# Blinken says Turkey is committed to a 'positive' role in postwar Gaza as he opens a diplomatic push
By **MATTHEW LEE**
January 6, 2024. 3:24 PM EST

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**CHANIA, Greece (AP)** - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Turkey is committed to playing "a positive, productive" role for postwar Gaza and prepared to use its influence in the region to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from broadening even more.

The latest Mideast mission by America's top diplomat opened with talks in Turkey and Greece before shifting to the region for "not necessarily easy conversations" with allies and partners about what they are willing to do "to build durable peace and security."

Blinken's fourth visit in three months comes as developments in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful U.S. push to prevent a regional conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, and as international criticism of Israel's military operation mounts.

Blinken held meetings with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, in Istanbul about what Turkey and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease tensions, speed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin planning for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza. Much of the territory has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombardments.

In Chania, a port city on the Mediterranean island of Crete, Blinken later visited with Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at his residence. "These are difficult and challenging times," Mitsotakis said.

Blinken's day was ending in Jordan, with stops in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday. Blinken will visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday and Wednesday before wrapping up the trip in Egypt. He said his priorities are protecting civilians - "far too many Palestinians have been killed" - getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza, ensuring Hamas cannot strike again and developing a framework for Palestinian-led governance in the territory and "a Palestinian state with security assurances or Israel."

The ultimate goal, he said, is lasting peace, and his talks will focuses on what U.S. allies and partners are prepared to do to help with that process.

"These are not necessarily easy conversations. There are different perspectives, different needs, different requirements, but it is vital that we engage in this diplomacy now both for the sake of Gaza itself and more broadly the sake of the future for Israelis and Palestinians and for the region as a whole," Blinken said.

"There is clearly a strong desire among the majority of people in the region for a future that is one of peace, of security, of de-escalation of conflicts, of integration of countries and that's one path, that's one future. The other future is an endless cycle of violence, a repetition of the horrific events that we've seen and lives of insecurity and conflict for people in the region, which is what virtually no one wants."

Turkey, and Erdogan in particular, have been harshly critical of Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the prosecution of the war and the impact it has had on Palestinian civilians.

But Blinken told reporters before he flew from Crete to Amman that "from our conversations today, it's clear that Turkey is prepared to play a positive, productive role in the work that needs to happen the day after the conflict ends and as well more broadly in trying to find a path to sustainable peace and security." Blinken would not go in details about what he heard from the Turkish officials.

``I think they're also prepared ... to use the ties, the influence they have, the relationships they have with some of the critical players and some of the critical countries in the region to do everything possible to deescalate and to prevent the conflict from spreading. ... They clearly have a shared interest with us in doing just that and I'm confident from these conversations that they're going to make every possible effort," Blinken said.

Hours before Blinken's meetings, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel and said the barrage was an initial response to the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top leader from the allied Hamas group in Lebanon's capital this past week.

Stepped-up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have disrupted international trade and led to increased efforts by the U.S. and its allies to patrol the vital commercial waterway and respond to threats. The coalition of countries issued what amounted to a final warning to the Houthis on Wednesday to cease their attacks on vessels or face potential targeted military action. Since Dec. 19, the militants have carried out at least two dozen attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

From the Turkish officials, Blinken sought at least consideration of potential monetary or in-kind contributions to reconstruction efforts in Gaza and participation in security arrangements, according to U.S. officials.

Blinken also stressed the importance that the U.S. places on Turkey's ratification of Sweden's membership in NATO, a long-delayed process that the Turks have said they will complete soon. Sweden's entry to the alliance is seen as a significant response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A Turkish official said Fidan told Blinken that Israel's "increasing aggression" in Gaza was a threat to the region and he called for an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of "uninterrupted" humanitarian aid. Fidan said negotiations for a two-state solution should begin "as soon as possible," according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues in the private talks.

Fidan also said Turkey was awaiting the outcome of its request to upgrade its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and stressed that the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership lay in the hands of the Turkish parliament.


# A woman in her 90s is rescued alive 5 days after Japan's deadly earthquake
By **HIRO KOMAE**, **AYAKA MCGILL**, and **YURI KAGEYAMA **
January 6, 2024. 9:54 PM EST

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**WAJIMA, Japan (AP)** - A woman in her 90s was pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan late Saturday, 124 hours after a major quake slammed the region, killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.

The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa Prefecture, had survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake that hit the area Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, and the woman was not visible.

Chances for survival diminish after the first 72 hours. Several other dramatic rescues have been reported over the past few days as soldiers, firefighters and others joined a widespread effort.

Among the 126 dead was a 5-year-old boy who had been recovering from injuries he suffered when boiling water spilled on him during Monday's 7.6 magnitude earthquake. His condition suddenly worsened and he died Friday, according to Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region.

Aftershocks threatened to bury more homes and block roads crucial for relief shipments. Officials warned that roads already cracked could collapse completely. That risk was growing with rain and snow expected overnight and Sunday.

Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 69, followed by Suzu with 38. More than 500 people were injured, at least 27 of them seriously.

The temblors left roofs sitting haplessly on roads and everything beneath them crushed flat. Roads were warped like rubber. A fire turned a neighborhood in Wajima to ashes.

More than 200 people were still unaccounted-for, although the number has fluctuated. Eleven people were reported trapped under two homes that collapsed in Anamizu.

For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was spared but a nearby temple went up in flames and he was still looking for his friends at evacuation centers.

"It's been really tough," he said.

Japan is one of the fastest-aging societies in the world. The population in Ishikawa and nearby areas has dwindled over the years. A fragile economy centered on crafts and tourism is now more imperiled than ever.

In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.

Japan received messages earlier expressing sympathy and promises of aid from United States President Joe Biden and other allies.

Japanese government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan was grateful for all the messages, including the one from North Korea. Hayashi said the last time Japan received a condolence message from North Korea for a disaster was in 1995.

Along Japan's coastline, power was gradually being restored, but water supplies were still short. Emergency water systems were also damaged.

Thousands of troops were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 30,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.

The nationally circulated Yomiuri newspaper reported that its aerial study had located more than 100 landslides in the area, some blocking lifeline roads. Some communities remained isolated and waiting for aid.

"I hope the city recovers, and I hope people won't leave, and they stay here to work hard toward recovery," said Seizo Shinbo, a seafood trader, who was stocking up on noodles, canned goods and rice balls at a supermarket.

"There is no food. There is no water. And the worst is gas. People are still in kilometer-long lines," Shinbo said.


# Cumbersome process and 'arbitrary' Israeli inspections slow aid delivery into Gaza, US senators say
By **LEE KEATH**
January 6, 2024. 3:43 PM EST

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**CAIRO (AP)** - At Egypt's Rafah border crossing, lines of hundreds of trucks carrying aid wait for weeks to enter Gaza, and a warehouse is full of goods rejected by Israeli inspectors, everything from water testing equipment to medical kits for delivering babies, two U.S. senators said Saturday after a visit to the border.

Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley pointed to a cumbersome process that is slowing relief to the Palestinian population in the besieged territory - largely due to Israeli inspections of aid cargos, with seemingly arbitrary rejections of vital humanitarian equipment. The system to ensure that aid deliveries within Gaza don't get hit by Israeli forces is "totally broken," they said.

"What struck me yesterday was the miles of backed-up trucks. We couldn't count, but there were hundreds," Merkley said in a briefing with Van Hollen to a group of reporters in Cairo.

The U.S. has been pressing Israel for weeks to let greater amounts of food, water, fuel, medicine and other supplies into Gaza, and the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 22 calling for an immediate increase in deliveries. Three weeks ago, Israel opened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, adding a second entry point for aid after Rafah.

Still, the rate of trucks entering has not risen significantly. This week, an average of around 120 trucks a day entered through Rafah and Kerem Shalom, according to U.N. figures, far below the 500 trucks of goods going in daily before the war and far below what aid groups say is needed.

Other than the trickle of aid through the crossings, Israel has barred the entry of supplies since its assault on Gaza began three months ago, aiming to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The result has been a humanitarian catastrophe for the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians.

Almost the entire population depends on the trucks coming across the border for their survival. One in four Palestinians in Gaza is starving, and the rest face crisis levels of hunger, according to the U.N. More than 85% of Gaza's people have been driven from their homes by Israeli bombardment and ground offensives. Most live in U.N. shelters crowded many times beyond their capacity, in tent camps that have sprung up or on the streets. The few functioning hospitals are overwhelmed with wounded and patients amid outbreaks of disease, as sanitation systems have collapsed.

Van Hollen and Merkley said a more simplified process for getting aid into Gaza is necessary. During a three-day visit to Egypt, they met with Egyptian officials, U.N. aid agencies and non-governmental relief groups working in Gaza. At Rafah on Friday, they also spoke to doctors who had come out of Gaza and a truck driver waiting to get in.

Trucks carrying aid cargos can wait for weeks at the border for their turn to be processed, they said they were told by aid officials. They enter the Egyptian side of the border, drive along no-man's land to the Israeli facility at Nitzana for inspection by the military, then return to Rafah to cross into Gaza - or go to Kerem Shalom for inspection and entry there.

Kerem Shalom operates eight hours a day, and both it and Nitzana close part of Friday and all Saturday. "This, in a 24-hour-a day" humanitarian crisis, Van Hollen said.

Israel says the inspections are necessary to prevent items of military use from reaching Hamas.

During the process, cargos are unloaded and reloaded several times. If inspectors reject a single item in a truck, it must return with its entire cargo to be re-packaged, starting the weeks-long process all over again, said Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland.

The reasons for rejection are often "very vague, and they are conveyed informally. Sometimes they were very unreasonable," said Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon.

The two senators said they saw a warehouse in Rafah filled with material that had been rejected in inspection. It included oxygen cylinders, gas-powered generators, tents and medical kits used in delivering babies.

Aid workers told the senators the tents were refused because they included metal poles, and the medical kits because they included scalpels. Most solar-powered equipment appears to be barred - though it is vital in Gaza, where central electricity has collapsed and fuel for generators is in short supply.

"The warehouse was a testament to the arbitrariness" of the process, Van Hollen said.

There is a process for pre-approving cargos, but it can take weeks, they said, and even items that obtained prior approval are sometimes rejected during inspection. After inspection, trucks are considered "sanitized" and their drivers are not allowed to interact with anyone; the senators said they were told one truck driver was turned back after someone brought him a cup of coffee, violating the rule.

The process is "completely incompatible" with a humanitarian crisis of this extent, Merkley said. "There has to be a simplified process" that honors Israel's concerns over potential military uses of goods but also addresses the scale of the situation, he said.

The senators, who both sit on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said they were drawing up recommendations for changes.

Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem this week, Col. Elad Goren, a senior official in the Israeli military body overseeing Palestinian civilian affairs known as COGAT, admitted that Israeli security checks could be hampering rapid aid delivery but largely blamed the bottlenecks on international agencies and the United Nations.

Asked about certain forms of medical equipment not being allowed in, he said, "I want to make it clear we are not refusing anything that is underneath four headlines ... Food, water, medical supplies and shelters."

Goren said the U.N. should increase manpower and workers' hours and deploy more trucks to deliver aid. He maintained the humanitarian situation in Gaza was under control and there was sufficient food. Officials at COGAT did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment on the senators' briefing.

Van Hollen and Merkley said U.N. and other aid workers described extensive problems in distributing aid. They must ration the small amount of fuel Israel allows to enter Gaza between hospitals, bakeries and aid trucks. Frequent collapses of the communications system - or simple inability to recharge phone batteries - makes contact and coordination with aid teams impossible.

Arranging safe passage for aid deliveries is an enormous challenge, they said. "Nothing about deconfliction is working," Merkley said. Aid groups inform the Israeli military of their movements but even once they have assurances an area is safe, it sometimes gets struck.

"No place really becomes deconflicted," Merkley said. "It is not safe for them to move."


# Hasina wins Bangladesh vote, but low turnout and opposition boycott raise doubts over its legitimacy
By **KRUTIKA PATHI** and **JULHAS ALAM**
January 7, 2024. 11:20 PM EST

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**DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)** - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won an overwhelming majority in Bangladesh's parliamentary election after a campaign fraught with violence and a boycott from the main opposition party, giving her and her Awami League a fourth consecutive term.

While the Election Commission has been slow to announce the results of Sunday's election, TV stations with journalists across the country reported the Awami League won 224 seats out of 299. Independent candidates took 62, while the Jatiya Party, the third largest in the country, took 11 seats and Kallyan Party got 1. The results for the rest of the constituencies were still coming in.

The election was held in 299 out of 300 parliamentary seats. In one seat, the election was postponed as required by law after an independent candidate died.

A final official declaration from the Election Commission is expected on Monday.

At least 18 arson attacks preceded the vote but the election day passed in relative calm. Turnout was around 40%, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said after the polls closed.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former premier Khaleda Zia refused to accept the election outcome, saying Bangladeshi voters have rejected the government's one-sided election.

Security incidents, including four deaths in an arson attack on a passenger train on Friday, intensified tensions ahead of the election that was shunned by Zia's party and its allied groups. They accuse Hasina of turning Bangladesh into a one-party state and muzzling dissent and civil society.

Authorities blamed much of the violence on the BNP, accusing it of seeking to sabotage the election. On Saturday, detectives arrested seven men belonging to the BNP and its youth wing for their alleged involvement in the train attack. The party denied any role in the incident.

On Sunday, a supporter of an Awami League candidate was stabbed to death in Munshiganj district near the capital, Dhaka, officials said. Police did not comment immediately.

A victory for the 76-year-old Hasina, the country's longest-serving leader and one of its most consequential, would come with a deeply contentious political landscape.

The vote, like previous elections, has been defined by the bitter rivalry between Hasina's Awami League and the BNP, led by Zia, who is ailing and under house arrest on corruption charges, which her supporters claim are politically motivated.

The two women ran the country alternately for many years, cementing a feud that has since polarized Bangladesh's politics and fueled violence around elections. This year's vote raised questions over its credibility when there are no major challengers to take on the incumbent.

Badshah Mia, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka, said he wouldn't vote given the limited choices, adding that the atmosphere didn't exude that of "a fair election."

Sakibul Hasan Chowdhury, a businessman, felt the same. "There is no opposition and no candidate of my choice. So how would I benefit from voting?"

A small business owner, Habibur Rahman, said he was voting for the ruling party candidate in his constituency but added that there didn't seem to be much of a turnout.

Critics and rights groups say the vote follows a troubling pattern, where the past two elections held under Hasina were sullied by allegations of vote-rigging - which authorities have denied - and another boycott by opposition parties.

The government has rejected a monthslong demand by the BNP to have a neutral caretaker government administer Sunday's vote.

The government has defended the election, saying 27 parties and 404 independent candidates are participating. But with scores of candidates from the Awami League running as independents and mostly smaller opposition parties in the race, analysts say Hasina's win is near inevitable.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said none of those contesting would be able to mount much of a challenge to Hasina's party. "The outcome is all but guaranteed, and that is that the Awami League will return (to power) again," he said, noting that "Bangladesh's democracy will be in an extremely precarious state once the election is done."

The vote has also been called into question by accusations of a sweeping crackdown against the BNP. The party says about 20,000 of its members were jailed ahead of the vote on trumped-up charges. The government disputed the figures and denied that arrests were made due to political leanings, saying the numbers of those arrested were between 2,000-3,000. The country's law minister in an interview with BBC said 10,000 were likely arrested.

Abdul Moyeen Khan, a former minister and BNP leader, said the spate of arrests forced him and scores of other party members to go into hiding for weeks until candidacy nominations were halted. "It was the only way we could ensure our safety and carry on raising our voice (against the government)" he said.

"We are not boycotting an election - what we are boycotting is a fake and one-sided election that this government is carrying out," Khan added.

Hasina is credited with transforming the economy of a young nation born out of war and making its garment sector one of the world's most competitive. Her supporters say she has staved off military coups and neutralized the threat of Islamic militancy. And internationally, she's helped raise Bangladesh's profile as a nation capable of doing business and maintaining diplomatic ties with countries often at odds with each other, like India and China.

Yet her critics say her rise has risked turning Bangladesh into becoming a one-party state where democracy is under threat, as emboldened government agencies increasingly use oppressive tools to mute critics, shrink press freedoms and restrict civil society.

The global economic slowdown is also being felt in Bangladesh, exposing cracks in its economy that have triggered labor unrest and dissatisfaction with the government.

After casting her ballot, Hasina dismissed concerns over the legitimacy of the vote, telling reporters she was accountable to the people and whether they accepted the election or not was what mattered to her.

"I'm trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country," she added. "Without democracy, you cannot make any development."


# Police probe UK Post Office for accusing over 700 employees of theft. The culprit was an IT glitch
By **JILL LAWLESS**
January 6, 2024. 8:04 AM EST

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**LONDON (AP)** - U.K. police have opened a fraud investigation into Britain's Post Office over a miscarriage of justice that saw hundreds of postmasters wrongfully accused of stealing money when a faulty computer system was to blame.

The Metropolitan Police force said late Friday that it is investigating "potential fraud offences arising out of these prosecutions," relating to money the Post Office received "as a result of prosecutions or civil actions" against accused postal workers.

Police also are investigating potential offenses of perjury and perverting the course of justice over investigations and prosecutions carried out by the Post Office.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 post office branch managers were accused of theft or fraud because computers wrongly showed that money was missing. Many were financially ruined after being forced to pay large sums to the company, and some were convicted and sent to prison. Several killed themselves.

The real culprit was a defective computer accounting system called Horizon, supplied by the Japanese technology firm Fujitsu, that was installed in local Post Office branches in 1999.

The Post Office maintained for years that data from Horizon was reliable and accused branch managers of dishonesty when the system showed money was missing.

After years of campaigning by victims and their lawyers, the Court of Appeal quashed 39 of the convictions in 2021. A judge said the Post Office "knew there were serious issues about the reliability" of Horizon and had committed "egregious" failures of investigation and disclosure.

A total of 93 of the postal workers have now had their convictions overturned, according to the Post Office. But many others have yet to be exonerated, and only 30 have agreed to "full and final" compensation payments. A public inquiry into the scandal has been underway since 2022.

So far, no one from the publicly owned Post Office or other companies involved has been arrested or faced criminal charges.

Lee Castleton, a former branch manager who went bankrupt after being pursued by the Post Office for missing funds, said his family was ostracized in their hometown of Bridlington in northern England. He said his daughter was bullied because people thought "her father was a thief, and he'd take money from old people."

He said victims wanted those responsible to be named.

"It's about accountability," Castleton told Times Radio on Saturday. "Let's see who made those decisions and made this happen."

The long-simmering scandal stirred new outrage with the broadcast this week of a TV docudrama, "Mr. Bates vs the Post Office." It charted a two-decade battle by branch manager Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, to expose the truth and clear the wronged postal workers.

Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read, appointed after the scandal, welcomed the TV series and said he hoped it would "raise further awareness and encourage anyone affected who has not yet come forward to seek the redress and compensation they deserve."

A lawyer for some of the postal workers said 50 new potential victims had approached lawyers since the show aired on the ITV network.

"The drama has elevated public awareness to a whole new level," attorney Neil Hudgell said. "The British public and their overwhelming sympathy for the plight of these poor people has given some the strength to finally come forward. Those numbers increase by the day, but there are so many more out there."


# Russian shelling kills 11 in Donetsk region while Ukraine claims it hit a Crimean air base
January 6, 2024. 11:38 AM EST

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**KYIV, Ukraine (AP)** - Eleven people were killed Saturday in Russian shelling in Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk province, according to regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin. Five children were among the dead and eight further people were wounded in the attack on the Pokrovsk district, he said.

Ukraine's military claimed Saturday it successfully attacked the Saki military airbase in the west of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

"Saki airfield! All targets were hit!" Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram. He also published a photo appearing to show the airfield, though it was not immediately possible to verify the image.

Russian officials did not comment on the alleged attack, but Russia's Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Saturday that it had successfully downed four Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula overnight. Later on Saturday, the ministry reported that its air defense forces had shot down six anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.

Traffic was temporarily suspended for a third straight day on a bridge connecting the peninsula, which Moscow seized illegally in 2014, with Russia's southern Krasnodar region. The span is a crucial supply link for Russia's war effort.

In Russia, local officials in Belgorod - some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine - said that an "air target" was shot down on approach to the city. Ukrainian attacks on Dec. 30 in Belgorod killed 25 people, officials there said, with rocket and drone attacks continuing throughout this week.

As Russians prepared to celebrate Orthodox Christmas, Christmas Eve masses in Belgorod were canceled due to the "operational situation," mayor Valentin Demidov said.


# Orthodox mark Christmas, but the celebration is overshadowed for many by conflict
By **THE ASSOCIATED PRESS**
January 6, 2024. 5:54 PM EST

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Orthodox Christians packed churches Saturday night for Christmas Eve services, a holiday overshadowed for many believers by conflict.

Traditions vary, but typically the main worship service for Orthodox Christians takes place the night before Christmas, which is Jan. 7.

Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, the world's largest Orthodox denomination, led elaborate and well-attended services at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. In ornately decorated vestments, dozens of priests and officiants took part, swinging smoking incense censers and chanting the liturgy.

In his Christmas message, broadcast just before the service Saturday night, Kirill spoke on the theme of sacrificial love, noting that Jesus Christ "saved us from the wrong path in life, from the wrong life orientation." He also called for prayers for Russia, so that "no alien evil will could disrupt the peaceful flow of life."

Russian President Vladimir Putin was joined by families of military personnel who have died in the war in Ukraine at Christmas Eve services at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence, in the western suburbs of Moscow.

In a statement congratulating Orthodox Christians, Putin highlighted the "efforts of religious organizations aimed at supporting our heroes - participants in the special military operation," as the Kremlin refers to Russia's efforts in Ukraine.

Officials said about a million people were expected to go to church in the Russian capital. But nighttime services were canceled in the Russian border city of Belgorod due to the "operational situation," Mayor Valentin Demidov said.

Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod on Dec. 30 killed 25 people, officials there said, making it one of the deadliest strikes on Russian soil since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine nearly 23 months ago. Rocket and drone attacks on the city continued throughout this week.

Russians and Orthodox in some other countries observe Christmas on Jan. 7.

But Ukraine, which is a predominantly Orthodox country, officially observed Christmas this year as a public holiday on Dec. 25. The change, enacted in legislation signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July, reflects Ukrainians' dismay with the nearly 23-month-old Russian invasion and their assertion of a national identity.

In neighboring Belarus, Christmas is officially celebrated with public holidays on both Dec. 25 and on Jan. 7. About 80% of believers are Orthodox, belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church, while around 14% are Catholics, living mainly in the west, north and center of the country.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 30 years, calls himself an "Orthodox atheist." He usually attends Christmas Eve services and lights a candle in an Orthodox church.

He wished Orthodox Christians a happy Christmas, saying in a statement that he is "convinced that by preserving the Orthodox traditions of mercy and moral purity, together we will create the best future for our native Belarus."

Orthodox believers in Serbia marked the day by burning oak branches at services outside churches and temples, including hundreds who gathered at the St. Sava Temple - the biggest Orthodox church in the Balkans.

The young oak tree symbolizes Christ and his entry into the world, with the centuries-old tradition led by Serbian Orthodox church priests. As the fire was lit, dozens of people of all ages threw small branches of dried oak into the large bonfire.

"In these hard times, we need to come together in unity and to nurture peace, love, and respect towards each other," Belgrade resident Mica Jovanovic told The Associated Press.

Celebrations in the Middle East were darkened by another conflict: the Israel-Hamas war.

In Bethlehem, where Orthodox Christmas Eve normally draws tens of thousands of tourists to visit the traditional birthplace of Jesus, roughly 100 observers milled about in Manger Square. They were nearly outnumbered by police officers and clergymen.

Christmas festivities were canceled in the West Bank town after the heads of major churches in Jerusalem asked their congregations to "forgo any unnecessarily festive activities" in light of the fighting in Gaza. The majority of Christians in the region are Palestinians, and Christian leaders have called upon observers to spend the holidays praying for peace and an end to the war.

Despite the cancellation of festivities, church leaders still gathered to welcome the arrival of patriarchs from different Orthodox churches - Greek, Coptic and Ethiopian - and a customary procession of Boy Scouts proceeded through Bethlehem, though without the usual fanfare. A midnight Mass was planned.

Samir Qumseyeh, a Palestinian Christian and founder of a Christian TV channel, has been filming the celebrations since 1996. He said this year's observance was even more muted than at the height of the second intifada, when Israeli forces locked down parts of the West Bank in response to Palestinians carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks that killed Israeli civilians.

"Even during the intifada, still the festivals and the joy were there," Qumseyeh said. "But this year, I am feeling very, very, very sad. But I understand why the church leaders had to do this. You cannot show joy when the people of Gaza are suffering."

In Iraq, many Christians canceled Christmas and New Year's celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in an act of continued mourning for the victims of a deadly fire that killed more than 100 people at a wedding in the predominantly Christian Hamdaniya area of northern Iraq in September.

Dozens of Iraqi Armenian Orthodox Christians attended Christmas Eve Mass in Baghdad but the celebration was limited to Christmas prayers and rituals.

"In 2023, we went through many crises, including the Hamdaniya tragedy which the entire world learned about, as well as to Gaza and our brothers in Palestine," Gebre Kashikian, pastor of the Armenian Church in Baghdad, said at the Mass.

In Istanbul, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I presided over the Blessing of the Waters ceremony on the Golden Horn. The tradition sees the patriarch toss a wooden cross into the inlet, which this year nearly 50 swimmers competed to recover.

Kostas Kypros, from Alexandroupoli in Greece, emerged from the water clutching the crucifix. "I am very happy. I wish the best for everyone. I was lucky and I pulled out the cross," Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported him as saying.

Earlier, members of Istanbul's tiny Greek Orthodox community and visitors from neighboring Greece attended an Epiphany service led by Bartholomew I at the Patriarchal Church of St George in Istanbul's Fener district.

Bartholomew I is regarded as the "first among equals" among patriarchs in Eastern Orthodoxy and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians. The patriarchate dates from the 1,100-year Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire, which ended in 1453 when the Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, today's Istanbul.


# Pope Francis warns against ideological splits in the Church, says focus on the poor, not 'theory'
By **FRANCES D'EMILIO**
January 6, 2024. 6:35 AM EST

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**VATICAN CITY (AP)** - Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups "based on our own ideas."

He issued the call to abandon "ecclesiastical ideologies" in his homily in St. Peter's Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.

Francis also warned against "basking in some elegant religious theory" instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.

Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite.

Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don't constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice.

Francis in his Epiphany homily didn't cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the "need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies."

Francis said the Church needed to ensure that "our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance."

"We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life," especially in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.

The pontiff, who turned 87 last month and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the 90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica's center aisle. The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer distances.

He has dedicated much of his nearly 11-year-old papacy to encouraging attention to marginalized people, including the poor. While the Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful, Francis has made efforts to make LGBTQ+ Catholics feel welcome.


# South Korea says the North has again fired artillery shells near their sea border
By **HYUNG-JIN KIM**
January 6, 2024. 11:18 AM EST

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**SEOUL, South Korea (AP)** - North Korea conducted a new round of artillery drills near the disputed sea boundary with South Korea on Saturday, officials in Seoul said, a day after the North's similar exercises prompted South Korea to respond with its own firing drills in the same area.

The North's back-to-back firing exercises come after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un repeatedly called for stronger war readiness to cope with what he called deepening confrontation led by the U.S.

Experts say North Korea is likely to continue its provocative run of weapons tests to boost its leverage in potential future negotiations with Washington as the U.S. heads into November elections.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the North fired more than 60 rounds into the waters north of the western sea boundary on Saturday afternoon.

The joint chiefs said South Korea strongly urges North Korea to halt acts that heighten tensions. It said it will take corresponding military steps if North Korea continues artillery drills that pose a threat to South Korean nationals.

The statement didn't say whether South Korea would respond with its own drills. South Korean media reported the South didn't stage firing exercises, after determining the direction of North Korean shells fired Saturday was less provocative than Friday.

The Koreas' firing exercises were a violation of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement that was meant to ease front-line military tensions. Struck during a brief period of rapprochement, the accord calls for a halt in live-fire exercises and aerial surveillance in front-line buffer and no-fly zones. But rising animosities over the North's first military spy satellite launch in November has left the military agreement in tatters, with both Koreas taking steps to breach the deal.

On Friday, North Korea used coast artillery systems to fire about 200 rounds, also north of the sea boundary, in its first maritime firing exercise in the buffer zone in about a year.

In response, South Korea's Defense Ministry said troops on two border islands fired artillery rounds south of the sea boundary. Local media said South Korea fired 400 rounds.

Ahead of the South Korean drills, South Korean authorities asked residents on five major islands near the sea boundary to evacuate to safe places due to worries that North Korea would fire back. The evacuation order was lifted a few hours later.

North Korea's military said later Friday that its drills were in response to South Korea's military training earlier in the week. It warned that North Korea will launch "tough counteraction on an unprecedented level" if South Korea engages in provocations.

The Koreas' poorly marked western sea boundary was the site of bloody naval skirmishes between the Koreas in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The North's alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship killed 46 South Korean sailors in March 2010, and the North's artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island killed four South Koreans in November 2010.

In a recent key ruling party meeting, Kim fired off fierce, derisive rhetoric against South Korea, saying South Korea must not be considered as a partner for reconciliation or unification. He ordered the military to use all available means - including nuclear weapons - to conquer South Korea in the event of a conflict.

Since 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests, many of them nuclear-capable weapons targeting the U.S. mainland and South Korea. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding their military training, which North Korea calls an invasion rehearsal.


# A timeline of key moments leading to Japan planes colliding. Human error is seen as a possible cause
By **MARI YAMAGUCHI**
January 6, 2024. 6:39 AM EST

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It only took 18 minutes to evacuate the 379 passengers of Japan Airlines Flight 516 after their plane burst into flames just after touchdown at Tokyo's Haneda airport Tuesday evening. A smaller coast guard Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft, preparing to take off to deliver urgent aid to quake-hit central Japan, was using the same runway when the two collided. The captain of the coast guard craft escaped with burns but his five crew members died.

The Associated Press collected accounts from officials and transcripts of traffic control communication. Here is a look at key moments leading to the collision.

## TRAFFIC CONTROLS
Transcripts of the recorded communication, released by the transport ministry Wednesday, at 5:43 p.m., show airport traffic control and the JAL Airbus A350 establish communications four minutes before landing. Two minutes later, traffic control tells the JAL plane it's allowed to land on the designated runway, 34R, with the pilot saying "cleared to land."

Just 10 seconds later, the outgoing coast guard plane identifies itself, telling traffic control it's on a taxiway to the runway. The traffic controller instructs it to "taxi to holding point C5" before the runway and says it gets No. 1 departure priority. The Bombardier repeats the instruction, then adds: "No. 1, thank you."

The traffic controls make no further communication with either the JAL flight or the coast guard aircraft over the next two minutes until the crash, while communicating with two other flights.

NHK television airs footage from its monitoring camera set up at the Haneda airport showing the coast guard Bombardier moving from the C5 taxiway onto the runway, during the two-minute interval, and stopping there just before the collision.

## LANDING AND COLLISION
At 5:47 p.m., about 40 seconds after the Bombardier is seen on the runway, the JAL flight touches down right behind coast guard aircraft and rams into it, creating an orange fireball against the night sky. The much smaller Bombardier is quickly engulfed in fire, while the A350 - covered in flames and spewing gray smoke - continues down the runway for about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) before coming to a stop, where fire engines and emergency workers scramble to put out the fire.

Emergency procedures in cabin are already in motion.

## EVACUATION
The JAL flight crew starts emergency response. The usual cabin announcement system malfunctions, according to JAL, and the crew is shouting into a megaphone to make sure all passengers hear their instructions.

Flight attendants repeatedly urge passengers to stay calm and to leave their belongings behind while making their way toward the closest of the only three usable emergency exits - two frontward ones and the third on the back - as the five others were deemed unsafe.

A survivor's video shows smoke filling the cabin as people grow desperate. Some shout, "please let us out!" as children start crying. But many others remain calm and follow instructions to leave the burning plane on emergency chutes.

The captain ensures nobody is left behind in the cabin. He is the last one to leave the aircraft at 6:05 p.m., 18 minutes after touchdown.

Experts and media describe the 18-minute evacuation as "a miracle," praising the JAL crew for their response.

## AFTERMATH
The Haneda airport, one of the world's busiest, reopens later Tuesday three other runways. But hundreds of flights have been canceled, including about 200 on Saturday, the last long weekend of Japan's New Year holiday season.

At around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, more than eight hours after the collision, the blaze is finally extinguished.

Aviation safety officials say they will inspect the A350 as part of their investigation to find out the cause of the collision, increasingly seen as human error with transcripts showing no clear takeoff approval was given to the coast guard plane.

By Friday, a team of six investigators from the Japan Transport Safety Board recovers flight data and voice recorders from the Bombardier and interviews three JAL pilots and nine cabin attendants.

 JAL starts removing A350 debris from the runway to its hanger.

Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito says they plan to reopen the runway by Monday and that the airport's traffic control operation is creating a new position among its team for monitoring aircraft movement on runways starting Saturday.

On Saturday, the JTSB experts recover voice data from the A350, crucial to the probe, and begin interviewing traffic controllers who were on call during the collision.


# Thousands of mourners in Islamabad attend funeral for Pakistani cleric gunned down in broad daylight
January 6, 2024. 9:09 AM EST

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**ISLAMABAD (AP)** - Thousands of mourners attended a funeral Saturday for a Pakistani Sunni Muslim cleric gunned down in broad daylight on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, police and a spokesman for the cleric's organization said.

The funeral of Masoodur Rehman Usmani was held a day after unidentified gunmen shot and killed him and wounded his driver in the neighborhood of Ghauri Town, according to a statement from Islamabad police.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which is a rare occurrence in this part of Pakistan. Police said they were using closed-circuit TV footage to track down the assailants, and vowed that they would be arrested and brought to justice.

Authorities in Islamabad have stepped up security by deploying additional police and some embassies were advising their nationals to avoid visiting the area where the funeral for Usmani was to be held.

Usmani was a deputy secretary at the Sunni Ulema Council, which emerged after Pakistan outlawed the Sipah-e-Sahaba extremist group, which has been accused of killing thousands of Shiites in recent decades across the country.

Sunni clerics in their speeches at the funeral asked the government to ensure the arrest of those responsible for Usmani's killing. Top cleric Ahmed Ludhianvi threatened a sit-in in Islamabad if they were not arrested within the week.

The funeral was livestreamed on social media by organizers, who wanted to hold the event outside parliament. But police refused their request, and the event was instead held in a busy commercial area in Islamabad.

Pakistan has suffered frequent sectarian violence between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite groups, but authorities say it is still unclear who was behind the killing, although mourners were seen chanting slogans against Shiites and neighboring Iran, which is often accused by Sunni groups of backing Shiite organizations in Pakistan.

Most Sunnis and Shiites live together peacefully in Pakistan, though tensions have existed for decades.


# Guam investigates fatal shooting of Korean visitor and offers $50,000 reward for information
January 5, 2024. 4:16 PM EST

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**HAGATNA, Guam (AP)** - Authorities in the U.S. territory of Guam on Friday vowed to bring to justice those who fatally shot a South Korean visitor in a tourist district.

The shooting occurred shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday when the traveler and his wife were walking toward Tsubaki Towers, a hotel on Guam's popular Tumon Bay, from nearby Gun Beach, KUAM-TV reported, citing police.

An older model, dark-colored SUV approached them from behind, Guam Police Chief Stephen Ignacio said at a news conference.

A passenger holding a gun got of the vehicle and demanded they hand over their belongings, Ignacio said, adding, "A struggle ensued."

The victim was taken to Guam Regional Medical City, where he died from his injuries the next morning. He had been visiting Guam while celebrating his retirement.

The Guam Visitors Bureau has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Guam is an island of about 170,000 people approximately 3,900 miles (6,275 kilometers) west of Hawaii.

Its warm weather has made it a favored tourist destination for many nearby Asian nations. South Korea sent nearly 270,000 travelers to Guam in the first nine months of last year, more than any other country.

The island is also home to major Air Force and Navy installations. Its economy relies heavily on tourism and U.S. government spending.

In Kook Kim, the Korean consulate's head of mission, urged Guam's officials to act quickly.

"Arrest the suspect in no time and carry out a thorough investigation to bring them to justice," he said at the news conference.

Carl Gutierrez, the CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau, assured visitors that Guam is safe.

"We invite them here to a safe destination. We want to ensure that," he said.

Guam's governor met with the late victim's wife.

"I consoled her, I hugged her, I cried with her. I prayed with her, knowing as a wife and a mother some of the pain that she is going through," Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said in a video message posted on Instagram.

She urged the people of Guam to come forward with information that would help solve the case.

"Guam remains a safe place, and we are continuing to do everything we can to keep it safe, not just for our people, but our visitors," she said.


# Experts warn that foreign armed forces headed to Haiti will face major obstacles
By **DÁNICA COTO**
January 5, 2024. 8:38 AM EST

**SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)** - An international armed force slated to fight violent gangs in Haiti this year will face multiple challenges including shifting gang allegiances and widespread corruption among police, politicians and the country's elite, a new report warned Friday.

The multinational force, which will be led by Kenya, has yet to deploy as it awaits a court ruling in the east African country. If given the green light, a small team of Kenyans is expected to arrive in Haiti early this year, with a total of up to 5,000 personnel eventually participating in the mission.

Burundi, Chad, Senegal, Jamaica and Belize also have pledged troops for the multinational mission.

"Major challenges lie in wait for the mission once it is on the ground," the report by Belgium-based International Crisis Group stated. "Haiti's gangs could ally to battle it together. Fighting in Haiti's ramshackle urban neighborhoods will put innocent civilians at risk. Links between corrupt police and the gangs could make it difficult to maintain operational secrecy. For all these reasons, preparation will be of critical importance."

Some 300 gangs control an estimated 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince, with their tentacles reaching northward into the Artibonite region, considered Haiti's food basket.

Last year, gangs were suspected of killing nearly 4,000 people and kidnapping another 3,000, a spike compared with previous years, according to U.N. statistics. More than 200,000 people also have been forced to flee their communities as gangs set fire to homes, killing and raping their way across neighborhoods controlled by rivals.

Haiti's National Police is no match for them: less than 10,000 officers are on duty at any time in a country of more than 11 million people. Ideally, there should be some 25,000 active officers, according to the U.N.

"The police are completely outnumbered and outgunned by the gangs," said Diego Da Rin, with International Crisis Group, who spent nearly a month in Haiti late last year to do research for the report.

He said the people he interviewed were very skeptical that the force would even be deployed, given that it was approved by the U.N. Security Council last October, a year after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested the urgent mobilization of an international armed force.

International Crisis Group also warned that authorities need to determine what will happen to gang members as the forces carry out their mission. It noted that prisons are severely overcrowded, and that Haiti's broken judicial system will be unable to handle thousands of cases once suspected criminals are arrested.

Da Rin said he interviewed a Haitian security expert who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation whom he quoted as saying, "Where are the prison facilities to put thousands of gang members? Is the international community suggesting that we kill thousands of lads? What structures are in place to reintegrate these young people into society? I'm appalled by what's left unsaid."

International Crisis Group also interviewed unidentified people it said were privy to deployment discussions who were quoted as saying that gang leaders might unite to face foreign armed forces and attack them if they perceive the mission as weak. However, they said gang leaders would be willing to talk about possible disarmament if it appears the mission could overpower them.

Last August, Jimmy Chérizier, a former police officer considered Haiti's most powerful gang leader, said he would fight any foreign armed force if it commits abuses.

The mission also faces other challenges, according to the report.

Protecting civilians will be tricky because gang members control Port-au-Prince's crowded slums and can easily blend in since they don't wear uniforms or have any distinctive symbols. In addition, collusion between gangs and police will likely cause leaked information that would stonewall operations, the report stated.

International Crisis Group said it separately interviewed two sources within Haiti's National Police who were quoted as saying that senior commanders previously managed to prevent the capture of a powerful gang leader because of his alleged links to politicians or police.

Even if the mission is successful, officials must stop the flow of weapons and ammunition into Haiti, the report stated, and sever "the strong bond between gangs and Haitian business and political elites."


# Dominican judge orders conditional release of Rays shortstop Wander Franco while probe continues
By **MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA** and **DÁNICA COTO**
January 5, 2024. 6:21 PM EST

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**PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic (AP)** - A judge on Friday ordered the conditional release of Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco while he is investigated for allegations he had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and gave her mother a car and thousands of dollars in exchange for her consent, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The judge said Franco is allowed to leave the Dominican Republic but must return once a month to meet with authorities. He also was ordered to pay 2 million Dominican pesos ($34,000) as a type of deposit as the investigation continues.

Franco, who was expected to be released early Saturday, did not speak to reporters after the hearing ended. During a bathroom break earlier in the day, he briefly told reporters that "everything is in God's hands."

Supporters who gathered outside the courthouse clapped after the ruling and shouted "Boss! Boss!" in reference to Franco. Franco's father, also called Wander Franco, exclaimed, "God is just."

The 22-year-old All-Star is accused of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering. The judge in the case, Rumaldi Marcelino, had several options for a ruling Friday: release Franco on bond, temporarily arrest him, prevent him from leaving the Dominican Republic or demand that he make occasional appearances until the investigation or a trial has ended.

The girl's 35-year-old mother, who faces the same charges as Franco, was ordered held under house arrest as the investigation continues. She smiled slightly as she left the courtroom but did not comment. The AP is not naming the woman in order to preserve her daughter's privacy.

Franco, who was detained Monday in the northern province of Puerto Plata, hasn't been charged with any crimes. The judge has received a nearly 600-page document detailing the evidence that prosecutors gathered during a monthslong investigation.

The athlete's lawyers have not commented other than saying that Franco was "doing fine."

Prosecutors said the investigation began after they received an anonymous tip in July 2023 stemming from someone who saw a media post alluding to the relationship. The AP has not been able to verify the reported post.

Authorities accuse Franco of taking the minor away from her home in Puerto Plata in December 2022 and having a four-month relationship with her with consent from the girl's mother.

They accuse Franco of sending the mother monthly payments of $1,700 for seven months and buying her a car "in order to allow the relationship and let her go out with him wherever she wanted," according to the document, which quoted the girl.

The girl also was quoted as saying that she had demanded for a local digital media site to publish an item about her alleged relationship with the baseball player because she was "tired" of her mother, whom she accused of taking Franco's money and not sharing any of it with her.

Days later, Franco published a live video alleging it was a scheme to extort money from him, the document stated.

In September 2023, authorities raided the home of the girl's mother and seized 800,000 Dominican pesos ($13,700) as well as $68,500 they said was found hidden behind a frame. Another seizure at a different home found a guarantee certificate from a local bank for 2.1 million Dominican pesos ($36,000) that they said was delivered by Franco for the "commercial and sexual exploitation" of the girl.

In addition, they seized a Suzuki Swift worth $26,600, according to the document. Authorities noted that days before the car was bought, the teenager's mother had the equivalent of $821 in her bank account. The mother also bought property in Puerto Plata worth $36,000, they said.

Authorities also state that Franco's mother had sent money to the girl's mother, but she has not been charged in the case even though they said she got involved "to avoid traces of her son with the accused."

Franco arrived at a court in Puerto Plata on Friday morning and remained silent while being escorted through a group of journalists that peppered with him questions. The girl's mother, who works at a local bank and was wearing sunglasses, also declined comment as she was escorted to a courtroom.

Outside, a small group of young Dominican players donned in baseball attire gathered to support Franco, carrying posters that read, "Free Franco," and "We all are Franco."

Franco was having an All-Star season before being sidelined in August, when authorities in the Dominican Republic began investigating claims he had been in a relationship with a minor. Major League Baseball launched its own investigation, placing Franco on the restricted list on Aug. 14 before moving him to administrative leave on Aug. 22. Both investigations are ongoing.

Franco signed a $182 million, 11-year contract in 2021. His salary last year and this year is $2 million per season.


# US actor Christian Oliver and his 2 daughters died in a plane crash in the Caribbean, police say
January 5, 2024. 1:40 PM EST

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**SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)** - U.S. actor Christian Oliver and his two daughters died in a plane crash near a tiny private island in the eastern Caribbean, according to police in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The crash occurred Thursday just west of Petit Nevis island near Bequia as the plane headed for nearby St. Lucia, police said in a statement.

They identified the daughters as Madita Klepser, 10, and Annik Klepser, 12, adding that the pilot, Robert Sachs, also died.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, according to police.

Authorities said fishermen and divers in the area went to the crash site to help as the St. Vincent and Grenadines Coast Guard headed to the area.

"The selfless and brave acts of the fishermen and divers is very much appreciated," police said.

The 51-year-old actor born in Germany had dozens of crediting film and television roles, including in the 2008 film "Speed Racer" film and "The Good German," a 2006 World War II film by Steven Soderbergh that starred George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.

He appeared throughout season two of the 1990s series "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," playing a Swiss transfer student named Brian Keller.


# Brazil postpones visa requirements for U.S., Canada and Australia citizens to April
January 5, 2024. 9:22 AM EST

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**RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)** - Brazil postponed for the second time the reintroduction of requirements to obtain tourist visas for citizens of the U.S., Australia and Canada, officials said.

Former president Jair Bolsonaro scrapped the visa requirements in 2019 to support the tourism industry, but the three countries continued to demand visas from Brazilians. The South American country requires visas from travelers based on principles of historical reciprocity and equal treatment.

The government initially postponed the visa implementation on Oct. 1. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in September then set Jan. 10 as the new deadline. On Thursday night, Brazil's presidency said it would be postponed yet again till April. 10.

The statement said the government was still finalizing the new visa system and wanted to avoid implementing it close to the high season, mainly during the New Year's celebrations and Carnival festivities in February, which attract tens of thousands of tourists.

Lula reinstated the visa requirements after he took office one year ago. The countries in question initially included Japan, but the east Asian nation struck a deal with Brazilian authorities in September to ease travel provisions between the two, keeping its citizens off of the new list.


# Death toll in Islamic State-claimed suicide blasts rises to 91
January 6, 2024. 4:16 AM EST

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**TEHRAN, Iran (AP)** - The death toll from a suicide bombing in Iran claimed by the Islamic State group has risen to at least 91, state TV reported Saturday.

The TV quoted Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for the country's emergency services, as saying an 8-year boy and a 67-year-old man who were wounded in the attack have now died.

Yektaparast added that there are 102 people still being treated in hospitals, of whom 11 are in critical condition.

In Wednesday's attack, one suicide bomber detonated his explosives, then another attacked 20 minutes later as emergency workers and other people tried to help the wounded.

The attack took place in Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. It targeted a commemoration for Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike as he led its expeditionary Quds Force.

The intelligence ministry said Friday that one of the two suicide bombers was a Tajik national and 11 people linked to the attack have been arrested.


# United Arab Emirates acknowledges mass trial of prisoners previously reported during COP28
By **JON GAMBRELL**
January 6, 2024. 5:40 PM EST

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**DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)** - The United Arab Emirates on Saturday acknowledged it is conducting a mass trial of 84 inmates previously reported by dissidents as it hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks last month.

The trial likely includes a prominent activist lauded by rights group abroad.

The state-run WAM news agency quoted the country's attorney general, Hamad al-Shamsi, as saying the 84 defendants face charges of "establishing another secret organization for the purpose of committing acts of violence and terrorism on state territory."

The statement did not name the suspects, though it described "most" of those held as members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Arab Islamist group long targeted in the autocratic UAE as a threat to its hereditary rulers.

Al-Shamsi said the accused all had a lawyer assigned to them and that after nearly six months of research, prosecutors referred the accused to trial. The statement said the trial was still going on.

In December, the trial was first reported by the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, a group run by an Emirati - also called Hamad al-Shamsi - who lives in exile in Istanbul after being named on a terrorism list by the UAE himself. That group said 87 defendants faced trial. The different numbers of defendants reported by the UAE and the group could not be immediately reconciled.

Among those likely charged in the case is Ahmed Mansoor, the recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015. Mansoor repeatedly drew the ire of authorities in the UAE by calling for a free press and democratic freedoms in this federation of seven sheikhdoms.

Mansoor was targeted with Israeli spyware on his iPhone in 2016 likely deployed by the Emirati government ahead of his 2017 arrest and sentencing to 10 years in prison over his activism.

During COP28, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch held a demonstration in which they displayed Mansoor's face in the U.N.-administered Blue Zone at the summit in a protest carefully watched by Emirati officials.

Another person likely charged is activist Nasser bin Ghaith, an academic held since August 2015 over his tweets. He was among dozens of people sentenced in the wake of a wide-ranging crackdown in the UAE following the 2011 Arab Spring protests. Those demonstrations saw the Islamists rise to power in several Mideast nations, though the Gulf Arab states did not see any popular overthrow of their governments.

The UAE, while socially liberal in many regards compared with its Middle Eastern neighbors, has strict laws governing expression and bans political parties and labor unions. That was seen at COP28, where there were none of the typical protests outside of the venue as activists worried about the country's vast network of surveillance cameras.


# Jordanian army says it killed 5 drug smugglers in clashes on the Syrian border
January 6, 2024. 2:02 PM EST

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**AMMAN (AP)** - The Jordanian army said Saturday that it killed five drug and weapon smugglers and arrested 15 in a day of clashes with armed groups of smugglers attempting to cross into Jordan from Syria.

The army statement said the clashes broke out before dawn between Jordanian border guards and armed organizations "that practice smuggling and rely on systematic infiltration operations." It said the smuggling operations have recently increased in frequency.

The state-run Jordan News Agency reported that in recent days smugglers have "aimed to cross the Kingdom's border by force by targeting border guards."

Jordanian security forces seized Captagon amphetamine pills, hashish and weapons, the statement said.

Smugglers have used Jordan as a corridor in recent years to smuggle the highly addictive Captagon out of Syria, mainly to oil-rich Arab Gulf states. The drug is used recreationally and by people with physically demanding jobs to keep them alert.

Jordanian authorities have intercepted some smuggling attempts, including some in which smugglers used drones to fly the drugs over the border.

The United States, Britain and European Union accuse Syrian President Bashar Assad, his family and allies, including Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, of facilitating and profiting from the trade. Damascus has denied the accusations.

Over the past year, a number of airstrikes believed to be carried out by Jordan have hit drug trade facilities and figures in Syria.

In late August, an airstrike hit an alleged drug factory in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, an attack believed to have been carried out by Jordan's air force. In May, another airstrike on a village in Sweida killed a well-known Syrian drug kingpin and his family. Activists believe that strike was conducted by the Jordanians.

Jordan did not claim responsibility for the strikes.


# For many displaced families in Gaza, survival follows a strict routine
By **MOHAMMED JAHJOUH** and **JACK JEFFERY**
January 5, 2024. 9:15 AM EST

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**MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP)** - Stranded in a corner of southern Gaza, members of the Abu Jarad family are clinging to a strict survival routine.

They fled their comfortable three-bedroom home in northern Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war broke out nearly three months ago. The 10-person family now squeezes into a 16-square meter (172-square foot) tent on a garbage-strewn sandy plot, part of a sprawling encampment of displaced Palestinians.

Every family member is assigned daily tasks, from collecting twigs to build a fire for cooking, to scouring the city's markets for vegetables. But their best efforts can't mask their desperation.

At night "dogs are hovering over the tents," said Awatif Abu Jarad, an older member of the family. "We are living like dogs!"

Palestinians seeking refuge in southern Gaza say every day has become a struggle to find food, water, medicine and working bathrooms. All the while, they live in fear of Israeli airstrikes and the growing threat of illnesses.

Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, now in its 13th week, have pushed almost all Palestinians toward the southern city of Rafah along the Egyptian border. The area had a prewar population of around 280,000, a figure that has bulged to over 1 million in recent days, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Rafah's apartment blocks are crammed with people, often extended families who have opened their doors to displaced relatives. West of the city, thousands of nylon tents have sprung up. Thousands more people are sleeping in the open, despite the cool and often rainy winter weather.

Most of northern Gaza is now under the control of the Israeli army, which early in the war urged Palestinians to evacuate to the south. As the war progressed, more evacuation orders were issued for areas in the south, forcing Palestinian civilians to crowd into ever smaller spaces, including Rafah and a nearby sliver of land called Muwasi. Even these purportedly safe spaces are often hit by airstrikes and shelling.

The war broke out on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240 others. The fighting has killed over 22,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

According to Nouman, Awatif's brother, the conflict drove the family the entire length of Gaza. They fled their home in the northern border town of Beit Hanoun on the first day of the war and stayed with a relative in the nearby town of Beit Lahia.

Six days later, the intensity of Israeli strikes in the border area sent them south to Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. As people started to evacuate the hospital two days later, they traveled to the Nuseirat urban refugee camp in central Gaza, making the 10-kilometer (6-mile) journey on foot.

They stayed in a cramped U.N. school building in Nuseirat for over two months, but left on Dec. 23 as the Israeli army turned its focus toward Hamas targets in central Gaza refugee camps.

They escaped to Muwasi on Dec. 23, believing it was the safest option. On the first night, they slept out in the open. Then they bought nylon and wood in a Rafah market to build a tent.

Nouman, an accountant, sleeps on the nylon-covered floor with his wife, sister, six daughters and one grandchild. They sleep on their sides to conserve space.

He said the tent cost 1,000 shekels, about $276. "It is completely crazy," he said. In Rafah's demand-driven war economy, larger pre-built family tents now range from $800 to $1,400.

The family's hardship begins at 5 a.m. Nouman said his first job is to start a small fire to cook breakfast, while his wife and daughters knead dough for flatbread and then wash their utensils and metal cooking griddle.

After eating, their attention turns to fetching water and food, tasks that take up most of the daylight hours.

Nouman said he and several of his younger relatives collect jugs of water from one of the public pipes nearby, water that is exclusively used for washing and not suitable for drinking. Next, they head to one of the dozens of drinking water tankers dotted across the city, where they wait in line for hours.

A gallon of drinking water costs one shekel, or 28 cents. Some, so desperate for cash, wait in line just to sell their space.

After the water is fetched, family members move between several open markets to hunt for vegetables, flour and canned food for that evening's meal. Meanwhile, Nouman busies himself with scouring the ground for twigs and bits of wood to make a fire.

Food prices have soared. Gaza is facing acute food and medicine shortages and is dependent largely on aid and supplies that trickle in through two crossings, one Egyptian and one Israeli, and what has been grown in the recent harvest. More than half a million people in Gaza - roughly a quarter of the population - are starving, the United Nations said in late December.

Dalia Abu Samhadana, a young mother sheltering with her uncle's family in a crowded house of 20 in Rafah, says the only food staples at her local market are tomatoes, onions, eggplants, oranges and flour. All are virtually unaffordable.

A 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of flour before Oct. 7 cost around $10. Since then it has fluctuated between $40 and $100.

"My money has almost run out," said Abu Samhadana, unsure of how she will be able to feed her daughter.

Displaced Palestinians in Rafah are entitled to free aid if they register with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which hands out flour, blankets, and medical supplies at 14 spots across southern Gaza. They often spend hours in line waiting for the aid to be distributed.

Abu Samhadana, who is originally from the nearby southern town of Khan Younis, said she has tried to register for free aid several times but has been turned away due to the lack of available supplies.

The U.N. agency is simply overwhelmed and is already providing support to 1.8 million people in Gaza, according to Juliette Touma, its communications director. She said she did not know if the agency had stopped registering new aid seekers.

With few options left, some hungry Palestinians in Rafah have resorted to grabbing packages from aid trucks as they pass by. The U.N. refugee agency confirmed that some supplies of aid had been snatched from moving trucks but did not provide any details.

Hamas police escorting aid trucks from border crossings to U.N. warehouses have been seen beating people, mostly teenagers, as they try to grab what they can. In some cases, they have fired shots into the air. In one incident, a 13-year-old boy was killed when Hamas police opened fire.

Meanwhile, health officials warn of the growing spread of diseases, especially among children.

The World Health Organization has reported tens of thousands of cases of upper respiratory infections, diarrhea, lice, scabies, chickenpox, skin rashes and meningitis in U.N. shelters.

The rapid spread of disease is mainly due to overcrowding and poor hygiene caused by a lack of toilets and water for washing.

The Abu Jarad family dug its own makeshift toilet attached to the tent to avoid communal bathrooms. Still, the family is vulnerable to disease.

"My granddaughter is 10 months old, and since the day we came to this place, she has been suffering from weight loss and diarrhea," said Majeda, Nouman's wife.

Going to the pharmacy offers little help. "We can't find any (suitable) medicines available," she said.


# Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius freed after serving nearly 9 years in prison for killing girlfriend
By **GERALD IMRAY**, **NQOBILE NTSHANGASE**, and **MOGOMOTSI MAGOME**
January 5, 2024. 1:17 PM EST

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**PRETORIA, South Africa (AP)** - Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who became a global star competing at his sport's highest level while running on carbon-fiber blades, was released from prison on Friday after serving nearly nine years for killing his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius, 37, quietly left the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria and was processed at a parole office before being released to his family, Department of Corrections spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo told The Associated Press. Nxumalo, who referred to Pistorius' release as an "operation" designed to avoid a media scramble, declined to give further details.

"I can only tell you he was released this morning," Nxumalo said.

Pistorius served nearly nine years of his murder sentence of 13 years and five months for the fatal shooting of Steenkamp at his home on Valentine's Day 2013. He became eligible for early release having served at least half his sentence, and was approved for parole in November.

Pistorius will live under strict parole conditions, including a ban on speaking to the media, until his sentence expires in December 2029. He is expected to initially live at his uncle's mansion in the upscale Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof, which is where he stayed during his seven-month trial in 2014.

A police van was outside that house and a police officer was seen coming out later Friday. The officer declined to comment to reporters. Three black private security vehicles were also parked in front of the mansion.

Pistorius and his brother and sister grew up under the care of their uncle and aunt, Arnold and Lois Pistorius, after becoming estranged from their father. Pistorius' mother died when he was a teenager. Arnold Pistorius was seen driving out of the home, as was Pistorius' sister, Aimee

Pistorius' trial drew a horde of media from around the world, and even though corrections officials warned ahead of time that he wouldn't be "paraded" for the cameras upon his release, a few dozen reporters, photographers and TV cameras were camped outside the prison in the hopes of seeing him.

Pistorius maintains that he shot the 29-year-old Steenkamp in error after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder hiding in a bathroom in his Pretoria villa in the middle of the night. He fired four times through a locked toilet cubicle door, hitting Steenkamp in the head, hip and hand. He claimed he fired in what he believed was self-defense and that he didn't know it was his girlfriend in the cubicle. Prosecutors alleged that he intentionally killed her in anger during an argument.

In addition to her modeling career, Steenkamp was a reality TV star with a law degree who had become an activist against the scourge of violence against women in South Africa - a tragic irony given how she died. She and Pistorius had only been dating for a few months.

Steenkamp's mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement Friday that she had accepted Pistorius' parole, although the pain of her daughter's death was "still raw and real." Steenkamp's father, Barry Steenkamp, died last year.

"Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back," June Steenkamp said. "We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence."

"With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, my only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy."

The Department of Corrections has emphasized that the champion Paralympic sprinter's release - like every other offender on parole - doesn't mean he has completed his sentence.

Pistorius' parole conditions include restrictions on when he's allowed to leave home, a ban on consuming alcohol, and orders that he must attend programs on anger management and violence against women. He must also perform community service.

Pistorius also will have to regularly meet with parole officials and will be subjected to unannounced visits by authorities. He is not allowed to leave the Waterkloof district without permission and is not allowed to speak to the media until the end of his sentence. He could be sent back to prison if he is in breach of any of his parole conditions.

South Africa doesn't use monitoring devices on parolees. But the Department of Corrections said a parole official will constantly monitor Pistorius, who will have to inform the official of any major changes in his life, such as if he wants to get a job or change addresses.

Once a wealthy athlete who drove sports cars and was endorsed by Nike, Pistorius was left broke after his lengthy murder trial, his chief defense lawyer said in 2014. He sold the house where he killed Steenkamp to pay some of his legal bills.

Steenkamp's family did not oppose his parole application in November, although June Steenkamp said then that she didn't believe Pistorius had been fully rehabilitated and that he was still lying about the shooting.

Before the killing, Pistorius was seen as an inspiring role model after having had both of his legs amputated below the knee as a baby because of a congenital condition. He became a champion sprinter on his carbon-fiber running blades and made history by competing against nondisabled athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.

His trial destroyed his image. He was accused of being prone to angry outbursts and acting recklessly with guns, while witnesses testified about altercations he had with others, including an argument in which he allegedly threatened to break a man's legs.

Pistorius was first convicted of culpable homicide - a charge comparable to manslaughter - and sentenced to five years in prison for killing Steenkamp. After appeals by prosecutors, he was ultimately found guilty of murder and had his sentence increased, although that judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal still didn't definitively rule that he knew it was Steenkamp behind the bathroom door.

Pistorius was sent to prison in 2014, released on house arrest in 2015 during an appeal, and then sent back to prison in 2016. He was initially incarcerated at the maximum security Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria but was moved to Atteridgeville early in his sentence because it's better suited to holding disabled prisoners.

Reaction to Pistorius' parole has been muted in South Africa, in stark contrast to the first days and months after Steenkamp's killing, which sparked angry protests outside of the courthouse calling for him to receive a long prison sentence. There is no death penalty in South Africa.

"He has ticked all the necessary boxes," said Themba Masango, secretary general of Not In My Name International, a group that campaigns against violence against women. "And we can only wish and hope Oscar Pistorius will come out a better human being."

"We tend to forget that there is a possibility where somebody can be rehabilitated."


# Track star, convicted killer, now parolee. A timeline of Oscar Pistorius's life
By **GERALD IMRAY**
January 5, 2024. 1:51 PM EST

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**CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)** - Major moments in the life of Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-amputee Olympic runner who was released from prison on parole Friday having served nearly nine years of a murder sentence for the 2013 killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius, 37, will have to live under strict conditions until his full sentence of 13 years and five months expires on Dec. 5, 2029.

Nov. 22, 1986 - Pistorius is born with a congenital condition where he has no fibula bones. His legs are amputated below the knee before he is a year old.

May 16, 2008 - Already a multiple Paralympic champion, Pistorius wins a ruling at sport's highest court that overturns a previous ban and allows him to compete against able-bodied athletes at the world's biggest track events on his specially designed carbon-fiber running blades.

Aug. 4, 2012 - Pistorius realizes his sporting dream to compete at the Olympics. He finishes second in a heat in the 400 meters to qualify for the semifinals in London but doesn't qualify for the final. "Blade Runner" still makes history as the first double-amputee to run at the Olympics and becomes one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet.

Feb. 14, 2013 - Pistorius is at the height of his fame when South African police announce that he has been arrested in connection with the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his villa in the capital, Pretoria. The bombshell news reverberates around the world when Pistorius is charged with murder for shooting the 29-year-old model and law graduate multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in the predawn hours.

Mar. 3, 2014 - Pistorius' murder trial begins at the Pretoria High Court under the glare of the world's media, which is permitted to film the court proceedings live. While Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake believing she was a dangerous intruder in his home, prosecutors allege he killed her intentionally in a late-night argument. During his dramatic seven-month trial, Pistorius cries, wails and at times vomits in the courtroom as prosecutors describe Steenkamp's fatal shooting. He also undergoes a psychiatric evaluation. The trial shatters his image as prosecutors say he has a history of angry outbursts, being verbally abusive towards girlfriends, and acting recklessly with guns.

Sept. 12, 2014 - Pistorius is acquitted of murder by a judge but found guilty of a charge comparable to manslaughter for killing Steenkamp. He is also convicted on a separate charge relating to him and a group of friends recklessly firing a gun under a table in a restaurant. He is sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. Prosecutors say they will appeal the "shockingly light" sentence.

Dec. 3, 2015 - A panel of judges at South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal overturns Pistorius' manslaughter conviction and finds him guilty of murder. The trial judge sentences him to six years in prison for murder, which prosecutors again appeal.

Nov. 24, 2017 - The Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubles Pistorius' sentence to 13 years and five months in prison. Pistorius had been first jailed at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, a notorious apartheid-era jail. He is moved to the city's Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, which officials say is better suited to disabled prisoners.

Jun. 22, 2022 - Pistorius meets face-to-face with Steenkamp's father, Barry Steenkamp, as part of a victim-offender dialogue that he must undertake if he wants to be eligible to be released on parole. Barry Steenkamp, who died last year, says after the meeting that he still believes Pistorius is lying about his daughter's killing and wants him to stay in prison for life.

Mar. 31, 2023 - Pistorius attends a parole hearing but is denied early release. The Department of Corrections says he hasn't served the required time in prison and will only be eligible in August 2024. Authorities later concede that was an error due to a miscount by a court over how long Pistorius had already served in prison before his sentence was changed in 2017.

Nov. 24, 2023 - Pistorius is granted parole at a second hearing and officials say he will be released Jan. 5, although he will still be strictly monitored for the next five years until he has served his entire sentence.


# Senegal's opposition leader faces another setback in presidential race after application is rejected
By **BABACAR DIONE**
January 5, 2024. 1:09 PM EST

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**DAKAR, Senegal (AP)** - Senegal's top opposition leader on Friday suffered major setbacks in his quest to contest the presidency when a top court upheld the defamation conviction against him and the Constitutional Council rejected his application to be a presidential candidate on the basis that it was incomplete.

Ousmane Sonko 's application case at the council was "examined without his representative (in) a flagrant violation of the law" before it was rejected, his lawyer, Ciré Cledor Ly, told reporters. "From the outset, the government has shown its willingness to invalidate Ousmane Sonko's candidacy."

The council's decision came hours after the Supreme Court rejected the jailed opposition leader's appeal of his conviction for defamation after being sued by a government minister. The trial was seen as the latest twist in a prolonged legal battle involving several charges which the opposition leader has alleged is to stop his presidential bid in the February elections.

"The trial was the very last chance," Sonko's lawyer Khoureychi Ba said of the ruling delivered after a session that started on Thursday. "I realize that Mr. Sonko's opponents have succeeded in eliminating him from the Feb. 25 presidential election," Ba said.

Sonko, who finished third in the country's 2019 presidential election, is widely seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall's ruling party. Sall himself ultimately decided not to seek a third term in office after Sonko's supporters launched months of protests that at times turned deadly.

Although the Constitutional Council's decision has nothing to do with Sonko's conviction for defamation, the council has the final say on all the candidacies, including that of the opposition leader. Under Senegal's electoral code, such a conviction makes one ineligible for a presidential race.

Sonko is currently in prison on a different charge, and will continue to face the six-month suspended prison sentence handed him when he was convicted in the defamation case last year.

El-Hadji Diouf, a lawyer representing Mame Mbaye Niang, the minister who filed the defamation suit against Sonko, celebrated Friday's ruling as a "big, important win."

"The minister's lawyers won on all counts. The six-month suspended prison sentence was upheld. ... We are celebrating our victory," said Diouf.

Sonko's presidential bid has faced a prolonged legal battle that started when he was accused of rape in 2021. In June, he was acquitted of the rape charges but was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison, which ignited deadly protests across the country. Senegalese authorities also dissolved Sonko's political party in late July and detained him.

After overcoming one of his last remaining legal hurdles in December when a ruling that effectively barred him from contesting the presidency was overturned, Sonko formally submitted his candidacy to beat a Dec. 26 deadline. Eligible candidates will be announced in the first two weeks of January and the campaign season kicks off the following month.


# With banku and jollof rice, Ghanian chef tries to break world cook-a-thon record
By **FRANCIS KOKUTSE**
January 5, 2024. 2:16 PM EST

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**ACCRA, Ghana (AP)** - A chef in Ghana has been preparing banku and other regional dishes on live TV since New Year's Day as she tries to break a world record for marathon cooking - an attempt being cheered on and widely celebrated in this West African nation.

Failatu Abdul-Razak had cooked for over 110 hours as of Friday afternoon at a hotel in the northern city of Tamale where she is aiming to break the Guinness World Record for a cook-a-thon of 119 hours and 57 minutes held by Irish chef Alan Fisher.

Abdul-Razak "has put Ghana on the map," said Isaac Sackey, the president of the Chefs' Association of Ghana. "So we need to try to honor her."

West Africa has been gripped in a frenzy of world record attempts in several categories since Nigerian chef Hilda Baci claimed the world cooking record last May with a 100-hour performance before being dethroned by Fisher.

The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Abdul-Razak's attempt, which could reach 120 hours in the early hours of Saturday. Any confirmation of the feat from the organization would likely come long afterward.

Celebrities, government leaders and hundreds of ordinary people have flocked to the Modern City Hotel in Tamale where the chef's cooking stage is set. The onlookers dance, sing and enjoy the prepared food amid the countdown to 120 hours.

Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia spoke about the attempt via Facebook earlier in the week and donated 30,000 Ghana Cedis ($2,564) to the chef.

"Go for gold," he urged her.

Abdul-Razak had said at the outset that her attempt was a "national assignment" on behalf of Ghana and its citizens. Among dishes she has prepared are Ghana's banku - fermented corn meal balls in a soup - as well as the spicy jollof rice enjoyed across West Africa.

"If I fail this, believe me, I have put our president, Ghanaians, people who have supported (and) groomed me, my family and friends into shame," she said.

Under the guidelines, she is entitled to only five-minute breaks every hour or an accumulated one hour after a stretch of 12 hours.

There have been concerns raised about the endeavor's likely mental toll on the chef. Last month, Ghanaian Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum was forced to end her attempt to break the world record for the longest time spent singing, after her medical team said her body showed signs of mental stress.

It's the "excitement" that keeps record-seekers going during their attempts, said Annabella Osei-Tutu, associate professor of psychology at the University of Ghana.

"A lot of hype has got into it, so momentarily, they are running on adrenaline. After the episode, they will perhaps start feeling the toll on their body," Osei-Tutu said.