Drone strike kills three U.S. service members in Jordan
Three U.S. service members had been killed in Jordan yesterday and 25 others had been injured in what the U.S. stated was a drone strike from an Iran-backed militia. The deaths had been the primary U.S. army fatalities from hostile hearth within the turmoil spilling over from Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
The assault occurred at a base close to the Syrian border. Few particulars had been instantly out there, however the deaths of U.S. service members will virtually actually put extra stress on President Biden to reply extra forcefully as turmoil grows within the Center East after the Oct. 7 assaults.
“Whereas we’re nonetheless gathering the details of this assault, we all know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant teams working in Syria and Iraq,” Biden stated in an announcement.
In Iraq: This month, at the very least 4 U.S. service members had been injured when their base got here below hearth from what the U.S. stated had been Iran-backed militias.
Close to Yemen: Final Sunday, the U.S. declared two Navy SEALs lifeless after they disappeared throughout an operation at sea to intercept weapons from Iran headed to Houthi fighters. They had been the primary recognized U.S. fatalities in Washington’s marketing campaign in opposition to the Iran-backed militia, which has fired on business ships off Yemen since November.
A short lived cease-fire? Negotiators are closing in on a deal by which Israel would pause fighting in Gaza for about two months if Hamas launched greater than 100 hostages.
UNRWA imperiled after terrorism accusations in opposition to workers
The U.S. and several other different international locations have stated they may suspend some funding for UNRWA, the U.N. company that aids Palestinian refugees, after a dozen of its workers had been accused by Israel of taking part within the Oct. 7 assaults.
Yesterday, António Guterres, the secretary normal of the U.N., implored the most important donor international locations to proceed their help. He stated that, with out it, UNRWA would run out of money subsequent month. Fears of famine are rising within the enclave, and two million Gazans depend upon UNRWA for meals, water and important companies.
Israel and the U.N. shared detailed, particular intelligence with the U.S. final week. Neither Israel nor the U.N. have gone public with the small print, however a high U.N. official referred to as the accusations “extraordinarily severe and horrific.” U.S. officers stated that the help company’s resolution to fireside the people was proof that Israel’s data was compelling.
Particulars: UNRWA fired 9 of the 12 employees who Israel stated had been concerned within the assault, Guterres stated. One had died and the identities of two had been being “clarified,” he stated.
An antiwar candidate rises in Russia
Boris Nadezhdin is running to be Russia’s president on an antiwar platform. His supporters are combating to get him on the poll to oppose President Vladimir Putin within the presidential election in March, a uncommon public communion that has injected power into the Russian opposition motion.
Election officers could bar Nadezhdin from the poll, and even when he’s allowed to run he won’t win. However his supporters are nonetheless lining up within the bitter chilly to attempt to get sufficient signatures by a Jan. 31 deadline. They see backing him as the one authorized approach left to show their opposition to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The Australian Open
My colleagues interviewed five young people trying to get jobs in China, the place competitors is immense and alternatives are scarce. The job seekers had employed interview coaches, exhausted their financial savings, despatched off dozens of purposes and labored interim job after interim job.
“Possibly I’m not adequate at toughing issues out,” one younger individual stated.
Luxe Korean postpartum care
South Korea has the world’s lowest birthrate. However it additionally has some of the best postpartum care.
At a joriwon — a hotel-like lodging — new moms spend weeks recovering. Contemporary meals are delivered 3 times a day, and there are facials, massages and child-care courses. Nurses watch the infants, and new moms breastfeed in a communal nursing room.
It’s a comparatively new trade; one of many high joriwons in Seoul opened in 2008. However now eight out of 10 South Korean moms go to a joriwon, and moms ship in reserving requests virtually as quickly as they know they’re pregnant.
The stays can price from a number of thousand to tens of 1000’s of {dollars}, but it surely’s only a blip within the general expense of elevating a toddler in South Korea, which can assist clarify the declining birthrate.