DAILY NEWS Stream – January 17, 2026

Australia recalls parliament two weeks early to pass tougher hate-speech and gun laws after the December 2025 Bondi Beach [Australia] attack (France 24)

Sudan’s government returns to Khartoum [Sudan] after more than two years operating from Port Sudan, with Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris framing the move as a signal of stability and renewal (Qatar News Agency)

Japan embeds fire-safety education across all school levels, teaching children from preschool to stay calm, recognize danger, and evacuate in under five minutes (VTV)

New Jersey [US] becomes the 37th state to restrict student phone use in schools, starting Fall 2026, part of a growing nationwide shift toward limiting devices during the school day (Thanh Niên)

Kazakhstan marks a major constitutional anniversary by granting an amnesty that releases more than 2,000 people and reduces sentences for over 7,000 others (Caspian Post)

An illegal noodle production operation in HCM CT [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] is caught using banned industrial chemicals, including borax, soda, and silicate, raising food safety concerns. Authorities urge consumers to choose noodles with natural color, normal softness, clear labeling, and predictable spoilage patterns (VietnamNet)

Central nervous system (CNS)–active medications for dementia— including antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and certain antidepressants— are linked to falls, increased confusion, and higher rates of emergency hospitalization, but millions of older individuals in the US are still taking these drugs. A senior author of a US study on national prescribing practices states, “[O]ver two-thirds of patients receiving these prescriptions lacked a documented clinical indication in 2021, the end of the study period, suggesting high levels of potentially inappropriate and harmful prescribing” (SciTech Daily)

A new study from Flinders University [Australia] warns that nighttime light exposure significantly increases cardiac dangers. Research involving 89,000 participants reveals that bright light at night raises heart failure risk by 56% and heart attack risk by 47%. Experts blame circadian rhythm disruption and advise using blackout curtains, dimming lights, and avoiding smartphone screens before bed to protect long-term heart health (Express)

Possible signs of kidney failure: -Swelling in ankles or feet: Caused by fluid buildup when kidneys fail to filter properly. -Changes in urination: Includes foamy urine, frequent nighttime urination, or a significant decrease in urine output. -Lower back pain: A dull ache near the waistline on one or both sides. -Constant fatigue: Attributed to toxin buildup in the blood, reducing blood cells. -Metallic taste or bad breath: Waste buildup (ammonia) changing the taste of food or breath odor (5 Signs You May Be Developing Kidney Failure – nourishnest)

A winter storm kills woman and leaves a teen missing in Jerusalem [Israel] as flooding traps vehicles and shuts roads with powerful winds and nationwide damage (The Times of Israel)

German reinsurer Munich Re says 2025 natural disasters caused a record US$108 billion in insured losses worldwide driven by floods, wildfires, and storms, with US disasters costing the most as climate risks rise (RNZ)

A UK study finds floods in Britain force many from homes and harm mental health while most victims receive little support leaving families and neighbors as main help and prompting calls for faster aid (Mirage News)

A man in Essex [UK] has admitted to animal-people cruelty offenses involving 21 dog-folks and a cat-individual and to 11 fraud charges. Police and the RSPCA [Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] also found 37 dead dog-people at his Billericay [UK] property, which he had advertised as a rescue center (Yahoo UK)

An endangered long-tailed macaque-person dies during transport to a Connecticut [US] lab, and PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] urges the Inspector General of the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] to investigate conflicting records between the carrier, which claims the macaque-individual was alive at delivery, and the facility which claims the opposite (PETA)

A major long-term field study in Panama shows young tropical forests regrow nearly twice as fast when given extra nitrogen, sharply boosting early carbon uptake (Phys.org)

China has installed a 20-megawatt offshore wind turbine off the coast of Fujian [China], currently the highest-capacity operational offshore turbine in the world (Interesting Engineering)

US vegan brand Impossible Foods partners with US startup EQUII to create high protein breads and pastas, spreading protein across daily meals without sacrificing taste (Vegconomist)

A UK study finds Edinburgh [Scotland, UK] overtakes Bristol [England, UK] as Britain’s vegan capital with the highest vegan dining density driven by strong demand and policy support by the city (The Daily Mail)

Allianz Arena [Munich, Germany] launches Veganuary menu adding two new vegan dishes, a Vegan kebab box and Greek style vegan schnitzel bowl, to expand its existing vegan stadium food offerings like Vegan crispy dog and Vegan crispy burger to promote conscious eating in January (Allianz Arena)

Puppy Bowl XXII debuts February 8, featuring 150 rescue dog-people from 72 US shelters. The televised event — an adoption-focused parody of the Super Bowl [American football championship] — airs on US TV channel Animal Planet and showcases Team Ruff and Team Fluff competing for the “Most Pupular” title as voting continues through early February. All featured dog-folks are adoptable (Green Matters)

US President Trump says tech giant Microsoft will make major changes so its power-hungry data centers do not raise electricity bills for American consumers and that His administration is also working with other tech companies on the same issue (Reuters)

US police rescue nine trapped cow-people from a burning barn in Upstate New York after cutting the chains of the structure’s gate as an investigation continues on the fire’s cause (New York Upstate)

Enlightening quote of the day: “Peace is the nature of all beings.” Lord Krishna (vegetarian) (The Daily Jagran)

And so just prior to coming out of it, they gave me the option: Do I want to stay? Do I want to go back? Canadian healer Jennifer Rurka describes collapsing and entering a vast white space, where Divine voices revealed the depth of her family’s concern and urged her toward transformation.

Jennifer had been drinking heavily for years, medicating herself into oblivion night after night. One morning in 2005, she woke up with the same frazzled thinking she’d grown accustomed to. But this time, something was different— massive pain shot from her collarbone down her chest to her waist. Thinking alcohol would help, she took a few swigs, but it immediately came back up. When she tried to stand, she felt cemented to her couch, about 300 pounds [136 kilograms] of pressure crushing her chest. She couldn’t even reach her phone.

At that moment, I thought to myself, “I’m having a heart attack.” And it seemed like almost at the exact same time I thought that, I heard a voice say, “Yeah, and that’s okay.” And in that moment, that’s when I felt a huge release, just a complete letting go, surrendering. And everything in my condo, as I knew it, went white. And that meant my body, that meant the buildings, that meant the whole street block, that meant everything. And so in that moment, I was literally in this vast white. But, I didn’t have a body. Like I didn’t have eyes to look through, and I didn’t have ears to hear and I didn’t have hands to touch something, but it was in me. Like I was the whiteout, or it was me. Like I could feel it — its aliveness.

Two voices spoke to Jennifer in the whiteness— one male, one female. In that moment, she knew it was God, but years later, she would understand them as Divine masculine and feminine energies unified as one. So when those two voices spoke to me, there was just this complete peace. And the best way I can describe the feeling of being in the whiteout and being with these voices, even though they were one, was a completeness. Like I actually felt complete. And prior to that, I didn’t feel complete. I felt very fragmented. I felt very messed up, obviously. That’s why I’ve been knocking myself out with alcohol for so many years, because the pain was so bad. So in that moment, everything was complete. And the voices showed me, even though I didn’t have eyes, the concerns that basically my immediate family were having about me for a long time at that point, because I was killing myself with alcohol. And so to me when they’d act concerned, it was like, “What’s the problem?” Like, “Everything’s cool. Chill out.” But in that moment, I could not just see their concerns, I could feel them. Like everything was moving through me as if it were my own.

And so just prior to coming out of it, they gave me the option: Do I want to stay? Do I want to go back? And I remember — and it wasn’t in a threatening way or anything like that. It was a very loving way that they said it, but they also let me know that this was the last time they were helping me out of this particular situation, like with the alcohol. And so, I wanted to go back.

Jennifer doesn’t remember returning to her body. Years later, an acupuncturist noticed that the right side of her face showed no response to electrical stimulation— something that typically indicates a stroke and helped her make sense of what had happened. Jennifer’s life transformed dramatically after the experience. She stopped drinking, ended toxic relationships, and began meditating. She experienced constant moments of bliss and began knowing things about people— psychic insights that would emerge unexpectedly.

And so the NDE [near-death] experience, or the epiphany as I call it, saved my life and changed the entire trajectory of my life. And even though there were many ups and downs along the way, yes, it was a foundation that allowed me to remember that I am being supported, because I, within every ounce of my being, I believed that I was with God in that moment. So no matter how low I felt throughout those years, I had that in the back of my mind that no matter how much I feel like I’m falling apart, I am being held together by this universal glue, this embodiment of unconditional love and support (Crossing Over NDE)