January 20, 2025

Daily News Brief

Tears of joy and hugs as Palestinians welcome freed detaineesTears of joy have flown across massive crowds of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia as they welcomed the return of detainees freed from Israeli Ofer prison in the first exchange in the Gaza ceasefire deal. Palestinians climbed on top of the buses transferring the detainees as they chanted and cheered in celebration. The families and relatives were seen embracing their loved ones after waiting for hours in the town. TikTok restores services in US, thanks Trump TikTok has restored service in the United States after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. TikTok credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible — though the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban. The video-sharing app had shut down in the United States late Saturday as a deadline for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers loomed. Israel's Smotrich threatens to topple government if Gaza is not occupied Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to overthrow the government if it does not occupy Gaza. The extremist minister called a Gaza ceasefire agreement "very serious mistake" and "surrender to Hamas". Smotrich told Army Radio that Israel "must occupy Gaza and create a temporary military government because there is no other way to defeat Hamas". Trump vows to act with 'historic speed and strength' post-inauguration Donald Trump has told a pre-inauguration rally that he would act with "historic speed and strength" upon becoming US president, one day ahead of his return to the White House. Since the election, "the stock market has surged", and "Bitcoin has shattered one record high after another", Trump told the crowd gathered at the Capital One Arena in Washington. Trump stayed consistent with the framing he often used in his campaign, criticising President Joe Biden's term as a "failed administration" and promising to "end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment". Fire-ravaged Southern California braces for strong winds, fire risk Southern Californians are bracing for gusty winds and a heightened risk of wildfires less than two weeks after the outbreak of deadly blazes that have killed at least 27 people and charred thousands of homes. The National Weather Service issued on Sunday a warning of a "particularly dangerous situation" for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning due to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds. Gusts could peak at 113 kph along the coast and 160 kph in the mountains and foothills.