January 2, 2025

Daily News Brief

*) Israel strikes southern Gaza, kills at least 10 Palestinians At least ten Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced families in southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi area, medics report. The attack on the site, designated as a humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, also left fifteen others wounded. *) Israel's war depletes Gaza's population by 6 percent Gaza's population has dropped six-percent over fifteen-months of war, with over fifty-five-thousand presumed dead and one-hundred-thousand fleeing, reports the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Devastation has left twenty-two-percent of residents facing critical food insecurity, including three-thousand-five-hundred children at risk of starvation. Israel stands accused of genocide, as the International Court of Justice demands action to prevent further atrocities. *) Death toll rises to 15 in New Orleans truck attack The death toll in a truck attack in New Orleans has risen to 15, according to officials and thirty-five others were wounded when the vehicle plowed into a crowd during New Year celebrations. The FBI is investigating the attack as terrorism and believes the driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, may not have acted alone. Authorities are investigating potential accomplices and have found evidence suggesting possible explosive devices were planted before the attack. Governor Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency and mobilised additional law enforcement. *) French troops to leave Ivory Coast in 2025 Big changes are underway in Ivory Coast as President Alassane Ouattara announces the withdrawal of French troops after decades of military presence. Starting January twenty-twenty-five, France’s Port Bouet battalion will transition to Ivorian control. It is another step in West Africa’s push for greater autonomy amid rising anti-French sentiment. France, now ousted from over seventy-percent of African countries where it once had troops, faces a major recalibration of its influence across the continent. *) Pakistan and India exchange nuclear facility and prisoner lists In a step towards transparency, Pakistan and India exchanged lists of nuclear facilities and prisoners, as per longstanding agreements. Pakistan shared details of two-hundred-and-sixty-six Indian prisoners, including two-hundred-and-seventeen fishermen, while India listed four-hundred-and-sixty-two Pakistani detainees, with eighty-one being fishermen. Both nations reiterated calls for swift repatriation of those who have completed sentences. Nuclear site details were exchanged under the 1988 pact, a tradition upheld since 1992.