🇬🇧A record 45,700 people have traveled to the United Kingdom across the English Channel in small boats in 2022, up more than 60% compared to 2021, British media reported on Sunday, citing figures released by the country's government.

▪️According to the data on the numbers of arrivals, a total of 45,756 people crossed the channel that separates the UK from mainland Europe last year, which is over 17,000 more than in 2021.

▪️In September 2022, the number of illegal migrants who arrived in the UK across the English Channel since January exceeded 28,561, surpassing the number recorded in the entire 2021.

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Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Sunday a bilateral ceasefire with the radical left-wing group National Liberation Army (ELN), the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and other rebel groups from January 1 to June 30.

💬"We have agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with ELN, the Segunda Marquetalia, the Central General Staff [of FARC], AGC [Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia of Gulf Clan], and the Sierra Nevada Self-Defense Forces from January 1 to June 30, 2023, with the possibility of extending the agreement depending on the progress of the negotiations," Petro said on Twitter.

📌In December, the ELN and FARC announced a ceasefire until January 2 as a contribution to the ongoing dialogue with Petro’s government, which seeks to achieve peace with armed groups in order to end over 50 years of armed conflict in the country.

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🤔Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan held three-way phone consultations, condemning Pyongyang's first missile launch in 2023 and warning that such "provocations" will drive the country into further isolation, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

📌On Saturday, North Korea test-fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan. The missiles were launched from Chunghwa County in North Korea’s North Hwanghae Province at around 8 a.m. local time on Saturday (23:00 GMT on Friday), Yonhap said, citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). On Sunday, North Korea launched another short-range ballistic missile, the first to be test-fired by Pyongyang in 2023.

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Life Outside the Bloc: How Did Brexit Take Place?

In June 2016, more than half of Brits who voted in the referendum on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union backed the country's independence from the bloc. The decision plunged Britain into a lengthy transition process before it finally left the EU on January 31, 2020.

January 1 marks the second anniversary since the terms of the UK's pullout from the EU came into force. Let’s look back at Britain's thorny path to independence from the bloc.

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NASA Probe Recovering Memory After Radiation Surge

NASA's Juno probe is reportedly recovering its digital memory after a radiation surge forced it to reboot while on its mission to Jupiter. It is not clear whether the surge damaged the spacecraft when it was flying over Jupiter or over its volcanic moon Io.

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📹WATCH: Russian Su-30SM and Su35S aircraft in combat action as part of the special military operation in Ukraine (video courtesy of Russia’s MoD)

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🤔The author of one of the latest doomsday predictions has claimed that humanity will escape Earth's destruction by colonizing Mars.

▪️Apocalyptic predictions are hardly anything new, with doomsayers in various corners of the globe making claims about the impending end of the world since times immemorial.

▪️Yet while at least some of these seem to sincerely believe in their prophecies, an announcement made by TikTok user @timetraveler322 about the alleged date of our planet’s demise was apparently made just for laughs.

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📹 The wife of a DPR militiaman, convicted by a Ukrainian court, recalled how her case was fabricated in order to force her husband to come to Ukraine

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❗️About 170 civilians, including 21 children, were killed in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) last year due to shelling by Ukrainian troops, the representative office of the LPR in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes (JCCC) said on Sunday.

💬"Aggression of the armed formations of Ukraine during the above period [2022] claimed the lives of 624 civilians, including 50 children. As a result of shelling, 169 people died and 455 were injured, of which 21 children died and 29 were injured," the agency said on Telegram.

▪️Ukraine shelled the territory of the republic 1,353 times with the use of heavy weapons, the statement noted, adding that more than 11,000 pieces of ammunition was fired, including 609 HIMARS rockets and over 200 shells with a caliber of 155 millimeters.

▪️According to the statement, more than 3,600 houses in 84 settlements and 413 civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged due to strikes.

Venezuela Ready to Normalize Relations With US, Maduro Says

"Venezuela is prepared, fully prepared to take steps towards a process of normalization and regulation of diplomatic, consular, and political relations with this US government and with the government that may come," Maduro said in a Sunday interview with journalist Ignacio Ramonet.

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🌫 Ship traffic through the Dardanelles in Turkey suspended due to dense fog

Kim Jong Un Pays Tribute to Memory of North Korea’s Former Leaders

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on the occasion of the New Year, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports.

Kim Jong Un and other participants in the Sunday ceremony laid flowers at the statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

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🥺 US actor Jeremy Renner remains “in critical but stable condition” after he sustained injuries in a weather-related accident while plowing snow”, his spokesperson has revealed.

▪️ The spokesperson added that Renner’s family is with him “and he is receiving excellent care” after reportedly being airlifted to hospital.

▪️ The location of the Sunday accident has not been confirmed yet.

▪️ The 51-year-old Hawkeye star owns a ranch above Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountain, which was hit by a winter storm on New Year’s Eve that left about 35,000 local homes without power.

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Number of Immigrants Facing Deportation From US Jumps By Nearly A Third – Report

A new report suggests that contrary to mainstream media narratives, efforts to deport immigrants from the US have continued at a record pace.

The number of immigrants facing deportation in 2022 soared by 29% to 4.7 million, according to a report released by the US government Friday.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials reportedly blamed record numbers of migrants arriving at the southern US border for the “significant… increase” in deportations.

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Merkel and Hollande’s Confessions Represent ‘Formalization of Betrayal’ by West Says Russian Senator

A top Russian legislator said the recent admissions by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande that they had no intention of honoring their commitments under the Minsk agreements represent a “formalization of betrayal… by the West” of the people of the Donbass.

An influential member of Russia’s Federation Council wrote that the former EU leaders admitting they never intended to honor the Minsk agreements means they have the blood of the thousands of victims of the Donbass civil war on their hands.

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📹 Four people were killed and another 13 were injured in a collision between two helicopters in Australia.

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage showing engineering sapper units operating during combat as part of the special military operation.

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Relations Between Prince William and Harry ‘Hanging by a Thread’: Report

Relations between Prince Harry and his brother William are up in the air ahead of the publication of the Duke of Sussex’s tell-all book slated for next week, a UK media outlet has reported.

The outlet cited unnamed sources as saying that “things are hanging by a thread as it is after the past few months, and from the sounds of it Harry's memoir is unlikely to help.”

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📹 The farewell ceremony for Benedict XVI has began at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

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🕯 Fans greeted Pele's coffin by kneeling down and setting off firecrackers.

▪️ The body of the footballer was taken to the stadium of the Santos club, where the farewell ceremony will be held today

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