Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Zelensky vows 'there will be more' North Korean troops captured

 

at 1/12/25 4:13pm

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to catch more North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia after two were captured over the weekend, calling attention to what Zelensky considers Moscow's weakened military.

— U.N. expresses concern Gaza’s communications could go dark

 

at 1/12/25 1:55pm

Last week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs quietly warned that telecommunications services like phone and internet access could go dark in Gaza.

— Illegal Israeli settlers continue West Bank violence

 

at 1/12/25 12:39pm

Illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank are continuing to engage in violence against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian enclave.

— German tugs towing stricken oil tanker thought part of Russia's 'shadow fleet'

 

at 1/11/25 2:49pm

German maritime authorities said Saturday they are towing a disabled oil tanker in the Baltic Sea thought to be part of Russia's clandestine "shadow fleet" used to evade Western sanctions.

— Israeli intelligence chief to head hostage release delegeation in Qatar

 

at 1/11/25 12:34pm

Israel is sending the head of the country's intelligence service to Qatar to engage in negotiations to free remaining hostages held by Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed on Saturday.

— Jeju Air black boxes stopped working minutes before deadly crash in South Korea

 

at 1/11/25 11:21am

The two flight recorders on board a South Korean airliner stopped working before the jet crashed during an emergency landing and subsequent crash that killed 179 of the 181 people on board, officials said Saturday.

— Ukraine captures 2 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia, releases photos

 

at 1/11/25 11:09am

Ukraine has captured two North Korean soldiers alive after they were wounded while fighting for Russia, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Saturday.

— Syria’s new ruler pledges long-term strategic ties with Lebanon

 

at 1/11/25 9:18am

Syria's new leader Ahmad Sharaa called on Lebanon Saturday to forget about the past "negative" relations resulting from decades of the Assad family's rule.

— Venezuela's Maduro sworn into office as opposition, U.S. denounce 'coup d'etat'

 

at 1/10/25 12:22pm

Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president of Venezuela for a new six-year term on Friday, consolidating his dictatorship amid protests from opposition parties and the United States that his election win was illegitimate.

— Sweeping new U.S. sanctions target Russia's oil production and exports

 

at 1/10/25 9:54am

The U.S. Departments of Treasury and State Friday applied new sanctions on Russia's oil production and exports. Sanctioned were oil companies, 183 ships, dozens of oil traders, insurance companies and energy officials.

— Wayfair announces departure from German market

 

at 1/10/25 9:43am

Wayfair announced on Friday that it was leaving the German market after 15 years, citing lagging sales compared to Britain and "weak macroeconomic conditions" in the country.

— EU climate monitor warns global temperature rise breached 1.5 degrees Celsius for first time in 2024

 

at 1/10/25 8:30am

The average global surface temperature for 2024 exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels threshold set by the Paris Agreement for the first time, according to the European Union's climate watchdog.

— South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's security chief resigns

 

at 1/10/25 8:17am

South Korea's Presidential Security Service chief resigned Friday and acting President Choi Sang-mok accepted it. President Yoon Suk Yeol remains in his fortified residence as law enforcement seeks to arrest him.

— Donald Trump says his team setting up meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin

 

at 1/10/25 7:44am

Donald Trump said talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin were in the works and while the president-elect provided no timeline, he stressed that his preference would be for after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

— IDF confirms death of Hamas hostage after retrieving remains from Gaza

 

at 1/10/25 1:11am

The Israeli military confirmed Friday morning that Hamas hostage Hamza Alzayadni was killed in Gaza, days after it had announced his father's body had been retrieved along with unidentified remains from a tunnel in Gaza.

— Britain-led coalition to send Ukraine 30K drones

 

at 1/9/25 9:10pm

A British-led international coalition will send Ukraine 30,000 drones, London announced Thursday, amid uncertainty over the future of U.S. support for the besieged European ally.

— Venezuelan security forces arrest, release opposition leader Machado

 

at 1/9/25 4:07pm

Maria Corina Machado was arrested following an opposition rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Thursday but has been released.

— Game publisher Ubisoft prepares for potential buyout

 

at 1/9/25 2:10pm

A potential buyout by a majority of Ubisoft's investors has officials for the French game publisher looking for ways to maximize value for shareholders.

— Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, says a new phase has begun

 

at 1/9/25 12:44pm

Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

— Flights, shipping delayed as South Korea struggles in grip of extreme low temperatures

 

at 1/9/25 12:38pm

South Korea was experiencing the coldest day of the winter so far Thursday with temperatures ranging from 14 degrees Fahrenheit down to minus 4 degrees.

— Recent record flu cases in Japan overwhelm hospitals and drugmakers

 

at 1/9/25 12:32pm

Influenza is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and rising rapidly among that nation's population of 124.5 million and overwhelming many healthcare providers and drugmakers.

As of 1/12/25 7:50pm. Last new 1/12/25 5:00pm.