January 5, 2024

*) S Korea: DPRK fired artillery shells near its islands, evacuation ordered North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands, Seoul's defence ministry has said, with an evacuation order issued for residents. Yeonpyeong local officials said civilians had been asked to evacuate, describing the order as a "preventative measure." Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, after Kim enshrined the country's status as a nuclear power into the constitution while test-firing several advanced ICBMs. *) Database exposes 500 instances of Israeli incitement to genocide in Gaza A non-profit human rights organisation Law for Palestine has revealed shocking evidence of over 500 instances of Israeli officials advocating for genocide against Palestinians in besieged Gaza. These reprehensible incitements have been categorised into significant thematic areas, including genocidal intent, forced displacement, and collective punishment. Some of those calls for genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians came from Israeli decision-makers, including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other extremist ministers in the far-right government. *) Iran vows revenge after deadly twin blasts in Kerman region Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber vowed revenge for explosions that killed nearly 84 people at a ceremony to commemorate top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone in 2020 in Iraq. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the "heinous and inhumane crime", and Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, also vowed revenge for the twin bombings. *) Israel is starving Gaza and ‘nothing is being done to stop it’ Those who have survived the bombings, repeated displacement and disease outbreaks in Gaza must now contend with another impending disaster of famine. Last month, a United Nations-backed body warned that famine could become a reality in Gaza, if food crisis levels of hunger continued. "Increased nutritional vulnerability of children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly is a particular source of concern," the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) initiative report added. *) Biden's first 2024 ad warns of 'extremist' threat to democracy President Joe Biden's campaign has released its first television ad for the 2024 election, warning of an "extremist" threat to democracy over images of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. "There's something dangerous happening in America. There's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs in our democracy," says the ad, released early on social media.