China to increase curbs on video gaming industry (www.bbc.com)
Israel-Gaza live news: UN supports resolution on Gaza which stops short of calling for ceasefire (www.bbc.com)
Anger over Macron's defence of French actor Depardieu, accused of rape (www.rfi.fr)
WSJ News Exclusive | How Putin’s Right-Hand Man Took Out Prigozhin (www.wsj.com)
Nikolai Patrushev, a top ally of the Russian leader for decades, put in motion the assassination of the mutinous chief of the Wagner mercenary group...
Russia blasts US on frozen assets, missiles as Ukraine bombardment persists (www.aljazeera.com)
‘Busiest Christmas I have seen’: families turn to food banks in Australia’s cost-of-living crisis (www.theguardian.com)
Swiss cocaine so cheap and widely used they’re considering legalising it (www.telegraph.co.uk)
British teenager behind GTA 6 hack receives indefinite hospital order (www.theguardian.com)
A Times Investigation Tracked Israel’s Use of One of Its Most Destructive Bombs in South Gaza (www.nytimes.com)
During the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, Israel routinely used one of its biggest and most destructive bombs in areas it designated safe for civilians, according to an analysis of visual evidence by The New York Times.
Rush of new defense deals with US shows Europe’s growing concern over Russia (www.politico.com)
Six European countries have inked defense pacts with the U.S. this month....
China vows to keep up military pressure on the Philippines as territorial dispute grows tenser (apnews.com)
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the country will maintain military pressure on the Philippines amid a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea that could involve U.S. forces defending their treaty partner....
Former Swiss banker admits helping wealthy US taxpayers hide assets in Singapore and elsewhere | The Straits Times (www.straitstimes.com)
Greek government says it stands by same-sex marriage pledge even after opposition from the Church (apnews.com)
India's Parliament votes on key bills with over 140 opposition members suspended (www.npr.org)
Russians accused of carving swastikas on captured Ukrainians (www.firstpost.com)
A Ukrainian soldier named Serhiy, returning from Russian captivity, has reportedly been found mutilated with swastikas carved into his forehead, as disclosed by Dr. Olexandr Turkevich, who is treating him....
Cocoa grown illegally in a Nigerian rainforest heads to companies that supply major chocolate makers (apnews.com)
Men in dusty workwear trudge through a thicket, making their way up a hill where sprawling plantations lay tucked in a Nigerian rainforest whose trees have been hacked away to make room for cocoa bound for places like Europe and the U.S....
To build a better world, stop chasing economic growth (www.nature.com)
Auschwitz Museum Decries Israeli Mayor's 'Sick' Call to 'Empty' Gaza (www.commondreams.org)
CommonDreams.org
“It is Terrorism”: Pope Francis Denounces Killing of Two Christian Women in Gaza (www.vanityfair.com)
VanityFair.com
Award ceremony suspended after writer compares Gaza to Nazi-era Jewish ghettos (www.theguardian.com)
A German foundation has said it will no longer be awarding a prize for political thinking to a leading Russian-American journalist after criticizing as “unacceptable” a recent essay by the writer in which they made a comparison between Gaza and a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Videos show Israeli soldiers in Gaza burning food, vandalizing a shop and ransacking private homes | CNN (edition.cnn.com)
Israel's open rejection of a 'two-state solution' undermines US Middle East policy (news.sky.com)
NewsSky.com
Soldiers Surrender, Bases Fall and a Powerful Army No Longer Seems Invincible (www.wsj.com)
Bulgaria dismantles a Soviet army monument that has dominated the Sofia skyline since 1954 (www.bloomberg.com)
Israel drove suitcases stuffed with cash into Gaza to keep Hamas in power (www.businessinsider.com)
Israeli officials are facing backlash after years of Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu quietly allowing Hamas to remain in power....
