Hamas belatedly released the names of three hostages that it will free on Sunday as part of a ceasefire deal that was due to begin in Gaza. Israel delayed the truce when details of the release failed to materialise and instead launched airstrikes, reportedly killing ten people. Earlier, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said he was prepared to resume fighting “in new, forceful ways”, if Hamas violated the terms of the deal.
TikTok was removed from app stores in America, ahead of a potential nationwide ban. On Friday the Supreme Court upheld a law forcing the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell it by Sunday or shut down the video platform. TikTok said that divestment is “simply not possible”. It is now banking on a reprieve from Donald Trump, who assumes the presidency on Monday.
Thousands of demonstrators, mostly women, marched in Washington, DC in protest against Mr Trump’s inauguration. Monday’s event will be moved indoors due to freezing weather, the first time in 40 years that the swearing-in ceremony has been relocated inside the Capitol. The change will deprive him of the large outdoor crowds that he so prizes.
Supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol went on the rampage in a court in Seoul after a judge extended the South Korean president’s detention. Some 40,000 protesters had gathered around the building; hundreds breached police lines, smashing windows and vandalising offices. Mr Yoon was arrested last week for insurrection, following his attempt to introduce martial law in December.
A gunman shot dead two senior judges in Iran’s Supreme Court in Tehran, before killing himself. Officials said the motive was unclear, but suggested that “enemies” of the state were behind the attack. The judges, Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, had presided over cases involving espionage, terrorism and dissidents.
At least 70 people died in the north of Nigeria when a petrol tanker overturned and exploded. Many of the victims had been collecting leaking fuel. Such accidents are common in Nigeria, where petrol prices have soared since 2023. In October a similar blast in the Jigawa state killed 147 people in one of the country’s deadliest fuel explosions.
America’s Federal Aviation Administration grounded SpaceX’s Starship programme while investigators look into why one of the firm’s rockets exploded. The vessel burst into flames shortly after launch in Texas, possibly following an oxygen or fuel leak. The upper stage came to earth over the northern Caribbean, disrupting flights. Despite the failure, SpaceX successfully landed the rocket’s reusable booster.
Word of the week: chanoyu, a Japanese tea ceremony that contributed to the spread of matcha. Read the full story.
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