2024-01-16

UKRAINE WAR
Russia said it had given more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war lengthy prison sentences, with some getting a life sentence, AFP reported. The state-run outlet RT quoted an Investigative Committee source as saying that 242 soldiers were sentenced in occupied Ukraine.Russia is mobilising about 1,000-1,100 recruits to its armed forces every day, Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine published on Monday.The main factor motivating men to join the military is the pay, according to Skibitsky. He said that while the salary level may vary, those fighting in Ukraine make about 220,000-250,000 rubles ($1,700-1,900) a month. “Russian prisoners of war frankly admit that they joined the army because they are paid, citing mortgages, families and so on. And this motive is currently the main one for those people who voluntarily go for mobilisation, sign contracts and fight,” Skibitsky said. Skibitsky said that those driven to join the army for financial reasons are primarily from Russia’s regions where salaries are low and there are higher levels of unemployment.

ENVIROMENTAL UPDATES
Earth's average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA's baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.

WORLD
The Israeli army reports it has killed “about 9,000” Palestinian fighters in Gaza since the war began, as the Gaza Ministry of Health says the death toll approaches 24,000. A 24-hour protest in Tel Aviv calls for the release of 136 captives still held by Hamas in Gaza after 100 days. Israel will spend 210 billion Israeli shekels ($54bn) on war on Gaza by 2025, the Bank of Israel estimates, Israel’s Channel 12 reports. “Through repeated raids and attacks, Israel is hoping people will leave voluntarily,” says the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Wasel Abu Yousef of the escalating West Bank violence.

Judicial investigation launched in Turkey after Israeli footballer makes gesture related to war in Gaza

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that a judicial investigation had been launched into Sagiv Jehezkel, who has been accused of “inciting people to hatred and hostility”. The Antalyaspor player gestured to a message on his bandaged hand after he scored in a game on Sunday. The message read “100 days 7/10” alongside a star of David, in what has been interpreted in Turkey as support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, but what Israeli media outlets have said is a message of support to captives held in the enclave. Antalyaspor has suspended the player for acting “against the national values of our country by sharing the writing on his wrist”.