Vietnam tightens grip on social media influencers

> Vietnam authorities arrested a popular YouTuber last week. But why is the Vietnamese government cracking down on independent voices?
https://www.dw.com/en/vietnam-tightens-grip-on-social-media-influencers/a-68434196 #Vietnam #SouthEastAsia #socialmedia #TootSEA

Canada to airdrop humanitarian aid to Gazans

> Canada will begin supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza and will do so by airdropping supplies by next week, government sources revealed Thursday morning.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-789512 #Gaza #Canada #GazaWar #Israel #Palestine

Armed men storm an Ecuador TV studio during live broadcast

> Masked men broke onto the set of a public television channel in #Ecuador waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast Tuesday, and the president issued a decree declaring that the violence-plagued country had entered an “internal armed conflict.”

> The men armed with pistols and what looked like sticks of dynamite [..] Noises similar to gunshots could be heard.
https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-violence-attacks-emergency-gangs-prison-12f01b66f3fd523fcdca04e729aa27af

Boeing still hasn't fixed this problem on Max jets, so it's asking for an exemption to safety rules

> Boeing is asking federal regulators to exempt a new model of its 737 Max airliner from a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/boeing-fixed-problem-max-jets-exemption-safety-rules-106147798
#Boeing #737Max #737 #airlines #aviation #AlaskaAirlines #FAA

France and Jordan airdrop aid to Gaza

> #France and #Jordan teamed up to airdrop seven tons of aid to civilians and aid workers in #Gaza, President Emmanuel #Macron said Friday, as #Israel continued to bomb the Palestinian territory
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2436891/middle-east #GazaWar #Israel #Palestine

Myanmar Confirms That a Key Northeastern City Near China Has Been Seized by an Armed Ethnic Alliance

> #Myanmar’s military government has acknowledged that it withdrew its forces from a key city on the northeastern border with #China after it was taken over by an alliance of ethnic armed groups it has been battling for months.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-01-06/myanmar-confirms-that-a-key-northeastern-city-near-china-has-been-seized-by-an-armed-ethnic-alliance #southeastasia #TootSEA #expatasia

Libs Of TikTok Banned From Facebook For Violating Rules

> The right-wing social media account Libs of #TikTok was suspended from #Facebook on Saturday evening for reportedly violating the platform’s community standards.
https://www.mediaite.com/news/facebook-bans-popular-right-wing-account-libs-of-tiktok-for-violating-community-standards/ #LGBTQ #Meta #socialmedia

Blast near Israeli embassy in India’s New Delhi, all staff unharmed

> An explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday did not kill or wound any staff members, authorities said, adding that investigations into its cause were ongoing.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/12/26/India-s-New-Delhi-police-investigate-reported-blast-near-Israel-embassy #India #Israel

Hezbollah missiles hit Israeli church, nine soldiers wounded

> In response, IAF planes attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon, including attacking a building where a terrorist who launched an anti-tank missile was hiding. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-779617 #Hezbollah #Lebanon #Israel

Iran is increasing production of highly enriched uranium: Atomic watchdog report

> Iran has increased its production of near weapons-grade uranium in recent weeks, reversing a prior slowdown that commenced in the middle of this year, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency to its member state
https://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-is-increasing-production-of-highly-enriched-uranium-atomic-watchdog-report-13547892.html #Iran #IAEA

#Suriname ex-president to be jailed after losing murder appeal

> ...after losing his appeal against a 20-year prison sentence for the murder of political opponents over four decades ago, the prosecutor’s office said Thursday. The South American country’s highest court on Wednesday upheld Bouterse’s 2019 conviction for the execution of 15 people -- lawyers, journalists, businessmen and military personnel -- in December 1982, two years after he took power following a coup
https://www.nation.com.pk/23-Dec-2023/suriname-ex-president-to-be-jailed-after-losing-murder-appeal

Philippine Broadcast Regulator Suspends TV Show of Former President Duterte

> A Philippine regulatory board has suspended former President Rodrigo Duterte’s TV show, reflecting a deepening discord within the ruling coalition. Supporters of the former president insist that the move is a violation of press freedom, but human rights advocates assert that those who make death threats on live TV should be held accountable.
https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/philippine-broadcast-regulator-suspends-tv-show-of-former-president-duterte/ #Philippines #southeastasia #TootSEA #RodrigoDuterte

Japan bans sale of 38 goods with synthetic cannabis compounds

> The health ministry said Thursday it has banned the sale and advertising of 38 items, such as gummies and cookies, suspected of containing substances similar to a synthetic compound called hexahydrocannabihexol (HHCH), which resembles a #cannabis compound.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/12/22/japan/crime-legal/cannabis-like-substances-sales-banned/ #Japan

#Canada - More than 400 people experiencing homelessness died on Calgary streets so far this year

> According to the #Calgary Homeless Foundation, 436 people experiencing homelessness have died so far this year in Calgary.

> It’s a significant increase from last year, when 239 deaths were reported by the end of 2022.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10185414/2023-calgary-homeless-deaths/ #Alberta #homelessness #poverty

Armenia suspends licence of Russian broadcaster Sputnik

> #Russia's embassy in Yerevan denounced Thursday the temporary suspension of Russian broadcaster Sputnik's local branch over "offensive" comments a presenter made about Armenia on air.
The commission responsible for television and radio announced late Wednesday that the licence of Tospa, the broadcaster of Sputnik #Armenia, was being suspended for 30 days after remarks by the Russian TV personality
https://archive.ph/2023.12.21-233350/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/armenia-suspends-licence-of-russian-broadcaster-sputnik/article67662311.ece

A pro-peace Russian presidential hopeful submits documents to register as a candidate

> A Russian politician calling for peace in #Ukraine presented documents Wednesday to #Russia’s Central Election Commission to register as a candidate for the country’s 2024 presidential election.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-elections-duntsova-peace-opposition-putin-f50ba8f00e76ff9820ea5241fef2fc1b

India Revokes Kashmir's Semiautonomy

> On Monday, the Supreme Court of India upheld the revocation of Kashmir's semiautonomy, which was made by the Parliament on August 5, 2019.
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/India-Revokes-Kashmirs-Semiautonomy-20231211-0008.html #India #Kashmir

Allies of jailed Russian opposition leader Navalny say he has gone missing

>The whereabouts of Alexei Navalny were unknown on Monday as his spokesperson revealed that officials at the penal colony stated he was no longer listed in the inmate roster when one of his lawyers inquired about his whereabouts. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/12/12/allies-of-jailed-russian-opposition-leader-navalny-say-he-has-gone-missing_6334136_4.html #Russia #Putin #AlexeiNavalny

#Canada - What happens to the millions of fire-damaged trees? #BC

> When the wildfire season mercifully ended in November, 2,217 #wildfires had been counted, 2.8 million hectares of land had been burned, including forested and non-forested land, and more than $770 million had been spent fighting fires and protecting communities.

> All told, since 2010 the total area consumed by wildfire in B.C. totals [..] about eight per cent of B.C.’s land mass...
https://theprovince.com/opinion/op-ed/joe-nemeth-wildfires-have-taken-too-big-a-toll-on-b-c #BCwildfires

US company Meta removes largest Palestinian news page from Facebook: Report

> US internet company Meta has removed the largest #Palestine news page from its popular social media platform Facebook

> The Quds News Network (QNN) said in a Saturday post on X, [..] that its Arabic and English news pages had been deleted from #Facebook in a move that it described as “complete alignment with the #Israel occupation government”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/10/14/712724/Gaza-war-QNN-news-page-removal-Facebook #Meta #Palestine #Gaza #Hamas