Stay updated with the top news for January 12th in our Morning Briefing.

Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Briefing: here are the top news stories for January 12th, covering the latest developments you need to know.

1. Croats vote for president, with incumbent Milanovic ahead in opinion polls.

Croats were voting on Sunday in a presidential run-off election, with incumbent Zoran Milanovic ahead in opinion surveys of Dragan Primorac of the ruling Croatia's Democratic Union for the chiefly ceremonial position.

2. Despite Nippon Steel, US and Japan say ties stronger than ever.

The foreign ministers of Japan and the United States said their countries' ties were stronger than ever on Tuesday, even after Japan's prime minister called U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to block Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel "perplexing."

Biden's move last Friday was a jolt to U.S. efforts to boost ties just as neighboring South Korea's political crisis potentially complicates a deepening trilateral relationship between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo formed to counter China's growing military power.

3. Aerial assault aims to stem LA Palisades fire eastward spread.

Aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on steep hills to stem the eastward spread of the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles on Saturday as on-the-ground firefighting intensified amid warnings of wind gusts of up to 70 mph (110 kph) that could make matters worse.

Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades Fire spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares), consuming more homes, officials reported.

4. Venezuela condemns new US and European sanctions.

Venezuela on Saturday condemned new sanctions that the U.S., Britain, and the European Union imposed the previous day, when the country swore in President Nicolas Maduro for a third term after a six-month election dispute.

"The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and energetically rejects the new sanctions imposed by the infamous imperial brotherhood," wrote general Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the Strategic Operational Command of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela in a statement posed on social media.

He called the sanctions a "desperate action, outside the rule of international law."

5. Apple's board recommends shareholders vote against proposal to eliminate diversity programs.

Apple's board of directors recommended investors vote against a shareholder proposal to abolish the company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, according to a proxy filing from the company.

The National Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, submitted a proposal that the company consider abolishing its "Inclusion & Diversity program, policies, department and goals."

6. TikTok warns of broad consequences if Supreme Court allows ban.

The lawyer for TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance offered a warning during Supreme Court arguments over a law that would compel the sale of the short-video app or ban it in the United States: If Congress could do this to TikTok, it could come after other companies, too.

The law, which was the subject of arguments before the nine justices on Friday, sets a January 19th deadline for ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform or face a ban on national security grounds. The companies have sought, at the very least, a delay in implementation of the law, which they say violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection against government abridgment of free speech.
 

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