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Daily Briefing

Lloyd Austin is expected to discuss Israel's planning for a transition to the next phase of the war, Chileans reject a conservative constitution to replace dictatorship-era text, and Southwest Airlines agrees to a $140 million penalty over its 2022 holiday meltdown.

Plus, Uganda's LGBT community endures a trying year.

By Edson Caldas

Today's Top News

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip on December 18, 2023. Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

ISRAEL AND HAMAS AT WAR

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel for talks expected to focus on Israel's eventual end to high intensity war in Gaza and its transition to a more limited, focused conflict, officials say. The trip is a delicate balancing act.
Signs reading "S.O.S." and "help, three hostages" in Hebrew were found on the walls of a Gaza building where three Israeli hostages had been hiding before they were mistakenly killed, Israel's military said.

BALLOT RESULTS

Chileans rejected a new conservative constitution to replace its current text that dates back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. This is the second draft constitution that voters have rejected to replace its current text.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declared victory in a snap parliamentary election. Ipsos and CeSID predicted his populist SNS would win 46.2% of votes, while the opposition center-left SPN alliance is set to come second with 23.2%.

IN OTHER NEWS

North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that has a range to hit anywhere in the US, said South Korea and Japan. Today's missile launch came after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday night.
A landmark national security trial for leading China critic Jimmy Lai opened in Hong Kong amid tight security. Correspondent Jessie Pang tells the daily Reuters World News podcast what it means for US-China relations.
As a Ugandan court hears a challenge to one of the world's harshest anti-LGBT laws, there's more at stake than the simple constitutionality of the statute. Activists say the law has given Ugandans an implicit license to abuse and discriminate against sexual minorities.
Pakistan's jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, whose party isn't allowed to hold public rallies, used an audio clip generated by AI to address a virtual rally. Khan's speech was generated from a written version he had approved from prison, said officials of his party.

Business & Markets

Japan's Nippon Steel will buy US Steel in a deal worth $14.9 billion including debt, months after the steelmaker put itself up for sale. The per-share offer of $55 represents a premium of about 142% when compared to US Steel stock's closing price before the company announced a strategic review process on Aug. 11.
Southwest Airlines agreed to a $140 million civil penalty over the December 2022 holiday meltdown that led to 16,900 flight cancellations. The US Department of Transportation consent order resolves a lengthy government investigation into the travel disruption and provides "a strong deterrent," the agency said.
Supermarkets in the UK and Europe are offering more own-brand festive food as cash-strapped families spend on Christmas meals at home while cutting down on gifts and eating out. Festive meals are being prioritized as inflation forces households to adjust their budgets, executives and market analysts say.
China's economy is expected to see more favorable conditions and more opportunities than challenges in 2024, state media said citing officials of the Chinese Communist Party's finance and economy office. Macroeconomic policies will continue to provide support for economic recovery, the official Xinhua said.
In more news from China, a growing number of semiconductor design companies in the country are tapping Malaysian firms to assemble a portion of their high-end chips, keen to hedge risks in case the United States expands sanctions on China's chip industry, sources said.

New temple transforms India's Ayodhya but Muslims and some locals feel neglected

People are seen at the premises of a temple in Ayodhya. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

In this northern Indian city once marred by communal tensions, laborers are finalizing a $6 billion infrastructure facelift ahead of the opening of a grand Hindu temple that is igniting an economic boom. But some of Ayodhya's poor and its Muslim community say is passing them by.

The first stage of Ram Mandir, as the temple is known, opens in January.

And Finally...

Cat image created by a Thai farmer in the northern province of Chiang Rai. REUTERS/Napat Wesshasartar

A sleeping cat hugs a fish in a picture seen from the air, picked out in sprouting rainbow seedlings in a rice field in Thailand to illustrate a proverb about abundance. Farmer Tanyapong Jaikham and a team of workers planted the seedlings at various spots in the field to depict cartoon cats, hoping to lure tourists and cat lovers.

Read more here: Thai rice farmer makes art with plantings that depict cats

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