Hello, today we bring you the latest news from Gaza where residents claim Israel intensified strikes hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced.
Plus, Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket blasted off on its first mission to space.
Today's Top News
Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed in previous Israeli strikes. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
War in Gaza
Israel intensified strikes on Gaza hours after a ceasefire and hostage release deal was announced, residents and authorities in the Palestinian enclave said, as mediators sought to quell fighting ahead of the truce's start on Sunday. Reuters photographers captured reactions to the news.
Nidal Al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem join this episode of the Reuters World News podcast with their insights on the implications of the deal for the devastated enclave and broader Middle East relations.
In other news
President Joe Biden capped a half-century political career with a final Oval Office speech as he hopes to seal a legacy overshadowed by Democrats' failure to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
Disappointment, denial and confusion flooded US TikTok upon hearing the news that Chinese owner ByteDance planned to shut off the app for its 170 million US users by Sunday, seemingly throwing in the towel on efforts to keep the popular video-sharing platform going.
South Korea's arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol failed to attend a second day of questioning by investigators, further stonewalling a criminal probe into whether he committed insurrection with his martial law bid.
South African police lowered a camera down more than a mile underground into an illegal gold mine to ascertain if any survivors or corpses were still there after a months-long siege by authorities in which at least 78 miners died.
Business & Markets
As Donald Trump takes office on January 20, concerns over bond vigilantes in the US have surfaced, according to several market experts. They could be a formidable check on his power.
Hindenburg Research's founder said he would disband the firm whose reports sparked heavy selling by investors and investigations by authorities, wiping billions from the market values of companies including India's Adani Group and US-based Nikola.
Britain's economic output returned to growth in November, the first month after finance minister Rachel Reeves announced big tax increases for businesses, but the expansion was smaller than expected.
Trump guidance is expected to allow anybody without legal status to be picked up. REUTERS/Octavio Jones
Blanca Figueroa and Severiano Martinez have known from the start of their eight-year marriage that she was at risk of deportation because she entered the US illegally.
Now - with Trump expected to issue a flurry of executive orders aimed at speeding the deportation process on the day he takes office - that risk has become an overwhelming source of anxiety and discussion in their central Florida home.
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off on its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
Blue Origin's giant New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth's orbit for Jeff Bezos' space company as it aims to rival SpaceX in the satellite launch business.
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