US President Biden authorises US$571 million in military aid to Taiwan: China objects. — 22 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 91 media reports (LINK)

Iran's energy crisis hits 'dire' point as industries are forced to shut down. — 22 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 30 media reports (LINK)

Russia is executing more and more Ukrainian prisoners of war. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

Qatar vows to stop EU gas sales if fined under due diligence law, FT reports. — 22 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 67 media reports (LINK)

Ripple has pledged $5 million in XRP to support the inauguration events of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in January. This donation marks the largest cryptocurrency contribution ever made for a political event. Other major crypto firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Ondo Finance, have also committed $1 million each to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

Saudi officials warned German police over suspect in Magdeburg Christmas market attack: Reuters. — 22 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 125 media reports (LINK)

— Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, was charged with five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm in an attack which also wounded over 200 people.

— Riyadhhad flagged the suspect to German authorities last summer,citing a post where he threatened that Germany would "pay a price" for its treatment of Saudi refugees. At the same time, al-Abdulmohsen called himself a"Saudi atheist" and evinced sympathies for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Trump: "Ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity". — 22 December 2024 (←←LINK←←)

EBCare: a smart mask that revolutionizes health monitoring by analyzing breath in real-time to detect respiratory and metabolic conditions. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

The world's oldest solar panel, in the Ticino, is doing something strange: It's been plugged in for decades. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

Coffee could get a lot more expensive in 2025. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

— Prices for higher-quality arabica coffee beans have gone up over 80% in just a year. That puts coffee prices at their highest level in almost 50 years.

Peter Schiff's 'sarcastic' post spurs birth of supposed bitcoin alternative USAcoin with millions in marketcap. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

Researchers from ETH Zurich and UC Berkeley introduce MaxInfoRL: a new reinforcement learning framework for balancing intrinsic and extrinsic exploration. — 22 December 2024 (LINK)

— In MAXINFORL, the authors use intrinsic rewards to guide exploration such that, instead of random sampling, the exploration is informed to cover the state-action spaces efficiently.

Pakistan military court jails 25 Imran Khan over 2023 attacks. — 21 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 54 media reports (LINK)

Trump: Panama will lose control of Canal if it continues to 'rip-off' US. — 21 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 104 media reports (LINK)

US military conducts precision airstrikes against Houthi targets in Sanaa. — 21 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 103 media reports (LINK)

Times of Israel Gaza Day 442: Are Gazan death figures being cynically inflated? Research fellow at the UK-based Henry Jackson Society assesses the IDF operations and dissects a new report that questions media acceptance of Hamas casualty lists. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

— According to the report, the Palestinian death toll for the Gaza war appears to include thousands of people who died of natural causes as well as incorrect figures — partly in an effort to inflate the toll of women and children.

U.S. House, Senate approve stop-gap funding bill: The deal does not include a provision to raise the debt limit. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

— Under the proposal, the 118-page bill contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday. The bill includes $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week's votes.

Lifechanging new drug successfully treats Duchenne muscular dystrophy: enhances muscle stem cell repair. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

The world's largest iceberg, twice as large as Greater London, has broken free in Antarctica and is on the move, heading towards the island of South Georgia. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

Scientists observe 'negative time' in quantum experiments. — 21 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 18 media reports (LINK)

Blake Lively accuses 'It Ends With Us' director and co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment: Lively also accuses Baldoni of hiring crisis management experts to "bury" her and destroy her reputation in retaliation for her complaints. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

AI won't tell you how to build a bomb — Unless You Say It's a 'b0mB': Anthropic's Best-of-N jailbreak technique proves how introducing random characters in a prompt is often enough to successfully bypass AI restrictions. — 21 December 2024 (LINK)

FAO says 40 million people are struggling to feed themselves in West and Central Africa: predicts number will rise to 52 million by mid-2025. — 20 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 23 media reports (LINK)

World Food Programme says three staff killed in Sudan by aerial strike. — 20 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 14 media reports (LINK)

EU, Switzerland agree deal to strengthen trade ties in 'turbulent' times after decade of talks. — 20 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 24 media reports (LINK)

Switzerland could build new nuclear power plants in response to a people's initiative. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

— The government put out for consultation a counter-proposal to the popular initiative 'Electricity for all at all times (Stop the blackout)'. The initiators want to enshrine in the Swiss constitution that all 'climate-friendly' forms of electricity generation are permitted. This would allow the construction of new nuclear power plants. The governing Federal Council is opposed to this initiative. Rather than amending the constitution, it wants to amend the Nuclear Energy Act with its counter-proposal, so that new power plants can once again be approved in Switzerland.

Swiss lawmakers urged tighter regulation of the financial sector following their investigation into Credit Suisse's collapse, with their findings casting a harsh spotlight on regulatory authorities while attributing the bank's downfall chiefly to its management. — 20 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 18 media reports (LINK)

Biden forgives $4.28 billion in student debt for 54,900 borrowers who work in public service. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

France's anti-terrorism court convicts 8 people of involvement in the 2020 Islamic extremist beheading of a teacher. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sues the operator of the Zelle payments network and the three U.S. banks that dominant transactions on it over payment fraud. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

Craig Wright, who claims he invented bitcoin, faces prison after filing $1.1 trillion suit. UK judge issues 1-year suspended prison sentence as Wright hides in Asia. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

CERN highlights celebrating 70 years in 2024: many links. — 20 December 2024 (LINK)

Tel Aviv-area school hit by Houthi missile fired from Yemen. — 19 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 32 media reports (LINK)

US imposes sanctions on Iran, Houthi-related targets. — (LINK)

MSF: Israel's assault on Gaza bears 'clear signs of ethnic cleansing'. — 19 December 2024 (LINK)

Biden carried out the highest level of deportations since 2014, new report says. — 19 December 2024 (LINK)

— Latest ICE data reveals that the Biden administration carried out a significant number of removals last fiscal year, exceeding the previous two years of Biden's presidency, and largely focused on public safety and national security threats.

Dominique Pelicot,72, jailed for 20 years in French mass rape of unconscious, drugged wife Gisele by 51 men. — 19 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 501 media reports (LINK)

— The court found 46 of the defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault, handing down sentences of between three and 15 years in jail, less than the four-to-18 years demanded by the prosecution. Police believe 72 men had gone to the house to rape and abuse Gisèle, but they were not able to identify them all.

Groundbreaking vaccine successfully treats skin and pancreatic cancer: research by scientists at IRB Barcelona has explored how inducing senescence in cancer cells can enhance immune system efficacy. — 19 December 2024 (LINK)

New class of magnets promises to supercharge tech speeds by 1000x. — 19 December 2024 (LINK)

— The findings, published in Nature, demonstrate that altermagnetic materials can be precisely controlled in microscopic devices, marking a major step forward in magnetic and material science. Like antiferromagnets, altermagnets have antiparallel magnetic moments, which means they lack a macroscopic magnetic field. Yet they also exhibit a feature of ferromagnetism called time-reversal symmetry breaking. In a new study, the researchers showed that manganese telluride (MnTe) is a ferromagnet as predicted and imaged it on the nanoscale.

— "This is all very new to science —it was only earlier this year that scientists reported experimental evidence of altermagnets — and now this latest study has taken critical step forward, providing a blueprint for how these materials can be manipulated that others can work from."

"Root Beer," "Pepsi" and "Polar" are 2024's most sought-after Rolex models in the pre-owned market, according to Bob's Watches — a leading online marketplace specializing in vintage Rolex watches. — 19 December 2024 (LINK)

— "Batman" experienced steady growth with a 10% increase in 2024. Whereas, "Root Beer" saw a massive rise of 433%, which points to a rising trend for the model. The "Pepsi" also had a significant resurgence, increasing by 134.8% in 2024, while the "Hulk" experienced flat growth after previous moderate increases. The demand for the "Polar" also rose by 157%, which indicates its growing appeal in the pre-owned market for Rolex.

Congo's health ministry says Disease X is severe malaria. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 65 media reports (LINK)

— The disease resulted in 143 deaths in the Kwango province during November. Since October, 592 cases have been reported, with a fatality rate of 6.2 per cent.

Governor Newsom declares state of emergency in California due to bird flu: An estimated 61 cases of bird flu have been reported in 16 states across the US. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 293 media reports (LINK)

Zelensky admits Kyiv is too weak to reclaim land from Russia. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 43 media reports (LINK)

EU opens investigation into Chinese-owned TikTok over Romanian election interference. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 202 media reports (LINK)

Russia claims to have developed cancer vaccine, plans free distribution. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 68 media reports (LINK)

— "We don't yet know whether or not the vaccine will only target certain cancers, or if it can be used on a variety of diseases. Additionally, no one has elaborated on the effectiveness of the vaccine or even so much as shared its name."

US issues fresh sanctions on Russia related to Nord Stream 2 pipeline. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 11 media reports (LINK)

China and India agree to work on solution to their border dispute in the Himalayas. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 60 media reports (LINK)

Fed cuts rates by a quarter point to a target range of 4.25%-4.5%, indicates fewer reductions ahead. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 400 media reports (LINK)

US repatriates 3 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including one held 17 years without charge. — 18 December 2024 (LINK)

— The U.S. has transferred two Malaysian detainees at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison to their home country, after they pleaded guilty to charges related to deadly 2002 bombings in Bali and agreed to testify against the alleged ringleader of that and other attacks, the Pentagon.

— The transfers, and the repatriation Tuesday of a Kenyan man who'd been held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charge, come as rights groups and others push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge, and amid uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration's plans for Guantanamo.

'World's first' grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant announced in the US. — 18 December 2024 (LINK)

Ireland fines Meta €251 million for data breach impacting 29 million users. — 18 December 2024 (LINK)

Two New York men die from fungal infections linked to using bat guano as cannabis fertilizer: one of the cultivators purchased the bat excrement online, while the other retrieved it from his attic following a bat infestation. — 18 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 39 media reports (LINK)

Zurich researcher leads new study: Ecological crises are interconnected and must be tackled in a coordinated way. — 18 December 2024 (LINK)

— The report, authored by 165 experts from 57 countries, analyzes interconnections, future scenarios and options for action surrounding the themes of biodiversity, water, food, health and climate.

— Offshore wind farms reduce CO2 emissions but disrupt marine habitats. Likewise, intensive agricultural practices may increase food production but harm soil biodiversity and contaminate groundwater.

— The authors identified a total of 71 options, divided into 10 fields of action. Some measures positively impact all five elements, such as preserving and replanting forests or protecting mangroves in coastal areas.

Powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastates Vanuatu's Capital Port Vila. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 349 media reports (LINK)

Mozambique: Intense Tropical Cyclone Chido: At least 174,000 people have been reported as affected but numbers may increase as assessments are completed. The system moved to Malawi on 16 December, then Tete province and it is expected to dissipate near Zimbabwe on 17 December. — 17 December 2024 (LINK)

Ukraine claims it's behind Moscow blast that killed head of Russia's nuclear defense forces: bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 558 media reports (LINK)

US lawmakers propose set of bills to hit China over fentanyl trade. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 9 media reports (LINK)

Yang Tengbo, linked to Prince Andrew, businessman accused of being a spy for China, banned from the country. — 17 December 2024 (LINK)

— UK judges also issued another ruling on an alleged Chinese agent, Christine Lee, upholding a decision by MI5 to warn she had infiltrated Parliament.

At least 100,000 bodies in Syrian mass grave, US advocacy group head says. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: media reports (LINK)

China executes former official in $412 million corruption case. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK)

Argentina's economy exits recession in milestone for Javier Milei. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 51 media reports (LINK)

Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted. — 17 December 2024 (LINK)

— Study on hydroxychloroquine by Didier Raoult and colleagues pulled on ethical and scientific grounds.

Trump names ambassadors for Japan, Dominican Republic, Austria, Luxembourg and Uruguay. — 17 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 28 media reports (LINK)

Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson gets nearly 10 years in prison in case about failed startup Ozy Media. — 17 December 2024 (LINK)

— Watson, 55, and the now-defunct company were found guilty last summer of charges including wire fraud conspiracy. He has denied the allegations and plans to appeal.

Scientists warn of 'unprecedented' risks of research into mirror life. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

— A group of 38 scientists working in nine countries has sounded an alarm about the potential creation of mirror bacteria — synthetic organisms in which the molecular structure found in nature is reversed and could put humans, animals and plants at risk of exposure to dangerous pathogens. The scientists argued that the possibly lethal risks posed by this new field of research are "unprecedented" and "overlooked."

EU slaps sanctions on dozens more Russian officials and targets its shadow oil and gas fleet. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

— Sanctions cover two top North Korean defense officials, a military unit blamed for an attack on a Kyiv children's hospital and the heads of companies in the energy sector.

Three countries make history after signing agreement at COP29: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement to produce and transport green energy across the Caspian and Black seas. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

US strikes kill 12 Islamic State group militants in Syria. — 16 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 51 media reports (LINK)

Virginia man convicted of ISIS crypto financing scheme. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

— His primary co-conspirator was a British-born ISIS member residing in Syria.

Freed prisoner who said he was a victim of the Assad regime was an intelligence officer, locals say. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

Trump not eligible for immunity in New York Stormy Daniels hush money case, judge rules. — 16 December 2024 (LINK)

Authorities fear 'several hundred' killed by Cyclone Chido in French Territory of Mayotte. — 16 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 296 media reports (LINK)

Bolivia issues arrest warrant for ex-president Morales over minor 'trafficking'. — 16 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 138 media reports (LINK)