More than 15,000 doctors have signed a letter circulated by the Committee to Protect Health Care in opposition to Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“As physicians who care deeply about the health and safety of our patients and communities, we are appalled by Donald Trump’s reckless decision to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS),” the letter states.

It added: “The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system. RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency – he is actively dangerous.”

BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Elon Musk urged Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an upcoming national election during a broadcast he hosted with the party's leader on his social media platform on Thursday.

The world's richest man has shown particular interest in Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, where he opened Tesla's first European plant in 2022.

Musk introduced the AfD's chancellor candidate Alice Weidel, whose party is second in polls but has almost no chance of forming a government due to other parties' refusal to work with it, as "the leading candidate to run Germany."

The news outlet Israel Hayom reported that Defence Minister Israel Katz chaired a small ministerial meeting on Tuesday focused on Turkish involvement in Syria and concerns about the intentions of Syri’s de facto leader, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) commander Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Jolani).

During the meeting, which was held before an upcoming discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ministers also reportedly discussed an Israeli plan first revealed by Middle East Eye in December.

Under this plan, Syria would be divided into provincial regions, or cantons, which Israel Hayom described as a way to “safeguard the security and rights of all Syrian ethnic groups”, including the Druze and Kurdish populations.

The plan to divide Syria highlights the concern among Israel’s establishment about Turkish influence in the country. On Monday, an Israeli government commission said that Turkey could pose a greater threat to Israel than Iran in Syria if it supports a hostile “Sunni Islamist” force in Damascus.

The folk tale that inspired Dreams on a Pillow tells of a mother who rushes into her home to retrieve her baby before fleeing, only to realise that she has escaped with a pillow instead. In the game, she spends her days trying to make her way to Lebanon after the massacre at Tantura, and the nights dreaming of the Palestine she knew as a child. Putting the pillow down lets her move through the game’s scenarios more freely, but invites nightmares and hallucinations. Abueideh estimates that it will take two years to complete; heartbreakingly, the crowdfunding page contains an assurance that “a clear plan for the completion of the game has been put in place to ensure continuity in the case of Rasheed’s disappearance, injury or demise at the hand of the continuously expanding Israeli aggression in the West Bank”.

In the city of Nablus in the West Bank, Rasheed Abueideh owns a nut roastery, where he works to provide for his family. He is also an award-winning game developer. A decade ago, as the 2014 Gaza war raged, he created a harrowing video game called Lilya and the Shadows of War, about a man trying to find safety for his daughter and himself – but as missiles fall around them, it quickly becomes clear that there is no safety. When the game was released in 2016, it was initially rejected by Apple on the grounds of inappropriate content, a decision reversed after a week of outcry.

Despite the acclaim and attention that Lilya received, however, Abueideh has not been able to raise funding for his next game through conventional means. The game he envisions, Dreams on a Pillow, is about the 1948 Nakba, told through a folk tale about a mother in the Arab-Israeli war, in which more than half the Palestinian population was displaced. He tells me that his game has been rejected almost 300 times, by publishers and providers of cultural grants, for being too controversial, too much of a risk. “Talking about the Palestinian story was always forbidden,” he says.

“Crowdfunding was our only option, but even that would not work for me because all the major crowdfunding platforms do not recognise Palestine,” says Abueideh. The team turned to LaunchGood, a Muslim-focused platform, where it met its funding goal on 7 January.

The raging wildfires that have blazed around Los Angeles for two days, killing at least five people, destroying almost 2,000 homes and buildings, and forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 people, have spread to the hills above Hollywood Boulevard.

As firefighters battled five separate blazes, the White House announced that Joe Biden had cancelled Thursday’s visit to Italy – the final overseas trip of his presidency – to focus on directing the federal response to the fires.

The emergency began on Tuesday afternoon, when a powerful windstorm fanned the flames of a fire in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, prompting thousands to flee.

The fake operation has a curious tendency to defend the Pakistan military

In October, a new foreign policy think tank calling itself the Beltway Grid Policy Centre quietly entered D.C.'s diplomatic fray. While there was no launch party and is no K Street office we could find, the think tank nevertheless began producing its intellectual product at a startling pace, issuing reports, press releases, and pitching journalists on news coverage—much of it focused on South Asia, and, in particular, the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.

The unusual nature of Beltway Grid's staffing leaves open several possibilities. The organization may be so hard at work defending the policies of the Pakistan military and criticizing former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the team simply hasn't had time to lead previous lives or respond to requests for comment. They may be early alien settlers, dropped off by drones on the coast of New Jersey, who are fans of Jane Austen and have come to study "the modern dynamics of lobbying." Or, more likely, somebody with a small budget asked ChatGPT to set up a fake think tank. Using AI to make a think tank adds a deeper layer of irony, since AI proponents regularly admonish the public not to conflate the operations of an AI program with “thinking.”

Beltway Grid's work product has left a few other clues as the motivations of its creator. One recent report, "Democracy Under Siege: Economic Fallout and Diplomatic Implications of Protests in Pakistan," argues that the November 2024 protests, which lasted just a few days and were led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party under former Prime Minister Imran Khan, resulted in higher inflation, a currency collapse, a loss of 0.8% of GDP, a cumulative cost of 3 trillion rupees. The numbers are eerily similar to a report distributed internally by the army and obtained by Drop Site News. Independent analysts have suggested the economic malaise may be more closely linked to the overall policies of the military government, but according to the author of the report Beltway Grid's "Chief Strategic Analyst, Political Influence," Alexandra Caldwell, the problems all belong at the foot of Khan. Caldwell could not be reached for further comment, but her report was convincing enough for Pakistani news to turn it into a broadcast. And its report on Imran Khan's bid for Oxford Chancellor—Beltway Grid took a dim view, believe it or not—can be found reported on PR wire services and even republished on Yahoo News.

French journalist Sylvain Mercadier has been arrested by Israeli forces in Syria while covering the army's advance in the country.

According to French outlet Marianne, to which he contributed, Mercadier was accompanied by a Syrian lawyer named Mohammad Fayad at the time of his arrest, which took place in the village of al-Hmidaiah.

A Syrian journalist who was also on the scene said Mercadier was arrested while negotiating permission to film the Israeli forces that were arriving in the village.

"He was wearing a 'Press' bulletproof vest. Despite that, when the soldiers got to him, they confiscated his equipment, then beat him and called him a 'mercenary,'" Yousuf Gharibi told Marianne.

Israel says it is protecting its borders from turmoil in Syria, but critics say it is looking to expand and settle more territory.

Former NBA star Dwight Howard recently shared a revealing anecdote about a 2014 tweet that almost killed the NBA champion's career. In the interview, Howard describes a 2014 visit to a Houston movie theatre where he was approached by a group of Palestinian fans. They expressed their admiration and asked to watch the film with him. Known for his frequent interactions with fans, Howard says he agreed warmly.

After the movie, while taking photos with the group, the fans spoke about the struggles in their homeland and asked him to raise awareness. Moved by their plea, the former NBA star reflected on the importance of using his platform. Shortly after, he tweeted “Free Palestine” - a gesture to shed light on his fans’ experiences.

Following the tweet, he says that within minutes, he started receiving calls from the NBA commissioner, agents, and people working with his foundation. “You’ve got to erase this tweet. You’ve got to take this down. You’re going to get in trouble,” Howard was told. According to his account, Howard said he couldn't understand what he had done wrong.

An IDF officer has mistakenly shot dead a Palestinian man who was serving as a human shield for the Nahal brigades 931st Battalion in Gaza.

The man was allowed to reside alongside the troops and was tasked with searching buildings and tunnels before the troops entered. This incident raises further allegations of IDF brutality in Gaza. The IDF has admitted the incident and stated that an investigation is underway.

Staff Sergeant Ido Shamik, 20, from the central Israeli city of Ganei Tikva, was killed by gunfire Tuesday morning in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun. The Israel Defense Forces said that the incident is under investigation.

A day earlier, two Israeli army officers in the Nahal Brigade were killed by anti-tank missile fire in Beit Hanoun. The two officers were named as Capt. Eitan Israel Skiknazi, 24, from the Eli settlement in the West Bank, who served as a deputy unit commander, and Maj. Dvir Zion Revah, 28, from Jerusalem, who served as a unit commander.

Meta on Tuesday announced it will eliminate its third-party fact-checking program to “restore free expression” and move to a “Community Notes” model, similar to the system that exists on Elon Musk’s platform X.

The company said Community Notes will be written and rated by contributing users to provide more context to posts across its platforms, and the feature will roll out in the U.S. over the next couple of months. The announcement marks Meta’s latest attempt to smooth over relations with Republican President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office.

Meta said it will simplify its content policies by removing restrictions on subjects like immigration and gender and implement a new approach to policy enforcement that will focus on illegal and high-severity violations. The company is moving its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California, a historically Democratic state, to Texas, a historically Republican state.