Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday a deal to return hostages held in the Gaza Strip has been reached, after his office had said earlier there were last minute snags in finalizing a ceasefire that would pause 15 months of war. Netanyahu said he would convene his security Cabinet later Friday and then the government to approve the long-awaited agreement. Netanyahu’s statement appeared to clear the way for the Israeli government to approve of the deal, which would pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and see dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the remains of their homes in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes, meanwhile, killed at least 72 people in the war-ravaged territory on Thursday - AP
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have started discussing the possibility of sending British and French soldiers to Ukraine as peacekeeping forces if Moscow and Kyiv reach a ceasefire agreement, The Telegram reported. Sources from the U.K. government told the newspaper that Starmer has yet to reach a final decision. On January 15, Bloomberg reported that the British government was in “intense discussions” about the possibility of deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine. The agency’s sources said that the idea faced opposition from members of Starmer’s office and in other parts of the U.K. government due to security concerns. Bloomberg noted that Starmer was expected to raise the issue of peacekeepers during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On January 16, the Associated Press reported that Starmer had traveled to Kyiv on his first visit, a trip that had not been previously announced.
World Briefing: January 16, 2025
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A SpaceX Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas on Thursday, forcing airline flights over the Gulf of Mexico to alter course to avoid falling debris and setting back Elon Musk’s flagship rocket program. The spacecraft — a new and upgraded model making its debut — was supposed to soar across the Gulf of Mexico from Texas on a near loop around the world similar to previous test flights. SpaceX had packed it with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. Hours earlier in Florida, another billionaire’s rocket company — Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin — launched the newest supersized rocket, New Glenn. The rocket reached orbit on its first flight, successfully placing an experimental satellite thousands of miles above Earth. But the first-stage booster was destroyed, missing its targeted landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic - France 24
The number of journalists jailed worldwide reached a near all-time high in 2024, as governments continue an intense crackdown, according to a new report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. China (50), Israel (43), and Myanmar (35) emerged as the world’s three worst offenders in another record-setting year for journalists, followed by Belarus (31) and Russia (30). A total of 361 journalists were behind bars on December 1, 2024, the second-highest number since the global record set in 2022, when CPJ documented at least 370 imprisoned in connection with their work. A total of 361 journalists were behind bars on December 1, 2024, the second-highest number since the global record set in 2022, when CPJ documented at least 370 imprisoned in connection with their work. Jailings are not limited to the mainland and include British citizen and Hong Kong-based entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, who has been held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong since 2020. Israel was catapulted to second place in the 2024 census — more than doubling its 2023 record — as it tried to silence coverage from the occupied Palestinian territories. A total of 108 journalists were imprisoned in the Middle East and North Africa, almost half of those as a result of the Israel-Gaza war.
China saw a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent in its gross domestic product for 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics has announced. Year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter was 5.4 per cent, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.6 per cent. However, the annual economic growth was higher than the World Bank’s forecast of 4.5 per cent, itself an upward revision of 0.4 percentage points from the annual rate the bank predicted in June. This was primarily attributed to the boost provided by recent policy measures, and a strong export momentum expected to continue through the end of 2024. However, the global financial institution cited factors like weak consumer confidence, a sluggish labor market and the adverse effects of declining real estate prices on wealth as likely to hinder consumption growth. By 2026, the bank said, the economy is expected to see a further decline in growth to 4 per cent, in line with a potential slowdown. “With a declining population, further accumulation of public and corporate debt and slower productivity growth, both consumption and investment are expected to remain weak.” - SCMP
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