Trump seeks to lock in nomination at New Hampshire showdown - CNA

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire: Donald Trump aims to steamroll his way toward the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday (Jan 23) in the New Hampshire primary by making short work of his only surviving opponent, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.

In his convention-smashing mission to take revenge against President Joe Biden and win a second White House term, Trump has defied the fallout from two impeachments, four criminal trials awaiting him and lawsuits for fraud and sexual assault.

While Haley has questioned his mental fitness and warned that another Trump presidency would bring "chaos," polls indicate her efforts will be little more than a bump in the road in New Hampshire.

"If you want a losing candidate who puts America last, vote for Nikki Haley," Trump said in his closing arguments at a rally in the village of Laconia.

"But if you want a president who puts America first every single time, you're going to vote for Donald J Trump."

On Tuesday he stopped outside a polling station, hailing his supporters as an "organic" popular movement that would retake the White House.

New Hampshire, in the northeast United States, is seen as a more Haley-friendly electorate than she will encounter further down the line, and pressing on into February will be a tough sell without a win or very narrow loss.

Haley - aged 52 to Trump's 77 - sounded defiant Tuesday as voting started, telling Fox News that "political elites are saying we all need to coalesce around him. This is not a coronation. This is a democracy.

"We are going to have a strong showing today here in New Hampshire," she vowed.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvdHJ1bXAtc2Vla3MtbG9jay1ub21pbmF0aW9uLW5ldy1oYW1wc2hpcmUtc2hvd2Rvd24tNDA2OTA5MdIBAA?oc=5

2024-01-23 20:58:44Z
CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvdHJ1bXAtc2Vla3MtbG9jay1ub21pbmF0aW9uLW5ldy1oYW1wc2hpcmUtc2hvd2Rvd24tNDA2OTA5MdIBAA

US envoy pushing pause in Gaza war as Israel suffers worst loss of soldiers - CNA

TANKS SHUT KHAN YOUNIS ROAD

Hamas' armed wing said it was responsible for a rocket attack that killed 21 Israeli soldiers on Monday.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in Tel Aviv that the militants' rockets hit a building where Israeli forces had laid explosives to demolish it. The strike caused that building and one next to it to collapse, he said.

Three soldiers were killed in a separate attack. In total, 220 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground offensive in late October.

On Tuesday, advancing Israeli tanks shut the road out of Khan Younis towards the Mediterranean coast, blocking the escape route for civilians trying to reach Rafah, the last town on Gaza's southern edge bordering Egypt - now crammed with more than half the enclave's 2.3 million people.

The Israelis have blockaded hospitals, which Palestinian officials say makes it impossible to rescue the wounded. At the European Hospital, reached by Reuters in southern Khan Younis, Ahed Masmah brought in five corpses, piled on a mattress on his donkey cart.

"I found them face down in the street," he said.

At Khan Younis' main Nasser hospital, the biggest still functioning in the Gaza Strip, bodies were being buried on the grounds because it was unsafe to go out to the cemetery.

Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry, said medical teams were unable to transfer critical cases from the Nasser Medical Complex to the nearby Jordanian field hospital due to ongoing shelling.

Israel says Hamas fighters operate in and around hospitals, which hospital staff and Hamas deny.

Martin Griffiths, UN coordinator of emergency relief, said on Tuesday that 24 people were killed in strikes on an aid warehouse, UN centre and humanitarian zone in the Khan Younis area. A distribution centre where families receive aid was under heavy bombardment, he said on social media platform X.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvdXMtZW52b3ktcHVzaGluZy1wYXVzZS1nYXphLXdhci1pc3JhZWwtc3VmZmVycy13b3JzdC1sb3NzLXNvbGRpZXJzLTQwNjg5NDHSAQA?oc=5

2024-01-23 20:29:00Z
CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvdXMtZW52b3ktcHVzaGluZy1wYXVzZS1nYXphLXdhci1pc3JhZWwtc3VmZmVycy13b3JzdC1sb3NzLXNvbGRpZXJzLTQwNjg5NDHSAQA

Harsh but true? Chinese blogger hits a liberal arts nerve in a tough job market - CNA

Chinese education blogger Zhang Xuefeng was direct and damning when a woman asked him during a live stream whether her son should choose to study liberal arts at university.

Zhang, who has more than 24 million followers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is a regular source of advice for education and the job market.

“All liberal arts graduates are joining the service industries! And all they need is grovelling,” he said during the event last month.

To many viewers – and arts graduates and students – the comments were offensive, not just for the choice of language but for suggesting their degrees were worthless in today’s economy.

Zhang later apologised – only for thousands of liberal arts students to say the comments struck a chord with them.

In a highly competitive job market, weighted heavily in favour of people with STEM skills, the blogger’s forthright assessment may have been harsh, but it wasn’t wrong, they said.

Academics and researchers say the controversy over the remarks reflects long-standing problems in Chinese higher education.

Liberal arts studies include humanities majors such as history and literature, social sciences such as economics, journalism and law, and some majors in business schools.

Zhang did not specify which liberal arts majors he was criticising, but the thousands of social media users who echoed his comments on social media platforms ranged from literature and journalism students to finance graduates.

An anthropology graduate from a leading university in Shanghai said his teachers told students at the beginning of the school year to be “mentally prepared” for not being able to find a job.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1qb2ItbWFya2V0cy1saWJlcmFsLWFydHMtZGVncmVlLXN0ZW0tc2tpbGxzLTQwNjcxNjHSAQA?oc=5

2024-01-23 05:25:00Z
CBMiXmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1qb2ItbWFya2V0cy1saWJlcmFsLWFydHMtZGVncmVlLXN0ZW0tc2tpbGxzLTQwNjcxNjHSAQA

Malaysia considers legal proceedings against foreign banks linked to 1MDB graft - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR :Malaysia is considering initiating legal proceedings against foreign banks linked to the multi-billion dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal, the chairman of the 1MDB asset recovery taskforce said on Tuesday.

Johari Abdul Ghani did not identify the foreign banks but said they did not conduct proper due diligence before facilitating fund transfers related to the sovereign fund.

Malaysian and U.S. investigators estimate $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, implicating a former Malaysian prime minister, Goldman Sachs staff and high-level officials elsewhere.

In 2021, Malaysia sued units of Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Coutts & Co to recover billions in alleged losses from the fund, though the cases have yet to progress in court.

"The 1MDB task force is firmly committed in addressing the 1MDB matter transparently and holding all parties accountable," Johari said in a statement.

Separately, he added that Malaysia had responded on Nov. 8 to an arbitration request by Goldman Sachs, and the two parties were in the process of agreeing on a procedural timetable.

Goldman Sachs in 2020 had agreed to pay $3.9 billion to settle Malaysia's criminal probe over its role in the scandal.

But the parties are now in disagreement over the settlement, which stipulates that Goldman should make an interim payment if Malaysia did not recover at least $500 million from the firm by August 2022.

Goldman sued Malaysia in a British court in October last year for the Malaysian government's violation of its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman in the settlement agreement and to recover other assets worth $1.4 billion.

Malaysia has denied the allegations it breached the settlement deal, and on Tuesday accused Goldman Sachs of trying to offset 1MDB fines and settlements recovered from other institutions such as AmBank, and Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) against the $1.4 billion sum.

Johari said the fines and settlements were not within the scope of Goldman's asset recovery guarantee.

The 1MDB taskforce was also examining whether negotiators and lawyers representing the Malaysian government at the time failed to secure a fair and adequate settlement from Goldman, given the firm's role in the scandal.

Goldman had helped 1MDB raise $6.5 billion through bond sales, earning $600 million in fees, which was "unusually high", Johari said.

"Such lapses on the part of negotiators and lawyers, in failing to negotiate a fair and clear settlement agreement have compromised the government of Malaysia's position in the ongoing

dispute," Johari said.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvbWFsYXlzaWEtY29uc2lkZXJzLWxlZ2FsLXByb2NlZWRpbmdzLWFnYWluc3QtZm9yZWlnbi1iYW5rcy1saW5rZWQtMW1kYi1ncmFmdC00MDY2NzM20gEA?oc=5

2024-01-23 01:31:17Z
CBMifWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYnVzaW5lc3MvbWFsYXlzaWEtY29uc2lkZXJzLWxlZ2FsLXByb2NlZWRpbmdzLWFnYWluc3QtZm9yZWlnbi1iYW5rcy1saW5rZWQtMW1kYi1ncmFmdC00MDY2NzM20gEA

Chinese research vessel heads to Maldives, could concern India - CNA

NEW DELHI: A Chinese research vessel is on its way to the Maldives, according to an Indian military official and an independent researcher, as new Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu deepens ties with Beijing, distancing from New Delhi.

It is likely to raise concern in New Delhi, which has previously viewed the presence of such vessels close to its shores, including in Sri Lanka in 2022, as problematic.

These vessels are not military ships, officially, but India and others worry about the military use of their research.

Relations between traditional friends New Delhi and Male have soured since President Muizzu took office in November riding an 'India Out' campaign.

Both New Delhi and Beijing vie for influence on the tiny Indian Ocean nation but the new government in Male is pivoting towards China and has asked India to withdraw its nearly 80 troops stationed there.

The Chinese vessel is en-route to Male, open source intelligence researcher Damien Symon wrote on social media platform X, saying Xiang Yang Hong 03 “is entering the Indian Ocean Region, displaying its destination as Male, the vessel is expected to run an ocean survey operation in the Indian Ocean Region raising concern in #India”.

An Indian military official confirmed Symon’s finding and said they are monitoring its movement.  

The Maldivian president’s office, India’s foreign ministry and China’s defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

New Delhi has in the past flagged similar visits by other Chinese research vessels with its other littoral neighbour Sri Lanka, which has denied permission for such vessels to dock on its ports since 2022.

In 2019, India expelled another Chinese research vessel from its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) after it entered without permission.

A senior Indian security official said China's research vessels are “dual use” which means the information gathered by them can be used for both civilian and military purposes, including the deployment of submarines.

Both the Indian military and security officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the subject.

Earlier this month, state-affiliated Chinese media warned against calling its maritime research in the Indian Ocean Region a threat, after an American think tank said China's navy could "leverage the insights gained from these missions" for deployment of naval forces.

Vietnam and Indonesia have previously claimed that similar Chinese research vessels had entered their EEZ.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluZXNlLXJlc2VhcmNoLXZlc3NlbC1oZWFkcy1tYWxkaXZlcy1jb3VsZC1jb25jZXJuLWluZGlhLTQwNjU0OTbSAQA?oc=5

2024-01-22 15:46:55Z
CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluZXNlLXJlc2VhcmNoLXZlc3NlbC1oZWFkcy1tYWxkaXZlcy1jb3VsZC1jb25jZXJuLWluZGlhLTQwNjU0OTbSAQA

Israel hammers Gaza's south, hostage families urge Netanyahu to seek deal - CNA

GAZA STRIP: The Israeli army bombarded Khan Younis, the latest epicentre of the war in Gaza, on Monday (Jan 22) after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected what he said were Hamas conditions for the release of hostages, even amid mounting pressure from their families.

Witnesses reported deadly strikes overnight in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza, and fierce fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Monday that more than 120 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.

"Artillery shelling has not stopped since 5am," said Yunis Abdel Razek, 52, who was sheltering with his family at the city's Al-Aqsa University.

"We can't leave the university ... it's dangerous and I fear for the little ones," he said. "They said the Al-Mawasi area was safe but they lied," he added, referring to a coastal strip west of Khan Younis.

Mahdi Antar, 21, meanwhile said he feared forces would "storm" Al-Nasr Hospital where he was sheltering with his family.

While fighting is concentrated in the south it has not ended in the north, where Hamas authorities reported shelling in the Gaza City area and witnesses heard explosions.

The strikes came after Hamas on Sunday issued a 16-page report in which they admitted to "some faults" but defended the Oct 7 attacks that sparked the war.

The attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, launching a relentless offensive that has killed at least 25,295 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll issued Monday by Gaza's health ministry.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvaXNyYWVsLWhhbW1lcnMtZ2F6YXMtc291dGgtaG9zdGFnZS1mYW1pbGllcy11cmdlLW5ldGFueWFodS1zZWVrLWRlYWwtNDA2NDU1NtIBAA?oc=5

2024-01-22 10:06:00Z
CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvaXNyYWVsLWhhbW1lcnMtZ2F6YXMtc291dGgtaG9zdGFnZS1mYW1pbGllcy11cmdlLW5ldGFueWFodS1zZWVrLWRlYWwtNDA2NDU1NtIBAA

China landslide kills two, dozens missing - Reuters

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

China landslide kills two, dozens missing  ReutersView Full coverage on Google News
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnJldXRlcnMuY29tL3dvcmxkL2NoaW5hL2RvemVucy1taXNzaW5nLWxhbmRzbGlkZS1zb3V0aHdlc3QtY2hpbmFzLXl1bm5hbi1wcm92aW5jZS0yMDI0LTAxLTIyL9IBAA?oc=5

2024-01-22 06:10:26Z
CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnJldXRlcnMuY29tL3dvcmxkL2NoaW5hL2RvemVucy1taXNzaW5nLWxhbmRzbGlkZS1zb3V0aHdlc3QtY2hpbmFzLXl1bm5hbi1wcm92aW5jZS0yMDI0LTAxLTIyL9IBAA