At least 124 people die after plane skids off runway in South Korea and bursts into flame: the Jeju Air plane from Bangkok attempted a belly landing at Muan International Airport after its landing gear reportedly failed to deploy. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

IDF eliminates 14 Hamas terrorists, including six who invaded Israel on October 7. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

Barbados fishing industry still reeling from July hurricane aftermath. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

UN chief hails former President Jimmy Carter as 'peacemaker, human rights champion'. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

— The Democratic Party icon lived longer than any president in US history, serving one term between 1977 and 1981, going on burnish his reputation on the international stage by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and establishing a major hub for diplomacy and conflict resolution in the form of the Carter Center — which advocates for democracy and human rights around the world.

— In his statement Mr. Guterres highlighted President Carter's leadership while in office and overall contributions to international peace and security, "including the landmark Camp David Accords" — the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel which remains in force.

— The Secretary-General also noted the gains made through the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks which led to the 1979 SALT II Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union — limiting nuclear proliferation — together with the Panama Canal Treaties which enabled ownership of the key waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic to return to Panama in 1999.

— "President Carter's commitment to international peace and human rights also found full expression after he left the presidency," said the UN chief. "He played a key role in conflict mediation, election monitoring, the promotion of democracy, and disease prevention and eradication," Mr. Guterres added."These and other efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and helped advance the work of the United Nations."

— President Carter, together with former South African President Nelson Mandela, together founded The Elders group, to advance the human rights and peace agenda. Mr. Guterres said President Carter would be remembered "for his solidarity with the vulnerable, his abiding grace, and his unrelenting faith in the common good and our common humanity." He concluded by saying the former president's "legacy as a peacemaker, human rights champion and humanitarian will endure."

Kaiser Health News: Jimmy Carter took on the awful Guinea worm when no one else would — and triumphed. — (LINK)

— Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn't start any new wars during his term as president. But after he left office, he launched a war against "neglected" diseases — diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis ... and a disease caused by a nasty little bug called a Guinea worm.

Robert C. Donnelly, Gonzaga University: Jimmy Carter helped dismantle the challenge of the Soviet Union with focus on human rights. — (LINK)

— Critics have described Carter's foreign policies as "ineffectual" and "hopelessly muddled," and their formulation demonstrated "weakness and indecision." As a historian researching Carter's foreign policy initiatives, I conclude his overseas policies were far more effective than critics have claimed.

— "The criticism of Carter's foreign policies seems particularly mistaken when it comes to the Cold War, a period defined by decades of hostility, mutual distrust and arms buildup after World War II between the U.S. and Russia, then known as the Soviet Union or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)."

— "Carter insisted nations provide basic freedoms for their people — a moral weapon against which repressive leaders could not defend. Carter soon openly criticized the Soviets for denying Russian Jews their basic civil rights, a violation of human rights protections outlined in the diplomatic agreement called the Helsinki Accords. Carter's team underscored these violations in arms control talks. The CIA flooded the USSR with books and articles to incite human rights activism. And Carter publicly supported Russian dissidents — including pro-democracy activist Andrei Sakharov — who were fighting an ideological war against socialist leaders. This proved effective in sparking Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's social and political reforms of the late 1980s.

— In December 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in response to the assassination of the Soviet-backed Afghan leader, Nur Mohammad Taraki. The invasion effectively ended an existing détente between the U.S. and USSR. Beginning in July 1979, the U.S. was providing advice and nonlethal supplies to the mujahideen rebelling against the Soviet-backed regime. After the invasion, National Security Advisor Brzezinski advised Carter to respond aggressively to it. So the CIA and U.S. allies delivered weapons to the mujahideen, a program later expanded under Reagan. Carter's move effectively engaged the Soviets in a proxy war that began to bleed the Soviet Union.

— Carter also imposed an embargo on U.S. grain sales to the Soviets in 1980. Agriculture was the USSR's greatest economic weakness since the 1960s. The country's unfavorable weather and climate contributed to successive poor growing seasons, and their heavy industrial development left the agricultural sector underfunded.

— In 1980, Carter pushed further to punish the Soviets. He convinced the U.S. Olympic Committee to refrain from competing in the upcoming Moscow Olympics while the Soviets repressed their people and occupied Afghanistan. He also embargoed U.S. technology and other goods needed to produce the Olympics. He also stopped NBC from paying the final US$20 million owed to the USSR to broadcast the Olympics. China, Germany, Canada and Japan — superpowers of sport — also participated in the boycott. Historian Allen Guttmann said, "The USSR lost a significant amount of international legitimacy on the Olympic question." In America, public opinion supported Carter's bold move — 73% of Americans favored the boycott.

— Carter also announced in his speech a five-year spending initiative to modernize and strengthen the military because he recognized the post-Vietnam military cuts weakened the U.S. against the USSR. Carter also announced in his speech a five-year spending initiative to modernize and strengthen the military because he recognized the post-Vietnam military cuts weakened the U.S. against the USSR. Ronald Reagan argued during the 1980 presidential campaign that, "Jimmy Carter risks our national security". In 1985, however, President Reagan publicly acknowledged that his predecessor demonstrated great timing in modernizing and strengthening the nation's forces, which further increased economic and diplomatic pressure on the Soviets. Reagan admitted that he felt "very bad" for misstating Carter's policies and record on defense.

NBC: Jimmy Carter's little-known NASA legacy: he saved NASA's space shuttle program — giving the U.S. perhaps its most iconic and recognizable space vehicle. — (LINK)

Bill McKibben: Jimmy Carter, green-energy visionary. — (LINK)

— Carter: "Piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. Ours is the most wasteful nation on earth. Owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning."

— "Reagan had no qualms about drilling everywhere: the price of gas dropped, cars turned into S.U.V.s, and we started driving the Earth toward the edge of the cliff. "

—"Joe Biden — who was the first senator to endorse Jimmy Carter in his 1976 run for the White House — tried to throw the weight of the federal government behind clean energy. Biden's effort was by far the greatest tribute anyone could pay to the 39th President. "

Two flight attendants survive and 179 people killed in Jeju Air plane crash at South Korean airport: possibly caused by a bird strike. — 29 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 1243 media reports (LINK)

Fourth infant dies of hypothermia in Gaza as winter cold sets in: Gaza Ministry of Health. — 29 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 62 media reports (LINK)

Ethiopia traffic accident in the Sidama region kills over 70. — 29 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 36 media reports (LINK)

— A truck carrying passengers lost control and plunged into the Galana River, leading to the fatalities, as reported by Mate Mengesha.

16 browser extensions on the Chrome Web Store hacked, exposing over 600,000 users to data theft. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

Magnus Carlsen to return at World Blitz Championship after jeans dispute. — 29 December 2024 (LINK)

— He had talks with Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich after the incident. "It is unfortunate that the implementation of dress-code rules, while being legally sound and consistent, has left some feeling this is disproportionate and caused the situation everyone would have preferred to avoid," Dvorkovich said. Dvorkovich added that he approved a trial of a more flexible approach to attire during the World Blitz Championships that would allow minor deviations from the official dress code.

China directs largest military build-up since 1930s Nazi Germany, Pentagon report. — 29 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK)

Russia's Gazprom says it will stop supplying Moldova with gas next week. Gazprom said Moldovagaz "regularly fails to fulfill its payment obligations under the existing contract, which is a significant breach of its terms." — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

Voting begins in Chad as opposition parties call for election boycott. — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

Israel's Netanyahu to have prostate removed after diagnosis of benign prostate enlargement. — 28 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 111 media reports (LINK)

Elon Musk pens German newspaper opinion piece supporting far-right AfD party: the essay expands on his post on his social media platform, X, on which he last week claimed that "only the AfD can save Germany". — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

— Translated, Musk's piece said: "The portrayal of the AfD as rightwing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party's leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!"

— The AfD has a strong anti-immigration stance and, like incoming president Donald Trump in relation to the US, is calling for mass deportations from Germany. Earlier in December, Musk not only posted in favor of AfD but the party's hard line on immigration appeared to resonate with the incoming US vice-president, JD Vance.

Massive leak exposes 5,000,000 U.S. credit and debt card numbers, along with customers' financial records and personal details: data protection firm. — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

Italy's far-right government wins final approval for its budget — more than half of that in tax cuts and social security benefits for low-income citizens. — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

— The country's center-left opposition had harshly criticized the economic package, saying it didn't meet the premier's pledges to slash taxes for most Italians and boost employment.

A pair of jeans sent the chess world in turmoil. — 28 December 2024 (LINK)

Conservationists and nature defenders who died in 2024. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

Climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat around world in 2024: Study. 2024 is likely to be the hottest year ever measured, with extreme heat affecting some areas for 150 days or more. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 150 media reports (LINK)

Russia-linked cable-cutting tanker seized by Finland on 25 December 'was loaded with spying equipment'. Listening equipment was placed on Eagle S and related tanker Swiftsea Rider to monitor Nato naval and aircraft activities, Lloyd's List was told. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

US to send $1.25 billion in weapons to Ukraine, pushing to get aid out before Biden leaves office. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 103 media reports (LINK)

Israeli troops burn North Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital after forcibly removing staff and patients, says Gaza's Health Ministry. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 207 media reports (LINK)

— About 50 people, including five medical workers, were killed after Israeli strikes nearby on 26 December, reported the Ministry of Health in Gaza and Dr. Abu Safiya.

Whistleblower claims Biden Admin suppressed evidence supporting COVID-19 lab leak theory. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 54 media reports (LINK)

— FBI microbiologist Jason Bannan and Pentagon scientists discovered evidence supporting COVID-19's lab origin but were excluded from crucial 2021 White House briefing, despite FBI being the only agency with moderate confidence in the theory. Officials ordered scientists to stop sharing research and excluded their evidence from final intelligence report.

Shelters to be opened in Mexico to prepare for Trump deportations. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 74 media reports (LINK)

Ukraine day 1,038: Nato on 26 December condemns possible sabotage of Baltic Sea cables. Putin says Slovakia has offered to be 'platform' for any peace talks. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

Senegal says it's closing 'all foreign military bases,' a move aimed at French troops in the country. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 16 media reports (LINK)

Senate intelligence panel criticizes CIA response to Havana syndrome. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK)

U.S. homelessness surges 18 percent to record level of more than 770,000, annual report says. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 241 media reports (LINK)

Vietnam sentences 27 to death for smuggling over 600 kilos of drugs. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 17 media reports (LINK)

Italian journalist Cecelia Sala detained in Iran without explanation. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 131 media reports (LINK)

S Korean crypto-boss Do Kwon to be extradited to US. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

China's industrial profits extend decline to a fourth straight month, dropping 7.3% in November. — 27 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 11 media reports (LINK)

Swiss luxury watch market: secondary prices fall, auctions set records. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

Scientists predict an undersea volcano eruption 470 kilometres in the sea from Oregon in 2025. — 27 December 2024 (LINK)

WHO chief says he was at Yemen airport when it was hit by Israeli air strikes which killed three. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 413 media reports (LINK)

— Tedros says he was in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and assess the humanitarian situation in the country. In June, the UN confirmed that 13 staff members were detained by the Houthis in Yemen. The employees were taken in various parts of the country, in what appears to have been a co-ordinated crackdown.

At least 10 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, including 5 journalists, medics say. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 234 media reports (LINK)

— The Palestinian Journalists Union reported that five journalists from Al-Quds were killed in a strike while in a broadcast vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 103 media reports (LINK)

Former Presidential candidate in Taiwan, Ko Wen-je, indicted for corruption. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 50 media reports (LINK)

— Ko is accused of accepting bribes linked to a real estate project and embezzling political donations, facing up to 28.5 years in prison

Thailand accepts Russia's invitation to join BRICS. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 35 media reports (LINK)

Panama's president denies Trump's claim of Chinese soldiers in canal. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 54 media reports (LINK)

— In a Christmas Day message on Truth Social, Trump sarcastically wished a merry Christmas to "the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal" and "making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in 'repair' money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about anything."

Japan Airlines' system restored after cyberattack. — 26 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 200 media reports (LINK)

Israel's attorney general orders probe into Netanyahu's wife after a report alleged that she had harassed opponents in husband's criminal trial. — 26 December 2024 (LINK)

2 FTX executives given time off their sentences. Not boss Sam Bankman-Fried — 26 December 2024 (LINK)

— The Federal Bureau of Prisons currently lists Ryan Salame's release date as March 1, 2031, more than a year earlier than his initial release date in April 2032. Caroline Ellison's current release date is listed as July 20, 2026, three months earlier than her initial release date.

— Qualified inmates are currently eligible for up to 54 days of early release time for each year of the sentence imposed by the court. Inmates have other ways of earning time credits while incarcerated, including participation in various prison programs. The Bureau of Prisons didn't immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

Crypto scams cost French victims €500m annually: average loss €29,000. — 26 December 2024 (LINK)

Russia says Christmas Day attack on Ukraine was a success, as Zelensky calls strikes 'inhumane': Ukraine's air force detects 184 missiles and drones in attack. — 25 December 2024 (LINK)

Four killed by Ukrainian shelling in Kursk, says Russian governor

Russia confirms attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, claiming the 'goal was achieved'

Russia says terrorist attack behind Army cargo ship sinking, RIA reports. — 25 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 158 media reports (LINK)

Syria says 14 security personnel killed in 'ambush' by Assad loyalists. — 25 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 330 media reports (LINK)

IMF and Egypt reach deal unlocking $1.2 billion. — 25 December 2024 (LINK)

IDF destroys 7.5 km of Hamas tunnels, denies reports of civilian killings in Gaza's Netzarim Corridor. — 25 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 45 media reports (LINK)

85,000 Hezbollah weapons seized in southern Lebanon since October. — 25 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 18 media reports (LINK)

President Aliyev launches criminal probe into Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash. — 25 December 2024 (LINK)

— Euronews obtained information from official sources tied to the investigation that a missile launched by Russian air defence near the Chechen capital Grozny might have caused the crash.

Mozambique prison riot leaves 33 dead as political unrest escalates. — 25 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 278 media reports (LINK)

Humans almost went extinct 930,000 years ago, study finds. — 25 December 2024 (LINK)

— Around 300,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans emerged in Africa. A team of researchers from China, Italy, and the United States employed a method called FitCoal (fast infinitesimal time coalescent process) to analyze modern human genomic data from 3,154 individuals. Their findings shed light on an ancient bottleneck, occurring between 930,000 and 813,000 years ago, that profoundly shaped human evolution, narrowing the population to approximately 1,280 breeding individuals for 117,000 years.

Biden signs 50 bills, including 1 backed by Paris Hilton, on Christmas Eve including one making the bald eagle the country's official bird and one that stops members of Congress from collecting their pensions if convicted of crimes. — 24 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 39 media reports (LINK)

— Biden also established the first federal anti-hazing standard to address violence and deaths occurring on higher education campuses around the country. He also signed a bill supported by reality-TV star and heiress Paris Hilton, which holds treatment centers and care facilities serving the youth accountable.

Trump says he will pursue more executions after Biden commutes most of federal death row. — 24 December 2024 (LINK)

UNRWA says '1 child dies every hour in Gaza' as Israeli strikes kill 21 people: Since the attacks began, 14,500 children have been killed, according to UNICEF figures. — 24 December 2024 (*LINK*) — ground.news: 42 media reports (LINK)

Morocco proposes family law reforms to improve women's rights. — 24 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 25 media reports (LINK)

— The initiative aims to include over 100 amendments to the current law, which would also grant women more rights in disputes over child custody and guardianship as well as a veto on polygamous marriage. This is Morocco's first review of its family code in 20 years.

— King has yet to approve changes. It will not abolish the Islamic-based inheritance rule which grants a man twice the share of a woman, but it will allow individuals to give any of their assets to their female heirs, Justice Minister Abdelatif Ouahbi said. Also, the current laws allow for children as young as 15 to be married under exceptional circumstances, but the updated legislation would raise the age to 17, just one year under the general marriage age.

Taliban say Pakistani airstrikes killed 46 people in eastern Afghanistan, mostly women and children, and most victims were refugees from the Waziristan region. — 24 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 250 media reports (LINK)

Russia sentences US citizen to 15 years in prison for espionage. — 24 December 2024 (LINK)

— Gene Spector, who was born in Russia but later moved to the United States and received citizenship, had previously been sentenced to four years in prison in Russia for acting as an intermediary in a bribe, Russian state media said.

— In 2020, Spector pled guilty to mediating bribes for Anastasia Alekseyeva, a previous aide to former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, state news agency TASS reported. Before this, Spector was the chairman of the board of directors of Medpolymerprom Group, specializing in cancer drugs, according to TASS.

Amsterdam court convicts five for violent attack on Israeli football fans. — 24 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 171 media reports (LINK)

— The heaviest sentence imposed was six months in prison, for a man identified as Sefa O., who prosecutors said played a "leading role" in the violence, for public violence against several people. The Maccabi Tel Aviv fans came under "hit-and-run" style attacks in the early hours of 8 November after their European League match against Amsterdam giants Ajax.

Groundbreaking AI unlocks the language of plants for the first time ever: it understands plants in the same way that ChatGPT learns the human language. — 24 December 2024 (LINK)

Scientists achieve quantum teleportation over active Internet cables: " Basically, it opens the door to pushing quantum communications to the next level.". — 24 December 2024 (LINK)

University of Prince Edward Island warns that warming waters, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, and erratic rainfall are driving coastal ecosystems toward irreversible changes.. — 24 December 2024 (LINK)

Sudan's controversial withdrawal from global hunger monitoring: Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 13 media reports (LINK)

— The letter, dated December 23, accused the IPC of producing "unreliable reports" that undermine Sudan's sovereignty. It coincides with the imminent release of an IPC report, which forecasts famine expanding to ten regions by May, driven by ongoing conflict and limited humanitarian access.

Biden to commute sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

$1 Million from Ford, GM, and Toyota for Trump's inauguration. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

Storm collapses Santa Cruz wharf after activists resist upgrades for nearly a decade. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to state murder and other charges in United Healthcare CEO's death. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 616 media reports (LINK)

— By pleading not guilty to murder, Mangione will have a trial with a jury. He was charged with a handful of other crimes, but the state charge of murder in the first degree will likely be the focus of his first major trial.

Sophie Hediger, 26, a Swiss snowboarder who competed in the 2022 Beijing Games, was killed in an avalanche at Arosa. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

UN doubles death toll to 207 for massacre of older people and voodou religious leaders in Haiti. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 49 media reports (LINK)

Former Greek royal family expresses 'deep emotion' after regaining citizenship. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

Legendary drug lord Fabio Ochoa is deported to Colombia after spending two decades in US prisons, freed on arrival. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 63 media reports (LINK)

IDF says senior member of Hamas security forces killed in Gaza airstrike. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

— According to the military, the target of the strike, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmad al-Bayk, served as the head of the security directorate in Hamas's General Security Service. Al-Bayk was targeted while at a Hamas command center embedded within the Musa Ibn Nusayr school, in Gaza City's Daraj neighborhood, the IDF says. The school was serving as a shelter for displaced Gazans, and Palestinian media reported at least eight dead in the strike.

Israel says it killed former Hamas leader Haniyeh in Tehran last July. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 160 media reports (LINK)

Greece and Israel signed delayed forge energy alliance for regional stability: includes the creation of a 'green' electricity corridor from Israel to the EU via Greece. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

— The agreement was initially scheduled for signing last month but was postponed due to Israeli cabinet discussions.

Mozambique top court confirms ruling party's win in disputed election. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 72 media reports (LINK)

Kremlin denies reports Assad's wife has filed for divorce. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 125 media reports (LINK)

At least 3,000 North Korean troops killed or wounded in Russia's war with Ukraine, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says. — 23 December 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 62 media reports (LINK)

Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' manslaughter case is officially over: special prosecutor announced she was dropping her appeal of a judge's previous dismissal of the case. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

IRS calls crypto staking taxable, stating that tax liabilities arise as soon as staking rewards are received, amid ongoing lawsuit. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America's tallest peak, Alaska's Denali, back to Mount McKinley. — 23 December 2024 (LINK)

— Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. "Denali" is an Athabascan word meaning "the high one" or "the great one." A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak "Mount McKinley" after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska.

Teabags release 'huge amounts' of nanoplastics. The brands of tea used in the study were not named, but were described as "commercially available". — 23 December 2024 (LINK)