World Briefing: January 9, 2025
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was held by Tehran police for almost three weeks for her "journalistic activities," has been released and is headed home. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a post on X that Sala, who was detained on December 19, was on a plane to Italy on January 8. "Thanks to intense work on diplomatic and intelligence channels, our compatriot has been released by the Iranian authorities and is returning to Italy," Meloni said. The 29-year-old, who has a podcast called Stories that covers life in places around the world, was held for over a week before Iranian authorities confirmed her detention. No details of the charges were made public, but they came after Sala posted a podcast from Tehran on December 17 about patriarchy in the Iranian capital. Three days before Sala's detention, Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian-Swiss businessman who is wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan, was arrested in Milan, Italy. Iran called Abedini's arrest "illegal" and subsequently summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran over the issue. - RFE/RL
Wind-fueled wildfires continued to grow Wednesday as overtaxed fire crews battled three major out-of-control blazes that killed at least five people and ravaged some of the most picturesque neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area. A thick smoke wafted over the city and fires continued springing up. As many as 1,500 structures, mostly homes and businesses were destroyed in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena. More than 100,000 people were under mandatory evacuations. In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said between 200 and 500 structures have been damaged or lost from the Eaton Fire that started Tuesday night when hurricane-force winds whipped up flames. He said the water system was stretched and was further hampered by power outages but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire as embers ignited block after block as they flew through the air.
During a briefing in Santa Monica, President Biden pledged that the federal government would throw every available resource at the blazes. Two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System units were being deployed from the California and Nevada national guards, and 10 Navy helicopters with water buckets were en route from San Diego, according to the White House. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also called on the National Guard to assist with the fire and evacuations, and 200 personnel have been deployed, said Col. Brian Hill. “It’s astounding what’s happened,” Biden said. “We’re prepared to do anything and everything for as long as it takes to contain these fires.” - LA Times
DailyMail.com has learned that many of the fleeing super wealthy have flowed into the luxury hotels in nearby Beverly Hills that charge $700 a night. Several top hotels like the Beverly Hills Hotel, The Four Seasons Beverly Hills, the Peninsula Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria are all sold out. A source told DailyMail.com they scrambled to get high-class accommodations after being forced to leave their $7M home in the Palisades.
Ukrainian officials said at least 13 people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian air strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya, the latest in a series of Russian attacks causing widespread civilian casualties. The January 8 strike hit an industrial district of the city around midafternoon, said Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration. According to reports, debris hit a tram and a minibus with passengers, damaging cars parked nearby. Video released by emergency services showed bodies mangled and bloodied on sidewalks as firefighters rushed to put out car fires and extinguish a blaze in a nearby administrative building - RFE/RL
Yesterday, five years ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran killed 176 people on board Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in the Iranian airspace. There were 11 citizens of Ukraine, as well as citizens of Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, and Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched two surface-to-air missiles against the aircraft in flight and later owned up to it. However questions remained on why the airline allowed the flight to takeoff from Tehran airport when a conflict was ongoing. Ukraine’s MFA said it calls on the international community “to unite efforts for the sake of international peace and security, including the safety of international civil aviation, and to ensure such disasters never happen in the future.”
Romania has set a date to rerun its presidential election after concerns of Russia’s “aggressive hybrid action” first time round, but there’s still a risk the result may be similar at the second attempt and see ultranationalist Călin Georgescu triumph. The new vote will take place on May 4, with a runoff planned two weeks later, on May 18. The first round of Romania’s election on Nov. 24 last year triggered international shockwaves thanks to the victory of Georgescu, who was propelled from obscurity by a wildly successful TikTok campaign. The contest was annulled before the second round could take place. Even though Georgescu’s win — on 23 percent — sparked the panic that ultimately led to the annulment of the vote, he still appears very much in contention for the rerun. Much will now depend on whether he is disqualified by the Constitutional Court because of accusations of undeclared funding - Politico
Universities and other higher education establishments have joined a retreat among British institutions from Elon Musk's X social media platform, citing its role in spreading misinformation that fuelled race riots last year. A Reuters survey on Tuesday showed several universities have scaled back usage of X to the bare minimum or quit completely, following scores of academics who have left the platform. The role of X, formerly Twitter, came under the spotlight in Britain last year during violent racial disturbances. Musk - a close aide to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump - has since called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be jailed and for anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who co-founded the far-right English Defence League and is known as Tommy Robinson, to be released from prison, opens new tab. Reuters surveyed X accounts of over 150 universities, their colleges and art conservatoires and contacted those that had made little or no posts in recent months. On the Pacific Coast west of downtown Los Angeles, a major fire in the Pacific Palisades leveled entire blocks, reducing grocery stores and banks to rubble. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire, the most destructive in the modern history of LA. Many people were hurt, including first responders, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said. Images of the devastation showed luxurious homes that collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers. Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.
