief appearance. The Israeli leader went under the knife on Sunday to hav
  
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• Israel’s hospital attacks have put Gaza healthcare on brink of collapse, says UN

  31-12-2024 16:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Assaults on medical facilities could amount to war crimes in certain circumstances, human rights office report says Israel’s pattern of sustained attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and medical workers has brought the coastal strip’s healthcare system to the brink of “total collapse”, according to a report by the UN’s human rights office.The report, which catalogues the besieging and targeting of hospitals and their immediate grounds with explosive weapons, the killin
  
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• Russia winds down gas supply to Europe via Ukraine as transit deal expires

  31-12-2024 16:18 via theguardian.com
  Exports to cease on New Year’s Day as Europe faces cold snap and higher than usual fall in reserves since SeptemberEurope will receive the last Russian gas sent via Ukraine’s pipelines in the early hours of the new year as the continent braces for a plunge in temperatures that could hasten the drain on gas reserves.The Russian state energy company, Gazprom, is expected to cut off its exports to Europe through Ukraine’s pipelines on New Year’s Day after a gas transit deal
  
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• FTSE records strongest annual gain since 2021 as aviation stocks take off

  31-12-2024 16:16 via theguardian.com
  UK’s blue-chip stock index posts rise of 5.7% for 2024, despite lagging behind Wall Street in past yearThe UK’s blue-chip stock index has recorded its strongest annual gain since 2021, despite lagging behind Wall Street over the past year.The FTSE 100 index, which tracks the largest companies listed in London, posted a rise of 5.7% for 2024. Continue reading...
  
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• US releases one of longest-held Guantánamo Bay detainees to Tunisia

  31-12-2024 16:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi was held without charge for more than 20 years as prison facilitates burst of transfersA Tunisian national who had become one of Guantánamo Bay’s longest-held detainees has been released from the US military compound, the Pentagon announced on Monday night.Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi was transferred to his home country after being held without charge since the detention facility opened in January 2002. The 59-year-old appeared in one of the detention centre&r
  
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• Jimmy Carter’s crowning achievements came after having the most powerful job in the world

  31-12-2024 15:56 via theguardian.com
  
  The Georgian was a campaigner for human rights, democracy and public health – and a devoted husbandIt was the spring of 2014 and I was at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington to interview Jimmy Carter. The former president had just published a new book on women’s rights and was keen to make his case. The abuse of women and girls was, he believed, the worst human rights violation of the time and he was determined to issue a global call to action on the subject.He argued passionat
  
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• More than 1m people flock to Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks spectacular

  31-12-2024 15:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Nine tonnes of fireworks are set off around the harbour, while Brisbane and Melbourne also enjoyed showsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralians have bid farewell to 2024, ringing in the new year with one “world-famous” fireworks display and many others not so famous.More than a million people rushed to the shores of the Sydney Harbour and hundreds of thousands more to the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne to watch the midnight displays. Continue rea
  
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• Arrest warrant issued for impeached South Korean president as political crisis deepens

  31-12-2024 15:07 via foxnews.com
  
  A South Korean court approved arrest warrants on Tuesday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office and residence amid a criminal investigation into his martial law decree earlier this month.The move marks the first time a sitting president of the country has faced arrest and follows weeks of intense political turmoil in South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally. The country is also dealing with the deadly Jeju Air plane crash that kille
  
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• Fears Australia may face GP shortage as figures reveal almost 10% now aged over 70

  31-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  GPs’ peak body is concerned a proposed new medical test for older doctors could force them from the systemGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlmost 10% of Australia’s GPs are aged over 70, new figures have revealed, with concerns that a proposal to introduce health checks for older doctors may worsen workforce shortages.According to data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), 8.8% of all GPs in Australia – 3,142 of 35,514 prac
  
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• Curbs on transgender rights were proposed for Australia’s 2004 Marriage Act, cabinet papers show

  31-12-2024 14:05 via theguardian.com
  
  John Howard’s government legislated that marriage must be ‘the union of a man and a woman’, but excluded any reference to birth genderGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJohn Howard was given the option of adding extra words to his 2004 Marriage Act amendment that would have limited transgender people’s ability to marry by making eligibility based on gender at birth, but chose not to pursue it.Cabinet papers from 2004, released by the National Archi
  
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• Australia kept quiet about early deployment of forces ahead of Iraq war, cabinet papers show

  31-12-2024 14:05 via theguardian.com
  
  The Howard government sent military personnel to the Middle East well before officially authorising Australia’s involvementGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Howard government avoided disclosing that it had sent military forces to the Middle East months before authorising Australia’s official involvement in the Iraq war in 2003, cabinet records show.Cabinet documents from 2003 and 2004 released by the National Archives contain the first confirmation of wha
  
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• English councils pay millions to move homeless families out of big cities

  31-12-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Guardian analysis reveals families often given little notice to relocate to already deprived communities far away with no extra support‘Take this house or you’re homeless’: families sent to a Durham town from LondonCouncils in England are paying millions to relocation companies to help them permanently move homeless families out of big cities and the south-east in a practice that has been called a “national scandal”.A Guardian analysis of local government spending d
  
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• France carried out bombing raid on Islamic State targets in Syria, defence minister says – as it happened

  31-12-2024 13:55 via theguardian.com
  
  French aircraft carry out strikes on Islamic State positions, says French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu. This live blog is closedAs the time approaches 3pm in Tel Aviv, Israel, here’s a roundup of today’s news in the Middle East.A UN report has said Israel’s attacks on hospitals in and around Gaza have led the area’s healthcare system to the brink of “total collapse”. The UN Human Rights Office says its report raises concerns about how much Israel is comp
  
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• Teen shark attack survivor: 'I wake up every day feeling grateful'

  31-12-2024 13:50 via today.com
  A Colorado teenager who survived a brutal shark attack while on a family vacation is speaking out for the first time, recounting the terrifying ordeal and her road to recovery. NBC’s Morgan Chesky reports for TODAY.
  
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• FBI issues new warning after another NBA star's home burglarized

  31-12-2024 13:34 via today.com
  The FBI has issued a new warning to athletes following a surge in burglaries targeting professional players, with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić being the latest victim. NBC’s Kaylee Hartung reports for TODAY.
  
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• 1 of 2 survivors of South Korea plane crash is awake and speaking

  31-12-2024 13:34 via today.com
  United States investigators have joined the South Korean plane crash investigation, seeking answers in the fatal incident. It comes as one of the only two survivors is now awake and speaking to his doctors. NBC’s Steve Patterson reports for TODAY.
  
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• New Year's Eve weather forecast: What to expect across the US

  31-12-2024 13:21 via today.com
  End-of-year storms are threatening to put a damper on New Year’s Eve plans, with heavy pockets of rain expected in various areas across the U.S. TODAY’s Dylan Dreyer tracks the forecast.
  
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• Kung fu nuns show off martial art skills at monastery reopening in Nepal

  31-12-2024 13:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Nuns mark opening of Druk Amitabha nunnery with performance, five years after Covid closureAbout a dozen nuns performed hand chops and high kicks, some of them wielding swords, as they showed off their martial art skills to hundreds of cheering wellwishers at the reopening of their nunnery in Nepal.The nuns of the hilltop Druk Amitabha monastery put on the show of strength to mark the institution’s reopening five years after Covid forced it to close its doors to the public. Continue readin
  
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• Three speakers, a right-wing rebellion and Democratic upheaval: Inside the wild 118th Congress

  31-12-2024 13:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  The 118th Congress saw three men hold the speaker’s gavel and a president pressured to drop his re-election bid. Those power struggles will reverberate into the new Congress that begins Jan. 3.
  
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• More women are planning to vacation alone in 2025

  31-12-2024 13:00 via nbcnews.com
  
  Tour operators, travel agents and cruise lines are fielding growing demand from solo female travelers, especially older women flush with disposable income.
  
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• New Year 2025: World waves goodbye to tumultuous 12 months

  31-12-2024 12:57 via nbcnews.com
  
  Millions around the world were on Tuesday getting set to ring in the New Year, with celebrations briefly outshining conflict in some parts of the globe.
  
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• World of dance mourns death of ‘brilliant light’ Dada Masilo at age of 39

  31-12-2024 12:40 via theguardian.com
  
  South African dancer and choreographer died unexpectedly after a brief illness, her family saysThe dance world is mourning the internationally acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in hospital at the weekend aged 39.Masilo died unexpectedly on Sunday after a brief illness, a spokesperson for her family said in a statement. Continue reading...
  
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• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reach settlement 8 years after filing for divorce

  31-12-2024 12:21 via nbcnews.com
  
  Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have finally reached a divorce settlement, eight years after legal filings confirmed their acrimonious split, a lawyer for Jolie confirmed Monday night.
  
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• Ukraine: How the war shifted in 2024

  31-12-2024 12:00 via foxnews.com
  
  As the third year of war in Ukraine nears a close as the new year approaches and ahead of the Feb. 24, 2025, anniversary date, new battle lines have once again been established after Russia made advances in the east and Kyiv opened a new battlefront, this time in Russia.The war that had already plagued Europe, the U.S. and, to an extent, the Middle East, costing a whopping $278 billion in aid for Ukraine, including nearly $87 billion from Washington, expanded to Asia in 2024 as ge
  
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• Netherlands to open archive on people accused of wartime Nazi collaboration

  31-12-2024 11:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Some descendants are apprehensive but a historian says making 30m pages of records public is ‘important step’For 80 years, details of their ancestors’ collaboration with the Nazis have been buried in spotless rows of filing cabinets in The Hague. But thousands of Dutch families face having their relatives’ history laid bare later this week when an archive opens on 425,000 people accused of siding with the occupier during the second world war.On Thursday, the central archi
  
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• He’s one of college football’s winningest coaches — yet his own team’s fans aren’t sold on him

  31-12-2024 11:01 via nbcnews.com
  
  Ryan Day is one of college football’s winningest coaches, but he's feeling pressure from Ohio State fans for a 1-4 record vs. Michigan.
  
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• US Treasury says it was hacked by China in 'major incident'

  31-12-2024 10:43 via bbc.com
  
  A Chinese state-sponsored hacker broke into the US Treasury Department's systems and accessed some unclassified documents.
  
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• Arrest warrant issued for impeached S Korea president Yoon

  31-12-2024 10:40 via bbc.com
  
  Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over his botched martial law attempt.
  
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• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reach divorce deal

  31-12-2024 10:08 via bbc.com
  
  Jolie's lawyers say the couple have reached an agreement following an eight-year legal battle.
  
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• NYC congestion pricing set to start as planned Sunday after ruling in final lawsuit

  31-12-2024 09:56 via nbcnews.com
  
  With just days to go before the nation’s first congestion toll begins in New York City, the pricing plan may have passed its final hurdle in a ruling from a U.S. district court who heard a suit from the state of New Jersey on environmental grounds, according to the MTA.
  
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• Beijing denies involvement in US treasury cyber-attack

  31-12-2024 09:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Claims a Chinese state-sponsored actor was behind breach this month are ‘groundless’, says foreign ministryBeijing has hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US treasury department, calling the claims “groundless”.The breach was orchestrated via a third-party cybersecurity service provider. Hackers were able to gain access to a key used by the vendor to override certain parts of the system, according to a letter the tre
  
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• Nearly 2,300 applicants died waiting for a parent visa to Australia with processing times of up to 31 years

  31-12-2024 09:38 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Providing an opportunity for people to apply for a visa that will probably never come seems both cruel and unnecessary’, review saysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWait times for visas to bring parents to Australia are so long that nearly 2,300 applicants died before receiving a visa in the last three years, according to the home affairs department.The department released the data to Senate estimates, revealing that 2,297 parent visa applicants and 87 othe
  
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