Israel reports more gains in Gaza
Israel is focusing its military efforts on the southern Gaza region and expects the war to continue for “many more months,” said Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Israel’s chief of military staff. More than 1.7 million displaced Gazans are registered in shelters in the south, including many sleeping on the streets and in open spaces. Food and water are scarce.
“We killed many terrorists and Hamas commanders,” Halevi said. “Some surrendered to our forces and hundreds were captured. We destroyed the underground infrastructure and many weapons.” But, he admitted, “it seems likely that we will still encounter fighters in this area.”
Satellite imagery verified by The Times showed Israeli forces outside Al Bureij, a densely populated area in the middle of the Gaza Strip, about a mile from the Israeli border. The military confirmed the advance, saying its forces targeted terrorist infrastructure in the Al Bureij area and discovered a tunnel shaft.
Risks: Nasser Hospital, the largest hospital in the southern Gaza Strip still functioning, will be at risk if shelling and fighting intensifies, a senior UN official has warned. The hospital is at three times capacity, he added.
A disturbingly hot 2023
Earth is ending its hottest year in 174 years, and likely in 125,000. Global temperatures have erased previous records for several months, and scientists are sifting through the evidence to see if this year can reveal anything new about the climate and what we’re doing with it.
While temperatures remain within the range expected by computer models, one hypothesis is that the planet’s warming is accelerating. “What we’re looking for, really, is a body of corroborating evidence that all points in the same direction,” said Chris Smith, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds. “Then we’re looking for a cause.”
One thing the researchers will be looking at is whether something unexpected can happen in the interplay of two major climate influences: the warming effect of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and the cooling effect of pollution on industry, which declined after the government’s continued efforts to improve public health. .
A big climate test: The Biden administration must decide whether a $10 billion natural gas facility will go ahead. Opponents say it would lock in decades of additional greenhouse gas emissions.
Success and failure for Ukraine
In the Black Sea and Crimea, Ukraine is winning naval victories and putting Russia on the defensive. But its ground campaign is winding down, and Russia is attacking on the eastern battlefields after crushing Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Ukrainian officials acknowledged that they had all but withdrawn from the eastern city of Marinka after a month-long battle to defend it.
A day after Russia said it had captured Marinka, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, compared it to the scorched-earth battle for Bakhmut, the eastern city that fell to Russia in May. “The situation is exactly the same as what happened in Bakhmut,” he said. “Street after street, block after block, and our soldiers are being targeted. And the result is what it is.”
Hours earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had destroyed the Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, in a Crimean port. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said one person was killed and two others were wounded in the attack, which started a fire.
The big picture: Ukraine has signaled that it is gearing up for a protracted war against Russia. On Monday, the government introduced a bill that would lower the age of people who can be drafted into the military from 27 to 25. Military officials said a mobilization of up to 500,000 soldiers could be required.
“I am your new Father Frost”: Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny described his move to a remote Arctic prison with a heavy dose of irony and humor.
THE LATEST NEWS
In the whole world
Deadheads, ballerinas and Mick Jagger: As 2023 approaches, revisit 59 unforgettable images that capture the year in art and culture.
SPORTS NEWS
Experience meets speed: How Max Verstappen came about “rough” to “polished diamond.”
What to watch: A starting XI of soccer documentaries.
ART AND IDEAS
Artists are celebrated
It’s been a big year for Africa’s cultural industry. Lynsey Chutel, our Briefings writer in Johannesburg, shares some highlights and what to watch for in 2024.
Watch: African independent films like “Goodbye Julia,” which explores the complexities of life in Sudan and South Sudan, has been celebrated at international film festivals and broke several regional box-office records. Streaming services have brought new audiences to African telenovelas and miniseries, such as the Nigerian legal drama “Ouch” and a historical drama about the 18th-century Zulu king “Shaka in Lembe.”
Read and then watch: African fantasy is set to reach a wider audience thanks to upcoming screen adaptations. The director of “The Woman King,” Gina Prince-Bythewood, agreed develop a screen adaptation of “Children of Blood and Bone,” the first book in the best-selling “Legacy of Orisha” series by Nigerian American author Tomi Adeyemi.
Listen and dance: Amapiano, the synth-heavy South African dance music created by Gen Z producers, made waves at Coachella and then TikTok. “Water” became global and accumulated a Grammy nomination for performer Tyla. With Afrobeats artists incorporating the sound of this popular genre, and including a Rihanna nodthe amapiano has taken over dance floors around the world.
