Taiwan: Ruling party's Lai Ching-te wins presidential elections, tensions with China likely to rise

"China repeatedly denounced Lai as a dangerous separatist and rebuffed his repeated calls for talks. Like former President Tsai Ing-wen, Lai asserted that Taiwan is already independent and needs to make no declaration of independence that could spark a military attack from China." IndiaTV

China military tells US it will 'never compromise' on issue of Taiwan

"Chinese military officials told US counterparts at talks this week that Beijing will "never compromise" on the issue of Taiwan and urged them to stop "provocative actions" in the South China Sea, the defense ministry said." MS

Musk reacts to death of US journalist in Ukrainian prison

"Elon Musk has condemned a lack of action on the part of US officials in the case of an American journalist, Gonzalo Lira, who had been jailed by Kiev and who ultimately died in Ukrainian custody. Authorities there allegedly ignored Lira’s serious health problems for a long time, while he remained behind bars on accusations of justifying Moscow’s military operation against Kiev.

Lira moved to Ukraine and married a local woman in 2010. When long-simmering tensions between Moscow and Kiev turned to military engagement in February 2022, the journalist started actively covering the fighting on social media. He also blamed the development on Kiev and its Western backers, asserting that Ukraine had no chance of winning against Russia.
Lira, who was 55 when he died, had also been criticizing efforts by Western media to portray Ukraine as a “democracy,” pointing to rampant corruption and publishing a list of Zelensky’s opponents who, he claimed, had been “disappeared” by various authorities.
The US State Department confirmed Lira’s death to Russia’s TASS news agency on Friday. He had been in pre-trial detention in Ukraine’s city of Kharkov since May 2023. News website The Grayzone has reported that, since last October, he had severe health problems from pneumonia and a collapsed lung. The Ukrainian authorities only acknowledged the issue on December 22, according to Lira’s own note, cited by the news outlet.
“This is super messed up!” Musk wrote on X (formerly, Twitter) on Saturday, commenting on another post by an entrepreneur and investor, David Sacks, who also slammed US President Joe Biden’s inaction in Lira’s case." RT

Turkey launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, destroying bunkers, shelters and oil facilities

"Turkey carried out a series of airstrikes in neighboring Iraq and Syria on Saturday, according to its defense ministry.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, aircraft struck Kurdish militant targets in Metina, Hakurk, Gara and Qandil in northern Iraq. The strikes were in response to an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq that left nine Turkish soldiers dead. The defense ministry said fighter jets destroyed caves, bunkers, shelters and oil facilities "to eliminate terrorist attacks against our people and security forces ... and to ensure our border security." The targets were affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned Kurdish separatist group that maintains bases in northern Iraq." MS

Russians launch missile attack in the morning: air raid lasts almost 3 hours

""There is a threat of missile attack in oblasts where an air-raid warning has been issued! Launches of cruise missiles from Tu-95MS aircraft were detected. (from the Caspian Sea). Proceed to a shelter!" The time for entering Ukrainian airspace is about 06:00-07:00.
At 06:02, the missile threat was extended to Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts.

At 06:21, the air-raid warning was issued in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Poltava, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad and Khmelnytskyi oblasts. At 06:31, a missile was reportedly moving towards Kryvyi Rih.
At 06:33, the missile threat spread throughout the country. At 06:43, a MiG-31K fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces was spotted taking off from the Savasleyka airfield in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
At 06:55, the Air Force reported the launch of Kinzhal missiles. They were flying in the direction of Dnipro.
At 06:58, it was reported that cruise missiles were moving across Zhashkiv towards Kyiv.
At 07:00, the military announced the launch of another Kinzhal missile.
At 07:11, the Air Force recorded the movement of Kinzhal missiles towards Kyiv.
At 07:16, missiles were flying towards Kalynivka, Vinnytsia Oblast. At 07:17, a group of cruise missiles were flying towards Rivne! All-clear was given in regard to Kinzhal missiles flying towards the capital.
At 07:18, two more MіG-31K aircraft were recorded taking off from the Savasleyka airfield in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
At 07:19, the military reported the movement of missiles through Khmelnytskyi Oblast towards Rivne Oblast.
At 07:20, they called for the residents of Myrhorod to take shelter.
At 07:22, a missile was flying through Vinnytsia Oblast to Starokostiantyniv.
At 07:23, residents of Rivne were called to proceed to shelters.
At 07:28, Kinzhal missiles were launched towards Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih.
At 07:29, the Air Force reported launches of Kinzhal missiles towards Kyiv. At 07:35, two missiles in Volyn Oblast changed course towards the north-east.
Residents of Myrhorod were asked to go into shelter.
Cruise missiles were in Volyn, Ternopil and Rivne oblasts.
More Kinzhal missiles were flying from the north.
At 07:40, it was reported that there were high-speed missiles coursing through Chernihiv and Zhytomyr oblasts. In addition, Kinzhal missiles were flying from the north. There was also a missile flying in the direction of Lviv Oblast.
At 8:13, the all-clear was given throughout all of Ukraine, except for the western regions and Donetsk Oblast." Pravada