[World] Ukraine war: Deadly explosions hit Kyiv on New Year's Eve

Damaged hotel in KyivImage source, Reuters
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A hotel was among buildings damaged in the attacks

A wave of Russian missiles have hit cities across Ukraine, officials say.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said there had been several blasts in the capital, causing at least one death. A hotel has also been damaged.

The attacks happened two days after Russia carried out one of the largest air strikes since the start of the war.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned Russia could launch more attacks to make Ukrainians “celebrate the New Year in darkness”.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy sector in the past few months, destroying power stations and plunging millions into darkness during the country’s freezing winter.

Several senior Ukrainian officials have alluded to the strikes in social media posts, saying that Russia would not succeed in ruining their celebrations.

“The occupiers have decided to try to spoil the day for us,” Mykolaiv Governor Vitaly Kim said on Facebook.

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Watch: A local resident describes hearing the explosions and glass shattering

The head of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhny, said air defences had shot down 12 of 20 Russian cruise missiles.

In Kyiv, people rushed to shelters as air raid sirens sounded.

Emergency workers were sent to several districts hit by explosions.

Some 20 people were injured in Kyiv, including a Japanese journalist, Mr Klitschko said.

Deputy presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram that a hotel had been damaged.

Air defence has been activated in regions across the country.

In the western city of Khmelnytskyi, a drone attack injured two people, Mr Tymoshenko added.

Residents take shelter inside a metro station during an air raid alert in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 31 December 2022.Image source, EPA
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Ukrainians preparing to celebrate New Year have had to rush to air shelters

The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to rally people behind Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying the country’s future was at stake.

In a combative New Year address surrounded by people in military uniform, Mr Putin said: “We always knew, and today it is confirmed to us yet again, that a sovereign, independent and secure future for Russia depends only on us, on our strength and will.”

He presented the invasion of Ukraine’s sovereign territory as “defending our people and our historical lands”.

But President Zelensky responded with his own message to Russians in Russian.

“Your leader wants to show you that he’s leading from the front, and his military is behind him,” he said.

“But in fact he is hiding… He’s hiding behind you, and he’s burning your country and your future. No-one will forgive you for terror.”

The Ukrainian government has pleaded with Western leaders to provide it with additional air defences, and US President Joe Biden recently agreed to supply its Patriot system.

The Kremlin rejected Ukraine’s suggestion that peace talks could begin in 2023.

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[World] Footage shows impact of extreme weather in North America

Striking footage shows the scale of a powerful winter storm that hit North America over the holiday weekend.

At least 60 people are known to have died in the snowstorms, half of them in New York state.

Stories have emerged of residents in the worst-hit areas trapped in the snow for days.

Read more:

Death toll rises to 34 in New York after winter storm

Niagara Falls transformed into frozen spectacle

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[World] New Year's Eve: World celebrates arrival of 2023

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Australia welcomes 2023 with Sydney harbour fireworks display

New year celebrations are in full flow in parts of the world where 2023 has already arrived.

The Pacific nation of Kiribati was the first to welcome in the new year, followed by New Zealand an hour later.

And thousands gathered in Sydney for the Australian city’s renowned fireworks display.

Fireworks in SydneyImage source, BIANCA DE MARCHI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
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Sydney’s fireworks launched from its Harbour Bridge, Opera House and barges in its famous harbour
People watch 9pm fireworks at Sydney Botanic Gardens, in AustraliaImage source, Getty Images
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Many also gathered to watch the fireworks under the trees in Sydney Botanic Gardens
Man wears Happy New Year glasses and strikes a thumbs up as he celebrates New Year in SydneyImage source, Getty Images
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People had gathered early to get a prime spot to watch the midnight fireworks over the Sydney Opera House
People welcomed 2023 with live music and fireworks at New Year's Eve celebration at Hagley Park, in Christchurch, New ZealandImage source, Getty Images
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The Hagley Park celebrations in Christchurch, New Zealand, were marked with fireworks and live music
People gather to celebrate the clocks turning midnight in Seoul, South KoreaImage source, Reuters
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People gather to celebrate the clocks turning midnight in Seoul, South Korea
Revellers release balloons as they take part in New Year celebrations in Tokyo, JapanImage source, Reuters
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Revellers release balloons as they take part in new year celebrations in Tokyo, Japan
Entertainers perform during a countdown event for the 2023 new year celebrations in TokyoImage source, Reuters
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Entertainers perform during a countdown event for the 2023 new year celebrations in Tokyo
Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the New Year in Hong KongImage source, Reuters
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Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the new year in Hong Kong
People celebrate new year in Taipei, in Taiwan, as fireworks light up the skyline from the Taipei 101 buildingImage source, Getty Images
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People celebrate in Taiwan, as fireworks light up the skyline from the Taipei 101 building
Fireworks exploded over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand as clocks struck midnightImage source, Reuters
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Fireworks exploded over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand as the clock struck midnight
New year fireworks light up the sky over Rizal Park in Manila, in the PhilippinesImage source, Getty Images
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New year fireworks light up the sky over Rizal Park in Manila, in the Philippines

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[World] Ginni Thomas: US Supreme Court justice's wife says she regret her post-election texts

Virginia "Ginni" ThomasImage source, Reuters
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Virginia Thomas is married to US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Court justice’s wife expressed regret for her texts fanning conspiracies about the 2020 presidential election – in one among dozens of witness transcripts rushed out in the final days of activity by a congressional inquiry into last year’s riot at the US Capitol.

The committee is racing to make the disclosures this week before it is expected to be disbanded by Republicans when they take over the House of Representatives in four days.

Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called the investigation a “witch hunt”.

His son, Donald Trump Jr; his son-in-law Jared Kushner; former adviser Stephen Miller; his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson were among the 56 witnesses featured in this week’s disclosures.

The committee placed the blame for the riot squarely on Mr Trump’s shoulders when they released their final, 845-page report last week; many of their conclusions were based on the interviews they are now publishing in full. Taken together, the new transcripts show a White House in disarray after Mr Trump lost the election, and paralysed into inaction as his supporters laid siege to the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Here are a selection of interesting details from the committee’s interviews with Mr Trump’s family members, aides and allies.

‘I regret all of these texts’

The panel released interviews with right-wing activists and candidates who had backed Mr Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

One of them, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative operative and wife of US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, came under intense scrutiny after the Washington Post and CBS News reported that she had texted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows urging them to continue challenging the election results.

Her texts raised ethical concerns over the wife of a Supreme Court justice engaging in partisan activity.

“I regret all of these texts,” Ms Thomas told the January 6 committee when interviewed about these communications.

“It was an emotional time,” she said. “I was probably just emoting, as I clearly was with Mark Meadows somewhat.”

In her testimony, she told the committee that, “I worried that there was fraud and irregularities that distorted the election but it wasn’t uncovered in a timely manner, so we have President Biden.”

Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, arrives to speak on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016Image source, Getty Images
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Melania Trump

Melania Trump said to have snubbed Jill Biden

US media had previously reported on Mr Meadows’ alleged practice of burning documents.

Stephanie Grisham, the former chief of staff for Melania Trump, testified that the first lady pushed back against a suggestion that she invite her incoming successor, Jill Biden, to the White House for tea.

Instead, she testified, Mrs Trump wanted to be on the “same page” as the president’s office, which was resisting some transition efforts.

During the attack, Mrs Trump also refused to send a tweet that encouraged her husband’s supporters to engage in “peaceful protest” and not “lawlessness and violence”, Ms Grisham told investigators.

Trump thought Capitol rioters looked ‘very trashy’

Ms Grisham also gave insight into Mr Trump’s actions while the riot unfolded.

She told investigators that she had “heard from several people in the West Wing” that Mr Trump “was sitting in the dining room, and he was just watching it all unfold, and that a couple of his comments – some of his comments were that these people looked very trashy, but also look at what fighters they were”.

“He was kind of revelling in the fact that these people were fighting for him. But he also didn’t like how they looked,” Ms Grisham said.

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Watch dramatic new footage of police under attack at the Capitol riot

Documents allegedly burned in White House fireplace

The transcripts show the source material for many significant revelations, which trickled out steadily throughout the 18-month investigation and during 10 high-profile hearings this year.

For instance, in a newly released transcript, White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, said she had seen her boss, chief of staff Mark Meadows, burn documents in his office fireplace between December 2020 and January 2021.

Ms Hutchinson, who provided some of the inquiry’s most damning testimony about 6 January, said she did not know what the documents contained.

With the committee likely to disband in the coming days, it remains to be seen how much more of their trove of evidence they will make public before the new Congress begins on 3 January, 2023.

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[Sport] Cristiano Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr until 2025

Cristiano Ronaldo and a shirt
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five different World Cups in Qatar in 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr on a deal that runs until 2025.

The Portugal captain is a free agent after leaving Manchester United following a controversial interview in which he criticised the club.

Ronaldo will reportedly receive the biggest football salary in historyexternal-link at more than £177m per year.

The 37-year-old says he is “eager to experience a new football league in a different country”.

Ronaldo added: “I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia.”

Al Nassr – nine-time Saudi Pro League champions – described the signing as “history in the making”.

The club said it would “inspire our league, nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves”.

In the summer, Ronaldo turned down a £305m deal to join another Saudi team – Al Hilal – because he was happy at United.

Earlier in November, the striker spoke out in an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United, did not respect manager Erik ten Hag and was being forced out of the club.

Ronaldo, who scored 145 goals in 346 appearances for United, left Juventus to rejoin the Old Trafford club in August 2021 – 11 years after he departed to join Real Madrid.

He had just over seven months remaining on his £500,000-a-week contract with United but his immediate exit was “mutually agreed”.

A day after he left the club, he was banned for two domestic matches for knocking a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand after United’s defeat at Goodison Park in April.

He will serve the ban at domestic level with any new club – in England or abroad – although it does not apply at continental club level, such as the Champions League.

Ronaldo recently returned from playing for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, where he made history by becoming the first man to score at five different Fifa World Cups with his strike in his side’s opening win against Ghana.

Date Club joined Fee
12 August 2003 Manchester United £12.24m
6 July 2009 Real Madrid £80m
10 July 2018 Juventus £99.2m
31 August 2021 Manchester United £12.8m

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[World] Venezuelan opposition votes to abolish parallel government

Former Venezuelan National Assembly president and opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks during a press conference in Caracas, on June 14, 2022Image source, FEDERICO PARRA
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Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president on 23 January 2019

Venezuela’s opposition has voted to dissolve its parallel government and remove its leader, Juan Guaidó.

The move comes four years after Mr Guaidó declared himself president following the re-election of Nicolás Maduro in disputed polls.

He was recognised by many Western countries, including the US, but failed to oust the left-wing president.

The vote shows how most opposition politicians in Venezuela have lost faith in Mr Guaidó.

The National Assembly voted 72 to 29 to abolish his interim government.

Lawmakers also voted to appoint a commission to govern the country’s foreign assets, as they seek a united front ahead of elections scheduled for 2024.

Venezuela’s long-running political and humanitarian crisis has seen some seven million people flee the country since 2015.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses the media from the Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela November 30, 2022.Image source, Reuters
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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has grown increasingly authoritarian since his election in 2013

In November, Venezuela’s government and the opposition signed a preliminary agreement to find a way out of the country’s political crisis.

During talks in Mexico, the two issued a joint statement requesting that billions of dollars frozen abroad be released to help fund social projects.

It followed years of failed attempts to solve a political deadlock.

In response, the US said that it would allow the American oil company Chevron to resume some activity in Venezuela.

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