Graphic News Planner (news) 02/02/2024 16:53:43

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February 2, 2024 -- Historically important landmarks have been shortlisted for the “Seven Most Endangered Programme 2024” – an annual ranking of European monuments most at risk of damage or destruction.

Collated by the Europa Nostra heritage group and the European Investment Bank Institute, the “Seven Most Endangered Programme 2024”, which has been running for 11 years, seeks to protect European heritage under threat from demolition, neglect or exploitation.

This year’s shortlist has 11 entries:

1) Archaeological Site of Muret e Portës, Durrës, ALBANIA
2) Amberd Historical and Cultural Reserve, ARMENIA
3) Palais du Midi, Brussels, BELGIUM
4) Working-class Housing (courées) in Roubaix-Tourcoing, FRANCE
5) Cycladic Islands, notably Sifnos, Serifos and Folegandros, GREECE
6) Church of San Pietro in Gessate, Milan, ITALY
7) Synagogue of Siena, ITALY
8) Palace in Sztynort, northern Masuria, POLAND
9) Home of the Yugoslav People’s Army in Šabac, SERBIA
10) Greek Orthodox Church of St. Georgios, Altınözü / Hatay province, TÜRKIYE
11) Iron Gate of Antioch, Antakya / Hatay province, TÜRKIYE

The final seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe will be unveiled in April, 2024.

CULTURE: Europe’s endangered landmarks (Graphic)
GN45437 Graphic shows endangered landmark locations across Europe.
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February 2, 2024 -- Cargo shipments are being disrupted by continued attacks by Houthi militants on vessels in the Red Sea, with many businesses in Europe reporting lengthening delivery times for supplies to reach their factories.

Most shipping lines have diverted away from the Red Sea since attacks by Houthi rebels started in November and are taking the much longer route around South Africa. That extends journeys by a week and increases fuel costs, insurance fees and crew wages.

UK and eurozone manufacturers said their supply chains deteriorated for the first time in a year in a sign of the wider disruption to trade caused by Red Sea attacks by Houthi militants, according to a survey by S&P Global, the FT reports.

The U.S. and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and returned the militia to a list of terrorist groups as turmoil from the Israel-Hamas war spreads through the region.

CONFLICT: Europe’s supply chains strained (Graphic)
GN45436 Graphic shows shipping routes between Asia and Europa, and transit volumes in bab el-mandeb strait.
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January 29, 2024 -- European leaders have agreed on a €50 billion aid pack­age for Ukraine after Hun­gary’s prime min­is­ter caved in to pres­sure from his fel­low lead­ers and res­cin­ded his veto.

The com­prom­ise at an emer­gency sum­mit fol­lowed a cam­paign of pres­sure on Viktor Orbán, the bloc’s only leader critical of the EU’s financial and military support for Ukraine.

Orban has maintained close ties with Rus­sia’s Vladi­mir Putin since the full-scale inva­sion of Ukraine almost two years ago.

“It is a clear signal to Moscow that Europe will stand firm and cannot be broken by any destructive waves devised by the Kremlin,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Thursday.

The aid is crit­ical to Ukraine as the Biden admin­is­tra­tion has failed to win Con­gres­sional back­ing for its own $60bn sup­port pack­age.

Ursula von der Leyen, pres­id­ent of the European Com­mis­sion, said that she hoped the EU’s move would inspire the U.S. to fol­low suit. “It will be an encour­age­ment to the United States to do their fair share.”

CONFLICT: EU military aid to Ukraine (2) (Graphic UPDATED Feb 2)
GN45425 Graphic shows EU military aid to Ukraine.
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February 1, 2024 -- Attacks by Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East -- including the first to kill U.S. service members -- have dramatically heightened the risk of regional war.

The drone strike that killed three American soldiers at a base on the Syria-Jordan border on January 28 highlighted the threats faced by U.S. forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.

President Joe Biden blamed “radical Iran-backed militant groups” for the strike and vowed to hold “all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”

According to estimates, the United States has more than 50,000 military personnel stationed in the Middle East across a range of bases and regional commands.

Iraqi militias have carried out more than 150 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. 

However, the network of Iran-backed militias, which Tehran refers to as the “axis of resistance,” includes between 320,000 and 375,000 fighters.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen, have launched multiple attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Container shipping through the Red Sea has dropped by nearly one-third this year as Houthi attacks continue, drawing the U.S. and U.K. into combat -- launching attacks against Houthis’ military infrastructure in Yemen.

CONFLICT: Middle East flashpoints (Graphic)
GN45431 Graphic shows Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East.
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February 2, 2024 -- IDF forces are advancing on Rafah City, which now hosts over half Gaza’s 2.3 million population who fled from the violence elsewhere in the territory, and leaving them fearing a new onslaught.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade has now been dismantled and the military campaign will continue to Rafah.

Hamas has given an “initial positive confirmation” to a proposal for a ceasefire of up to 40 days and the release of Israeli hostages, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry. US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators proposed a six-week pause in the Gaza war and a hostage-prisoner exchange, which was approved by Israeli intelligence. There is no official consensus within Hamas, however, and Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected in Cairo for further talks.

Reports say that Saudi Arabia will accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state in return for normalised relations with the Israel and a defence pact with the U.S.. The kingdom is keen to shore up its defences in the light of an increasingly belligerent Iran, and transform its economy with foreign investment. However, the deal, already seen as a long-shot even before the war, will depend on how the conflict develops.

CONFLICT: Israel-Hamas war sitrep day 119 (Graphic)
GN45435 Graphic shows situation report in Israel and Gaza.
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February 18-24, 2024 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week. This week features John Travolta, Thomas Edison's phonograph, U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine, Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, popcorn, lawn tennis, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

February 18, 1954: John Travolta, star of Pulp Fiction, Saturday Night Fever, and Grease (pictured above, with co-star Olivia Newton John), was born. He turns 70 today

February 19, 1878: Thomas Edison patented the phonograph, in which a large horn transmitted vibrations to a needle that scribed a recording on to a cylinder rotated by hand

February 20,2023: U.S. President Joe Biden visited Ukraine in a show of support for President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion

February 21, 1613: Mikhail Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia, marking the start of the dynasty’s 300-year rule that ended with the execution of Tsar Nicholas II in 1918

February 22, 1630: English colonists in America first tasted popcorn, kernels of corn that “pop” when heated over a flame, and known to Native Americans for over 1,000 years

February 23, 1874: Major Walter Winfield patented an outdoor game he called “sphairistike”, Greek for “playing ball”, but which soon became known as lawn tennis

February 24, 2022: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea in the biggest such attack in Europe since World War II

HISTORY: On this day February 18-24, 2024 (week 08) (Graphic)
GN45404 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
(Each 52mm wide by 118mm deep packaged as a set) View graphic

February 11-17, 2024 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week. This week features the freeing of Nelson Mandela, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue, the first use of penicillin on a human patient, French national anthem La Marseillaise, actress Raquel Welch, American tennis star John McEnroe, and Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly.

February 11, 1990: Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s black nationalist leader, was freed after 27 years in jail for charges related to the ANC’s armed campaign against apartheid

February 12, 1924: George Gershwin played his haunting composition Rhapsody In Blue in public for the first time. It established his reputation as a serious composer

February 13, 1941: Penicillin, discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, was first used on a human patient, an Oxford policeman whose scratches from a rose bush had turned septic

February 14, 1879: La Marseillaise was restored as France’s national anthem. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget De Lisle to rally soldiers to defend their homeland

February 15, 2023: Actress Raquel Welch died at age 82. She shot to international fame after playing a deer-skin bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years B.C.

February 16, 1959: Volatile American tennis star John McEnroe was born. Now a respected commentator, he won the U.S. Open four times and Wimbledon three times

February 17, 1904: Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly was first performed at La Scala in Milan. The opera was initially unsuccessful but a revised version is now a firm favourite


HISTORY: On this day February 11-17, 2024 (week 07) (Graphic)
GN45403 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
(Each 52mm wide by 118mm deep packaged as a set) View graphic

February 1, 2024 -- The wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane has been found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, around 5,000 metres beneath the surface, researchers believe.

The announced is the latest to claim a breakthrough in the decades-old mystery. Founder of underwater exploration company Deep Sea Vision, Tony Romeo, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, said a 16-person crew captured the image late last year during a 90-day expedition in search of Earhart’s aircraft

Over roughly three months, DSV’s HUGIN 6000 autonomous underwater submersible combed across a cumulative 13,400 square km of Pacific Ocean floor using a modified side scan sonar capable of imaging 1,600-metre-wide chunks at a time. Normal side scan sonars, by comparison, only handle 450 metres per scan.

Romeo said the images showed what appeared to be a plane matching the size of Earhart's Lockheed Model 10-E Electra.

Hoping to solve an 87-year-old mystery, explorer Tony Romeo plans to launch a mission later this year or next to find the long-lost plane, which a massive U.S. search failed to do in 1937.

AVIATION: Amelia Earhart’s plane “found” (Graphic)
GN45433 Graphic shows Earhart’s route around the world, with details of the new discovery.
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January 31, 2024 -- The United States has more than 50,000 military personnel stationed in the Middle East across a range of bases and regional commands, according to estimates.

Although most of those are stationed at big bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, many thousands more are scattered around smaller outposts.

Those include troops in Iraq and Jordan, which hosts a small base known as Tower 22 where three U.S. personnel were killed in a drone attack by Iran-backed militia over the weekend. The Pentagon said there have been 165 attacks on U.S. positions in the region since mid-October, according to Bloomberg News.

MILITARY: U.S. troop presence in Middle East (Graphic)
GN45432 Graphic shows estimated numbers of U.S. troops in the Middle East.
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January 31, 2024 -- With PayPal announcing a 9% cut in staff and Google warning of further lay-offs, January has seen the tech industry’s worst job losses since May last year.

PayPal is to reduce its workforce by around 9% as the firm grapples with rising competition and financial pressures, while Google has told staff to expect more job cuts, somewhat ironically due to the adoption of artificial intelligence to lighten workloads.

The scale of Google’s latest staff cuts is unknown – the firm axed 12,000 jobs last year – but PayPal’s downsizing is expected to impact around 2,500 employees.

January has seen over 43,000 tech jobs go in the highest round of redundancies since more than 56,000 employees were dismissed in May 2023.

On average 1,174 tech industry workers were let go every day in 2023. January 2024 has seen that figure rise to 1,389 per day.

TECH: Tech industry lay-offs on the rise (Graphic)
GN45430 Graphic charts tech industry lay-offs over past 12 months.
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January 31, 2024 -- The Iran-aligned Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah has announced the suspension of hostile operations against U.S. troops as Washington ponders its response to a deadly drone attack that killed three of its soldiers.

Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the umbrella group of Shia armed groups that have claimed over 170 attacks on U.S. forces since the Gaza war began.

Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement on Tuesday: “As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces – in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government – we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways.”

Three U.S. troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on Jan 28 that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah.

The U.S. has vowed to respond to the attack.

CONFLICT: Kataib Hezbollah factfile (Graphic)
GN45429 Graphic shows profile of Kataib Hezbollah.
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January 30, 2024 -- Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has lost its cricket bat symbol ahead of general elections on February 8. Symbols are crucial to help voters with low literacy levels identify candidates.

Since being voted out of office in a no-confidence vote in April 2022, the cricket legend-turned-politician has been shot in the leg, hit with charges ranging from rioting to terrorism, and jailed for corruption.

Now, the nation’s most popular politician and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a case related to the illegal sale of state gifts.

Wednesday’s verdict comes a day after a court convicted Khan of leaking state secrets and gave him a 10-year sentence.

The ban on Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) election symbol, the cricket bat, sidelines its candidates, forcing them to contest as independents.

“The generals are telling the voter: don’t bother. Don’t bother turning up to vote for Imran because he will not be allowed near power again anytime soon,” political analyst Cyril Almeida told Al Jazeera.

“Whether the voters obey will be known next week. The charges are political, the conviction is political and, if and when the time comes, the reversal will be political,” Almeida added.

POLITICS: Pakistan electoral symbols (Graphic)
GN45427 Graphic shows selection of electoral symbols and details charges against Imran Khan.
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January 30, 2024 -- Amid growing concerns over cronyism and patronage in politics, the UK has fallen to its lowest ever place in experts’ views of corruption in public services, while Denmark retains its leading position.

Ten years ago the UK sat at 8th and was widely regarded as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, but has fallen to 20th after a series of scandals during the Boris Johnson years, including the awarding of PPE contracts during the pandemic, and the resignations of both the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Interests and the government’s anti-corruption chief, a post that has remained vacant for over 18 months.

A global trend of weakening justice systems in both authoritarian and democratic countries is reducing accountability for public officials, which is allowing corruption to thrive. Over two thirds of the 180 countries surveyed are perceived to have serious corruption problems, with the majority remaining stagnant or declining in the last year - the UK was among 23 countries that fell to their lowest score this year.

POLITICS: UK falls to lowest score in global corruption index (Graphic)
GN45428 Graphic shows selected data from Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2023.
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January 30, 2024 -- The U.S. government sold a record $81 billion worth of military equipment and services to foreign powers in 2023 – an increase of 56% on 2022, the U.S. State Department reports.

The U.S. government directly transferred a record $80.9 billion of military equipment and services to other countries in fiscal 2023 – an increase of over 50% on 2022, the U.S. State Department reports.

Poland was the single largest customer, with over $30 billion in transfers agreed, including $12 for Apache attack helicopters and $10 billion for HIMARS rocket systems.

Additionally, U.S. private military contractor sales to overseas nations totalled $157.5 billion in the 2023 financial year – giving an overall total of $238.4 billion in U.S. weapons sales.

MILITARY: U.S. military sales set new record (Graphic)
GN45426 Graphic charts U.S. military sales to overseas customers.
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January 29, 2024 -- Israel’s allegations that 12 members of the UN's Gaza aid group participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack have led several Western countries to cut off funding.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, employs thousands of staffers and provides vital aid and services to millions of people across the Middle East. In Gaza, it has been the main supplier of food, water and shelter to civilians during the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel has long railed against the agency, accusing it of tolerating or even collaborating with Hamas and of perpetuating the 75-year-old Palestinian refugee crisis. The Israeli government has accused Hamas and other militant groups of siphoning off aid and using UN facilities for military purposes.

UNRWA denies those allegations and says it took swift action against the employees accused of taking part in the attack. The United States and several other Western nations that together provided more than half of UNRWA’s budget in 2022 nevertheless suspended their funding to the agency, AP said.

CONFLICT: UNRWA funding (Graphic)
GN45408 Graphic shows major donors to UNRWA that have halted funding.
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January 29, 2024 -- Japan’s SLIM spacecraft has resumed operations after being shut for nine days due to a power supply issue. The probe’s touchdown made Japan the fifth country to put a spacecraft on the moon.

On January 20, SLIM touched down within 55m of its target point, outstripping conventional accuracy of several kilometres for lunar landers.

However, the probe tumbled down a crater slope during its landing, leaving its solar batteries facing in the wrong direction and unable to generate electricity.

Nine days later, thanks to a change in the sunlight’s direction, SLIM has started to generate power.

The mission’s landing technology could allow future exploration of hilly Moon poles seen as a potential sources of fuel, water and oxygen, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

SPACE: Japan’s moon lander wakes up (2) (Graphic UPDATED Jan 29)
GN45327 Graphic shows Japan’s “moon sniper” mission
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January 26, 2024 -- NASA’s Ingenuity, the first vehicle to achieve a powered flight on another world, has ended its $85m mission that exceeded all expectations.

The fate of Ingenuity was sealed when imagery beamed back to Earth after its 72nd and final flight on Jan 18 showed that “one or more of its rotor blades” were damaged and it was “no longer capable of flight”, NASA officials said.

Ingenuity reached the Red Planet in February 2021 by riding on the belly of the Perseverance rover.

During its lifespan of three years, the helicopter flew 14 times further than originally planned, logging more than two hours of flight time and covering a distance of 17km on 72 flights.

It soared as high as 24m and hit speeds of up to 36km/h.

Engineers will run final tests on Ingenuity and download remaining images from its onboard computer, NASA said.

SPACE: Mars Ingenuity helicopter ends mission (1) (Graphic UPDATED Jan 29)
GN45400 Graphic shows details of Ingenuity’s journey across Mars.
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January 29, 2024 -- Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack on a U.S. base in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border that killed three U.S. troops and injured at least 34 others.

The attack marks the first deadly military action against American troops since the war in Gaza triggered a steep rise in violence across the Middle East.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, has reported that Iranian-backed militias have conducted over 170 attacks targeting U.S. positions since October 2023.

U.S. President Joe Biden has vowed that the U.S. will “respond” in time.

CONFLICT: Attacks on U.S. bases in Middle East (Graphic)
GN45407 Graphic shows location and number of attacks on U.S. bases in the Middle East.
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January 29, 2024 -- The IDF has warned that the lack of a “day after” plan by the political establishment for a civilian administration in Gaza is allowing Hamas to re-establish control where the army has withdrawn.

The IDF has advised civilians along the Gaza City coastline to flee southwards as fighting returns to the area after being largely taken over by Israeli forces, and is sure to postpone any plans to allow civilians to return.

Up to a dozen donor countries suspended funding for UNRWA, the Un body responsible for Palestinian refugees, after 12 staff were found to have been involved in the deadly October 7 attacks, and included members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Far-right and Likud ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have called for the resettlement of Gaza by Israelis, and the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians at a conference on Gaza. Israeli critics slammed the conference as unnecessarily divisive and increasing the lack of trust in the government when they should be trying to build a national consensus.

Three U.S. servicemen were killed in a drone attack by an Iranian-backed militia, the Islamic Resistnce in Iraq, on the Tower 22 military outpost near the Syrian border. Iran has denied responsibility and says that it does not give orders o the “Resistance”.

CONFLICT: Israel-Hamas war sitrep day 115 (Graphic)
GN45406 Graphic shows situation report in Israel and Gaza.
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January 26, 2024 -- Donald Trump is ahead of President Joe Biden by six percentage points in a new poll that also highlights how Americans are tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections.

A nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults by Reuters/Ipsos shows Trump leading Biden 40% to 34% with the remainder undecided.

However, the poll also highlights dissatisfaction with some 67% of voters tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and wanting someone new.

Key takeaways from the poll include:

1) Voting intentions:
Trump – 40%
Biden – 34%
Undecided – 26%

2) Age is an issue:
Biden (81) should not run – 70%
Biden is too old to be in politics – 75%
Trump (77) should not run – 56%
Trump is too old to be in politics – 50%

POLITICS: Trump leads Biden in new poll (Graphic)
GN45402 Graphic charts data from a new U.S. election poll.
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January 26, 2024 -- On Monday, 24 Israeli troops died fighting in Gaza, marking the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deadliest day since the ground war’s start on October 27.

All 24 victims were reservists, members of some 360,000 citizen soldiers who have put their everyday lives on hold to serve in Israel’s war in Gaza. The IDF relies on compulsory military service to fill the ranks of its 170,000-strong standing army.

Following the cross-border rampage by Hamas on October 7, Israel called up hundreds of thousands of reservists, and thousands of other Israeli civilians volunteered to fight.

“These are not faceless soldiers,” Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, told The Dispatch.

They’re also “the backbone of our economy,” pointing out that reservists are older than regular soldiers and have well-developed careers. Their absence from Israel’s workforce is a significant loss, Oren added.

CONFLICT: Israeli casualties in Gaza (Graphic)
GN45398 Graphic shows numbers of Israelis killed and injured since the Gaza war began.
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January 25, 2024 -- The UK’s opposition Labour Party, which has been leading polls for months and looks likely to win the 2024 general election, will inherit the country’s most challenging fiscal problems in decades.

With Keir Starmer’s Labour Party enjoying a commanding lead in election opinion polls over the incumbent Conservatives, it’s likely that a future Labour government will face financial problems not seen in the United Kingdom since the 1960s, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The think tank says a combination of high interest costs and weak economic growth means the winner of the 2024 UK general election, expected in the second-half of the year, will find it more difficult to reduce debt as a fraction of national income than in any previous parliament for decades.

Britain’s debt, which has soared from 50% of GDP to almost 100% of GDP in the last 15 years (most of which were governed by the Conservative Party), will require the next government to raise more tax than it spends on everything other than debt interest – a methodology known as “primary surplus”.

POLITICS: Trouble ahead for next UK government (Graphic)
GN45397 Graphic charts poll of UK election voting intentions.
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January 25, 2024 -- With the aim of allowing Israeli residents to return to their homes, the IDF is establishing a buffer zone up to 1km wide within Palestinian territory, which critics have described as a “land grab”.

Lax enforcement of the 300m buffer that had existed up to October 7 - which Palestinians were allowed to farm - has been blamed in part for Hamas’ infiltration during the deadly attacks, and Israeli officials have been talking about creating a security zone from which Palestinians would be barred since the early stages of the war.

An estimated 1,100 of the 2,850 buildings believed to be within the buffer have been destroyed already as IDF engineers clear the area. However, Israel suffered the deadliest day of its ground operation on Jan 22 when 21 soldiers were killed while demolishing two buildings to clear a path for the buffer zone near Maghazi in central Gaza.

CONFLICT: Israel plans controversial Gaza buffer zone (Graphic)
GN45396 Graphic shows potential range of Israeli buffer zone in Gaza and locations of demolitions.
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February 1-29, 2024 -- Events in February include the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, NATO’s largest military exercise since the Cold War, national elections in Indonesia and Pakistan, and the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Feb-Jun, Europe: NATO’s largest military exercise since the Cold War, involving 90,000 troops, is staged in Germany, Poland and the Baltic states. Exercise Steadfast Defender will practise how the alliance would repel a Russian invasion.

Feb 8, Pakistan: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is tipped to win delayed national elections, while the party of jailed former premier Imran Khan faces an uphill battle to secure votes.

Feb 8, UK: Props from the Netflix series The Crown are auctioned in London. Star lots include a replica of Princess Diana’s 1994 “revenge” dress.

Feb 10-24, China: Billions of people worldwide celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Dragon symbolizes power, growth and abundance.

Feb 11, U.S.: Super Bowl LVIII is staged at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with R&B icon Usher headlining the half-time show.

Feb 14, Indonesia: Voters head to the polls to choose a new president, with front runner Prabowo Subianto aiming for a decisive victory in his third bid to become leader.

Feb 15, Japan: The new flagship H3 rocket is due to blast off. It is hoped the 63m-tall heavy payload projectile will capitalize on growing demand for launch vehicles in the global space industry.

Feb 24, Ukraine: EU leaders aim to agree new sanctions on Russia by the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, and unlock €50bn of aid to Kviv – vetoed by Hungary.


WORLD AGENDA: February 2024 (Graphic)
GN45389 Graphic shows selected news events in February 2024.
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January 24, 2024 -- Netflix sign-ups boomed at the end of 2023, fuelled by a crackdown on household password-sharing. A record 13.1 million new subscribers joined up in the last three months of the year.

Netflix saw 13.1 million subscriber sign-ups in the final three months of 2023 – its best quarter of growth since viewers were locked down during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's Q4 2023 growth spurt exceeded Wall Street’s estimation of 8.9 million, beating projections in every one of its territories around the world.

Shares in Netflix rose almost 9% on the news, rising in value to $535.91 per share.

ENTERTAINMENT: Netflix sees record subscriber growth (Graphic)
GN45391 Graphic charts Netflix subscriber growth.
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January 24, 2024 -- Intense mediation efforts led by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt could lead to an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners during a one-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The latest round of shuttle diplomacy started on December 28 and has narrowed disagreements about the length of an initial ceasefire to around 30 days, after Hamas had first sought a truce that would last several months, an official told Reuters.

A White House spokesman said on Tuesday U.S. Middle East envoy Brett McGurk was in the region -- the second time in a week -- for discussions about releasing hostages and that Washington would support a longer “humanitarian pause.”

“We are open to all initiatives and proposals, but any agreement must be based on ending the aggression and the occupation’s complete pullout from Gaza Strip,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Monday.

One offer by Israel is to end the war if Hamas expels Yahya Sinwar and Mohamed al-Deif, who are Israel’s top targets to kill or capture following Hamas’s deadly cross-border rampage on October 7.

CONFLICT: Gaza truce talks (Graphic)
GN45392 Graphic shows casualties on both sides of the conflict.
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January 23, 2024 -- Turkish MPs have ratified Sweden’s bid to join NATO in a long-delayed vote that represents a big step forward on the Nordic nation’s path to membership.

Sweden applied to join in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey withheld approval amid a row over what it called Sweden’s support to Kurdish separatists.

Turkish President Erdogan is expected to sign the legislation within days.

It leaves Hungary the sole NATO member yet to ratify Sweden’s accession, the BBC said.

MILITARY: Swedish entry into NATO (1) (Graphic UPDATED Jan 24)
GN45385 Graphic shows details of NATO members and Sweden’s military strength.
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January 24, 2024 -- Russia’s defence ministry has accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane, killing all 74 people aboard, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war being swapped.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm or deny Russia’s claims about the crash on Wednesday in Russia’s Belgorod border region, although they said they were looking into them.

In addition to the 65 POWs, the Il-76 transport carried a crew of six and three other passengers, the Russian military said. According to the statement, Russian radar registered the launch of two missiles from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region that borders the Belgorod region. The ministry did not provide evidence for its claim.

The Russian military said the POWs were being flown to the region for a prisoner swap when the plane was downed at 11:15 a.m. local time (0815 GMT), according to AP.

MILITARY: Russian Il-76 crash (Graphic)
GN45390 Graphic shows details of crash.
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January 24, 2024 -- EU citizens of France, Germany, Italy and Spain now have visa-free access to as many countries as Japan and Singapore, leaders in travel freedom for the last five years.

All six countries can boast the world’s most powerful travel documents, granting their holders access to 194 countries without a previously obtained visa, more than any others. Denmark, Sweden and South Korea rank second with access to 193 countries, while Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands have 192 destinations.

The U.S. and the UK, leaders in 2014, have dropped to 7th and 4th place respectively, while China has climbed to a ranking of 62 with almost twice as many countries as 10 years ago.

TRAVEL: Most powerful passports (Graphic)
GN45388 Graphic shows countries with most visa-free travel.
(107mm wide by 135mm deep) View graphic

January 24, 2024 -- Donald Trump easily won New Hampshire’s Republican primary, defeating his last remaining rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

“This race is far from over,” Haley told supporters at a post-election party in Concord, challenging Trump to debate her. “I’m a fighter. And I’m scrappy. And now we’re the last one standing next to Donald Trump.”

Haley drew her support from groups that were distinct minorities in the Republican electorate, according to Associate Press VoteCast. About half of her supporters were college graduates, and about half identified as moderates.

Trump’s second primary victory further cements his path toward a third consecutive Republican presidential nomination.

POLITICS: New Hampshire results (Graphic)
GN45383 Graphic shows result of New Hampshire Republican primary.
(107mm by 59mm deep) View graphic

January 23, 2024 -- Canada is to cap the intake of foreign students for two years to ease pressure on housing and healthcare. Canada hosted over 800,000 foreign students at all levels of study in 2022.

Canada will cap the number of foreign students allowed to enter the country for two years in an attempt to alleviate pressure on housing and healthcare in the country.

The cap will result in a decrease of more than a third in approved study permits – dropping from a high of 580,000 in 2023, to around 360,000 per year for 2024 and 2025.

The cap applies to students in a diploma or undergraduate programme and does not affect students applying for study permit renewals.

The announcement also comes as the government faces an increasingly unaffordable housing market where the average cost of a home is now C$750,000 ($550,000) and rent has risen 22% in the last two years.

A national housing agency estimates that Canada needs 3.5 million more homes by 2030 to restore affordability.

IMMIGRATION: Canada to limit foreign students (Graphic)
GN45386 Graphic charts the annual issue of foreign student visas in Canada.
(107mm by 135mm deep) View graphic

January 23, 2024 -- The Doomsday Clock, indicating how near humanity is to annihilation, remains at 90 seconds to midnight, as the conflict in Ukraine rages on and war in the Middle East flares up.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as they did last year, set the clock at 90 seconds to midnight – the theoretical point of annihilation.

Scientists set the clock based on “existential” risks to Earth and its people: nuclear threat, climate change, and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and new biotechnology.

Each year, the BAS decides whether the events of the previous year pushed humanity closer to or farther from destruction.

The idea began in 1945, when scientists working on the Manhattan Project – developing the world’s first nuclear weapons – created the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of Chicago (BAS) to warn humanity of the dangers of nuclear war. Two years later, BAS launched its Doomsday Clock.

SCIENCE: Doomsday Clock 2024 (Graphic)
GN45387 Graphic shows ups and downs of the Doomsday Clock since 1947.
(107mm wide by 163mm deep) View graphic

January 23, 2024 -- Oppenheimer and Barbie are up for Best Motion Picture alongside American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and Zone of Interest.

Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer leads the nominations with 13, just shy of the record of 14. Poor Things comes in next with 11, including a fourth nomination for Emma Stone.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is next on ten before we get to Barbie on eight.

Cillian Murphy, Bradley Cooper, and Paul Giamatti were among the Best Actor nominations. Lily Gladstone, Carey Mulligan, and Emma Stone are among the Best Actress nominees. Still, Margot Robbie missed out on a nomination for her leading role as Barbie.

The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. They will be televised live in more than 200 territories worldwide.

MOVIES: Oscar nominations 2024 (Graphic)
GN45323 Graphic shows nominations for the 96th Academy Awards.
(107mm by mm deep) View graphic

January 23, 2024 -- The withdrawl of Ron DeSantis now leaves the Republican primaries effectively as a two-horse race between Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump, ahead of the Jan 23 vote in New Hampshire.

Ron DeSantis, trailing a distant third in the state, has now withdrawn, as has Vivek Ramaswamy who endorsed Trump after coming in fourth in Iowa, with most of his support now going to Trump.

Trump’s lead nationally remains strong, but Haley has increased her attacks on him, challenging him to step foot on a debate stage after he repeatedly opted to hold rallies rather than face the challengers.

Haley has pulled out of the next GOP debate unless Trump attends, declaring the primaries a two-horse race between the two, and saying her next debate will be with either Trump or President Joe Biden for the presidency. With the withdrawal of DeSantis, the likelihood of the two facing one another appears to have increased.

POLITICS: U.S. election Republican New Hampshire primary polls (1) (Graphic UPDATED Jan 23)
GN45331 Graphic shows latest polls, national delegate tracker, expected number of delegates per candidate in the state, and cartogram showing national distribution of delegates.
(107mm wide by 150mm deep)

January 12, 2024 -- The U.S. and Britain mounted a second operation against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in response to ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

In the latest response, U.S. and British forces carried out strikes at eight different locations in Yemen, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, according to a joint statement signed by the six countries.

The strikes by carrier-based F/A-18 fighter jets, Tomahawk cruise missiles and British Typhoons, hit radars, drone and missile sites and underground weapons bunkers.

The Houthis say the latest attacks hit open spaces and former military camps - and they “will not go unanswered”.

So far, eight rounds of strikes over past month have failed to stop Houthi attacks against shipping.

CONFLICT: Second U.S.-UK strikes on Houthis (Graphic)
GN45384 Graphic shows targets hit by U.S. and UK strikes in Yemen.
(107mm wide by 140mm deep) View graphic

January 23, 2024 -- Royal Caribbean has welcomed Icon of the Seas -- the world’s largest cruise ship -- to its homeport of Miami ahead of her departure on her maiden voyage on January 27.

“This has been a labour of love for seven years crafting this ship, and we set out to create a family vacation unrivalled by anyone out there,” said Samantha Riepe, Vice President of Marketing at Royal Caribbean.

Icon of the Seas was officially handed over to Royal Caribbean at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland on November 27, 2023.

The 20-deck vessel has seven swimming pools with six water slides.

It has 2,805 staterooms, can hold up to 5,610 guests, and has accommodation for 2,350 crew members.

Icon of the Seas’ maiden voyage offers balcony cabins from $4,793 (€4,400) and suites at $7,121 (€8,318) per person.

The seven-night maiden voyage will sail from Miami and includes visits to St. Kitts, St. Thomas, the Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay.

MARITIME: Icon of the Seas (Graphic)
GN45372 Graphic compares the Icon of the Seas with RMS Titanic.
(163mm wide by 128mm deep) View graphic

January 22, 2024 -- A new study suggests that the prehistoric shark portrayed as a super-sized monster in Hollywood movies may have been more slender than previously thought.

Writing in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, Shimada and his colleagues say past reconstructions of the megalodon were flawed because they drew on an assumption that its body form resembled a larger version of the great white shark.

Instead, the team say a new analysis of measurements from an incomplete set of megalodon fossil vertebrae suggests it looked rather different, with a longer and more slender body.

Nose to tail, the megalodon is generally thought to have been 15-20 metres long, but very little evidence exists in the fossil record – with only teeth and vertebrae available rather than any complete skeletons.

The megalodon went extinct around 3.6 million years ago, according to the United Kingdom’s Natural History Museum, for reasons scientists are still trying to understand.

SCIENCE: Megalodon body shape disputed (Graphic)
GN45339 Graphic shows comparison of body shape reconstruction of magalodon.
(107mm wide by 142mm deep) View graphic

January 22, 2024 -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is recommending that airlines inspect Boeing 737-900ER jets, which use the same door plug design as the grounded 737 MAX 9.

The recommendation follows the FAA’s grounding of 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes after the Jan. 5 mid-air cabin blowout of a door plug on an eight-week-old Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet.

The 737-900ER is not part of the newer MAX fleet but has the same optional door plug design that allows for the addition of an extra emergency exit door when carriers opt to install more seats, Reuters said.

AVIATION: Boeing 737-900ER checks (Graphic)
GN45338 Graphic shows details of affected Boeing 737 aircraft.
(107mm by 120mm deep) View graphic

January 22, 2024 -- More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, with over 62,680 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.

The ministry’s figures are mainly deemed accurate by the UN but do not differentiate between militants and civilians.

Twenty-five thousand people, equivalent to 1% of the 2,300,000 population of Gaza, means more than 234 people have died every day.

Meanwhile, talks over the release of 136 hostages in Gaza remain at an impasse over Hamas’ demand for a permanent cease-fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to agree to a cease-fire deal. Israeli officials say at least 195 soldiers have been killed so far during the Gaza war.

On Monday, a group of hostage’s relatives stormed a parliamentary committee session at Israel’s Knesset to demand more action to secure the release of their loved ones.

“We came here because we can’t live anymore,” Gil Dickmann, the cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, said. “Our life stopped. The parliament must stop everything and bring all the hostages home.”

Netanyahu, who is also facing pressure from members of his war Cabinet to agree to a deal, dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state last night in a break with U.S. President Joe Biden.

CONFLICT: Gaza casualties (Graphic)
GN45351 Graphic shows soaring casualty ratws in the Gaza Strip since October 7 Hamas attack.
(107mm by 140mm deep) View graphic

February 4-10, 2024 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week. This week features Rolls Royce’s Spirit of Ecstasy, Pakistan's former president General Pervez Musharraf, an earthquake in Turkey that killed over 51,000 people, the Beatles’ “invasion” of the U.S., Burt Bacharach, the Boeing 747, and the city of New Delhi.

February 4, 1911: Rolls Royce commissioned its famous figurehead, the Spirit of Ecstasy, from sculptor Charles Sykes

February 5, 2023: Pakistan's former president General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, died at age 79

February 6, 2023: A 7.8 earthquake struck southeast Turkey and northwest Syria, killing over 51,000 people and leaving around two million homeless. It was the deadliest natural disaster in Turkey’s modern history

February 7, 1964: The Beatles’ “invasion” of the U.S. began as screaming fans welcomed them at New York airport

February 8, 2023: Burt Bacharach, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century pop music, died at age 94

February 9,1969: The Boeing 747, the first wide-body commercial airliner, made its maiden flight

February 10, 1931: The city of New Delhi was inaugurated as the capital of India. It houses all three branches – legislative, executive and judicial – of the Indian government

HISTORY: On this day February 4-10, 2024 (week 06) (Graphic)
GN45306 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
(Each 52mm wide by 118mm deep packaged as a set) View graphic

January 28 - February 3, 2024 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week. This week features the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, U.S. actress and TV host Oprah Winfrey, the beheading of England's King Charles I, the origins of the HIV virus, the Mumbai Monorail, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and the first passenger train from Darwin to Adelaide

January 28, 814: Charlemagne, King of the Franks and the first Holy Roman Emperor, died. He united most of western and central Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire

January 29, 1954: Oprah Winfrey, U.S. actress and TV host, was born. Her hugely successful talk show reputedly made her the best-paid individual on U.S. television

January 30, 1649: England became a republic when King Charles I was beheaded for treason during the English Civil War. The monarchy was restored in 1660

January 31, 1999: Scientists confirmed a long-held suspicion that the HIV virus, which causes Aids, originated in a subspecies of chimpanzee found in central Africa

February 1, 2014: The Mumbai Monorail, India’s first monorail since independence, was officially inaugurated. Around 20,000 people queued to use it on its first day of operation

February 2, 2008: French President Nicolas Sarkozy married Italian-born singer and former supermodel Carla Bruni, three months after their first meeting

February 3, 2004: The first passenger train from Darwin to Adelaide completed its inaugural three-day trip, realising a century-old dream to link the north and south of Australia

HISTORY: On this day January 28 - February 3, 2024 (week 05) (Graphic)
GN45305 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
(Each 52mm wide by 118mm deep packaged as a set) View graphic

January 19, 2024 -- Attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia on merchant ships in the Red Sea have forced hundreds of vessels to reroute around the southern tip of Africa, adding 10-14 days of extra travel.

Around 50 container ships are estimated to pass through the Suez a day. These vessels are responsible for around 12% of global trade, providing vital passage for shipments of US$1 trillion from Asia to Europe and North America.

Having started in October, the drone and missile attacks are forcing shipping firms to avoid the region altogether.

“Ships are diverting away from the Red Sea and rerouting around the coast of South and West Africa -- this increased traffic has created huge congestion in bunkering ports around Africa and placed significant pressure on port infrastructure,” John Bassadone, CEO of independent bunker supplier Peninsula, told Reuters.

Rerouting shipments around the Cape adds about 3,000-3,500 nautical miles (6,000km) to journeys connecting Europe with Asia, adding about ten days to the duration of the trip, according to the Dutch bank ING.

According to Drewry’s World Container Index, the cost of shipping a 40-foot container increased by 23% to $3,777 this week and has risen by 82% compared to the same week last year.

Since the Houthi attacks started on October 19, freight rates for Shanghai to Rotterdam for a single 40ft container have risen 383.5%, from $1,024 to $4,951. Also, rates on Shanghai to Genoa swelled by 358.5%, from $1,370 to $6,282.

CONFLICT: Red Sea attacks costs (Graphic)
GN45336 Graphic shows steep rise in container costs due to Red Sea attacks.
(107mm by 157mm deep) View graphic

January 16, 2024 -- Donald Trump has scored a record-setting win with 20 of the 40 Republican delegates votes in the Iowa caucuses.

Trump’s victory sends a resounding message that the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination is his to lose.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished well behind in second place with eight delegate votes, edging out former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley with seven votes.

According to Edison Research, with 95% of the expected vote tallied, Trump had 51%, DeSantis was 21%, and Haley was 19%. The most significant margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus had been 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.

With just 7% of the vote, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced he had suspended his campaign.

“There is no path for me to be the next president absent things we don’t want to see happen in this country,” Ramaswamy said.

Iowa voters endured life-threatening cold and dangerous driving conditions to meet in hundreds of schools, churches and community centres across the state.

The Republican contest moves to New Hampshire, which will hold the first-in-the-nation primary on January 23.

POLITICS: Iowa Republican caucus (Graphic)
GN45317 Graphic shows result of Iowa GOP caucus.
(107mm by 68mm deep) View graphic

January 15, 2024 -- A poll of 14,000 UK residents forecasts the largest collapse in support for a governing party since 1906, with the Conservatives heading for an election wipeout.

The UK ruling Conservative Party is facing a wipeout at the upcoming general election, according to an opinion poll of 14,000 residents commissioned by The Daily Telegraph newspaper – the survey pool is around seven times larger than that of a typical poll.

The YouGov survey forecasts the Labour Party will sweep to power with 385 seats (a 120-seat majority and an 11.5% swing) – the biggest collapse in support for a governing party since 1906.

Such is the scale of the forecast defeat, that every historically Labour-supporting seat won by the Tories, under the leadership of Boris Johnson in 2019, will be lost, with 11 Cabinet ministers also losing their seats.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Conservative peer Lord Frost described the poll’s results as “an extinction event”.

POLITICS: UK Tories facing 2024 election annihilation (Graphic)
GN45310 Graphic charts results of a UK election voting intention poll.
(107mm by 160mm deep) View graphic

October 20, 2023 -- American bases in the Middle East have come under attack, while a U.S. warship has downed missiles heading for Israel, as regional tensions soar in the Israel-Hamas war.

The USS Carney, a U.S. navy destroyer sailing in the northern Red Sea, intercepted the missiles that had been fired by Houthi forces, which have been fighting an insurgent war against Yemen’s Saudi-backed regime for several years.

A Pentagon spokesman said the missiles had been launched “potentially towards targets in Israel”.

The intercepts come amid rising tensions in the region between Iran and Iranian-backed militants and U.S.-backed allies in Israel and the Gulf following Hamas’s assault on Israeli civilians.

Iranian-backed Iraqi militants conducted attacks using one-way drones and rockets against U.S. military positions in Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. has 2,500 troops in Iraq, and 900 more in neighbouring Syria, on a mission to advise and assist local forces in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized swathes of territory in both countries.

CONFLICT: Iran-sponsored attacks against U.S. forces (Graphic)
GN44983 Graphic shows attacks by Iran-backed militants against U.S. forces.
(107mm wide by 155mm deep) View graphic

January 1, 2024 -- Have a look at how this mobile-friendly widget auto-updates each day to show a range of international anniversaries and events today in history - a daily feature to engage your online visitors day after day.

EDITORS: This is a responsive interactive graphic that can be published in an iframe. The events and picture displayed are determined by the system clock on the device on which it is viewed.

The graphic can be published using embed code. If you host the graphic yourself, you may wish to substitute some of the events or images to give a more national or local interest. The image and text for each day are held in the hyperesources folder. Data is supplied for a whole year.


HISTORY: ON THIS DAY auto-updating (3) (Interactive UPDATED Sep 21)
GN40881 Responsive interactive graphic shows anniversaries and events from today’s date in history. Changes automatically each day. Come back tomorrow to see anniversaries and events for that date.
(800px wide by 650px deep - auto updating)