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World Monthly Headline News January 2024
By Christian Edwards, CNN

CNN — South Africa accused Israel of genocide in an unprecedented case at the United Nations’ top court, saying the country’s leadership was “intent on destroying the Palestinians in Gaza” and calling for the court to order a halt to Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.

On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa on Thursday argued that Israel’s air and ground assaults on Gaza were intended to “bring about the destruction” of its Palestinian population, and that comments made by Israeli leaders signalled their “genocidal intent.”

Israel declared war on Hamas after the militant group’s murderous rampage on October 7, when more than 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza. South Africa condemned Hamas’ attacks but said “nothing” could justify Israel’s response, which has killed more than 23,000 people in Gaza.
Previous “targeted killing” campaigns against Hamas’ leadership failed to inflict permanent damage on the group and had unintended consequences.
by Dan De Luce, Keir Simmons and Anna Schecter

Last week, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency issued a blunt warning to the Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7 “Let every Arab mother know that if her son took part in the massacre — he signed his own death warrant,” David Barnea said.

He delivered the vow at the funeral of former Mossad Director Zvi Zamir, drawing a parallel with the manhunt overseen by the late spy chief that targeted the Palestinian terrorists linked to the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The campaign to avenge Munich, dubbed Operation Wrath of God, has come to symbolize Israel’s willingness to track down its adversaries no matter where they are. But this time, Israel faces a more complicated, ambitious task as it tries to target a much larger, better organized and armed organization than the Black September operatives from the 1970s. And the political stakes for Israel and the rest of the world are much higher.
Benjamin Netanyahu is waging a war while struggling to avoid prison, salvage his legacy and keep his political partners happy.
By Nahal Toosi

U.S. officials have to work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they try to contain the Israel-Hamas war, but some are starting to wonder if he’s really in charge.

The Israeli leader is trying to stay in office and avoid prison on corruption charges, two linked desires that have long made him vulnerable to the demands of far-right members of his governing coalition. Now, an Israeli Supreme Court ruling against his effort to overhaul the judiciary may make him even more susceptible.

The far-right figures — notably ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir — harbor deep anti-Palestinian views and are resistant to U.S. proposals that they consider too friendly to the Palestinians. If they abandon Netanyahu’s coalition, he could lose his prime ministership, increasing his legal peril.
Rapid reduction in fossil fuel burning urgently needed to preserve liveable conditions, say scientists, as climate damage deepens
By Damian Carrington Environment editor

2023 “smashed” the record for the hottest year by a huge margin, providing “dramatic testimony” of how much warmer and more dangerous today’s climate is from the cooler one in which human civilisation developed.

The planet was 1.48C hotter in 2023 compared with the period before the mass burning of fossil fuels ignited the climate crisis. The figure is very close to the 1.5C temperature target set by countries in Paris in 2015, although the global temperature would need to be consistently above 1.5C for the target to be considered broken.

Scientists at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (CCCS) said it was likely the 1.5C mark will be passed for the first time in the next 12 months.
North Korea has again fired artillery shells near its tense sea boundary with the South
By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea again fired artillery shells near its tense sea boundary with the South on Sunday, as the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mocked the South's ability to detect its weapons launches.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff dismissed Kim Yo Jong’s statement as “a comedy-like, vulgar propaganda” meant to undermine the South Korean people’s trust in the military and stoke divisions.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired more than more than 90 rounds near the rivals’ disputed western sea boundary on Sunday afternoon. It said South Korea strongly urged North Korea to stop provocative acts immediately.

North Korea’s military later confirmed it used coastal artillery systems to carry out live-firing exercises. It said the drills were part of its military training schedules and the direction of its shells fired didn’t expose any threat to South Korea.
By Ahmed Rasheed and Phil Stewart

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military launched a retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday that killed a militia leader it blames for recent attacks on U.S. personnel, the Pentagon said, a move condemned by Iraq's government.

The U.S. strike took place at about 0900 GMT and targeted Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al Jawari, the Pentagon said, adding he was a leader of Harakat al Nujaba who was involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel.

"The strike also killed one other Harakat al Nujaba member," said Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, describing it as a self-defense strike. "No civilians were harmed. No infrastructure or facilities were struck."
By Parisa Hafezi, Elwely Elwelly and Clauda Tanios

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for two explosions in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone.

In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani's death.

Tehran earlier blamed the explosions on "terrorists" and vowed revenge for the bloodiest such attacks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The twin blasts also wounded 284 people, including women and children.

"A very strong retaliation will be meted out to them by the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber told reporters in Kerman.

Earlier, an unnamed source told the state news agency IRNA that the first explosion at the cemetery in Kerman, Soleimani's home town, "was the result of a suicide bomber's action".
By Mostafa Salem, Abbas Al Lawati and Rob Picheta, CNN

CNN — At least 103 people were killed Wednesday and 141 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman after twin blasts near the burial site of slain military commander Qasem Soleimani, in what officials called a terror attack.

The blasts, at least one of which was caused by a bomb, state TV said, came on the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death in a US air strike, and threatens to accelerate tensions in the region that have spiked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The first explosion was 2,300 feet (700 meters) from Soleimani’s grave, and the second was 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away as pilgrims visited the site, IRNA added.
By MARI YAMAGUCHI and FOSTER KLUG

TOKYO (AP) — A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said.

All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the Airbus A350 was fully engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed.

The pilot of the coast guard’s Bombardier Dash-8 plane escaped but the five crew members died, Saito said. The aircraft was preparing to take off to deliver aid to an area affected by a major earthquake on Monday, officials said.
By Tim Kelly, Satoshi Sugiyama and Sakura Murakami

TOKYO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck central Japan on Monday, killing at least one person, destroying buildings, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and prompting residents in some coastal areas to flee to higher ground.

The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 triggered waves of about 1 metre along Japan's west coast and neighbouring South Korea.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially issued a major tsunami warning - its first since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan killing nearly 20,000 people - for Ishikawa prefecture. It later downgraded that and eventually cut it to an advisory.
By Miriam Berger and Ruby Mellen

JERUSALEM — Israel’s high court on Monday struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s polarizing law that sought to limit the court’s power over government decisions, putting the country on the brink of a constitutional crisis just three months after Israelis united behind the war effort in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judiciary sparked nearly a year of widespread social unrest before the Israel-Gaza war. The unprecedented standoff drew international condemnation and extraordinary opposition from military and senior security officials.

Monday’s ruling comes at a sensitive moment for Netanyahu, who remains embroiled in a corruption trial and is facing calls for his resignation over his government’s failure to thwart the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, as well as its handling of the hostage crisis. The militant group killed about 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Story by mguenot@businessinsider.com (Marianne Guenot)

Neanderthals have long been portrayed as dim-witted, brutish monsters who were genetically inferior to our direct ancestors, early modern humans.

These ape-like creatures spoke in grunts, were beset with illnesses, and died out 40,000 years ago after losing the evolutionary battle against Homo sapiens.

Or at least, that's what we've been told. Recent discoveries, however, are upending that view and reigniting a debate among scientists about whether Neanderthals should be considered to be the same species as early modern humans.

If Neanderthals belonged to our species, it could reshape the history of human evolution and challenge how we define what makes us human.
Shipping company Maersk halts operations after maritime escalation between the Houthis and US forces.
Aljazeera

The US military says it killed 10 Houthi fighters and sank three of the Yemeni armed group’s vessels after a clash in the Red Sea.

The escalation, mentioned in a US statement on Sunday, follows weeks of Houthi attacks on ships it identified as being linked to Israel that were passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait into the Red Sea.

This was, the Houthi spokesman said, in a bid to pressure Israel to stop its devastating war and siege on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 21,000 Palestinians.

US destroyers have teamed up with a few other nations to try and stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea under Operation Prosperity Guardian – though several partners have distanced themselves from the initiative.
Reuters

DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, at a time of soaring tensions on the key shipping route amid the Israel-Hamas war and attacks on vessels by forces allied to Tehran.

Tasnim did not give details of the Alborz's mission but said Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy and carry out other tasks since 2009.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in its war with Israel.
By HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his military should “thoroughly annihilate” the United States and South Korea if provoked, state media reported Monday, after he vowed to boost national defense to cope with what he called an unprecedented U.S.-led confrontation.

North Korea has increased its warlike rhetoric in recent months in response to an expansion of U.S.-South Korean military drills. Experts expect Kim will continue to escalate his rhetoric and weapons tests because he likely believes he can use heightened tensions to wrest U.S. concessions if former President Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November.

In a five-day major ruling party meeting last week, Kim said he will launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials and develop attack drones this year in what observers say is an attempt to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S.
Over 20 projectiles target south and center of country as Israelis mark the start of the new year amid sorrow: ‘The minute I start to dance, I feel guilty’
By Agencies and ToI Staff

The Hamas terror group fired at least 27 rockets at the south and center of the country in a barrage timed for midnight as Israelis tried to celebrate the start of the new year. Air defense systems intercepted 18 rockets and nine fell in open areas.

Sirens sounded in various locations in the center of the country including Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Holon, Lod, and Modiin, as well as Ashdod, Sderot, and other southern towns.

The Hamas terror group fired at least 27 rockets at the south and center of the country in a barrage timed for midnight as Israelis tried to celebrate the start of the new year. Air defense systems intercepted 18 rockets and nine fell in open areas.

Sirens sounded in various locations in the center of the country including Rehovot, Ness Ziona, Holon, Lod, and Modiin, as well as Ashdod, Sderot, and other southern towns.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a New Year's message that some of the 300,000 army reservists would get a break from the war, in order to prepare for the "prolonged fighting" ahead.
NDTV

Palestinian Territories: Israel warned its war against Hamas will continue throughout 2024 as unrelenting strikes killed two dozen people in Gaza and the Palestinian group fired a rocket barrage at the stroke of midnight.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a New Year's message that some of the 300,000 army reservists would get a break from the war, in order to prepare for the "prolonged fighting" ahead.

The army "must plan ahead, understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year," Hagari said as the conflict sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks raged on.
Motoko RichReporting from Tokyo

Officials ordered evacuations and said that some people were trapped under collapsed buildings after a quake struck the western prefecture of Ishikawa.

A powerful earthquake hit western Japan on Monday, triggering tsunami warnings and evacuation orders in several prefectures, trapping people under collapsed buildings and disrupting electricity for tens of thousands in Ishikawa Prefecture, the epicenter of the quake, officials and Japan’s public broadcaster said.

The quake struck the Noto peninsula at around 4:10 p.m. and had a magnitude of 7.6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake measured 7.5 magnitude.
By Gina Martinez

Around the world, people have gathered to bid farewell to 2023 and welcome in 2024. Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand were among the first major cities to mark the new year with grand firework displays.

In New York City, the NYPD had heightened security for the famed Times Square ball drop following Hamas' attack on Israel, CBS New York reported. Despite added safety measures, the FBI said there was no credible threat to New York City, and New Year's Day arrived to cheers from tens of thousands of beaming people in Times Square who were showered with confetti and hugs and kisses after watching the descent of the colorful, iconic ball.

Here are some photos from New Year's celebrations from around the globe:
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